Erick continued cooking our food while we waited for the bears to wake up. "So what is it you two want to talk about?" Erick asked turning to look at Quinn then glancing at me. Quinn looked at me before giving me a reassuring smile.
"I've been thinking about your offer, if all four of you can tell me about this place, and what good this is going to give Silver and I. We'll tell your our answer to your offer afterwards." Quinn said. And he said it with confidence so Erick knew he wasn't messing around.
"Oh, ok. Yeah we can tell you all about it when everyone was awake. We'll begin talking. There is a lot to talk about." Erick said with a large smile. "I thought it would take a bit longer but looks like it didn't ." Erick said with a smile on his face.
"Don't get all cocky we haven't made our decision yet." I said and Erick looked over at me. "I'm sure you'll make the right decision." Erick said with a smile as Hiro came out. His gaze shifted around and landed on the moose being roasted over the fire.
Not long after Hiro came out his bear Izuki came out as Lupa trotted back over bits of snow on her coat. Erick took the pieces of the moose off as Raegan and Ruby came out followed by Casey and Jewel. Ruby smiled a bit at the snow before following Raegan.
She wore a dress like usual, lined with fur along with a fur cloak. Like usual she stuck close to Raegan as Erick began dishing out everyone their food. I watched as bowls were made for the animals which included some of the things that Hiro had picked.
In the bears bowl was the roasted moose and some berries. In Lupa's bowl was just the meat. Erick set it down in front of her and she narrowed her gaze on him but ate from it. Although once she was done, Lupa snatched the bone and came to my side to chew on it.
After the our spirit animals were fed we were all given our food. Like usual the moose was good as we all ate. Quinn rearranged himself to next to me as we only sat next to Erick on each side to make a point. And now the point had been made.
Hiro finished first and went and gave the horses some of the feed that was left, gave them all some water, and then some of the greens. Erick got us all some of the boiled water before taking a seat once more at the front with a bit of a smile.
"Hiro, Raegan, Ruby." Erick said and all three of them looked up. "Is something wrong?" Raegan asked. "No nothing is wrong. If anything it is great." Erick said with a smile on his face. Quinn and I shared this knowing look. As if we were communicating through looks.
"Quinn is ready to make his decision." Erick announced as if he had announced his firstborn son. "Really?" Raegan asked and Erick nodded. "So, Quinn what's your decision, you coming with us?" Raegan asked staring down Quinn. Quinn didn't shift at all, he met his gaze confusing Raegan a bit.
Quinn was using a wolf tactic. "Quinn wants to know what our place is like. He wants to know what he will be signing himself up for. So I think we should all tell him about the place." Erick announced and Raegan smiled. His eyes drifted between Quinn and I making Lupa's hackles go on end.
"I can say some things first." Raegan offered and I watched him. "Go on." Erick said. "Here where you'll be going, you don't have to hunt as much. Sure we hunt, but we also raise animals to kill, and have some free rang birds to hunt and collect eggs from." Raegan said.
"What kind of birds?" Quinn asked. Erick answered, "Pheasant, quail and we do have wild turkeys along with captive turkey." Quinn nodded at that as his thoughts ran over that idea. Thinking on what would be best for the two of us as of right now.
"And we raise chickens, some for meat, some for eggs, and we have a few pets for the kids." Erick said. "Kids?" Quinn asked. "Yes we have a few mated pairs and mothers there with kids as it was safe. Some of them have pet chickens. To teach them compassion and care." Erick said and Quinn nodded.
"What else do you have?" Quinn asked. "We have a barn for one, something to keep those four in and I'm sure we can make them feed, and we already make hay." Erick said and Quinn nodded at that. He was taking it all in.
"We have some goats and cows in small pens. For milk." Erick said and Quinn nodded. "And in the summer we have tons of vegetables and fruits, we have fruit trees as well." Erick said with a smile on his face. "And a bunch of trees." Raegan added in and Quinn nodded.
"Is there a spot for Silver and I to put our tent up?" Quinn asked. Ruby laughed. Raegan lightly tapped her but was resisting laughs himself. "We don't do tents there." Erick said. "What do you do then, sleep outside?" Quinn asked and Erick smiled just a bit.
"We have buildings made. Recently we've been expanding our buildings, we have ten extra bedrooms right now. Each one comes with a bed in furs, places to store your supplies and a fireplace." Erick said with a bit of a smile on his face. Quinn seemed a bit interested at that part and so was I.
"Is it one building?" Quinn asked. "No, it's actually two buildings connected by a hall. One buildings has girl and the other boys. Although soon we're going to have to change that." Erick said with a bit of a smile. And he stared directly at me and I narrowed my gaze.
"The only ones who sleep together in the rooms are the mated pairs." Hiro said putting his thought in. "What do you mean by change it?" Quinn asked watching Erick with a curious expression on his face. Lupa was listening as well in interest to this conversation.
"Well right now all we have is bears. But three species were exiled. The bears, the foxes, and the wolves." Erick said and Quinn nodded. "We'll expand the grounds, and put two more buildings in." Erick said with a bit of a smile on his face and Quinn nodded at that.
"One building for the bears, one for the foxes, and one for the wolves. Once everyone is comfortable we can connect the buildings if needed." Erick said. It did sound like a nice idea. You never know how we'll react around each other. If we'll be good or try to tear each others throats out.
