"Papa... make the bad female go away!"
Ruì Xuě's voice was a tiny, trembling squeak that sliced through the air. The sound hit Bai Yue's chest harder than a punch. To her, this was a cute anime-style cub, her cub, to him, she was a recurring nightmare in a fur skirt.
Han Shan's face went from frosty to volcanic in a split second. A low snarl ripped from his throat as he lunged forward, his massive frame closing the distance between them like a white blur.
"Han Shan, wait!" Mo Xiao shouted, throwing himself into the path of the Snow Leopard. The two men collided with a dull thud of muscle against muscle. "Do not show violence in front of the cubs, my friend!"
"Get out of my way, Mo Xiao!" Han Shan roared, his blue eyes glowing with a terrifying light. He pointed a trembling finger at Bai Yue, who was currently clutching her half-eaten fruit like a shield. "What are you doing with her?! After everything she has done! After she abandoned the tribe, after she nearly let Ruì Xuě starve while she chased that Bear Alpha! How can you stand near her?"
"I know! I know!" Mo Xiao grunted, bracing his arms against Han Shan's chest to keep him back. "But there is something.…..off with her! I swear it! She apologized to me, Han Shan. She giggled. She let my cubs play with her hair without trying to pull their ears!"
Han Shan stopped pushing, but he didn't relax. He glared at a panting Bai Yue, his nostrils flaring. He looked at her as if she were a venomous snake that had suddenly put on a bow and started dancing, suspicious, disgusted, and waiting for the bite.
"Apologized?" Han Shan spat the word out like it was poison. "A leopard does not change its spots, and a monster like Bai Yue does not become a mother overnight."
He turned his head slightly, his gaze softening only when it landed on his son. "I originally came here to drop off Ruì Xuě. It is time for me to go to the Peak of Eternal Frost for the Jiàn-Shèng Ritual. I cannot take a cub into the high blizzards. I was going to ask you to watch him, Mo Xiao, but seeing as the cursed female is here..." He sneered at her. "Never mind. I will take him to the Elder's hut instead."
"No!"
The word left Bai Yue's mouth before she could stop it. Both men turned to stare at her.
"Don't.….don't punish the cub because of me," she said, her voice small but steady. "I will leave. I'll go back to my hut and stay there. I won't come near the Panther territory while you're gone. Just.….let him stay where it's safe and where he has friends to play with."
Miao Miao, the oldest panther triplet, suddenly piped up from behind her father's leg. "Yes! The cursed female is very kind! She has very soft hair, Uncle Han Shan!"
Han Shan's scoffed. He looked at Mo Xiao, then at the trembling Ruì Xuě, and finally at Bai Yue.
"If anything happens to my son while I am gone," Han Shan whispered, leaning into Mo Xiao's space with a deadly promise, "if she touches him, if she even breathes on him wrong, I will not wait for the tribal council. I will end her myself."
He looked down at his son. "Go now, Ruì Xuě. Stay with the Panthers."
The poor cub didn't need to be told twice. He rushed past Bai Yue as if she were a flickering flame, sprinting to Miao Miao and hiding his face in the girl's shoulder. Han Shan gave Bai Yue one final, icy glare, one that promised a slow death if she messed up, and then he vanished into the forest.
Mo Xiao sighed, the tension leaving his shoulders. He looked at Bai Yue, his amber eyes narrowing. "If this is all an act, Bai Yue.….I will end you myself. I have cubs of my own. I don't tolerate monsters."
Bai Yue swallowed hard, her throat feeling like it was full of sand. "I know."
She turned toward Ruì Xuě. The little boy was still shaking, watching her with wide, wet eyes. When she took a single instinctive step toward him to offer a piece of fruit, he flinched so violently he tripped over his own feet.
"Do not worry, Ruì Xuě!" Miao Miao chirped, patting his white hair. "She is not bad! She gave us her hair to play with!"
