Chapter 18: New Friend
The next morning, Iris was happy to see that her period was finally over. She happily changed into her floor-length dress and got ready while Caspian finished the soup she did not. Then they promptly headed to the mountain entrance where they were surprised to see a few new faces joining the bunch.
Iris's eyes lit up when she even found a female among them. She appeared to have cute red and white pointed ears on top of her head and a bushy red tail behind her. When the female saw Iris, her eyes lit up and she pushed her way through the three males surrounding her.
This female was a bit shorter than Iris as well as a bit more rounded. Her eyes were a brilliant green with long red hair that came down to her waist that was very tangled. However, despite her messy appearance, she looked quite cute. Iris felt the urge to hug this female and become friends with her.
However, despite the female pushing herself in front of Iris, she looked quite nervous. She bowed her head to Iris as she said.
"Hello, my name is Holly and these are my mates. We.... um... we're hoping we could join you in gathering plants today."
Iris was unsure why Holly was so nervous and wasn't looking at her. Admittedly, this was the first beast woman Iris had met properly since transmigrating. Perhaps all females in this world were timid like this? She truly had no way of knowing.
"Hi, it's lovely to meet you! I like your tail, it's a very pretty color."
Iris immediately felt stupid. There goes her chance at friendship! However, Holly just blushed and looked bashful. Caspian, finally understanding Iris's confusion, quickly whispered to Iris.
"She is a half-orc and a red panda. She is just nervous because half-orc females are looked down upon due to having lower birth rates than wild females. Don't worry, she'll warm up to you before long with how sweet you are."
Caspian leaned in and kissed Iris, leaving her a bit unfocused afterward. Holly, trying to officially get permission to join them, quietly asked.
"Sorry, but is it okay for us to join you? I promise we will stay out of your way and we will work hard to earn our fair share."
Iris couldn't help but smile at Holly, she was really too cute. The way her ears were flattened against her head and her tail was tucked behind her, you could just tell she was terrified. Iris quickly grabbed Holly and pulled her into a hug.
"Of course it's alright! I'd love the company and I think we can even become good friends if you are willing!"
Holly looked confused at this as she questioned.
"Friends? What's that?"
Iris struggled to properly explain what a friend was.
"Er, well, it's someone you hang out with and talk with. It's like having a new family member but you get to choose who you foster such a bond with."
Holly looked excited at the prospect of having someone to hang out with and, while Iris was strange, she was actually nice to Holly!
"I'd love to be friends with you!"
Holly's answer concerned her mates as they all wore aggrieved expressions. Were they not enough company for their mate? Surely they would not have to compete with females for their mate's attention now too?
However, the two females remained oblivious to their concerns. Iris was happy to see Quentin and the others had shown up to help again today as promised. She made a mental note to be sure to do something to thank them later.
Caspian once again carried Iris through the forest as the others followed behind them. They immediately returned to the potato and watercress field from the previous day. Iris proceeded to show Holly and her mates the watercress and potato plants and explain how to prepare them. Upon hearing about needing to cook the potatoes, Holly's mates were set on edge. Holly took the initiative to voice their concerns.
"You want us to use fire to prepare the food? Isn't that really dangerous? A lot of beasts have died in wildfires that randomly start in the forests."
Holly looked frightened as she stared at Iris with her big round eyes. Caspian didn't want to step on Holly's mates' toes, but knew they were the real issue and thus pulled them aside to explain cooking while Iris talked to Holly.
"Well, I hear witch doctors and religious authorities use fire. So it isn't like no one uses it, you just have to be careful and monitor the fire. If you keep water or dirt nearby then you can quickly put out the fire too. Plus, our homes are made of stone, which isn't exactly prone to catching fire to begin with."
Holly was still a bit unsure, but Iris promised to show her how to cook later that night and invited her family to her home for dinner that night. When Holly's mates returned to her side, they seemed a bit more confident in Iris's words. Perhaps having a trustworthy member of their tribe explain things made it easier for them than when Iris said it.
"Alright, well, you all should gather whatever potatoes and watercress you want to take home yourselves. Quentin, Henry, and Daniel; if you all could collect potatoes, that'd be great. Meanwhile, Caspian and I will collect some acorns and look for nearby food sources."
