The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 185: I think we might have a different kind of harvest soon
The violent heave of my stomach felt like someone was twisting my insides, squeezing my stomach to force out the last bit of the meal I had in there.
I leaned against the rough bark of the pine tree, my knuckles white as I gripped a low-hanging branch for support. Everything I had just eaten—the precious, comforting rice I had been craving so intensely—seemed to have turned into lead in my gut.
Hrrgh—!
I retched again, my eyes watering as the bitter taste of bile burned my throat.
"Arinya!" Fenric’s voice was a thunderclap of panic. I heard the clatter of his bowl hitting the ground as he scrambled toward me.
Before he could reach me, Damar was already there, his cool, steady hands catching my shoulders to keep me from collapsing into my own mess. His emerald eyes were wide, scanning my face with a terrifying intensity, his tongue flicking frantically to taste the air for poison or sickness.
"You are cold," Damar murmured, his voice tight with a rare, sharp edge of fear. "Your heart is racing."
Fenric crowded in on my other side, his large hand hovering over my back, afraid to touch me too hard.
"Was it the rice? Was it the water? I’ll go back and burn the whole Warren to the ground, I swear it—"
"Stop... stop shouting," I gasped, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I felt dizzy, the world tilting precariously as the morning sun suddenly felt far too bright.
I took a shaky breath, trying to settle the churning in my stomach. The smell of the rice and meat, which had been so mouth-watering only minutes ago, now made my skin crawl with a fresh wave of nausea. I pushed away from the tree, leaning heavily on Damar.
"It wasn’t... it wasn’t the food," I managed to say, though my voice sounded hollow even to my own ears.
"How can you know?" Fenric growled, his fur bristling. "You were fine until you took that bite! If they poisoned the grain—"
"You and Damar ate twice as much as I did but you’re fine," I pointed out, my head spinning. "Besides, if it were the grain, I’d have suffered like this yesterday too, but I didn’t. So... it’s not that."
I looked down at my hands. They were trembling. A strange, heavy realization began to settle in the pit of my stomach, deeper than the nausea.
I thought back to the ’marathon’ in the grotto, to the heat of the nights following it, and to the strange, intense cravings for the rice that had felt more like a desperate need than a simple hunger.
My mind raced through the facts and a small exclamation slipped from my lips.
"Oh," I whispered, the word barely a breath.
"Oh?" Damar repeated, his brow furrowing as he watched the color drain completely from my face. "What is ’oh’? Ari, speak to us."
I looked from Fenric’s wild, protective gaze to Damar’s cool, calculating one. My stomach gave another small, excited flip. It fluttered.
I swallowed hard, my hand moving instinctively to rest over the flat space of my belly.
"I think..." I started, then paused, my heart hammering against my ribs. "I think we might have a different kind of ’harvest’ soon."
Fenric blinked, his head tilting in total confusion.
"What harvest?" he asked. "Arinya, if you’re sick, we need a healer!"
I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t. I just shook my head slowly, my mind retreating inward as I slumped against the cool stone of the cove. I can’t just break the news I’m not a hundred percent certain of yet. I needed to be sure, if not I’d disappoint them.
’Is it possible?’ I wondered, my thoughts moving frantically.
No, the question isn’t ’is it possible?’ but ’Is it truly what I’m thinking?’
The timing after my heat... the sudden morning sickness... the sudden, desperate cravings. In my old world, I’d be heading straight to a pharmacy for a plastic stick, but here? Here, I’m not even sure anymore.
I looked down at my flat stomach.
’Am I really pregnant? And if I am...’ My gaze flickered between Fenric’s rugged, worried face and Damar’s sharp, serpentine features. My heart gave a violent thud against my ribs. ’Which one of them would it be? Or... given the biology of this world... could it be both?’
The sheer weight of the possibility made my breath hitch in anticipation.
"Damar," I said, my voice steadier but still thin. "Can you tell where the nearest tribe is? Not the Mouselings, just up ahead of our trail."
Damar didn’t ask why. He simply lifted his long body until it seemed to reach for the sky. He closed his eyes, tilting his head back as he tasted the air with his tongue and tilted his ears toward the mountain wind. He stayed like that for a long minute, a statue of silver and shadow.
Finally, he lowered his head, his expression grim. He simply shook his head and I sighed.
That means the next territory is still many miles away. Can we make it by the end of the day? If we pick up the pace, we might, but...
I bit my lip, my hand tightening over my belly. It wasn’t like it was an emergency—I wasn’t dying—but the uncertainty was gnawing at me. I needed to know in order to prepare myself sooner. If we spend days on the road like this, an unexpected situation might just catch up to me and it might be too late then.
If there was a life growing inside me, I couldn’t just keep wandering blindly into danger.
And I don’t know the birth cycle of a tiger beastman, how long it takes until delivery, but judging by how I already got morning sickness in a week since the first day of my heat, it would seem it’s a lot shorter than what I know of.
"We have to keep moving then," I whispered.
Fenric stepped forward, his massive hand gently cupping my face. "You’re too pale, Ari. If you’re sick, we should rest."
"I’m not sick, Fenric," I said, looking up at him, then at Damar. I saw the raw, protective love in both their eyes, and a sudden, fierce wave of emotion washed over me. "I’m just..." I paused and shook my head. "Anyway, I just need a healer to tell me exactly what’s going on in my body."
I stood up, my legs a bit shaky but my resolve hardening. My heart was racing, a mix of terror and a strange, shimmering hope.
"Let’s pack the grain," I commanded, trying to keep my composure and not cause them more panic. "We’re going to keep moving. And Fenric? If I throw up again, just... ignore it. I have a feeling this is going to be a very long journey... With a lot of this happening."
But even when my words, he looked agitated. How could he possibly ignore the sight of me retching and vomiting my lungs out?
It’s not possible.
"I’ll do what I can to make Arinya feel better." He said, pressing his hand on his chest and I let out a weary smile.
"Me too, Ari," Damar said, inching closer. "So please don’t fall sick."
I smiled softly at him, trying to reassure him.
"This is....part of life." I guess.
