The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 221: Are you done yet?
They didn’t hesitate. They were beasts, after all, so they understood the calls of nature better than anyone, even if their timing was usually more convenient than mine. With a collective sigh of ’here we go again,’ they started taking apart the perfect barricade, but they did not complain.
Noah stepped forward, shaking out his hair. "I’ll take her. I definitely be a good watch buddy—"
"No," Fenric interrupted, raising his hand and stopping Noah in his tracks. He gave a triumphant, toothy grin. "I’m the one who stands next to her during potty time. You can stand guard at the entrance and make sure we don’t get ambushed."
He looked at me with a wink, and I just sighed, leaning my head against my hand. He knew me too well. He knew how much I absolutely hated the idea of an audience while I was doing my business, and for some reason, Fenric was the only one who didn’t make me feel like I was a specimen in a lab when he ’guarded’ me.
No, it’s probably because he’s been the one going with me during these things that I’ve grown accustomed to his presence and anyone else would just make my poo shy.
And he was good at not looking. Noah seems like the kind who would try to peep and cause me embarrassment while I’m at it and I can’t risk that.
"Fine," Noah grumbled, crossing his arms. "But don’t take all night. It’s freezing out there."
"I’ll be as fast as a rabbit," I promised, grabbing my coat and wrapping it over my shoulders.
Fenric picked up our potty bowls and scooped up just one bowl of water since we needed to be conservative.
(Mind you, he doesn’t scoop with the same bowl. He uses another bowl to scoop the water into the potty bowl. Arinya made sure they didn’t make a mistake like that for fear that their drinking water would be contaminated)
Fenric helped me through the gap in the hides, and the moment the blizzard air hit my face, my lungs felt like they were being pierced by needles.
The cave had been so warm that I completely forgot how cold it was outside.
It was a brutal reminder of why we’d worked so hard to find this cave.
We found a semi-sheltered spot behind a jagged rock about ten yards from the entrance. The snow was already knee-deep.
"Turn around, Fenric," I commanded, shivering as I started to undo my layers.
"Already doing it, Arinya," he rumbled, his back to me. He stood tall, his massive shoulders blocking the worst of the wind, his ears twitching as he listened to the dark.
I held the bowl in my hand, watching my breath turn to a plume as I breathed. I couldn’t wear my mittens because I’d be using my hand to wash up so my fingers were gradually turning red.
I groaned as the pressure forced the waste out of my behind.
It was the most unromantic moment of my life—squatting in a snowbank in the middle of a prehistoric blizzard while a snow tiger guarded my dignity—but as the pressure finally left my system, I felt a wave of relief so intense I could have cried.
"Are you done yet?" Fenric called out, his voice slightly muffled by the wind. "I think I smell a wolf’s impatience coming from the cave."
"Almost!" I yelled back as I washed up.
Then, I got up and covered the waste with the snow, scrambling to get my coat back in place.
"Now I’m done," I announced and he turned to lift me up.
"I’ll carry you," he said and I felt the heat of his body pressed against mine.
I breathed and looked at his face from below. I don’t know what filled my thoughts at that moment, but I was incredibly glad.
By the time we slipped back inside and resealed the door, I was shivering violently, but my stomach was finally at peace.
My face was flushed, but I didn’t think I wanted to stay in the coat any longer since it felt cold. So, I took it off and sat very close to the fire, setting my hands before it to feel the warmth envelope me.
The three of them were watching me, and for a second, I felt that familiar embarrassment creep back in. But then Damar handed me a hot piece of beef I held in my hand for warmth, and Noah set a blanket over my shoulder and I looked up at him.
"You’re shaking like a leaf." He said and I forced a smile.
"Better?" Damar asked softly.
"Much," I breathed, leaning back against Fenric’s chest as he settled in behind me to share in the warmth of the fire. "Thank you. Really."
Fenric just chuckled, his large hand finding its way back to my hip. "Don’t mention it. But if you have to go again, try to give us a little warning, so I can pre-heat the snow."
He laughed and so did Noah.
"Shut up, Fenric," I closed my eyes but my face burned.
He didn’t mean that, did he?
Well, it didn’t matter.
After the ’potty break’ was handled and the door was sealed again, we finally settled around the small, glowing fire for a meal.
As we ate, I found myself watching Damar.
He was usually the most alert of the three—though quiet—but tonight, he looked... faded.
He was sitting closer to the fire than even I who was freezing, his silver hair casting long shadows over a face that looked unusually pale. His movements were heavy, almost mechanical, as if he had lost his previous grace.
He took a piece of meat I offered, but he chewed so slowly it was as if he’d forgotten what he was doing halfway through.
His emerald eyes, usually so sharp, were clouded and constantly drifting shut.
"Damar?" I whispered, leaning toward him. "Do you feel sleepy?"
He gave a slow, sluggish shake of his head, but his eyelids didn’t even fully open when he looked at me.
"No... I am fine, Ari. Just... long day."
It felt wrong. There was a difference between being exhausted and being listless. I reached out, taking his hand in mine, and my heart nearly stopped. His skin wasn’t just cool—it was icy. It felt like holding a stone that had been left out in the frost.
"You’re freezing," I said, my voice rising with a sharp edge of worry. "Damar, look at me."
But he was still sluggish. As his eyes met mine, I saw a drift of tiredness... And my heart skipped a beat.
I pursed and then parted my lips to ask the first question that popped up in my mind.
"Are you about to hibernate?"
