I Was The Only Omega In The Beast World-Chapter 103: CP: Journey To The Eagle Tribe

The Eagle Mountains:

Departure Day:

Saying goodbye to Tidehome took most of the morning.

The mer-younglings who had spent three months watching the snakelings in fascinated delight showed up en masse at the settlement’s edge, pressing forward for last looks. Siddy, naturally, performed for the audience—rearing up and spreading his iridescent scales in a display that sent the younger mer-children into delighted chaos.

"He’s going to be insufferable once he realizes how much attention that gets him," Alex muttered.

"He already knows," Zale said, watching his nephew-equivalents scramble over each other to get closer. "He’s been practicing."

Mira appeared with a traveling pack that clinked with small bottles and dried sea herbs.

"Medicine kit," she said, pressing it into Alex’s hands. "Scale oil for dry conditions—the mountains will be rough on the babies. Numbing paste for teething, because they’re all going to start soon and you will not survive without it. And—" She added a heavy sealed container. "—dried fish pressed flat. Lasts three weeks without preservation. Enough for six growing snakelings for two months if rationed."

"Mira," Alex said. "You didn’t have to—"

"Somebody had to think practically," she said briskly, and hugged him before he could respond.

It was brief, fierce, over before Alex could fully register it.

"Come back," she said against his shoulder. "All eleven of you. Come back and let me see these terrors when they’re grown."

"We will," Alex promised.

Reef stood at the settlement’s formal boundary—the carved coral archway that marked the edge of Tidehome’s protected waters. He was in full ceremonial scales, his bearing formal, but his eyes were warm.

"Safe waters," he said, the traditional mer farewell. "May currents carry you where you need to go."

He looked at Zale—something long and complicated passing between brothers in a glance.

"Don’t forget to send regards," Reef said finally.

"Mer-people don’t send regards," Zale replied, deadpan.

"Then don’t forget to come back."

Zale’s scales rippled—not quite a blush, but close. "I won’t."

*****

The first three days of travel were the logistical nightmare Alex had anticipated and the chaos he hadn’t.

Six three-month-old snakelings, it turned out, had very specific opinions about travel arrangements.

Jade refused to ride in the carrying pack unless he was on top, positioned where he could see everything. Any attempt to tuck him inside resulted in immediate, vocal protest.

Ripple would only travel pressed against Alex’s side—not in a pack, not with a mate, specifically against Alex, which made walking somewhat complicated.

Siddy treated every stop as an opportunity to escape and explore, requiring someone to maintain constant visual contact. Leo had tied a very soft, very loose tether to him after the third escape attempt, which Siddy accepted with remarkable dignity considering he nibbled through it with his baby fangs within an hour.

Sterling tried to climb everything. Trees, rock faces, Alex’s back, Naga’s head. Everything.

Onyx mostly slept, which would have been a relief except that Onyx had developed the habit of sleeping while eating, which created a specific type of mess that defied explanation.

And River stayed wrapped around Alex’s wrist like a living bracelet—calm, quiet, occasionally flicking his tongue at passing insects with mild curiosity.

"This is fine," Leo announced on the third morning, after they’d spent forty-five minutes convincing Siddy that the hollow log he’d found was not, in fact, a permanent residence.

"This is not fine," Alex said. "This is controlled chaos with occasional uncontrolled chaos as punctuation."

"That’s what I said," Leo replied. "Fine."

Granite chuckled. His brown fur blown softly by the mountain wind.

The massive bear took a glance at the traveling party—Alex with Ripple draped across his shoulders, Jade perched on his pack like a figurehead, Sterling scaling Naga’s back, Siddy straining at a new (stronger) tether, Onyx asleep in a sling against Leo’s chest, and River coiled serenely around Alex’s wrist—

And sat down.

"It must be hard with your cubs, right? " He asked as if he didn’t already knew the answer.

"Mira said they’re old enough to travel so,"

"I know, I know." Granite shook his head slowly. "It’s just... I was just teasing you."

"You’ve already seen how much trouble these little chaos bringers cause," Zale said, appearing from the river where he’d been wetting his scales.

While traveling he often takes his land dwelling form— the form with legs but when they stop to rest near water source— he takes his usual form.

Siddy chose that moment to lunge at Granite—not aggressively, but with the specific enthusiasm of a young creature who was curious about everything new and interesting.

Granite caught him reflexively, held the wriggling iridescent snakeling up to eye level, and stared.

Siddy stared back.

Then, apparently seeing his big bulky boulder, coiled around the bear’s massive forearm with the air of someone claiming territory.

