Chloe and Fen were highly motivated to improve their snowy winter retreat after they learned that the tigers had successfully created a fake sky above their biome. The two ended up wanting to make a starry night sky combined with northern lights. They even asked Blu for help, but seemingly only confused the bird as it immediately flew away after the pink fox got a little too excited.
“We did good here.”
“We did." Sophia and Anna were in their savanna biome, sitting high up in an acacia tree while overlooking their kingdom. Seemingly going on forever under the blue sky was a perfectly sculpted plain of mostly dry grass growing on reddish-brown soil. There were some lush patches here and there, but overall, it was clear that it was a dry region. The area was littered with many thorny bushes and smaller shrubbery. The duo had also been rather generous on the trees, with many baobabs and acacias growing all over the area. Even a couple of hills could be clearly seen in the distance, so it wasn’t just a flat area.
“There’s one thing missing, though.” While looking into the distance, Sophia sounded ever so slightly disappointed.
“Really?” Anna tilted her head.
“Animals!” She got excited. “Don’t you also see all this and get the urge to hunt?” The blonde pointed at the savanna in front of them. “Gazelles, impalas, maybe even a whole buffalo, among many more! Running after them! Outsmarting them! Pouncing them! And then putting them on the grill!" Sophia's tail started twitching, and her pupils had turned completely slit as she excitedly moved from side to side on the tree branch they were on.
“I bow to your tigerness.” The tiger princess was impressed by just how much feline power was inside the blonde. “I do see your point, though.” She then also stared into the distance while her tail became perky.
“This environment just does this to you, doesn’t it?”
“I can’t deny it.” The princess nodded. “How could we get them in here, though?”
“I’m less worried about how and more about where we could get them.”
“That’s kind of what I meant, too.”
"Do you know if there's any savanna in your kingdom? Preferably one that we can reach by tomorrow?" Sophia was very eager.
“If you really go for it, is there any spot on this continent you wouldn’t be able to reach by tomorrow?” The tall tiger tilted her head.
“Fair enough.” She could only nod.
“Anyway, only the monster country comes to mind right now. It is not actually part of the kingdom, and not all of it, but a huge area inside is supposed to be a savanna. The question is whether or not there’s any prey for us to get or if it’s littered with predators because it is the monster country, after all. It’s regarded as so dangerous that no member of the beastfolk has set foot in it in recent history.”
“I see.” The blonde thought about it for a moment. “I guess we have to wait a little longer, then. It was kinda dry and hot in the area where I met Fenny, but it wasn’t quite a savanna yet, so I guess it was further in, huh?”
“Probably.”
“There has to be prey, though.” Sophia scratched her cheek.
“I mean, with your power, everything is regarded as prey.” Anna nodded.
“That’s not exactly what I meant.” She shook her head. “For predators to exist, there has to be prey. I mean, they have to eat something.”
“Oh, that is true!”
“In fact, Fenny and I ate many cows while traveling through it.” She remembered her time with the wolf there. “Although, hunting cows would absolutely not satisfy the itch.”
“You’re not wrong there.” The princess agreed.
“We could borrow some fitting animals from Mira, but she already gave us so much, and doing more on our own would be way more rewarding." The blonde wanted to rely less on the overseer.
“Yeah.” Anna agreed. “That being said, we are about to visit a desert, are we not?” She tilted her head. “It’s not the same, far from it, but there should be some overlap in animals, should there not? Like, I’m pretty sure antelopes and many more horned animals also live in more habitable areas of deserts. Ostriches do so, too. I wouldn’t be against camels, either. Not quite native, but I think they should fit in. Oh, rabbits could be fun to hunt. They’re fast and nimble, and I think they would fit well in a savanna.”
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“That’s so true!” Sophia got excited. “Wait a moment, though. You said the only savanna on the continent you know is in the monster country, right? But, isn’t the area around and leading into a desert basically a savanna, too? It’s not like we're in a lush forest at one point, and a step later, we’re suddenly in a desert. There’s something in between, which either is a savanna or is basically the same. No idea if the actual biome is called something different, but I also don’t care if it isn’t.”
“Ah.” The tall tiger paused for a second. "Very valid! I hadn't thought about that! Now I'm even more looking forward to getting there!"
“Same!” She vigorously nodded.
After having agreed on what to do next, the tigers watched over their kingdom for a little longer before eventually returning to the cottage to tell the others that they needed to go to the desert as soon as possible to borrow some animals.
