The Statue

Pouting wasn't going to do him any good, Iro knew. The women were the head of the household, and even though it wasn't customary to allow other males to stay in your home, nothing was customary about the current situation, and they also had the good fortune of a huge home. It wasn't the same as having multiple families holed up in a one or two bedroom standard dwelling.

Grumbling, under his breath, he stood in the corner next to the door, fuming, waiting for the rest of them to ready their things. Set had decided that nobody was going to make him transform out of his half-snake, believing that it would keep people from getting closer to his mate while they entered the streets for the first time. He helped Shuule change and dress into the gifted tiger clothing, while Anna focused on Harvey's instructions on what to look for if Shuule was falling ill from her wounds. He would be over the next day to open the dressing and repack it, if necessary. If she was a normal female, the blood loss would have killed her. If she was male, the wound would have been entirely healed by the next day. Since she was neither of those things, nobody knew what would be unwrapped.

Shuule felt more foreign in the tiger striped clothes. For the first time, it really registered that she was in a brand new city, about to start a brand new life. She was wearing the typical clothing of the dominant tribe, not the fox skins of her home village, even if she didn't ever want to return to it. Now, she was going to leave the one room she had been in in the City of Beasts.

She hesitated with the bustling about her, and Set noticed, turning to his mate and lowering his body so they were eye level.

"Take my hand," he ushered, quietly. "We'll walk through the door together."

---

Anna and Iro went outside first, to make sure that the male didn't need to back off any stragglers from the previous crowd. As it was just turning to the rainy season, the men all had things that needed tending to to get ready for the bitter cold season, and couldn't stay and stalk the house.

Shuule was blinded by the light outside, having spent so much time in a house with no windows. It wasn't even a particularly sunny day, as clouds were moving in, but she winced and pulled her ears back, shrinking like she might retreat back inside. In one motion, Set scooped her up in his strong arms, carrying her while slithering behind the leopard and his spouse. This was fairly typical of the Beastworld, men plucking their spouses off the ground and carrying them great distances, let alone a few street blocks, but Shuule being more self sufficient had never had needed or requested it. She wrapped her arms around Set's neck, looking down at the bustling crowd below her, the seas parted ways fearfully as the three striped snake moved through them confidently.

Through hushed tones, many didn't dare even meet her gaze, afraid Iro or the feral snake would have something physical to say about it. However, when a three striped bear male locked eyes with her and then stared down her own face stripe, Shuule pinned her ears and bared her own fangs right back at him, which made him startle and shrink back.

Shuule took in all of the sights, trying to get her bearings of what she had been flung into. The roads were dirt paths, well worn and hard. The buildings around her were all different shapes and sizes, including giant tree houses, which made her eyes alight.

"Who lives in those!" She called out to Anna.

"Oh, the old tree houses? They are the original homes of the Tigers, they're older than all of us. The bachelor males live in them now, it's hard for the women to get around them. Our mothers had to be carried up and down them."

"I quite like them!" exclaimed Shuule.

"I know you'll be able to navigate a tree, but we will find you a more civilized home, maybe close to mine. I wish to keep you close."

Shuule was about to pout, but could understand the good relationship Anna was offering, and how it was necessary to her. That and, before she could say anything more, they had turned a corner into a large courtyard. There, in the middle of it, was a massive statue. Shuule gasped.

Hand carved out of limestone, all four figures stood on the same pedestal. They were sweeping designs, not overly realistic, but ornate, much like the spousal marks left on the women by their mates. To the left, stalked a leopard, mouth open, spots dug into his coat. To the right, a tiger mirrored the same prowling, roaring stance, stripes carved into his body, as well as a slash over his eye. In between the large cat forms stood a woman, long hair lying loose behind her, both arms outstretched forward and then upwards, palms out to the sky. She wore a knee length dress with a sketched in cross stitch pattern. And behind all of this, was the largest statue, a serpent, carved as an S curve, towering over the rest. His surface had the same pattern scratched into it as the dress.

"What is this?" breathed Shuule.

"It's Art," Set answered. "Harvey taught me about it. I don't get it."

Anna shook her head. "Oh, don't be humble about it. Iro certainly isn't. The leopard is Parker, Iro's father, the tiger is the King, Winston, who unfortunately left only a daughter who was stolen by a merman. The snake, is Curtis, the strongest beastman we've seen in the city, and the girl is of course, Bai QingQing. And," Anna touched her nose, then looked at Iro, "I'm told two of your parents are depicted here. Surely you've told Shuule this?"

Shuule's jaw dropped open while the dark haired male scrunched his nose. "I in fact did not."

Shuule smacked his shoulder lightly with her good arm. "Why wouldn't you tell me that your father was the strongest snake and your mother was THE world shifting Bai QingQing?!"

"Snow," Set muttered under his breath. "And it didn't seem relevant. Would have it made a difference when you met me? It was going to come up this rainy season if I got you to move here like I wanted, anyway. In a less stressful way."

They passed the statue hurriedly, Set clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. Behind it was the castle built by Winston's own hands. The structure was stone, like the statue, the doors wooden and clearly new and also crafted with iron. Shuule had never seen metal before, and after being put down to walk on her own, drew her hands over the dark, hard handle. Stepping inside, the floor was also stone, with a beautifully crafted wooden table in the middle of the room. Hanging from the ceiling was another metal structure, with candles sitting in it, ready to be lit.

"Please, make yourself at home, Shuule. Remi, my eagle spouse - also your brother, Set, will be along sometime tonight after he's done patrol. I'm guessing Ryan if off with Ukko already, and Arthur should be around here somewhere, or he may be out with our cubs teaching them to hunt. I'll show you your room," Anna gestured towards the stairs.