Hello again everyone! I thought they could do with a bit of a field trip which could be interesting to say the least!
Enjoy and please let me know what you think! x
This stinks. Quite literally.
Snow was waiting impatiently in the lobby for Bigby to appear as she watched Grimble continue to nap at the front desk of the Woodland's Building. A week had passed since the attack in the Business Office and her condition had grown steadily worse. Her nose constantly ached from the overpowering smells, she could barely sleep at night from all the sounds emanating from the city that really didn't ever seem to sleep, and more worryingly, when she did finally get to sleep, she would awaken from terrible nightmares with a prickling sensation all over her skin, that made her wonder if she was perhaps a little hairier than she was when she went to bed. She had refused to start smoking, insisting that she could get through it without it, but as the days past she was dying for some kind of break from it all.
"I have an idea...if you're interested?" Bigby had said quietly one afternoon as they sifted through paperwork together. She glanced up at him, rubbing her nose for the hundredth time that day, "I'm all ears" she joked and continued sorting through the files. "I've been dealing with this for a pretty long time; I could help you if you like? We could leave the city and get some fresher air too. That always helps me..." He trailed off as she stared at him and then shoved a few sheets of paper into a folder, "Or maybe not" he said quickly, trying to find a cigarette. She was a little shocked at the idea, but it did make good sense. Perhaps it was just the idea of a getaway with Bigby that made her nervous? After letting him sweat it out for a few more moments she smiled a little. "You would do that for me?" She wasn't sure why, but she could almost feel the relief wash over him and he smiled back at her. "Of course, it'll finally give me a chance to repay the favour. Plus we could probably do with a break from all of this crap" he said motioning at the scattered paperwork.
So there it was. She had agreed to go away with the Sheriff on some kind of training session/retreat and there was nothing she could do now to get out of it. He had mentioned something about camping which made her increasingly more nervous but she focused on the idea that she might actually be able to get some clean air into her lungs for a change. The elevator pinged and Snow recognised Bigby's scent before the doors had even opened. She hadn't mentioned that to Bigby before but she wondered if it was normal that one person's scent was more vivid than others? Maybe she would ask him some other time? She hiked her backpack higher up on her shoulder and tried to ignore how good he looked in a plaid shirt and jeans. He looks like a lumberjack! Although he might not appreciate the comparison, she thought and smiled at him. "Ready to go?" he said and she rolled her eyes, "For the past 15 minutes Bigby, now can we please get out of here?"
A few hours later she was driving them through the rugged landscape of West Virginia. The plane ride had been horrifying what with all the clanking that she could hear, although she was glad Bigby seemed to be just as unhappy with the whole situation, as it made her feel like slightly less of a wuss. Now they were driving through endless forests and hilly ranges she felt a little more at ease. It was a warm summer day and they had both rolled their windows down fully, inhaling the fresh air, enjoying the breeze that whipped through the car. After an hour or so of driving, Bigby managed to direct her to a little dirt track which they followed for a while, the canopy of trees blocking out the sun as they delved further into the forest. "Where the hell are we going?" She said at last, and he chuckled, "Just keep driving and we should reach a clearing in the next few minutes." She slowed the Jeep down as she manoeuvred through ditches and around overgrown branches and shrubbery until the car burst thorough into brilliant sunshine. She gasped at the view and stopped the car, parking up and switching off the rumbling engine. She grinned at Bigby then jumped out of the car as quickly as are stiff limbs would let her.
They were at the top of a hill, that was covered in lush green grass. Across the way she could see part of a river that was running behind a bank of thick shrubbery. The entire scene was bathed in glorious sunshine and she wondered if she had accidentally stepped into a painting. Taking a deep breath she laughed as she could only smell pollen and grass. No taxi cabs or cheap takeout's for miles around to harass her. She could hear birds chirping and the odd splash from the river down below them but it was so quiet and peaceful it felt like she was in some kind of glass bubble. She turned to look at Bigby who had finally clambered out of the car, stretching his stiff arms and legs. "This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen!" she said "How on Earth did you ever find this place?" He chuckled and stood next to her on the top of the hill, sighing as he too seemed to relish the fresh air. "I sort of stumbled on it by accident as I went trekking a couple of decades ago. The Mundy's seem to have left it alone, so I kept coming back." She stretched her arms up into the air and sighed with relief, "I can't say I blame you..."