"Any other buildings?" Quinn asked and Erick grinned. "Yes we have a building where all of us eat, well it's divided into rooms so it's not crowded. Crowded rooms full of spirit animals doesn't go well. And we have a huge kitchen." Erick said with a bit of a smile.
"How do you feed them all?" Quinn asked. "Well when we found it, the area was being taken by tons of deer so we killed them all, each spring they mate like crazy so we take some of them down, there is a huge river full of fish, we raise animals," Erick started.
"And we grown our food as well. Make our own food. Sometimes we send them on hunting expeditions for prey." Erick said with a bit of a smile. "You sound like you have it all planned out." Quinn commented to Erick. Erick looked up at what Quinn had said.
"Yeah we try to be prepared for numerous situations that could come our way in the process." Erick said and Quinn nodded. "So this barn do you have horses?" Quinn asked looking back at our horses and the mule that were drinking the cold water happy to have their throats slick and wet once more.
"Used to, one of our elder bears have a pair of drafts. They were seniors when they came. A year ago they passed away from old age. But there are six stalls, four of them we stored things in, but now we have a storage." Erick said.
Even I nodded at that. "And we have a nice pasture for them to roam and run in." Erick said with a smile towards the horses. "This place sounds like a lovely place." Quinn said pushing his white locks from his face. Ruby smiled at that as did Erick.
"Because it is, it's one place where you can feel safe. If the city animals were to try to attack. . . man they would be anything but prepared. All of us have training even the kids have a bit of training as well." Erick said and Quinn nodded at that.
"And we have all sorts of weapons. Spears, axes, daggers, bows, arrows, trust me I'm sure you two would enjoy it there." Erick said and Quinn nodded at that. "What do you think of this place?" Quinn asked looking at the three of them. Raegan glanced up and then at Erick.
"Before this place, Ruby and I lived in the forest. Running constantly. I'm sure you two can relate. When we found it, it was like a miracle. We could finally stop running. Maybe one day you two can stop running as well." Raegan said and Quinn nodded at that as I narrowed my gaze.
"You." Quinn said looking at Ruby. "Ah, it's nice. Quiet, and interesting people." Ruby said shifting where she was seated. Quinn nodded. Quinn then turned his gaze over to Hiro. "Its probably one of the best bases." Hiro said and Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Bases?" Quinn asked.
"Yes we have a few of them besides this one. But the one we're from was the first and most developed." Erick explained. "You'll enjoy it." Hiro added and Quinn nodded before looking over at Erick who gave a smile. "Have you decided yet?" Erick asked. "I'm not done asking questions." Quinn responded.
Erick nodded. "What's the catch?" I asked. Erick looked at me. "Catch?" Erick asked. "I'm not stupid, everything has a catch. You have some sort of terms we'll have to go by, and I want to know them." I responded and Quinn nodded. Erick nodded at that before brushing some of his hair aside.
"Well, we don't allow foul play. Any person that begins attacking will be thrown out. We had a case of a male bear beating one of the females. It's one thing if you defend yourself, but we don't allow violent fights to break out. It's a 3 strike system." Erick said. I nodded.
"3 meals a day. No more than 3, and we allow 2 snacks a day." Erick said. Quinn nodded. "Everyone is required to help out. From feeding the animals, hunting, skinning, cleaning, training, babysitting, you have to help out." Erick said and we both nodded at that.
"But the violence thing we'll give you two more strikes, well Silver mostly. I'm aware how much tension there will be with a wolf there." Erick said. Lupa pinned her ears back at that. "But we'll make it work for you four will feel comfortable." Erick said with a smile.
"Are we allowed to leave at any given time?" Quinn asked. "Yes, you don't have to stay with us. And if something important, like family-related you are allowed to go for as long as needed. I left once for six months because my mom got sick." Erick said and Raegan nodded.
"I doubt any family-related stuff will come up." Quinn said. Erick nodded. "But once you join, we're like family after that. We'll help each other out. And girls get more strikes due to the less violent nature." Erick added. Ruby smiled just a bit. "Is that all?" Erick asked and Quinn nodded.
"Do you need time to think about it?" Erick asked. "No." Quinn responded. Erick looked a bit disappointed. "Well, that's fine." Erick said standing up. "We'll join your little cause." Quinn said. Erick looked down. "Really?" Erick asked and Quinn nodded as everyone stood up to go back to their things.
Quinn was taller than Raegan. "But Erick, if you screw us over, I promise you it won't be Silver you have to worry about. I can restrain her, but I can't guarantee you that she can restrain me." Quinn said. "We won't screw you over." Erick said and Quinn nodded. "I promise." Erick said.
"When do we leave?" I asked. "We should hunt for the trip and pack our things once more. We just got here, but this place sounds better. We'll hunt for the trip and once we're good, the horses are fully ready, we'll go. And we'll rest more on this trip." Quinn said.
Erick nodded. "Thank you Quinn." Erick said. Quinn nodded. "I promise you, we won't let you down." Erick said before turning away and walking. "Did we do the right thing?" Quinn asked. "Guess we're going to find out." I told Quinn who nodded as we went back to our day.
2195. Before anyone panics, no the bears won't betray them. However there will be some problems and then a big conflict towards the end. Trust me it's gonna be good. * * *