----------------
"Welcome back!" At home, the tigers were greeted by Maya and Steph, who were already in the cottage's living room and sitting next to each other on one of the sofas.
“Hey!” The striped girls waved at them.
"You two weren't out today?" The blonde got interested in what they did.
“Nope.” Steph shook her head. “We took it easy and just did some planning.”
“Yup, planning.” Maya nodded while smirking at her girlfriend.
“I don’t like anything about that.” Sophia had a bad feeling.
“You two are planning something?” The princess also raised an eyebrow. “Knowing you perverts, it just has to be a sex dungeon made with magic.”
“Ha.” Hearing that, Maya and Steph turned to look at each other for a few moments. Then, the cat-girl quickly pulled out a small notebook from somewhere and noted down something on it. “That’s such a great idea!” The duo smiled at the tall tiger.
“Oops.” She just awkwardly scratched her cheek.
“Good job.” Sophia’s voice was dripping with sarcasm as she stared at the other tiger.
“Ahaha…” Anna had nothing to say in her defense.
“We should definitely do some brainstorming about this lovely idea.” Maya smiled at Steph again.
“With utmost priority!” The dog-girl agreed.
“Before that, there’s something else urgent we need to do, though.” The cat-girl didn’t seem to have the same priorities. “We’re about to visit a desert, right?”
“Yes!” Both tigers were very energetic about that.
“At least during the day, a desert is rather warm, is it not? On top of that, summer itself is about to start, as well.”
“Yes?” Sophia was waiting for the point she was trying to get across.
“New clothes!” Maya raised her voice. “It’s long overdue for summer clothes! I’ve already gotten rid of my tights to cool off, but I need something with lighter fabrics!”
“So true, bestie!” Steph nodded a couple of times. “I haven’t worn my jacket in months, but I need something airy!”
“You’re wearing shorts, though?” The blonde stared at her sister.
“Not enough!” The dog-girl needed to wear even less.
“Please keep the basics of public decency in mind, okay?” Sophia decided against asking for more details.
“I’ll try!”
“You do have a point, though.” The blonde then focused on Maya. "I still wear my tights because I adore them, and I don’t trust myself wearing a skirt with bare legs, but it’s getting a little too toasty.”
“You could try short spats below as a safety measure.” Anna tried to help out her fellow tiger.
“That’s true!”
“Spats are heresy!” The pervert duo hated the suggestion.
“I am not surprised.” Sophia rolled her eyes. “I agree that it’s time for new clothes, though. I won’t go as hard as Steph, but something airy and easy to move in sounds great!”
“I look forward to seeing it!” Maya couldn’t wait to see her girlfriend in new clothes.
“This time, I’ll be entirely choosing on my own, though!” Sophia stared right at her. “No getting talked into something because it looks cute and or hot on me like the last time!”
“Fair enough.” Having gotten a little less pushy recently, the cat-girl wasn't too bothered by it and readily accepted it. “Anyway, shopping trip! Time to get new clothes!”
“It seems like I came at the perfect time.” While the girls were chatting, Ari and Aura returned home, and the jaguar immediately joined the conversation.
"Exactly!" Chloe and Fen arrived at the same time, and the fox-girl was just as interested. "I need to get new clothes! I’m already melting!”
“You wear a super short skirt, though?” Sophia just looked at her.
“Not enough!” Chloe needed to wear even less.
“Please keep the basics of public decency in mind, okay?” Feeling a sense of déjà-vu, Sophia decided against asking for more details.
“I’ll try!” The fox and dog-girl were made for each other. “I’m wearing a thicker pullover, though, and that needs to be gone! My skirt is fine, but anything more than a tank top is pure pain!”
“So, what’s the plan?” Ari wanted to hear more about the shopping trip.
“Well, long story short, it will be summer soon, and we're about to explore a desert. Our wardrobe is not prepared for that.” Maya gave her a quick rundown.
“I see!” She nodded. "Quite true, and I've been meaning to say something about that for a week or two already, now that you mentioned it.”
“Let’s head out for it tomorrow!” Steph energetically raised her arm high in the air.
“Yes!” The others agreed.
Afterward, the girls all got together to make some more detailed plans for their shopping trip, as it was a serious business for them. Naturally, the wolves left them alone for that because Aura had no need for clothes, and Fen, in his own words, would rather do literally anything else than join them.