"Please, can someone take him to see the witch doctor? He needs immediate attention," Ava frantically asked, remembering that witch doctors were the closest thing to a doctor in this world.
A tall, muscular man with long purple hair stepped forward. "Alright, step aside, female. I will carry him to meet the witch doctor of our tribe, although I doubt he can be saved."
Ava became even more frantic. "Why is that? It's just a few dislocated joints?"
The beastman carrying George and the others around him looked confused. "Dislocated? Joints? What's that?" they all asked.
Ava cleared her throat. "Sorry, I meant, why can't he be saved?"
The muscular man with long purple hair sighed. "His two legs are broken. You must understand, beastmen cannot transform if their bones are injured. Even if he survives, you can imagine his future!"
Ava fell silent.
A beastman that could not transform, forever living a life stuck in beast form, was no different from a real beast. On top of that, George was seriously injured. If no orc took him in, he wouldn't survive. But no orc family would be willing to take in a crippled adult. She understood what the beastman meant. "Let's take him to the witch doctor first."
Ava was suddenly lifted up. She turned her head and saw it was Kael in his half-beastman form. He said, "I'll carry you to the witch doctor. It will be much faster." hoping she won't reject him.
The countenance of the beastmen changed. It seemed like they didn't want the snake beastman anywhere near their tribe.
Ava spoke out, "I promise that Kael will be on his best behavior and won't try anything unless it's in self-defense. If he does anything wrong, I will take responsibility for his actions," looking at Kael sternly, hoping that he wouldn't do anything to put her in trouble.
The beastmen reluctantly allowed Ava and Kael to follow. After all, Ava seemed like a nice female, and George did everything in his power to bring her back to the tribe.
They soon reached the tree tribe. They passed George's house and continued to venture in, passing a lot of giant trees. The further they went, the more people Ava saw. By now, a huge crowd had already been attracted by the commotion and by the presence of two new faces.
"There are so many handsome guys," Ava thought. "However, a lot of them are naked, and their private parts are directly exposed in my line of sight. The few people who weren't naked only had a piece of animal skin around their waist. Ava was startled to see so many orcs at once and needed some mental preparation."
"Wow, the warriors actually brought the female back!" exclaimed a blond man.
"And she's very beautiful!" another man agreed. After hearing the noises, several men immediately gathered around.
Ava felt embarrassed. It was the first time many people complimented her on her beauty, and a group of attractive men gathered around her. But unfortunately, this wasn't the right time to enjoy such attention.
"What do you want to do? This female is mine!" Kael immediately put Ava behind him and looked around warily at the men, an oppressive aura being emitted all around.
The beastmen, as if suddenly aware of the snake beastman's presence, backed off. After a while, they arrived at the very center of the tribe that had a big clearing with two huge trees in the middle. It seems that this is where the shaman and the chief of the clan lived. A blond short-haired beastman pointed at a group of people working beside a tree. "This is the chief of our tribe and his family."
The chief's family was busy processing the game they had hunted today. Seeing the warriors approach while carrying a beastman, they all paused to look at the beastman, only to recognize the scent. It was George's.
The tribe leader looked at the warriors probingly.
The short blond-haired guy stepped forward. "Tribe leader Morris, this is the female that George wanted to save and bring back to the tribe."
Worried about George's injuries, Ava directly addressed Tribe Leader Morris. "Uncle Tribe Leader, George and my snake beastman friend were in a fight, and George was badly injured. Can you please lead us to the witch doctor?"
The tribe chief's face turned somber. His hand, slick with fresh blood from the game, rubbed against his beast skin skirt before he swiftly headed towards the witch doctor's treehouse.
The beastmen followed the Tribe Leader and stopped at a door located at the base of a tree rather than up in the middle like the others. The muscled man carrying George entered along with the Tribe Leader. Ava then asked Kale to wait outside with the others. As they entered the house, the cozy space of the shaman's house greeted them, carrying the distinct scent of herbs.
