Chapter 302: Not So Glorious Breakfast (Patreon)

Author’s note: Hi guys.

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So I remembered what was behind that nagging feeling where I wanted to tell you something important but couldn't remember what. You can read how Harper and Freyde came up with a possible way to convince others to swap their skills in the Side Stories. Namely Side Story 17: Freyde Welkes. That's all there is to it. Now that you know - one less problem to think about for me.

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:( Although a dozen more popped out some of which you pointed out in the comments. Nothing wrong with that, as I have always said I welcome any feedback and hope you continue to do so. :)

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This also marks the end of my personal challenge/experiment/trial. From now on, we're gonna go back to the old schedule. The longer chapters on Wednesday and Saturday. The conclusions, though…it's hard to tell. I'll give it another week in the old ways to make comparisons.

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Enjoy the chapter!

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Chapter 302: Not So Glorious Breakfast - Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/92751178

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Chapter 302: Not So Glorious Breakfast

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Meneurmut suffered a sleepless night tonight, unable to stop thinking about what was to take place today. A typical morning roll call, followed by a voluntary briefing of those not on duty, led by Korra and Stella, his squadmates. And he, like Harper and Freyde, was expected to give his opinion, his observations.

The way he saw it, the warriors, the protectors of this city, his new clan, were supposed to listen to what he had to say.

That never happened to him. As a mage, a mere keeper of the fire, his word meant less in his Taurus clan than any calf running around with a sword in their hand. Simply put, he was nervous as shit, his stomach in knots, his palms drenched in sweat, his eyes fixed on the plate of half-finished food in front of him.

“She’s taking her time, huh?” Freyde remarked with a forced smile on his lips. He wasn’t much better off than Meneurmut. But neither was Harper, who sat across from the man. Things had been strange between them since the night before.

“Korra’s not a morning person. Give her time,” said Stella, the only member of Squad Four who wasn’t on edge. At least as far as he could tell. As calm as he imagined a leader should be under any circumstances.

“Was she like that in . . . you know, in Fallen’s Cry?” Freyde asked as an uncomfortable silence fell between them. Meneurmut had his hands full keeping down what little breakfast he managed to eat, Harper was uncharacteristically silent in Freyde’s presence the whole time, and Stella, despite their night together at the Drunken Filly, was still distant from them. Nine months away was simply nine months too long.

“Well, whenever she got the chance. In fact, she seemed even worse in her beast form. Mostly it was food that would get her out of her lair.”

“I can imagine,” Freyde grinned. “Do you think we should get her some?”

“Nah. She’ll get her ass over here. Eventually.”

Meneurmut’s fur bristled, and a shiver ran down his spine. Looking for the source of the uneasy feeling that was screaming warnings at him, he found her, Korra, their squad tank, peeking in the side door to the mess hall. She scanned the room with a predatory gaze, as if hunting for prey.

“Th-There she is,” Meneurmut stammered, his voice catching in his throat. As everyone at the table looked in the direction he gestured, Korra stiffened, her ears pricked up. Then she straightened up and walked into the mess hall, trying to appear unfazed, but obviously uncomfortable as a hoof in a boot.

“Why is she wiggling her ass like a companion in front of a client?” Harper grumbled, voicing what was on the minds of many in the mess hall. “And what’s with that weird look in her eyes?”

“It’s almost like she wants to eat me,” Freyde remarked, swallowing dryly.

“As if I were her prey,” Meneurmut managed to say.

“I . . . I don’t remember her ever acting like that, not even in the Fallen’s Cry. If I didn’t know better, I’d say . . . no, she wouldn’t.”

“Hey!” Idleaf popped up at the table, her childlike exuberance breaking whatever hold Korra had over them in a sudden scare that caught off guard more than just the members of Squad Four. She then dropped to the floor in a heap of giggles, all too happy at how she had managed to startle them all.

