Qila didn't know where he was, he only knew that he was swept away by the flood, but he was finally able to escape from that place.
He was surrounded by towering ancient trees that reached the sky. The water that had been so powerful just now seemed to have receded and merged into the surging river beside him.
The original tribe was on a plain, and there was no dense forest around it at all.
"Does this mean that I'm very far away from there..." Kira was still thinking in a daze a second before he lost consciousness.
"Father, there's something there!"
"Lan! Come back!"
The young male black panther did not obey and jumped behind the bushes not far away. On a small flat ground covered with fallen leaves and puddles, lay a clean white kitten orc.
Lan couldn't tell whether the little orc in front of him was a precious female or a male, but since it could be stranded in the forest, it must not be a female.
The little black panther tentatively licked the sleeping kitten with its barbed tongue, but the kitten's skin was too tender, and even though Lan licked with restraint, it still left a shallow red mark.
The adult male black panther parted the bushes and saw his son affectionately rubbing against a sleeping female cub.
"Lan! Come back, he's a female."
Lan's father Ya didn't control the volume well, and Lan's restless movements made Kira reluctantly open his eyes.
What caught his eye was an enlarged face of a black panther, which was now leaning closely against him.
"Ah! Don't... don't come over here!" Kira burst out with the last of his energy, propped himself up, and stepped back.
The little black panther was also startled, and then changed into a human form. A little boy of eight or nine years old appeared in the place where the black panther was.
"I'm Lan, what's your name?"
The wet kitten curled up pitifully, and for the first time, Lan felt some pity for it.
Qila still wrapped himself up vigilantly, occasionally glancing at the Black Panther father and son in front of him, and remained silent.
"Dad, he doesn't seem to be able to speak! Let's take him home... Ouch", the excited child was gently patted by his father's paw, closed his mouth and rubbed his head, but his eyes were still staring at Qila with bright eyes.
"Kid, which tribe are you from?" Ya stepped forward and asked in a gentle tone.
Despite this, after hearing the word "tribe", the kitten, who had been relatively calm, suddenly got furious and tried to run away tremblingly, but he ran away due to lack of strength and fell to the ground.
Lan was startled and rushed over to hug the kitten. Although he was not much bigger than the kitten, his body size was more than twice that of the kitten.
Unexpectedly, the little female who had been struggling just now stopped resisting and nestled quietly in Lan's warm arms.
"Kitten, if you don't have a home, do you want to come back to my home?"
Kira didn't say anything, neither agreeing nor refusing, but just stared at him with his round cat eyes for a while, as if to confirm whether the little male in front of him was safe.
After a while, the thin female cub nodded imperceptibly and then fell into a coma again.
…
The world in the dream was bizarre and strange. One moment he returned to his original tribe, like a commodity with a clear price tag for people to look at. After a while, he was back in the flood waves, struggling desperately. Later, when he opened his eyes again, he saw the familiar little black panther again.
Lan refused to let his father carry the kitten no matter what, so he turned into a little black panther and carried the kitten steadily towards the Giant Tree Tribe.
The cave where Lan and his two fathers lived was warm and bright, because his male father, Ya, was a famous warrior in the tribe.
Kira was stripped of his wet animal skin by Lan's female father and put on Lan's animal skin skirt. Kira was small in size and looked like a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes when wearing Lan's animal skin skirt.
The warm bed made it easy for people to feel sleepy, but the hunger in his stomach was too obvious, and Qira woke up again in a daze.
Lan was clinging to the edge of the stone bed beside the bed, staring at him expectantly. Qila was not scared this time, as he still remembered that it was Lan who carried him back.
A blush spread across the fair little female's face, and she gave Lan who was standing beside the bed a faint smile.
There were few female cubs in the tribe, and Lan wasn't interested in them, preferring to play with the tough little males like himself.
For the first time, Lan felt shy, and even his tail was released uncontrollably.
"Hello... I'm Lan."
Kira's smile widened, and even the cat ears on his head trembled. Lan knew he had repeated himself, and he blushed and scratched his head.
"I'm Kira."
Children quickly became familiar with each other. Lan's embarrassment disappeared completely, and he began to happily surround Qira again.
"Are you hungry?"
Kira looked down at his stomach and shrank back in embarrassment, thinking it had made a gurgling sound and that Lan had heard it.
"Here!" Several plump berries were stuffed into Kira's palm. "Father is already grilling the meat. Eat some fruit first!"
The berries in his hand looked so tempting that he didn't know how long he hadn't eaten. Kira even forgot to thank him and wolfed down the berries, not knowing that in Lan's eyes, he was just swallowing them in small bites like a kitten.
It was so cute that Lan grinned unconsciously, and was just seen by his father who walked in with barbecue.
Lan's female father was called Mei, a very gentle rabbit orc. He was walking into the cave with freshly roasted meat at that moment, and happened to witness his son grinning foolishly at the female he picked up.
"Kids, it's time for dinner." Mei selectively ignored Lan and looked at the kitten with a reserved look on its face.
"Don't be afraid, I'm Lan's other father."
Qila mustered up the courage and whispered "Uncle," "My name is Qila."
Mei didn't ask him any more questions, but just pushed the barbecue in front of him in a friendly manner. Lan grabbed a piece directly, blew it roughly on the corner of his mouth, and handed it to Qila's mouth.
Qila's little face turned even redder, and his eyes were watery, but he trusted Lan very much and swallowed the barbecue without hesitation. Lan was happier when she saw him eating it than she was when she had eaten it herself.
After a while, Qila burped a little with a greasy mouth, and then covered his mouth in embarrassment.
"Are you full?" Lan frowned as he looked at the barbecue that was only a little bit short.
"Yeah! Thank you... the barbecue is delicious."
Mei gently stroked his head, and Kira closed his eyes comfortably. Lan picked up the wooden plate and gobbled up the remaining barbecue.
"Qira, do you want to stay at our house?" Mei's voice was gentle, reminding Qira of the vague father in his memory.
"Stay! I'll protect you!"
Qila looked at the little black panther beside him again and nodded shyly but firmly.
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