There were no leftovers to eat for breakfast, so Chiaki had to eat pickled carrots. They weren't bad, but strong when eaten without something like rice. Agriculture didn't seem to have been discovered in this world yet, so cultivated grains were off the menu without even asking. But there might be wild grains growing in the area, she wasn't sure. She'd have to look when she could safely leave the village.

Qianhuang had left at sunrise that morning, returning with a wolf carcass in a short time. "This one is fresh." He said when he dropped it to the ground in-front of their house. "But while I was hunting I found one that looked like it was killed by a Leopard male. I bet it was yesterday when we arrived. It was chewed on over night, so the pelt was useless." Qianhuang blushed and looked down. "So... I ate it." He waited for her to tell him it was disgusting to eat a raw wolf, or a day old kill, or one that had been chewed on by other animals. She didn't. She did crinkle her nose up at the idea, but stayed quiet.

"Let's get this wolf skinned." She said. "Can you show me how to keep the fur intact this time, so it can be a Winter blanket?"

"Of course!" He said as his ears perked up. A happy motion Chiaki noted, she would have to study the males around the village as they interacted with the females to see if there was a pattern.

It wouldn't take long before a male came calling to their home. A young male Leopard with shoulder length straw-blond hair and green eyes. He was carrying a prey animal that Chiaki didn't recognize from Earth. A gift. Qianhuang had told her about courting gifts, if she accepted the gift, then this male would think she was interested in him.

She politely refused. The male didn't get the clue. She refused again in a more forward manner. There was a droop in the males ears. Okay be forward in refusing gifts. Chiaki filed this thought away.

"Hello female." The young Leopard male said as he walked up to Chiaki and Qianhuang while they were skinning the wolf. "I caught this 'ground-digger' (Aardvark) and wanted to give it to you."

"No thank you." Chiaki said. "I don't want a gift."

"It's very fat," he continued, "getting ready for the cold season. It can help you stay plump. They are very hard to catch because they are very cautious and-"

"I said: No." Chiaki said more sternly. "I am not accepting any gifts. I am not looking for another mate right now. And I do not want you trying to impress me."

The males ears drooped. "Oh, I'm sorry." He pulled his hand back that had been offering her the animal. "Do you think you will want another mate soon?" He asked hopefully.

"If I do, I will tell that male directly." She said with finality.

He walked away, his tail limp behind him. Qianhuang had watched this exchange in silence as he skinned the wolf. Though he glared and bristled at the leopard male, he let Chiaki do the speaking. He could try to run off the other males, but he would not always be by her side every time another male approached her. She had rejected the Leopard male, that made him happy.

Chiaki sighed. "How do females put up with this every day?"

"They accept the gifts."

"All of them?! I'd have over a dozen males courting me if I accepted all the gifts the Winged Lion Clan males had offered me!"

"That is why I declined them all and ran them off. You are my female, and I can provide for you and any cubs you have."

"What do they do? Just string along a male until they decide to take them as mates? Then what? Not mate with them during their time of reproduction?"

"It does happen with very popular females." Qianhuang frowned. "That is why males will pursue a female with less mates, unless the female is considered very attractive. The males who have just come of age will often pursue more popular females, males who have no gotten a mate after several tries will start to think more about what they actually like about a female. But males who go a long time without finding a mate will often accept the offer to mate with a female who shows interest in him, even if she isn't what he wanted in a mate. Some males simply can't attract a female no matter how hard they try."

"And the male Leopard I just sent away?"

"He's young, he probably came of age in the past year." Qianhuang ears drooped a little. "Did he actually spark your interest?"

Chiakai shook her head. "No, I was just curious. I can't tell younger males from older ones very well yet, unless like Lord Priest they have started to age."

Qianhuang chuckled. "Well, Lord Priest is over ninety years old."

"He's what?!"