Curtis found himself in a new position. Chiaki was initiating mating every day, sometimes several times. Out of curiosity he finally asked. "Why are you wanting to mate so often? I'm not against this, of course!" He added quickly.

Chiaki chuckled. "Kurt, I'm fertile and you want me to get pregnant. The more times we have sex, the better chance of that happening."

"I've just never heard of a female being so... demanding." He said as his cheeks reddened.

"I'm human, not a beast-woman. Trust me, some of us can be more sex driven than you males. I like sex, I enjoy it." She paused. "Plus, after getting use to my first child having the form of a lion I don't have any reason to think I wont have the same connection to a child that has the form of a snake."

"Snake sons are different, they will... try to replace me, it's in their nature."

Chiaki frowned. "I guess nature verse nurture isn't something that's been studied in this world." She shook her head. "Tell me again how it works."

Curtis coiled his tail, then pushed himself towards the window of the room. It was midday, a dry and hot day at that. "Snake males are born with all the memories of their father up to the point of conception. If raised by their mother, they stay far too attached to her and will fight both their brothers and father to become her mate... because that is what those memories say they are. It's best to raise young snakes for a short time and then chase them far away, so they don't become competition." He was looking out the window, his elbows resting on the sill. Chiaki had proven herself to be strong minded and he spoke freely and frankly about the issue.

Chiaki joined him at the window, placing an arm around his waist. "How long does a snake male take to become an adult?"

"Depending on their strength, fifteen to twenty years."

"And you don't think they can gain enough of their own memories to have their own personality in that many years?"

"I-" Curtis paused to think. Could you impress upon young snake males their own self above the memories they were born with? He didn't know. Typically a feral male like himself only got one chance at offspring, with their mate dead for various reasons and them killing themselves in grief shortly after, leaving the young to fend for themselves. Genetic memory allowed the young to survive without parents. "It's too risky."

"I take it you mean too risky for me. Because I can't see a boy who just gained a human form being much of a fight for you with your four-stripe status. Do you?"

Curtis snorted. "No, I doubt I have to worry about any sons I have just after they have matured."

"So, you worry that one of them would force me to become mates with him?"

"Yes, you couldn't fight even a no-stripe male."

"Hun, Kurt-" Here Chiaki playfully pushed him with her shoulder. "Males are mostly to good hearted to do anything like that. If you think any child of yours would end up forcing me to do anything, you might want to look at your own personality. Would you force me to do anything, like take you as my mate?"

"Of course not!" Curtis blurted out. Then he stopped. Actually, he had been planing to kidnap the female who had taken his shed skin... but Chiaki had turned that plan on it's head. "Actually, I tried, didn't I?"

Chiaki nodded. "Yes. But." She trailed off, waiting for him to finish the thought.

"You, you-"

"I talked you out of it." She filled in, seeing that he was just missing the right words. "And I think that any child of yours, raised as an individual by a family, will be just as intelligent. They will know the difference between false memories and their own."

Curtis would have to think about it. Chiaki seemed able to alleviate his fears with her rational thinking. Was it an irrational fear? He was the strongest snake beast he knew of, a four-stripe male had the status of a king of their kind in most cases. He could dominate other feral snake males, so wouldn't his own young be a matter of teaching them? "You think we could teach them differently from what the memories tell them?"

"I think not even trying to would be a horrible thing to do to your sons."

Curtis looked at Chiaki's flat belly. They had been mating for several days. Was she already pregnant with his offspring? There was no way to tell so soon. Of course he desired his mate to bare his young. A daughter, a rare female child he could spoil. But sons? Snake males that would be turned away and forced to live a feral lifestyle? Chiaki's words made him wonder if cold blooded beast-men had been given a bad reputation by others. He loved his mate, wildly and passionately. He would do anything for her. What in that was any different than the way Qianhuang loved her?

Curtis turned to face his mate, Chiaki's arm sliding from around him as he moved. "Alright, I will try." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

The wind outside gusted for a moment, sending their mixed scents around the area. Below the open second story window of the house the short-winged birds pecked obliviously at the ground. Passed the low stone wall a few hopeful young males still paused each day. Unnoticed by the lovers one male looked up to the window as the scent entered his nose. Today was not the day to approach the female. Her mate had her attention.

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

Kimba ran wild with the older cub of the Winged Lion Tribe. Once they got over the idea of befriending the new White Lion Saint, they found he was just like them. Learning to fly, learning to hunt. He couldn't cliff dive yet, because his feathers were still growing in. But that didn't slow him down in any of the other fun games. He could bite and claw as hard as the rest of them. He could run and climb and swim just as well. The whole group of them were a terror to the adults of the village.

The Matriarch laughed as she watched the group of cubs causing chaos for the adults. They weren't actually doing any harm. Maybe making things a little harder for whoever they were near. Oh to be young. She shook her head, as a female child she hadn't been allowed to rough-house with the other children. Now as the leader of the village she had great fun in chasing the Lord Priest with her staff. No one was going to tell her she was too delicate. They might try to tell her she was to old for such shenanigans, but no one mistook her for weak.

She turned her attention to another. Ji Mo, the female that had been brought to their clan by the Beast God. It had taken time, a great deal more time than the older female would have liked, but Ji Mo had taken a mate from the Winged Lion Tribe males. She had also somehow tamed Amos, from the Winged Tiger Clan. With the Peacock male Skylark also devoted to her, as he tried to win her over. She had hoped Ji Mo would only take the males of their clan as mates, but the heart of a female would lead her true.

Ji Mo though had yet to fall pregnant. The Matriarch worried. She knew of Ji Mo and Chiaki's unique heat cycles, so Ji Mo's lack of a pregnancy after so many cycles was odd. Kimba was proof of Qianhuang and Chiaki being successful in their pairing, and Qianhuang had confessed the reason for his visit was multi-layered including his desire to not be around while Chiaki tried for offspring with her second mate.

Perhaps she should try boosting the chances of more cubs this coming year. Maybe hold a party for the village, parties were a good way to put couples in the mood for mating. With all the advances Ji Mo had given the Winged Lion Clan and the Winged Tiger Clan both groups were looking at an easier cold season than any they had ever been through. More pregnant females meant more cubs born at the end of the cold season. Less hardships during the cold season meant a better chance of those pregnancies going well.

"Matriarch, you look like you are plotting something." Lord Priest said as the male walked over to her.

"Maybe I am." She responded.