CHAPTER 45: GETTING SOME WORK DONE

Serena didn’t stand there long because Theo and Kiro soon arrived back. Theo was carrying another deer on his shoulder while Kiro had dirt and some blood on him along with the biggest grin on his face.

Theo, noticing Serena first, asked, "Did something happen?"

Serena snapped out of her daze with a head shake and answered, "Just had some visitors. Apparently we’ve been approved to join the village... There’s also going to be a bonfire party and we’ve been invited."

"A bonfire party?!" Kiro exclaimed excitedly. "I want to go!"

Serena smiled weakly and nodded her head. "Sure. I guess we can go... Theo?"

Since they were going to be living here the party would be a good chance to mingle with everyone else even if she didn’t enjoy socializing that much. Plus, this was a way Kiro could meet cubs his age and make friends.

"I don’t mind either." Theo shrugged, knowing Serena was checking if he was okay with going too. "It would be nice to have a bit of fun."

Serena suddenly remembered the other thing Merinda and Becky had come for. "Oh yeah... Becky also came by to apologize for what happened. So we might see her at the party."

"Okay." Kiro said. He then added quietly, "I don’t have to be friends with her..."

"You don’t." Serena replied. "Just accept the apology if you want and be friends with whoever."

She wasn’t going to be controlling of that part. If Kiro was happy and having fun, then that was all Serena needed. There would only be problems if someone was causing trouble for the young cub.

"If that’s settled, I think we should start preparing lunch." Theo said. "I believe all of us are hungry from some hard work."

As he spoke, he gave Serena a knowing look. She had told him she was going to rest a bit and here he was finding her cleaning up the garden. It made him shake his head. Serena got up to the strangest things.

Said beastwoman glanced at him and murmured, "I got bored."

Before going after Kiro who was running off to the front of the hut. Theo followed behind with a sigh, making note to finish up cleaning up that garden before he gained a reputation of letting Serena do hard labour.

***

After a lunch of meat skewers and some roasted brown roots, Theo showed Serena how to smoke meat before they packed it away with the rest of the already smoked meat.

Now that their request to join the village was confirmed, Theo wanted to start preparing for the cold season. It would be in about two blue moons, just giving them enough time to prepare for the harsh season.

Of course, he’d need to do a bit more preparation than what he normally did, but considering how Serena was actively helping out, he wasn’t too bothered by it. It would’ve been a problem if he’d been the only one having to do preparations.

"I’m thinking of cleaning out that garden and using it to plant some food." Serena said as she walked out of the hut after putting Kiro down for a nap.

While the cub was energetic, chasing around deer with Theo had tired Kiro out. But the time lunch came, he was barely able to stay awake.

He finally fell asleep when they finished smoking the rest of the meat, wanting to stay awake to help. Serena had gone to lay him down on the straw bed to properly rest.

"That sounds good." Theo mused, knowing that plant food could help supplement their meals. "But can you grow anything during this time?"

He wasn’t exactly an expert on farming seeing as he lived in a mostly carnivore filled city, but considering he visited many herbivore type villages while traveling with his uncle, he knew they grew food at certain times.

The reason why they only went to get certain foods like rice and wheat at certain times too.

"I’m not sure, but I do plan on asking some of the villagers." Serena said, taking a seat next to him. "Of course, we’ll probably need to finish cleaning up the garden and maybe adding a new fence around it."

"I take it, the old one was all that firewood then." Theo raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Serena nodded her head. "Although there is still some wood in the garden that needs to be removed."

"I’ll be sure to do that." Theo stated. "Perhaps we can also ask for some recommendations on wood to use for the fence... Kiro should be fine here while we go out for a bit."

Serena glanced over at the hut doorway before turning back to Theo. "I suppose so... However, we shouldn’t be out for too long. I’m worried he might wake up."

"We can just head to the village center quickly and get some advice." Theo proposed. "You can then head back and work out the perimeter while I get the wood. Then we can work from there."

"That works." Serena declared. She went silent for a moment before adding, "Oh and we should probably also get some wood to make a ladder for the underground part. One of the steps doesn’t look good and I’m worried it will break."

"Got it." Theo said, standing up. "Let’s get going then before it gets too late."

Serena nodded her head in agreement as she got up too. She quickly headed inside to check on Kiro one more time before coming out and walking with Theo to the village center.

It was busy as usual with beastmen hanging around and chatting, cubs running around and a few beastwomen gathered under the center’s giant oak tree, sitting in the shade talking.

A few were still nervous with them being around, however most seemed to have gotten used to their presence. They walked around, looking for any familiar faces to chat to, but were unsuccessful.

They were going to give up and come back another time when Elder Samuel appeared and asked them, "Do you need help with something?"