The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 151: Just watch how I handle it

They were terrified that we were just jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire—and in their eyes, we were the fire.

"You think we’re just going to make a mess and vanish, leaving you to clean up the blood," I said, my voice grounding and calm. I understood the dilemma. Why trust the ’new’ monsters to fight the ’old’ monsters?

I walked over to Damar and Fenric, standing between them and the rabbits to act as a bridge.

"Listen," I said, looking the elder in the eye. "We didn’t come here to start a war, but we did take your offering. We don’t leave debts unpaid. We aren’t just going to ’scuffle’ and leave. If we deal with these Martens, we’re going to make sure they never think about touching a single rabbit again."

We shall become the nightmare of those arrogant creatures.

Fenric crossed his arms, his broad frame casting a long shadow over the grass under the shadow of the moon.

"Besides," he added, his voice a low rumble. "I don’t like the taste of being called a thief. If someone’s going to collect a ’tribute’ in this forest, they’re going to have to go through me first."

Damar didn’t say anything, but he reached down and picked up one of the colorful feathers from the grass, twirling it between his fingers before letting the wind take it.

The rabbits huddled together, whispering frantically. It was a gamble—stay with the devil they knew, or trust the three strangers who had just arrived from the ’dying side’ of the world.

Finally, the boy looked up, his little nose twitching. "The Flat Rock is only ten minutes away," he whispered. "If we don’t go now... they’ll come looking for us anyway."

The elder sighed, a sound of pure defeat and desperate hope.

"Follow us. But please... if it goes wrong... run. Don’t let them follow you back to the burrows."

"You got it."

I understood his fears. If they found out that the rabbits were the ones who called us to take care of them and for some unknown reason we failed, it would be the end for them.

But well, I don’t think we’ll fail.

This might be dangerous, but I feel so confident. This must the was energy in me spiraling out of control.

The quest to be adventurous was stronger than I thought.

"Arinya," Fenric called and I turned my head to look at him. "Just stay behind us. We don’t want them getting near you."

"Don’t worry. I’m not so weak that a few weasels could leave a scratch on me."

Though I was a female, I was a tiger before I was a female. And there was no way a tiger could cower in the presence of a stone Martine.

"Just watch how I handle it." I said, showing the flat muscles on my arms and Damar dropped his hand on my shoulder.

"Ari, instead of charging in with us, why don’t you stand guard so neither of them escapes." He said and I thought about it.

If I was going to stand guard then they would have most of the fun. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t let a single weasel crawl past them.

"That’s a great idea." Fenric said, and I looked at the both of them, their eyes too eager to be ’helping’. They definitely wanted to leave me out of the action.

I sighed, shrugging my shoulders.

Well, I guess there’s no reason to throw away caution now.

"Alright, alright, I’ll stand guard." I said, dropping my hands on my waist and huffing with my chin proudly in the air.

They both exchanged glances and I was sure I heard them chuckle but when I looked back, they held straight faces.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion but whatever.

"Follow me," the elder rabbit whispered, his voice shaking as he signaled for us to move.

The rabbits led us through a dense thicket of ferns, their long ears swiveling at every snap of a twig. We moved like ghosts through the green woods. The air grew thinner and colder as we climbed a slight incline, the lush grass giving way to jagged, moss-covered stones.

"There," the elder breathed, crouching behind a massive fallen log. "The Flat Rock."

Hm, it didn’t look much like a rock but I guess they just call it that because of all the rocks around. I think I can even see limestone. If they have this many limestones then they can very much build houses from scratch. And I don’t mean wooden huts but brick houses.

Does anyone know of this yet?

It doesn’t look like the Storm Martens use the rocks and I don’t think the rabbits do either. But maybe if we visit more tribes along the way, we can find places where they build real houses.

Civilization stretches the farther we go. It’s amazing.

"Ari," Damar called, noticing I was absent-minded, and I waved it off.

"It’s fine. I’m fine. Was thinking of something for a moment there, haha." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

I was excited. I just can’t wait to see real houses. And maybe I can find tribes that actually use fire to cook or bake.

My heart was thumping, but I quickly calmed myself. If I get too excited now, thinking only the best awaits me, then the disappointment of not finding what I’m looking for will be devastating.

"Once we are past this point, we will be on the path that leads directly to where the Stone-Martens live." Gram explained.

Then, I noticed the young boy slowly edge closer to me.

He was still trembling, his ears pressed flat against his spine, but there was a flicker of something new in his eyes. Hope, maybe. Or just the realization that his life was now in the hands of three strangers.

"Are you afraid?" I asked and he nodded, without a single hesitation. "Ah, that reminds me. We didn’t have any introductions. What’s your name?"

"I’m... I’m Dani," he whispered, so low I almost missed it. He looked up at me, his nose twitching a mile a minute. "And that’s my father, Gram. He’s the elder of our burrow."

The older rabbit looked back, his face a mask of worry, but he gave a stiff nod. It was a brave gesture. Even though they were terrified, they wanted us to know who they were. They weren’t just ’rabbits’ or ’the tribute’—they were people.

"I’m Arinya," I whispered back, giving Dani’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. "And those two over there are Damar and Fenric. Don’t worry, they don’t bite unless I tell them to."