"I have a proposition." Ink said as he looked Iris dead in the eyes.

Noticing the shift in the mood, Iris nodded. She was listening.

"First of all, I suspect that this is not the land you originated from." Seeing the female pale but not wanting to delve into the topic further, Ink continued, "You have a lot to learn if you want to survive here. We can help you, train you even, make you stronger. But we'll want something in return."

By then, Iris had unshed tears swarming in her eyes. She was finding it hard to listen. Her fears had been confirmed. Right from the first week she had had a sinking feeling that something was off and now it was confirmed. She had crossed into a whole other world. She hadn't wanted to believe it.

Noticing that the female needed some time to accept her situation, Ink sighed. "We can discuss this when you have calmed." He dismissed the conversation. Still in his partially shifted form, he placed his empty cans of food down and slithered off to a tree nearby to bask in the sun.

Tawn didn't quite understand what Ink could possibly mean when he said that the female was from 'another land.' Though he assumed that the female was aware based on how distraught she seemed. He didn't know how to comfort her, nor was he sure if he wanted to approach her.

The wolf man watched as the usual confidant female got up and made her way back into the yellow thing in the tree. He could see her shoulders shacking every so often.

Tawn walked over to the tree Ink was currently wound in. "What did you mean when you said that she's from another land?" He asked.

"She's too clueless about our ways and brings too many things that the beastmen of this continent have never seen. Every question she was asking and her assumptions about what we are were so out there." Ink started as he stared aimlessly up at the blue sky. "Then she said she was a 'huew-man' and there are no beasts of that type on the continent. At least not based off of my inherited memory." Ink paused and looked down at Tawn.

"and?" The brawny tan wolf man prompted. He wasn't great at figuring out mysteries.

"I got a theory. So, I asked her about any oddities that she noticed from here. Just the fact that she said that males where she's from don't have a second form pretty much proved it. Her reaction to the last thing I said to her simply confirmed everything." Ink finished plainly. His voice void of emotion.

"So, you mean to say that you think that she doesn't know that she ate rabbit beastmen?" Tawn exclaimed in a whisper, only just completing the puzzle.

A quiet "Yup" answered the wolf man's question as the snake man went back to cloud watching.

Still needing to drive the point home, the wolf man pressed, "But why would she have such a reaction to what you said?"

Groaning, Ink answered in a hiss, "She was obviously in denial. I recon she was waiting for her people to come find her so she could go home. She just confirmed that she's basically lost everything she's ever known. Imagine if you lost me, she's probably feeling along those lines." Before Tawn could bother his sun basking once more, he added, "Don't you see that this is the perfect time to go comfort her and win her trust? She'll make an excellent mate, and if we can increase the number of marks she has, she could be great fun during our rut."

Clearly not having thought so far in advance, Tawn's eyes lit up. Without saying anything more, he whipped around and headed back towards the yellow thing in the tree.

It took Tawn a while to figure out how to climb the rope the female had used to get up. After all, he wasn't of feline decent. Nor could he use a snake tail to hind his way up. Though, thanks to having watched the female, he had an idea of what to do. So, eventually he understood and managed to make his way up.

At the top, he was finally able to properly see inside the strange thing the female seemed to be using as shelter. He could not understand how she had managed to get it into that tree.

Spotting the female's back inside the odd shelter, "I have come to offer you my comfort." He stated in his deep voice. Unsure how to show sympathy to others, he waited awkwardly for her reply.

Iris was in the process of shoving everything she could fit into her bag. She was sure the zipper would bust if she even remotely attempted to close it. The abused bag was practically busting at the seams.

"Perfect timing!" She exclaimed. She had gotten into the habit of not really listening to the wolf man. He was nicer than the snake 'beastman' but a bit dull at times, she noted. Too bad the asshole was usually in possession of their shared braincell. "Do you guys have a bag or something I could use to put this stuff in?" She asked, she planned to listen to the answer.

Disoriented, Tawn managed to snatch the braincell from Ink and answered, "You could use the hide you were tanning by the river to wrap things up in?" He had been expecting to walk in on a crying female, not a female doing whatever it was that Iris was doing. She muddled him.

Impressed that the bronze wolf man had actually managed to answer logically and spark an idea, she quickly thanked him before starting to toss anything that might be useful out of the plane. Of course, she had had to pop open one of the back doors as Tawn's exceptionally large frame currently look up more than just the front door used and an entrance.

"That opens?!?" Tawn exclaimed when he saw the door closest to Iris swing open with a click after she had pulled something.

Woups and there goes that braincell back to the snake, thought Iris as she answered a polite "yes."

Still off kilter, Tawn asked, "What are you doing?"

Casting a side glance towards the buff male, Iris answered while she chucked what was left of the cans out the rear door, "I'm practicing my aim." Seeing Tawn's puzzled face she burst out into giggles. "I'm packing, silly." It felt good to laugh.

Unsure why his cheeks were heating up, Tawn scratched the back of his neck. He'd never felt flustered before. "Why are you packing?" He asked slightly quieter, unsure if he wanted her to stop laughing, even if it was him she was clearly laughing at.

Finished with her target practice, Iris sat back to relax in the now cleared space. "I plan to take Ink up on that offer." She started, crossing her hands behind her head as she leaned on the interior of the plane. She didn't know for sure what they'd want in return, but she had a feeling.

"But shouldn't you be sad, right now?" The bulky male asked while frowning.

With a sigh Iris explained, "Honestly, I am sad. I'll never see my friends or family again. Obviously, everything here is different than how things are back home..." She trailed off. "But I've been here for probably more than two months now, and I've had time to accept that I was probably never going to see them ever again. So, what's the difference if I'm in my original world or in this one? I still plan on thriving."

Tawn nodded, "What's 'monthss'?"

"Never mind."

-------------------

Note to self: Never poor your heart out to a caveman...

I feel like Tawn is becoming a caveman - though he kinda is given that it's a primitive world. lmao but he's not meant to be that lost... But in his defence Iris uses words from her world that he is not familiar with.

Once again, thank you for reading. Please tap that smexy star button if you enjoyed this.

Cheers!