Chapter 356: A Carnivorous Snob
Ren shot to her feet, raising her cast-iron skillet over her head, ready to deliver a home-run swing to whatever came crawling out of the dark.
The white tiger stepped into the firelight.
A fat, freshly killed rabbit dangled from his jaws.
Ren slowly lowered her skillet. The tiger walked right up to her, lowered his head, and dropped the rabbit at her feet with a soft thump. Then he sat down on his haunches and stared at her expectantly.
Ren looked at the rabbit. Then she looked at the tiger.
"Oh," she said slowly. "You didn’t want vegetables. You wanted meat."
The tiger blinked.
Ren burst out laughing. The sound echoed off the stone walls, loud and a little hysterical, and some of the tight tension that had been sitting in her chest all day finally cracked loose.
"You carnivorous snob," she grinned, already crouching down to grab the rabbit by its hind legs. "You could have just said so. Oh, wait. You can’t."
The tiger’s tail flicked once against the stone floor.
Ren got to work. She skinned and cleaned the rabbit with quick, practiced hands. She rubbed the meat down with oil, sea salt, and a pinch of crushed swamp-peppercorn, then laid it in the hot skillet. The fat hissed and popped. She seared it until the outside was crackling and golden, basting it over and over again in its own rendered juices.
Then she reached into her inventory and pulled out one of her Sun-Burst Melons. According to the logbook, they were perfect for glazing roasted meats, and she had been dying to test that claim. She sliced it open, and the sweet scent of ripe mango and toasted vanilla spilled into the cave. She squeezed the juice straight into the pan. It bubbled and reduced almost instantly, turning into a thick, sticky glaze that clung to the rabbit and caramelized into a deep, glossy amber.
The smell that filled the cave was pure heaven. Sweet, smoky, and savory all at once.
"Oh, that’s good," Ren moaned, licking a drop of glaze off her thumb.
This time, when she set the meat down in front of him, the tiger ate.
But he ate slowly. Neatly. He tore off small pieces and chewed each one carefully, as if he were savoring the taste.
Ren tilted her head, watching him. That was weird. Kael usually devoured his food in seconds, practically inhaling it before she could even set the plate down.
She shrugged it off. He was in a tiger’s body now. Table manners were probably very different when you didn’t have a table.
While he ate, Ren cleaned her skillet with a handful of sand and a splash of water from her waterskin.
Ding!
A familiar blue holographic screen flickered to life in front of her face.
[New Main Quest Alert! The Caged Eagle!] [Objective: Rescue Altair, the Golden Eagle Prince, from the Mad Bird King in the Northern Mountains.] [Warning: The Mad Bird King’s patience is running out. Time is limited, Host!] [Reward: 100,000 Survival Points and one Beast Whisperer Charm! (Allows the Host to understand beastmen while they are in their beast forms.)]
Ren stared at the glowing screen. Her grip tightened around the handle of her skillet until her knuckles turned white.
"You don’t say," Ren said flatly to the empty air. "I had no idea. Thank you so much for that incredibly helpful update."
[System: You are very welcome, Host!]
Ren rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt. Then her gaze snapped back to the last line of the quest.
A Beast Whisperer Charm. The ability to understand beastmen in their beast forms.
She looked at the silent tiger chewing his rabbit. She looked back at the screen.
"System," Ren said quickly. "Can I just buy that charm now? I have points. I’m rich, remember?"
[System: I’m sorry, Host. The Beast Whisperer Charm is an exclusive quest reward. It is not available in the System Shop.]
"Of course it isn’t," Ren groaned, dropping her face into her hands. "Why would anything in my life be easy?"
[System: Easy is boring, Host!]
Ren swiped the screen away with more force than necessary.
But beneath her irritation, fear was quietly simmering. Seeing it written in cold, glowing letters made it real. Altair was out there somewhere, poisoned and hog-tied, being dragged toward a father who only wanted to harvest his healing tears. Her silent, stubborn, beautiful eagle.
She would get him back. She didn’t care how many mountains she had to climb.
Ren turned to the tiger, who had finished his rabbit and was once again watching her with that strange, piercing stare.
"Okay, here’s the plan," Ren said firmly. "In the morning, we go back to the village. We tell everyone what happened. Kaelen can take charge of the hunting team while you’re like this, and I’ll get the strongest warriors together. Then, we go to the swamp and I drag Syris out of that depressing palace by his tail if I have to. We are going to need every strong beastman we can get."
The adrenaline of the past few days finally crashed down on her all at once, her eyes were burning from exhaustion.
The night air creeping into the cave was cold. Ren looked at the huge, fluffy tiger sitting beside the fire. Then she looked at the hard stone floor.
It wasn’t even a competition.
She crawled over and burrowed straight into his side without asking for permission.
The tiger went rigid.
"Relax," Ren mumbled, wiggling until she found the perfect spot against his warm belly. "It’s not like we haven’t done this before."
For a long moment, the tiger didn’t move a single muscle.
Then, slowly, the tension began to melt out of his body. His striped tail curled around her legs, and he lowered his head to rest on his paws right beside her.
He was so warm. His fur smelled like pine needles and fresh rain, with something wild and earthy underneath.
"I missed you so much, Mittens," Ren whispered, her words slurring as sleep began to drag her under.
The tiger’s head lifted.
He turned and looked down at the small, red-haired woman curled against his belly. He tilted his head slightly to the side.
But Ren was already asleep, her breathing soft and even, one hand still fisted tightly in his fur.
The tiger watched her for a long time.
Outside, the moon rose above the treeline. The fire slowly burned down to glowing embers. The forest grew quiet, and then quieter still.
The tiger never closed his eyes.
He stared out at the dark forest, keeping watch over her. And when the last ember in the fire popped and flared, its light caught in his gaze.
For one heartbeat, his golden eyes flickered red.
Then, they were gold again.