Linda understood this very well.
It was like the case she had read about once, a man transitioning to a woman—someone who might have the qualities of a woman but could not give birth. So, was that really a woman?
That was exactly how she understood the beasts in the drawings.
She nodded slowly to herself.
It was a pity though that in this world women were rare.
Then her eyes drifted to the part of the wall where the rabbit had been close to the sack, just before it transitioned to a human.
She pointed at it, unsure, and Daku's massive form stirred.
He stood up, the shadow of his ears brushing the ceiling of the clay room. He pointed at the sack, then gestured for her to wait.
Linda felt her heart skip.
The effort he was putting into communicating in signs—the way she had been signaling to him all along and he was signaling right back—made her chest warm and her small paws fidgety.
Daku padded further into the darker recesses of the room.
When he returned, he carried three large carrots, tops and all, their orange flesh rich and vibrant, leaves a brilliant green.
Linda's eyes widened.
In all her time in this world, she had never seen anything but dried, withered leaves.
How could something so alive, so fresh, exist here? Were these carrots grown here? Did Daku have access to such things?
Her paws twitched in excitement, and she hopped forward.
But instinct took over—her paw shot out and pointed at one of the carrots. Usually, a rabbit's paw had three or four digits, but this time, she lifted just one finger out of the left paw, pointing at the carrot, then at the sack.
The meerkat's eyes went wide. "Daku! Did you see that? Did you see what she just did?"
Daku rolled his eyes, annoyed by his display of too much excitement ever since. But when he noticed that Linda had carefully raised a single finger, pointing precisely, his blue eyes bulged.
His large hands clenched around the carrot. How could she—?
His jaw tightened, and he let the carrot drop with a thud.
The meerkat leaned closer, voice trembling with curiosity. "How did you do that? Magic?"
Linda almost laughed, a small, silent twitch of amusement. She didn't even know how she had done it.
On impulse, she tried again, this time raising two fingers like the pose people made in pictures. It worked. She placed her paw on her cheek and tilted her head.
Cute. She looked utterly and ridiculously cute.
Daku stared for a long, silent moment, then finally turned his gaze away, facing the other side.
Linda blinked. She didn't understand why he was turning his head here and there, tsk!
The meerkat's eyes sparkled with excitement as he leaned closer and said, "You're definitely the one, aren't you? You're the special one, aren't you?"
Linda didn't know how to respond. She couldn't talk.
She couldn't ask Daku either where he had gotten the carrot from. So, instinctively, she tapped the carrot with her paw.
Daku's attention snapped to her, and he lowered himself to sit on the ground. His eyes followed her gestures carefully, then he pointed at the wall beside her.
He gestured again—pointing at the carrot, then the sack, then Linda, and finally at his mouth.
Linda tilted her head, confused. Did he… want her to kiss him?
She signed back, trying to respond that she didn't understand him.
Daku then tapped the carrot again, this time with his both paws, then pointed at the sack drawing on the wall and paused, as if checking whether she understood that much.
Linda nodded, pointed at the carrot, then at the sack. Showing she understood that the carrot as a symbol of that sack.
Carrots were what was inside the sack in the drawing.
Daku's expression softened for a moment, and he nodded in return. Then he pointed at her, then the carrot, and then to his mouth once more.
Suddenly, Linda understood.
The carrot on the ground was the same as the one in the drawing. The sack, the carrot—it was meant for her to eat.
She carefully held the carrot with both paws. It was enormous compared to her tiny size. She took a bite—just a small one—but the sweetness exploded in her mouth.
She had never tasted anything so good since she was reborn here.
She chewed slowly, closing her eyes, letting the flavor fill her senses.
Her cheeks puffed with tiny chunks of carrot, yet she didn't mind at all.
When she finally opened her eyes, she looked at Daku and, eager to share, pointed the carrot toward him.
Daku's eyes narrowed, and he shook his head, the look on his face almost disgusted.
Linda tilted her head, wondering why. She then nudged the carrot toward the meerkat. The meerkat stepped back, startled, as if she had offered him a dangerous object.
"You want us to eat this?" the meerkat asked. "Something we don't even know? No. Here, we only eat meat. We do not eat this."
Linda couldn't help but laugh silently. It was shocking, yes, but also funny.
She remembered, with a flash of amusement, her experience with the scales beastmen on Gaffer's skyship.
These beastmen, she realized, didn't even understand their own beast natures. And now she saw that even Daku didn't know that rabbits ate carrots.
She tried once more to push the carrot toward him, imagining how satisfying it would be if he tried it. If she had a voice, she would have said, "Try it, it's good!"
But Daku shifted back, his eyes flaring with annoyance at every little move she made.
Linda paused, realizing she would not force him. She was glad to have it all for herself anyway.
She nibbled on the carrot bit by bit, savoring every bite.
While eating, her mind wandered, imagining how she could find more carrots and bring them to beast-rabbits. She'd start a little trade, perhaps, even teach other beastmen the joy of such food.
Business ideas raced in her tiny head, though she had yet to even know her human form so how could start a trade with tiny paws and no voice?
And yet, in that blissful moment, her cheeks full, her stomach warming from the sweetness, she felt joy unlike anything before.
She glanced up, and both Daku and the meerkat were staring at her, their expressions a mix of astonishment and something she couldn't quite read.
The meerkat finally spoke, breaking the silence. "Indeed, she's a strange one," he said slowly, shaking his head.