"This—this is for me, meow?"
Spice pointed at the large pile of metal parts wrapped in silk, then pointed at himself, disbelief written all over his furry face.
The Ahtal-Ka tilted its head, pondering what Spice was trying to say. It then half-lowered its body and used its forelimbs to push the heap of metal parts in his direction.
"It really is for me, meow! A gift for me, meow!"
Spice wiped away the tears welling up in his eyes, overjoyed. He hadn't expected that a friend he'd only met once would actually prepare a gift for him.
Fortunately, he had also applied to bring a gift for the Ahtal-Ka this time; otherwise, faced with these presents, Spice would have felt terribly guilty.
"I've got a gift for you too, meow! But the Lady Rathians are very kind wyverns, meow, so don't fight them, okay~"
After earnestly reminding the Ahtal-Ka, Spice, seeing its calm demeanor, leapt up and waved his paw toward the two Rathians across the fissure.
With wary eyes, the two Rathians carried the large basket and, just as Logan had instructed before their departure, set it down before the Ahtal-Ka—then immediately took off into the sky, keeping a safe distance.
The Ahtal-Ka paid no mind to the Rathians' caution. Rather, aside from creatures that it sensed posed a real threat to itself, it rarely cared much for other beings. This mindset was strikingly similar to that of the Elder Dragons—perhaps a kind of pride inherent to apex creatures.
Peering closer, it saw a group of cats similar to Spice jumping out of the basket, each riding a Jagras. Inside the basket were neatly stacked, evenly shaped wooden pillars.
The Ahtal-Ka's eyes lit up. Glancing at the beaming Spice, it instantly understood that these were gifts the little one had specially brought for it.
Without the slightest hesitation, the Ahtal-Ka unceremoniously overturned the large basket, letting all the timber spill out. It then spat out silk threads, carefully wrapping each wooden pillar, examining them one by one with meticulous care.
"Ah~ such sharp edges, such perfect shapes, the size is just right—truly the pillar of my dreams!!"
Letting out a delighted series of chirping wyvern cries, the Ahtal-Ka grew fonder and fonder of these wooden pillars, which had originally been meant for building a cableway!
Little one! Good!!
Seeing that Ahtal-Ka had begun inspecting the wood, Spice finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed his guess had been right—this gift had indeed pleased his new friend.
Only then did Spice have the time to carefully take in the surrounding environment.
Inside the basin, many unknown pillars had appeared, each wrapped round and round with layers of white silk thread. Upon closer inspection, these pillars were all built from the scraps that had been sifted out of that pile of junk the last time, under Spice's assistance.
Ahtal-Ka, on the other hand, had used these pillars, along with newly gathered stones and wood, to transform the central area of the basin into a nest covered in silk webs—chaotic at first glance, yet somehow displaying a faint sense of order.
"Eh? Are these unwanted, meow?"
Soon, Spice noticed a torn cocoon beneath the web. Hopping over, he pawed at it twice and found that although the silk was a little dirty, it still retained remarkable toughness.
"Meow, meow!!"
Immersed in thought about how to make use of the new ruins parts, Ahtal-Ka was drawn by Spice's urgent cries. When it saw Spice struggling to drag the cocoon it had used for storing food, it looked momentarily puzzled.
"Meow! So heavy, meow! Why is this silk so heavy, meow!"
It wasn't that Spice lacked strength—but Ahtal-Ka's silk was fundamentally different from ordinary spider silk. Layer upon layer accumulated, and even though Spice had undergone Palico training and successfully graduated, it still wasn't easy to move such a large silk cocoon.
Accompanied by a rustling sound, Ahtal-Ka came up behind Spice. In the shadows, Spice looked up and released his paws. Under the tense gaze of the surrounding cats, Ahtal-Ka tilted its head in thought for a moment.
"Chiu-chiu~"
A lump of silk instantly wrapped Spice from neck to tail, leaving only his head exposed, turning him into a fuzzy little caterpillar. Chirping softly, Ahtal-Ka seemed to be explaining to Spice how that cocoon had come to be.
"No, meow! That's not what I meant, meow!! I wanted that thing, meow!!"
Wriggling on the ground like a cat worm, Spice looked on the verge of tears.
The nearby cats, witnessing this scene, were almost frightened out of their fur—they thought Spice had been attacked and were just about to draw their weapons and rush forward to the rescue when Steak stepped in to stop them.
