Spirit Animals Vol. 1

|Chp. 38: A Bear with the Scar|

Five days and four nights passed since Quinn and the rest left. The male black bear that taunted Ruby was being transferred to another base by two male bears. This left me spending time with Esmeralda and Ruby. Something I didn't expect.

It started with me eating alone. The chefs served chicken noodle soup which was nice in the cold weather. They let Lupa and I have a small section away from everything. Lupa was eating her own chicken soup. Drinking the broth before eating the chicken. It was more of chicken soup in the long run.

But then Ruby sat next to me. She smiled at me as Jewel came up to sit next to Lupa. She thanked me for getting him off of her before offering to help me with the kids which I accepted. Lei she really seemed to like me a lot.

And I'm not sure why. Esmeralda came along when I was touching up on my archery skills at the range. She started off with small talk before following me around as I helped feed the chickens some. It was weird getting this much socialization from people that weren't Quinn.

But yet in a way it was comforting. I was a pack animal after all. Wolves thrived in settings full of people and it just taken Lupa and I to get settled. But that didn't mean we wanted everyone all up in our grill. But thankfully no one really got all up in our grill.

We cleaned out the horses stalls and put the manure in with the garden. I helped them crush eggshells to feed to the chickens. Ruby walked with me to my room and asked more on the knitting and sewing that I knew. I showed her a few more things before she left.

Rin was alright. Lei tried to follow me once which resulted in Rin chasing her down. He grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder with a smile on his face. Lei shrieked before realizing it was her dad and laughed before hugging him which he returned.

Rin worked a lot, but when he had time he paid attention to his wife and Lei. His wife was a petite slim Chinese women that went by Lin. But somehow I had caught Lei's attention and she tried to follow me a lot and if I helped with the kids she always went to me.

Along with that other male panda bear Xin. She talked a lot. Told me all about her male friend and how her daddy said if she wanted he could be her male friend. Although I don't think she quite understood what male friend meant.

It became quite obvious that everyone tried to keep themselves with someone. The kids seemed to gravitate towards the ones they liked making a pairing for the future. It was really weird. In the wolf world that wasn't even close to how it ran, but then again this wasn't the wolf world.

Then finally I was let beyond the base to go on a run.

"Lupa keep up." I called out to her. 'I'm slowing down for you slow poke, I could leave your butt in the dust.' Lupa said trotting up next to me and I laughed at that before patting her head.

Lupa put her ears back as we jogged around the base before stopping at a clearing to take a break. I took out my skin and drank some water before offering some to Lupa who drank it up greedily. With a huff I leaned against the tree before smiling down at Lupa.

"It's weird without Quinn." I told Lupa who nodded. 'I keep expecting Eden to pop up, but he doesn't. He best bring me a good slab of meat from the city.' Lupa said and I smiled as I brushed some hair from my face before we began walking again.

We went into a small clearing as I looked down at Lupa. "Quinn said he'd bring me back something from the city." I told Lupa who nodded at that. 'And Eden will bring me my meat.' Lupa said proudly and I looked up and went silent at what I saw.

A large white figure near a tree. It didn't take me long to register what it was and for a moment excitement raced through me at seeing it. A polar bear. "Eden?" I asked. But I should of know it wasn't Eden. Eden wouldn't of stayed behind without saying something. And when it turned around it really did confirm it.