Visha couldn't believe what was happening. She could hear the environment around her. However, her body refused to obey her. She started thinking about all the things she didn't want to experience again, coupled with what might happen to them.
Her body went into self-preservation, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
So while she felt Xeno pick her up and Willa feeding her the ginger water, her body wouldn't move. It continued to spiral. And closing up meant she didn't need to make a decision.
She felt it when the two kept trying to rouse her. She heard Xeno calling her name, asking her to wake up. Uri didn't say anything, but she could feel his gaze. Always constant, always watching. She didn't find it strange; she found it reassuring.
She knew when he held her. His core temperature wasn't as high as Xeno's. He felt cool to the touch.
When he held her, he didn't say anything for a while.
Then she heard him call her Sha'mīn. Knowing the meaning made her heart itch.
She still couldn't move.
She listened to him, talking, and the more he talked, the more her heart pounded. Especially when she heard about the soul binding. She didn't believe in soul mates. She never thought there was such a thing.
But hearing him talk about it made her feel like something clicked. She still didn't believe in soul mates. She only knew there was something about the two people who made her want to stay.
She didn't need to make a decision now. She didn't need to think about whether something would happen.
She only needed to know that right now, they were together. If she built a life here, she didn't need to go back. Nothing was waiting for her. If she had the chance, she would go and visit.
She didn't need to make a decision now.
That was the part that struck her. She was putting pressure on herself to leave when she had only just got here. She could see this as a new adventure.
Something that will either be worthwhile or fail.
She doesn't need to choose.
Going with the flow is the best option.
The more she realised she was stressing over nothing, the more her body relaxed. Uri noticed first, then Xeno. She relaxed against his chest, her eyes closed, her breathing finally stable.
She opened her eyes and looked at Uri.
"Sha'mīn, you really scared us. Please, don't do that again."
He nuzzled his face into her neck.
Xeno came closer, hugging both of them, his face nuzzling the other side of her neck.
None of the three said anything. Uri and Xeno revelled in the fact that they had found their soul. While Visha accepted their comfort and the realisation that decisions can be made slowly.
After the stress of everything, Visha didn't stay awake for long. Whatever talk they were going to have would need to be done tomorrow.
The next morning, as usual, she woke up next to Uri and Xeno. This time, she wasn't flustered. She allowed herself to soak in their presence.
Whatever the future holds, she won't stress about it.
Since neither of the two moved, Visha decided to check the system. She hadn't looked at the rewards for cleaning and securing the cave.
[Task complete: Secure the cave]
[Reward: Stone-knife, Animal skin Water pouch]
[Task complete: Clean the cave]
[Reward: Preserving touch, 3 attribute points]
Visha was overjoyed for the attribute points and immediately added them. This time, she felt the slight difference.
She looked at the other rewards. Preserving touch allows her to slow down the decay of meat and herbs. She felt fortunate for this ability. It was exactly what she needed. The problem was that it needed her to give up energy.
So would she feel tired all day after using it?
She decided to give it a try at night. That way, she wouldn't have to drag everyone down during the day.
She looked at the stone knife, confused as to why she would need another knife when she already had the Swiss Army knife. She checked and found that this knife was special. It was made of some unknown dark stone. Looking at the way it gleamed, she knew it was better than her previous knife.
Next was the water pouch, which didn't really seem special. That was until she saw what it was used for. The pouch could purify water. It doesn't matter where it came from. Even a dirty puddle. The water that comes out is purified.
"Shasha, are you happy?"
She stopped moving. She realised she was moving only when she stopped.
"I am happy, very happy. If you want to know, I'll tell you both later."
She knew that if Xeno was awake, Uri was most likely awake.
She got into a kneeling position while they were still lying down.
"Oh, and what I didn't say last night, forget it. I was only panicking because of what happened between us."
"Why?" asked Xeno.
He couldn't understand why mating was a problem. They didn't actually do everything. And he very much wanted to.
"My tribe, our people don't do that in public. It's supposed to be something private. So when I did something like that with both of you, like that, I was worried."
"So how do we let everyone know you belong to us?"
Visha choked slightly at the question.
Who belongs to you? But she didn't voice the thought.
"Don't you have other ways besides mating?"
Xeno shook his head.
"Mating marks you with our scent. No male would try to become partners with a scented female.
"Well, for now, we can't do that kind of mating." She coughed. "We can do the one we did the other night. But we won't go any further."
"Have you decided to stay?" Uri's observant eyes stared at her.
"I-I've decided not to decide. If there is something to keep me here, I will stay."
Uri smiled. To him, that was the same as her deciding to stay. He would make sure she never wanted to leave.
Xeno scrambled up and hugged her. His large body almost covered her. As long as she was actively planning to leave. He would try his best to make her stay.
None of the three people mentioned the soul bond.
However, in the future, it is the very thing that would prevent a certain tiger from being pilfered.
Since that day, they became more close-knit than ever. When Visha went out foraging, it was either Uri or Xeno who followed the group. It was rare that neither of them was available.
They gave each other the space to spend time as a couple, and then they spent nights as a trio.
For the next month and a half, they were able to find a lot of food. Visha was sure that the rationing system she set up would enable them to survive the next three months of rough weather.
Winding down to the last two weeks, people became lazy. Maybe they thought there was enough food, so they didn't want to go out.
Three people from the group of outsiders refused to set food outside.
Nimo stopped playing with Kit and lay in the cave to sleep.
More and more people stopped working.
When Visha tried to organise one last hunt. Almost everyone was down for the count. Including one Uri.
This day, Visha could help but ask. Uri wasn't the kind of person to sit and do nothing.
"Xeno, do you know what's wrong with Uri? It's not like him to be like this. I'm worried."
"It's Winter Blight."
Am I supposed to know what that is?
"What's Winter Blight?"
"Shasha, does your tribe not have Winter Blight?"
She shook her head. She had never heard of anything like that. She hadn't seen anyone coughing or having fevers; they just stopped moving.
All of it looked like laziness. But she had to admit that even the hard-working Uri didn't move, so it might really be an illness.
"Tell me about it, what are the symptoms, what does it do?"
"It makes you want to do nothing. Some people said it's like having the life slowly leave your body."
This alarmed Visha. Something that drains your life force is a serious matter. She didn't understand why Xeno wasn't more alarmed.
It wasn't that he wasn't alarmed. It was because there was nothing he could do. There wasn't a cure for Winter Blight. So even as he watched his father and Uri suffer, all he could do was hope for the best.
He still needed to make sure everyone had food. And he would occasionally force-feed Uri while his mother fed his father.
Some people were able to beat it. Others slowly died of starvation.
He made sure to explain all this to Visha. Who, in turn, looked defeated.
[Task: Help overcome the Blight, find Glimmer-Moss]