[CHAPTER 23.1: THE TIGER AND THE SNAKE]
"Would it be safe to set a camp here?" Sora questioned when Gaharu halted the troops to rest.
"It is. Although we are now at a forest that belongs to the Zov, there are no soldiers patrolling here. This part of the forest was left out because the graves of the Snow Wolf clan lie here," Mihaje explained, "it is forbidden for other wolves to trespass this area."
"You seem to know a lot of things," Sora climbed down from his ride, "What else do you know?"
"You cannot fall asleep here. The coldness here can kill you. It is wise to set up fire to keep everyone warm, but we must continue on our way before dawn. We will reach the Zov's main before sunrise." Mihaje said as he too, climbed down from Satria.
Gaharu watched as his soldiers making fires and passing out food. They would need all the energy for battle later.
Casualties are inevitable during battles. However, he wouldn't wish for his people to die in vain. There were not many left of them tigers.
Am I doing the right thing, leading them here...? What if I lead them to their deaths?
Gaharu often question his sanity. His people might look up to him as a fearsome leader, and although he was portrayed as a fearless and fierce beastman, he always had his doubt on himself.
"My lord," Satria, still in its tiger form, bowed its head to Gaharu, "the tents are set. Please take a rest."
Gaharu shook his head slightly as he leaned his back against the bare tree,
"You and the rest go warm yourself and rest for a while. I will keep watching."
Satria shifted back into a half naked beastman, he seemed reluctant, he didn't respond to Gaharu but instead, he timidly stared back at his lord.
"Go, I said." Gaharu said firmly and made Satria immediately bow.
"Yes, my lord."
After watching the young soldier gallop back to the tents, Gaharu let out a quiet chuckle. Satria may be very young, but he's a warrior with big potentials. Gaharu gazed up to the black sky, observing his own breath floating above him and immersed into the cold air.
Mihaje squinted his eyes as he observed Gaharu from afar. That tiger did not seem to know his own origin, the Sun Tiger clan-- a clan that the previous chief leader of Moro, his father, feared so much that he had to eliminate all Sun Tigers. Hence the reason why the Moro armors were made flame retardant.
It was said that the Sun Tigers were fire breathers. But so far, Mihaje had only seen Gaharu produce fire from his bare hands. Or did he not know how? Mihaje thought.
The Sun Tigers were also said to have an amazing physical strength. Sun Tigers lived isolated from other tigers and there weren't many left of them because they were keen on keeping their blood pure-- it was their tradition to mate only with their own species. The last Sun Tiger village was located far away from other clans, on a high mountain. Mihaje recently had learned from Tayen that their father, the previous lord Dovan, had poisoned the river near the Sun Tiger village which caused the tigers to become ill and attacked them while they were in their weakest state.
Did Gaharu grow up knowing nothing about his clan?
"Mihaje." A gentle low voice sounded next to him and Mihaje turned. Sora handed over a piece of meat to him.
"I appreciate the offer," Mihaje uttered, "but I do not eat raw."
Sora raised an eyebrow. He was surprised to hear that response from a snake. Snakes usually gobble their meal fresh and raw, especially Blood Snakes. They need fresh blood to replenish their body, especially during shedding and recovery.
Sora turned around and called out to one of the soldiers to bring cooked meat to Mihaje.
"You do not have to treat me kindly, leopard, I am still your enemy." Mihaje frowned. Why would this leopard want to be kind to him? It's absurd.
"Who knows? You might repay my kindness someday," Sora let out a faint smile, "eat up, we have plenty."
Mihaje stared down at the meat in his hand. Sora had left to join the others by the bonfire. Mihaje then quietly went behind a tree and took off his mask.
"Tasteless," he mumbled as he chewed on the meat in his mouth. Yet acceptable. The corner of his lips lifted as he scoffed.
When he was done, he wiped the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand and put his mask back on. He then picked up a handful of snow and rubbed his palms together, cleaning his hands. He noticed the Ra tribe had no care for cleanliness whatsoever, however, when he saw Gaharu pick up snow and rub his hands with it, Mihaje raised an eyebrow in surprise.
