Chapter 28: Wild Beastmen
One day, Iris was suddenly awoken by a panic stricken Caspian. She was quickly ushered into the cellar and urged to stay put until he returned for her. Then he was off without another word.
Iris was unsure what was happening, but could only assume the worst. It was the cold season and food shortages were common in this world. Perhaps the tribe was under attack and Caspian, as it's strongest warrior, had to lead the others into battle.
Iris decided she was lucky to have a place to quietly hide that no one else knew about. Thus, she settled into a corner where she pulled out a sewing kit to quietly keep entertained.
It seemed like forever had passed when Iris began to feel exhaustion overwhelm her. Luckily, Iris could eat carrots to fend off her hunger while she waited. However, she had been hoping Caspian would be back before the sun set. Oh well, a quick nap while she waited for him couldn't hurt.
A loud sound of something falling over above her, awoke Iris. She could hear the sound of several people loudly walking above her. Then she heard a familiar voice above her
"Is this really all the food they have? Hmmph, serves them right! They were acting all high and mighty sharing food with everyone in the tribe and now their food stores are only this much. Not that it matters now!"
The sound of Ivy's laughter as she gloated to her mates was deafening. It seems Ivy was using the distraction of battle to steal food from their home. Iris felt her anger bubble up as she felt the need to go strangle the bitch to death.
It was only Iris's promise to Caspian that kept her from doing so. She would not come out from hiding until he returned regardless of what else happened. Let that spoiled brat steal whatever she wanted, Iris would put her safety first.
Sadly, Iris was unable to sleep after that as she felt her anger continuing to simmer. If it were any other time, she wouldn't have let anything stop her from teaching Ivy a lesson. That was the only thought that filled Iris's mind as she patiently waited Caspian's return.
Thankfully, after a while, she finally heard the familiar sound of Caspian's footsteps. He walked much more quietly than others with an easy and practiced precision. However, as he saw the messy state their kitchen had become, he began to speed up as he frantically call out
"Iris? Iris are you there?"
Hearing Caspian's voice, Iris quickly went up the ladder and pushed the stone cover and animal hide up to peek at him. Caspian quickly pushed the stone away and pulled Iris up to him before embracing her.
"I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried when I saw the state of the house. What happened here?"
Iris shook her head, feeling exhausted as she replied
"That bitch Ivy and a few of her mates took the opportunity to steal our food while you were away. She must have mistaken the food the others donated at yesterday's banquet as all our food. I had to listen to the whole thing from below while I hid like a coward."
Caspian grew stiff upon hearing this. While he was away defending their tribe instead of protecting his mate, others would dare to steal from his home? This is the thanks he gets? This would not stand!
"Wait here, I'll be back!"
Caspian was angry and Iris could not stop him as he stormed away. Iris just sighed as she took in the state of the kitchen. The stone stove had toppled over and had a crack running across it's side. It would likely still be usable but the damage was obvious. There were also many toppled over dishes and scattered firewood. They had left quite the mess.
Iris got to work sorting out all but the heaviest of items. Thankfully, most of the rest of the house was left untouched. Since all of their nicer items were stored in Iris's bag that she kept with her at all times, there wasn't much to steal to begin with. Only food was left out as it was often too big to fit into the bag as is and it was more convenient for the food to be left out in the house.
Caspian was almost blinded by his anger as he stormed over to tribal leader James's cave. As he could not go in without an invitation or else he would provoke the anger of the entire tribe, Caspian could only stand outside and angrily shout for him to come out. When James finally showed his face, he calmly asked
"What is wrong, Caspian? I thought everything was fine since those wild beastmen have all been dealt with. You even chased after them to ensure they were all dead."
Caspian only seemed to grow more angry as he took in James's calm and stoic demeanor. He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself but his breath was shaky as he exhaled. He was way too worked up as he demanded answers from the tribal leader.
"Is this how you treat your loyal tribesmen? While I'm away fighting on behalf of the tribe instead of protecting my mate, your daughter and her mates ransacked our home! My mate had to listen in hiding as they merrily laughed and bragged about stealing "all" of our food!"
James immediately dropped his friendly smile as he took the situation in. From the sounds of things, his daughter was once again stirring up trouble and he'd be left to deal with the after math.
"I don't know what you want me to do about this. You could go fight her males, but even if you win it won't be a good look for you. That is my daughter after all and I would have to step in to defend her. You know even if you manage to defeat me, the tribe would be unlikely to follow you.
It might be best that you forget about this matter and just consider looking for more males for your mate. If she were better protected, she wouldn't be so vulnerable to theft. There are several capable males in our tribe without mates after all."
Caspian angrily punched the stone wall behind James before storming away. He hated that the old beast was right. Caspian didn't have many choices besides turning a blind eye to the matter, but that didn't mean he would be happy about it.
When Caspian got back to the house, he saw Iris crying as she picked up the broken pieces of their stone pot. He grabbed Iris's hand to stop her.
"Don't, I'll take care of it. I can always make a new pot, what matters is that you are okay. Besides, we have plenty of food left for the cold season. We only lost a couple dozen prey. Since everyone always brings more meat than they eat, it'll all end up working out."
Iris sniffled as she hugged Caspian. She didn't mean to start crying. It was just so frustrating that she couldn't do anything and their house ended up suffering for it. Caspian had painstakingly carved everything for her and it was painful to see his hard work ruined like that.
Caspian brought Iris to the bed where he could wrap her in warm blankets and she could rest. He explained all that had happened that day to her and let her ask any questions she had.
Wild beastmen had attacked in a group of roughly fifty and had ended up putting up quite a fight. Most wild beastmen were males whose bond with their mates was terminated.
Since males can only have one mate for life, they end up going a little crazy and are thrown out of their original tribes for the females' protection. It wasn't uncommon for wild beastmen to attack tribes and steal their food and females.
While the wild beastmen can't form mate bonds anymore, they'd often keep females to force them to reproduce children for them. The females were always poorly treated and often died before they could be rescued.
Some wild beast men were those whose mates died, but that was rarer. Usually the mate bond dissolving would kill a beastman, but occasionally some survived. Those who lived on for their children or for a greater calling such as priests and witch doctors could sometimes peacefully coexist with tribes.
Of course, priests and witch doctors rarely ended up with mates. Many were simply too weak and females would not want them. However, even stronger beastmen might not accept mates due to devoting their lives to the beast deity.
Iris could not help but feel that beastmen were too pitiful. They lived their lives longing for a mate and then when they got one the rest of their lives were dictated by their mate's choices. They would wait on their female hand and foot and die to protect them. Sometimes a females poor choices would result in an early death or they'd be eaten in the cold season to prevent the female from dying of starvation.
"If beastmen suffer so much, why don't they just remain single all their lives?"
Caspian paused at Iris's question. He was unsure if he should tell her the truth, but decided he always wanted to be honest with her.
"Some beastmen do, but it is often undesirable. Beastmen usually do not live long past thirty years old if they do not mate with a female. Some who are stronger may live longer, but it is fairly rare."
Iris was confused by this statement.
"Why wouldn't they live long past thirty?"
Caspian sighed as he replied
"Some kill themselves while others just kind of get sick and die or suffer from unfortunate accidents. It's just not in beastmens' nature to live without a mate. It's kind of like nature decides they are a failure if they can't get a mate by then."
Iris felt unsettled by this news. She was already in her younger twenties when she transmigrated. If beastmen didn't live long past thirty then she would quickly live to be much older than a significant portion of the population.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AutumnPlunkett
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