I ended up thinking about this too much and decided to get it done. Hope you all enjoy. Posted August 17, 2022.

Before the City Fell

"Bai Qingqing must be a demon. Wherever she goes, she brings calamity with her!" The ape king shouted after exposing Bai Qingqing's past. The curiosity and worry of the beasts present turned to open hostility.

Noticing the immediate change, Parker and Curtis were already in action. Bai tried to defend herself, but no one was willing to listen to her words. All of the closest beasts lunged towards Bai Qingqing in order to eliminate the threat.

Curtis crushed all beasts in his immediate surrounds in an attempt to get to Snow. He was intercepted by the tiger king and his followers. Hissing a curse, Curtis took a battle stance.

Noticing Curtis's inability to reach them, Parker tore into another beast's throat. He was too occupied to crush the males that had reached Qingqing. 'No!' He roared pushing his strength to make in time.

Parker failed, but Shuu succeeded. Shuu managed to narrowly save Qingqing's life. Squawking from above caught Qingqing's attention as Shuu crushed the skull of a leopard. She looked up terrified. They were surrounded and there was nowhere she could run even if she wanted to.

Muir fought off the eagles above. He was greatly outnumbered, but their focus was primarily on Qingqing, giving him several openings. He felled one three-striped eagles and several weaker ones. He needed to get to Qingqing and fly them out of here!

Harvey picked Qingqing up suddenly and handed her off to Muir. It was dangerous, but her chances were still better with him than without. Before he could pass her, a tiger lunged at them. Harvey dodged pulling Qingqing with him. He worried for the cubs in her belly, but her life was his priority. If she died, the cubs would too.

Injuring another three-striped eagle, Muir broke away and reached for Qingqing. Harvey was too distracted to pass her along, so Muir grabbed both of them and flew away. He was already feeling somewhat tired from clashing with eagles at his own power level, but he pushed through. His adrenaline making up for any lack of energy.

Muir was grateful, even with the danger surrounding them. If such chaos did not occur, he wouldn't have had this chance to get close to Qingqing. His pleasant thought was ruined when he noticed that one of the three-striped eagles caught up to them. After performing several areal maneuvers, Muir escaped him.

Unfortunately for them, several other eagles used the opportunity to fly ahead and pressure Muir. Harvey held Qingqing close to him, keeping a tight grip on her. Muir's claws dug into him, but he paid it little mind. Feeling a sudden drop, Harvey braced himself for landing.

Muir controlled his fall the best he could, having them land in water. Muir lost consciousness on impact. Harvey dragged both Muir and Qingqing into a hidden cave until the former regained consciousness.

Muir was loathe to lose the time with Qingqing, even if it put her at greater risk. Even so, he couldn't chance her life. "Go to the sea cliffs. It'll be safer there." Muir said right before shifting. He led the eagles away until they realized he did not have Qingqing. When they turned around, Muir attacked them. After eliminating several, he rushed off towards his beloved female's direction.

Harvey carried Qingqing as carefully as he could. The jarring motions would surely risk the unborn cubs, but their options were limited. After an hour, Muir caught up to them and picked them up once more.

Muir did not want to take Harvey along. He had three plans on how to get rid of him, but Qingqing looked horribly pale. Muir needed the doctor to care for her and he would have to let him be for now.

Back at the city, Curtis fought the tiger king and his clan until he succeeded in killing them. Tired and furious from the fight, Curtis went to look for Qingqing. Finding Parker in a ring of beast, Curtis made short work of them.

He shifted and demanded, "Tell me where Snow is!"

Parker did and Curtis almost rushed after them. The ape king was already gone and the whole city would fight him to protect the king. Hissing, Curtis went back to the house. He couldn't let that vile ape get ahold of Snow's hand made goods.

It took him only a minute to get back to the den. His offspring greeted him, but he went straight for Snow's things. Once he gathered them he left.

"What about us?" Hissed one of his male children.

"Figure that out for yourselves! You've been coddled enough," hissed Curtis as he bolted out of the den.

