Surviving the Beastworld

Verisons

Hope you enjoy<3

"So, how was the chat with your brother?" I asked curiously as we made our way back to the palace.

Xavier stopped walking and shifted his gaze over to me, looking confused for a second. "How did you...?"

"You guys left the dishes on the counter. Unwashed." I chuckled. "Figured it was just an excuse for Jaxon to talk to you privately... Which I hope was okay. You don't need to tell me, but I just want to make sure all is well."

Honestly, I was a little curious as to what they spoke about considering the way Jaxon kept pursing his lips as he stared at me. I could tell he was still on the fence about liking me, but I suppose it was only natural.

Having your brother courting someone who loved a feral couldn't be easy. Especially when the evidence of what they could do was sitting right next to him. Still, I was glad both Xavier's father and Jaxon were willing to put their feelings aside and keep things cordial.

Because it could've gone a lot worse.

A fight could've broken between them, something which I wouldn't want to happen in a million years. I did not want to be responsible or even be the cause of Xavier getting estranged with his family.

Granted, I was looking at the worst case scenario, well at least one of them, but still, things had gone down well despite the rushed meeting. Guess, I would need to learn to be less impulsive with those kinds of things.

Of course, it would probably take them some time to get used to the whole ordeal, but perhaps meeting Ahi would help too. Though I wasn't sure if introducing one's mate to another's family was a thing.

I'd need to get the rundown of customs ASAP so I wouldn't accidently cause any trouble. Maybe from the Grasslands queen?

No... Might be better to ask Xavier and Atlas first. Ahi and I would both need lessons on dynamic customs seeing it was something neither of us knew anything in that regard.

"Oh..." Xavier murmured, breaking my train of thought. "It was fine I guess. We were mostly catching up. Jaxon got promoted at the temple."

"Temple?" I raised an eyebrow, curious about it. "Is he a priest?"

Considering how the vows worked in the world and that there was elemental power, I suppose it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume divine power might exist too. Honestly, I wasn't even sure why I was surprised that temples existed.

The Beast God was clearly an important deity in this world, so having a temple or two for said god shouldn't be something outlandish. Of course, the Beast God could also be one of many gods.

Which would definitely be interesting to see. Perhaps each city had their own gods... But that could just be me getting ahead of myself.

"No. He's a healer." Xavier answered, walking once more. "Those robes that he was wearing show that he's a healer. Priests have gold lining on their robes. And they typically walk around acting like they have sticks up their asses."

I bit my lip at the last part, finding it funny at how quickly Xavier was catching onto my expressions. Still, it was interesting to learn that different robes meant different things.

I suppose it was a way of helping others identify what they were. Something that I would definitely need to learn about. That being said, I had some other lingering questions.

"Okay... but what really makes the difference?" I asked. "Do the priests perform rituals or something? And why are the healers working for the temple? Wouldn't it be better if they ran their own... thing?"

That's how it was in the villages at least. A healer had his own place, if the village was lucky enough to have one, and beastmen would go to him whenever something was wrong.

Then again, it could be that way because the villages didn't exactly have a temple. At least from what I saw with my limited look at the villages. Were temples only a thing in cities? Then what about rituals? Was it done by the village elder or something?

The questions were overwhelming me and I was barely able to keep them to myself. Thankfully though, Xavier was used to my endless questions, thinking it was because I was sheltered.

"Priests are caretakers of the temple and do sometimes perform rituals. But they mostly just locked themselves up in the temple, trying to connect with the Beast God." Xavier answered. "As for healers working for the temple... Well it has to do with the version of the Beast God that the temple is built for."

That got me even more curious. "Verison?"

"You know, one of the many forms of the Beast God. He takes on different mythical beastmen forms for different things. Here it's the unicorn for life and death." Xavier explained. "And since that form is dedicated to healers, the temple trains all the healers within the city and outside, even offering healing services for free with the city."

Xavier paused for a second, turning his head left and right to scan the empty road, before he added in a low tone, "But between you and me, they only do it because they don't pay their healers much and because the palace offers them a lot of tribute every Harvest Festival... Speaking of which, that should be soon. We should prepare for it."

My mind whirled with the new information I had gotten about this world. I found it interesting how the Beast God took on multiple forms rather than one form. Which had me then wondering, what were the other forms and what did they mean?

Also did each city celebrate a different form of the Beast God? Not to mention, what was this tribute thing for the Harvest Festival. I mean I had an inkling about it, but it was always better to ask.

"Do other cities have temples for other forms of the Beast God then?" I questioned. "Also do we need to prepare some kind of tribute for the festival?"

"Just some meat will work. I can hunt something and we can offer that." Xavier pursed his lips, not really seeming to care about it much. "And yes, every city has a temple for a different version of the Beast God... Well, except for the dragon form. They're considered guardian beasts, so don't have a temple and just travel between cities. Of course, some say they're the feral version of the Beast God because of their serpent-like form."

Well, I guess that answered my question on what kind of form Atlas - it seemed to lean more towards the Eastern dragon design than Western. Still that feral comment was a little surprising to hear.

"Anyway, we can talk more later." Xavier suddenly added as we turned the street corner.

The roads got a little busy as we got closer to the palace, the two of us staying quiet for the rest of the way. I figured Xavier didn't want to talk about these things around others which was understandable, but it didn't stop the questions from overwhelming my head.

Getting back couldn't come sooner.

***

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