BXBX NOVEL Chapter 662 - 662 The Bear Truth
"That's fine I think," said Kat looking at the others for confirmation. When nobody seemed to object she continued, "Well, seeing as nobody else has a problem I'd love to hear it."
Nell, nodded. "So, first things first, I'm the eldest sibling if that wasn't clear, and while we are siblings, in truth we only share a father. You see, the beastkin are made up of tribes mostly based around the same or similar beastkin. So wolf and dog beastkin tend to get along, the various feline beastkin, a few independent tribes like the bear tribe and the elephant tribe. We don't really war anymore but we do have quite a few… mostly friendly competitions like a smaller scale version of this tournament.
"We cover everything. Food, fighting, crafts. Not really magic but sometimes it happens. Anyway, the tribes… the tensions aren't high anymore and haven't been for longer than my father has been alive… but a lot of the elder generation does remember. We only really teamed up to fight the other races as dumb as that might sound and after that all ended… we just… sorta went back to fighting like idiots because it's just what we did. Now, our battles were never quite as brutal as some of the other races. We didn't exactly cry if people died in those small clan wars, but we weren't explicitly going for kills and the beastkin as a whole are quite tough so normally we'd survive, scarred at best or crippled at worst.
"Tribes were also a lot less 'single animal' tribes back then as well. It was all about bringing in as many strong warriors as they could… but we also were a bit racist, thinking our own tribe, mostly made up of one or two beastkin types, were the best. So it was varied, but not as varied as it could have been.
"Now, with that ancient history out of the way, you should understand that we come from a wolf tribe. My father was the third in line for the chief position. It's sort of hereditary sort of elected. We have the chief, and the elders. The elders are simply every clan member past a certain age. It differs between clans, but for us it's 150 years. Now, with that being said, the elders advise the chiefs, and the chiefs have the final say, except for who the current chief is.
"A vote from ninety percent of elders can force a chief out of office never to return to it. Oh, also you cannot be both an elder and the chief. Once a chief reaches 150, if they haven't already retired, will be forced to do so and become and elder. The chief picks their replacement first before elder input, and traditionally that is the first born of the tribe. Some tribes accept only women as their heads, some accept only men. We do accept both… but we are the wolf tribe. So you might be able to see where the issue comes in.
"Now, my father was the third child of the clan. He wasn't mistreated or anything, but it was a very widely held belief that he wasn't going to ever become chief. It was quite reasonable as well. My grandfather is a strong man, and the 150-year age limit is what forced his hand. Then there was my aunt and uncle. So, Dad didn't really have a chance… normally.
"My aunt decided to marry into another clan to solidify our ties somewhat. It wasn't a complete joining… more like an very strong alliance. It was all her choice as well, she married for love. I could tell you the details but this story is long enough as it is. Let's just say she married another chief and entered that clan fully, leaving just my uncle.
"Problem is… Uncle was a little crazy. He was always testing strange ideas. One of the few great alchemist our tribe has ever seen. So while he's off finding new herbs and testing different concoctions, Dad is falling in love. He meets my mother at the fighter's tournament and they hit things off. Things are a little shaky because now he's the second in line, but Uncle was healthy enough and they were a good match.
"Five years after being married though… and Uncle managed to poison himself. It was a freak accident, nothing could have been done. One of the potions he was making exploded and the poison got into his bloodstream. He was dead before he was found an hour later. Suddenly, my father is first in line for the chief position, and Grandfather is going to be forced to retire in a few years.
"There is some grumbling about the heir to the clan being married to a bear, but that's not a big issue really. Not ideal certainly, but people didn't really have grounds to stand on. I'll speed up a bit now. A couple decades pass, my parents still very much interested in fighting instead of having kids, eventually are forced to settle down now that Grandfather is coming up on 150.
"He trains Dad to replace him, Dad trains Mum to lead the warriors, something he'd been doing for the most part up till now, and once again, things go alright. Power is transferred, the elders grumble but don't even vote on anything, and everyone is happy… until Mum gets pregnant."
Nell sucked in a deep breath. Her two siblings shuffled there chairs over and give her a hug. "I'm fine. It's… I'm used to it. I don't even remember after all… Mummy Belna raised me just like you both, and it's fine."
"We know it's not fine," said Nabras and Bonas together.
Nell pursed her lips but continued with the history lesson. "Now…" Nell said with a slightly shaky voice, "nothing was wrong with that. I'm not sure if you know, but beastkin can have children with other beastkin. We don't mix it'll be one or the other. The other thing is that our tribe has always been led by a wolf. We've been conquered and broke a way a few times, but only by other wolf tribes that have since fallen. We are now THE wolf tribe.
"So of course, the fact I was born a bear was a massive shock to a lot of people. Now, it really shouldn't have been. The mistaken belief that the 'stronger' bloodline will be the one the child inherits is a joke and hasn't really been believed in over a century… but the elders are old enough to remember those times so they freaked out. Said I can't be in line for succession because I'm a bear and started to pressure dad to pick up a second wolf beastkin wife. Which… is really silly because if Mum and Dad had more kids eventually one would be a wolf…
"In the end it didn't matter though. The clan was attacked by a terribly strong monster. It was a giant beast of unbreakable spines, sharp teeth… and honestly rather tiny claws. It just sort of… walked up to town and we couldn't stop it, or so I've been told. Once it started fighting it was much faster than its appearance would have had you believe. In the end, my parents were both fighting against it, and Mum pushed Dad out of the way of a fatal blow. Dad was still crippled, he lost an eye and an arm, though the arm was later regrown… and Mum died…"
Nell shivered but couldn't quite managed to continue the story. She clearly wanted to but Bonas picked things up in her stead. "Once that happened the elders acted. They weren't terribly happy their chief had a bear for a wife, and they gave him a choice. Marry a wolf, or be forced to retire. Dad was actually quite willing to retire… but the replacement they had lined up for him was… not a good man. He was… 'killed mysteriously' later on at least… but in the end Dad did remarry."
Nabras took over once his sister stopped speaking, "Mummy was a saint. She was actually the healer that gave Dad his arm back and they got together as a bit of a compromise for both of them. He was complaining about being forced to marry, and Mummy was being pressured by her parents to find someone… which… she was quite old at the time. In fact, she's only five years younger than Dad, and pretty much everyone from their generation had long since married. So they were both feeling the pressure and decided to get together.
"Dad likes to say they already loved each other when they married, but Mummy says they were just friends and the love came later for them both. Which is true… well… the weird thing is that while they will each spout of their own version of events when they're alone… if they're together they'll just smile knowing at each other and say 'yes'"