novelraw Chapter 200 : Cats, Dogs and Fish 1
Chapter 200 : Cats, Dogs and Fish 1
"Meow—"
"Meowyo—"
On the morning in the beastfolk residential area, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Elsa was awakened by sharp cries.
"What's going on outside?"
"Mmm......"
A hand emerged from the blanket beside her, picking up glasses from the pillow and putting them on,
Yvonne, with slightly disheveled golden hair, leaned over
"Ah ah... They must be starting the winter fishing."
"Winter fishing?"
"Yes, it's a traditional event held annually by the Felis cat people. It's that time of the year again."
Previously, due to the change in their living area, these cats had to give up the annual winter fishing event. But now, with the establishment of teleportation gates in various regions, they could conveniently travel to the lake for winter fishing, allowing this custom to continue.
"Meowya—"
"Meowya ya yo—"
At this moment, the cat people outside had donned thick fur clothing, waving fish-shaped flags back and forth, and beating specially made skin drums. The spectacle was no less grand than the dragon and lion dances during the Spring Festival.
"The Felis people are very skilled at fishing... It sounds interesting."
She became excited,
"How about it? It's a rare opportunity, want to go see the winter fishing?"
They had also come with a task this time. The mission issued by "Myriad Leaves Gold" was to further friendly exchanges with the beastfolks and help the guild continue negotiations on the camel deer herd breeding cooperation project.
"...I just want to sleep a bit longer."
Elsa didn't want to leave the warm blankets.
Although they were supposed to get along well with the beastfolks, even so, there was no need to force herself to participate in these inexplicable festivals...
"It's so cold in winter, we should stay in the camp... right, Bebe?"
Elsa turned over to pat the place where Bebe should have been sleeping soundly, but unexpectedly, the little one was already fully dressed, carrying the small bag prepared for her earlier, eyes shining brightly, looking ready to go.
"I want to go~!"
"Eh? But it's very cold outside, you know?"
Although she tried to lure the child to her side, it seemed to have no effect.
"It's alright~ Bebe isn't afraid of the cold!"
Fully equipped, the little one indeed looked very warm.
She excitedly stomped her little feet, wearing the thick knitted hat Elsa had made for her earlier, with two small decorative pom-poms swinging back and forth from beside her ears.
"—And I promised my friends too!"
...Well then,
Now they had to go, if only for the child's sake.
Yvonne wore an 'I won' expression, and Elsa reluctantly got up.
"Fine, I'll go."
·
It's so cold...
Although wearing thick boots, walking on the ice and snow, after a while, her feet still felt frozen stiff.
"Want to drink something hot?"
Yvonne poured some hot tea from a thermos and handed it over.
"Thank you......"
After drinking the tea, she felt her frozen body recover a bit.
"We've arrived, you can rest for a while now."
The Gagar lake for winter fishing was very spacious. The lake surface had frozen over, and after that, there was a light snowfall, making it look no different from flat ground.
"...It's really hard to imagine this is a lake surface. Won't there be any accidents?"
"It's alright, the ice layer here is very thick. Generally, it won't crack."
Elsa tried stepping lightly, feeling a firmness from underfoot even more solid than brick ground.
The Felis walking at the front of the procession were conversing in the beastfolk language, seemingly discussing where would be best to break the ice.
She noticed that these cat people were all wearing thick coats made of fur,
"Ha... Although they don't usually wear fur, they put it on at times like this..."
It seems that even the cats with fur on their bodies get cold.
Leather products seem to have many complex rules among the beastfolks,
If human merchants were to sell fur in beastfolk territory without notice, they would be severely beaten.
"—Those are their family members."
Holding her hand, Bebe suddenly said this, startling Elsa.
Bebe seemed to think her mother might not have understood her meaning, and continued to explain:
"What they're wearing might be their grandpas and grandmas."
The little one innocently said this thing that sounded horrifying to Elsa,
"Wait, does that mean... those furs are from..."
Elsa quickly looked to Yvonne, hoping to hear a denial,
However, Yvonne solemnly nodded,
"Bebe is correct. After a Felis dies, their fur is passed down to their closest relatives. It's a custom of their tribe."
