Curtis slithered into the plant eater village. The males cowered in fear. The females hid inside their homes. An elder male and female walked up to the snake male. "I am the Matriarch of this village, what does a feral male have to do with us?" She said roughly.

"I came to trade, that's all." Curtis said.

"And what are you wanting to trade for?" The Matriarch asked in curiosity.

"My mate likes food other than meat-"

"Mate?! I see no mate! A feral would never let a female out of sight." The male beside the Matriarch shouted.

Curtis thrashed his tail. "My mate is in the Leopard Village east of here, with her other male. I don't have to trade with you if all you will do is accuse me!"

The Matriarch looked sternly at Curtis. "Fine. I believe we have tested your nerves enough. What have you brought to trade?" Curtis pulled out a single clear crystal, one of the three now in his possession. He held it out for the pair to see. The males eyes widened and the Matriarch nodded. "This is good, a fine clear crystal. How much do you want?"

"As much food as I can carry in one trip in my beast form." Curtis said.

"Let me see you. Transform!" The Matriarch barked.

Curtis shifted from his half beast form into his giant snake form. Both of the plant eaters took a step back in fear. "This is my full size!" Curtis said as he rose up off of his belly, his head easily seeing over the tops of the village houses.

"Matriarch!" The male yelped.

"As you can see, I could easily devour many of you, but I only seek to trade for things my female wants." Curtis hissed.

"Indeed." The Matriarchs voice shook as she spoke. "I think with the food stores left over from the cold season and the fresh early plants, we can cover what you ask from us." She said slowly. "It will take... two days, to gather what you want."

"Fruits, vegetables, grains." Curtis hissed. "A mix of all would make the best choice."

The Matriarch nodded. "That will make it easier, but not any faster. Is this good?"

Curtis bobbed his large head. "This will do."

"Fine." The Matriarch said sharply. "Now transform back, before you give half the males in the village heart attacks!"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Curtis carefully slid down into the hole he'd dug months ago to hide from the villagers. It had held up somewhat over the cold season. With a sigh he slithered back out into the night and towards the lake.

After spending the night weaving grass mats to cover the dirt floor of his cave hole, he was able to place the dozens of reed baskets filled with edible plants into dry safety. He'd have to see the environment of the village between the end of the cold season and now. The food might not be meat, but that wouldn't stop the desperate males trying to feed their families.

At dawn he reentered the leopard village.

Qianhuang notice Curtis slithering towards their home. He'd been gone from the moment the cold season started to end. He looked worn out but if he'd been injured he was already healed. He knew the snake was alive, with Curtis' mate mark still on Chiakis thigh. He'd returned now and Qianhuang was curious as to where the other male had gone in such a hurry weeks ago.

"Curtis!" Qianhuang called, but hew was ignored by the other male.

Curtis slithered through the village with only one goal, to find his mate and present her with the fruits of his labour. With two clear crystals and all the food he'd traded for his mate would be taken care of from the heavy-rainy season clear through the hot season, maybe longer.

He pushed open the front door to their home. "Female?" He asked glancing around.

"That's what I wanted to tell you." Came Qianhuangs voice from behind him. "Our mate is playing with the other females." He sounded slightly out of breath from chasing after the fast moving snake male.

Curtis gave Qianhuang a quick glance, then without a word headed to find his mate once more.

Qianhuang growled at the brushoff. Stupid snake hadn't even thanked him! In a huff he transformed into his beast form and took to the sky. The hunting was slowly getting better as the season warmed further. He'd go hunting to get rid of his anger- and bring his mate fresh meat to eat! Whatever the snake male had done, it obviously would get Chiakis attention and he wasn't about to loose his spot as her favourite!

Chiaki wasn't the first one to spot Curtis coming over, the startled gasps from Eudora and Eve bringing her attention to her returning mate. "Curtis!" She called standing from the place where she'd been playing with Eves cubs from the year before.

Curtis swept Chiaki up into his embrace, a large smile on his face at seeing his mate for the first time in weeks and having hardly seen her during the cold season.

"You're back!" She said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Yes. My lovely female, I missed you." He kissed her.

Behind her she could hear soft chuckles from the other females. Being a snake feral Curtis often frightened the females of the village, but seeing him act just like any of their own mates when they returned from prolonged times away caused the females to calm down instantly. Curtis was cold to everyone but his mate, but he wasn't so frightening when he was with Chiaki.

"Where have you been?" Chiaki asked when the kiss ended.

Curtis ignored her question. "How are you? Are your cubs okay?"

Chiaki places a hand on hew swollen abdomen. "I- Harvey says that everything is still okay. It's been four months now, maybe a little longer."

Curtis hugged her to him, frowning into her hair so she couldn't see his worry. "You should be resting."

"It's only a short walk from out house to here. I was stuck inside all Winter! Plus, Eve and Eudora are helping me learn about taking care of cubs."

Curtis nodded. He looked at the other two females, who quickly looked away and pretended to be in deep conversation. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little achy from how I slept last night. We should change out the wilted winter bedding grass for fresh."

Curtis' eyes widened at her words. "You are hurting?" She might be starting into labour! "Let me take you home. I'll get fresh bedding and food."

"Hmm, I'm not actually very hungry."

Curtis was sure of it, Chiaki was going into labour. He needed to take her to their home and get her laid down. "Then just fresh bedding then." He said, turning away from the other females and beginning to slither towards their house.