Chapter 72: Preparing For Travel
As the night settled in around them, and the moon cast a gentle glow over their bedroom, Astri’s spouses couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease. They missed her terribly after the events of the previous day.
This time, their disagreement had left her in tears, something they weren’t accustomed to seeing. They gathered around her, wanting to convey their apologies and affection.
"I’m sorry again about yesterday, Astri," Zin said, his expression filled with genuine remorse.
"Me too," echoed the others, their voices tinged with regret.
Astri smiled warmly at them, her eyes reflecting the shimmering moonlight. "Me too. Don’t worry, guys. This will not be our last fight. It’s normal."
Lee, usually the calm and composed one, spoke with a hint of vulnerability. "I don’t want to fight ever again. I always feel so bad. Like a bad husband."
They had learned the meanings of "husband" and "wife" from Astri during their time together.
"When we love each other, fights will make us stronger. They will only weaken us if we don’t forgive each other or if we don’t understand each other. You’re amazing spouses. In the other world, females would hunt you down because there the males are nowhere near as wonderful as you," Astri reassured them.
"Really?" Wayde asked, his curiosity piqued. "Have you ever fallen in love before coming here? We know you didn’t have mates, but that doesn’t mean you never loved someone."
Astri considered the question for a moment, her gaze distant. "I think once I did. I was young and going through a hard time, trying to survive on my own. Then this guy appeared and pretended to be good. When I was starting to trust him, I overheard him telling his friend that soon he would have sex with me and then leave me. So I kicked him where it hurt and sent him away."
"Bastard. Disgusting male. He didn’t deserve you," Cyprian growled.
"You should have ripped his balls off," Lee added with a wicked grin.
Astri giggled at their protective and somewhat vengeful reactions.
"What about you guys? Were you interested in another female before?" Astri asked, genuinely curious.
The response was unanimous. "No."
"Really? Not even once? You don’t have to be scared to admit it. I don’t care about the past."
"No," they all affirmed.
"You were the only one who caught my attention and made my heart race," Cyprian confessed, his gaze unwavering.
The others nodded in agreement. While they had been raised with a similar upbringing as other beastmen, their unique circumstances had led them to prioritize different aspects of life, and romantic pursuits had never taken precedence.
Astri found comfort in their responses. She had hoped that their experiences in the Beastmen World would teach them not to place undue importance on finding a mate, allowing future generations to be more independent and respectful of one another.
"I heard Wayde had a thing for Ana," Lee teased, eliciting laughter from everyone.
The following morning, during breakfast , Astri remembered her need to communicate with Beau.
"Claud, were you always capable of seeing me when you talked to me?" she inquired, passing him a juicy fruit. fгeewebnovёl.com
"Not always," Claud replied with a fond smile. "As you could see, it is tiring. So I would often connect only our minds so we could talk longer. Sometimes I would see you because I was missing you," he admitted.
Astri chuckled and affectionately kissed his lips. Tyr watched their interaction, a hint of jealousy flickering in his eyes. Despite not being particularly fond of fruits, he found himself wishing he were in Claud’s place.
"Will you talk to Beau today?" Claud asked, his eyes filled with curiosity.
"Yes," Astri replied. "We can ask him if he can start working on some things before we arrive, like gathering firewood."
Lee, ever the vigilant one, spoke up, "Can I talk to him as well? We need to discuss security."
Astri nodded in agreement. "Sure."
"Touch me and close your eyes. Don’t do it with Astri, as you’ll tire her out, and we don’t want that. If you’re only going to observe, you can touch her. Based on what I sense, he’s about three days away from us by foot." Claud says.
The prospect of reconnecting with Beau and discussing their safety and security brought a sense of purpose to the group. With Astri’s guidance and knowledge, and their collective determination, they were prepared to face whatever challenges lay ahead in their enchanting and dual realm of Aquaterra.
Claud and Astri sit on the sofa and start to meditate to find Beau. The others sit around to be capable to see everything too. The cubs were napping next to them, so they weren’t worried.
Wayde, Lee, Zin and Cyprian sit next to Claud. Even if not all of them will end up talking, they don’t want to risk tiring Astri even more. Tyr is not sure if he wants to participate on this, or if he can join, so he only sees an opportunity to sit closer to Astri.