“Good morning, Idleaf,” Stella coughed as Meneurmut struggled to keep breakfast down. The spirit’s not-so-subtle appearance did him no good. “I didn’t expect you to show up so soon.”

“Soon? More like finally. Korra’leigh was so slow.”

“Is she alright? She seems . . . “ Stella trailed off, unable to put Korra’leigh’s strange behavior into words.

“She’s fine-ish . . . what does that mean, Stella?”

“ Is that what she told you?” Freyde asked.

“Um-hmm.”

“Sounds familiar, doesn’t it, Harper?”

“Fuck you, Pointy Ears!”

“You know what she meant, Harper?” Idleaf looked at her pleadingly, completely ignoring her outburst.

“Why should I . . . I mean . . . well . . . all right . . . she . . . she probably has some issues she doesn’t want you to worry about.”

“Really? Then not just say she’s fine?”

“Don’t bring that up!”

“That’s enough, guys! I was hoping you’d talk it out before today, but if you still need to work things out, I don’t think the mess hall is the place.”

Meneurmut had to agree with Stella. Ever since they had slept together, they had been insufferable. The reason why their squad leader had insisted during last night’s meeting, when they had discussed how to approach today’s briefing, that they settle things between them. They needed to be at their best - which Meneurmut certainly wasn’t, and from the looks of it, neither were Harper and Freyde.

In fact, not even Korra seemed to be in her right mind. She almost danced between the tables, her gaze so fierce that Meneurmut would have run away if he didn’t know better. There was something familiar about her behavior, yet he failed to put his finger on it.

“Sorry, we did - talk it out.”

“Really, Harper? Cause it doesn’t look like it to me,” Stella pointed out the obvious.

“Hey, I’m . . . “

“Are you in heat like Korra’leigh?” Idleaf asked innocently, just to make everything click for Meneurmut. The way their squad tank acted, though different, was similar to the way the females of his old Clan had behaved when the season came. He’d seen it too many times. Alas, much to his frustration, he never became the target of their mate hunting. A simple firekeeper was not someone who had aroused their interest.

“W-wait, what d-did you say Korra was in?” Freyde stammered out.

“In h...e...hm...t”

“Didn’t I tell you to hold your tongue?!” Korra snarled as she appeared behind Idleaf. In one hand, she held a tray with a pile of food; with the other, she covered the mouth of the too-talkative spirit of the Esulmor World Tree.

“Hey, guys. Sorry for not being there with you yesterday. I had some stuff to deal with.”

Before anyone could react, Idleaf disappeared from Korra’s grasp and popped back up on the other side of the table, sticking her tongue out at her Guardian.

“You . . . !” Korra gritted her teeth, but instead of chasing after the ghost, she sat down and immediately started eating - to put it mildly. A better way to describe it would be that she was devouring her food, not unlike the hungry predator Meneurmut sensed in her.

Not a symptom of the mating season he remembered, though. Korra, however, was no Taurus. There were beasts in her ancestry he dared not even think about, let alone seek the roots of her hunger in them.

“What?!” barked Korra with a full mouth and looked at them furiously.

“N-nothing,” Stella said back. “It’s just that I haven’t seen you this hungry since . . . since we came back from the Labyrinth.”

It was so hard for Meneurmut to imagine eating the same thing over and over again for eight and a half months. Sure, there was variety in their five-day cycles, but it was limited by the lack of battlefield supplies and, ultimately, the repetition of week after week.

“And I haven’t seen much of you since we got back!” Korra snarled and continued her frenzied eating.

“And if my folks had their way, you wouldn’t see me for another month,” Stella replied, not really offended by the offhand remark. “Seriously Korra, what’s going on? Are you really . . . you know . . . like Idleaf said?”

“She is,” Idleaf giggled, prancing around the table, oblivious to her Guardian’s murderous stare. “Mothers said so.”

Korra’s ears perked up. “Mother Mossbears?”

