Moyu was the one with the lantern, and he hung it on a hook on the wall, "I'm going to close the entrance and check on the female cubs outside."
He went back the way we came in, and Baron walked further into the room, sitting down and putting me between his legs.
"What are females doing here?" one of the older deer cubs asked after finding out we were not here to attack them, "Shouldn't they be defending the village?"
"They are not from our tribe," another cub said, "Look at them closely."
The females were so low in the hierarchy that they didn't even bother to take a closer look at us, thinking we were just some females they had never seen before.
"She's not a deer," the first one squinted his eyes at me, "She looks like a sheep."
"I thought sheep were white," another cub leaned forward, his hand on the floor, "Why is she so dark?"
"Maybe she is dirty. She should take a bath."
I didn't know what to say, so I just hid my face in Baron's chest. I was already feeling low on energy from earlier, and talking to cubs was not my strength.
They were talking to Baron instead of me, so he was the one who answered them.
"She's not dirty," Baron replied, petting my head, "She's clean. She was just born this way."
"Born dirty?"
Baron smacked the cub's head, not too hard, but enough to make him whine, "Stop being rude. She is special. Her fur is black because her wool is made from darkness. The night itself blessed her at birth."
The cubs gasped, and all of them started to reach for my hair, wanting to touch it. They were so small, and there were so many of them, but Baron protected me from their little hands.
"How can night bless her?" one of the cubs asked.
I was curious as well. Madam sat at the entrance of the burrow, her arms crossed, waiting for us to finish the storytelling. She was probably waiting to hear it too.
"The night is very powerful," Baron began to weave the story, "And it doesn't bless just anyone. She must have done something extraordinary to deserve such a blessing."
"What did she do?" the cubs asked, their eyes wide, "Tell us. Tell us!"
"She..." Baron stroked my back, pretending to think. I felt his chest vibrate with his laughter as he tried to come up with something good enough to impress the cubs, "She helped the night find its lost stars."
The cubs gasped again, their hands over their mouths. They were an easy audience. Their scared faces changed into admiring ones, looking at me like I was a hero. They calmed down and sat in silence, waiting for Baron to continue.
"The night was looking for the brightest stars, but couldn't find it, so it decided to search for them in the darkest of places," Baron continued mysteriously. He had a talent for telling stories, "But the star was not there. It was in the sky, right above the night's head..."
The cubs giggled at the thought of the night not seeing what was right above it.
"It's the sun that was shining so brightly that it blinded the night from seeing the star that was right above it. The night almost gave up on its search, but our Little Miss here," he patted my head, "She sucked all the light out of the sun, making it dark and dim, so the stars could finally be seen."
My mouth parted in shock. That sounded like a terrible thing to do to a sun.
"Wow, that's so cool!" the cubs cheered, "How did she do it?"
"In her mother's womb," Baron said, "She was able to store so much light inside her little body that the sun became weak. And the night was able to see the stars. The night was so grateful that it decided to bless her with its darkness, giving her black wool, so she could hide from the sun that might want revenge on her for taking away its light, tricking it into thinking she was full of darkness, and not light."
The cubs were excited and started asking me questions. Baron was also having fun, answering them for me, making me sound even more amazing.
"Do you have light inside you?" they asked.
"Of course," Baron answered, "More than anyone."
"Can we see it?" they asked, reaching for my hair again, but were slapped away by Baron's hand.
"You will go blind if you look at it," he said, "And then how will you see all the beautiful colors of the world?"
Their hands quickly went to cover their eyes, not wanting to go blind.
Moyu came back and had three injured female cubs with him.
He placed them on the other side of the room and Madam went to tend to them. I wanted to help but couldn't move, surrounded by the curious cubs. So I just watched from a distance, with my forehead still pressed against Baron's chest.
Their whimpers and cries made me want to cry as well. Baron's story was long forgotten. The cubs also grew quiet, reminded of the danger outside.
Once the females were patched up and asleep, the deer cubs began to yawn as well.
Moyu and Madam left again to check on the fighting outside, while Baron took care of the cubs, helping them fall asleep.
"Will you protect us?" a cub asked, his eyes half closed, "I don't want to be eaten."
"I won't, but your herd will," Baron replied.
"Our herd is not very strong," the cub pouted, tears welling up in his eyes when roars sounded outside again, coming closer, "We will get eaten."
"You will if you keep thinking like that," Baron said, his voice harsher this time, "The herd is only as strong as its weakest member, and you are weakening it with your thoughts. Be strong, and the herd will be strong with you."
The cub sniffled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, and nodded.
Baron continued to pet me, "I wonder what my own cubs are up to right now," he whispered to himself, staring at the cubs, "Probably causing a riot for not being allowed to come on an adventure with us."
Mention the wolf and the wolf will appear, because loud howls erupted from the entrance.
"Papaaa! Awoo! Papaaa!" Loud howls followed, and the deer cubs jumped in their places, startled by the sudden noise. They didn't sound like cubs, but full grown wolf beastmen. "Papaaaa! Awooooo!"