“Ahng?!” Meng Jiuzhao babbled, notifying the adults that he was awake.
“We’re going home soon.” Black lifted the blanket to look at the little one whose big eyes blinked as he stared at him. Probably because they both had humanoid bodies, Black felt that it was easier to judge the expressions of the baby as compared to the other cub.
After saying these words, Black gently pushed the disobedient baby back into the sack hanging against his chest. The other cub was currently in deep sleep, and the heat emanating from its body could probably keep its brother warm.
Meng Jiuzhao, who was pressed down, was rather unwilling, and took the chance while Black was not paying attention to stick his head out of the sack. He noticed the winged people lining up in rows, which he thought to be some form of migration. If he thought of this the same way he did a bird flock’s migration: these people did not live here, but were only here to lay eggs, and now was the time for them to head back. However, he felt that this situation was out of the norm for no other reason than the fact that the cubs were still too young.
Usually, migratory creatures would wait until their young were more adapted for the journey before returning to their homes, but the cubs before him were not in the condition to traverse long distances, not to mention himself.
To most of the cubs, their lives did not undergo drastic changes. They were still well cared for and did not lack food, and all they did everyday was still to eat and sleep. However, to Meng Jiuzhao, the feeling of travelling was not good, and the milk from his new nanny also tasted bad and was lacking in quantity. His appetite was currently growing, yet the amount of milk was decreasing. In no time, his initially chubby face got smaller. On the other hand, the other cub in his family that hatched later than him could already get on the ground!
Although Dai Mao was born later than the other cubs in his generation, he was born with a larger body and also grew faster. Around the second week of their journey, he started calling out from the sack, continuously pulling and tugging on its strap. He kicked the starving Meng Jiuzhao multiple times, but the baby couldn’t be bothered to resist. Finally, Black carried it out. Dai Mao shook off the adult’s hand, landing on the ground and started running around.
Initially, he was stumbling and falling, but he slowly got more stable. His wings also grew well, and unlike the fleshy wings of other cubs, only serving a decorative purpose, his could not only help maintain balance, but could also flap and let him fly a few steps. This was an unexpected surprise to Black and White!
The earlier a cub managed to walk, the stronger they would be, and the chances of their survival would also be greatly increased!
For the first few days, Dai Mao could only walk for a few hours at a time, but slowly, that duration increased. Looking at his figure that was slightly crooked yet with a decent walking posture, the adults felt a sense of novelty! They had never seen a cub that could keep up with the pace of the adults so quickly. They weren’t walking very quickly due to the cubs with them, but it was still a surprise that he could keep up for so long!
Compared to the weak as chicken Meng Jiuzhao, Dai Mao was as strong as a wild boar! He started imitating his fathers, smelling for any changes in the atmospheric air, leaving paw prints on tree trunks (of course, Dai Mao isn’t able to do that, so he only stomps with his little paws just for show). He would also occasionally peck on grass seeds and whatnot. The beaks of this race were totally different from those of bird species. Theirs were closer to dinosaurs, and what grew in their mouths were sharp teeth. Dai Mao’s teeth had grown rather well, and once, when he jumped into the sack, that large beak shot towards Meng Jiuzhao’s face.
Oh no! Was this the animal kingdom’s show of rejection towards him? To kill a cub from the same nest so that he could get more food to himself? Meng Jiuzhao shut his eyes, already prepared for a “Game Over” [1]english in raws. However, what came into contact with himself was not the sharp teeth of Dai Mao, but instead some kind of sweet and salty juice. Opening his eyes, Meng Jiuzhao noticed that Dai Mao held a fruit in his mouth. The skin of the fruit was already pierced by his sharp teeth, and juice fell “drip drop drip drop” onto Meng Jiuzhao’s face, with a small portion dripping into his mouth.
Meng Jiuzhao smacked his lips: Don’t say, although it tasted like a combination of salt and sugar, it was really good for replenishing physical strength!
And so, Meng Jiuzhao used his claws [2]figurative claws since he’s human that recently shrunk to hug Dai Mao’s big head, desperately slurping the juices of the fruit in Dai Mao’s mouth.
This was Meng Jiuzhao’s first full meal in days.
After he finished eating, Dai Mao nuzzled him, not the least disdaining of the stickiness of his body. Meng Jiuzhao was stunned for a while, before hugging Dai Mao. This was his first time in such close contact with Dai Mao.
In his heart, he did not consider himself to be part of a group with these winged people. He was a cuckoo [3]from the phrase dove occupying the magpie’s nest: not real child. But the dove in the idiom is referring to a cuckoo according to some google search. He was eating food that was supposed to be Dai Mao’s alone, enjoying the care of his parents, yet he treated Dai Mao as livestock, never once having the idea of interacting with him.
Yet Dai Mao noticed he had not been having food for the past few days, especially going to look for food for him.
Meng Jiuzhao thought, when Dai Mao wanted to get out of the sack and walk on his own, it seemed to be when he was starting to get less food. Dai Mao was truly caring for him in his own way.
From now on, I’ll consider you to be my family, Meng Jiuzhao silently thought. He patted Dai Mao’s big head, which was reciprocated by enthusiastic nuzzles.
Translator has something to say:
Their first kiss and hug (*≧艸≦)ﾌﾟﾌﾟｯ
I’m learning to translate as I go, my translations vary between loose and close to the original raws, but I’ll try my best to convey the meaning of the story ( ＾ω＾ )
I got a weird feeling that DM is the thing that stuffed MJ into the preservation pod in their past life, and the reasoning is that despite being enemies in war DM had fallen in love with MJ and wanted to save him, even at the cost of his own life. So now that they are reborn infants, DM is taking advantage of MJ’s helplessness to sell meng.
You’re half right! But Dai Mao really doesn’t have memories of his past life (maybe he’s selling meng unconsciously?). And about their relationship in the past life, you can imagine all you want about it because this story doesn’t talk much about how their love started in the past, just their story now!