"Key! You have a stripe!" Chiaki rushed over to Qianhuang and cupped his cheek that was now sporting a single golden stripe. 'He is so strong and didn't have a single strip yet?' She thought, then tried to recall seeing any male having a stripe in the Winged Lion Clan. She couldn't, she didn't know enough to pay attention for such things.
"How?!" Came the voice of the snake male behind her. "How could a no-stripe have withstood my aura?!"
Qianhuang moved himself between the snake and Chiaki. "I was the Winged Lion Clans Saint, protector of my people." He crossed his arms, standing tall.
"Ridiculous." The snake spat. "I should just kill you."
"None of that!" Chiaki huffed. She pushed passed Qianhuang and walked over to the snake. "No fighting with each other now! You just fought, leave it be." She started to gather up the unrolled snake skin and then tried to hand the messy bundle to the snake male. "Here is your shed skin."
He pushed it back towards her. "It is yours, a courting gift, I have no need of it... as long as you keep your promise."
She held the skin to her. "Alright. Tell me, what is your name? I'm Chiaki, and my mate is Qianhuang." 'I don't care what his name is.' Came from Qianhuang behind her, she ignored the outburst.
"My name is Curtis." He transformed into his fully male shape, his long red hair reaching his hips in this form. Chiaki glanced down over him, startled when she found he had two penises. Was that a snake thing? Was that a him thing? She jerked her eyes back up to his face. He was smirking. "Like what you see, female?"
"Chiaki." She immediately corrected him. "And I was surprised." Curtis chuckled.
The front gate into the village was crowded with leopard males, in both forms. None though moved to attack the feral male. They could see his four-stripe marking along his neck. No one in the village had four, no one in the village even had three. Parker had two, and a few other males did also. But most males in the village were either one-stripes or no-stripes at all. They knew they would easily be killed if they tried to attack the snake male. Most strained to hear what was being said between the feral and Qianhuang.
Qianhuang placed a hand gently on Chiakis shoulder. "Let's return to the village, I need to get you to the healer for all the scrapes this feral male caused you." He glared over at Curtis. Chiaki stepped towards the village, she'd be happy for something to rid her of all the stinging scrapes. Curtis quickly grabbed her wrist.
"What, you think I'll let you hide in the village?"
Chiaki looked at him like he was stupid, she couldn't help it. "You come too." She said pointedly.
"What of them?" He waved his free hand at the large gathering of males at the village entrance.
Chiaki twisted her wrist in his grip, not freeing herself, but instead allowing her to grasp Curtis back. She took a step, tugging on him to follow. He didn't, she took another step. Another tug. After a third step, their arms were stretched out between each other. This time she gave a sudden and much more forceful tug. Curtis took an involuntary step forward to keep form stumbling over. He heard the white haired mate of Chiaki try to hide a laugh with a cough.
Qianhuang couldn't believe his mate! She was actually letting this feral male court her?! Then he glanced once again at the four stripes on the snakes neck. He'd broken through to a one-stripe male out of shear desperation to save Chiaki, but one stripe was nothing compared to four. It had been luck and surprise he'd managed what he had during the fight. She must be doing this to save him, agreeing to mate the snake male in exchange for allowing himself to live. He was a failure as a mate, he hadn't protected her. He watched Chiaki try to pull the snake after her towards the village, and the sight of the other male nearly falling over from a strong tug was funny. He couldn't fully hide the mirth of watching his mate manhandle the feral beast like cub in trouble with it's mother.
"This is Curtis!" Chiaki announced after dragging Curtis about halfway to the village entrance. "I have decided to allow him to court me! He will be staying at my house in the village and will not be allowed to leave my side!"
Gasps came from the gathered males. The female was accepting a feral to court her?! She wanted to let him into the village?! Wait... did she just say he wasn't allowed to leave her side?
"What do you mean, I can't leave your side?!" Curtis hissed at her.
"You think I'm going to let you slither around the village unchecked?" She growled back at him. "You're going to terrify the whole population as it is! Of course I'm making sure you are never out of my sight!"
Never out of her sight. Always by her side. Curtis' eyes widened. Did the female truly like him so much that she couldn't stand the thought of him not being within her view?! A blush rose to his pale cheeks. He couldn't stop himself from reaching out to her and pulling her close once again. He gently cradled her against him. "What a loving female!" He said into her hair. "There is no way I would have found you with no other mates! Every male in the village must pine for you!"
It was such a sudden change in attitude that it surprised Chiaki. What was so nice about being his personal jailer? She stood there, stiff and not returning the hug. Curtis didn't seem to notice. He continued to stroke her hair and even rubbed his cheek on the top of her head until Qianhuang pulled her out of his embrace. "She's MY mate, snake! Remember you are only allowed to court her affections!"
With Chiaki no-longer on is arms, Curtis was brought back to the situation at hand. So many males had just watched him almost melt at the loving words of the female, they would probably try to attack him. Instead he was met by many surprised looks and mumbling. Without knowing it he had shown a level of devotion to his pursuit of Chiaki that calmed their fears over his motives. His courting gift was held in Chiakis arms after all. If he was always with her then he had no time to harass the other females of the village. None of them were about to trust him, but they would allow his presence... for now.
