After so much walking around the cheetah clan, Mira finally arrived at the right spot.

It was a river, alright. One of the ones connected to the main source, the one that flows in every clan and constantly cleans itself.

Mira took a pause and rested both her hands on her knees as she panted. Running around and trying to find the right one was not easy.

Some people directed but she either got confused with the directions or they led her to a wrong location. It was hard to find the right spot when she had no name for it and Mira was beginning to curse that shop owner. The least he could do for a customer was be nice.

Yes, the old owner of this body had a terrible reputation, but she just bought something from him! That should have been enough to cancel the old Mira’s past deeds. Mira was still panting. She was completely out of breath.

She raised her body up then got her composure before making her way to the river.

The sounds of voices filled the environment. It had to be the right river.

Mira walked forward and made her presence known. There were two beast women and one beast man by the river. They acted as coaches who taught the cubs how to swim and ensured they were safe while at it.

For some reason, Mira always thought animals were born with the ability to swim naturally and did not need to be taught yet here she was watching that happen.

[ You do know that to be able to swim, people had to swim, right? ] System chimed. That was rhetorical and Mira knew it.

"Maybe." She responded out loud.

[My days!] System chimed.

[ Host is wiser than I anticipated! ]

Mira smelt the sarcasm from a mile away and made a face. Now was not the time for a banter with system.

"Look! It’s the evil woman who makes good meat!" Shot across the air to Mira’s ears. How Mira easily lost focus sometimes was something she needed to work on. One moment her head was on her plan and the next, it diverted into something entirely different.

And she was doing it again. Mira blinked. She undid the knot of the sheet strapped over her torso and brought the sheet carefully in front of her from her back.

"Hello little ones, I came to support your lessons with some food." Mira stated.

The brightening of the eyes of the cubs before her made her heart do a backflip with joy. Winning these cubs would be way too easy, Mira thought.

"It is not advisable to eat and train. They could have an upset stomach and puke. We do not want any cubs turning up sick after eating the meat." One of the beast women said. Mira could have sworn she had seen this woman before at the feast and beyond but she could not remember her name.

Mira smiled in response to the woman’s words. "I will sit here and wait for the swim practice to be over." She worded to the beast lady. The lady did not seem pleased one bit.

"Your presence here would be a distraction. We do not want any casualties caused by distractions." The woman said to Mira.

It was at this moment Mira understood what was going on. This beast woman did not like her and wanted her away from here. This made Mira’s eyes furrow, too bad for the beast woman, Mira would not be moving one bit. She would stay here and have her own private time with the cheetah cubs.

Mira had a mission and it was time to do it.

"I will not make a sound." Mira assured the woman. The other two beast adults did not say a word. From the look on their faces, it seemed like they could not care any less or more.

"You do not need to make a sound, just seeing you is distracting." The woman said. Now her voice was becoming hostile.

Mira took a deep breath in. Maybe this woman just wanted to have a taste of the meat too and was acting out because of it, Mira thought. She held the sheet she stored the well spiced meat in and opened it. The aroma immediately swarmed the environment. Mira noticed the cubs drool. Their attention was long gone from the swimming lessons and she knew it.

Good. Very good.

"I have enough food for the adults as well. I did not only come to cheer on the cubs but also the people teaching them." Mira uttered. She noticed the tail of the beast lady waggle.

So this woman wanted to have a taste as well? She could have just said so, a sly grin formed on Mira’s face as she thought this. The beast lady was only making a fuss because she was the one that would be distracted by the food and not only the cubs.

The beast lady parted her lips so say something when the beast man walked to her side and put his hand on her shoulder. "The children have been training for a long time now, maybe a long break would be nice." He uttered.

Yes! Be on my side, mister cheetah! Mira exclaimed in her head.

"And they are long gone from learning. They clearly look captivated by other things." The man continued.

Mira just stood there with a content grin on her face as she watched them communicate. She needed the adults gone however, she did not need mature mouths preaching to the children on good conduct when Mira needed to do something bad.

"Is that a yes?" A small voice beamed. It was the same girl who screamed her name meant ’Peace’ during the rocks stoning welcoming party they threw for her.

"Can we, can we, can we?!" A male cub screamed. All their eyes were directed at Mira and they were completely captivated by the thing she held.

"Please, beast master Ying Yue! I promise to pay attention more in the swim lessons afterwards!" Another one chimed. The others just choruses their enthusiasm to eat and the need to have a break to the beast adults.

The talkative beast woman sighed. She put a hand on her forehead and shook her head in defeat. "Okay. You all can take a long break. We will continue our lessons tomorrow." She worded.

A chant of yeses filled air and the cubs all came running towards Mira.

Mira could see some lion cubs in these children and it pleased her so much.

"Thank you." Mira glanced at the adults and said. She then looked down to face the little ones standing before her. "Form a line, children." Mira said sweetly.

The children didn’t hesistate to listen. Their goal was one thing only and they would do anything to get it.

"Good work." Mira complimented the cubs. "Are your hands clean? If not, go and wash them in the river then come back to me in the same line you formed." Mira stated.

None of them wasted time before running to the river. The cubs knelt and some bent to reach for the river and dipped their hands in, all washing it quickly till they were certain it was clean enough before running back to Mira.

"Nicely done, children. You have good behaviour." She commented. Honestly, Mira did not care much about this. She only wanted to show the adults that she could monitor a group of children on her own. She needed the adults to leave her with them and for them to do this, she needed them to know that she was responsible and they would be in good hands.

Mira stared at the adults. "Do you want to have yours now or afterwards?" She asked.

The beast lady who ran her mouth before was the first to speak. "Now would be good!" She exclaimed excitedly. She took a pause then realised how needy that sounded and cleared her throat. "Afterwards." She reworded. "Let the children have a full stomach first."

Mira smelt the lie. This woman wanted some too but she was not complaining.

"See that, children? Your beast teacher cares for you bunch a lot. Everyone tell her thank you." Mira stated.

The children turned their heads to face the adults. They were standing side by side. The cubs bowed and murmured the words ’Thank you, Ying Yue!’ like an anthem.

Now they faced Mira again.

The one who Mira realised was Ying Yue looked flustered. Her cheeks burned. "Have your fun, cubs, it is nothing, really." She said.

Time was running out and Mira was getting agitated. "If you can, please leave me with the children. I will bring them back home safely. I want to bond with them alone." Mira said to Ying Yue.

She hoped the woman would agree, the other two seemed to go along with whatever she said.

"So not to keep you waiting as they eat." Mira added, her way of trying to make them go.

"I will check in shortly if they are out for too long. We will leave and give you time, wife of the Mighty Cheetah." Ying Yue stated. With that, the woman and the other two left.

Finally! Mira rejoiced in her head. Once there was no trace of the adults, she bent to face the children.

"New rule." Mira said. "I will give you all some meat if you do something for me. And you will not say a word about it till I tell you to."