An elderly male orc with long white hair tied back, dressed in a beast skin skirt, and wearing a necklace of sharp teeth with black face paint, was sorting some herbs. As soon as he looked up and saw George, he quickly ordered, "Eren, place George on the stone slab so I can take a look at him," abandoning what he was doing.
The purple-haired orc man called Eren did as he was ordered.
After examining the unconscious George, who twitched his paws whenever the shaman checked his hind legs, the shaman, with a downcast look on his face, said, "His leg bones are broken. I fear he has lost the use of his legs, which also means he won't be able to transform." The shaman looked at Eren, who then explained the whole situation.
Ava, unable to keep watching, stepped forward. "Elder shaman, please take a look at George again. Surely something can be done to save him."
The shaman shook his head sideways. "Female, there is nothing that can be done. George was one of our strongest fighters in the clan. It really pains me that this is how it will end for him. With his hind legs broken, he can't even hunt prey to feed himself nor can he defend himself. I am at a loss for what should be done about him."
Ava asked, "Elder shaman, what if I said I could help heal his bones?"
The elder shaman's eyes shone brightly as he stroked his chin. "Little female, I am the shaman of this clan, and even I myself can't heal him. Why should I believe you can do it?"
"Elder shaman, you said it yourself, you can't heal him. That means if nothing is done, you guys would probably dump him out in the wild to be left for dead, am I right?" Ava asked. After going through the memories of the previous owner, she knew this is what tribes normally do to wounded orcs who have no chance of recovery. Rather than wasting resources, they leave the orcs to die.
The shaman felt embarrassed as sweat trickled down his wrinkled face. "Yes, you are right."
Ava continued, "Since he is going to die anyway, why don't you let me give it a try? Besides, I am willing to take care of him and provide food for him until he recovers. What do you say?"
The shaman, Tribe Leader Morris, and Eren were all shocked. It had never been heard of that a female would take care of a beastman. Rather, it is the beastmen who are meant to unconditionally care for the females. It seemed George was right to pursue this female; she was a female worth dying for.
"Little female, what is your name?" the shaman asked.
"My name is Ava," Ava replied as she placed her hand on her chest.
"Very well, Ava. Since you are willing to take responsibility for George, we won't stop you. From now on, you can call me Shaman Lazur." The shaman smiled while he folded his arms behind his back. It would be nice to have such a good-hearted female join the tribe. He decided to test the waters. "Ava, we are so happy that you are not abandoning our tribe member. We consider you part of our tribe now. If you need any help, feel free to come to either me or the Tribe Leader."
Ava smiled. These tribesmen were quite sly, but since it had been her plan to join the tribe, she didn't protest. "Thank you, Shaman Lazur. Thank you, Tribe Leader Morris."
The shaman went out and called two people. One was the short blond-haired male orc she had seen before, and the other was a female. Shaman Lazur introduced them. "These two here are my cubs, Amon and Oma. Amon, Oma, this is Ava. She will be joining our tribe as she wishes to care for the wounded George."
"Hello, nice to have you join us," Amon said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Ava. I hope we can be friends," Oma said, holding Ava's hand enthusiastically.
"Yes, I hope so too," Ava replied, withdrawing her hand nervously. She felt she didn't know Oma well enough to be holding hands.
Shaman Lazur cleared his throat. "Eren will help you take George back to his house. I assume you will be staying there?"
Ava nodded in agreement. "Shaman Lazur, one more thing. Can you help me gather some spiked horned grass, snake skin sheddings, and some straight thick wood? These are the things I need to help treat George."
Curiosity flashed in the shaman's eyes. "Alright, we'll have someone send them over. But if I may, why do you need spiked horned grass? Those things are dangerous. Once your skin is pricked or cut by its sharp serrated edges, you become paralyzed and unable to move."
Ava, having gone through her memories, discovered this spiked horned grass, which had a horn-like spike at its grass tip and serrated edges like a bread knife. Everyone in their clan was taught to avoid going to places that had these dangerous grasses, but none realized the importance of this grass.