"No!" Ruì Xuě whimpered, his voice cracking. "She's bad! She used to pinch my ears and call me loud! She said I was a burden and that she wished I was never born!"
A heavy silence fell over the clearing. Bai Yue felt like she had been punched in the soul. Damn, original Bai Yue, you really were a piece of work, she thought, her eyes stinging.
"I.….I think I'll return to my hut now," Bai Yue said, her voice thick.
"Very well," Mo Xiao muttered, already turning to shepherd the four cubs toward his dwelling.
Bai Yue walked away, her head down. Every step felt heavy. She was angry, furious at the woman whose body she now inhabited. Stupid villainess! You had everything! You had these beautiful children and these handsome, protective men, and you threw it all away for a guy who didn't even want you! You deserve to be cursed!
She reached her hut, which was still clean from her earlier frantic scrubbing, and slumped onto the bed of pelts. She stared at the ceiling, feeling more alone than she ever had in her apartment back on Earth.
"That was quite the dramatic family reunion."
The voice boomed in her head, making her jump.
"AHHHH!" Bai Yue shrieked, clutching a fur pillow. "What are you?! You abandoned me! You left me to be stared at by angry cat-men!"
"Calm down, little soul," the voice drawled, sounding immensely amused. "I had to go check on some other business. I will explain now."
A shimmering light began to coalesce in the center of the hut. It didn't take a physical shape, but it pulsed with a gold-and-violet radiance that felt ancient.
"I am the goddess Tiān-Mìng. The Weaver of Fates. The Goddess of Transmigration."
"A goddess?" Bai Yue pouted, crossing her arms. "This is a prank, right? I'm on a hidden camera show. Any second now, Chen Jue is going to walk through that door and tell me I won a million dollars."
"Is the fur you are wearing a prank? Are the scales on that snake-man's face a prank?" the voice—Tiān-Mìng—asked dryly. "I wanted to win a bet with my brothers and sisters. They said a soul from a 'civilized' world could never survive in a world of beasts. Especially not in the body of a woman everyone wants to see dead."
"So this is just a game to you?!" Bai Yue yelled. "You plucked me out of my life because of a bet?"
"You shout a lot," Tiān-Mìng sighed. "I have explained what was important already. You died in your world. The gunshot was quite final. I simply scooped up your soul before it could dissipate and gave you a second chance. I chose this body randomly.….mostly. Your names matched. It felt poetic."
Bai Yue insulted the goddess with a string of words that would have made a sailor blush.
"Hahaha! Such fire!" Tiān-Mìng laughed. "But fire needs a purpose. I will be giving you tasks to ensure your soul stays tethered to this body. If you fail, the rejection process begins."
"Tasks? What kind of tasks?"
"Task One: Make Ruì Xuě smile in your presence within fifteen days. If he does not show genuine happiness because of you, your soul will begin to deteriorate. You will feel the pain of a thousand needles until you simply.….vanish."
[DING! ☆]
[Quest: The Snow Leopard's Smile]
[Time Remaining: 15 Days]
[Progress: 0/1]
"Ehhh??? No! Come back! You can't just give me a deadline for a traumatized toddler!" Bai Yue screamed as the golden light faded. "Tiān-Mìng! Get back here!"
Silence. The goddess was gone.
"Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" Bai Yue screamed again, frustratingly kicking the air. Her outburst sent a flock of birds shrieking out of the nearby bushes.
Exhausted, hungry, and emotionally drained, she eventually collapsed back onto the pelts. The sun was beginning to set, casting long, orange shadows across the floor. She needed to think. She needed a plan to make a kid who thought she was a demon smile.
As her eyes drifted shut, she didn't notice the rustle of leaves near her window.
Two pairs of small, curious eyes popped up over the wooden ledge, peeping at the "cursed female" as she drifted into an uneasy sleep. They watched her chest rise and fall, their little noses twitching in the evening air.
Who were they? And what were they doing at the villainess's window?
Bai Yue snored softly, unaware of the eyes on her.
[Day 1/15: Active]