The noise from the bushes increased and out of it jumped out, a black cat as big as a dog, the cat looked like it was seriously wounded as it had a limp, this reminded Ava of the time George had a broken limb. Seeing that it was only a forest cat, known only for hunting and eating rodents, Kael and George were finally at ease.
Suddenly the black cat fell down unconscious, likely due to the wound it sustained. Seeing this wounded cat suddenly slumping down unconscious, Ava immediately felt pity for it and wanted to treat it.
But George and Karl were against it.
"This is the way of nature, the weak perish and the strong survive, this is the cat's fate, if the cat was meant to survive, it will survive even without your help, just leave it behind" Kael advised
"Moreover this wild animal might attack you when it wakes up" George said
"Or it might wake up and realise I am its benefactor. " Ava added in,
George still looked unconvinced so Ava continued "This cat is so pitiful, it reminded me of you when you broke your leg, and everyone was so eager to give up on you, if I haven't insisted, you wouldn't be alive today, I just want to help this cat just as I have helped you" Ava said with a pitiful and pained look on her face.
George after hearing and seeing Ava talk like this naturally couldn't keep on insisting and Kael remembering that he was the one that put George in that state, kept quiet as he did not want to bring up bad memories for Ava. In the end, they both agreed but insisted that they must be present with her when treating the cat, that way if the cat turns out to be aggressive, no harm will befall her and Ava of course, happily agreed to this.
In truth, Ava also hoped that she would be able to keep this cute Cat as a pet, back in her previous life, this type of cat was called the Void cat because of its dark shade of fur that usually caused different types of optical illusions, in the darkness one can only see the eyes of these cats, which can be scary but still, she had always wanted one. Now that the opportunity had presented itself she naturally wouldn't let it go. This black cat's fur was amazingly black like the Vanta-black colour which seems to absorb light. Looking at it feels like looking at a 2D flat object, it was hard to see the shape and contours. Anyway whether she can keep this cat or not would depend on the cat's attitude. Having already eaten her filled of roasted meat, Ava was ready to leave, George carried the wounded black cat and they left to their home.
______________________________
(Back at the Ember light tribe)
In the Emberlight tribe, Isabelle and Ethan had become the talk of the Tribe. Isabelle, a graceful deer beastwoman with wide, innocent eyes and dressed in a coat of soft, dappled fur , had been officially recognized as mated to Ethan during the mating ceremony where they were supposedly bonded under the Beast God's watchful gaze. They were supposed to celebrate with feasts of roasted wild boar and dance around the communal fire, toasting to their union as a symbol of harmony between the two clans but instead the sky was angry and thundered with an unexpected and unending storm that fateful day.
At first, Isabelle basked in the glow of her new life. Ethan, the sly fox beastman with russet fur and piercing amber eyes, had courted her with a charm that seemed straight from the legends. He brought her fresh berries from hidden groves, whispered sweet promises of protection, and shifted seamlessly between his human-like form and his agile fox shape to scout for dangers whenever she secretly went out to meet him.
But as the days turned into weeks, cracks began to appear in Ethan's polished facade. Isabelle, ever observant with her keen deer senses, started noticing questionable things—small at first, like his continued dealings with the stray beastmen, when questioned, he claimed he still hadn't paid them completely for the service they rendered them in getting rid of Ava. It didn't take too long before some females began to go missing in the tribe, they would create search parties to look for these missing young females but all attempts to find these missing young females would be in vain.
Then there was the incident with the lion chief Peter who was ambushed by stray beastmen while he was hunting, the lion chief succeeded in killing a few of them while other stray beastmen ran away but soon the lion chief fell ill, it turned out that he was poisoned during the fight. Isabelle really didn't care about the lion chief life and death because if he died that means she and Ethan can rule the tribe however they wanted without much opposition, she even knew that it must have been another one of Ethan's schemes since Ethan was the only person she knew who had close relationship with the stray beastmen. The rumor spreading in the tribe was that the stray beastmen were the ones who were kidnapping the young females of the tribe and that Ava was probably one of the first victims. The fox chief ordered people to stop any female from wandering off alone, and that cubs, especially female cubs, are not to be left alone unguarded.
More alarmingly, Ethan began questioning Isabelle about the tribe's females in subtle ways. "How many females are in the clan as a whole? Can you help me find out how many, I am just curious to know since we have lost a lot of females. Also when do they normally go out to bathe and which females have the least amount of males. be discreet about it, it won't be good if the tribe's people panic more" he would ask her during intimate moments, his tail curling around her possessively. At first, she thought it was curiosity, but when she overheard him muttering to himself about "valuable trades," she knew that he was trading females to the strays.
As more days passed, Ethan was now fully assumed leadership of the tribe and only had to answer to his father, the fox chief, whose aging eyes gleamed with pride at his son's ascent.
What Isabelle had begun to notice was Ethan's increasing absence from the tribe. As newly mated, this was the time when couples retreated to their caves, lost in days of passionate bonding to strengthen their union and invite the Beast God's blessing for cubs but instead they only mated on the day of the shaman supposedly blessed their union but ever since then and then the second time was when he wanted information on the whereabouts of the females of the the tribe, after these two times, he hadn't touched her ever since. All these disturbing issues pushed her curiosity to the brink. She could no longer stand it; the man she had chosen, snatching him from her sister Ava in a fit of ambition, was up to something. She felt that something was going on with Ethan and she had to find out what it was. What secrets are you hiding, Ethan? she thought, her wide eyes narrowing with resolve.
One evening, as the sun dipped low, painting the sky in bruised purples and golds, a light drizzle began to fall, misting the air with a cool veil. The tribe was settling in, fires crackling in the central grounds, but Ethan slipped away, his fox form, a russet blur vanishing into the woods. Isabelle's heart raced; this was her chance. Transforming into her deer shape for stealth, she followed him secretly, her hooves silent on the damp earth, the rain masking her scent and the soft patter of her steps. The females of the beast world do not usually turn into their beast form as it was hard for them to turn back immediately, it could take an hour or even days for some. Another reason females don't usually transform into their beast form is because their beast form was weak and most importantly females who have beast form, usually have very low fertility if at all any, but females who have no beast form usually have high or normal fertility, females who had no animals characteristics like animal ears, tails or nose where even more fertile, they were called complete females or even Holy females who are said to be favoured by the beast god and in this world, a females status is directly linked to their fertility, that is why she never dared to transform in front of anybody, not even Ethan. The first time she transformed was in front of her Deer beast father who immediately shunned her, he sternly ordered her to transform back to human form and luckily she was able to transform back immediately, she still remembered her father's word till date "Never, ever transform to your beast form in front of people, you must keep this a secret because if you don't, people will look down on you and you will never find good mates, even weak males won't want to have you. After all, which male wants to be mated to a barren female" ever since that day she had always felt inferior to Ava, who she was sure didn't have a beast form, shaking off these thoughts, she continued following Ethan.
The woods thickened, ancient trees twisting like guardians of forbidden secrets. Isabelle kept her distance, her ears pricked for any sound. Ahead, Ethan shifted back to his human-like form, his tail flicking as he approached a hidden cave mouth, shrouded in vines. There, waiting in the shadows, was a stray beastman—no, a fallen beastman. Isabelle's blood ran cold; she was sure of it. Fallen beastmen, cursed by the Beast God for their sins, bore pale skin stretched tight over bones, visible blue veins pulsing like rivers of decay. Some whispered they smelled like rotting corpses, a stench of corruption that clung to their fur. These figures were too far for her to catch their odor, but their gaunt, ethereal forms confirmed her fears—evil beings, banished from tribes for heinous acts, forever barred from the Beast God's grace.