Chiaki had to turn down several more 'gifts' that day, mostly while Qianhuang had left to hunt again. He'd been able to sneak up on the wolf that morning and catch it by surprise. Now though the wolf pack it came from was on high alert, so he had to find another pack to pick off a member from.
They had to make a new drying rack for the wolf pelt, the one back at the Winged Lion Clan was too bulky to bring with them and had been traded. Now the pelt was drying on the new rack. The wolf meat was being dried and smoked over a fire outside. All the innards of the wolf were being cooked into a stew for Qianhuang to eat that night. Qianhuang did not bring home another wolf carcass that day, instead returning with a bird (Ptarmigan) for Chiaki to eat.
"There are several wolf packs across the river." He said as he cooked the bird. "I scouted them out, there seems to be in-fighting between the groups. Probably over food."
"I haven't seen any large prey animals around, have you?"
"No, and that is worrying." He tore off a piece of meat from the bird and held it out to Chiaki. "Here, eat."
"Thank you." She took the offered piece and bit into it. The bird had been cooked in a ground oven, stuffed with something that tasted like lemongrass. The smell had drawn a few looks from passing males. None of them had came bearing gifts after Qianhuang had returned this time, so maybe word had spread that Chiaki had refused every male who visited her.
The next day Qianhuang and Chiaki awoke to loud yelling outside. Chiaki peeked out the window-hole and sighed. "It's the females and the female that the leopard male brought to the village, again."
"Parkers mate?" Qianhuang questioned as he stretched.
"That's the one. I think I should go meet her, she seems to be making waves."
"Waves?"
"Uh, she's upsetting people." Chiaki clarified.
"Ah, I understand."
Chiaki pulled on her leather dress and ran her hands through her brown hair. Ready as she could get, she pushed open the leather flap covering the doorway and went outside. It looked like Parker had brought his mate out into the village. As Chiaki neared the gathered group she could hear the female Eudora picking on the young female.
"Ha! You are ugly, covered in spots all over your face, you are too thin and too pale. You are probably sickly and that's why you don't have any mate marks!" The blond looked smug as she said this loudly. The two females went back and forth, with the males only watching. Until Eudora accused Bai Qingqing of being infertile.
Chiaki watched the verbal match, somewhat amused. Bai Qingqing was oblivious to anything about this world, but she had only just arrive in it and probably hadn't started asking questions. However the girl was getting off on the wrong foot with several people in the village. And gaining the romantic attention of others. Chiaki couldn't get too close to the whole event, given the amount of people gathered around the two and then there was another sudden uproar... about Bai Qingqing entering her breeding cycle. Chiaki face-palmed, the other girl had ignored her body and started her period, and started bleeding in the middle of the village. Parker had scooped Bai Qingqing up and rushed away with her before Chiaki had a chance to speak to her.
"Humph, and here's the other one." Eudora said snidely when she noticed Chiaki. She closed her eyes and tilted her nose up at her.
"Hello Eudora," Chiaki greeted while ignoring the comment, "I'm Chiaki, my mate and I came here from the Winged Lion Clan."
Eudora opened an eye and looked at Chiaki. This female had a mating mark on her shoulder of a winged lion in profile. "I'm Eudora." She said, then turned and walked away.
"Hi Chiaki, I'm Eve." Said another female standing near to her. "That's the least mean greeting I've seen Eudora give a new female."
"Bai Ching-ching probably was enough to make her not want to bother."
"Oh, you know Parkers female?"
"No, but I saw them interacting."
"Eudora can be pushy, she's the most popular female in the village and she knows it. Seeing the males all interested in Bai Qingqing has her hackles raised." Seeing as Eudora didn't have fur, Chiaki guessed the figure of speech applied to both genders. "But I see Eudoras point, Bai Qingqing does look a little odd, but she didn't have to be so mean about it. That's just Eudora though."
"Quite the pecking order." Chiaki commented.
"Pecking order?" Eve laughed. "What a funny bird-beast phrase. Did you spend time in a village of them?"
Chiaki shook her head. "No, I learned the phrase from older members of my family." Completely true, just they were talking about chickens and the women of the family being the same. Maybe not the nicest comparison. Now she was wondering if chickens existed in this world. Just like the lack of agriculture she hadn't seen any domesticated animals in either village. "I should go back to Key-ang before the males notice me and get me on Eudoras bad side too."
"Key-ang?" Eve questioned.
"Ah, my mate." Chiaki blushed. "I couldn't pronounce his name when we met."
"Oh, that's so cute!" Eve gushed. "So what is his name?"
"Qianhuang, chyen-huang. I can say it now, but I still call him Key."
"You must really love your mate."
"Yeah, yeah I do." Chiaki admitted.
