Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Thirty-six

As we were heading back, the weather turned. The skies grew dark and Winston instinctively increased his pace. Just as we made it home, pea-sized hail started to fall. Warning cries from the neighboring beasts echoed through the open air over the pitter patter sounds.

"Ice is falling! Get to shelter!"

Males, females, and cubs could be seen running to their dens as fast as they could, and the hail steadily increased in size. It grew to the size of a human head and anyone that might be unlucky enough to be hit by it, would be devastatingly injured.

Winston and I rushed inside to find Lance putting Kit into the cellar. It was the safest place to be if the roof caved in and Winston promptly set me in it with Kit who looked utterly confused. While Kit was small and could easily fit, I had to hug my knees to my chest. Winston and Lance closed the cellar hatch and were most likely sitting on or near it. The thumping, crashing sounds of the ice hitting trees, homes and the ground were deafening and could be felt beneath our feet.

Kit became nervous and I pulled him onto my lap whispering soothing words into his disproportionally large ears that were now flat against his head. Every time the ground shook, he shuddered, and I held him closer.

We had just repaired the roof. Any old or rotting wood was replaced by fresh, thick beams. He had reinforced the thatching with cross beams of bamboo, but that wouldn't stop falling ice this size. Most full-grown males were fast enough to avoid getting hit directly, but cubs and females would have to take shelter somewhere. As cellars weren't common, most took refuge in a cave or an interior door of a hut.

After twenty minutes that felt like two hours, the hail stopped. The cellar hatch didn't open until five minutes after the sounds faded, when Winston and Lance felt that it was safe.

"Are you both ok?" I asked as Winston took my hand and pulled me out. I had Kit tucked under my other arm and set him down once we were clear of the hatch.

"We're fine. The house might have some damage. I'll go check." Winston went to the back door.

"Please check on the shortbirds too." I asked him as he exited. I went to the front door with the intention of looking outside. "I hope Harvey is ok. He'll be late if there is anyone with injuries from the ice." I said more for Kit's benefit than for mine. A little bit of worry tightened my expression. Harvey wouldn't have a hard time avoiding the ice, so he shouldn't have been injured. I just need to be patient.

Just as I reached to open the door, Lance's hand shot out over my shoulder to keep it closed. I looked back at him. His pupils contracted as he tuned in to something outside.

"Is there a healer here?!" came a shout.

I put my hand on Lance's arm and he dropped it so I could open the door. I was about to tell them that Harvey still hadn't come back and they would need to find a different healer, but outisde was someone I recognized. A few feet away was Shuu holding an adolescent wolf cub. There was blood everywhere and the back leg was bent in an extremely awkward position.

"Come in." I said, not needing to even think about it. They needed to get first aid treatment or the cub wouldn't last long enough to find another healer. Lance looked like he was going to revoke the words I'd just spoken but there really wasn't time to argue. I turned to him, "Go get Winston. I need boiled water and the green herb with the white flower. I also need a bone needle and some of your hair." Seeing my intention on my face, he moved to do as I'd asked.

Shuu still hadn't moved. Males never entered a female's den unless he had been given the right to court her. I had to urge him on once more. "Bring him in and lay him down unless you want him to bleed to death."