“It’s over here!”

The bush exploded as the horned rabbit barreled out of the bush and rushed straight at the harpy who shouted. The harpy cried in shock as the tiny creature jumped right at her. Usually the harpy was the predator and the rabbit was the prey but ever since it got a horn on its head, this rabbit had another idea in its head and the harpy was caught by surprise.

The horned rabbit was now electing to attack the harpy instead of running away and as the sharp horn cut into the harpy’s body, the harpy screeched in pain and anger. The horned rabbit landed beyond the harpy and immediately took off, running for cover.

“Get that stupid furball!”

The harpy screamed in rage as it flew up into the air to chase after the fleeing rabbit. However the small size of the horned rabbit and the thick bushes of the underground forest hid the horned rabbit from view and the harpy screeched again in rage. A second harpy landed on a nearby tree and shouted to her sister to land.

“Moro, get over here! You’re hurt!”

“It’s nothing,” Moro said as she landed on the tree branch beside her sister. “It’s just a cut.”

“It’s a deep cut!” The harpy Momo fussed over her sister as others flew past them. Harpies, Angels and Crowmen took up the chase for the horned rabbit and Momo couldn’t help but nagged at her sister again. “You know we can just forget the horned rabbit. Let’s just catch another rabbit in the Kar Forest. This hunt is stupid!”

“NO! It’s a rabbit and it’s dinner! That rabbit is not getting away just because the Creator gave it a stupid horn!”

As the two harpies argued about the hunt of the horned rabbit, one of the spirits within the hive just couldn’t resist. “That is just insulting. We didn’t just give it a horn; we gave it speed as well some luck!”

Several other spirits within the hive laughed as the spirits watched the continuing hunt. When the hive changed the rabbit, it was done on a whim but the result has been far more entertaining than expected. Once it was changed, the horned rabbit dashed into the bushes to escape it’s fate as dinner and the two harpies, Momo and Moro, had been chasing it ever since. The Werewolves and Ratlings had left the tunnels and the children had taken up the chase for the horned rabbit. Despite the numbers against it, this was a chase the horned rabbit was currently winning.

“Can we even give luck?” one of the other spirits asked. “The rabbit sure looks faster now but luckier? Is that possible even for us?”

The unbelievable speed which the horned rabbit dashed into cover bared witness to the extra speed it had gained since the change but luck was trickier. How does one measure luck anyway? The spirits within the hive had no idea but more than a few of the spirits believed in the extra luck theory. It has been half a day since the hunt had started yet the horned rabbit was still around. The way it had been escaping from the flyers had been extraordinary. On many occasions, the horned rabbit instinctively chose the right option on which way to run and even when it was cornered; things would just fall in place for horned rabbit to escape. Somehow, it would always find a way out of its predicament. It was seriously fun to watch!

“No idea but if we could increase their strength, speed, and even give our creatures special abilities, it does stand to reason we should be able to increase their luck as well.”

“But how do we know?” the spirit asked again. “And how do we measure luck. Also how do we know how much has the rabbit’s luck been increased?”

“Who cares? Since when do we measure our creatures?”

“Maybe we should. It’ll be nice to see how well the creatures we changed got…changed. When we absorb an animal, we get all these numbers from them. Maybe we ought to find a way to use that ability to check on the numbers of living creatures.”

“You mean like some sort of checking spell?”

“Something liked that. It’ll be fun.”

“It’ll be rude.”

“WHAT?” Several of the spirits exclaimed.

The spirit explained. “It’s rude. There’s no good reason for us to check and study the Kin or the creatures serving us. We didn’t like it when the Grand came in and tried to take away the Fire Hive for study right? What makes any of you think the Kin will like it any better when we do the same to them?”

“Well…we’re not going to tell them.”

“And that makes it right?” The spirit asked. “No it does not and frankly, so what if the horned rabbit got more luck? If it did, then it’s great. If not, then it’s fine. There’s no problem either way right?”

“There may be no problem but some of us like to know. Besides, you can’t compare us to the creatures. They are OUR creatures so we have a right to do whatever we want with them.”

“No we do not!”

“We are not doing anything to them. We are just checking, just…doing an appraisal if you will.”

“They have a right to privacy!”

“Since when?”

Just like that, the spirits got into another discussion/argument. This time it was on the right of the hive to check on the status of the creatures under their control. On one side were spirits who were interested to know more about the creatures they created. On the other side were spirits who felt this was a waste of energy and that it was rude to look into the creatures without care of their feelings. The argument went on and on with neither side giving way till one of the Earth spirits asked the obvious question.

“Why are we arguing about this when we don’t even know if we could do it?”

The hive went silent as the spirits pondered about the question. The Earth spirit was right. If the hive couldn’t do it, there’s no reason for the spirits to be arguing about the matter at all! The spirits within the hive quickly came to an agreement to at least try to check on their creatures. Even the spirits who were against the idea went along with it. To these spirits, if the hive failed to do an appraisal, then all the better. If the hive could do it, they could still try to influence the hive against using it on their creatures in the future.

The hive thought of all the times when it got the numbers of the creatures it absorbed and for the first time wondered how they got the information. The spirits never really thought about it before. They just absorbed the creatures, broke them down, and that was it. That was the basic process of the whole thing. The information just came naturally after that. Now they are attempting to get information on the creatures without killing them and breaking down their bodies. Could they do it without absorbing the bodies? If the spirits can’t break down the bodies, then how were they going to get the information?

At first the spirits tried throwing their power over the various creatures in their domain but as they had expected, there were no results. The spirit then went into discussion and before long several of them theorized that the breaking down of the creatures was the reason they were able to get information. Maybe that was what allowed the spirits to grab the ‘essence’ of the creatures or allowed them to truly understand the creatures better.

As usual the hive had nothing but their instinct to go on and instinct was telling them that the breakdown of the bodies was the key. The spirits of the hive followed their instinct. The hive gathered their power and focused on the horned rabbit. This time it tried to force a small bit of energy into the rabbit and see the ‘essence’ of it. Making the energy go into the creatures was easy, the hive had great control over it within the tunnels, but when the spirits tried to get the information, nothing happened.

Met with failure again, the spirits with the hive went into discussion. Then the spirits sensed the energy they forced into the horned rabbit. The energy was within the creature, that part of the plan worked at least, and the energy was now part of the horned rabbit. The spirits switched their focus. Instead of trying to see the ‘essence’ of the horned rabbit, they decided to just read the energy that was now part of the creature. Instinct told again as the moment the energy the spirits did so, a screen came to their mind.

Species: Rabbit

Sub-Species: Horned Rabbit

Sex: Female

Attack: E

Defense: E

Health: E

Strength: E

Agility: C

Stamina: E

Weapons: Bite, Horn

Skills: Enhanced Agility, Quick Dash, Jumping Horn Attack, Supreme Luck

What the…silence reigned in the hive before all the spirits asked as one, “WHERE ARE THE NUMBERS?”

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