Rei was not headed directly to his wild. He left the great pine forest in the direction of his brother Cal’s wild, and outran the hail storm that was pummeling Mawei and Ruffer. Cal was Rei’s half-brother, although yetis don’t make such distinctions, and Rei had good reason to want to see him.
A Yeti is free to adopt any pup who might need a parent, all they have to do is to get the approval of an elder family member, and even this is considered to be just a formality. Rei decided that since the pup he was adopting happened to be human it would be best to make sure all the formalities were observed. He also wanted his brother on his side because Cal’s wild contained an immense cave system, which could provide a multitude of places to hide the little human if it came to that.
Rei stopped off at a stream that he knew was always full of fish, and set Helena down on the shore. He waded into a pool and stood looking down into the water while Helena curled herself into a ball and hugged her knees, shivering in the cold evening air. Rei lunged into the pool and came out holding a trout in each hand. He bit the heads off both fish in one bite and spat them back into the water. He came onto the rocky shore and shook as much water off himself as he could, and then went over to Helena, holding a fish out to her.
“I don’t want your bloody old fish.” Helena said. “I want some clothes.”
“You’ll get used to being without coverings soon.” Rei said. “You must be hungry. You should eat.” He forced the headless fish into the little girl’s hands, but she dropped it immediately. “I know you’re not used to our food,” he said, “but humans eat fish. I’ve seen it.”
“I like tuna fish but only the way mommy makes it -no celery or relish.” She began to cry. “I’m cold, I want to go home and I want some real food. I hate all you monsters, you’re all dumb.”
Rei put his hand on Helena’s shoulder and he was surprised at how cold she was. He kneeled down to be closer to her. “I’m sorry little one, I really am, but trout fish is probably just as good as tuna fish if you try it.”
“Tuna fish is mushy and white, it doesn’t have blood and it’s not all slimy.”
Rei thought for a moment and then picked up the fish that Helena had dropped. He used a claw to rip a seam down the belly of the fish and then he pulled most of the skin off. He scraped the meat from the bones, creating a little pile of raw meat chunks. When he was finished he held it out to her. “Mushy.” He said.
Helena was famished so she scooped some of the fish into her mouth and tried to swallow it fast, without tasting it. She actually found that it wasn’t bad, and ate the rest from Rei’s giant hand. Rei repeated the process with the other fish and watched her eat that too. “Thanks.” Helena said.
“You don’t have to thank me little bird.” Rei said. “You and I are going to be spending a lot of time together, I want you to be as comfortable as possible.” He picked her up and rubbed her legs, trying to warm her.
“Okay monster, if you want me to be comfortable then get me some clothes.” Helena said.
“Don’t call me monster little bird, from now on I want you to call me dad.”
Helena looked into his eyes and a shiver went down her spine as she realized what he’d meant. She tried not to throw up the fish she’d just eaten. “No.” She said. “I’m not calling you that.”
“Okay,” he said, “daddy, father, papa, call me whatever you want.”
It was better when he was going to eat me, Helena thought. She considered trying to run again, but his fur was the only thing that was keeping her from freezing. He’d begun to move, carrying her through the forest at an incredibly fast speed. Before he’d gone five miles she was asleep in his arms.