The market was just as full as Meng Li had said it would be, but instead of the meat and handmade items that dominated the markets in Highcliff the market here seemed to be nothing but fruits, vegetables, and cloth. Curtis hands Chiaki the bag of Spar that belonged to the family. "You knew I was planning a shopping spree, didn't you?"

Curtis scratches the side of his face. "Somewhat."

She laughs. "Okay guys." Eyes follow her as she enters the market proper.

~THUMP-THUMP-THUMP~

The nearest merchant was a large black hare with deep red eyes. He was in his animal form, but still stood taller than Chiaki when his ears were counted. "Hay! Beast fur cloth! Right from Little Leaf Village!" He called loudly, then thumped his foot loudly again.

"Wild greens! Wild greens!" Called the next merchant.

"Wild onion! Wild onion!"

"Tundra cotton! Best for your female mate!"

"Dry season sun seeds! Come get this delicious treat!"

Chiaki visited each market stall, asking prices and questions from each merchant. Every time she was offered a 'deal' from the male. Every time her mates let their auras flare. After the fifth time, the merchants further down the road had learned from the failings of the others.

"Okay, it looks like there are several food plants here that Huanhuan hasn't unlocked in her shop." Chiaki said as she waved her mates to huddle around her. "But as you saw, anytime I try to get a deal it ends up with a proposition." She sighed in agitation.

"If you sit on the shoulder of one of us, the weak males might behave a little better." Curtis suggested.

"I say instead of trying to get a price, I can go get the Bison hide to barter." Winston offers.

"Hmm, my item shop only updates with things I come into contact with. I wonder if I just offer a single clear Spar how much I could get at each merchant." She looks over her shoulder, only to see the few males nearest them were drooling over seeing her bent over slightly. She huffed and checked to make sure her skirt hadn't ridden up.

By evening they had traded for a bit of each available food. A small supply of cotton had also been bought, even though Chiaki herself used it more as a stuffing for leather padding instead of directly.

~Mama!~ Cried one tiger cub. ~Hungry!~

The cub pawed at her knee. They had more than doubled in size from the time they were born. Of course they now could see and hear, along with walk on their own. They had even started to use a few words in the tiger language. Hungry. She was sure if it wasn't for how easy 'mama' was to say, it would have been the first word each of them spoke.

"Hue." Chiaki picked up Bai Hu. As the cub nursed, she processed the new items into her box and back out again, before handing them off for Shuu and Winston to prepare. Though she pushed the pumpkin off to the side when asked if it was being added to the cooked vegetables. She was thankful that her mates had said the cubs were big enough to start being given bits of other food, it took a lot of pressure off her to feed them. The two youngest were still noticeably smaller than the other three.

After feeding the cubs, she joined in on the cooking, though she only got to cut the cucumbers. The fruits (one cantaloupe, one honeydew melon and one watermelon) were also sliced open to be eaten directly. And she directed Qianhuang on gutting the pumpkin and scooping out the seeds. It was then filled with the sweet potatoes and placed to bake in an underground pit. The pumpkin seeds were lain out to dry and would be toasted later. A large bag of 'sun seeds' she called Sunflower seeds was dropped into the item box for later.

Most of the vegetables that had been bought that day were roasted. Beans (identified as a type of crisp green bean), ears of sweet corn, eggplant, okra, several varieties of peppers, tomatoes (something she didn't think horses or rabbits could eat on Earth), along with a mix of wild greens and onion were roasted with a touch of salt used sparingly.

Kimba and Copper ate their dinners energetically. "I liked playing with the others here." Copper said, trying to make sure he spoke in the common language instead of the snake language.

Curtis raised an eyebrow at his sons words. "You played with the offspring here?"

Copper bowed his head. ~Not exactly.~ He hissed. "I stayed hidden in big brother's fur. But I liked being around them."

Chiaki smiled at Curtis, giving him a look. See. He gave a small nod. "That's good Copper." Qianhuang spoke up, saying the words Curtis couldn't yet say to his son.

New seeds were once again one-hundred for one clear Spar. However the volume she could get of any already grown food was less than what she got from the merchants for the same price. She guessed that was a way to keep her honest, she was here to innovate after all. What was the use of teaching her mates all these things if they were going to skip all the hard work along the way and buy the final product? She figured being able to by such things were for emergencies.

Though it also showed her products she wouldn't have thought about on her own. The red clover syrup for example. Out of curiosity she'd paid the high price of one clear Spar for it. Once in her hands she could use her identify ability to see it's information. 'Red Clover Syrup - A soothing liquid made by simmering four cups of prepared red clover flowers in two cups of water. Can be used to make more complex foods.' She sighed. It wasn't as impressive as she'd been hoping. The recipe was probably the real product this time. She could reproduce this item easily if she wanted. It was in a tiny clay bottle, she should aim to get glass production out into the world so she could get glass bottles.

"Is something wrong?"

"I just need to learn what is useful to us in the shop is all." She said knowing they would understand and would likely politely nod. She didn't bother checking.

The next day Chiaki was able to spend the morning teaching Kimba and Copper more, she showed them Arabic numbers and the Roman alphabet. This evolved into the basics of reading. "K- I- M- B- A, Kimba." She slowly wrote into the sandy area between them with a stick. "C- O- P- P- E- R, Copper."

The two looked at their names in confusion. "Why don't they start with the same letter?" Copper asked. "Yeah, they sound the same!" Kimba added.

Chiaki sat back, then began to explain how her language had been made. Quickly she realized this was too much. Maybe she should have Skye join them and only teach them the letters and numbers of the Beast World? With that thought she smoothed the sand where she'd been writing. "Actually, kids, you make a good point. Why don't you go explore and play for the rest of the day." She ruffled Kimba's fur and gave each a kiss in the top of the head. "Just don't leave the village, okay?"