"You mean you eat these?" Skye said holding out a tiny plant.
"It's wood sorrel, I know it looks like the clover, but it's taste is completely different."
~HUUU~Ruuummmbllllle~
The ground under them vibrated. The tiger cubs began crying out. "What's that?!" Chiaki said as she shook.
"It's a long tusk gargantuan beast." Shuu said. "They roam the open plains."
Chiaki winced as the sound tapered off. "Where is it?!"
"It's probably far from here. The sounds it makes can travel great distances."
A gargantuan beast. She'd never seen one before. She'd had a few described to her before, they sounded like dinosaurs. "So, we're safe?"
Shuu nodded. Skye though was still on high alert, now sitting on the top of the stone rib above them. Shuu remained nervous too, but took Chiaki to the edge of the woods to relieve herself when asked.
"See the World." Chiaki said, happy she could freely use the ability while the others were out still. She wanted to know something.
Looking at the stone jutting out in front of her, the screen at first came up a jumbled mess. ' # $ % & !' Then it flickered, reading: 'Beast God's Ribs - The remains of a titanic beast that once lived in the ancient ocean. The bones are fossilized and are now rock, though a slight power remains within them. There may be more to this location than meets the eye.'
This pipped Chiaki's curiosity. So they really were the remains of something that was once alive. Just not the Beast God. And what did the description mean they still had power? More to find?
She pulled a bone knife from one of their travel baskets and tried to chip away at the nearest stone ribs. The knife broke, not having even left a mark. Shuu placed a hand on the place she'd struck. Then he dragged his claws roughly down the same surface. There was no mark.
"This is why The Beast God's Ribs are the safest place to rest. No beast can harm them. Even if the gargantuan long tusk did wander here, it wouldn't come near them."
Chiaki ran her fingers over the spot she'd seen Shuu claw. There wasn't even the thinnest scratch left behind to feel. "Amazing."
"Hey! I see the others on the horizon! Looks like they took down a big animal." Skye called from above.
"Quick, Copper!" Chiaki scooped up her snake son.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
The animal turned out to be something resembling a Bison. With it the group would have fresh meat for the rest of the trip to the horse village and wouldn't have to hunt again on the way. The male to bring down the beast was Mu Dai, who Chiaki had found out wasn't a four-stripe like she had thought when she'd seen him. He just had jagged white lines on his face in both humanoid and wolf forms. No wonder the wolf village hadn't been too worried when he had left with them to go south.
She wasn't surprised when he offered the pelt to her as a gift. As the male that dealt the killing blow, it had been his prize. She told herself it was because she was the only female with the group. Jiu Ruan and Shuu both encouraged her to accept the gift. Another wolf mate would place them as the most liked kind of male in their eyes.
She accepted the Bison pelt and made a show of 'placing it' in one of the large baskets her mates carried, while she secretly opened the Item Box in the opening of said basket, storing the hide there.
Jiu Ruan said. "You should take more gifts. The hunting was so much easier with this many males, no one had to worry about being hurt!" This many males as Chiaki counted was her own five mates who had been with the hunters, and another dozen males easily.
"No more weak males!" Curtis bit back. "She shouldn't have to deal with males with less than two stripes already! Anyone weaker than that would be useless!"
Chiaki sighed as the two squared off. Tensions were running high again. As they moved away to fight she only watched them go. Several of the other males followed to watch.
"Aren't you going to stop them?" Qianhuang asked.
"Aren't you?" She responded. "No, Rue is only at a single stripe and Curtis knows killing one of my other mates is forbidden, I'm guessing egos are what will have the most damage done to them."
Qianhuang gave a good natured huff and picked Chiaki up into his lap. "These evenings remind me of when we first met." He nuzzled her face, kissing her cheek softly. "While I agree more males mean more protection for you, I still long for the times when we were still alone. Before anyone besides the white tiger tribe knew you existed."
Chiaki kissed him back softly. "I remember a male who kept forgetting his own language around me those first few days." She teased.
Qianhuang blushed. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"It's okay, you were smitten. I love you too."
"And I love you."
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
"Me! Me! My turn! I'm big enough to carry mama on my back!" Kimba bounced around the males pleading with them. "I'm as big as papa Skye!" Until Skye got his first stripe, Kimba had actually been outgrowing the panther male.
"You have to be very careful." Bai Di said sternly to the large cub. "Your mother isn't like carrying a sack or basket."
"I promise!" Kimba said with big eyes. "The village would see how strong I am! Mamas cub!"
Shuu and the other wolves from the Rock Mountain village had announced that they would spot their destination shortly after they broke camp that morning and they would be there before nightfall. Now Kimba had suddenly wanted to be the one his mother could spend the day sitting upon. Eventually the males conceded to the cubs pleading.