"...There's such a custom?"
Elsa imagined the scene of skinning fur from dead tribesmen, and suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
If compared to humans, it would be like skinning human skin and wearing it...
"Although it might seem incredible to us... this is also their way of respecting and remembering the deceased. Beastfolks are different from us, we can't measure them by human ethical standards."
Just like how humans keep and enshrine the ashes of relatives. In the eyes of beastfolks, it's a similar method, just that their method is more practical,
Although she couldn't fully agree... different races have different cultures, and the most important thing is mutual understanding—As the saying goes, seek common ground while reserving differences, a point that teachers like Brin and Yuna had repeatedly emphasized.
"Ah—it's Rako!"
Among the beastfolks, Bebe saw a familiar figure and excitedly waved her little paws,
"Rako~~ Sister Rako—"
She called out the other's name, waving her little hand,
Seemingly recognizing Bebe's voice, this silver little Felis pricked up her ears and turned around.
"...Bebe?"
The child called Rako had beautiful silver hair, cute three-lobed lips, and the whiskers on her face and tufts of fur by her ears quivered slightly with her movements. Her ears were darker in color, with black tufts standing at the tips, and her hair ends had a gradient of dark color,
Her eyes were a beautiful bright blue, quite rare among the cat people who mostly had green eyes.
Bebe seemed to be quite popular here, getting along well with many beastfolk children. Little Rako should be one of them.
"Wow... What a beautiful child!"
Yvonne heard Elsa's soft exclamation beside her, and couldn't help but smile wryly.
Indeed very cute, if compared to cat breeds Yvonne had seen in her previous life, Rako looked very much like those expensive Ragdoll cats.
"That child seems to be a half-beast."
"A half-beast?"
"Yes, although it's difficult for beastfolks and humans to conceive children, sometimes there are exceptions like this."
Yvonne's eyes indicated towards Rako in the distance,
"It's true..."
Little Rako's face only had a thin layer of fuzz, and her beast traits were not as prominent compared to others of her tribe.
Except for her ears and tail, and the fur and claws covering her hands similar to other Felis, other parts were not much different from humans.
She wore a silver-gray fur coat which seemed too large for her small frame.
"We meet again, little Pelo pup."
Seeing Bebe, her tail stood straight up, the tip swaying gently from side to side. She narrowed her beautiful blue eyes, carefully examining Bebe who was wagging her tail and rushing towards her.
"You seem to have grown a bit since last time? Hmph... but still so tiny."
"Bebe has been growing all along."
Rako appeared to be quite a bit older, standing a good deal taller than the little one beside her.
"After all, we promised to play together again! Rako hug~~"
Saying this, Bebe excitedly pounced on her,
"Wah—Don't suddenly pounce on me! This is why I hate you canines—"
"Does that mean... you're not happy to see me?"
Rejected, Bebe's ears drooped immediately.
"Hmph... I suppose there might be a tiny bit of happiness."
"Just a little?"
Her eyes welled up with tears, about to spill over,
"Does Rako hate me?"
Seeing the tears about to fall, Rako immediately became flustered
"I was just kidding earlier!! Seeing you again... I-I'm really happy... really! Look, my tail could sweep snow now!"
Rako turned around embarrassedly, swaying her long-haired big tail.
After all, tails don't lie,
"That's great~~"
Learning that she wasn't hated, Bebe broke into a smile through her tears
"I love Rako the most~~"
"You... don't push your luck!"
Yvonne and Elsa watched the two cute little ones from the side with warm gazes as elders.
"My, it's been so long since I've seen such a textbook tsundere."
"Pfft... Evie is quite standard too."
"...I am not!"
Mm, that's a textbook response.
"Mama! Can I go with Rako later?"
Seeing Yvonne and Elsa, Rako became somewhat flustered, awkwardly bowing in the human manner, then took Bebe's hand.
"Mm, go ahead, but don't go too far out of our sight, okay?"
"Okay~~"
The two little cuties held hands,
·
"Keep up, don't fall into an ice hole later."
"Rako... there's no one around here anymore."