“Um-hmm,” the spirit nodded. “They warned Esudein that it would be better not to let you near the adult males.”

“But you wanted to take me to your side?” Korra argued, her face getting redder and redder with every heartbeat.

“There are no adult males at my rooting ground.”

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***

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Idleaf had a point. Other than Esudein and Mother Mossbears, I hadn’t seen another mossbear near her tree. There was no chance that my female lure would work on those ancient beasts. At least that’s what I wanted to believe.

However, if the Mother Mossbears, and probably Esudein, had noticed that I was coming into heat, that meant it wasn’t Liryadon’s fault. I mean, I knew it wasn’t entirely his fault . . .

“Korra?” Stella interrupted my train of thought.

“Huh? Oh . . . yeah. It seems that all the training in Fallen’s Cry and me getting along with my beasts, shall we say, has side effects now that we’re back.”

“It makes you hungry and . . . ?” Freyde asked like a moron, wisely not finishing the question.

Swallowing another mouthful along with my shame, I shook my head. “No. It’s complicated.”

“Tell me about it,” Freyde laughed, giving Harper a glance. There was more to it than met the eye. Almost instinctively, I took a sniff, only to stop and stare at these two. There, beyond the scent of the food on my plate, theirs, the meal and the sweat of others soaked air in the mess hall, I could smell mates. Freyde and Harper were a mated pair.

“When did this happen?” I blurted, my own troubles forgotten for the moment - but not the food on my plate.

“What d-do you mean?” Freyde asked back, knowing exactly what I was getting at. The quarter gnome ex-accountant was just as shy as the badass baker.

“You two dating?”

The expected denial did not come, however. They both remained silent, looking at each other awkwardly.

“Wait. Is that how you talked it out?” Stella asked, actually facepalming when they admitted it. As far as I knew, hooking up wasn’t against the rules. One of the reasons Rayden let me roam freely around the barracks. Still . . .

“The timing,” Stella whined. “Couldn’t you wait?”

“You think we planned this?” argued Freyde.

“It just happened,” Harper added.

“Sorry. I know it’s not something . . . forget it. Maybe we’d better tell Rayden to postpone it for a day or two. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“No, we’ll be fine, won’t we, Pointy Ear?”

“If you’re okay with it, so am I, Baker Girl.”

“I can manage, Stella,” Meneur grumbled, sounding less than convincing.

“Me too,” Idleaf squeaked excitedly, only to lower her wings. “I’m going to need a blade of grass, though.”

“I think . . . I think I can get you one,” Stella said, having just as much idea what was going through the Esulmor World Tree’s mind as I did. However, hearing the assurances of the others, her eyes turned to me.

“What about you, Korra? Say the word and . . . “

“No, I’ll be good!” I stopped her, perhaps a little too sharply to convince even myself. “I’ll stuff my stomach, swallow the potion, and I should be good to go. Hopefully. I really don’t know, guys. This is . . . frustrating, so frustrating. In many ways.”

“I remember the females saying that fighting the heat only makes it worse,” Meneurmut remarked sympathetically, but not much for my peace of mind.

“Well, they’d better be wrong, because I’m not going down without a fight,” I said with a last mouthful, pulling out the potion and downing the bitter liquid in one gulp. The act of defiance that made me choke. A reminder of how reckless I had been, and that despite all my levels and skills, it would only take a little for me to die.

“I’m good, I’m good,” I said to stop Stella from hitting me in the back. In fact, I was better than good. Somewhere in between the coughs, the potion kicked in and the lust for the mate I was fighting died down. It didn’t go away completely, not yet, but at least I was able to think straight again.

Happy and wagging my tail, I looked at them all. “So, can you tell me what is expected of me at the training grounds? I mean, Rayden told me what you came up with - but not much more.”

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Author’s note: I wanted to give a little insight on Korra in the early days of heat from someone else's perspective. It turned out the way it did. :)

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