A New Life In The Beast World

The next morning Serena took Kiro to Wilma’s hut after breakfast. It lay a few huts away from the village center and was pretty easy to find despite Serena never being there before.

The others had already arrived by the time Serena got there, making them the last to show up. However, it wasn’t by very much. After letting Kiro run off to play with the other cubs, Serena chatted with the rabbit beastwomen for a bit.

But she soon left, having a few things to do today. The first being to check on Merinda. Once she had gone to see the rabbit beastwoman, it was off to the river to collect some clay.

Because it turned out there was a way for her to make clay jars without the need for a kiln. Of course, the clay jars wouldn’t be as great as the ones fired in a kiln due to the lower temperature, but for now it would work.

Her goal right now was to process the clay by the river and experiment with making clay jars. She needed to test if the river clay was the right kind of clay for making pottery.

Because as it turned out not all clay was the same.

Honestly, she was a little glad to have gotten that book and that she decided to skim through it last night. She learnt that her knowledge was vastly limited compared to what she thought initially.

When she got to Healer Kai’s hut, she found that Merinda had already returned to her home and was recovering there. Seeing as she was well enough to move back home, Serena decided not to keep Theo waiting.

After all, the tiger beastman was interested in helping her with her new idea. And she wasn’t going to say no to his help. The whole thing was pretty labour intensive and she wanted all the help she could get.

Walking to the village entrance, she found Theo leaning against the fence with a basket strapped to his back. He quickly spotted her as well and straightened up the moment she got to his side.

"Ready to go?" Theo asked, getting a silent nod from Serena.

"Yes. Let’s get moving." Serena responded.

And with that the two headed for the river. A guard nearby waved at them, giving them a warning about heading out as they left. It was a pretty common thing that the guards did whenever someone left the village now.

Because raids and desperate beasts were always the highest risk during the cold season when things were scarce. Sure they had traps now, but one could never be too careful.

Especially when the ones attacking usually had nothing to lose. The worse kind of enemy to have.

After the two felines acknowledged the well meant warning, they continued onwards. It was a quick walk to the river, specifically the spot where all the clay was.

They quickly got to work collecting the clay, spending most of the morning by the river. By the time they were done, they were covered in dirt.

"I think I’m going to take a quick dip in the water before all this clay dries on me." Serena mused, glancing down at her clay encrusted hands.

Even her fur dress was covered with small pieces of clay, making her handful that she was wearing an older one. She had clothes in her subspace, so a quick dip in the water wasn’t too bad of an idea.

She could easily change as needed. The only problem was where they were. Anyone could easily walk past and see her basically skinny dipping.

Something she wasn’t exactly keen on. Serena would need to head to the small canal where the rabbit beastwomen usually bathed for privacy.

"Where the beastwomen usually bathe obviously." Serena added quickly when Theo’s jaw dropped at her words.

Theo couldn’t believe she just said she’d go bathing in the river with him around. Was she not concerned about privacy? Thank goodness, she was clear about where she was going to wash up.

The tiger beastman coughed, taking a moment to compose himself as the back of his neck went red.

He then said, "Right.. We should probably get cleaned up... Though we’ll need to make something warm afterwards, so you don’t get a cold."

"A little cold water won’t kill me." Serena murmured.

She did understand his precaution, getting something like a cold in the world was bad. Sometimes a death sentence. But it also still felt weird to be so overprotected.

Perhaps this is what Kiro feels like... Serena mused to herself before she said, "However, I get your concern. I’ll be sure to make it a quick one... I even have some clean clothes to change into... You remember the cold season clothes I told you about. Well, we can put them on afterwards to keep warm."

"I think that’s a bit much... Those clothes are for very cold weather." Theo stated. "Just make it a quick one. Some warm tea afterwards should work."

"Fine." Serena nodded her head in understanding. "But we better make this quick. We need to start making lunch soon."

The tiger beastman nodded in agreement and the two headed to the bathing areas of the river. They soon parted ways, Serena promising to meet back up in a few minutes.

When she got to the water, she knelt down and dipped her fingers into the cold water, resisting the urge to shiver at the temperature. She quickly scrubbed them clean before retrieving a towel and some clean clothes.

She then stripped and got into the water, hurryingly washing off all the clay on her body. She also scrubbed down her dirty fur dress, planning to hang it to dry when they got back to the village.

Once she got all the dirt off her body and dress, she got out of the water. A cold wind blew as she stepped out of the water, making her shiver and she quickly dried herself before throwing on a clean dress.

Theo was waiting for her by the time she got back to their meetup spot, drops of water dripping off his hair. She shook her head at the sight, retrieving her towel.

"Bend down." Serena ordered, stopping in front of the tiger beastman. He silently did as she told him and she wiped his hair down with the towel. "Why did you get your hair wet? Are you trying to catch a cold?"

"Not really..." Theo murmured, his heart thumping way too loudly.

He was trying not to show it, but he secretly liked it when Serena got like this. It made jumping into that cold water to get his body adjusted to the temperature quickly all worth it.

"I guess it’s my fault for not giving you a towel in the first place." Serena murmured softly. She then took a step back and asked, "Are you wet anywhere else?"

"I’m fine. The sun dried me just fine." Theo coughed, averting his gaze. "We should get going."

"Fine... But you better not get a cold because I’m not taking care of you." Serena stated, sending the towel back into her subspace.

Theo knew her words were a lie, but acted like they weren’t. Besides, it wasn’t like it was that easy for him to get a cold. His immune system was quite strong as a five-striped ranked beastman.

It would take a lot more than some cold water to get him sick... Though getting sick might not be so bad. Serena definitely got soft around weak things.

Serena eyed the tiger beastman for a moment, feeling concerned about that blank look he was giving her. But she just shoved the thought down, believing it was just her imagination going wild.

Soon the two were heading back to the village, going straight to the hut. Theo set down the clay inside the hut for them to deal with later before getting to work on lunch.

They were making stew again because Theo wanted them to have something warm in their system. Granted he made them both some tea beforehand too. Not that Serena minded too much.

Prevention was better than treatment after all.

Once the stew started cooking, Serena went to check on the wild birds to see how they were doing before heading to Wilma’s hut. When the rabbit beastwoman spotted her, she immediately noticed the clothes change.

"Perhaps I should do this more often." Wilma winked at Serena. "Give you some alone ti-"

"We just got dirty from getting some clay." Serena stated, ending all misunderstandings Wilma had before they took root.

Wilma pouted, "You’re no fun... Anyway, we’re back at the village center tomorrow. Emma’s doing the next play date in two days’ time."

Serena nodded her head in understanding, saying goodbye to the other rabbit beastwomen. She then headed back to the hut with Kiro in tow, lunch almost ready for them when they returned.