[CHAPTER 8: THE LEOPARD AND THE HUMAN]
"Good morning, my lady."
Bella sat up when she heard Suria's voice calling from outside her chamber. She turned around to find the side of the bed was empty. Gaharu was not there with her.
"Come in..." Bella replied, weakly. Her throat felt dry and uncomfortable.
Suria stepped in, bringing a wooden basin filled with clean water. Another female servant beside her was holding a wooden tray with a clean cloth and a tooth-cleaning twig on it. Bella noticed her and asked,
"Are you new? I've never seen you before."
"She is, my lady. Her name is Talia." Suria answered Bella's question. 
"My lady, I am from the ox clan." Talia answered fearfully, as though scared that Bella would eat her up. The young servant has two small horns on top of her head, like that of a cattle's. She was humanlike, but has big nose and big nostrils.
"Lady Bella is very kind and generous, Talia. Do not be afraid of her but respect her with all your heart." Suria uttered.
Bella gave a faint smile. She was feeling tired for no reason, her whole body ached and her throat felt sore.
"Are you alright, my lady? You look so pale." Suria asked, worriedly.
"I'm okay. I guess I didn't get enough sleep last night."
Hearing that, Suria smiled shyly and teased,
"It was no wonder Lord Gaharu was in a good mood this morning. Did Lord Gaharu keep you awake the whole night?"
"What are you thinking, silly! We were only talking the whole night." Bella snapped.
Suria chuckled as she placed the wooden basin on a table for Bella to wash her face.
"Where is Gaharu anyway?"
"Lord Gaharu had left to see the construction of the Leopard Fortress that had just started. He will be back in a few days."
Gaharu never stays in one place, he's like an untamed big cat, Bella thought. After Bella was done washing her face and brushing her teeth, Talia took some courage to come forward and asked,
"Would you like me to comb your hair, my lady?"
"Maybe later. I need to bathe first." Bella smiled at her.
Talia smiled back bashfully as she lowered her head, 
"Yes, my lady."
*****
Bella started to cough a little right after she started soaking herself in the hot water. She felt fatigued, as if all her energy was drained from her body.
"Is Lady Bella alright?" Satria who was standing by the bathroom entrance asked when Suria came by with clean clothes for Bella.
"I do not know. But she did look unwell this morning. Her face was quite pale." Suria replied.
Satria pursed his lips, worrying that Bella might have gotten ill. She shouldn't come out to join Sora for tonight's hunting.
*****
As planned, Sora appeared by Bella's door with a charming smile on his face. Bella had put on black long sleeves and pants for the activity. She also had a short coat made of tiger fur.
"Lady Bella."
Sora had his blonde wavy hair in a loose ponytail and two strands of his front hair hung loosely on his forehead, looking handsome as ever. He greeted Bella with his dashing smile that could strike the hearts of every females that sees it.
"Are you alright, my lady? You... looked pale."
"I'm okay. Just a small headache, that's all."
"Should we not join the activity for tonight? I mean, you should..."
"Nah, it's fine, really. I really like to join this night hunting you're talking about."
"Are you sure, my lady? I do not think..."
"Yes, it's fine."
Sora nodded. He didn't say anything more.
Outside the palace, there were several beastmen that had transformed into huge oxen and leopards to pull the wagons waiting to depart. Bella, accompanied by Satria, climbed into the front wagon where Sora was. The hunting party went far down the mountain, passed further from the river, and continued to gallop down for about an hour or so. Bella didn't realize the mountain she had been staying in for months now was that enormous. She had never gone far from the Tiger Palace since the day she was taken in by Gaharu. This was the first time. Along the way, she saw villages of beastmen and camps. Finally, they went past a huge structure made of rock and hard wood. It looked like a man-made cave, like a smaller version of the Tiger Palace.
"What place is that?" She asked.
"That is the Great Temple, my lady. The panther clan will soon reside there. Spiritual ceremonies will be held there from now on."
"So, Abnaki will move there too?"
"Yes, my lady."
The sun had begun to set and the sky was beginning to darken. The air around them had started to feel colder. They finally arrived at another forest that had thicker and taller trees than the tiger mountain. The hunting party consisting of about forty to fifty beastmen was divided into four teams and the teams split different directions when Sora gave the order. Bella and Satria were in Sora's team.
"Just stay close to me, my lady," Sora said, "I will keep you safe."
"What is it that we're hunting?" Bella asked.
"You will see." Sora answered.
This morning, Satria had explained some details to her that the hunting party was to capture wild animals as food supply. Usually it was never Sora's job to hunt for food, however, the general would sometimes participate in the activity.
