Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter One Hundred and Seven

Using a combination of Tudor style and traditional Japanese architecture, we built our village. I'd always loved the general aesthetic of Tudor homes, and the Japanese architecture was made for handling earthquakes and heavy rains. I had taken an architecture course for fun in my past life and the little I'd remembered was coming in handy. All homes had wrap around decks, elevated foundations where an ondol system could be implemented, and thatch stucco walls that could be adorned with a façade of whatever the owner wished. We charred the wood used in building to make it weather, fire and pest resistant. The roofs were deeply pitched bundled thatch or bark made to extend over the homes' decks.

The homes of females were placed closest to the lake and tended to have more decorative properties, while the homes of single males were much smaller and further into the surrounding forest. Some of the trees and shrubs on the plots that weren't used for building were uprooted and replanted creating natural property lines. Some of the wood came from already charred trunks where the fire had been. We did our best not to thin out the forest too much in any one area. We worked our buildings into nature instead of removing nature for our buildings.

As beasts finished their homes, they moved on to clearing the burnt land for crops. They removed rocks and large debris and mixed the nitrogen high soil into layers of earth beneath. I wasn't sure how much ash was too much, so we removed quite a bit and put it aside to be added as needed. We terraced the land and, using an underground stream Lance found, created a dam system so we could flood the terraces for rice or limit the water for other crops with gravity.

After the first week, only the single males had completed their homes. The females that had been staying at the peacock village all returned, some with new mates in tow. The peacocks ended up being a great help when it came to staking out places we could cut down a few trees for the lumbar and where the straw and reeds we needed for roofs were abundant.

At first, my family and I focused on helping others by teaching them the methods they would need to build these wholly unique dens. Once they started to get the hang of it, we started on our own home. I had chosen a property away from the lake, further up the tributary river. It was more secluded and densely wooded.

I made plans to build our house in a similar fashion with an underfloor heating system, wrap around deck and Tudor style framing. It needed to have many rooms so we planned on making two floors with all the bedrooms on the second floor like a tavern. One thing I planned on adding that none of the other homes had was a roman style bath. By diverting just a tiny bit of the river and filtering it through layers of rock and silt until it fed into a slate lined circular annexed bathhouse and heated in the same way the house was, I wouldn't feel so bad about having abandoned my hot spring.

Being more than halfway through my pregnancy, I couldn't do much more than provide ideas and shout out directions. My belly noticeably protruded. Tiger cubs are much bigger than fox and since I was having two, none of Lance's fashion skills could hide it.

After having drawn out my ideas for our home with charcoal on slate, I leaned back on the rock that provided a view of the developing town. Shaded by a large cypress tree, I watched as males used only their bodies as tools to create dens that humans would have needed steel and ten times the manpower to build.

Then a black blur whizzed past me. Olly with his messy hair flying every which way was running away as fast as his bipedal form could carry him.

"What's up with him?" I asked under my breath.

The tip of Lance's green tail lowered from the tree to pat me on the head. "Juveniles. Always so dramatic."

"I wish he would have stuck around a bit. I wanted to ask him how Muir was doing. I guess I'll have to go see for myself." I got up from my seated position and dusted my tush before stretching my back with a small moan.

"I'm sure the overgrown short-bird is just fine. It's been a week. What could be healed should be healed by now."

"Oh? In that case, he needs to get off his feathers and start helping. How long does he plan on living in the lean-to?" I marched off in the direction of Muir's temporary shelter with Lance slithering lazily behind me.

When we arrived, Lance shifted the flap aside so I could see in. Muir was already standing, his arm still in a sling. He looked like he was gunning himself up for a confrontation, which immediately had me changing tactics from gentle inquisitor to commanding officer.

"Good. You're up. Your face has color in it again and you're steady on your feet. You can start building your own shelter. Some of the other single males have finished their own dens and could spare you a hand. Pick somewhere in the nearby forest. The lake plots are reserved for females with families. You can use any of the wood and straw piled near the tree line. Once you pick a place, try to relocate the plants you don't want instead of just removing them. Do you need us to send someone for your things in Peacock Village or Eagle Cliffs?"

Muir gave me a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. I quirked my eyebrow at him and he shook himself, steeling his face. "You're telling me to stay here?"

My quirked eyebrow stayed up. "I don't care if you stay or go but with that wing, you aren't likely to get far so you might as well stay somewhere with community services."

He looked at his arm confused. "What are 'community services'?"

"In my village, if someone is injured or sick, the community works together to provide food and medicine for them. We check on each other and what one member can't do, the others make up for it. It's how we keep the village healthy and strong."

"If someone is weak, they deserve to die." He voiced the obvious rule of this world.

I knew he felt as though he should have died. I knew he still had dangerous thoughts of finishing the job. But I wanted him to know there were other ways to live, "If someone is weak, they need time to get stronger. We provide that time by helping each other. Just like we helped you. You won't be weak forever. You will get stronger both in body and heart. You just need time."

Perplexed, he searched my eyes. "You know what I did. Why would you help me?"

I shrugged. "Because I wanted to. Now go pick out a piece of land and let Shuu know when you're ready to start building." I turned around and left the eagle looking like the north and south pole just switched places. The expressions of utter confoundment from people who meet me will never get old. It was a good indication I was doing something right.