"Beau? Good morning." Astri says, with her eyes closed.
Everyone have their eyes closed besides Tyr. He watches them full of curiosity, so his heart jumped when she holds his arm with her hand, feeling his curiosity. He smiles seeing her little hand on his arm, warming up his heart, he puts his own hand above hers and closes his eyes to watch.
"Goddess.." Beau says impressed to be contacted by her again.
"My name is Astri. Good morning, Beau." She says.
"Good morning,..Astri."
"We had some ideas of how we can go with you. We will need to build several things and bring several things. We need to know if we can do that inside your boats."
"Of course, you can. Anything."
"Great! Midway the journey will we find any other island? Somewhere we can stop and rest a few days in land?" She asks.
"Yes. I think it’s possible to stop in two islands. There are three, but one is too dangerous because is filled of Monsters." Beau answers.
"My spouses are all here and want to discuss with you a few things. But first let me ask you some other things. Is the boat too cold at night or inside the water?"
"Deep inside the water is cold, but I brought plenty of warm clothes and covers to keep you warm. We can travel outside, on the surface if you prefer too."
"It would be good. We’re not used to this kind of travel and anything too intense might make any of us sick. Besides the cold, deep in the water there are the water pressure that might hurt our ears since we’re not water beastmen."
Beau can see that she’s a very smart female, and is thinking on every detail. She keeps asking some more details and then she lets Lee ask what he wanted to ask.
"I’m Lee Braze. I’m Astri’s spouse. How many did you bring with you and how many marks they have?"
"I brought four more. A shutome, who has 12 marks. A shark with 13 marks. A manta with 16 marks. And an oarfish with 12 marks." Beau answers.
All of them are strong for having so many marks each. They’re not sure how they look like, but Astri knows.
"What kind of threats we might face? You mentioned an island full of Monsters." Lee asks.
"The Devil King is focusing on getting sea creatures since we live longer and have more powerful beastmen. Also, getting small islands to gather their monsters and create an army little by little. We have killed a whole island before we came here." Beau explains, making Astri’s spouses even more worried. "How many days until you arrive?" Beau asks.
"We will discuss together once more and we still have to build some things to bring with us. Maybe 10 days." Claud speaks.
"What other kinds of threats we might face?" Lee asks.
"Nothing we can’t guarantee the Goddess’ safety." Beau answers, and Lee takes a deep breath annoyed with the answer.
"We will be locked in a tight place where we will be limited. Being limited and not knowing what might come at us is too risky even having powerful beastmen like you." Lee says.
"I understand. Well, there are schools of feral catfishes, giant squids, mermen, and some other smaller fishes. There are soulless schools of beastmen-eating fishes. The boats are strong, you will need to worry only if any of that can pass us and get inside the boats." Beau answers.
Astri’s spouses are not comfortable at all with that environment, and other males taking the front of protecting their female, but it is something that they will need to get used to. Tyr and Claud are the only ones who understand that it is essential to let others protect who is the most important first and only be prepared when it’s needed.
"Anything else?" Beau asks after a brief silence in his mind.
"Can you go to the land, Beau? If you could start gathering wood and cut it into half arm’s size would save our time a lot." Astri says.
"Yes, we can do that."
"Great. Thank you. Do you have any question?"
"...Your males, what are their kinds?" He asks.
"Tiger, red eagle, snake, dragon and unicorn. Why?"
"Unicorn.. I thought they were extinct. And you have only five spouses?"
"Yes, five. Claud is the unicorn. Lee is the red eagle. Zin is the snake. Wayde is the tiger. And Cyprian is the dragon. You will meet them soon. Well, I must leave now. If you have any questions you can ask Claud and the others. Claud being a unicorn can communicate with you. Talk to you soon."
Beau doesn’t answer anything else, so she comes back to her body. She sighs and rubs her aching head.
"Are you all right?" Tyr asks her.
"My head hurts a little. That’s all." She says with no sound so her mates don’t hear.
She tries to stand up misses her step and falls on Tyr. He holds her and gets hit with her scent. He helps her stand up.
"Are you really all right?" Tyr asks worried, still with her in his arms.
That’s when her males heard and opened their eyes to face Tyr holding Astri in his arms.