Chapter Forty-Three - The Sapling

She hid behind Big Sister’s leg. The others were scary.

There was the big one, with the bear ears and the big smile. The taller one, with the shrewd eyes that were scary, and then the other three, who were all over the place.

She recognized them as her sisters, which meant that they couldn’t be all that bad, but... but she was worried that they wouldn’t think the same about her.

What if they thought she was too weak? Or ugly, or not strong enough, or maybe she’d say something and they’d laugh at her.

Big Sister looked down and around, meeting her eyes for just a moment. She felt her face burning up before she buried it in Big Sister’s leg. Big Sister looked so smart and confident and charismatic, there was no way someone so good at talking would understand her.

“Okay,” Big Sister said. “How about we go by age... or at least by time of summoning. That means you go first, Teddy.”

The bear girl, Teddy, puffed her chest out. “I’m Teddy, and I’m the best of the boss’ sisters. I can turn into a bear and eat people, and... what’re we supposed to say, Boss?”

Big Sister hummed. “I guess your name, hobbies and maybe a bit about what you want to do in the future?”

“Oh, alright,” Teddy said. “My hobbies are sleeping and communism. My dream’s to beat up a bunch of heroes and to end the capitalist rat-race.” Teddy paused, looked to the side as if thinking, then she grinned. “Yep, that’s it.”

“I’m next,” said her tallest sister (other than Big Sister, who was very tall). “I’m Athena. My hobbies are reading, making fun of Teddy, and driving people insane. My dream is to make Big Sister proud.”

She nodded into Big Sister’s leg. That did sound like a nice dream.

Athena and Teddy started fighting, and she found herself pulling back a little. They were both so loud and confident.

“I’m Trinity!” the three others said. “My hobbies is eating trash and steal-- not stealing things because that makes Big Sis annoyed. My dream’s to own a garbage truck company.”

Big Sister seemed surprised at the last. “You want to own a garbage truck company? I... okay, that’s interesting, I didn’t know that about you.”

“Yeah, I get to live in the landfill with the other garbage truck people!” Trinity cheered.

“I see,” Big Sister said. She sighed, then looked down. “It’s your turn. Don’t be afraid, your sisters will pay attention and they won’t laugh, right, Teddy, Athena?”

The two that were named snapped to attention and stepped away from each other.

She slid away from Big Sister and regretted it immediately, there were so many eyes on her. What if she messed up? What if she said something, and they’d remember that she said something embarrassing for the rest of forever? Her breathing became a bit ragged and she felt her hair sticking to her forehead. “Ah,” she squeaked.

Big Sister dropped to her knees next to her. “It’s okay,” she said. Carefully, Big Sister reached out and placed her hand on her head and it was very nice. “You don’t need to worry, okay? We’re all family here. Your sisters might be a bit loud, but they’re not mean, not really. And if anyone makes you too nervous, you just need to tell me, okay?”

Her cheeks warmed up.

She truly was the luckiest little sister ever, to have a Big Sister that was so confident and cool.

“My name is... I don’t have a name yet. Um. I don’t... I guess my hobby might be making things? My dream.” She stopped, swallowed, then closed her fists and closed her eyes to make saying the next part easier to say. “My dream is to be as confident as Big Sister!”

“That’s a... very nice dream,” Big Sister said. “One that I’m sure you’ll be able to achieve... in no time.”

She sniffed, the emotions getting to her a little, but she wasn’t going to cry in front of all her sisters after just meeting them. Big Sister believed in her!

“So, what’s your gimmick?” Teddy asked. “Mine’s turning into a bear.”

“Ah,” she said. “I... um, can fix and make things.”

“Wow,” Big Sister said. “Can you make new things, or, well, what’s your limitation?”

She smiled, though she couldn’t quite meet Big Sister’s eyes. “As long as I have things, I can make just about anything, I think.” It was true, she has so many ideas! She was actually itching to get to work, but the room didn’t seem like the right kind of place for that and... and what if she never had an opportunity to show Big Sister what she could do? That would be terrible!

“I can’t wait to see what you can do,” Big Sister said.

“Can you make a super toaster?” Trinity asked.

She blinked. “I guess. I’d need a toaster, and some tools.”

“I got the toaster!” one of Trinity said. She ran to the bathroom and came back a moment later with a toaster held up above her head. “This is mister toaster, he makes toast. Can you make him waterproof?”

Mister toaster was a toaster. He had googly eyes.

“Oh, okay,” she said.

“Before any of that,” Big Sister said. She was eyeing Mister Toaster, then the bathroom door. “We should probably come up with a name for you.”

“Bearverly,” Teddy suggested.

“That’s a stupid name,” Athena said. “Besides, she’s a beaver, not a bear.”

“It ain’t stupid, you are. If you’re not, then come up with something better?” Teddy said.

Big Sister sighed. “Girls, no arguing. And... I don’t think Bearverly... fits.”

She shook her head. She’d rather not be called that.

“I got some names,” Trinity said. She snuck under the bed until only her butt was sticking out. Her tail wiggled, then she crawled back out with an armful of wallets. One flopped to the ground and another Trinity picked it up and read something inside it. “How would you like to be called Richard Green?”

“Um,” she said.

“Trinity,” Big Sister said.

“What about... Aster Card?” She tossed the wallet and picked up another. “Or you could be Kendrick Westerfeil. See, he’s got an ugly nose, so you can take his place. Your nose is a lot nicer.”

“Oh god, I’m going to have to call so many people,” Big Sister muttered.

Athena huffed. “What about a name like the thing on her shirt?”

Everyone turned towards her, and she felt her ears warming up again at all the attention. She glanced down. Her lab coat was open at the front because she wasn’t working with dangerous chemicals, and under that was her jean overalls and a t-shirt. She pulled the t-shirt up a little, revealing a drawing of a maple leaf sticking off of a log. “Th-this?”

“Maple,” Big Sister said. “That is a cute name.”

She flushed even harder. “I... I wouldn’t mind that. Having a cute name.”

Big Sister clapped. “Well then, if you like the name, then why not? Maple Wright. It has a nice ring to it.”

She--Maple, nodded. “Okay. Thank you,” she said.

“Welcome to the family,” Big Sister said. “We’re a bit loud, and some of us are questionably sane, but all in all, I think we’re doing pretty okay for ourselves.”

“Heck yeah,” Teddy said. “Bear hug time!”

Maple squeaked as Teddy jumped up and pulled her into a tight-tight hug. Athena, not to be outdone, stomped over and hugged her from the other side. Then Trinity laughed and piled on too until Maple was afraid she might suffocate.

Finally, Big Sister gave a long-suffering sigh and came closer, she wrapped them all up in a big hug too, her longer arms letting her grab all of them at once.

Maple wasn’t sure what to feel. Her ears and cheeks were burning, and it was really embarrassing, but it was also warm and nice, even if Teddy had lots of knees and Athena was very boney.

“Th-thank you, everyone,” Maple said. She wasn’t sure if the others could hear her, so she went on. “I hope I’ll fit in nicely.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” Teddy said. “Can you make me a gun?”

“No,” Big Sister said. The hug ended, and she waggled a finger at Teddy. “No asking for guns. Or anything that’s a weapon for that matter. Maple, I... we’ll see how your power works later, but if your sisters ask for weapons, you tell them no, okay?”

“O-okay,” Maple said. “No weapons, I can do that.” There went an entire avenue of inventions that could impress her Big Sister. She had been hoping to be able to build some giant mecha, but those were definitely weapons.

“Thank you,” Big Sister said. She patted Maple on the head, which was very nice. “Now, let’s catch you up, shall we?”

***