Taruna had some tools she used to sew. And just as I suspected, the needles were made from rock. How did Harok even manage to do this? And the thread... Well, it was made from thin vines.
She told me where I could find some if I needed any. There were no scissors, but there were knives made of rocks.
It made me wonder if I should go back to Harok and introduce the idea of scissors to him.
Well, let's wait for him to finish the first project first.
Sewing with such crude tools wasn't as hard as I thought.
With the skinned leather that Taruna generously offered me, I was able to make my first outfit. Well, just the bra top but it was something. It took about two hours, since I was trying to cut the leather to fit my size and then put them together with the crude tools. The rock needle could barely pass through smoothly.
What a pain in the ass.
They were doing their best, honestly. I'd have given up if I weren't so desperate to get good at it and make good and comfortable outfits for myself... Especially panties.
When can I find a material that will seem comfortable to work well as panties?
"Are you leaving now?" Taruna asked and I nodded.
I was hungry.
"Yes," I said. "Thank you for your help. I'll come again tomorrow."
I noticed that there was no single person around throughout the time I was with Taruna. Females that give birth can't go anywhere, and they can only stay at home and nurse their cubs.
If no one came to visit them, they wouldn't be able to meet anyone, until their males came back from hunting and playing around.
It was sad.
I could feel her excitement as she talked to me and taught me how to sew. Having someone keep her company with her cubs must've been so wonderful.
I'll make sure to come back the next day, so she doesn't feel too lonely. After all, she's the only person who's ever shown me such warmth without having a past where she hurt Arinya.
As I was about to leave, I asked,
"By the way, where can I take a bath?" I asked, but she looked at me puzzled.
"What's that?"
It struck me like a lightning bolt.
Did she just ask me what a bath was? No, no, maybe they just called it something else.
"I... I mean, I need to take off my clothes and wash the dirt off my body. Where do we go for that?"
"Oh, you can just wipe them off with a wet hide. I don't think you need to take off your clothes for that."
What the...?
You're telling me they don't take baths?
"It would be too much trouble if you had to wash your body too. It's also quite unpleasant getting wet and then cold. We avoid that as much as we can. Don't you know that?"
"R-right," I said, though I felt I had stumbled on a very major problem. "I just thought my body was too dirty and I'd need to clean up thoroughly."
"Well, that's too bad. You should play more gently from now on so you don't have to splash water over your body unnecessarily."
Are you kidding me?
"Haha, then I'll be off." I waved and hoped away.
How was it that they hated baths? They don't take baths even when their body are dirty and filled with mud?
Then how do they clean up besides using a wet hide? Don't tell me they lick the dirt off like real cats?
I need to find a lake and get all this filth off me. I cannot accept the fact that we do not take baths because we are a breed of cats.
I got back to the village center, while skimming through my memory when I noticed everyone was hurrying to go to the entrance of the tribe.
You know, where that make-shift fortress was.
I don't have time for this. I need to find a lake or a stream. Somewhere clean water flows that 'isn't' the source of our drinking water.
Just then, a memory flashed through my mind.
Arinya had come across a beautiful lake before.
Ah, that's great. If I can find that lake then I can definitely take a bath and get all this filth off.
Cat breed or not, this body needs to be washed.
To leave the tribe, I'd head for the fortress as well, and it just so happens to be where everyone else was gathering.
And so... As if I had come with the crowd, I had to slip through to get to the front.
And as soon as I did, my father called out to me,
"Arinya, this way. Our visitors are arriving now." He said and I flinched.
Visitors? Right now?
But... I looked at my dirty arms and body. Sure, I cleaned off the mud from my face but it was too crude.
How can I present myself like this?
Wait, hold on a sec.
I'm not here for the visitors so I don't need to seem presentable. No one complained about the dirt on my body either so it shouldn't matter.
I went to stand where my father, Veyra, and my brothers stood.
Ashren and Zevak looked at me with scrutiny in their eyes, but I ignored it.
Standing at my father's left was Veyra, and I stood at my father's right.
I could feel her gaze linger on me a few times but I didn't show her the attention she was craving.
I just stood there like a statue, counting the seconds as the footsteps approached.
And then finally, they came.
"Father," the first one to speak was my brother, the eldest, and the one who had returned with the party. "I have returned with the people of the Crysthorn tribe."
I could hear the excitement in his voice, but my mind drifted and landed on the preceding party behind him.
My eyes instantly widened as it fell on one very hot dude with just enough pecs to make me cry Daddy.
My mouth salivated instantly and I drooled over him.
Who... Who the heck is that?