Owen was woken up by the cold.
The blinding snow had completely covered Rowan's scent, leaving only the biting chill. His heart felt frozen, no longer able to feel a beat.
The wound on his tail had stopped bleeding.
Owen shook off the accumulated snow on his body, constantly searching for Rowan's scent around him. After searching for a long time, he stopped.
Nothing, there was nothing.
He only found the beast-skin bag Rowan carried when gathering, still full of things inside.
A few chili peppers were scattered on the ground, strikingly red against the white snow.
Owen picked them up, clenching them tightly in his hand, his eyes empty without a trace of warmth.
Clearly, Rowan was smiling at him just a second ago, yet now nothing remained.
It was still because he wasn't strong enough that Rowan was snatched away like that. Such a painful experience, once was more than enough. Owen wasted no more time staying there and flew towards the cave.
The Snow Season could be said to be extremely harsh for the Silver-Winged Snake Clan Beastmen, but it couldn't stop Owen's determination to reclaim Rowan.
...
Rowan looked at the thick layer of snow outside the cave; overnight, the snow was still falling sporadically.
In this Beastman world, Rowan realized there were so many moments beyond his control, things he had never experienced. For example, being forced to stay in the tribe like now.
Every time like this made him re-evaluate life. In this place, it seemed he truly felt what living was.
Asa saw Rowan staring blankly outside, not knowing what he was thinking, so he proactively started a conversation with him, talking about his family situation.
Hearing Asa's voice, Rowan turned his head reflexively, involuntarily reaching up to rub his ear.
Only then did he know that Leo turned out to be the Chief's son, and the person who took him in was the Chief's mate.
"Don't the Chief and Leo live together with you, Uncle?" Rowan didn't see the Chief return, and Leo didn't sleep here last night either.
"No, Raison is busy because the Snow Season arrived suddenly; he'll probably come back to rest when he's done. My son, Leo, is already independent and moved to a new home not long ago. Right now, he must be busy with tribal affairs." Asa chatted with Rowan while sewing a beast-skin coat.
Rowan knew he was sewing for him, so he rolled up his sleeves to help, but he knew nothing about needlework; on the contrary, he made Asa spend more effort untangling the thread.
His clumsy appearance made Asa unable to help asking: "How did your Papa teach you to work? This won't do; you have to learn more from me."
"I don't have a Papa," Rowan replied softly.
Asa then remembered Rowan had no tribe, thinking he accidentally mentioned his sad past, so he hurriedly changed the subject.
"Oh, this requires dexterity; just watch a few times and you'll know."
Rowan didn't see where dexterity was needed. Clothing here seemed a bit rudimentary to him, just using a bone needle from some unknown animal and hemp string to sew a few pieces of animal skin together.
But since he didn't even know how to do this, he had no right to comment. As long as it was wearable, covered the body to keep warm, and didn't affect movement, it was fine; he wasn't picky anyway.
Not long after, Chief Raison, who had been busy all night, returned.
Asa put down the work in his hands and went to scoop out the meat heating in the pot: "Tired all day and night, hurry and eat something, rest well to recover. At this age, just hand the burden over to Leo to handle."
"That kid is still not reliable; the Snow Season is such an important matter, he can't handle it all. I'm not tired either; my body is still strong enough." Raison refused to yield to old age.
"You really are born to toil," Asa grumbled.
"You are the Omegina Leo saved from the Silver-Winged Snake Clan, right? I was too busy that day to meet you; please forgive me," Raison said politely to Rowan standing aside.
Rowan wasn't good at communicating with strangers, especially elders with status. Because in the Empire, Rowan and these people were colleagues; no one regarded anyone highly. If they didn't get along, they wouldn't want to say half a word.
But Raison gave people a very harmonious feeling, not putting on airs as a Chief at all.
Rowan was also quite polite to him, responding: "You are too kind, Uncle. Thank you for taking care of me; I have troubled everyone."
"No need to say these words; just treat this as home. To be honest, it's also embarrassing to say, Leo is the child my mate and I only had when we were nearly two hundred years old, considered having a child late. If we had another Omegina, it would be perfect. If you don't mind, acknowledge us as relatives."
Raison didn't dare to speak too certainly.
Rowan was dumbfounded by this sudden family acknowledgement, not knowing how to answer.
And what was that about two hundred years old? Was the lifespan here that long?
In the Beastman world, two hundred years old was still considered prime; the lifespan of Beastmen was usually three or four hundred years. This was considered an innate advantage in Beastman genes, so for Beastmen to have children wasn't easy. Some took a long time to have a litter; some had no children all their lives.
"Oh, is there anyone who acknowledges relatives like you? Good child, don't listen to him. No matter what, we will take good care of you; just stay here with peace of mind." Asa hurriedly smoothed things over.
Rowan didn't answer, just letting the matter pass. After all, he knew he couldn't stay here long.
Raison didn't force it either; after eating, he went to rest.
Rowan continued to help Asa, who never rested his hands from tidying up the cave and working. Occasionally, he remembered Owen, wondering how he was doing.
Wait until Leo came over, he would ask around a bit.
Early the next morning, Rowan was woken up by noise outside the cave. He rubbed his forehead to wake up.
Just stepping out of the cave, he was immediately surrounded by single Beastmen. Energetic male Beastmen rushed to pile up prey they hunted in front of Rowan, hoping he would accept.
After a long while of noise, Rowan understood they all came to pursue him; he was so angry he gritted his teeth.
Asa beside him told the overly enthusiastic Beastmen not to scare Rowan, gently advising them to leave first so Rowan could think it over.
"No need, you guys take all these things back," Rowan said coldly. Where did he look like an Omegina here?
"Don't, Omegina. If you don't have a Beastman mate yet, you can consider me. My hunting skills are excellent; look, this is a Snow Fur Beast I hunted."
Among all the Beastmen, his prey was the most valuable, so he was confident Rowan would notice him.
The Snow Fur Beast had fur white as snow, soft and very loved by Omeginas in the tribe. They only came out to be active in the Snow Season, were best at digging burrows, and were very cunning, even hunting Beastmen in return; very hard to catch.
This was the result of him staking out for two whole nights; a Beastman who could hunt a Snow Fur Beast proved their strength enough.
Rowan didn't even glance at it, blurting out: "No need, get lost!"
The Beastmen didn't want to give up pursuing this new Omegina; although Rowan's attitude was cold, they didn't want to leave.
Seeing this, Rowan didn't blame himself for speaking bluntly: "I have no reproductive ability, nor do I know how to transform, and I absolutely will not accept any Beastman. All of you disperse; if you keep pestering, don't blame me for taking action."
All Beastmen immediately scattered like bees from a broken hive, apologizing profusely and comforting him. An Omegina without reproductive ability must have experienced unknown pain.
Moreover, he was rescued from the Silver-Winged Snake Clan; the result went without saying.
Their eyes looking at him became sorrowful and pained; one by one, Beastmen left first, not wanting to make Rowan recall that tragic past.
The Silver-Winged Snake Clan was truly too terrible; next time they met, they must kill them. How dared they torture an Omegina like that?