[Oh, I have ideas. >8D But sure! Few more day then a skip works for me!]
The days passed by in relative peace and laziness. There was a rhythm to life in the village, and everyone took their turn at the mundane tasks that needed to be completed to keep life functional. Different hunters hunted on different days, to ensure their hunters were well rested and in peak shape. Babysitting duties rotated, to ensure mothers and caretakers got a break from such a demanding, and stressful, job. And while clothes were mended, meals were prepared, the sick and injured and old were treated, and tools were crafted, preparations for the upcoming festivities were also in full swing.
Raxta, for her part, dragged Herrick around with her and thrust him into the daily grind, showing him the proper ways to do whatever task needed to be done. The best way to get the others used to him was by exposure, by proving that he could cooperate as one of them, and that he wasn't some scary, dangerous creature. Many of the other jaguars were wary of him initially; their priestess had accepted him, but the wounds of the past didn't heal that quickly, and many of them were descendants of the very jaguars that had survived the horrors--and some who had not. It wasn't necessarily about distrusting Herrick, but about distrusting humans. Other jaguars were largely indifferent. A few were openly curious--mostly those around Raxta's generation. Prejudice was more deeply ingrained in the older folks who chided the younger ones for thinking with their crotches more than they thought with their brains.
Whatever their stance, over the next days, some opinions softened. Not all, but a number. Neyeli, a friend of Raxta's several years her senior, was cold to Herrick at first; her direct ancestors had been betrayed by those visitors generations ago. But with time, she came around--even claimed he could have his turn with her if he liked, as a gesture of good will between them. Palla was another; she had born her first child a few years before and was finally ready to rejoin the festivities. Ever adventurous and curious, she too claimed she wouldn't mind trying out a human, to see if it was any different from mating her own kind. Besides, it was the taboo of it all that thrilled her.
None of that bothered Raxta. Jealousy was uncommon among her people and besides, it was kind of entertaining showing Herrick off like a novelty. It had, for the moment, made her relatively popular.
Still others had begun to eye Herrick as the festival drew closer, and the atmosphere shifted with it, a sort of tension building in the air as the anticipation grew. He was the first male on the scene, after all--and that made him more and more appealing as hormones began to spike.
And it would only grow.
Raxta woke that morning from where she was curled up next to Herrick to the sounds of excited voices beyond her hut. With a yawn, she sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and rotated her ears to listen. She perked in surprise at what she heard, and quickly shook Herrick.
"Herrick! They're here!" she whispered, fangs bared in a grin. "Our other tribe! They've arrived!"
