Qianhuang felt something was wrong as he returned to the village with his kill. Some instinct hastened his stride to his home. He heard the cry of pain just as the house came into view. The female voice was Chiakis! His quick steps became a run. He was swinging the door open as another scream of pain ripped through the air.
"Chiaki!" He could see very little. Curtis was in his half snake form, his huge tail blocking the doorway into the sleeping chamber. He dropped his kill on the floor as it was forgotten in favour of his mate. "Damn it snake! Let me into the room!" The tail slowly shifted to give Qianhuang entrance.
Inside Chiaki lay on the bedding, sweat dripping from her brow as she laboured. The bedding around her hips was soaked a slight red. Curtis was at her feet, one hand resting on her knee. He had a worried look on his face, but did not seem panicked. His tail refilled the doorway as soon as Qianhuang was fully in the room.
"The water has come and her body is opening." Curtis stated.
"The cubs are coming?!"
"Yes."
Qianhuang quickly went to his mates side, taking her hand into his own. "Chiaki. The cubs are on their way. How are-" A cry from his labouring mate stopped his words. He looked down at Curtis. The other male nodded.
"I see the first cub sack." Qianhuang wondered how the other male could sound so calm as their mate screamed in pain every other moment. A sudden movement from Curtis had the snake male placing a hand on Chiakis abdomen. "Get behind her back and help sit her up some, she isn't pushing hard enough."
With Qianhuang steadying her and Curtis at her feet Chiaki was able to push harder the next time a contraction came.
"One more push like that!" Curtis encouraged.
"It hurts!" Chiaki panted, gaining enough breath to speak. "I feel so tired!"
Curtis rubbed her belly. "Just one more and this cub will be delivered."
"I'll try-" She cried out in pain again as another contraction rippled through her body.
"Push!"
Chiaki pushed, feeling like her body was ripping. Then it was done and oddly numb. She panted, desperate for more air. She took in big gulps of air. She looked at the wet mass in Curtis hands.
Curtis used his sharp fingernails to carefully teat open the sac around the cub. There was a gush of liquid. He rubbed the cubs back as it gasped in its first breaths of life. The cub was small, fitting into the snake males hand.
With the cubs airway clear Curtis placed it on Chiakis chest. She instinctively cradled the newborn with one arm. "My- my baby." She said softly.
Over her shoulder Qianhuang had wide eyes as he looked at his newborn son. His fur was wet and slicked against his tiny body, but it was white! His son had white fur! His son was born to be the next Saint of the Winged Lion Tribe!
Curtis though was gently pressing on Chiaki's belly. "There aren't- I can't feel any others." He said slowly. No wonder Chiaki had remained so small at the end of her pregnancy, there was only one cub. At least if there had been any other cubs they had been lost early on and there was nothing left to deliver.
"Only one?" Qianhuang questioned. While he was born a white lion his mother had given birth to three cubs that included him, his two brothers were a normal coloration.
Curtis nodded. "Just the one." His hand shifted, pressing harder. This caused Chiaki to cry out in pain.
"What are you doing?!"
"She still has the big sac that caused the gush of birthing water. She needs to deliver that before she can rest with the cub."
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Chiaki was resting soundly with her newborn on her chest as the sun rose the next morning. Curtis had taken the mess left over from the birth along with the soiled bedding leather and tied it all up into a parcel. As the father Qianhuang took the bundle into the forest and buried it deep enough no animal would bother digging it up. There was already several dirt mounds where other males had disposed of their mates birthing wastes. None of the covered holes looked big enough that a litter had been lost. With luck no male would have to bury their offspring this season.
He returned to the village feeling lighter than he had all through the cold season. His mate had survived the harsh cold season. She'd survived birthing his offspring and his cub seemed healthy! Qianhuang couldn't be happier at the moment.
Entering their home he found Chiaki awake, with Curtis palming her breast. Well that could sour his mood. However the snake male seemed to be doing nothing more than massaging the plump mound. Qianhuang pushed down his jealousy in favour of curiosity.
The cub cradled in Chiakis arm was latched to the other breast nursing. His mates face was red in a blush and the snake male seemed to have his bottom lip carefully caught between his teeth. As Qianhuang watched a small bit of clear liquid formed on the dark part of Chiakis breast. Curtis quickly applied more pressure, almost squeezing the flesh in his hand. Chiaki made a soft pained noise.
"The milk ducts are not fully open." Chiaki said as she winced. "Curtis is trying to force the milk through them."
Qianhuang sat down, angry that it was the snake that got to help their mate. He was also astonished with just how much the other male seemed to know about females and cubs. Where had he learned so much?!
The cub pulled away from his mothers teat, eyes still closed to the world, but somehow knowing that another was in the room. "My son has strong senses. Newborn cubs can't see or hear." Qianhuang said as his hand brushed over the cubs head. The cub tried to hiss. "He can smell me, though he doesn't know who I am yet."
