Winston and Curtis glanced up to Chiaki as she ushered Kimba and his younger brothers onto the family property. There wasn't a fence or wall here, just urine marking the boundaries. She looked shaken. Seeing this the two men rushed to her side. "Is something wrong?" Winston asked as Curtis gathered her in his arms, checking if she was hurt or smelled of any unwelcome males.

"I'm fine, physically." She said as Curtis was raising her arms and looking. "Just a little shocked is all." She tried to calm them.

"What happened?" Curtis said, pulling her into a hug, he could feel her heart was thundering in her chest. "Did some male frighten you? I'll eat him." He said roughly.

"No, you don't have to- eat anybody." She stressed. "Kurt, you're starting to coil." Curtis loosened his tail, having transformed instinctively to coil around his mate and protect her.

Winston was holding her hands, his shaking more than her own. "Are you sure you are unhurt?" He asked softly, a tinge of fear still lacing his words.

"I'm fine, really." She watched as they slowly began to relax.

Kimba took this moment to walk over to Winston and stand up on his back two legs, placing his front paws on the man's chest. "Papa Win! I surprised mama!"

Winston, his hands pulled from Chiaki's because of the cub getting between them looked down at the happy cub. "You surprised your mama?"

"He transformed and hugged me." Chiaki said, sounding surprised at recalling it in her mind. "Guys, he's only like two! Why can he transform?!"

Curtis hissed, eyeing the cub. Why indeed? "How long did he hold this transformation?"

"It was only for a second. I didn't even get a clear view of what he looked like, he was in motion and it happened so fast." She admitted.

Winston grinned, though Curtis couldn't understand why. "That's three years younger than the first time I pulled that on my own mother."

Kimba's tail thrashed side to side as he listened intently to the adult tiger. "Really?!"

Curtis frowned. He'd never transformed at all until the time he changed and was able to stay that way at will. If he remembered correctly, didn't the lion say something similar about himself? Was the tiger saying this was normal for non-feral young? "Then it's normal?"

Winston looked over at the snake. "It depends on the family. And some say the younger a male is when they achieve their first transformation indicates how strong they will be as adults. But that's just an old story. I transformed young and became the youngest four-stripe in Highcliff City, but my brother who became the Tiger King was also four-stripes and he didn't transform until ten years of age for the first time."

Curtis nodded. Chiaki let out a big and loud breath. "Thank goodness." She hugged Kimba. "I don't want my baby growing up so soon!"

Kimba turned and put his paws on his mothers shoulders. Then he licked her cheek. "Love you, mama!"

"I love you too, my surprising cub!" She said and kissed the top of his nose. He dropped to all four feet just in time not to sneeze on her.

"Mama!" He whined.

All three adults laughed. Seeing their older brother getting so much attention, the five tiger cubs crowded around their mother, begging to be held and kissed too. Copper peeked out of his brothers fur and upon seeing they were heading into the house he raised up to be seen. "Don't forget me!" He called in the common language. Chiaki scooped him up and let him drape over her shoulder, his tail wrapped gently around her neck to allow him to hold on as she bent over and picked up one of his younger brothers.

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

Harvey puffed a sigh of relief at the sight of Little Leaf village. He'd arrived in Dark Ice village only to find that the family of Chiaki had headed further south. He knew it was an option. However the black snake scale bag slung over his shoulder was more heavy than it's actual weight. The scroll held within was stolen from the Darkmoon Temple by Huanhuan's snake mate, Sang Ye, and only after Chiaki had left the Rock Mountain village had he woken from the coma of the cursed bone blade. Harvey hadn't seen what was written on the old scroll, but the female Huanhuan had begged him to take it with him when he left to join Chiaki.

Join Chiaki. Harvey blushed at the thought. He'd spent some time wishing for the female Qingqing to take him as a mate, but Parker had gotten in the way any time he tried to make his desires known. Then before he could wrap his mind around everything that was happening she'd been lost to him at the city of beasts. He didn't even know everything that had happened there, just what he had seen and what the others who survived had said. In his mind he hoped for her survival, but knew he would never see her again. It had left a pain in his chest to know that.

He wasn't sure of the proposal from Chiaki, it had been in the heat of the moment. Still, even after she'd given birth and her mates had also calmed down, she hadn't retracted her words. She was in her rights to say it had all been under duress and that would be the end of it. Langzhu had said to get to know Chiaki better and even after they had been apart these past few months Harvey found himself liking the idea of the female who at least seemed interested in him. No other females seemed to view him as a prospect for mate. He was a healer yes, but that meant he spent less time being a hunter... and he lacked even a single stripe.

Qingqing and her soft personality had seemed like he might have a chance. She didn't care about stripes, or feral status, or any of that other stuff most females wanted. And he didn't care if she couldn't have children or if she had a face covered in (fake) spots, he wanted to feel wanted. He could accept being the lowest male in a big family. He was willing to be with a female who couldn't or wouldn't give him offspring. So he hoped... maybe... just maybe... Chiaki would still want to consider him.

Harvey adjusted the bag on his shoulder. He was nearing the village now. Chiaki and her family would have stopped here because of the rain that came with this season, wouldn't she? He had to believe that. That it hadn't been her just leading him on so her mates could learn a little about healing plants. That they really had came this way and would be waiting... for him.

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

After the greeting by the rabbits of Little Leaf, Harvey felt slightly better. He'd gotten confirmation that Chiaki and her family had settled in the village and planned to stay until the cold season ended. In fact, if the directions he'd been given were correct, the almost completed house up ahead was theirs.

The day was overcast and cool, Chiaki was sitting outside with Curtis and Winston who were satisfied from being the only two males in the family that had been at home for nearly a week now. Having her all to themselves at night. She was in the middle of tanning the Tonpiza hides, while Curtis and Winston were working on things for the house that didn't require the wood that they were waiting on to be brought home.

Kimba was playing with his younger brothers and a group of rabbit children that seemed to spend more time at Chiaki's home than their own. Copper was sunning himself, not achieving much due to the cloudy weather. The rabbit children seemed to have accepted Copper as just another cub, perhaps because they seemed to have zero fear of his father Curtis also. The adults around the village seemed to be a little less open but had not caused a fuss over either snake beast.

Curtis notice him first. An annoyed but resigned sound in his hiss at the arriving Leopard male. "You finally caught up. Sadly." He said to Harvey.

"I did." Harvey replied, trying to keep the calm like healer Langzhu had taught him. He was a healer and shouldn't be so intimidated by the males of the female he wanted to mate.

Chiaki turned to see him, staying seated were she was. "Harvey!" She greeted warmly. It was a lot easier to be welcoming to the leopard when there wasn't half a dozen glares aimed his way. "Is Langzhu alright, what about Huanhuan and the rest of the Rock Mountain tribe?"

Remembering the scroll he needed to deliver, Harvey quickly dug it out of the bag that was made from Sang Ye's black scales. "Huanhuan was insistent I bring this to you." He said handing over the yellowing scroll. "Apparently, her snake mate had it with him... from the Darkmoon Temple."

As soon as Chiaki touched the scroll, a blue screen popped up in her vision. 'Quest update: Revive the Beast God. (Main Quest) Reward: Unknown. Status: Ongoing. You have received an item of importance to the main quest. Open it to gain insight into what happened to the Beast God.'

Chiaki waved the notification away, looking like she was simply waving away a small insect in-front of her face. Her mates had learned the motion meant she was looking at her divine powers, but it was a simple unremarkable movement to anyone else. She grasped the scroll and re-cracked the wax seal, unrolling it.

The writing was-

The world around her swirled into darkness, she faintly heard her mates yell her name. Then nothing.