Chapter One Hundred And Ninety Eight - The two of us become four

The sleek black adolescent Coeurl gave the two-legged creature who stank of dog a look of disdain as two bowls were placed into the animal's territory. It made no move to eat the glistening chunks of fatty meat, watching without blinking the two-legged creature as that attempted to coax it's nest mate into eating. Well, it had to be said about the two-legged creature, it was less offensive to the eye than some of the others that brought offerings of sustenance, despite its smell. Others looked upon it and the cub with unpleasant eyes as if seeking to either subdue them or befriend them as if they were pets or domestic beasts of burden. As if they were prey.

The two-legger sighed, ignored by the cub, who lingered within the bedding area and finally left their territory. Only then did the adolescent consume a mouthful of meat. It was juicy and without gristle, but still with enough bite for it to work it's teeth well. It swallowed contentedly, before glancing over to the sleeping place. There was a loud growl that suddenly emanated from it.

The Coeurl bent its neck once more into the bowl, while voicing its opinion; You still insist upon this foolishness? The cub said nothing, but its stomach roared once more. Was it not you that suggested to not eat and to be weak was pointless stubbornness?

I didn't say that, the cub retorted. Frankly, it didn't recall that day which the adolescent Coeurl was talking about. It's memories about that time were hazy, though it was vaguely aware that the older beast was not its natural nest mate. It sighed, it couldn't even recall the scents of its siblings anymore nor its mother.

You implied it. The cub refused to respond, so the adolescent did not bother to carry on the conversation, instead chewing on mouthful after mouthful of the piled meaty chunks. It licked it's lips from time to time as if to enhance the feeling of satisfaction it was receiving from having a full stomach and sure enough, that angry, uncontrolled growl sounded once more. Are you now going to come and get something to eat? The older Coeurl asked, slightly testily. Finally, the cub emerged from the sleeping space, looking down, its long whiskers drooping and dragging its paws, dramatically.

Indeed, although the two-legged persons had been worried about the cub not eating, in the wild it would have been trying to fend for itself by now and not necessarily succeeding. And in between good hunts, it would have been surviving upon the layer of fats it grew under the care of its mother. Only once those fats had been used up would it be in danger. At that time, it would have learned to become a great hunter or... while its mother was no longer around, the cub had still built up the layers while under the care of the two-legged persons. The older Coeurl had felt it's hidden weight when the cub curled up against it at night, thus it knew those creatures had fed the cub well.

The cub reached the bowl and poked out its pink tongue to lick the oil upon a particularly glossy chunk, but it still felt uninterested in the food. Just like that two-legger had been uninterested in it. The cub sighed and flopped down before the bowl, lazily chewing the one piece of meat in its mouth. The adolescent just rolled its eyes and proceeded to clean its paws instead of indulging the silly cub.

Suddenly, the cub's nose twitched, it's elongated whiskers began to wiggle about. It glanced upward and sniffed again. A shiver of excitement trembled through its body and it rose to its chubby paws. This movement caught the attention of the older Coeurl, who stopped its grooming to see what the cub was about this time. In unison, their large, rounded ears flickered back and forth as they heard the approach of the two legged creatures. There was definitely more than one, in fact the older Coeurl scented three distinct individuals.

The first was familiar, it respected that one as being more powerful than itself, yet that one did not abuse the fact and treated itself with courtesy. Therefore, the Coeurl found it allowable for it to approach its territory and would not chase it away. Unlike that other one with similar strength that attempted to separate it from the cub, indeed it was a risk to attack that one, but it needed to draw the line of what was acceptable. Taking away its nest mate was most assuredly not.

The second scent was not unfamiliar, yet it was troublesome. It had a flavour of weak catnip, one wanted to get close to it and savour it, yet ultimately did not mean it wouldn't be harmful in the end. That toy that the cub favoured so much carried the same scent, thus the Coeurl concluded that they were linked in some way.

The third scent... it did not know the third scent, but it smelled like a predator of its own standing. It would have to be cautious around that one.

Thinking over this third point, the Coeurl grabbed the cub by its scruff and dragged it to a position where it could defend against hostile intruders. The cub whined and struggled, but could not fight against the older Male, so could only pout.

Finally the three, two-legged persons came into view. Really couldn't tell one two-legger from the other, but the one with the addictive scent happened to remind the older Coeurl of the cub for some unknown reason. Perhaps it was due to the yin yang mane upon the person resembling the cub's yin yang stripes. The predator had a look of disdain in its black eyes. Disdain! How dare it look down upon this honourable Coeurl like that!

The cub struggled once more against the older coeurl's hold. This time, the cub freed itself while its nest mate was distracted and pounded over towards the one that smelled like its treasure. This is the two-legger it wanted to scent that time! It's whiskers shivered as it jumped upon its hind legs against the sticks outlining its space and it yowled unashamedly.

"As I thought," one with the silver mane said, "this little one has chosen you."

"B-but why?" The nice one asked. It's roar sounded funny, jumpy and stilted, but the little cub didn't really care. "I'm n-not a b-b-Beast t-tamer!"

"The closest bonds are ones which the Beast formed, rather than those forced upon the Beast," Silver mused. "All that's left is for you to accept it. Well you do have the choice to reject, but I really think you shouldn't wave away this fortune."

The nice one turned to speak to the scary one behind it. Actually, although it was scary, the cub did vaguely recall that it had been the one to give it the treasure. Plus it smelled like the nice one's close nest mate, so it couldn't be all that bad! "What d-d-do you think?"

"Tch, do as you please," came the response. "It seems that it and I had a fate between us after all." That last part was spoken with some strange inflection. Whatever! The Cub didn't care and yowled for attention as the yummy scented one turned back to peer down at it and then the sticks moved away, the barrier came down and the cub barrelled into the two-legged person it liked. It made a noise of amusement as the cub nestled against its touch and purred loudly.

The Adolescent looked upon this scene with some discomfort. Was its nest mate going to leave it and going to go away with the predator's mate? Would that stinky two-legger treat the cub well considering it was bonding with its mate? The Adolescent thought for a bit and then shrugged inwardly as if it had no choice. It gracefully walked over to where the cub played with its person and sat upon the predator's feet, ignoring the grunt that person made of discomfort. Instead it glanced up at the sneering person with a sneer of its own. Don't think you have any choice, it muttered.

Volun looked a bit amused, but on the whole he was satisfied with this arrangement. At least now the other Teachers would give up on plans to hand the Coeurls over to the Lord Garius.

A couple of weeks later, the Coeurls settled into their new nest, part of a courtyard style property, some thirty minutes west of the outer alchemist school. It was built beside an old hut that was filled with fond memories of a youth, who just happened to be learning to live as a cultivator.