Next day morning, Astri wakes up hearing birds singing. Wayde and Dieg are still sleeping around her, when she moves to sit down they wake up and raise their heads to look at her.
"Good morning. The day looks beautiful today! Stay here. I'll go do my morning business." She says, standing up. They look at her confused. "Pee." She clarifies.
After understanding what she meant, both just watched her walking away and opening the way for her to pass. They noticed she was limping less, so they let her go alone.
The sandbox worked perfectly, Astri took the bark of a tree to use as a mini shovel to pull the sand and make the smell dissipate. To clean herself, she used water from the bucket she brought with her from inside the house. She leaves the water there, then covers it with a bigger tree bark.
"Finally awake." Claud speaks in her mind, showing he is relieved. She was startled at first. "Sorry for scaring you."
"That's all right. I wasn't expecting you would come. Yesterday you didn't."
"In the morning, when I tried to talk to you, you were asleep. I could try again only at night and you were asleep again. I was starting to worry that you were sick or something. How are you?" She smiles.
"I'm fine. We arrived at the village. Stone Moon Tribe. I'll be living in Wayde's home."
"Stone Moon Tribe. You're farther from here than I imagined. But I'm glad you're fine and somewhere safe. How was the experience of meeting more beastmen?" He sounds happy talking to her.
"A bit weird. I was shocked by the way they live, if I can say that."
"What do you mean?"
"They live around their own poop and pee. It's so smelly that I almost puked. I'm happy that Wayde's home is far from the village center."
"I see. The bigger the tribe, you will find more of this issue. I'm afraid."
"You know that's probably the reason for women dying young right? Dejects have more diseases than anything."
"Oh really?" He curiously asks.
She explains again about what happens when people live around their own dirt. Then she explains what she will do to keep the hygiene. She also tells him all of her projects, he's happy to hear her excited voice. Apparently, she's not sad anymore.
Wayde and Dieg noticed that she was very lost in thought, drawing things on paper like planning something. They didn't want to disturb her, so they simply watched her. They don't have any idea she's talking to someone.
But since she's excited, they don't want to disturb her. Wayde imagines that since she was raised relying only on herself, that's the reason she acts this way.
"This is amazing. I want to know how all this will end." Claud says.
"I'm more excited about the kitchen supplies. Barbecues are great but I'll get tired of them someday."
She finally realized Wayde and Dieg were staring at her.
"What is it?" She asks curiously.
"You were so deep in thought and concentrated. We're just watching." Wayde answers.
"Oh.. Sorry." She laughs awkwardly, she must have looked weird while she was talking to Claud. "Just thinking about the things I want to do."
"Is Wayde there?" Claud asks.
"Yes. And a wolf beastman. Dieg. He's the chief's son."
"Both are courting you?"
"Yes. Things get tense sometimes."
"I'm impressed that there are only them courting you."
"I think it's because of Wayde. He has 7 marks, he's the strongest here. Dieg's father asked me to consider him as a mate, that's why he's here." She says.
"He's strong indeed. I wonder why he's not the tribe leader."
"He doesn't look interested in that. Wait a moment."
She stands up and starts telling them what she is thinking to do, then explains to them what they need to do.
Wayde will be making the table and Dieg will be making the pot for her to cook. When they left she could talk to Claud again. She asks him about the herbs, she shows him the herbs she got yesterday, and asks about the one that looked like black pepper and why the doctor told her to take it.
"It is to help to breathe because it burns. He was worried you could get sick not being capable of breathing because of the pain." Claud explains.
"Oh, then I could use it as seasoning too. Like salt. In the other world, we use them as seasoning, to improve the flavor of the food. What about this one?"
He patiently explains to her about everything she asks. Note everything so she doesn't forget.
"Why do you want to know all this?" He asks.
"I just want to know. Precautions."
He can see in her mind memories of people leaving her, she also thought that he left her because he didn't talk to her yesterday. She wants to be independent in case she's left alone again.
"Astri…"
"Yes?"
"..Tomorrow I want to know how your projects are going. I'll try making the pillows and the fluffy bed too. I must admit that the floor is hard." He decides not to mention anything. She might get angry and feel violated somehow. He will wait until she opens up herself.
"Great. I won't be holding you any longer. You must be tired from using your powers too long. Sorry about that."
"Don't apologize. I'll be going then. Take care of yourself and let others help you."
After he breaks the connection, he smiles happy to know that she's fine.
Astri spent the day showing Wayde and Dieg what to do, she was happy to see the table ready.
Dieg has a harder task because he has to break and smooth a big rock to create a pot. However, he's the happiest because he believes that he can prove to her he's the best mate.
In the following days, they made a closet, bigger and fluffy bed sheets and pillows, shelves, a stove outside, kitchen supplies, and a bathtub, and they planted some vegetable seeds and some flowers around the house.
"You guys are awesome. What would take 40 days to finish or more, you took 10 days." She says, looking proudly at the little charming cabin.
"I want to try cooking that hot pot you cooked yesterday. I think I remember all the steps." Wayde speaks, but instead of looking at the cabin, he's looking at her happy face.
"Nice! You're getting better at cooking, but shouldn't you rest for your trip?" She asks.
"I asked for two more days to stay with you. I will be away for more than 20 days, but I'll try to be faster."
"It's a long trip.."
"Not so long. Luckily he chose the closest market. Normally he chooses a market that is more than 40 days."
"Wow.. Won't it be dangerous?" She asks, worried.
He smiles at the little female on his side. They got closer after those ten days together, Wayde doesn't want to leave her, but bringing her carrying expensive things is dangerous, and he will be only with two more beastmen.
He would feel safer if the other beastmen had the same marks he has, or if there were at least 10 of 3 marked beastmen.
Wayde hates the idea of leaving Astri alone with Dieg, he knows Dieg will try everything to mate with her during his absence. And Wayde wants to be the first.