What Bella didn't understand was, weren't the beastmen animals themselves? So what sort of wild animals that they hunt? Apart from the beastmen, she had never seen other animals ever since she had came to this world. So she was quite curious.
"Here," Satria handed a dagger to Bella, "Just in case."
Each beastmen were armed with bows and arrows, some of them have spears in their hands.
"What the hell are we hunting, anyway?" Bella asked again.
"Manoks," Satria said, half whispering, "There are several kinds of Manoks, big and small, fat and thin, but we Ra normally hunt this kind because they are bigger and slower. Their meat tastes better too."
"I see."
"There!" One of the hunters cried while pointing at a direction. Then, all the other hunters readied their arrows and shot all together. Bella couldn't see what it was, but when Sora went to approach the kill, she followed after. She was shocked to see that the animal that they'd just killed was an ape.
"So... This is what I've been eating this whole time?" She suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
"Good kill!" Sora praised the hunters.
There was a rustle in the bushes. Bella turned around. Suddenly, an ape jumped out from the bushes and charged towards her. Its eyes were bright red, they were like the eyes of a creepy monster from a horror movie. Bella gasped and took a step back. Satria moved forward to shield her and unsheathed his sword. Another ape leaped out towards them. Sora rushed to kill the apes before they could do any harm.
The forest echoed with the shrieking of the other manoks, hiding from the hunters' sights.
"Defensive formation!" Sora gave out an order and the hunters immediately formed a circle with their arrows pointed outward. Bella and Satria were inside the circle.
Bella gulped when she saw countless manoks leaping from branches to branches and they were getting closer. Although the sky had already darkened, with the help of the bright moonlight, she could see them pretty clearly. Their eyes were flashing red and their shriekings were getting louder and piercing her eardrums.
"How come there are so many of them today?" One of the hunters shouted.
"They are probably from another forest." Another hunter replied to that question.
"Ah, this is going to be tiring." Another one chuckled.
Sora gave the order to shoot. There were some manoks that successfully dodged the arrows and reached the ground. Bella started to bite her lips when countless angry apes were heading their direction. Sora leaped forward and transformed into an enormous leopard, some of the hunters transformed as well. Bella watched as the leopard Sora caught several manoks in its mouth and shook them hard like ragged dolls before crashing them to the ground.
"Satria, take Lady Bella to safety!" The leopard Sora commanded, manoks blood dripping down from the fur of its jaw.
Satria took Bella away from the scene, heading back to the wagons.
"Worry not, my lady. I am here." Satria  calmly said to her. The fact that they were all so calm in such a situation made Bella think that this was totally normal to them. So she wasn't so worried.
Funny, she felt like she really adapted well in this world. She survived finely even when there was no electricity and no WiFi. She didn't even miss her smartphone and her iPad. There was always new things to see and learn everyday.
Even now, in such a chaotic moment, she wasn't afraid, she didn't panic at all. She felt the rush of adrenaline and it somehow excited her.
Some time had passed. The shrieking of the manoks had completely quieted down. Shortly after that, Sora, half naked in his beastmen form, carried several dead apes on one shoulder. He approached the wagon where Bella was. The hunters followed after him. They were all carrying dead manoks on their shoulders and backs.
"We have enough meat to feed the whole tribe! Haha!"
Bella heard one of the hunters exclaimed. True, there was more than enough to feed the entire tribe for a month, probably longer.
"Are you alright, my lady?" Sora came to Bella after tossing the manoks into the wagon.
Sora's half naked body was perfectly toned. He had several battle scars. Bella took her time gazing over Sora's perfectly toned abs before answering him, 
"Surprisingly, yes." She answered with a chuckle. Satria beside her also let out a smile. This was her first time joining a hunting activity, surprisingly, her facial expression remained serene in the midst of chaos. Satria recalled the first time he was sent to the battlefield, he was so terrified he almost cried. Although hunting ground was not the same as battle ground, for a female and first timer like Lady Bella, her reaction to such a situation was quite surprising.
"It is time to head back."
*****
"Ugh...!"
He jolted awake and immediately felt pang of pain. Although his wound had healed, his left wing was broken and the bones have not completely healed yet.
"You are awake." A gruff voice sounded across the room. Raneki, the bear, a very large beastman walked into the room followed by several beastmen soldiers.
"Where... Am I?" Garuda glanced around him. The bedchamber was unfamiliar, it was definitely not the Wolf Palace.
"This is the Bear Castle," Raneki replied as he sat down on a big wooden chair in the room, "you have been unconscious for more than three moons."
Has it been that long...? That female... 
