Chapter 9: Survival

I was lucky to still have my memories from my previous life, so I was able to survive a few years of my life in the tribe.

It was springtime, and it was my seventh year since my rebirth. The night before I attended my first day of schooling, I dreamed of a beautiful lady with platinum-silver hair and golden eyes.

She hugged me and smiled at me while saying, "Good job, my dear Ari. Please remember that I love you."

I woke up the next morning feeling nostalgic while trying to remember the rest of the dream, but all I could clearly remember were the words she uttered. I couldn't even remember her face. I stood up and prepared my things before my father knocked on the door and called me to eat my breakfast so he could bring me to the pavilion before he accompanied the hunting team.

The elders started to gradually accept me despite my condition, especially after I helped solve the issues of food shortage during winter and my creation of fabric.

Female Cubs like me were taught how to hunt but were rarely urged to hunt due to our physical capabilities and were only allowed to join the actual hunt at the age of nine.

Hence, we needed to learn the basics of survival in case of emergency.

All male Cubs were required to craft a weapon they could use for hunting. Though female Cubs were not required to create their own weapon, their parents or elders prepared their weapon for them.

Studying in this new world was so much fun, unlike in my previous life where I always got bored and almost lifeless burying myself in books all day. I diligently studied medicine to find a cure for my condition while helping Elder Healer Lony in tending the sick females. She didn't let me near any male patients due to my condition, especially because we needed to keep the room sanitized at all times.

My father brought me to the pavilion every morning where all the Cubs were being gathered by the elders to start teaching us the basics of hunting, cooking, making pelt, crafting tools, and many more. I was close to my siblings except Lindie—we all attended classes together.

My sister Lindie was the most beautiful Cub in the class, so she was treated with the most care in the tribe. She has straight and long jet-black hair, white complexion, and a pair of jet-black eyes.

I felt like she was hostile to me from the first day we met because she was doing well conversing with the other Cubs except me. As far as I can remember, I had never done anything that could make her hostile towards me. We only met for the first time during my first day joining the class since I was isolated from the others.

Most of the Cubs were hostile with me, excluding my male siblings. It didn't bother me as long as the elders were no longer hostile to me.

I wasn't allowed to join hunting until I turned nine years old as per tradition. The elders did not allow me to join early even though they knew I was more capable than the other Cubs my age.

During hunting lessons, we were grouped into five members and were accompanied by an elder in each group. At first, I thought everything was going well until I realized that my group mates were arguing with the elder. They didn't want to be grouped with me.

One of my group mates shouted in frustration, "Elder, we don't want to be grouped with this ugly thing! She will just scare all the prey away with her hideous looks."

My eyes widened as I felt my anger rising. I screamed in fury, "How dare you! Don't you know that I can hear you from way over here?!"

Unconsciously, my lion ears and tail suddenly appeared, and my wings started to spread, tearing off the back of my cloak and flapping uncontrollably until the waves of wind resonated from my wings started to mess up everything that surrounded me.

The elders present were shocked and called for my father hurriedly. The other Cubs who witnessed it dropped down to the ground as if terrified. I flew away before my father and Elder Healer Lony were able to arrive at the pavilion.

I flapped my wings as hard as I could following the direction of the wind, holding a bow in my left hand and arrows safely intact inside the quiver tied to my waist. I was so frustrated because I was so excited to hunt using the bow and arrows my father and I crafted.

I soon arrived above the hunting location that was prepared by the elders, where I could see the other groups who set out early. They had already started their hunting session while I slowly landed on top of the highest tree in the forest.

I could see my brothers on the opposite side of the forest from way up here. The younger ones all looked so cute and clumsy trying to catch the chubby little rabbits using their crafted little spears.

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[Flashback]

I remember I was only 5 years old when I started trying to craft a bow and a few sets of arrows behind Elder Lony's back while playing at the back of the house after feeding my silkworms.

One time, my father suddenly saw my hands full of blisters. "What happened to your precious little paws?!" my father screamed in panic.

"It's nothing, Father. It's just a scratch," I answered, trying to kick the crooked arrows and bow on the floor, hiding them away from my father's sight.

"What scratch? Those are terrible blisters! And what are those scraps of wood on the floor?" he asked, raising his voice in worry and confusion.

"That... Those," I stammered in embarrassment, as my tears suddenly rushed down to my face, knowing my woodwork is nothing compared to others. "Wah! Sorry! I tried to make a bow and a few sets of arrows. I want to learn how to use them," I whimpered as I ran towards my father's thick legs and hugged him.

"What?! You're making a bow and arrow yourself? Why didn't you tell me? I can make them for you. I'm appalled that you don't trust your father's craftsmanship. I'm quite sad, my dearest daughter," he said as he lowered down to my level to wipe my tears.

"Hic! But Father is busy as the Alpha," I explained, trying to compose myself.

"You are more important than anything else, Ari... Just one word, and I will do my best to provide everything you wish," he said as he hugged me into his huge arms.

After that incident, he made me a bow and a few sets of arrows and secretly trained me. He was so elated upon seeing that I could shoot my arrows really well at a young age.

Little did he know that I used to spend my free time alone doing archery in my previous life.

[End of brief flashback]