Ari

Chapter 48: Tiger Tribe

Since the blood moon, I always had nightmares every full moon. Luckily, Lowell had always kept an eye on me every time he sensed the full moon so they did their best to wake me up every time I had nightmares and helped me to calm down.

After a very long journey, we arrived at the grassland tiger tribe. Winter has been just around the corner so their tribe were all busy hunting and storing food for each family while their alpha oversees those families who were lacking in manpower to hunt their food for winter.

The tiger tribes are known for their strength. They usually don't go along with each other too much since tigers are lone hunters by nature, but it doesn't mean they are not sociable. They just like being in solitude.

They rely on their own strength rather than their numbers unlike lions in their pride and wolves in their pack. Even so, a tribe wouldn't survive without order so they still have an alpha to regulate the tribe and mediate once an argument or disagreement among the members arises.

The alpha of the tribe is named Dawon. He has a muscular body similar to brother Orson. His hair is light ginger colored, while his eyes are gemstone green. He is at the same age as Lowell but for some reason, he hasn't married any female yet.

"What brings you all here in our tribe?" Dawon asked sternly.

"Greetings... I believe you already know who I am... We would like to stay in your tribe temporarily this winter. These young fellows are offspring of the previous alpha of the forest lion tribe. We are heading north to find some answers regarding the disappearance of Lev." Lowell answered in a calm and polite manner.

"Yes, I already heard about their previous alpha. However, how can I accept a strange looking male inside my tribe? Also, I cannot accept an ancient race inside my tribe." Dawon responded sternly while seriously looking at me.

"He is Lev's flesh and blood." Lowell mumbled, trying to defend my identity.

I removed my mask as respect to the authority of the alpha that we are speaking to. I bowed my head briefly while keeping my right hand on my left chest with three fingers open facing down firmly. The others followed except Blake, who was currently confused at the gestures we were making so my brother pulled his head down to bow briefly with us.

It is a salutation of our tribe to show respect to the alpha. I never did the salutation on the forest wolf tribe since Acwulf is my God father and he never allowed us to greet this way.

"Was it even possible for a white lion to produce a chimera offspring?! He might cause chaos inside the tribe just because of his appearance." Dawon insisted.

Chimeras or ancient races like me are known to be aggressive and powerful. They are godlike in the eyes of normal beastmen. Even the strongest tribes of regular beastmen would succumb in front of them.

Fear has two effects on beastman, it is either to make them back down or retaliate. My father doesn't want me to get hurt or be attacked by beastmen that are threatened by my looks. It was the reason why he never allowed me to show my passive-aggressive form to the other tribes.

"I won't make any trouble for your tribe... I promise. A lion would never break his promise. I would also like to make some offers as a sign of my promise. This is a drink called red wine. It's a drink you can never find elsewhere. It can warm up your body and also promotes good blood circulation when consumed in moderation." I responded while showing him the wine on Dillon's hands.

Lowell scooped some wine for each of us to try to assure Dawon that it is safe to drink it. He drank the wine after he ensured that it was not poisoned.

"It has a strong and unique taste even though it's sweet. It also has this strong scent and it truly warms up your body, even just after drinking a cup." He mumbled.

"It doesn't go bad if handled properly and placed in a proper storage. We can teach you how to make one on your own in exchange for our accommodation." I offered in a friendly tone.

"Okay, sure. However, there is something strange about your appearance and scent. You smell and look like a female despite that wing and ears. You'll probably get in trouble once the mating season starts so you better not roam around the tribe unless needed." He responded while looking at me intensely from head to toe.

I got nervous for some reason. The others also felt frightened after hearing Dawon's warning.

After the meeting, he prepared a good housing for us to stay during the winter season right beside his house.

The houses in the said tribe were all made from bamboo and hay. It was a refreshing house during hot and windy weather, but it would be too cold when the winter arrives. I was puzzled as to how they can survive during winter, but my brother made some modifications to the house and surrounded the walls and floor with thick furry pelts.

A few days later, the winter already started. We taught Dawon and some of his tribesmen on how to make the wine using the traditional method I knew in my previous life. He urged us to make plenty of it since his tribesmen liked the taste of the wine. I already warned them that drinking too much can lead to intoxication, but they still insisted.

Dillon, Blake and Gurion were left in the house to do the chores while Lowell and my brother accompanied me to fulfill our agreement with the Dawon.

As days passed by, the tribesmen who accompanied us on the process grew in number for some reason. My brother and Lowell were on high alert, but I had no idea regarding the reason. I didn't bother to ask why, since I am only allowed to go out of the house for the purpose of teaching the wine making process and I will have to stay indoors afterwards.

During the last day of the wine production process, Dawon insisted on talking to me in private. Lowell and my brother were skeptical, but I agreed since we needed to get along with the tribe.