How Did I Go To the Beast World in My Pajamas?

Chapter 29: Missing His Family

The speed with which Spencer sent them all flying through the forest was nothing short of awe-inspiring. St. Benjamin bent over Samantha and Bub, keeping tree branches and other debris from striking the female and cub with the chitin plates he transformed onto his back. This closeness gave the three ample time to talk and even to play when Bub got bored. Hours passed for the three passengers on Spencer's back, and the more he heard them interact, the more motivated he was to increase his speed and arrive at the Beast City more quickly. Spencer was pleased that Samantha was happy and that she was riding on his back with the others, but that was the extent of his enjoyment aside from Samantha's exclamations whenever he was able to boost his running speed for a while. He listened to Samantha sing childish songs to Bub, and if he hadn't been eavesdropping, he wouldn't have learned that these were songs she sang to her younger siblings when they were little, and he definitely wouldn't have been able to enjoy the numerous times she forgot the words to songs and was forced to make up even more ridiculous lyrics on the spot. It was so rare to hear a female sing that Samantha was able to keep all the males entertained for longer than anyone had expected.

Naturally, that couldn't last forever, and sometime in the mid-afternoon, poor little Bub couldn't hold back his physiological needs any longer. Spencer stopped after feeling Samantha's tap on his shoulder, and he bent to the ground while Benjamin helped the female and cub down after him. "I think it's an emergency," Samantha explained, already having loosened the ties on the brown cub's harness. She leaned forward to help untangle the cub, who took off into the forest without looking back at any of the adults whose worry had spiked in those few seconds. "Shit," Benjamin said, already exasperated, "I know what's happening here. Both of you stay here, and I'll bring Bub back when he's good and ready. Don't," he emphasized, looking Samantha in the eyes, "follow me. Stay here. And don't worry." With that, he turned in the direction the bear cub had run off in and sped off in pursuit, though he was still limited to his beastman form. The closer they got to the City of Beasts, the more danger he would face as a scorpion beastman, and he couldn't allow himself to become complacent so early on.

To say that Samantha was exhausted and worried would be an understatement. It wasn't easy to entertain a child for so long without a break, and even though Benji seemed interested in learning how to care for Bub, he was a far cry from a professional nanny. Honestly, sometimes it was even more tiring to both do what Bub wanted and then to explain to the scorpion what she was doing and why. Reminding herself frequently of all the knowledge St. Benjamin had given her about this world from the very beginning, she couldn't bring herself to hold back what she knew from him even though it was painful sometimes to explain that singing the songs she had learned as a child didn't bring back happy memories to her. She wanted their trip to go smoothly, and for that to happen, it would be best to prevent as many toddler tantrums as she could, even if that came at a high price for Samantha herself. The female stretched thoroughly now that she had the chance, and then turned into the long fur on Spencer's chest for comfort. Unfortunately, the fox didn't seem to have much energy left, either, but Samantha felt her energy rebuilding itself as she embraced him and she wondered if he felt it, too.

A fox snout nuzzled Samantha to face the opposite direction, and she turned around just in time to see St. Benjamin return, Bub the cub carried in one arm and seated on an unblemished caramel hip. Not in the mood to give a preamble, he told them simply, "The bears' scents have thinned out, which means we are officially out of bear territory. The scents that Bub is picking up now belong only to his family, and he took off to chase them even though they're old enough to be fading. He was successful in adding his own scent to theirs," Benji finished wryly, handing the cub back to Samantha. She could have sworn he was lighter just yesterday, but Samantha hoped desperately that it meant Bub's health was returning, and if that was the case, she'd carry him no matter how much the cub weighed. As Samantha began to wrap him in his makeshift baby-wearing apparatus, however, Bub became visibly upset and started huffing and groaning quietly. Looking into his eyes, full of sadness and worry, sent Samantha's mood plummeting. "He misses his family so much," she whispered, unsure how to reassure the little bear while her subconscious grieved the fact that she had no family to miss.

St. Benjamin leaned over Samantha's shoulder to try and comfort the bear. "Your family is out there, somewhere. Be a strong male and wait for us to find them; don't cause trouble or it will take us that much longer to reunite you. If Samantha hadn't decided to bring you with us, you would be no closer to them now, if you would even be alive at all," he lectured. "Look," Samantha said to Bub, choking through tears, "we'll make you a surprise that will help you whenever you feel like you're missing your family. You can help us make it, and we'll work on it at night and in the mornings or even while we're traveling. We'll keep working on it until it's finished, and I hope that you'll like it," she said as she stroked the fur on his head and back. "Can you cooperate with us until then, Bubby? Do you want us to make a present for you?" she asked him, trying to distract him until they could be on their way once again. His crying had quieted as he listened to the pair trying to comfort them, each in their own way. St. Benjamin reminded Bub of his own dad the more he heard him speak, and Samantha was more patient and kinder than he felt he deserved.

He looked to Spencer for confirmation, who barked at him with a friendly "ao-ao" that seemed to calm the bear cub. "Let's get moving," Benjamin said, nudging Samantha toward Spencer now that Bub had been reattached to her front, "We have some bears to follow, a city to get to, and now, a surprise for a bear cub that needs making." All of the travelers were exhausted despite the sun hanging high above them, and Samantha and Bub quickly fell asleep in the arms St. Benjamin had circled around them. Unbidden thoughts of the logistics of raising a litter of scorplings with Samantha entered St. Benjamin's mind, and he entertained the heartwarming thoughts for as long as he could before dismissing them once again as 'impossible'.