They grabbed their bags from the car and slowly made their way down the hill to the flatter field area a few meters from the banks of the river. She laughed as he got into a small altercation with the tent but her laughter quickly died down when she realised there was only one. "I'm going to sleep outside Snow! Don't be so suspicious all the time!" he said as she blushed with embarrassment, "Sorry...I didn't think of that before. I didn't mean to sound so accusing..." He chuckled and chucked a sleeping bag to her and she grinned tossing it back at his head while he wasn't looking, pleased when it landed with a satisfying thuwmp. As the sun began to dip behind the trees Snow set up a little campfire as Bigby had vanished into the trees to find them some kind of dinner. She had flatly refused to embrace that possible side of herself although she watched with unconcealed interest as Bigby morphed from behind the tent from into a huge black wolf. He gave her a toothy grin and padded off happily into the thick trees, disappearing with a swish of his great tail. He was gone for some time, but she figured this was as much a holiday for him as it was for her so she was in no mood to hurry him. Instead she sat by her little camp fire and pulled out a book from her backpack.
It was a fairly simple looking textbook about wolves and she quickly glanced around to make sure Bigby was nowhere in sight. She figured she might as well do a little research of her own into what she might be up against until Swineheart or Frau Totenkinder could maybe find a solution to this dilemma. Flicking through the sections she wasn't really sure what she was looking for, so she picked a chapter at random and after a while came to the assumption that Bigby was definitely as 'Self-Assertive' wolf. She skipped over the chapters relating to mating although she did find herself wanting to coo at little pictures of wolf cubs, wondering what Bigby must have looked like as a little pup. She was engrossed in a chapter about howling when she detected Bigby's scent and a mixture of blood too. She grimaced a little and dropped the book at her feet and stood up, searching the area for a sign of him until he emerged suddenly from the trees with a deer hanging from his mouth. His tail was wagging and he trotted towards her, and she didn't need a textbook to tell her how proud he was of himself. She laughed as he dropped the carcass a few meters away from her and stood there panting. "Wow. That's very impressive Gaffer" she said smiling and walked over to him to inspect his prize. His tail thudded against the grass, suddenly realising just how huge he was as he towered over her. She suddenly had an overwhelming urge to bury her whole face into his soft looking fur, but she resisted and worried what exactly was happening to her brain.
She managed to cook herself some venison over the campfire as Bigby tucked into what she had left over, which was essentially an entire deer. She felt so relaxed as they chatted about nothing and the sky changed from pale pink to inky blue and a few stars began emerging overhead. "Do you feel better?" Bigby said after he had washed his muzzle off in the river and sat nearer to the fire, stretching his great body out and watching her through yellow eyes. "Hmm much better. I never realised how hard it must be for you, living in the city all this time. I could barely last a week! Why do you put up with it?" His ears twitched a little as she looked up at him and he huffed a little. "I don't mind it that much...and who else is going to sort out all those unruly Fables?" He said with a hint of amusement in his deep voice. After a moment of silence she shook her head a little, "Well I wish I had known how bad it was...but I'm grateful that you're here." She smiled and he dipped his head a little in acknowledgement watching as her eyes drifted skywards. "It's getting late...I might turn in for the night if that's alright with you?" He nodded again and she pulled herself to standing and strode across their little campsite. As she passed him she reached out a hand and ran her fingers through the thick hair just below his jaw, "Thank you Bigby, I really appreciate all of this" she said and headed off into her tent. Snuggling under the sleeping bag she barely closed her eyes before she was fast asleep.
She was engulfed in another mixture of smells and vivid blurs that made her toss and turn in the night. She felt constricted and hot as she chased an unknown entity through a forest unable to catch up to it. Suddenly she felt as though her prey had begun to stalk her through the woods instead so she ran frantically, until she came to a clearing with a little house in the middle. Running inside she felt instant dread as she began to relive her childhood nightmares. She screamed but instead it came out as a howl, and the faces and visions from the past tried to suffocate her.
She woke with a start, tears streaming down her face the odd prickling sensation washing over her skin. She fought with the sleeping bag until she managed to extract herself from it and she tore the zip up letting the cool air flood into the tent. She sat there shivering for a moment when she heard a low huffing noise from outside. "I'm alright" she whispered "Just a bad dream." She watched as a giant nose prodded into the tent and was followed by a huge wolf head. His ears were pressed to his head and his yellow eyes were big and full of concern. She felt so embarrassed, as the idea of Bigby or anyone for that matter, seeing her in this state. She pressed her hand against his soft forehead and scratched his ears, and smiled weakly at him. "You howled..." he said as he wiggled his head a little as she continued to scratch him, "do you want to talk about it?" She glanced at him then averted her eyes and patted his head. "No. I'm fine, I think I just overheated. Go back to sleep Bigby." He nudged her hand and his nose accidentally brushed her cheek and hair, making her skin erupt with goose bumps in an altogether pleasant sensation. She stroked his chin once more and he left her again. She watched as his back planted firmly across the door to the tent and she felt a little relieved that she could rely on him to keep her safe. Lying back on her pillow she stared at the roof of the tent for a while, until she realized her cheek was still a little damp from his nose and she smiled a little as she ran her hand across her cheek and closed her eyes.