Chapter 7: Grandma

Clara was startled by the scene in front of her.

Dani brandished her sharp claws and struck at Gloria. Clara screamed, "Dani! You can't do that," and rushed forward to pull them apart.

Dani had managed to scratch Clara during the altercation, and she felt a sharp pain in her back.

Feeling guilty and fearful, Dani quickly retracted her claws, crouched down, and looked at Clara with tearful eyes. Gloria knew that Clara had been injured because of her and felt very sorry. She hurried over to check Clara's wound. Clara's fair back had three bloody scratch marks. Her eyes welled up with tears. She felt hurt and disappointed by Gloria's actions. She couldn't understand why they would fight like this when they were from the same tribe.

"Gloria, don't," Clara shouted loudly, her voice a mixture of urgency and anger.

Gloria withdrew her claws and turned away, looking upset and hurt. She said, "I don't want to play with you anymore, Clara." With that, Gloria stormed out of the forest.

Clara felt a deep sense of loss. Gloria was the first beast she had met in this new world, and she had been so kind to her. Now, she was ignoring her. What should she do?

"Clara, I'm sorry! Does it hurt?" Dani, with teary eyes, approached Clara, full of self-blame.

Seeing Dani like this, Clara quickly shook her head and said, "It's okay; I'm not hurt." She couldn't understand why they had fought. They were from the same tribe, after all.

Her back began to sting, and Clara couldn't help but furrow her brows. "I'll go wash the wound, Dani, you can go back for now."

Dani hesitated but followed Clara to the stream. Clara couldn't see her back, so Dani helped her clean the wound with water and applied the herbs Gloria had found. She even blew gently on it.

"Why did you fight, Dani? It was a happy moment, and suddenly, you both started fighting. You're not kids in kindergarten," Clara said with a hint of frustration.

"They don't like me. I belong to the fox clan, and they think we foxes are bad. But I've never hurt them. Gloria said I would harm you, but how could I? I'm sorry, Clara, I never meant to hurt you." Dani explained with a heavy heart.

It turned out that there was a racial bias at play. No wonder Dani had stayed back, probably feeling a sense of kinship with Clara. Clara smiled and said, "It's okay. As long as you don't have any ill intentions, there will always be someone who likes you."

Dani's eyes sparkled with happiness. She asked, "Does Clara like Dani?"

Clara nodded and replied, "I like you!"

Dani was overjoyed and tilted her head, saying, "Clara, touch my tail. If you touch it, you'll be Dani's best friend forever!"

Clara couldn't resist Dani's sincerity and cuteness. She reached out and touched Dani's tail, which was soft and fluffy.

Dani helped Clara carry the basket and walked her to her doorstep, where someone was waiting. Clara saw her and said, "It's Grandma! Dani, I'll go inside. Grandma has come."

Dani held her little basket and bid farewell. Clara saw an elderly beast with a walking stick at the doorstep. "Is your name Clara?" The elderly woman approached Clara, and with great joy, she looked her up and down, expressing her approval with satisfied hums. 

Who was this Grandma? Clara stood quietly, nodding in acknowledgment, and took a moment to assess Grandma. She was a thin and elderly beast dressed in animal hide clothing, looking very clean. Her demeanor was warm and kind. "I am Mateo's Grandma. I have been taking care of him since he was young. Now that he has grown up, he has a spouse of his own. Good child, this is my gift to you." Grandma handed over a large wrapped package. 

The package was quite substantial, and Clara felt a warm glow inside as she received it. She said, "Thank you, Grandma!"

"Grandma!" Clara spotted Mateo, who was carrying his hunting spoils and running excitedly toward them. He wagged his tail and said to Grandma, "Grandma, Mateo missed you." 

"Hehe... Grandma missed you too. Now, both of you, live happily together." Grandma looked at the young couple in front of her, feeling a deep sense of contentment. When she was no longer around, they could support each other and carry on living. "It's getting dark! Grandma needs to go back."

Clara watched Grandma's retreating figure and remembered her own grandmother. She saw that Grandma was barefoot and hurriedly put down the package, running towards her.

"Grandma! Wait for me..." Clara caught up to Grandma and took off her own grass shoes. "Grandma, these are the shoes I made myself. I want to give them to you." Clara squatted down to help Grandma put on the shoes. They were a bit small, but they would fit.

Grandma had grown fonder of Clara, and seeing this young child gift her something strange but comfortable to wear, she couldn't be happier.

Clara saw off Grandma and turned to find Mateo standing at the door, looking at her with a package in his hands. He asked, "What did you put on Grandma's feet?"

"It's a pair of grass shoes!" Clara replied softly. Once inside the house, Mateo placed the package on a clay mound. 

Upon opening it, Clara was excited. She found her black-striped backpack, and it was indeed a piece of her world that had crossed with her. She rummaged through the backpack and found several things – a few big white rabbit candies, a set of keys, a cellphone, a wallet, a pen, a leather-bound notebook, a sunshade, and a bottle of mineral water.

Mateo watched Clara take out these strange items from the bag in shock. He thought, "How could there be so many odd things in a bag like a zebra's? I'd like to reach in and find out." Clara picked up the cellphone, thankfully still charged, and dialed a friend's number. It went to voicemail. 

She tried all the numbers in her phone, but each one was met with a voicemail message. She was devastated. "Why is there nothing?" Clara heard Mateo mumbling to himself next to her, fumbling through the bag. His entire head was nearly inside the bag. 

"What are you looking for?" Clara couldn't help but ask.

"Why can't I find anything? You just found a lot of things earlier," Mateo said anxiously.

Clara was speechless. Did he think it was a magic bag?

"This is a backpack! It's used to carry things," Clara explained as she put the items back into the bag. There were six pieces of candy, and in this world, these were considered rare.

Clara picked up a piece of candy and handed it to Mateo. "Have some candy! My name is Clara." 

Mateo looked at the candy in Clara's hand, unsure of what she wanted to do. She had said to eat it earlier, so it must be edible. Mateo took it and chewed directly. Clara was petrified. There was candy paper on the outside that needed to be peeled off. 

"Clara, what is this? It's so sweet!" Mateo found the taste strange, resembling the milk he had as a child, but it was much sweeter. It was quite delicious, but it wasn't his favorite; he wanted meat! 

Clara heard Mateo call her "Clara,". Her face turned red as she whispered, "It's candy!" 

Clara packed the backpack back up. Inside the package, there were a few pieces of animal hide clothing, quite simple in design with just a few holes cut in them. But for Clara, these were precious! She finally had some change of clothing.