Beastmen: She Tames the Land-Chapter 51: It smells so good

The morning air was crisp and clean.

Visha woke up to the sound of people moving around.

She didn’t expect to be able to sleep as deeply as she did. But here she was, with everyone moving around her, and she was the only one still sleeping. She felt a little embarrassed at the situation.

After last night’s fight and fun, she didn’t expect to see everyone out and about.

She sat up. It seemed they had come from hunting. Willa was playing with Kit and Nimo. Visha smiled.

It seemed like such an ordinary thing, but seeing them going about their lives as if nothing happened showed her the resilience of the people on the Beast Continent. Fighting was both a way of life for them and a matter of survival.

She had been here for six months. The fight with the giant millipede was the first time she had realized that this world was different. Now, with the fight last night, she realized how truly different it was.

She wasn’t afraid. Every fibre of her being was itching for what was to come. Whatever it might be, she was willing to see what would happen.

Amidst the bustle, there was one silent person. Cato. He sat with his back against a tree, his gaze far away.

He thought of the battle last night. He was proud to fight alongside everyone. But when the exhilaration of battle ended, he was left by himself. He hadn’t thought of what would come after. Such a natural thing for their kind could not be granted to him now.

His mind turned to Heta. Had she been here, he would have been able to satisfy himself. To be a part of the celebration of a battle well fought. He remembered the way she would lean in to him when she felt happy. The humming sound she made when she was content.

Even when she would pull his ear when she was angry with him. The memories washed over him. He watched her face after drinking the tea. She looked peaceful. He couldn’t help wondering if she was doing well without him.

But it was my own choice. The choice to follow Uri, Xeno, and Visha. The choice to be a part of the Warm Pack.

Even when his mind told him he shouldn’t leave his partner, he still left. Something was brewing inside him. His instincts told him that he needed to go with them. Something was pulling him closer to them. He felt that only by being with them could he find that purpose.

Cato pushed himself to his feet, no longer reminiscing. He looked at the people he had chosen. A smile appeared on his face.

This is where I belong.

The days that followed fell into a predictable pattern. The Warm Pack followed the small river they had found. They hunted during the day and kept watch at night. There were occasional fights, but none so large that they warranted everyone fighting.

The person on lookout would normally deal with it.

It has been almost 2 weeks since they left the Tiger tribe. The rustle of the tree and the gurgle of the river have been their steady companions. Using Commune, Visha has been able to find more roots, plants, and herbs than ever before. All of which she put in her system space.

One evening, as yet another monotonous stew was boiling over the fire, Visha groaned.

"Tomorrow, I’m making something else. No more stew. If I drink anymore I’ll start to sweat soup water," Visha declared, hands on her hips.

Willa laughed as she watched Visha. Chi nodded sharply, as if agreeing with Visha.

"It’s efficient. It doesn’t take long, and it fills us up," Xeno said, rubbing her hair.

Visha turned to him, crossing her arms. "I don’t want it," she huffed. She knew she was acting like a child, but after months of the same thing, anyone would get tired of it.

She looked at the river. They had been walking beside it for a while. She could see the fish. Estimating from their size, she would say they were about twenty pounds (10kg), and that was on the smaller end of the spectrum.

She pointed to the river, "We’re following a river. I have been seeing fish swimming around. We can catch one. I’ll make a roast fish."

"Finally!" Chi screamed, tugging Krag’s arm, asking him to go catch fish.

Visha looked at the faces of the others. They didn’t seem enthused about eating fish.

"Do you not eat fish?" Visha couldn’t help asking.

"It’s unpalatable," Uri answered.

"It tastes like mud," Xeno responded.

Everyone else gave varying degrees of answers. But the general consensus was that they do not like fish.

"How do you normally eat them?" Visha asked.

Willa answered, saying, " We’ve tried twice. Once the priest made a fire, and we put it in the fire. Another time, we ate it as soon as it came out of the water."

