The next morning, the village was already awake long before the sun climbed fully over the trees, and the whole place carried that rough primitive life that never really slept deeply.
Smoke curled up from a few early fires, the air smelled of warm stone, damp earth, drying hides, and roasted meat from somebody's breakfast, and everywhere Lin Huahua looked, there were beast people already moving about.
Some males were skinning prey near the flatter stones, some females were sorting fruits into baskets, and some cubs were already running around with dirty little feet and loud little voices while their mothers pretended to be angry and their fathers hovered nearby with the kind of careful eyes that said they would bite anything that came too close.
Lin Huahua was outside with her three old friends, and for the first time since arriving in this world, the strange walk through the village did not feel lonely at all.