What an eye opener. His decision to leave Moro had made him see a lot of unexpected things. Years ago, his world was only darkness, until Tayen brought him out. Then his world was Tayen, and the tribe. And then Bella showed up... She messed with his patience, troubled his mind, and invaded his heart. And caused him to do things he never had thought of doing. Mihaje scoffed slightly, tightening the knot of his mask. His mind wondered what it would be like if he could spend the rest of his life beside her, although that sounds totally impossible. But it's alright to wish, right? It was the first time he'd wished for something. It was the first time he'd ever felt hopeful for something.
"Why are you wearing a mask? Are you ugly to look at?" Gaharu asked when he saw Mihaje walking by with his hands behind his head, correcting the knot of his mask at the back of his neck.
Mihaje scoffed. Why does that tiger sound exactly like Bella?
"Are you ignoring me now, snake?"
"I am not obliged to answer that."
"Why are you wearing that? Can you not take it off?"
Mihaje scoffed again slightly. He noticed Bella and that tiger had something in common-- their weird obsession for his mask.
*****
"Lady Bella, general Garuda will arrive soon."
"Oh? That soon? I thought it might take at least a week for him to settle the matter at Ang."
Yok and Fum gave each other a questioning look. Was that a question directed to them? Were they supposed to answer that?
"What about Borius? Is he coming back with Garuda?" Bella asked.
"No, my lady. Lord Borius is-" Yok accidentally bit his tongue when Fum shoved an elbow at him.
"Lord Borius is still occupied with some matters, my lady." Fum answered.
Bella's glance switched from Yok to Fum, then back to Yok again. These two were being cautious around her, they tried not to show it but it was obvious.
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
"No, my lady, nothing is wrong. Just that Lord Borius is awfully weak during cold days and we would not want the words to spread to an outsider, would we?" Yok let out an awkward laugh while Fum was already slapping his own forehead.
Bella was about to ask for more details when they heard loud noises outside the palace. It sounded like people cheering and laughing.
"That must be general Garuda!" Yok exclaimed cheerfully.
Bella followed the two young soldiers to the main gate. When she arrived, she saw Garuda just landed on his feet and his wide-spread wings looked so majestic. He looked like an archangel that just came down from the celestial heaven. Several raven and hawk soldiers landed behind him, one by one, like an army of angels sent down to earth to punish evil.
Am I seeing things? Or did they really land in slow mo?
"Welcome back, general!" The guards lined up along the gate to greet him.
"Did you miss me?" Garuda came up to Bella and whispered with a naughty smirk on his perfectly handsome face. Bella smacked his arm lightly.
"Anyway, Garuda," Bella uttered, "Would you mind telling me more details on Ang's current situation?"
Bella could not just sit and wait anymore, watching everyone she knows rushing here and there to save lives and all. She felt like she should do something. There must be something that she could help with.
"Sure. Have you taken your meal? Let us talk while eating." Gaharu smiled.
Bella hummed softly. Such a mannerless act like talking while eating was definitely not her thing, but she agreed to it.
*****
In the dining hall. Bella stared at the cooked meat in her wooden plate. It was white and wet. They must've boiled this, Bella thought.
"How healthy." She murmured, sarcastically.
It had been six months of eating roasted meat, and this was her first time, after six whole months, seeing boiled meat.
"Is the food not to your liking?" Garuda asked when he noticed she hadn't touched her food.
"Yeah, well... It's fine." Bella pulled a smile before taking a small piece of the meat into her mouth.
Tasteless.
"Wow, what a healthy meal." She said as she scoffed quietly.
"What is it that you want to talk to me about?" Garuda asked, wiping his mouth with a piece of clean cloth.
Bella watched as Garuda licked his clawed fingers clean before she opened her mouth,
"Tell me honestly, what's the situation in Ang now? I want to know the details and I want to help."
Garuda blinked, he stared at her pretty oval shaped face and her beautiful almond shaped eyes. Her black sparkly irises were full of questions. There was a determination in her voice, and he knew he should tell her everything.
"You must already know about the contagious illness that had caused countless deaths in three bear villages. But before that occurred, Ang was already struggling with survival. The Zov has been aiding them by transporting meat supplies to Ang every five days." Garuda started explaining.