"He tried to hiss at me too." Curtis said.
"Good cub." Qianhuang said. "I'll teach you how to hunt snakes when you get bigger."
Curtis snorted. The tiny fuzz ball would have been eaten by himself just after hatching. Qianhuang glared at the snake male. Curtis glared back at him. No longer feeling the presence of a hand near him other than his mothers the cub returned to nursing.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
The first day Chiaki felt ready to exit the house was the 'Day of Passing' for the leopard village. The day when the bones and bodies of those who had died during the cold season would be laid to rest.
In a graceful miracle no females had died during the Winter. However several had lost at least one mate, to starvation or sickness no one said. Others had lost cubs, be they one year old, two years, or three. Some had suffered the loss of newly born cubs, or loss before birth.
It was a sad and quiet day for the village. Few words were spoken over the freshly covered mass grave. Only that the dead were now in the hands of the Beast God.
Chiaki sat quietly away from the grieving members of the village, a sling cradling her cub to her. His eyes still hadn't opened, but his nose wiggled excitedly at the new smells in the fresh Spring air.
Curtis had left the village not long ago, mentioning to her that he had a surprise to bring to their home. She was curios, but her thoughts on the deaths of the members of the leopard village and the Beast God were at the front of her mind. She sat in the warm Spring breeze, under the mostly bare limbs of a tree. It's new green growth providing little shade this early in the season.
She really wished she knew if the Beast God had a plan for what was happening. So far she knew of herself, Ji Mo, and Bai Qingqing that had been transmigrated to this beast world in just the span of a few months. Was it common to happen? Did the Beast God just regularly send females from Earth to this world to keep the population stable? Why was the birth rate of males to females so drastically different? Was there anything she was suppose to do here?
She looked at her tiny son in his sling. Would she just have a life of a mother? She felt to independent to do such a thing. She wanted to go to the City of Beasts and speak to the leaders and elders there. She wanted to find out what they knew of the Beast God. Had other women arrived on this world before now?
She had so many questions and so very few answers.
There were gasps of surprise when Curtis returned to the village at midday. The huge bright red snake male was carefully weaving his way through the village gate, over a dozen woven reed baskets saddled along his sides. No one knew what they contained, but from the way their bottoms drooped it was evident that the baskets were filled as full as they could be filled.
The snake male ignored the many glances and those watching. Diligently he grasped the baskets one set at a time and deposited them inside the home belonging to Chiaki, himself and the winged lion male. As a snake his sense of smell was dull at best, but he knew the baskets only smelled of plants and would hopefully garner very little attention.
Once the final basket was removed Curtis transformed into his half beast form and entered the house. His full beast form couldn't fit through the doorway. Inside the house was now stacked up with the baskets he'd brought back from the plant eater village. One by one he arranged them around the edge of the room for Chiaki to inspect. His own knowledge of plants was sorely lacking, but he was sure his mate would be able to recognize anything that the herbivores at the village had given him. And if any of it turned out useless, he'd go eat one of their villagers in revenge. Perhaps one of those cowardly Sheep beast-men.
Qianhuang entered the house carrying that days kill, a large rodent like animal with a mild personality. He pause in the doorway, looking at all the new baskets in the main living space. "What's all this?" He questioned.
Curtis lifted his chin a small amount. "I bought it from another village, as a gift for my female."
Qianhuangs eyes narrowed at the other male. "Our female." He corrected, then continued. "But what is it?"
"They swear it is all safe to eat." Curtis said as he lifted the woven lid from the nearest basket.
"Those are sweet-potatoes!"
"So it is food?"
"Yes, back at the Winged Lion Village we just found this type of food right before Chiaki and I made our way here. You said that another village traded it to you?"
Curtis nodded. "Yes, a village of plant eating beasts."
"They would know of more food of this type than lion beasts or leopard beasts..."
"Key? Kurt?" Chiaki called from the entryway. "Are either of you home?" She pushed open the door. Stopping when she saw the room was now filled with woven reed baskets. "Huh? Where did all this come from?"
Curtis smiled at his mate as he slithered over and cupped her face in his hands. "It's the surprise I told you about."
She tilted her face to look at the baskets. "It is?"
"Yes!" He said excitedly. "I want you to look through it all! I traded a whole clear crystal for it at a village before I returned."
"They're full?!"
Curtis chuckled. "Yes, my wonderful female." He leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "Come see."
Quanhuangs grip on the animal he'd brought home tightened. If all those baskets really were filled with edible things then the snake-male would be seen as the better provider to their mate. "I brought home meat, I'll start cooking it."
Chiaki paused to look at the big animal hanging from Qianhuangs hand. "Oh my! Is that a Capybara?!"
