After breakfast, while Spencer was packing his belongings, Samantha made a small bundle of her own with the help of St. Benjamin. He had already treated the animal hides from breakfast and presented them to Samantha with only a huff from Spencer. These were being packed into the larger deer hide along with her pajamas and a few smaller bone tools the males had helped her to break and sharpen. Samantha was now the proud owner of a few spears, a shovel with no handle, and a handful of small styluses that had already come in handy to use for drawing in the dirt. The other bones were still being broken into extremely small pieces by Benji, who was happy to assist Samantha despite not knowing what her "bone meal" would be used for in the city. Both of them knew that the scorpion had no belongings of his own to pack, and rather than letting Benji feel inadequate because of it, they teamed up. Samantha really did need the help, and St. Benjamin was proud to be able to assist the female while Spencer was otherwise busy. With everything bundled up, the party set out over the fox tunnels toward the City of Beasts.

The two males could have made the trip by themselves in three or four days, not needing to stop to eat or rest. But they'd learned that Samantha needed to eat multiple times a day and sleep for at least eight hours, and these factors made their estimated arrival time about a week from setting out. They were also unable to use Spencer's tunnels because they had no preserved food to give Samantha and would need to hunt at least once a day to feed her. It would be more dangerous by far to travel above-ground, but the two quadruple-marked beastmen were confident they could protect her from nearly anything they would encounter on the way to the city. The closer they got, the safer their environs would be, as well. The males of the Beast City still needed to hunt if they wanted meat, and their hunting grounds stretched out for miles around their homes depending on what they were trying to catch. Troublemakers generally stayed out of this territory for fear that, if spotted, a team from the Beast City would be sent to eliminate them.

Against Samantha's better judgment, both Spencer and St. Benjamin refused to let the scorpion travel in his beastman form and ride on top of the fox with Samantha. Apparently, it was just one more custom of this world that Samantha would have to disapprove of and be powerless to change. After a short argument, Samantha conceded, and took her belongings for St. Benjamin to carry with one of his pincers. She had decided to ride on his back to give him whatever protection a willing female could give in this society, and was pleasantly surprised when both males agreed with her idea. When they got closer to the city, Benji would obviously no longer be able to shift into his beast form lest he be seen as one of the aforementioned "troublemakers", and he was happy for the chance to stretch all of his limbs while he still could. He was even happier when Samantha laid down on his relatively flat torso and stretched her arms over his shoulders to attach herself to him. There wasn't much she could do with her legs unless she wanted to rip her skirt and show the forest her panties, but she was able to rest her feet against a chitin plate on Benjamin's back without causing the scorpion pain, and she hoped this would be enough to keep her from falling off while the males ran through the forest.

Hours flew by along with the forest scenery as Spencer and St. Benjamin competed to show off their top speeds to Samantha. Although St. Benjamin was much faster than Samantha had expected, Spencer often ran ahead and returned with a few leaves full of berries for her to snack on. "It's okay, I know I'm slowing you down what with you carrying me and my things," she murmured to St. Benjamin on one such occasion. She wanted to protect his ego from Spencer, who was obviously boasting, but she was telling the truth, too. "Thanks for taking things more slowly so I don't fall off, I feel much safer with you because you keep all your legs on the ground unlike a certain someone," she finished, her little joke causing her to smile against the scorpion's prosoma. She heard some rhythmic clicking from his chelicerae before he took off once more, trying to close the distance between the frolicking fox and themselves. Although she hadn't understood what St. Benjamin had said to her, she could tell from the way he moved his body that he was much less tense after their brief talk.

Evening was taking over the sky when Samantha could no longer ignore her bladder and colon; they felt like they would burst if the travelers didn't stop soon for her to relieve herself. The two males had been expecting this, and Spencer took the opportunity to find his own bush to do the same. Samantha unpacked her bone shovel and went in search of promising leaves for wiping. Although she had been a girl scout when she was younger, she couldn't remember the mnemonics she'd been taught to recognize poison ivy and poison oak, so she just decided to avoid anything that looked similar to what she did remember. Having found a decent location to dig her latrine, she was in the process of answering nature's call when she heard an actual call. Whatever it was, it was weak, and it sounded like a high-pitched goose had learned to bark. Samantha didn't think it was anything dangerous, but considering the craziness that was reality in this world, she wasn't sure she wanted to confirm her suspicion. She hurried to try and finish before the creature revealed itself, but she was unable to cover her scent in time.

She looked up from her freshly finished business and locked eyes with a small, scraggly bear cub. Samantha was fairly certain from the look in its eyes that it was a beastman child, and from the matted, light tan fur that hung from its emaciated body, that it had been separated from its parents for a dangerous amount of time. The cub saw Samantha's startled expression soften into one of concern and pity, and its bark changed to something much closer to the cry of a human child. If Samantha had been unable to withstand the bear's plight before, she was done for now. Rinsing her hands with the waterskin she'd fastened around her waist, she held the skin out to the cub to offer him a drink. Remembering the information Spencer and St. Benjamin had passed on to her, Samantha thought it was pretty safe to assume this was a male cub, and that its parents were not nearby to attack her for interacting with him.

The cub clambered into Samantha's arms to seize the waterskin with his mouth, and while he was hardly full-grown, Samantha was surprised by his enthusiasm and was forced to take a seat in the dirt. Her heart softened as the bear cub climbed into her lap and allowed her to slowly give him water. She had always had a soft spot for bears in particular, and despite this cub's pitiful appearance, Samantha thought he was adorable. Feeling sorry that she had no food to give him, she allowed him to empty her waterskin to fill his poor, empty belly. "If you come with me," Samantha reassured him, "I'll make sure you have lots and lots of food to eat, and we can try to find your parents. Would you like that?" The cub's eyes lit up, and it was clear he could understand her words despite being unable to reply to them. "Aah! What a good boy you are!" Samantha exclaimed as he crawled from her lap. It took all of Samantha's newly gained strength to lift the baby bear, and her mind was so full of joyful thoughts that it was a complete shock when she turned and came face to face with an extremely displeased St. Benjamin. "Spencer!" he called out. "I found her. And it looks like we've got a problem," he finished, coldly eyeing the bear cub Samantha was cradling.

Author's Note: Today marks one month since I published the first chapter of this story! I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm really happy to be celebrating this milestone. Thank you all again for your support along the way, and here's to many more months of storytelling! I hope you enjoy today's chapter. I apologize for yesterday's lack of update, but I lost somebody very important to me and it's been difficult to even begin to grieve for her. I know she would have wanted me to keep writing no matter what, but any encouragement y'all could give me now would be so very appreciated. One of the best people in the world died yesterday, and I have no idea how I'll continue on without her.