Trapped in the beastworld

Part 12 ~ Winter is coming

Odin had left the first week of fall and she sorely missed her snake but thankfully she still had Keith and Tram. Tram moved in right away and cohabitation had gone very well. The doctor loved to cook, just like she dreamed of, she wondered if what she dreamt of was really true or just something that was on her mind before sleeping. She thought less and less of her husband, she still thought of him every night and told him good night in her head. She thought that if the dream had been real he most certain would be dead by now. Time was different here, since she had just arrived here when she dreamt of him and in the dream he had already aged a lot in such a short time. She still hoped that he was alive even though it was very unlikely.

Since Odin had hunted aggressively before hibernating they had more than enough food for the winter. Alma had collected potatoes and kept them in the cold cave, she did not have much but she had more since Tram joined the family. She smiled thinking of him smiling at her like a goofball, he was such a sweet man, she had to cherish them all she thought with a big smile on her face.

Alma had been trying to figure out how to improve her home for the winter. She remembered a video she saw on YouTube many years before. She usually did not bother watching videos about survival but this one had her intrigued. A man went into a dangerous forest and he decided to live there on his own for three months, he had nothing but an axe, nothing else. She remembered he build a house out of clay, made a stove also out of clay and even made a strange bed where heat from the fire made it warm. He also made pans and pots. She really needed pots, he made it seem so easy something about using water, than make it dry and water again and what did he do next, it was driving her crazy. She felt sad that she knew nothing, she was not educated but she thought she might be able to make a shower and make water come into a home. It could not work here since the water source was too far away but if she could choose a house near water she was certain she could do it if she found the right wood, she could make a pipe. Her father was a builder and she had seen him build many things even houses, if only she could remember something useful, so many ideas not many solutions, she thought sulking. She had seen trees in the forest similar to sugarcanes but they were taller and wider, she had been thinking if it could be used as a snack, she really wanted to try it but most of all she could use it for so many things. She could build furniture and what she wanted the most a bed, how wonderful would that be, she thought to herself. It was too late to do anything before winter but she could make pots if she could remember the technique. Odin was away and they would need more hands for that. She thought it would be best just to wait until they moved. She could live like this for one winter, just a few long months she thought to herself sighing.

The best of the best from the eagle tribe had arrived to their little village. Alma was surprised just how many beasts came she had thought maybe four to five would come but there were at least fifty beasts here. Keith, Tram and Alma had talked long and hard about how to pick one. Keith wanted the strongest and of course Alma wanted that too but it was still most important for the beast to get along with the family. Alma thought it was bad that Odin was not here to help to pick but Keith was glad, he had a hunch that the sneakily snake would try his best to sabotage the beasts. Alma decided that Keith would pick the top strongest and then Alma would meet and talk to each of them. Alma thought of it like a fast date but she wanted to ask questions and see what kind of beasts they were. Keith told the eagle tribe that Alma would only be accepting one beast at this time after winter she would pick another when the head of the house came back from hibernation. He could see the disappointment in the beasts eyes, for they had to compete for just one space. Alma thought that there would mostly be birds in this tribe but she saw all kinds of beasts. She secretly wanted a bird beast, she thought how cool would it be to fly in the sky on her own dragon, like in the movie never ending story, she would for sure sing that song, she thought to herself smiling.

Alma just barely saw the beast since she was not to interact with them until the top had been picked. She still wanted to say hi so she did and she wished them all good luck, she wished in her head the most luck to flying beast. A lot of the beast where seeing a female for the first time and they were amazed how small they were, she was so cute they thought, small and cute, how nice would it be to fall asleep with her in their arms they thought. Seeing her filled them with fire, they all wanted a chance, they all wanted a mate so badly. Keith had been watching the beasts closely and he saw two beasts with five marks and a few with four and the rest had three and under. The beasts with three and under had little chance of winning especially agains beasts with five marks, it was mostly impossible not unless the stronger beast would make a big mistake but that was highly unlikely to happen. Most of the beast would go back disappointed but they still had one more chance. Most would return back and train as much as they could to get stronger for her.

Keith had two beasts attack each other, only one would win and be able to advance, the other could just leave right away. Alma wanted no one to die she was very insistent on it with Keith so he as a good mate of course agreed. The first beast to yield or be unable to stand would be disqualified. It did not take long for Keith to get his top ten, of course the two five mark beast continued with the best of four mark beasts. Keith told them than Alma would pick one after talking to them. He told them to answer truthfully and treat her with respect. Keith just hoped she would pick one of the five mark beasts but he was not so sure she would but whatever she would decide on he would agree with.