Hearing about the acorns, Holly looked confused. Thus, Iris had to explain how much processing they required to be eaten. As Holly's mates were concerned about doing the leeching wrong and Holly being poisoned, she quickly gave up on it. Instead, one of her mates went to collect watercress while the other two collected potatoes.
After hearing that potatoes could be stored well during the cold season, they felt it was best to collect more of it. However, as a red panda, Holly still quite liked the sound of the fresh watercress salad and definitely wanted some to take home.
There were only half a dozen oak trees within a short distance of the potato and watercress fields. Thus, the others were not finished gathering by the time all the acorns were sorted out. Unfortunately, only a small bag of acorns were obtained where Iris really wanted to have, at least, another large bag full. Flour was simply too useful for too many dishes for her to wait another year to be able to harvest more acorns.
"You want to go look for more acorns, don't you?"
Iris quickly nodded, not even denying Caspian's suspicions. Caspian sighed and went off to talk to the others before coming back.
"Alright, well, I informed the others that we'd be going a little further into the forest. So we can go a bit further, but we should come back after a while. Luckily they can identify the plants pretty well now, so we just need to check in to see when they've collected a sufficient amount."
Iris was happy about this, but sent Caspian back to remind them not to take everything so that more can grow back next year. With that, they wandered further into the forest and away from the group. After finding another twenty oak trees, Iris stumbled upon yet more good fortune.
Iris tripped and fell down painfully into the dirt while reaching for an acorn. Caspian quickly went to check on Iris, worried she was hurt.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just a little scratched up on my hands, that's all."
This still concerned Caspian quite a bit but Iris was too busy staring down at what she'd tripped on. Apparently, she had tripped over a small leafy plant with leaves similar to parsley or dill. Bending down to take a closer look, she began to grow excited.
Caspian was beginning to get a bit upset and grabbed Iris, pulling her back to him. Her scraped-up hands were lightly bleeding and here she was staring at the ground getting excited again. Sometimes, Caspian could not help growing frustrated with his mate's antics.
"We need to get your hands cleaned at the river. We don't have time for you to stare at the ground. Come on, we are going, now!"
Caspian was firm on his stance that nothing would come before his mate's well-being and thus he scooped her up and immediately ran to the river. As Iris sat there getting her hands tended to by Caspian, she began to pout.
"What is it now? Why do you have such a sour look on your face?"
Iris crossed her arms defiantly and looked away from Caspian, refusing to speak. Caspian was not sure what he had done to merit such an attitude from his mate. All he had done was insist they tend to her injury right away instead of staring at the ground. The moment it hit him, Caspian chuckled.
"You found another thing you wanted to collect, didn't you?"
He tried to be gentle as he reached to touch Iris's face, but she pulled away from him and still refused to speak.
"Come on, don't be like this. I can bring you back there after we meet up with the others. I'm a three-star beast and I'm very good at finding my way around the forest. However, if you insist on continuing to pout..."
Iris decided that being stubborn was not worth missing out on a new food. She quickly kissed Caspian, cutting off his sentence. When they broke away, Caspian scooped Iris up and made his way back to the others.
"I thought you'd change your mind."
Iris still felt a little like being grumpy at Caspian's words but still wanted her food, so she decided to pretend he hadn't said anything.
When they got back to the group, Holly's mates had gathered two large bags of potatoes and a large bag of watercress while Quentin's group each had a bag and a half each of potatoes. Clearly, their experience gathering potatoes the day before made them more efficient than Holly's mates, who were newcomers.
Seeing that the group had so much food already, Caspian knew they'd have to stop by the house before heading back out. Thus, he announced,
"We'll stop back by the mountain to drop off the food and have lunch at our house. Afterward, we have a new food to gather, as it seems Iris found something new while we're out gathering acorns."
Iris was embarrassed as everyone turned to look at her with curiosity in their eyes. They couldn't help but wonder who this little female was who knew about so many foods. However, Iris felt it was better to show them the plant as she explained and so they could only wait to learn about it.
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