Chapter 258: Harvest comes with...
The tribe had made immense preparations for the harvest at hand.
They had gathered the necessary equipment for the day. And on that morning, they got ready to leave for the farmland.
With the advent of more beastmen into the tribe, Sunnie and the rest had worked not only for expansion of homes but had also significantly expanded the land.
The farmland that was already big had pretty much doubled. The beastmen that had joined them had helped them work on the farm, which took longer than usual. There was a lot to do.
And now they needed to work as hard for the harvest to gather the best.
---
While Sunnie and Maren got ready to head to the farm, Lune and Luna rushed to meet them.
"Mama, I want to go for harvest too," Luna requested. The little girl was already growing so well—pretty much the same height and build as her twin brother.
Sunnie smiled at them, brushing a hand against her hair. "You should stay back with the other cubs and play. It’s more fun than going to the farm."
"No. We’re old enough. We also want to go and work at the farm," Lune said, pouting slightly.
Maren sighed, folding her arms as she stared at her little ones. "I remember the last time you all went to the farm. Luna literally ate up all the raw crops we were supposed to plant."
Maren stared at Lune, who was staring at her with his big innocent eyes. "And Lune went missing like three times."
"....."
Sunnie smiled as the twins stood there, staring at their elder sister with big cute eyes.
"So we can’t risk it and bring the two of you with us. You two will cause more trouble for us," Maren shook her head firmly.
Luna pouted. "But I’m older now. We’ve grown. So we won’t cause any trouble again. We want to help," she explained.
Lune nodded profusely as well. "Yes! We want to help," he insisted.
Sunnie smiled as she stared at Maren, who was being strict with the little ones.
"No. Go and play. It’s safer for you than the farm. You will get in danger or ruin crops again," she insisted.
Lune pouted sadly as Luna turned and stared at Ronan, who was running around with a kite he had made from leaves.
"But brother Ronan is coming along too! And he’s also ruining crops," Luna complained.
Ronan stopped and turned at them. "Who is talking about me now?"
Maren folded her arms, shaking her head. "Have you already gotten ready to leave for farming?"
Ronan blinked. "We’re going to farm today?"
"...."
Maren ran a hand through her forehead, speechless and frustrated. "Ah! Mama, can you just spank him or something!"
Ronan stuck out his tongue to Maren and ran off again with his kite to meet the beast husbands, who were also getting ready to head to the farm.
Maren stared at Ronan. "Mama, he is testing all my patience!"
Sunnie smiled as she shook her head. "Don’t worry, I’ll spank him soon."
"You always say that."
Sunnie smiled as she turned to the twins, who were still standing there and waiting for their final judgment. "Okay, if you want to go to the farm, quickly go and get ready. And make sure you’re going there to learn, unless you won’t come with us anymore."
"Yes! Mama!" The twins happily cheered as they took off to get ready.
Speechless, Maren stared at Sunnie. "Mama, why did you let them come? Don’t you remember what happened the last time?" She folded her arms with a slight pout.
Sunnie smiled. "Of course I remember. But if we don’t bring them, how will they learn to be as helpful as you are? Eh?"
Sunnie smiled as she ran a hand through her daughter’s gleaming blue hair. "You’re so grown up now. I remember when you were still so tiny. Do you know the amount of damage you brought to our first farming and harvest?" She smiled. "Or should I remind you again?"
Maren folded her arms. "You’ve reminded me a hundred times now." She sighed. "Don’t tell me again." She sighed. "I guess we can let them come along. That way they can grow too... maybe."
Sunnie smiled. "That’s it. So let’s get going."
---
Preparations were made, and they had set off. They had moved and worked in batches.
Some were already harvesting on the large farmland while some were gathering what had been harvested and moving it out. And the men were carrying it all back to the tribe for those at home to work on keeping it properly.
The harvest wasn’t going to take a day or two, or even a week. They were taking their time to get the best of it.
Eris was working on harvesting some of the crops, and the twins were basically following him around.
"Papa, what’s this?"
