Melted Snow

After all the snow finally melted, it was warm and sunny. The whole tribe was buzzing with excitement as all the females wanted to go out to play and the males were eager to hunt.

Iris quickly washed up and ate her soup, eager to feel the sun on her skin. Caspian knew Iris was excited and did his best to help her get ready. As it was still cold in the north regardless of the season, Caspian was sure to make Iris put on her hooded cape and boots for warmth. Otherwise, she put on a shorter white rabbit fur dress that showed of her long legs and arms.

Caspian wants to carry Iris in his arms as they leave the cave, but Iris insists on walking with her own two feet. She only allows him to help her when they finally reach the cave entrance as the way down is too dangerous. The rocky steps down have some broken spots and are very crude making it difficult for Caspian to feel comfortable with Iris walking down by herself.

When they finally make their way down the mountain, they head into the clearing before the forest. Holly is also out and about with her four mates and her eyes light up as she sees Iris. She quickly comes running over with a bounce in her step and her tail wagging from side to side.

Iris warmly greets Holly, resisting the urge to stroke her soft looking tail. Iris was always to tempted to pet Holly as if she was the family dog, but knew it would be impolite to do so. Sadly, Caspian's wolf tail was just not the same with it's bristly hair and hard center. Iris could only enjoy occasionally rubbing his soft pointed wolf ears and fur along his back when he was in his wolf form.

"It's such a beautiful day today, don't you think so? I'm going to enjoy the sunshine while my mates go hunting. Do you want to join me?"

Holly's chipper voice jolted Iris as she stopped staring at Holly's tail. Iris nodded in response as she replied

"I'd love to hang out with my best friend. The sunshine is definitely nice after being cooped up all season long. It'll be good to start looking for more produce soon too. We've nearly run out of everything in our house already. Feeding so many beastmen really took a toll on our food stocks."

A male voice interrupted the girls conversation as witch doctor Oliver stepped into view.

"Yes, but thanks to you and Caspian, much fewer beastmen died this year than any of the other years I've been in this tribe. It's really just a shame that more of the tribe didn't embrace your hospitality."

Oliver truly looked disappointed as he said this. It was clear that he truly did care about the welfare of his fellow tribesmen.

"Perhaps next harvest season I can convince the tribal leader to help organize the event. If we could get more food stores during the harvest season and more people to participate in the event, we could easily prevent more casualties."

Oliver sighed, he knew James too well. He did not like change and would not interfere in tribal affairs unless absolutely necessary.

"I'm afraid that's unlikely. Perhaps you will have more volunteers regardless since many were positively influenced by you. Well, I've got to get going."

Oliver walked away leaving Iris to watch thoughtfully. Caspian was beginning to feel that his little mate was growing too ambitious for his small tribe. He wondered just how much longer it would be before she would be requesting to move on.

Holly took the pause in conversation to happily chatter away at Iris.

"The first market is going to be held at the beast city later this week. Are you still going to be selling furniture there? I still want to be one of your first customers so you have to let me know!"

Iris took in Holly's excited appearance and could only smile. She was happy that she would already have a customer even if she would not actually be able to sell anything too big or heavy in bulk.

"We've got several articles of clothing, pillows, and we will be selling dishware. We might purchase some stone and collect wood to make some larger furniture, but the selection will be extremely limited on that each week. It's just far too heavy for Caspian to lug around by himself, especially while carrying me on his back."

Holly nodded in understanding, life was truly difficult with so few mates. Holly could only feel thankful that she had managed to acquire four decent mates, even despite her short comings. Holly then asked

"Are you going to join in on the beauty pageant next week then? A week after the snow melts, they always hold the festival in the beast cities. It's a great way to find mates and you're bound to end up with many admirers!"

Iris nodded to confirm she would be attending, which made Holly feel relieved. She would soon not have to worry about her friend anymore. Holly hoped Iris would accept several new mates this season so that she could be better taken care of.

Iris knew that most of the beastmen would no longer be interested in attending her weekly beasts with the warmer weather, but she was hopeful Holly would still visit. Thus she announced

"Since it is the rainy season now, I can start looking for honey, fruits, etc to make sweet desserts again. So you'll still come visit every week, right?"

Holly laughed at Iris's concern as she replied

"Why would I want to miss out on the weekly feasts you host? Even if no one else shows up, I'll definitely keep coming over. I'll definitely make one of my mates keep an eye out for eggs and honey for you. The pies you made before was sooo good!"

Iris smiled, truly happy to be visiting with Holly. She was certainly a foodie at heart but she was easy to please and not very picky. Perhaps it was because red pandas are omnivores, but she was much easier to please than the wolves who often refused to eat vegetables.

Other than when the veggies were cooked in soup with the meat flavor spreading to the rest of the food, they would not eat any vegetables served to them. Even Caspian rarely would eat roasted or sauteed vegetables when Iris cooked them. It was truly a waste of good food.

The rest of the day was spent happily chattering in the sunshine. Two of Holly's mates guarded them while Caspian joined the other males as they hunted. As the sun began to set, Caspian came back with a a large prey wrapped in a beast skin. He had already cleaned it and prepared it before returning to his mate. He knew she would be hungry and wanted to be able to quickly prepare food for her.

The soon returned to their cave and Caspian went to roast the meat with some potatoes they had leftover from the cold season. They had run out of just about everything else. Even seasonings were running low and would soon need to be restocked.