Quanhuang looked at the animal. "I have no name for it, if that is what you call it then, yes?"
Chiaki nodded. "It does look like one. I've never though about eating one!"
"Hmm," Quanhuang thought for a moment, "Then I will grill this one, so you can taste it's meat more than flavorings."
"That sounds good!" Chiaki put her hands together. With a large smile still on her face she turned to the baskets and opened the first one, ready to sort though the multitude of plants Curtis had brought home.
The house was filled with the soft smell of the grilling meat. Chiaki sat on the floor, several baskets dumped out around her. As she sorted the plants with one free hand, she held her nursing cub to her breast with the other. "This is amazing! I wonder where those plant eating beast people found such a variety of fruits and vegetables! There is even rice and other grains here!"
"They grow some of it." Curtis said, remembering the fields of planted food he'd seen at a distance many times when he passed by the villages.
Qianhuang spoke up from beside the food he was grilling. "Few males risk growing rice, the work it takes to keep it safe and at the proper water level has caused many deaths. I'm not sure what the plant-eaters do differently that allows them such large harvests."
Chiaki hummed to herself. She'd have to see the fields herself to come to any real conclusions. Still, right now she would have to find a way of keeping all the food Curtis had procured. A large amount of it had simply been dried to keep it over the cold season. The grains were the easiest, all she needed to do was pour each type into dry jars and they would last until eaten. Storing each type of dried fruit and vegetable separately would also be good, so they would need more medium sized clay jars. The fresher items she'd just start adding into their meals.
Instead of trying to get up and move the food herself she pointed into the food storage room. "Kurt, can you take this basket of rice and pour it into the clean large clay jar in there?"
"Of course." Curtis said as he easily hefted the heavy reed basket into his arms and moved into the other room.
"How many empty clay pots do we have in there?" She called after him.
There was a moment with no answer, but the sound of the clay pots being opened and closed. "Most of them." Curtis said as he leaned back through the doorway.
Qianhuang frowned from behind Chiaki, upset that there was nothing left of their stored food. "We should both go hunting." Meat was needed to stay healthy, not just plants. And he needed to trade for salt. That would be a trip back to his home village. They should probably do that once the season began to change again.
Curtis looked at the other basket of rice. "Do you want that one put in a clay jar too?"
Chiaki nodded. "Yes, as long as it is clean and dry inside."
They took a break not long after the rice was put away. The meat was finished being grilled and Qianhuang watched in anticipation of Chiakis reaction to the food. Her eyes lit up in surprise with the first bite.
"It tastes somewhere between pork and fish!" She said in surprise.
"Heh, maybe we should call them water pigs then?" Qianhuan said with a smile at his mate. He was overjoyed. Chiaki liked the meat he had hunted! She liked the food he had cooked! "Here, have another bite!" He said as he picked up a small piece of the meat with his fingers and held it out.
Chiaki blinked for a second, not remembering the last time Qianhuang had hand fed her. She took the offered food. Turned as she was, she didn't see Curtis glare at Qianhuang. "The food is hot. You should drink this." He said as he offered her a cup of water.
Now Chiaki was completely off guard, Curtis had never attempted to feed her or hold her cup for her as it was. "Thank you." She said, trying not to feel weird as she took a drink.
This was the life of a woman in this world. Waited on hand and foot. Men always vying for their attention. It was not the kind of life she had been raised to expect. And it wasn't the life she wanted to grow too use to. She'd let them have their way, now it was her turn. Chiaki picked up her next bite of the meat before either male had a chance to offer it to her.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
"There's a lot to do now." Curtis said as Chiaki slept of the freshly replaced sleeping furs and grass bedding. The cub was asleep beside her in a newly woven basket, made by Qianhuang. Even it had a layer of soft rabbit pelts on the bottom.
Qianhuang nodded. The house was filled with half-full baskets and plants piled on skins, all separated out by type and ready to be stored in clay jars. Clay jars that he needed to make. It was going to be a long messy day at the lake-side.
Curtis had looked at the leftover scraps of food that had been stored before the cold season, most of it was going bad as the temperature continued to rise. He ate it without much pause, then cleaned out and dried the pots. His stomach would probably hurt for the rest of the day, but it was far from the worst thing he'd eaten to survive. It was better him than his mate accidentally getting spoiled meat. With the large clay pots clean and dry he was able to fill them with the rice, millet, and crabgrass. He knew rice, but the other two grains had been named by his mate. All he knew was they were edible, though Chiaki didn't know how to prepare them.
He was going hunting for birds, the ones that arrived with the changing season were distracted by getting a mate or withe the faster breeding ones, taking care of eggs. The short-winged birds were plentiful and their eggs even more so. If he had the choice, he would hunt those for his mate.
