A New Journey

Iris Hart rode on a frost-white wolf's back as she led a group of a hundred and twenty-six other beastmen into the forest. It had been a few days since Iris left with her mates, friends, and several of the Arctic Wolf Tribe members for a new home.

A while back, Iris had received a notification from her system.

[System 316: Host, you have been kicked out of your tribe! The beast world is a dangerous land and it is necessary to have somewhere to call home.]

[Info: Please obtain an unclaimed area of land for your tribe. Build a new home of equal or better quality than your previous one. Then secure a steady source of food.]

[Time Limit: 90 Days]

[Reward: Familiar]

[Penalty: A life-threatening contagious sickness will infect the host.]

While it was good that the new quest matched up with Iris's current goals, Iris still felt the time frame was quite close. The place she wanted to settle down was nearly two months out, which would only leave a month to begin building new homes and farmland.

The first few nights were spent preparing the others for the long two-month journey ahead of them. Every beast hide leftover from hunting prey was turned into the base for leather tents while sticks were gathered for propping it up.

Caspian had taken on the role of leader as he helped ensure everyone had what they needed. He taught the tribesmen how to sew, build, and tear down the tents as well as ensuring they had enough to eat and drink.

Water was a huge issue since they would not be traveling beside a river the entire journey to the southeastern portion of the beast continent. To combat this, waterskins had to be made from any goats and sheep that were caught.

The sheep wool and goat hair would be removed and then the skin would be tanned. Next, the leather would require softening before being cut and sewn together. A nozzle from goat horns would then be carved out and have the leather sewn around it as well as thin strips of vines wrapped firmly around it.

As the waterskins could hold only a small amount of water, one would have to drink the water sparingly whenever there was not a body of water nearby. Thankfully, Iris had a map so she could easily search for a source of water, but it was not worth it to go too far out of the way to follow rivers or lakes. Thus, they would have to make do at times.

While Caspian took in the role of leader, Basil played his role as witch doctor well. During any of the short breaks, the mid-day meal, and the stop for rest from sunset to sunrise; Basil would attend to anyone who needed it. While there were few sick people in the hot season and they didn't have any injuries, there were other issues.

Some of the females might end up pregnant, the weaker non-awakened males might struggle with fatigue, and dehydration was regularly an issue among the group. In these times, Basil would use the extra water kept in the clay jars Iris carried to brew teas from bitter herbs to serve the tribesmen.

Iris had assured her three mates that they could just make extra waterskins for her to have a supply of water for them. It was far more important to Iris that the five jars of water were used to save her tribe mates so no one would perish on their trip.

Even once everyone had tents and waterskins, Iris carefully kept any extra animal skins in her bag. In return, anyone in the tribe who couldn't find sufficient food for a meal could join Iris for a meal. Iris had a lot of jerky, dried veggies, etc. to use as well as the knowledge of how to make the most out of the food they had.

Iris hated to see any materials go to waste as she knew their tribe would need many supplies as they found their footing in their new land. Iris's mates were quite helpful in this aspect as well. Whenever they stopped for breaks and no one needed tending to, Basil would go collect nearby herbs.

Caspian would often take a few tribesmen to collect fish, snails, frogs, and cattails whenever they were near bodies of water. The extra fish would be smoked overnight and everything would be packed up in the morning. As the tribesmen trusted Iris and her mates and knew they would easily share resources if they needed them, no one minded helping to collect extra.

While Iris needed to travel with Caspian or Basil to ensure everyone was able to immediately get the info on where to go next, Ember was still faster. Ember would often scout ahead to ensure there were no dangers and could even collect resources he had been taught how to spot.

Things like chickweed, watercress, and miner's lettuce would grow almost all year long and Ember knew them well now. Basil would also teach Ember about certain herbs that were both useful for Iris's cooking and health issues within the tribe. It helped that there were examples to use in Iris's bag, but Ember was still slow to learn as he did not have a natural inclination towards being an herbalist.

As the tribe came to a stop for the night, Iris stretched out feeling exhausted. Iris felt grateful that she had a comfy grass mattress and bed frame to sleep on tonight. Most of the tribe still slept on beast skins just spread out on the ground. Only Holly and Fawn had purchased full bed sets and could afford to lug them with them each day.

The other females would often cast envious glances at the three of them, but there was simply too little time to spare for making new ones. Grass mats took a lot of time and labor to make as well as a lot of time being needed to gather the grasses in the first place.

Holly and Fawn came to sit beside Iris's campfire. As all of Iris's mates but Ember had already taken off, Iris was glad for the company. Holly's and Fawn's mates were kind enough to hunt meat, eggs, or fish for the girls each night in exchange for Iris sharing her plants with their mates.

Iris much preferred the company anyhow and this freed up her mates' time to tend to the others so this deal worked for everyone. Fawn offered a polite "Hello" but was otherwise as quiet as ever. Meanwhile, Holly looked happy as she happily chattered away

"Do you think we will be able to stop by any tribes or cities on the way to our new home?"

Iris took a careful look at the map before nodding.

"Yeah, they are a little spaced out, but we should be coming up on the bear tribe in a few days. I'll likely see if I can't trade a few crystals for supplies with them when we get there.

I doubt they would have room to accommodate this many people, but it might be good for our tribe to mingle with theirs. This is a good chance for some of the females in our group to find mates from other tribes and we could always use a few more single males to help build homes when we get to where we are going."

Holly nodded before sighing dreamily

"Yes, I'm quite eager to meet some new males. I hear bears are quite good at getting honey and fishing too. I wonder if they'd like a half-orc like me, though....."

Iris tapped Holly's nose as she reassured her

"How could anyone not like our cute Holly? Besides, there is a pond nearby so there will be a chance to freshen up before you meet anyone and everyone can put their best foot forward. You did bring your comb and beauty supplies, right?"

Holly blushed as she answered

"Of course! How could I not keep a gift from you? Besides, I've got five males so it isn't difficult to bring things with me. I keep your gift in this bag I'm wearing, see?"

Holly pulled the small stone box out and eagerly showed it off. Iris could already tell Holly had brought it since she could tell that Holly's hair had been combed recently. However, it was still fun to lightly tease her friend. However, Holly was simply too pure and Iris could feel her heart grow warm at her friend treasuring their friendship.