Hunter woke up groggy, absolutely exhausted and felt his arms ache from over use. He tenderly tried to sit up against the wall, but he felt a small jolt of pain course through him. Biting his lip and stifling back a grimace, he pushed himself up into a somewhat sitting position. Ever so gingerly stretching out his limbs and forcing himself to move. Hoping that getting the blood flowing through his oh so stiff joints would help with the achy pain he was feeling.
He expected as much after not having worked out in quite a while, and he might have overdone it at that yesterday. Looking back on it, he was excited and probably let the adrenaline course through him a little more than he should have. He’d make a mental note to himself to do something less intensive today to try and let his arms recover from their brutal beating the day prior.
Slowly pushing himself up and off the floor, still doing a simple stretch here or there as he started moving for the day. Forcing his stiff joints to move towards his food stockpile and make a note of what he’d need to get today. He knew he had the kids coming over, who had been extra hungry recently for whatever the reason may be. So he needed to make sure he was keeping the home stocked up enough to satisfy their ravenous appetites. Especially if he was going to start working out and training himself as frequently as well. He’d need healthier foods instead of the easy to eat junk food he’d been preferring for a while.
He poked himself in his middle section, noting the noticeable pudge he had taken on since he’d stopped his work outs. Huffing in slight annoyance, but ultimately knowing he’d be able to fix that soon enough… hopefully. Finally making his way to the stockpile and sifting through it slowly. Meticulously counting each item of what he had in stock and then writing it down in the sand what he’d need in the sand.
After a short while, he got up and made a better list for himself on a leaf with reminders of what to get from the store later on. Swiping away his makeshift note in the sand. When he came across something new sitting on the table with a messily drawn note sitting beside it. Upon inspection, it basically read, with what he could make out, that his kiddos were proud of him for keeping up his work out. They’re chicken scratch was a bit rough to make out, but they were so proud of him, that they went to Carmen and helped her make this gift for him. He picked up the delicate item and held it gently in his hands.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a coconut plate with some strings attached to it. They were extremely crude in nature, and not carved to the best ability by any means. He chuckled to himself and thought that his kiddos would be laughing very brightly the next time they saw him. Especially if he was still wearing these when he came to pick them up. So as much as he was, albeit, a bit embarrassed. He decided to shed off his nerves anyway and put on the ridiculous garment. Making a mental note to thank Carmen later for the help on this monstrosity.
He finished adjusting it until it was just perfect and swore to wear it every time he remembered or had the time to work out. A small reminder to himself of just who, and why he was doing this in the first place! He gleamed with a bright toothy smile as he walked out the front door, more prepared than ever to take on the day's surprises. Smiling to himself as he gingerly walked down the well beaten path from his home. Thinking about just how kind and cute his little kiddos were, when he got the sudden idea to start jogging to his next destination.
He knew he’d regret it tomorrow, considering he hasn’t run in such a long time. Along with the fact that he knew deep down, he wasn’t really the best when it came to running. But nonetheless he knew he wanted to go for it. It’d be nice to keep up with his kids for once when they went racing ahead of him when out on their family outings. Never really truly understanding the child like “joy” that is running.
His kids on the other hand may as well be world class sprinters with how fast they were in comparison to him. Often out running him with ease and bounding a little too far ahead for comfort. That often scared him as well at the idea of something happening to either of them if they wandered off a little too far ahead of him in their travels. That idea alone pushed him to start getting a move on, albeit slow at first. Trying to gradually build up the levels of his movement instead of fully forcing himself to just sprint to his destination.
Stamina build up was the goal here and that meant trying to take his time and build up his breathing techniques once again. He made a gradual pace to the store with his list in hand and coconut plate still securely attached around him. Gently reminding him with each step that he took that as much as this sucked. It would all be worth it in the long run if he kept going for as long as he could. Feeling sweat starting to build up in places he’d overall rather not mention.
Coming up and over the hill as he made his way down the well beaten path. His lungs were begging him to stop and take a break, but he reminded himself to breathe through his nose if he can to try and calm his heart. He could just barely start to make out the image of the village coming up into his field of view. Excitedly panting at the idea that he was close to being done with his running for today, but he could feel himself starting to give up.
As he started slowing down to more of a walk pace than a jog, the coconut plate was starting to slowly slip down and off of him from the sweat build up. When it felt like the string was about to snap off entirely. It was almost like a gentle slap of reality that he wasn’t done yet and needed to keep going. So, he picked up the pace once more with one last bolt of energy he had and made a b-line to the first shop on his list, Pacing’s Place.
As he came into view, he started wheezing, taking gasping breaths in a hurry as he was just about to make it to the stall. Pacings themselves saw what Hunter was trying to do and started cheering him on from the sidelines. Giving that last little bolt of encouragement that he needed to finish the job, finally making it to the front of Pacing's stall. Collapsing as he reached the counter down to his knees with immense droplets falling from various places on his body to the ground.
