Shelly greeted Winston and told him about the flower field. He knew and purposefully avoided it. He didn't want to be under the influence of an aphrodisiac around Shelly. He didn't know if he could control himself. He always tried to be gentle with her. Molly was a little afraid of Winston, but was glad he was mates with Shelly. She saw how gentle he was with her and her fear lessened. Shelly said, "Molly told me they are going to send a group of beastmen to the sea to trade for salt soon. I would like to go! I grew up near the beach and would love to see the one here." Winston thought about it and nodded. If he went with her she should be safe. Shelly was happy and kissed him on the cheek. Molly noticed how Shelly was unafraid of Winston's scar. She even kissed it! She thought wow, she is brave!
Shelly asked Molly, "Would you like to go with us to the sea?" Molly shook her head and said, "My father won't allow me to go out of the village until I have mates strong enough to protect me." Shelly nodded. Winston said, "20 tiger beastmen followed us from the City of Beasts. They will be your new guards." Shelly looked shocked. She knew that Winston was a tiger king, but never thought about that making her the queen. She didn't expect to have royal guards. She nodded and said, "If that makes you happy it's ok as long as they don't try to become my mate. I don't want anymore." The other guys looked relieved! David was her last mate and she wasn't planning on taking any more mates. She wouldn't turn away extra security. Molly looked a little jealous. She had always been the princess of the village and now they had a new queen. Then she thought of Winston protecting their village and was glad they came. She liked Shelly and was glad to have a new friend.
They went back to the tree house to have dinner. Winston brought some local fruits and vegetables he found while he was inspecting the village. Shelly was happy to try the new ingredients. She noticed the chestnuts and was excited. She said, "Thank you Winston! I love these! They can be eaten raw or cooked. They also store well for a long time." She was excited to add them to her soup and try some roasted. She remembered they had potatoes and asked if Winston found any colorful vegetables underground. He shook his head but said, "I will ask the chief." He came back with differ t color potatoes. He said, "These grow in the cold season, so there are not many left." Shelly was still happy to try them. She asked Harvey to cook a white and green one in the soup with the meat. She was excited to have some starches added into her diet again. She had been eating low carb and lost a lot of weight since she came to the beast world. She was happy for the weight loss, and thought she might not hate a tube top now. She was still self conscious and preferred to wear a longer robe or dress. Shuu had brought some furs with him and would help make her new clothes for the warmer weather. Shelly told them, "We also need to plant the seeds soon. Do they have fields to grow crops?" Winston nodded and David offered, "I can guard the crops." He looked serious like he was going off to war. Shelly laughed and said, "I have some ideas that will make it easier to grow crops. I also have ideas how we can make salt." Winston and David looked interested in her new ideas. They knew their mate was really smart.
They enjoyed their dinner. Shelly was so happy to finally have potatoes. She would cherish them until the next cold season. They all climbed up to the fourth floor and set up the fur rugs to sleep on. They would save the fifth floor for the summer since it was cooler and had more of a breeze. They slept peacefully the whole night for the first time since they left the City of Beasts.
The next morning Winston went to talk to the chief about the sea salt trip. He told the chief of Shelly's ideas to get more salt and the chief agreed excitedly to get more salt for their village for free. Salt was treated as currency in the beast world and the females needed it to survive. If they had more salt, they could use it to exchange for females from other tribes and their village would grow. Shelly and her mates got ready to go to the sea. Shelly was excited for the trip. She made sure to bring her bag. She expected to bring back many new ingredients.
They set off on the trip. The new tiger beastmen came with them to guard their Tiger king and queen. With the added guards the trip was a lot safer. Shelly was thinking about coconuts and pineapples the whole way there. They were attacked once, but Winston and David were able to kill the rootless beasts and ferals easily. Shelly took turns riding on Shuu and Harvey. They made it to the sea after 3 days of traveling. When they arrived at the beach Shelly told Winston how to boil sea water to get salt. She also told him about the sun baked way but told him it would take longer depending on the weather. They set up a tent under some palm trees. Shelly was happy to explore the beach and was collecting sea shells with her feet in the water. She didn't notice the pair of purple eyes watching her.
They had to stay a few days near the sea to wait for the salt to finish baking and boiling. The guys were all busy helping make salt and guarding the area. They thought Shelly would be safe near the coast because the only other beastmen out here were mermen, but they were not interested in land females. Shelly was thinking of what to use to filter the sand out of the salt and thought about her clothes she wore when she first arrived. She felt it would be safe if she told Winston to keep it a secret from the villagers. She didn't want a repeat of what happened in the City of Beasts. It was safer not to mention she was from a different world. Her mates knew and that was good enough for her.
Shelly was distracted by a purple fin in the ocean. She was momentarily blinded by the light reflecting off of the waves. By the time her eyes adjusted a purple haired man was in front of her in his 2 legged form. He had 3 wavy stripes on his chest and purple eyes. He said, "How did you get out here? You must be terrified by yourself out here by yourself." Before Shelly could speak and tell him she was not a mermaid, he had thrown her into a bubble and took her down into the deep water.
He sent out some sound waves to notify the merment tribe. The leader came up to them and looked at Shelly coldly. He said, "What did you call me for?" The purple merman told the leader, "Gold, I found Jean, She was stranded on the beach." Gold said "Indigo, that is not Jean."
He looked at Shelly and then back to the purple merman. Before he could tell him to take her back to the shore, the rest of the tribe showed up and looked at Shelly. She was about to clarify the situation but the mermen were worried and asked, "why is the female out of her cave?" The purple mermen responded. "I rescued her." He wasn't sure why Gold said she wasn't Jean. He had never seen a land female as beautiful as her before. She must be a mermaid. If she wasn't their mermaid then maybe she belonged to another tribe nearby. Gold looked at the gathered mermen and said, "Don't worry. Jean is still in her cave. This is not her. She must be from a different tribe." He took the bubble away from the purple merman and brought Shelly to the cave to speak to her in private.
He brought Shelly to the cave and let her out of the bubble into a bigger bubble inside the cave. She was able to walk around and had more oxygen. Gold said, "I am sorry that Indigo brought you down here, but as you can see our female mermaid has been missing for a while." He gestured towards the empty cave. He said, "If we don't find her soon we will go extinct. We have not had any new births in almost 10 years." Shelly knew from the novel that their mermaid was in the City of Beasts with the Ape king. She told Gold, "I can't replace Jean. I am infertile." He looked at her like his last ray of hope was gone. He did not know what he would tell the other mermen.