Curtis went as far and as fast as he could, but the stuff he was carrying weighed him down. He almost smashed some of the things in his frustrations. Not angry enough to break Snow's things, Curtis buried them. He'd come back for them later.

Curtis tried to sense Snow through their connection, but only got a vague sense of her. She must be far away. If only she would touch his mark, he would have a better idea. Ignoring his tired body, Curtis pushed forward at a startling pace. He wished he had slept last night or the night before. After his fight with the king, he was now fairly spent. Irritation bubbling inside, Curtis used it as fuel to force himself beyond what his body was capable of.

Qingqing's group took several breaks, but moved often. The two males took turns carrying the other along with Qingqing to save strength and reach their destination even a moment quicker.

Muir realized that even like this, he still got a lot of time with Qingqing. Harvey helped speed up their travel significantly and never challenged Muir. Keeping the other male around eventually proved to be an issue. Qingqing liked Harvey, at least, that was how Muir saw it. The two were definitely comfortable and that bothered him. About three quarter of the way there, Muir used the first chance he got to leave the leopard behind.

Bai Qingqing begged Muir to turn around. Harvey had jumped on a pursing eagle and was fighting it. Muir refused. He was not going to endanger her over another male.

By the time they reached the sea cliff, Qingqing was exhausted. She slept on old hay and didn't even care that it was poking her. Having been enervated to the point of collapse, Qingqing slept for a long time.

Muir worried and fussed over Qingqing's state. He was extremely attentive and considerate towards her. She was angry that he left Harvey behind, but knew it was because of her. His tender care towards her made feelings sprout in her. She did her best to ignore them, but found herself failing.

She worried over Parker and Curtis. Harvey and Shuu too. They had yet to catch up with her and it bothered her.

Muir had dragged dummy Qingqing dolls with him when he'd go to hunt. He'd leave them behind to throw off any followers. He would use the straw she laid on or some of her excrement to give it smell. As long as it could serve as a small distraction, it was enough. Muir wanted as much additional time with Qingqing as possible.

Curtis found another dummy and nearly destroyed it. This one was the second one now. He was exhausted and no longer had any patience. He'd barely slept at all, but found himself being constantly harassed by eagles and these fakes. He spit out a hiss. Whenever he got his tail on that eagle, he'd break its neck.

Harvey caught up with Qingqing and Muir several days later. Qingqing had already given birth and he had learned something unfortunate. One of the cubs did not make it. Qingqing had so proudly shown off her two healthy cubs, unaware that she even had a third one. Muir had kept it hidden from her. Harvey was her doctor and knew there had been three heartbeats in addition to her own before.

He did not know how to break that kind of news to Qingqing, but felt it wasn't fair to hide it. In the end, he chose to keep it to himself for now. Qingqing was too weak from all the running around and couldn't take a shock like that. He would let Parker know as he was the father.

Muir disappeared several times to keep Curtis at bay. It was only a matter of time before he caught up. Parker and Shuu would soon follow and his time with Qingqing would end. Muir had to decide now. Parker aside, Curtis would never allow him to court Qingqing. But could he succeed in killing a four striped beast, even a weakened one?

Harvey tended to Qingqing diligently. The stress she was under was high. Harvey looked around at the bare nest they were in. It was not suitable for a female to live in.

An earthquake surprised them, but it was only a tremor. Harvey made sure that Qingqing was okay and comfortable, but she wanted to go out.

After Qingqing badgered him relentlessly, he took her to the ocean. He was rewarded with a smile that lightened his heart. Qingqing played in the sand for some time before returning to the den. They were both unaware of what lurked in the ocean waves.

Having felt a lot better about going out, Qingqing asked Harvey to take her back. He looked at her softly making her heart thump. 'No. Not him too. It was hard enough with Muir,' she thought to herself. He gave in to her requests and she did her best not to look at him.

Bai played in the foam with her two boys. She wasn't relieved enough to laugh. She was too worried about Curtis and Parker for that, but she did feel a little livelier. Or she did until she found herself underwater.