"Can I touch this?"
"What about this?"
"Is this edible?"
"Can we pluck this out?"
They basically weren’t going to let Eris work at all. So Eris took the twins. "Come, let’s go and see Papa Eagle."
"Eh?" The twins blinked at him as he took them to stay with Karl, who was also plucking out some plants with Zayn closely behind him.
"Stay with Papa Karl, okay?" He smiled as he winked at Karl. "Look after them for a while, okay? I’ll be back." He left them and left to continue his work.
"Hey you... how can you..." Karl blinked as he looked down to meet the twins’ big curious eyes on him. "...Leave your cubs with me..."
Karl wasn’t so good with cubs. So he awkwardly bent there, staring right into their faces, blinking and wondering what he was supposed to do now.
"Hello..." Karl blinked.
Zayn stared at him from behind and casually smiled, shaking his head.
"Papa," Luna turned to the plant in his hand. "What’s this...?"
"Eh... this is... a vegetable..." Karl cleared his throat as he awkwardly replied.
"Oh..." The twins blinked, nodding as though they were taking serious notes.
"What’s this?" Lune pointed to another.
"Ah... that is..." He ran a hand through his hair while staring at the plant he didn’t know much about. "It’s a plant...?"
"...." They blinked at him.
"Oh!!" The twins nodded again profusely while looking around.
"What’s this for, Papa?" Luna asked.
"And this?!" Lune asked almost immediately.
"...." Karl blinked, staring at the two, wondering what he was supposed to answer and which he’d answer first. He didn’t even know what they were for.
"Ah... this..." He pointed at one. "And this..." He pointed at another. "...Are for eating... when we’re very, very hungry... Eh... when you’re very hungry... you can eat it..."
"....."
The twins were quiet, staring at him while tilting their heads.
Zayn smiled again as he shook his head. Karl cast him a cold glare, demanding he shut up.
"And what’s this for? Can I eat it?" Lune asked as she picked up a crop from the ground.
"No... you can’t," Karl shook his head awkwardly. At least he knew that one.
"Eh? Why?" Luna asked.
"Eh... because... it’s bad...?"
"Oh!" The twins nodded immediately again as they looked around, curiously looking for something to do.
Karl didn’t know how to tell them to calm down and just watch without doing anything. He simply watched while looking for more explanations to cook up.
"Can I pluck this out...?" Luna asked.
"Eh, yes..." Karl slowly nodded.
"Ah! I cut it! What do I do now?" Luna asked.
"Eh... keep it at the side..."
"Why is this plant not as green as the others?" Lune asked, staring down.
"Well... it’s sick..." Karl explained.
"Oh!" The twins nodded again.
"Can I get it the ointment Mama gives to us when we’re sick? Will it get better?" Lune asked almost immediately.
"Ah, no..."
"Why?" The twins seemed to have endless questions for Karl, who didn’t even know how to answer them.
Sunnie and Maren were working at a distance with Azure and Luka. They simply stared at awkward Karl trying to keep the twins company, and they couldn’t help but smile.
"He’s so awkward with them," Maren smiled. "Why is Papa Eris always leaving the twins with him when he needs some peace?"
Sunnie shook her head with a smile. "I guess he wants him to get used to cubs."
They all smiled as they watched the awkward scene for a while.
Just then, Sunnie looked around. She was looking for Little Black, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Hmm, Little Black has been gone for a while now. Didn’t he say he was going to check if the experimental plants we placed at that distance had grown?" Sunnie asked.
Maren nodded. "Yes... he did say so. And he should have been back by now. But he’s nowhere to be seen. What’s taking him so long, though...?"
Sunnie shrugged. "I wouldn’t know... Maybe he’s busy checking them properly?"
Maren sighed. "Or do you think he’s in some trouble?"
Sunnie had thought about that too. But she didn’t want that to be the case. She brushed the thought off with a smile as she said, "Let’s wait for him for some time. He should be back soon."
Maren nodded as they continued their work, indirectly waiting for Little Black.