Valeria stood motionless by the dying embers, her attentive gaze tracking Elizabeth's graceful silhouette as she walked away. The corners of her mouth curled upward into a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
“She eats meat so slowly and delicately, like some princess. Yet, despite having such a meager appetite, her chest is impressively large… She must undoubtedly hail from some unimaginably wealthy and massive tribe, a place where no one ever has to worry about lacking food or warm clothes,” Valeria murmured quietly to herself.
Indeed, this seemingly hot-headed but incredibly sharp and observant horned girl had sensed a subtle dissonance in Elizabeth's behavior from the very beginning. This foreign blonde moved, spoke, and reacted to the world in ways so drastically alien to everyone Valeria knew that it truly felt as though she had been plucked from an entirely different dimension.
However, watching Elizabeth eagerly devour the fatty meat beside a shared fire had sparked a thread of folksy kinship in Valeria's heart, effectively wiping away her previous sense of distance and suspicion.
Crack… sizzle…
A half-burned log in the fire pit suddenly snapped loudly under the intense heat, showering sparks. The sudden shift caused the unsteadily propped stone pot to wobble, tipping over onto its side with a dull thud.
“…”
Valeria snapped her head toward the overturned pot, staring at it for several seconds with a blank, uncomprehending expression.
Then, as if struck by lightning, a highly alarming realization dawned on her.
She lowered her gaze to her own feet. Piled there was an unnaturally high mound of bones, gnawed completely clean—the remains of two massive pheasants and an entire, plump rabbit. She then glanced across the fire pit to where Elizabeth had just been sitting.
Sitting there was a single, modest, pitifully small pile of tiny bones.
Valeria swallowed hard, the sound loud in the empty camp. Her voice came out quiet and raspy:
“I think… I might have eaten a little bit too much for one sitting…”
Her face flared with a violent blush as she quickly added, desperately seeking an excuse for her own gluttony:
“Uhh… but she explicitly told me to eat! So this isn't my fault at all!”
Valeria coughed nervously, a tremendous sense of guilt written all over her face. She cast a stealthy glance in every direction to make sure no patrols were approaching. In a flash, she used her bare foot to vigorously kick the massive pile of bones straight into the glowing embers, destroying all compromising evidence of her unbridled appetite in mere seconds.
At that exact moment, the stern, impatient shout of a watch commander rang out from around the nearest corner:
“Valeria! What is taking you so long by that fire?! Get moving! It's time to begin the perimeter patrol!”
“Coming! I'm on my way!” she shouted back hurriedly, her heart pounding with the fear of being caught.
She cast one final glance down to ensure not a single trace of bone remained in the ash before, entirely reassured, she sprinted toward the dark treeline with a light, springy step.
***
When Elizabeth finally made it back to her tent and carefully lifted the thick, coarse hide flap serving as the door, she was genuinely surprised to find a neatly prepared, small fire pit already set up inside.
The fire pit was even safely ringed with stones, and a sizable stack of dry firewood was stacked neatly against the wall right beside it.
She turned around for a moment and stepped back outside, scanning the slowly quieting camp. She easily noticed that out of the entire cluster of tents, only a very small number had a warm, live fire burning inside to ward off the chill of the night.
“It seems only a select few, the most privileged people in this clan, receive such exceptional treatment,” Elizabeth sighed softly, brushing a stray lock of blonde hair from her forehead.
Class structures and social divides existed absolutely everywhere, regardless of the era or dimension; the only difference was in how blatant and ruthless they were.
The class system in this hyper-primitive society operated purely on the brutal law of the jungle. Those few tents with their own indoor fires undoubtedly belonged to the strongest Totem Warriors, elite hunters, and other individuals with critical skills essential for the clan's survival.
She returned inside and collapsed heavily onto the yielding mound of dry straw. She tossed and turned, adjusting the rough pelt beneath her head, but sleep simply refused to come.
Finally giving up, she lay on her side, staring into the lazily dancing flames of the small fire pit as her restless thoughts drifted far away:
Tomorrow at dusk, I will receive this mystical Sharu Inheritance and officially become the new Sharu of this Tribe…
That essentially makes me some sort of spiritual Village Chief.
Everyone will be looking to me to perform miracles…
A paralyzing, mounting anxiety gripped her heart.
For the first time in her entire life, she was about to become a true leader, responsible for an entire community. Back on Earth, she had never even been a class monitor in school, spending her days secluded in her room behind a monitor. Thrust into this new role, she inevitably felt deeply nervous, overwhelmed, and burdened with melancholy.
Forget this fear. I'll just take things one step at a time as the situation unfolds…
Besides, looking at the current state of things, it can't possibly get any worse, Elizabeth reasoned soberly, analyzing the dire straits of the Blood Fire Tribe.
Could it really get any worse than this?
It's already an extremely impoverished village, decimated by enemies and teetering on the brink of starvation.
“Ah…” Elizabeth let out a long, sleepy yawn. Her heavy eyelids slowly began to droop under the soothing warmth radiating from the fire pit.
Before she even realized she was drifting off, she fell into a deep, exhausted slumber, her breathing steady and calm.
Barely ten minutes had passed since the camp had fully plunged into darkness when a massive hand soundlessly lifted the leather entrance flap of her tent.
“Sleeping like a log,” Riven muttered quietly. He first peeked inside cautiously to assess the situation before sliding in.
His massive feet made absolutely no sound as they touched the packed earth.
In his enormous hands, he carried a massive, fresh slab of dripping Wild Beast Meat, roughly the size of three adult hands pressed together. He was just reaching up to hang this precious gift from the tent's wooden crossbeam…
At that exact moment, like a shadow bleeding out from the night, Neria appeared right outside the tent entrance. With cool composure and a gentle yet firm tone, she warned the warrior:
“Riven, take that raw Wild Beast Meat back immediately. Do not disturb our new Successor's sleep.”
“Alright, I'm taking it back,” Riven replied without a hint of resistance, acting as if he had been perfectly aware of his sister's soundless presence behind him the entire time. He unhooked the meat from the beam and carefully backed out of the tent.
Neria's predatory red eyes gleamed with a mysterious light in the dark as she spoke in a calm, grave voice:
“Once Elizabeth officially becomes the clan's Sharu tomorrow, she will never want for the finest meat under this sky.”
“Right, right, you're absolutely correct. I suppose I was being a bit too hasty.” The realization suddenly clicked in Riven's head. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly with a massive hand before asking slowly, looking out into the night:
“Will you be holding the main night watch by the central tents yourself tonight?”
“Yes, I must stand guard. The old Sharu's health is rapidly deteriorating with every passing hour.” Neria turned her horned head to look solemnly at the great pavilion standing nearby, illuminated by the glow of massive torches.
Through the taut, semi-transparent skin of the structure, the hunched silhouette of the old shaman was clearly visible. With his head bowed low, he was working tirelessly without a moment's rest, preparing the ritual items for the ceremony.
“Is our Shaman preparing for tomorrow's Succession Ceremony without a single break?” Riven asked with a heavy heart, pressing his lips together tightly.
“Mhm. He knows full well that his time is at an end. That is why, before he departs to join the Ancestors, he wishes to leave his Successor with as much knowledge and power as humanly possible,” Neria said in a deep voice, saturated with sorrow.
“…”
Riven went entirely silent, finding no words of comfort.
The two mighty warriors stood in absolute silence amidst the thickening gloom, shoulder to shoulder, like two unyielding, living shields guarding the peaceful slumber of their tribe's future.