He also told her that Raneki might seem all mighty and fierce, but he had the softest heart. He never led his people to battle nor did he know anything about killing. All they have been doing for the past few years was defending their territory and never attacked other tribes.
The Ang tribe also not very active in hunting manoks, resulted in their food shortage problem when their population increased.
"Tell me more about the disease, its symptoms and causes. How it started or how you guys find out about it in the first place." Bella wiped her mouth as her other hand reached for the goblet in front of her. The only thing nice to swallow here was their wine.
"I have encountered those with illness before. It started with continuous fatigue, loss of appetite, high body temperature, rashes, bleeding cough, bleeding nose. Within three to five days, the infected will die vomiting blood."

That's awfully eerie.
"We assumed it spread through physical touch, so we separated the villagers as safety measures. We isolated the infected ones in one place and burn their carcasses before burying them. We placed the healthy ones in the shelter where they can be observed. We never know the cause of the illness, we only know that it occurs every several years during snow days."
"I see. Who is more susceptible to this disease?"
"Older beastmen are more likely to get infected than the young. I have noticed that beastmen over the age of twenty and thirty are the most vulnerable to this illness, regardless of male or female."
Bella thought long and hard. If only she had studied medicine in uni. She sighed as she brushed the thoughts off. Not much of a help either, since this was not her world.
The Ang tribe was a large tribe with large beastmen and large territories. And although seemingly very advanced compared to the Ra tribe, they were very far behind in the aspects of daily life and health management and had no clue on medicinal plants whatsoever. Questions roamed in her head once again.
Then why was Raneki being made leader in the first place if he knew so little about leading a tribe and keeping his people safe and well-fed? Because he was the largest? Or was it because there were no other candidates that fit the description of a leader?
I know I shouldn't judge but the Ang tribe wouldn't be facing so many issues if Raneki was more capable. And from what she had heard, Ang's general, Sutakin, wasn't really a big help as well.
Or was it a bear beastmen characteristic? Being humongously intimidating yet slow in the brain?
In any case, it was not the time for finding faults of others. She wanted to help, and she should be thinking of a solution.
Tayen's pale handsome face came to mind again. Will he be able to find a cure for this if he was given the task? Will he do it if he was asked to?
After the meal, Garuda took Bella into a room that was filled with bark scrolls and piles of animal skin. There was a big wooden table in the middle and wooden chairs surrounding it. Piles of animal skin with characters written on them scattered everywhere on the table. He gestured her to sit next to him after tidied up the table.
"The earliest record of the illness can be found here," Garuda took out several scrolls from one of the shelves and placed it on the table for Bella, "it was about four decades ago."
"When it first happened to the wolf clan, it was spread out as a curse had befallen them. But years later, the same situation happened again to the hare clan, and another several years, the fox clan. Each time, the illness strikes a different clan." Garuda spoke again as he leaned closer to Bella with a piece of animal skin in his hands. His eyes were focused on the information that he was reading. Bella gazed up to him as she touched his wings. Her soft palm caressed his feathers gently.
"Bella," Garuda rubbed the side of his face against her forehead as he pulled her close into his arms, "does things like this happen in your world as well?"
"It does. We call it an epidemic outbreak. Humans deal with it by finding cure for diseases." Bella replied. She felt Garuda's arms squishing her slightly tighter.
A cure...? Garuda pursed his lips. Is it possible to put an end to it and saved the lives of the infected? But how?
"Garuda, if you were to cooperate with Moro or Ra, would you do it? For good purpose per se."
Garuda frowned at her odd question. Does she mean joining forces with such a despicable tribe as the Moro, or the Ra?
"If, I said if... For the sake of all beastmen, to save the lives of hundreds, are you willing to throw your hatred aside and cooperate with your enemy?"
Such a question made him think long and hard. He stared down at her black orbs that were like two black holes wanting to suck him in.
"If it is to save lives, I would," Garuda finally responded, "but that is impossible. Be it Ra or Moro, they are brutal and vicious, and cannot be trusted."
Well, he said he would. There is a chance, right? Bella pursed her lips, considering the possibility.
*****