Remembering her mother's admonition, Bebe felt a bit uneasy,
"This is better, we'll definitely catch big fish!"
Rako held a fish spear twice her height, with a collapsible fishing rod on her back.
"This is a 'trial'."
Looking at the fish spear in her hand, Rako's little face became serious.
"Trial?"
Bebe tilted her head and repeated the word.
"Yes, you must catch prey that the elders approve of with your own skills to become a full-fledged Felis..."
Rako clutched the fur collar on her chest, the fur left to her by her deceased mother.
"But because I'm mixed-blood, the others in the tribe don't have much faith in me... I probably won't pass this time either."
"That's not true—"
Bebe clenched her little fists, cheering Rako on from the side.
"Rako is smart and patient... learns everything quickly! It'll definitely be fine!"
"Hmph... Of course! This time I'm going to prove it to those adults!"
"I'll help too~"
"You'll be a big help if you don't make too much noise and scare the fish away!"
Hearing Rako say this, Bebe quickly covered her mouth with her paws, nodding repeatedly.
"...You can speak softly too! You really are quite stupid..."
"Bebe isn't stupid!"
The little one said seriously,
Mamas always praise her for being smart, how could she be stupid?
"But you are quite similar to me."
"How are we similar?"
"Um... for example, we both don't have fathers?"
"Although I don't have a father, Bebe has two mamas~"
Hearing the word 'mama', the clear blue cat eyes contracted,
Rako silently cast her fishing hook into the ice hole,
Ugh!!
Bebe realized her slip of the tongue.
Rako's mother had passed away when she was very young.
The little head worked furiously, thinking of how to cheer her up.
"In that case, I'll share my mamas with you!"
"What nonsense! How could mamas be shared with others!?"
Rako was initially very angry, but when she turned to look, she met Bebe's serious face.
"It's okay!"
"If Rako is willing to become family with me... it's okay!"
"What..."
The precocious Rako understood the meaning of these words, and her face instantly turned red.
"Th-this kind of thing is too early for someone like you!!"
"It's not okay?"
"Of course not!!"
After being flatly rejected, the little one dejectedly lowered her tail,
"Eh? But it seemed like a good idea..."
Feeling like she had been toyed with, Rako was so angry she gritted her teeth,
"You definitely don't understand what that means, right? That's a very important thing! Don't say it so casually!"
"I do understand—"
Bebe puffed up her cheeks, very dissatisfied: "It means becoming like the relationship between my mamas, right?"
Saying this, her soft paw pads covered the other's hand.
"Rako is a kind and gentle good child, Bebe is willing to have that kind of relationship with Rako~"
Innocent eyes looked up and met hers,
"I-Idiot! You can't say such things so casually!!"
Rako scolded with a red face, no longer sure if this one understood or not.
"Bebe is very serious—"
Just as the two little beasts were at an impasse, the fishing float hanging in the ice hole suddenly sank sharply.
Rako immediately reacted,
"A fish has taken the bait!!"
"Such strong force... ugh!!"
With Rako's strength, she couldn't pull this monster from the water in one go, and could only barely restrain it like this.
If it continued like this, the hook might come loose.
Just as she was at a loss, another pair of small hands joined hers on the fishing rod.
"Grr~~~~!"
She put strength into her hind legs, and Rako felt much lighter,
Although small in stature, her strength was quite impressive.
She had experienced this when playing with her before, most of the time it was this one pinning her down.
After all, the Pelo tribe's strength and physique were not comparable to the Felis.
"I'll get the fish spear! Just hold on like this—"
"Mm!"
Rako hurriedly reached for the fish spear on her back. If she could pierce the fish's body with this, she could catch this big fellow!
However, at this moment, the force from underwater suddenly increased,
"Wah!!"
With a sudden sink, Bebe fell onto the hard ice surface, getting a mouthful of ice shavings.
Seeing the situation turn bad, Rako quickly threw down the fish spear and pounced over, grabbing Bebe who was about to slide into the ice hole,
"Let go!!"
Realizing the danger, Rako hurriedly shouted:
"Bebe—Let go quickly!"