“Emperor’s Daisy”

“Mud Flowers”

“Spring’s Cabbage”

The Speaker watched with pride as the children correctly identified each plant. Among the over thirty Kin children in the class were her five cubs and she was pleased to see all of them being so attentive in class. Standing in front of the children was the new teacher. The Speaker had never met her before but had been informed that Nina Bloodgood was a hedge mage that specialized in plants and herbs. She had been in alone in the Great Kar Forest gathering when she was hit by the Great Spell of the Creator and turned into a Bunny-Woman.

Unlike most of the others Kin that were created in that incident, Nina managed to escape the attention of the search parties the Kin send out. The Kin knew she was out there but was unable to catch her. She was smart, cunning and did not trust the Kin. Her evasiveness gained her quite a lot of respect among the Kin and she did not come out of the cold till the first Bunny Mating season when her body basically forced her to go look for a mate. The Speaker’s smile wavered when she remember the chaos that came with the first Bunny Mating season. The Kin had never faced such an issue before and had no idea what to do. More than a few Bunnymen died that season. Now, it’s better. Deaths were now in the single digits.

Nina showed the children pictures after pictures of various plants and was rewarded with the correct answer every time. In view of the theme of the class, the new teacher had decided to bring the children out into the forest for class. The Speaker decided to quietly tag along; strictly for protection. The Great Kar wasn’t entirely safe, especially for small children. She wasn’t the only mother who felt that way.

“I have no idea if the answers are correct. Are my cubs doing well?” Krishna asked. The Speaker chuckled at the female Alpha.

“They’re doing fine. Don’t worry. The teacher will correct if they make a mistake.”

“Is this new teacher any good? I can’t tell.” Before the Speaker could reassure her follow parent, she was interrupted.

“Would you two wolves shut it? Some of us are trying to be sneaky here.”

The Speaker looked at the third mother of her small impromptu party. She was a Ratling and like the Speaker and Krishna, she had the idea of shadowing the class on their day out. Unfortunately for the Speaker, she had no idea who she was. The Speaker was a little embarrassed by this. She understood that there were so many Kin that she couldn’t possibly know the names of every one like in the beginning but she should know the name of the other mothers. Two other mothers were with them and with five of them shadowing the class, they inevitably met up.

“Oh please! She’s a Bunny. She probably heard us long ago.” Krishna retorted and the Speaker decided now would be a good time to get to know the others. At the very least she needs to prevent an argument from erupting.

“Anyone know who drew those pictures?” She quickly asked. “They look good. Is there an artist in the village?”

“That’s Ormus. He’s a Satyr who’s actually trying to make a trade as a painter and woodcrafter. I heard word he’s actually paid quite well for his work.” The mother who answered was another Bunny, one who like Nina decided to stay in the village due to her own children.

“Isn’t Ormus the blacksmith?” Krishna asked in surprise. “I thought he’s a Bullman?”

“No, the Bullman is Kamso. He’s an apprentice to Prlnkos, the Centaur. Prinkos was a novice blacksmith when he got hit by The Great Spell and now he’s trying to continue his practice in the Kin.”

The Bunny mother turned out to be quite a gossip and while the Speaker listened attentively, the Ratling mother just rolled her eyes.

“You all know it’ll be very embarrassing if we get caught following the class right?”

“Considering how many of us are here, we’ll have plenty of company.” Krishna laughed softly. “Oh, here comes another.”

Sounds coming from the direction of the village indicate to the party that another mother was on her way to the class. The Ratling mother groaned and even the Speaker frowned. The mother who was late was making a lot of noise. The mothers looked out at the class while keeping an eye on the new arrival. Surprisingly, it was a male Ratling.

“Ah Speaker, I finally found you.” The new arrival was loud and more importantly, he wasn’t there for the class but for her. “Something comes up and the Alpha asked that you return to the tunnels of the Creator.”

“What! It’s my day off.” The Speaker hissed at the Ratling. “You go back and tell him to handle whatever it is. I’m staying.”

“The Alpha thought you would say that and had a message for you.”

“What is it?”

“He asked that you ‘stop being paranoid’ and return to the tunnels of the Creator.” The Speaker shook her head while the other mothers laughed softly at her. “He also told me to say the same thing to any other paranoid crazy mothers I would meet.”

The laughter end as the mothers glared at the male Ratling. He could do nothing but put up his hands in surrender and say he was just the messenger. For a moment, no one said anything. Then Krishna shook her head and broke the silence.

“Speaker, your mate can be so annoying sometimes.”

The other mothers quickly agreed. However they also silently admit that he got a point. They left the class and headed back to the village, grumbling the whole way about the Alpha and stupid males in general. The Speaker was no exception.

“For his sake, the sky better be falling!”