Qianhuang touched down in the Leopard Village and quickly made his way to the home of Parker and his human female Qingqing. Kimba scrambled off of his head as he carefully rested the giant salt pots on the flat ground outside the home and started his transformation.

"Mister Parker! Miss Qingqing!" The cub called as he clawed at the door. He didn't know why is father had stopped here, but he remembered when he was so small that his mother carried him in a basket, it had been in this village. It wasn't clear memories, but even at a young age, cubs quickly learned the scents of the adults around them.

Qingqing opened the door, looking at the cub in confusion. "What?"

Kimba puffed up his chest. 'It's me Kimba!' He meowed, forgetting that unlike his mother, Qingqing wouldn't understand him.

Qingqing blinked down at the large cub meowing excitedly at her door. Why was there a lion cub at the door? Where had it come from? She glanced further out in the yard, seeing the male just finishing to tie his wrap around his hips. The young human girl pause as she recalled the male. It had been five- maybe six months now. Had he and her friend Chiaki really moved so long ago already?

"Parkers mate, Qingqing." Qianhuang greeted with a nod of his head. "Is Parker here?"

"Um-" Qingqing hesitated. "He went out to hunt." She gripped the edge of the door, her watery eyes looking down at the village. She always felt uncomfortable when alone with any of the beast men. Without Parker around always loudly declaring her as his and his alone as a mate, she still had males propositioning her.

"Then is you I must ask this." Qianhuang said as he lifted Kimba up. "Will you watch my cub and possessions until I return?"

"Father?!" Kimba chirped in surprise.

"What? Why?" Qingqing was confused.

Qianhuang shook his head, he didn't want to voice his fears and upset his cub. "I need to go someplace quickly. It may not be safe." He added the last part in a softer tone.

Qingqing looked at the cub, most of the women in the village were quick to keep their young close to them and because of this she only really got to spend time with Eve's little ones. Without another thought, the girl nodded. "Of course!"

Kimba squirmed uncomfortably as the small female took him from his father's arms. Miss Qingqing was almost to small to hold him! He must have grown a lot! Still he turned to his father. "Why are you leaving me?" He asked, starting to become upset.

"It's okay Kimba." Qianhuang said as he brushed a hand over his cubs head. "I'll be back as soon as i can, then we will go home."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Qianhuang took to the sky. He wished he had felt he had more time to explain, to both his cub and the female, but he could feel how weak his connection with Chiaki had become. Only moments ago she had flared her use of the energy stored in a mating bond... and now she felt like a quickly dying flame.

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

"So this really isn't Earth?" Huanhuan whispered to Chiaki.

"I've been here almost a full year." Chiaki said back. "I don't think they have a proper name for their world. At least I haven't heard anyone use a name for it."

The two quietly conversed, ready to switch subjects the moment Curtis said any of the other men were getting close to the building. Bai Di, Langzhu, and the other wolf tribe males were busy, either hunting (in Bai Di's case) or calming the village after Curtis's 'small' rampage.

Curtis twitched and Chiaki froze. He nodded. There was another approaching Langzhu's home. After a minute the door was pushed open, the setting sun highlighting from behind the form of Bai Di as he stood in the doorway, a dead boar slung over his shoulder.

"Healer Langzhu said you should eat. I brought you a wild pig." He was ignoring Curtis, who bristled at the white tiger male.

Chiaki bit her lip, this was going to be a rash decision. Curtis had stated she should get another mate before the cold season when he would be forced to hibernate. Though he'd scoffed at the abundant gathering of young stripe-less males that had paraded around in the street outside their home. Bai Di did have a stripe, one on the left side of his abdomen. It was a black stripe though and she might be mistaking a random tiger marking. Did those kind of marks appear on tiger males in their human form? She wasn't sure. Bai Di though seemed older and more confidant in his abilities than the no-stripe males in the City of Beasts. "Curtis can show you how I like my food." She said evenly.

Bai Di's ears stood right up! Had he heard her correctly? Did this mean she was willing to let him court her?!

Curtis made a face. Why did she have to chose another flea-bitten cat? Not that he would like any male she chose to mate with besides himself. Still this would mean that the lion didn't have her all to himself this cold season. And that meant that her attention would be divided and Curtis himself would loose less standing in the overall hierarchy of her mates.

"Take your kill outside and skin it." Curtis ordered. He then ignored Bai Di as he stood and leaned down over Chiaki. He kissed the top of her head. Then ran a hand through her hair. A power play, to show the tiger that Curtis was the favourite male here.

With a grunt Bai Di headed outside, annoyed at the display. Stupid feral snake, he'd probably kidnapped Chiaki and forced her to mate with him. That was probably the real reason he'd found her naked and alone, she'd been trying to run away. But the snake had caught up to her and as much as Bai Di wanted to fight more, he was more concerned with Chiaki collapsing twice in one day.