He took in a large breath and felt like he was going to be sick, but before he had the chance to do so. Pacings was by his side and offered a drink of water to help cool him off. Slowly rebuilding his lungs and calming his ever racing heart back down to a more moderate pace. He thanked Pacings as he brought the cup to his mouth, slowly taking small sips of the beverage. The cold water was extremely refreshing and helped to cool him off so nicely, once finishing the glass. He picked himself from up and off the ground, brushing himself off and handing Pacings back his cup.
Hunter slowly stretched himself out, loosening up his already sore muscles and popping his back by pressing his paws into the lower half of his back. When he felt like he was moderately back to normal, and didn’t feel like talking was going to be the end of him. He pulled out his shopping list to give to Pacings, explaining that even if he didn’t have some of the stuff on his list. That he was mostly looking for healthier foods to stock up on. Pacings commended Hunter for his goal to be healthier and started looking through his stock to see what he had on hand at the time. Along with what he may want to try and stock up on in the future if this is what his customers were going to start ordering from now on.
When Pacings had made his way back to the counter after collecting what he had available, he gently placed the bag down and started tallying up what Hunter owed him. Only just now noticing the coconut plate attached more securely around him once more. Slightly chuckling to himself to not make it so obvious that he had noticed it. Hunter however, immediately picked up on the slight laugher and blushed a bit to himself. He decided to explain that his kids had made it for him and albeit felt a bit rude to not use it since he could tell they put a lot of effort into making it for him.
Pacings completely understood and stopped himself from laughing any further, getting the final total of seashells that Hunter owed him. After grabbing the necessary funds from his coin purse, he gently placed them down on the counter. With a little extra added in, as a thanks for the water, Hunter headed off towards his next destination with a light wave behind him back to Pacings.
His next stop was Carmen’s Fabrication Station. He didn’t necessarily need anything from her shop this time around, but he also knew she would absolutely get a kick out of seeing him wearing the coconut plate. So who was he to hold out some amusement at the funny item she helped his kiddos make. It was going to take him a while to get to the woods and towards Carmen’s place though. Even if he wanted to try and take this trip easy, he knew he wouldn’t make it back home in time to beat the sunset if he didn’t get a move on.
Lugging the heavy bag on his shoulder that was now filled with his daily produce. He started to think to himself that maybe it wasn’t the best of ideas to get his food first. At the same time though, he knew if he hadn’t, all the best produce would have been gone by the time he had made his way to Pacings. Plus, on a lighter note, it was at least still giving him some exercise to keep holding this bag in such a way that the food doesn’t get crushed. He continued onward down the path towards the daycare and through the woods.
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When he finally made it to Carmen’s he was sweating all over again. Curse this fluffy mane of his, even though he knew he loved it, for it was just too dang warm to work out in sometimes. He shook himself slightly and fluffed his mane up a bit to not look so haggard as me made his way towards the entrance. Knocking slightly against a wall to make his presence known, calling out for Carmen's name in the process.
He heard what sounded like approaching footsteps making their way towards his direction and saw what could only be the head of Carmen peeking from around the corner. Doing her best to stop herself from laughing, but only managing to stifle it for a moment as she made her way towards Hunter. Bursting out in more amounts of laughter than he was originally expecting for the small amount of amusement that wearing the coconut plate could bring.
It took more than a few moments for Carmen to finally calm down and greet him in a more normal fashion. Wiping a small tear from her eye as she picked herself up from her spot on the ground. Hunter bowed down with a small curtsy, trying his best to really pull off the part that his kids supposedly wanted to play. Carmen got to see her handiwork fully in fashion as he spun around her. Making all sorts of funny faces and randomly chirping to finish off the joke. He couldn’t have been happier to see her laughing face at his lovely ensemble. Giving him the last little stroke of confidence he needed to seal the deal on this astounding look of his.
He thanked Carmen for the help on making these since it was obvious just how much everyone enjoyed him wearing them. She had stated it was nothing and that she had a fun time hanging out with his double trouble of isolings. His kids were a handful but they were definitely creative and willing to learn. That made Hunter happy to hear considering he knew that the both of his kids together and under one roof tends to spell out a mountain of trouble wherever they go. Nonetheless he bowed one last time to Carmen and started making his way out towards the woods to make his way home.
Pulling the heavy bag once again up and over his shoulder, but switching which one he was actively using this time since his arms were really starting to burn from exhaustion. Today was quite the day afterall, having run all the way from home to Pacings. Along with making the walk through the forest with his heavy groceries just to thank Carmen and back home. He had quite the workout today and was proud of himself for making it though it, as much as he wanted to quit back there a few times there. Overall, as much as it seemed like the coconut plate had been a bit of a hassle to wear while doing something as labor intensive as running across the island. He still loved having what felt like his kids with him the whole time, even if they were under the guide of someone else while he finished up his daily errands.
When he would make it back home that night, he would take the time to make sure all of his produce made it back in one piece. Adding each thing to the stockpile with a satisfied grin as he looked back at his handiwork. Knowing that the rest he would get from tonight would be well deserved after the amount of work he put into pushing himself today. With that, he made his way to bed, and let himself fall into a peacefully happy night of sleep.
