A second fire was started and the birds plucked and set to roast, along with the vegetables that had been gifted to Huanhuan. Langzhu found himself overseeing the small feast. The two females were entertaining four (FOUR!) of the young males from the wolf tribe! If only he could help them along, but he knew getting too involved could cause problems.

"Thanks for offering the fruit and veggies, Huanhuan." Chiaki said as she took a bite of what looked like a purple skinned apple.

"How could I not, when you added the birds to the meal for everyone?"

The males looked a little more uneasy. Huanhuan might not have any mates yet, but Chiaki had two here that were intimidating. The wolf tribe knew Bai Di fairly well and was considered a male no one would want to get into a fight with. The rumours about the red snake feral had spread around the village, so sitting at a fire and sharing a meal with him set them on edge.

"Here, try it!" Chiaki pushed the fruit into Curtis's face. With a blink at the sudden movement he immediately took a bite of the offered food. His nose crinkled up at the flavor. He was a meat eater and a fruit or vegetable not paired with meat tasted off to him.

"You can eat it." He said once the bite of food was swallowed.

Chiaki took another bite. "Still, you tried it." She said, smiling around the fruit.

Bai Di watched the interaction between Chiaki and Curtis. The snake male was cold towards everyone and was obviously not comfortable with so many others around him and his mate. Still the standoffish response did not seem to bother Chiaki. He watched as she at half of the fruit, when suddenly it was under his nose.

"Bite?" Chiaki asked.

She was offering it to him too? Well, yes... he was her mate, but wasn't she closer to the snake feral? Offering him her food- Bai Di opened his mouth and took a bite from the fruit. It was crunchy and tart. "It's good." He offered.

"Hm. Are these common around here?" She asked the males fawning over Huanhuan. She didn't know who was who, they hadn't introduced themselves to her directly. Thankfully neither seemed so drawn in that she was ignored.

"Yes actually." One replied. "My father often gifts them to my mother and showed me the trees."

"That's so sweet!" Huanhuan said, causing the male to blush and his ears to flick back and forth quickly.

"I can collect a bunch for you before we leave." Curtis interupted.

"Are you really going to leave so soon?" Huanhuan asked her.

"We have to get home and prepare for Winter." Chiaki said.

"Winter?" Langzhu spoke the word in confusion.

"The cold-season." Chiaki supplied.

"Ah, I see. Yes... the cold-season will be arriving early this year I'm afraid." He looked at Chiaki. "Are you sure you will make it back in time?"

"The city is only a few days travel away, Curtis says. The flood washed us downstream faster than I could ever travel by foot. Even Curtis made it here faster because he too was pushed by the waters."

Langzhu sighed. Well one out of two wasn't bad. "I understand."

Chiaki shook her head. "I don't want to leave our home empty for too long," she frowned as she thought about the short-winged birds trapped in the yard, "plus I have things I need to check on."

"Here, the outer meat is cooked." Curtis said as he sliced a piece of deer off the cooking animal with a bone knife. It was hot and he caught it on a wooden platter.

Chiaki took in the scent of the cooked deer meat. It was different from pork and chicken, even from the smell of beef. It had been roasted over the fire with minimum herbs and spices, probably only some salt. Still it made her mouth water. She took a bite, burning her tongue in the process. "Ah, ha-ha-ha." She puffed through her mouth, trying to cool it.

"Don't burn yourself!" Curtis quickly pulled the platter away, worry in his eyes.

"Um-good." Chiaki said around the food.

"Let it cool!" Huanhuan laughed.

Chiaki swallowed it. "My fault!" She said with a laugh of her own.

The others joined in on the laughter. Curtis nodded to the cooked vegetables and Bai Di scooped a bowl of them for Chiaki, setting them next to her to begin cooling. Huanhuan found herself being catered to by the three wolf tribe males, each getting her one of the different food items. Jiu Ruan brought one whole bird over from the second fire and offered it to Chiaki. Langzhu was happy, this was exactly the kind of thing to bring new couples together! Perhaps he should mention holding a village wide feast to their young leader.

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

Both cooking fires had long burned out by the next morning. The happy festivities had lasted well into the dark hours of the night. Chiaki found herself curled up against Bai Di in his fully transformed state, the large white tiger asleep as well. Curtis was next to her, his head in her lap, his arms around her hips, a leg thrown over her own. He roused as soon as she moved.

"Good morning, Kurt." She said as she ran a hand through his long red hair.

"Good morning." He stretched, leaning up to steal a kiss from her first thing. "If that old wolf is right, it will be getting colder soon, we should get back to our home."

"I know." She said softly as she herself stretched where she lay. Fur was always so soft to lay against.

"G'morning Chiaki!" Huanhuan called from the doorway. "Did you all really sleep out here all night?"

Chiaki chuckled. "Of course," she patted Bai Di's side, "I was plenty warm." She pushed herself up into a better sitting position. "So full, I think I ate too much last night." Bai Di rumbled softly beside her, a tiger laugh. "Awake too?" She said as she turned to look at him.

"Now." He yawned.

"Okay, we better get moving." She said as she got up, even though she wanted to stay curled up against the warm fur. A quick trip to the sand pit. Then gathering up the second set of clothes. There wasn't even scraps left of the food from the night before, just a deer skin and loose feathers. "Hey, Huanhuan! Here, I want you to have this." Chiaki held out the deer skin to the younger woman.

"Hm? Oh, thank you. But why?"

Chiaki shrugged. "They're useful."

Huanhuan took the offered deer skin, then blinked. "Huh? I just got a pop up from Xiao Ba, saying to collect three more hides for a reward."

"Odd, I've never been given any kind of quest. I guess our Voice's have different methods of doing things."

"I guess." Huanhuan said softly. Then she shook her head, as if to remove the image over her sight. She frowned at Chiaki. "You will be back wont you?"

"Of course!" Chiaki said immediately. "It wont be until after Winter though. Winter is pretty rough, so we need to get prepared." Suddenly she surged forward and hugged the other. "Be safe okay?"

Huanhuan hugged her back. "Yes, I'll do my best!"