“Up! Up,up,up!” Blaine shouted as he nipped at Beatrix’s back. 

“What! What is it?” Beatrix asked in panic. There was a very serious tone in Blaine's voice that scared him. 

“There’s someone outside, an owlbear,” Blaine responded quickly. He bit down hard on Bartholomew’s ear and he sprang right up. 

“What the turds man!” Bartholomew woke up with a startle. There was no time to explain, Blaine gathered the both of them and rushed them deeper into the cave. He made them start running down the deep dark halls by snapping at their tails as they walked. It turned into a sprint. Beatrix was panting, he just ran, and kept running, until…

ROAR!

GRRR!

They stopped dead in their tracks, they reached the light at the other side, but there was a large silhouette blocking their way. It began to step down into the tunnel, it had the stature of a bear, but was covered in white owl feathers, it had the largest, sharpest talons any of them had ever seen. Then it stepped into a beam of light, and its strange face appeared. 

“oh…my…PFFT!” Bartholomew couldn’t hold back his laughter. Blaine growled at him and gripped the back of his neck with his own sharp talons. 

Suddenly there was a quick large rumble in the ground and everyone looked back to the owlbear, it was sitting down on its rear in ‘criss cross apple sauce’ with its hands calmly in its lap. 

“Hoo, are you?” The owlbear asked with an elegant hoot. 

“We are just travelers, sorry for intruding,” Blaine spoke fast, “We’ll be out of your way right now,” 

“Noncense! It’s terribly cold out there with the blizzard. Stay, travelers, I have gifts for you already prepared!” She said joyfully. Blaine and Bartholomew glanced at each other, but Beatrix was already tailing behind the giant mammoth of an owlbear, so they followed. 

In a new part of the tunnels, an open area much like a living room, they stopped to talk. There were herbs everywhere, and berry bushes, and a small pile of meat. 

“I was excited when I got home last night and saw you utilized the firepit I made,” She said. She was stomping around the room gathering many different herbs, and then she disappeared behind a veil of dead vines. “It’s been a long time since anyone stayed over!” She shouted from the room. 

Bartholomew raised an eyebrow and looked suspiciously at Blaine. He tried to give Beatrix the same cautious look, but it flew right over his head. 

“It was amazing that we found your den, it was crazy last night!” Beatrix called back. 

She walked out of the room standing on her hind legs and carrying small three leather bags in her arms. 

“PFFT!” Bartholomew began to giggle again when he looked back to see her face. 

“Bartholomew! Quit it!” Blaine snapped. 

Beatrix silently agreed that she did have a rather unique face. Large like a bear, but her gigantic eyes, big balls of the void, made up most of her face. She had large, thick light brown eye brows and an extremely sharp black beak. Her expression was one of wisdom, even though her eyes constantly looked like a puppy asking to play. 

“All is fine, no worries. I deal with babies all the time!” She said cheerily. 

“Hey! I’m-” Bartholomew tried to defend himself but Blaine quickly put an end to it. 

“I guess we should exchange names, I am Waawaate the owlbear,” She said with a smile, then looked at Beatrix. 

“My name's Beatrix, I’m a Kasai kitsune,” he said with a smile. 

“Blaine, I’m a Catoblepas,”

“Bartholomew, same as that guy,” He said with a point of his nose. 

Waawaate smiled, “You are exactly who I was expecting,”

“You expected us?” Beatrix asked. 

"Of course she did!” Bartholomew laughed, “You’re like- the chosen one, everyone is expecting you!”

Blaine glared at him, “Anyways, the Tengokus told you we were coming?” 

“Of course! You’re traveling up this mountain, you’re going to need some help,” She sat over at a pile of herbs and berries and started plucking away at them. 

“What are those berries for?” Beatrix asked. She was picking bunches of orange berries. They were so bright they practically glowed. 

“These are Warmbie’s,” she explained, “They react with the fluid in your stomach and make you warm, they are perfect for long cold adventures,”

“What about those plants beside you?” Beatrix looked at a weird braid of long grass-like blades. 

“Come closer everyone, and I will teach you how to use these gifts of the ground,”

So they all got up, Blaine and Bartholomew were particularly slow, but Beatrix was at her side in a flash of a second. His tail wagged as he smelled all the herbs and berries around him. There was one thing that stood out to him. It looked like dried bear dung, it had dried berries, and some sort of meat, it smelled like moose.

“What is this?” He asked. 

“This,” She took a scoop and held her paw out to him, “Is Pemmican, it is great food for travelers. Try some,”

Beatrix lapped at her paw, it tasted a bit sweet, he could taste zesty berries, and once it started to soften in his mouth, he could taste the moose tallow. “This is spectacular,” He said, he was too shocked about the flavor to express himself. 

“I’m glad you like it! Have some more, you must be hungry,” She suggested. 

Beatrix went to scoop some out with his paw, but Blaine chimed in, “We like to eat fresh food, sorry,”

“Oh that’s okay, I just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t starve to death out in the cold. You know everything is hibernating now, you likely won't have any fresh food for a long time,”

Blaine just stared at her with his usual serious gaze. 

“I’ll make some for each of you anyways!” She said cheerfully. She had three piles in front of her, each had these things; warbies, pemmican, chokecherries, and a small version of the braided grass. 

“This is teatherweed,” she said holding up the braid, “If you eat some of this every day for three days your coat with thicken and you will be able to withstand the weather,”

“What’s it taste like?” Beatrix asked.

“Have some,” She passed some to him and he took a bite of the teatherweed. It wasn’t very flavourful or sweet, but he swallowed it. He felt like a cow eating grass. 

“Well, there's a blizzard outside, so you can make yourself at home here until tomorrow,”  She smiled. 

“Thank you, we appreciate it,” Blaine said.  

The rest of the day went on slowly. They learned about new herbs and plants. Beatrix continued to bond with Waawaate. Night came and they all huddled together to sleep.