Visha heard the people shuffling out of the cave. She didn't look around. She didn't feel like being kind today.
After she had something to eat and talked with everyone, she would know the way forward.
Xeno scooped her up into his arms. They needed to head back to their camp.
The females were still tightly wrapped. After the madness of looking for crystals passed, they finally remembered that the place was cold. So they wanted to head back to the caves.
Willa, Chi, and Heta all had gloomcap fungus and bread-moss in their arms. While they were held by their men.
Everyone entered the cave to warm up briefly. The things were left outside. They didn't find any other crystal. So there was a small pile of Softlight crystal along with what they would be eating.
Inside their cave, Visha took out a large piece of meat.
It was the meat from the millipede Xeno had killed.
The day they left, Visha thought about it and went back to get it. She carved it out a bit at a time using the stone-knife. There was a lot of meat. Some of which she gave to everyone.
Currently, there is still a lot left.
Since everyone was eating together, she would use it.
If it were just the three of them, she would take out some of the assorted meat she got as a system reward.
Xeno loved the smoked sausage, and Uri liked the ham.
She didn't stay inside for long. Only taking out the meat before asking them to set up the large stone basin. She would need to use it for so many people.
She didn't waste time and set out to deal with the food. However long it took depended on who would come to help.
As she put the ingredients in the pot, Visha had to marvel that this grotto had a lot of food. Coming here was a wise decision. Even salt, the very thing she was worried about, was found.
Well, it's more like a salt stone.
It doesn't dissolve, but boiling it can give the salt flavour. The food tastes much better with this little salt stone.
Chi and Willa came out to help. Heta was nowhere to be seen. Krag also came out with Chi. When she wasn't helping, she would run to his arms to cuddle him.
Visha would envy their relationship if she didn't have two men willing to cuddle her.
Thinking about it, she watched the two of them. While Xeno was more openly affectionate than Uri, neither of them could rival Chi and Krag.
It took another hour for the food to be ready.
Visha didn't start talking immediately; she enjoyed her food. The bread-moss had a wheaty flavour, and the gloomcap fungus had a similar taste to rice. Visha imagined it as a multigrain soup.
As long as her stomach was full, she wouldn't complain.
When everyone was finished eating, no one moved. They understood that this talk would happen whether they wanted to avoid it or not.
Visha put her bowl down; she didn't directly look at anyone but started speaking.
"When the snow melts, we will all be able to go our separate ways. According to what Xeno told me, you all want to go back to the Tiger tribe. Is that right?"
Silence spread over the group, only to be broken by Willa, Kit's mother.
"We are grateful for everything that you've done for us. Truly, Visha. We had been talking about going back to the village. Whether to stay or visit was up for debate. I will not lie and say we don't hope we will be able to go back. Our entire reason for leaving was because of Kit. Now..."
"Now he can shift, so you don't need me anymore." Visha interrupted, laughing bitterly.
"No, that's not what I mean," Willa answered quickly. "We only wanted to go back and look. We have friends there. We only wanted to take a look at how they were doing."
Fil nodded in agreement. "We can take gifts. We can tell them about the crystals. The foods we found. If we can make their lives better with what we know now, we would be more at ease. They might welcome us back as heroes."
A sharp laugh cut through Fil's speech. "Heroes? We were cast out. Nothing about us would be heroes to them. Did you forget what happened to Gil?"
A hush came over the crowd. Everyone but Visha, Krag, and Chi knew who Gil was. A tiger warrior who was told he was doomed to die. He left the tribe only to come back months later healed. The leg they claimed he would never be able to walk on again was healed.
They welcomed him at first.
However, after the priest found the reason for his recovery, he was no longer useful. He died not long after coming back. He went out with the village chief's son, who later came back and told everyone Gil was killed by a Mintrall.
"Do you really think a mintrall, only about my chest height, killed him? As soon as they got the lifesaving plant, he died. Do you still want to be a hero?" Heta's gaze flicked over everyone, landing on Visha.
"Some people have nowhere to go and no place to live."
Heta turned, looking at Willa and Fil. "We still have the tribe. As long as we don't make it known how Kit got better, we can live out the rest of our lives. No matter how much they ask, we can say we don't know. They will still welcome us. Especially Cato. He is stronger now and can help the tribe."
Before anyone could respond, Krag spoke. "The tiger tribe has numbers. There is safety in numbers. After spring, it would be easy for our small number to fall prey to large roaming packs. Logically, it makes sense for you to go back."
"But logic isn't the only factor," added Chi. "You know they cast you out to die. Why go back? From what you said, the new things you've learned will put you in danger. Why go back to that?"
The debate continued, each person voicing their opinion. Their hope of going back to join the tribe. Their fear of not being able to survive after winter. The pride they have in themselves, their tribe, and in spreading the knowledge they have learned.
A high-pitched whistle cut through the noise. Visha hadn't said anything since Heta spoke. She had wanted to speak, but everyone started weighing in. From what she gathered, it was dangerous for them to return, but they wanted to go nonetheless.
Willa and Fil wanted to see their friends and help them survive. Heta decided her only way out was in the tribe. Her partner, Cato, wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He wanted to go back; however, he also wanted to learn new things from Visha.
He acknowledged her status as a priestess. However, he didn't want his partner and child to stay in the tribe while he went out on his own.
Krag and Chi were not a part of the Tiger tribe, so their voices were objective. The gist of it was that although having large numbers is good, they also need to be prepared for the fact that they might not be welcomed as easily as they expect. Even giving the example Heta gave.
It is a matter of a small danger or a big danger versus a big danger.
"I understand why you all want to go back. But that isn't my path. Heta put it nicely, I have nowhere to go and no place to live. I won't force you to be like me."
"I don't want to go back!" Kit shouted.
He ran over to Visha, throwing himself onto her lap. She picked him up, and he wrapped his arms around her neck.
"Why don't you want to go back? You'll see all your friends, and you'll have more people to play with."
Visha stroked his hair to get him to calm down.
"They don't like me. Every time they see me, they either run away or hit me." The tears were glistening in his eyes, threatening to fall.
Visha held him tightly. She didn't say she would keep him. Instead, looking at his parents. The only people who could decide his fate at this present moment.
"Sister Shasha, you're the priestess; you can tell my parents to let me stay with you. I've seen it. The adults in the tribe all listen to the priest, even more than they listen to the tribe leader."
Visha laughed softly, "I'm not a priestess."
"Yes, you are. You made fire and made medicine. Priests know how to make fire, and they heal people." His little face was stubborn. Adamant that Visha was a priestess.
Playing along, she asked, "If I'm the priestess, then where's the tribe? What about the tribe leader? You can't have only a priestess."
Kit was quiet for a moment. He looked around at everyone, then pointed towards Xeno and Uri.
"Two leaders. Brother and Brother Uri. You always ask them to tell us things or to do things. I've seen the priest do the same thing with the tribe leader. And I'm the tribe."
Visha laughed, "You can't be the tribe by yourself."
Kit scrunched his nose, "Ba, Ma, me, Nimo, Nimo's Ba and Ma, Brother Krag and Sister Chi, that's the tribe."
He looked at Visha for approval. Visha looked at everyone.
"You heard him, we are the tribe. The decision is up to you. You can make a decision when winter ends. Until then, we can make the most of our time together."
She handed Kit to Willa, then turned away, leaving them to make their choice.