"Spice isn't calling for help, meow!!"
On the way here, everyone had already agreed that Spice would handle the main communication. If he didn't actively signal for help, then no matter what happened, the other cats were not to rush forward, so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
Therefore, although Spice looked rather pitiful at the moment, Steak still restrained the urge to toss a Flash Pod over.
In the forest not far from the cats, the Admiral likewise held back Falcon, who had been about to charge out.
"Don't rush. These Grimalkynes have all undergone Palico training. They wouldn't just stand by and watch a companion fall into danger without taking action. That Grimalkyne might simply be using some special way of communicating with that unknown monster."
The Admiral's brute strength completely overpowered Falcon, not even noticing the latter's sharp intake of breath.
"I understand, Admiral. But… could you please let go of my shoulder first?" Feeling as if his shoulder were caught in some kind of iron clamp and unable to move at all, Falcon said helplessly while enduring the pain.
"Oh, oh—sorry!"
The Admiral quickly released him; he had indeed gotten a bit too anxious and hadn't controlled his strength properly.
Releasing his hand with a slightly apologetic look, the Admiral took out his notebook and began sketching, abstractly comparing Ahtal-Ka's appearance as he drew.
Meanwhile, after unbinding Spice, Ahtal-Ka seemed to understand his meaning from the cat's frantic gestures.
This little thing appeared to have taken a keen interest in that cocoon! Thinking back to its mother's nest in the Wildspire Waste—where the young Ahtal-Kas would often amuse themselves when bored—Ahtal-Ka felt as though it suddenly understood.
Cutting off Spice's explanation with a wave of its forelegs, Ahtal-Ka began spinning silk toward a nearby branch. Round and round, it quickly produced a huge bundle.
When Ahtal-Ka broke off that branch wrapped thickly in silk, like an enormous cotton ball, and placed it in front of Spice, the cat's eyes went wide.
"That one's dirty. This new one's for you to play with."
Indeed, the toys of young Ahtal-Kas were none other than balls of silk!!
Staring blankly, Spice could only gape as Ahtal-Ka tilted its head, then, without giving it much thought, turned around and dragged the pile of wood the cats had brought back into the forest. It had a few new construction ideas that needed immediate testing—there really wasn't much energy left to play guessing games with this little creature.
Watching Ahtal-Ka walk off into the distance, Spice couldn't shake the feeling that the other had somehow misunderstood something. But forget it—anyway, the most important task of this trip was to collect enough white silk thread. He had originally worried there might not be enough, yet now, looking at the spherical cocoon hanging from that thick branch, more than 2 meters in diameter, it had already far exceeded their initial expectations.
"Hurry, start collecting, meow!"
Realizing this, Spice immediately called out to the other cats.
Soon, as the cats took out their specially made gathering knives, they began cutting through the silk thread and loading it onto the Jagras' backs, which then carried the bundles into the upright large basket.
In less than half an hour, even the torn cocoon nearby had been loaded into the big basket.
Having finished all this, the cats were nearly exhausted.
Though in this world, cats of such small size possessed remarkable strength, half an hour of intense work still left even these formally trained cats feeling quite worn out.
Yet despite the discomfort of their physical fatigue, their eyes still shone brightly with the joy of having overfulfilled their task.
Forcing himself to climb into the large basket, the equally weary Spice glanced once more toward the forest, where Ahtal-Ka was still tinkering with something and hadn't come out. Taking a deep breath, he meowed loudly a few times, but seeing that the other seemed absorbed in its own world and didn't respond, Spice felt a little disappointed as he leapt into the basket amid his companions' calls.
Circling high above, the Rathians that had received the cats' signal dove down, expertly grasping each end of the large basket. Amid waves of wind pressure, they lifted the basket and soared into the sky.
These two Rathians knew well that this trip was related to those Fire Wyvern eggs, and thus didn't dare delay for even a moment, pushing their speed to the limit as they flew toward the Ancient Tree.
As for the Admiral and Falcon still in the forest—their orders were to bring the group here, not to escort them back.
Watching the Rathians gradually turn into black specks in the sky, the Admiral and Falcon exchanged looks.
"Well, it's come to this. Let's just stay here and carefully observe this unknown monster for now."
The Admiral took it in stride, while Falcon could only twitch the corner of his mouth and agree.
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