"Did you take out the innards? Scale it? Cut the gills?" Visha looked around, hoping to get an answer from someone.

Seeing the look on their faces, she knew they hadn’t.

"You take the innards from large animals. Why didn’t you think about taking it from the fish?"

"It’s so small, why would you take it out?" Fil answered.

Visha couldn’t help staring at Fil. She looked back at the river, and the fish were idly passing by. Is this considered small?

Then she realized she was in the Beast Continent. She remembered the animals they caught and realised that compared to those, the fish were indeed small.

"Catch some. I’ll show you how to make it taste good."

Xeno saw how determined she was. He shifted into his massive tiger form. He crouched at the edge of the river. Waiting until a fish was close enough, he stretched out his paw, claws extended, and scooped up a silver-scaled fish from the river.

Krag, whom Chi had dragged to the river, sat there. He didn’t transform; instead, his fingernails grew to resemble claws. He fished out a silver-scaled fish as well.

Uri noticed Krag’s transformation. He didn’t say anything. If anyone else saw, they didn’t say anything either.

Only Kit and Nimo ran towards him, staring at his hand in awe. "Brother Krag, are you a partial shifter?" Nimo asked.

Krag shook his head, showing Kit and Nimo that he could change at will. Everyone stood watching him change his claws back to fingers. He flipped his palm, showing it to the children.

"Can you teach me?" Kit asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Krag ruffled his hair, "I can’t teach you. But if you follow you, brother, you’ll be able to learn sooneror later."

Kit grinned, turning to stare wide-eyed at his brother. He didn’t say anything.

Xeno, still in his tiger form, licked Kit’s face.

"Brother, you have to remember to teach me," Kit glanced at Nimo. "And teach Nimo too."

With that, he ran off to play. Waiting for the day his brother would teach him.

After they ran off, Xeno shifted to human form. "Krag, why did you tell him that I would teach him?"

"Because you will," Krag said while shrugging. "Just because you haven’t learned yet, doesn’t mean you won’t know eventually." He regarded everyone standing nearby, "You’ll all learn one day."

He didn’t continue to offer any more wisdom.

This wasn’t the first time Krag did something like this. He would say something cryptic, then go off to do his own thing. The reason they didn’t question it was because they knew he wouldn’t answer.

They also knew they could beat him if they tried to fight.

They didn’t feel anything malicious from him. Even he, himself, said he wasn’t there to harm them.

Despite their doubts, they continued fishing. They caught one for each person.

"Now, I’ll teach you how it’s done." Visha rolled up her nonexistent sleeves. She quickly gutted the fish, scraped off its scales, then washed it in the river.

Everyone watched her expert handling.

She had them find sturdy sticks to skewer the fish. Chi found two for her and Krag. Bringing them to Visha, she batted her eyes, waiting for her to roast the fish for her.

Visha shook her head amusedly.

"The way you reacted earlier, I would think you already know how to cook fish," Visha teased.

"I do know how. But I think you would do it better than me. Last time I tried, I almost burnt the fish to a crisp. Gigi ate it. But even if I put poison in front of him, he would drink," Chi rolled her eyes as she said it, but her voice was filled with obvious fondness.

"Yes, your gigi is the best," Visha laughed softly.

The first time she heard Chi call Krag, Gigi, she couldn’t help laughing. Now she has heard it enough times to ignore it. Sometimes, she wondered if she should find a nickname for Uri and Xeno. She shook her head, shaking the idle thought away

She told them to make a fire. It would take a while to roast everyone’s fish. They couldn’t make the fire too big for fear of attracting attention with the smoke.

Visha took out the seasoning she found while they were travelling. She found some wild onions. She still had ginger from winter. She added a salty plant she found to replace the salt stone and a peppery herb. She crushed them and smeared them over the fish.

The tantalizing smell drifted around the campground.

The first fish went to Kit and Nimo, who couldn’t stop making sounds of contentment. It made the adults who hadn’t easy swallow while looking at the next fish being prepped.

The next hour was a lesson in greed.