The first hour was a failure.
The dragon females were strong, even malnourished, they were stronger than ten humans, but they had no idea what they were doing. They tried to claw the earth. They tried to burn the weeds with breath attacks, which resulted in Roxy screaming, "No fire! Bad dragon!".
Zarek sat on a large boulder nearby, sharpening his claws on a rock, watching the chaos with deep skepticism.
"Little treasure," he rumbled, watching Roxy demonstrate how to till a row. "Why do you scratch the earth? There is no meat there."
"It's not about meat, Z," Roxy grunted, wiping sweat from her forehead. "It's about starch. Carbs. The stuff that keeps you alive when the winter kills all the boars."
She walked over to a female who was struggling to dig a trench.
"Here," Roxy said gently, taking the shovel. "Don't use your back. Use your legs. Like this."
She demonstrated. The female watched, eyes wide.
"You... you touch the dirt? You are the Queen," the female whispered.
"I'm a human," Roxy winked. "We love dirt. Now you try."
It took all afternoon, but slowly, the rhythm changed. The confusion turned into work. The females realized that Roxy wasn't barking orders because she had the backing of the king; she was in the dirt with them, her hands muddy, her tiger-skin tunic stained.
They began to talk.
"My Queen," one older female ventured. "Will these... 'rocks' really turn into food?" She held up a seed potato.
"Trust me," Roxy promised. "Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew. You're going to love them."
The dragon female didn't understand but nodded, her eyes glinting with stars, because she knows that it was food. Food was food even if it's something they had never had before.
By the time the sun began to dip, they had planted three long rows. It wasn't much, but it was a start.
"Okay! Tools down!" Roxy shouted. "Lunch break!"
Zarek perked up at the word 'lunch'. He had been waiting for this part.
Roxy set up the fire and a large stone pot she had forced Zarek to carve out for her earlier that week. She filled it with water from a nearby spring, tossed in dried meat, some wild herbs the System had identified for her, and a few of the potatoes she had saved.
As the stew bubbled, the scent wafted across the valley.
The females stopped moving. They sniffed the air, their stomachs rumbling loudly.
"Come and get it," Roxy called out. "And bring your bowls. If you don't have a bowl, use a rock with a dip in it. I'm not picky."
The females hesitated, looking at Zarek. The King usually ate first. The females ate scraps.
Zarek stood up, walking over to the pot. He looked at the trembling females. Then he looked at Roxy, who was holding a ladle like a weapon, daring him to challenge her new social order.
Zarek grunted. "The Queen commands you to eat," he growled at the women. "Obey."
They rushed forward, with roars of joy.
Roxy ladled hot stew into their makeshift bowls. For many of them, it was the first hot, cooked meal they had ever eaten. They never knew that meat could be cooked this way.
Some of them were brimming with curiousity to learn what this unknown female could make. The clothes she made and even the tools she gave them to use.
Especially the young dragon with the limp.
She took a bite. Her eyes watered. "It... it warms the belly."
"It warms the blood," Roxy corrected, smiling. "Eat up. You need the strength. We have a lot more digging to do tomorrow."
The Young Dragon smiled. "If you can teach me how you do it, my Queen. I grow strong enough to hunt a lot of game for you!" The young one cheered.
"I–"
Before Roxy could reply, Zarek shot in, shielding Roxy, in a grime tone he spat out. "Mine."
Roxy shoved him away. "Don't worry I am not going anywhere, anytime soon. I can teach you everything you want to know."
Zarek stood behind Roxy, watching the scene. He saw the way the females looked at her, not with the fear they showed him, but with a desperate adoration. They looked at her with so much hope and joy.
Something that they had never showed him before.
He placed a heavy hand on Roxy's shoulder.
"You feed the weak," he murmured, his voice low so only she could hear.
"They need food to grow, Z," Roxy whispered back, leaning into his touch. "Strong mothers make strong babies. Strong babies make a strong Tribe. It's simple math."
Zarek looked at her round belly, then at the eating women. He didn't understand the 'math', but he understood the result. His mate was a provider. She was turning the weak into the strong.
"You are strange," he decided, nuzzling the top of her head. "But you are a good Queen."
[Ding! Affection +5%! Target admires Host's 'Pack Leadership'.]
Two Weeks Later.
The routine had set in. Every day, Roxy led her "Dirt Army" to the valley. The skepticism from the male Elders was high, Malcor frequently stood on the ridge, scoffing at the Queen playing in the mud, but the females were dedicated.
They worked harder than any warrior. They weeded, they watered, they built rock walls to protect the field from the wind. Roxy watched all these and she was satisfied, Dragon were actually stronger than humans in every angle.
Roxy was exhausted. Her back ached, her feet were swollen, and the pregnancy fatigue was hitting hard.
"Maybe Malcor was right," Roxy muttered to herself one evening, sitting on the edge of the field while the sun went down. "Maybe I just buried expensive System potatoes in a dust bowl."
She looked at the rows of grey, barren earth. Nothing had happened. It had been fourteen days. And yet there was no sign of life. It was kind off disappointing.
"System, did I buy dud seeds?"
[System seeds are genetically enhanced for Beast World environments. Germination period: Accelerated. Wait for it.]
"I'm waiting," Roxy grumbled. "But if nothing comes up, I'm going to look like a massive idiot."
Zarek walked up to her, draping a heavy fur over her shoulders. "The sun dies. We return home."
"Just a minute," Roxy said, staring at the ground. "I just... I really wanted this to work."
Zarek looked at the dirt. He didn't care about the plants. He cared that his mate was upset. He opened his mouth to offer to burn the valley down if it displeased her, but then—
He stopped.
His dragon eyes, sharp enough to spot a hare from a mile up, caught a movement.
"Roxy," he rumbled, pointing a clawed finger.
Roxy followed his gaze.
There, pushing through the grey, crusted volcanic soil, was a spot of color.
It was a vibrant, shocking green. A single, sturdy sprout had punched its way through the earth, unfurling two thick leaves toward the dying sun.
Roxy gasped, scrambling off her rock and falling to her knees in the dirt. She stared at it like it was a diamond.
"It's alive," she whispered.
Next to it. Another sprout shot out. Then another. All down the row, tiny green flags were popping up, normally they were never this fast. It was as if it grew with the world change.
This was not the human world, but the beast world, life grew faster here.
The females, who were packing up their tools, stopped after hearing Roxy's scream of excitement. They rushed over, gathering around Roxy and Zarek.
They stared in silence. They were not hebivores but they were shocked that something green and edible was created for them.
"It grows," the limping female whispered, tears streaming down her dusty face. "The Queen commanded the earth, and it obeyed."
Roxy stood up, brushing the dirt from her knees. She looked toward the ridge where she knew Malcor was watching.
"This is just the appetizer, boys," she whispered, her smile turning sharp and sassy. "Wait until the main course."
[Ding! Task Update: 'The Humanity Solution'. Phase 1 Complete.]
[Clan Hope Levels: Rising.]