Kaira had never known that a bath could feel so close to spiritual awakening.
If someone had told her that splashing around in a rocky stream, naked, shivering while literally scrapping her body could bring her such bliss, she would have punched them. Politely. With restraint.
But standing there afterward, dripping clean water instead of accumulated life regrets, she was convinced this was the peak of human... or Beastworld-human... existence.
The months... possibly years... of dirt, grime, sweat, and the faint, lingering aroma of "I live in a cave with no concept of soap" had finally washed off. She felt reborn. Rejuvenated. Resurrected. Almost pretty.
Almost.
Because the moment she glanced down at her body, her eye twitched.
There she stood, large… no, colossal… no, monumental, like a walking soft fortress of squishy doom. She slapped her belly, watching it wobble like it had business paying rent.
"You couldn't wash off some of that, huh?" she muttered at the stream, as though the water had personally betrayed her.
The water babbled back mockingly.
Before she could cuss out nature, her stomach released a sound that could only be described as an angry dragon snoring. Loud. Violent. Hangry.
"Great," she sighed. "Not even five minutes of peace."
Good thing was while bathing, she had noticed fish - fat, shiny, plump little creatures swimming smugly around as though their sole purpose in life was to taunt starving transmigrators. Well, challenge accepted.
Kaira scanned the surroundings until her eyes landed on a fallen branch. Long, sturdy, thin. A perfect weapon - if she ignored the fact that its tip was duller than her body's original owner's self-preservation instincts.
She grabbed a stone with a sharp edge and spent the next few minutes aggressively sharpening the end of the branch, muttering a variety of colorful insults that would make sailors proud.
"Come here, sushi!" she hissed as she waded back into the stream.
The fish continued swimming in circles, carefree, naive, tragic little fools. Kaira steadied her breath, raised her makeshift spear, and jabbed.
Miss.
She jabbed again.
Miss.
The third jab was enthusiastic.
The fish escaped with a splash and a flick of its tail that clearly said, Try harder, fatty.
"Oh, it is ON," she growled, staring at her hand that was proving her skills useless.
Ten chaotic minutes later... with more splashing than a toddler in a bathtub... she finally stabbed not one, but TWO fish. The triumph was so glorious she held them high above her head like trophies from a victorious hunt.
"I am the queen of survival!" she announced to absolutely nobody.
The fish dangled lifelessly and did not applaud.
Now came the real problem - cleaning the fish. She had no knife, no tools, but... what she had was survival experience.
In her previous life during her assassin training, there were several incidents when the seniors left her and the other trainees in mountains, forests, or deserts to survive until they found their way back to the base. Those training days had taught her more than enough life survival skills.
Once again she searched her surrounding and her gaze fell on a flat rock near the shore, the size of her forearm. It was dark and perfectly smooth on one side. Perfect.
She smacked the fish against the rock.
Nothing happened except the fish looked more offended in death than it had in life.
She then picked up the stone she used to scrap the branch earlier, washed it and started scraping at the scales of the fish. The makeshift scaling tool worked better than expected, sending silvery flakes flying.
Once scaled, she used the sharp edge of the rock to slice them open. Messy? Absolutely. Effective? Surprisingly yes. She scooped out the insides, tossed them into the hole she just dug in the ground and covered it with soil.
Then came washing the fish. Back into the stream it went for a quick rinse.
Cleaned and ready, she set the fish on a large leaf she had plucked earlier.
Next step was setting up the fire.
She gathered dry grass, twigs, and small logs, forming a small fire pit and used two rocks to start the fire. She succeeded on her first try.
A whoosh of fire erupted as the dry grass immediately caught fire.
She skewered the fish with her branch-spear and held it over the flames. Soon the air filled with the irresistible aroma of roasting fish - crispy skin, sizzling juices, smoky steam wafting up and promising heavenly flavor.
Her stomach practically wept in gratitude.
When the fish turned golden and perfect, she couldn't wait another second. She pulled it close... and bit in.
Immediately, her mouth began its protest.
"Hot! Hot-ow-worth it-HOT!"
Her eyes watered. Her tongue felt betrayed. Yet she kept chewing.
Heaven. Absolute heaven.
She had barely taken two bites when her ears perked at a sound. It was a faint rustle. A soft thump. Like something moving through tall grass.
Kaira froze mid-bite.
"…Hello?" she called hesitantly.
The bushes quivered.
Then something stepped out from behind a rock.
A creature - small, round, fluffy - blinked at her. Its fur was white as fresh snow, pristine even among the wild forest surroundings. Its ears flicked. Its tiny paws padded forward one step… then stopped.
It stared at her.
Then at her fire, its eyes widening in what looked suspiciously like horror.
She thought its going to run away. Instead, its gaze shifted again... this time to the roasted fish in her hand.
Slowly. Reverently. Hungrily.
"Oh no," she whispered. "No no no. Don't you dare. This is my fish."
The creature took one tiny step forward.
"…Stop."
Another step.
"You little-no, don't you dare look cute, it won't work-"
Step.
A full three steps closer now, though still keeping what it clearly thought was a safe distance from the fire. Once it was merely a step away from her, it sat down on its fluffy butt with its tail curling around its tiny paws, and stared up at her with big, glimmering blue eyes.
Kaira squinted. "Are you… are you a white lion cub?"
Right then, the familiar chirpy voice of the System chimed in her head.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have discovered a White Lion Cub, a rare species in this world!]
Her jaw dropped. "Whoa."
The cub blinked at her as if to say, Yes, yes, I am majestic and endangered. Now hand over the fish.
Kaira stared back.
The cub stared harder.
She glanced at her fish.
The cub's gaze followed the motion with laser focus.
"Are you… here to taste my fish?" she asked with an uncomfortable laugh.
Silence.
The cub's eyes shifted between her face and the roasted fish. Back and forth. Back and forth. A silent negotiation.
Kaira felt it. She felt the threat.
If she didn't give it voluntarily… it might try to snatch it.
And with her luck, she would end up chasing a tiny fluffy thief across the forest, screaming like an idiot.
So, with a sigh of resignation and the softness of a woman who had never had anything look at her with that much hopeful cuteness, she tore off a generous piece of the fish and held it out.
The cub sniffed.
Paused.
Then took the piece gently from her fingers.
It began to nibble.
Kaira watched. Her heart softened, but her stomach mourned the lost bite.
And the cub… it looked up at her... waiting for another piece.
Great!