"How did I end up here?"
"You were dying when my soldiers found you." Raneki said again. He then called out to one of his soldiers and said, "Send out a messager to inform the Zov that their general had awoken."
"I am highly in debt to you, Lord Raneki."
"May I ask, what actually happened to you? Borius had told me that you were leading the troops to defend the west side border of the Zov territory, but then you went missing." 
"I was chasing that evil tiger lord, Gaharu. But I was no match for him."
Garuda recalled the moment where he was almost burnt alive by Gaharu's raging flames, and he blamed himself for not being able to save that poor young female.
Raneki drew in a long deep breath, sinking deep into his own thoughts. Gaharu's fire ability was in fact terrifyingly powerful. He had singlehandedly eliminated all eagle clans. Garuda was very lucky to still be alive from his one on one match with Gaharu. Another beastman that withstood one on one match with Gaharu was Tayen, the venomous snake. And he too, was rumored to have gone missing after the Ra ambushed into their territory, the rhino's grassland.
Garuda's whole body felt weak, but he forced himself to get out of the bed.
"Stay, Garuda. Your lord will be on his way after he get my message. You are needed in Zov and Ang." Raneki calmly stated.
Yes, Garuda should not be reckless again. Only by taking down the Ra will this war end. And only by coming back stronger will he find that female again and free her from the tiger's lair.
But will he be able to defeat Gaharu, the tiger who has the strength of ten beasts? He knew clearer than anyone else that no one could match with Gaharu's monstrous strength.
I will come back for you. Please stay alive, little female.
*****
"Why are you not eating, my lady? I made your favorite meal." Suria bent down to look at the plate of spicy cooked meat on the table. Lady Bella used to like this so much.
Bella stared down at the cooked meat on her wooden plate. She hesitated. After knowing that she's been eating ape's meat this whole time made her uncomfortable. She felt like she's been eating her own kind since primates are considered the closest thing to the human race.
"My lady?" Suria called again. Talia who was now Suria's assistant, also blinked her eyes curiously.
"I um, I think I need some air."
Suria and Talia exchanged a questioning look. They then followed Bella out from the dining hall.
"It's okay, I want to be alone for a while to... clear my head. I'll be at the palace's top garden."
"Yes, my lady."
*****
The cold night wind caressed her skin and made her little hair stood on end. She was beginning to feel dizzy but she didn't want to go back to her room yet. Her headache was getting more and more uncomfortable but she endured it. There's no paracetamol or aspirin here, so why should she bother?
"Is something bothering you, Lady Bella? You looked disturbed." A low yet gentle manly voice sounded.
Bella was sinking herself in the comfortable night breeze and peaceful silence of the mountain top view when Sora suddenly popped up beside her. The bright moonlight and the burning torches reflected their light on Sora's golden irises and it made his eyes glowing. His wavy blonde locks whirled every time the wind blew. He had untied his long hair and he looked so gorgeously handsome.
"Sora, are the manoks the only wild animals here in the beastmen world? Or are there other animals too that you beastmen eat?"
"There are several kinds of manoks, different looks and sizes. But yes, manoks are the only animals here, as far as we know."
Bella imagined how the dead manoks were being skinned and mutilated into pieces, before putting them into a huge pot to cook. Or like Gaharu had told her before, some beastmen eat their meat raw.
"Uwerk...!" She felt like throwing up.
"Lady Bella," Sora worriedly grabbed her shoulders, "you do not look well. Are you sure you are not ill?"
Sora had the feeling that she was not feeling well since morning. She was pale this morning and her voice sounded raspy. Although her skin looked reddish now, it wasn't her usual skin color. But Lady Bella was quite a headstrong one, she would not admit being weak or unwell. The moment he touched her, he knew something wasn't right. Her temperature was high. He touched her face, indeed, her skin felt hot.
"Let me carry you to your chamber to rest." He said as he carried her up. Bella tugged on the sleeve of his armor and gazed up at him.
"I'm fine, really. It's just a fever."
Sora stared back at her. Her big black sparkly eyes met with his. Her cheeks were reddish and it appeared as if she was being shy. Her lips appeared very red due to her high temperature. She looked pretty even when she's sick.
"You're so handsome," Bella mumbled subconsciously, "like prince charming. I bet all the girls in my world would fall head over heels for you. Heh." She continued to mumble as she slowly closed her eyes.
"Lady... Bella." Sora stared down at the unconscious Bella in his arms for a while. He subconsciously leaned close with his eyelids closed and sniffed on the skin of her forehead, pressing the tip of his nose and mouth onto her delicate skin.
"If only you were not his..."
*****