Mother Of Ferals | Beauty and the Beasts

[Chapter 2] Camel Hump Valley

"What a beautiful foot..."

Lol, what the fuck?

Rhea felt chills down her spine looking at the scene; the leopard-beast man healer had a delicate girl's foot in hand who had sprained her ankle. 

Waiting in line for the healer was awkward. Even more awkward was watching this healer become infatuated with his patient. Was that even legal?

Rhea and Curtis had come to the territory of the leopard tribe—Camel Hump Valley. She wondered if they had camel beastmen too; it would be strange to see a camel in this part of the world.

According to Curtis, Ferals were universally feared. Rhea didn't understand at first, but when they arrived at Camel Hump Valley, they were immediately ambushed by leopards, who assumed she must have been kidnapped. She had to clear up the situation quickly, stating they were only there for a healer. Now here she was, waiting for the healer.

This healer felt like a quack, but she kept her mouth shut.

The girl whose foot was in his hand had mud on her face, indicating she had likely been hunting or foraging.

"You're not from the leopard tribe, where are you from?" the girl asked Rhea.

Rhea looked at her, noting that she also wasn't from the leopard tribe. So why was she asking?

"Her tribe is far from here," Curtis replied antagonistically. He didn't have a good impression of the leopard tribe and would have gone on a rampage if Rhea hadn't stopped him. He decided to learn about medicinal herbs after this so they could be self-reliant.

"Watch your tone when speaking to my mate, Feral," the leopard with the girl hissed.

"Stop this nonsense, she only asked me a question," Rhea reprimanded Curtis. "Sorry about that. I am from the human tribe. You probably haven't heard of us."

"Really? I am also!" the girl said excitedly.

The two of them were silent for a moment. The girl looked around nervously, as if afraid to expose herself.

"It's fine. Curtis knows where I am from... the 21st century?"

"Yes!"

The others wouldn't understand what she meant by that, but the girl did.

"My name is Rhea; it's lovely to meet you."

"My name is Bai Qingqing."

"You're Chinese?"

"Yes!"

"That's nice..."

The healer, whose name was Harvey, coughed. He talked about fixing the girl's foot and then brought out... ginger?

"Is that ginger?" Rhea asked curiously.

"Ah, no, it's golden root," Harvey explained, his face flushed.

It was clearly ginger... Rhea looked up at Curtis.

"Is this the spice thing you were talking about?" Curtis asked.

Rhea nodded.

"Would you like some of these for your trip?" Harvey asked.

"Would that be possible? We will pay for it, if that's alright with you."

"Yes, of course. I find these everywhere, so I can always get more. But if you're leaving soon, you can have them." He pointed to a stash of spices—some she recognised, others she didn't.

"Thank you so much, Harvey!" Rhea was just happy to finally have edible food. She had been afraid she would just have to wait for her taste buds to die.