"...He’s like Naga," Granite chuckled slowly. "In miniature."

"Don’t say that where either of them can hear you,"

Alex said. "Naga preens and Siddy gets ideas."

Into the High Mountains:

The Harpy Eagle territory began at the treeline—which was also, helpfully, where the comfortable ended.

The air grew thin and cold. The paths narrowed into ledges. The wind had opinions.

[TERRITORY ALERT: Harpy Eagle Domain

Difficulty: ★★★★

Primary species: Harpy Eagles (Windborn Tribe)

Notable feature: Aerial territory—ground dwellers rarely welcomed

Key challenge: Gaining audience with Elder Talon

Current standing: UNKNOWN—no prior contact]

"So," Alex said, looking up at the mountain peaks, "what do we know about Harpy Eagles?"

"Stubborn," Naga said. "Extremely territorial. They consider most ground-dwelling species inferior by default."

"Wonderful," Alex said. " Just another monday of my life. "

" Eagle tribe is usually ruled by a powerful female," Granite added. ""Unlike males who they consider impulsive and aggressive. The current matriarch is Chief Vega—she’s held power for seventy years and has a reputation for being... difficult."

"Difficult how?" Alex asked.

"She once made a bear delegation wait on a mountain ledge for three days before granting audience," Granite said. "Two of them fell off from exhaustion. She considers it a test of worthiness."

[Oh that’s LOVELY. Definitely won’t be a problem with six babies who can’t fly and need constant supervision.]

"We can’t wait on a ledge for three days," Leo said flatly. "Not with the snakelings."

"Then we need to make an impression that gets us audience immediately," Naga said.

"Any suggestions?" Alex asked.

Silence.

Siddy chose that moment to catch a passing butterfly with surprising accuracy, displaying the kind of precision that would be impressive if it wasn’t immediately followed by him trying to eat it.

"Please don’t eat the wildlife," Alex said, gently extracting the butterfly and releasing it. "We’re trying to make a GOOD impression."

The path continued upward—narrow, steep, carved into cliff faces with drops that made Alex’s stomach clench every time he looked down.

The babies, having no concept of danger, found it all fascinating.

Sterling tried to peer over the edge at every opportunity, requiring Leo to develop a preemptive grabbing reflex.

Jade kept scanning the skies with his brilliant green eyes, tracking every bird that passed overhead.

Siddy attempted to launch himself off a ledge toward a distant tree, apparently convinced he could fly if he believed hard enough. Naga caught him by the tail mid-leap.

"No," Naga said firmly. "You are a snake. Snakes do not fly."

Siddy hissed indignantly, as if this was a personal failing of snake-kind that he intended to rectify.

Only River remained calm, occasionally tightening his coils around Alex’s wrist when the path got particularly treacherous, as if trying to reassure his mother.

"This one continues to be my favorite," Alex announced.

"You say that every day," Zale pointed out, using his mer-strength to help haul Alex up a particularly steep section.

"Because it continues to be true every day,"

They made camp that first night on a narrow plateau—barely enough room for all of them, but at least it was flat and had a small stream trickling down from higher elevations.

Zale immediately submerged himself in the stream with a sigh of relief, his scales having grown dull and itchy from the dry mountain air.

"I’ll need to reach actual ocean water within two weeks," he said. "The fresh water helps, but it’s not enough long-term."

"We’ll make it work," Alex promised. "Worst case, we make a detour to the coast before heading to Dragon territory."

The babies were fed (an increasingly complicated process as they got bigger and hungrier), cleaned (Onyx had somehow gotten tree sap on his scales), and settled for sleep.

Jade coiled around Naga’s arm.

Ripple pressed against Alex’s side.

Sterling draped across Leo’s shoulders.

Onyx curled in the warmest spot near the fire.

Siddy was placed in a secure basket after attempting to explore the cliff edge three times.

River wrapped around Alex’s wrist, already asleep.

"Tomorrow we reach Eagle territory proper," Granite said, studying the peaks above. "Their scouts have definitely spotted us by now. We’ll likely have a welcoming committee."

"Welcoming in the ’we’re about to throw you off a cliff’ sense?" Leo asked.

"Who knows," Granite replied.

[QUEST ACTIVE: "Audience with the Eagles"

Objective: Gain access to Elder Talon

Challenge: Convince aerial predators to take ground-dwellers seriously

Complication: Six baby snakes, no flight capability, questionable diplomatic skills

Success probability: 42%]

[Those aren’t great odds, Host.]

"When have they ever," Alex muttered, settling carefully against Naga’s coils with Ripple and River both attached to him.