Act 1: Morning.
I woke up warm, even though I felt the cold air of the early morning. I stood up, leaving the still sleeping large rabbits, and went outside. I saw my breath as I took it in and breathed it out, it was much like thick steam, telling me how cold it really is but me not feeling cold at all. "Weird, is it really my magic to be this adaptable to heat?" walked farther, walking on the grass.
I didn't feel the presence of the grass as I walked, so I didn't think about it as much as I collected different looking rocks, as I walked and explored around the Den. And then piled them near the rabbit Den's entrance. Then as I stood at the top of the small hill, I saw I was near the river that I was trying to get to before the rabbits knocked me out and kidnapped me.
I felt movement below me and saw that the rabbits were awake and seemed to be looking for me. "Hey I'm up here!" I yelled down to them, they looked up immediately and then hopped towards me. As they stood in front of me and turned into their more human form. "Youth, follow us we go drink water, and get food." I nodded to them, as they seemed to want to keep me as their. . .prisoner?
I wasn't sure because I wasn't being held like a prisoner like I imagined a primitive group of people would. They started moving, changing back to large rabbits hopping slowly towards the river. I was able to look at them closer now, seeing their fur as brown, with white on their legs, arms and belly. Two have white on their tails or ears.
I didn't see any sticks they should be holding, but then as one looked back to me checking if I was keeping up, I saw that she was holding it in her mouth, we traveled until the local star finally showed herself. "Why did you girls change forms?" I asked as we reached the crystal clear river, with pebbles as its bed with fish swimming in and out of view, going deeper in the water.
"Faster when traveling." One said as they started drinking from the river cupping water with their hands. I followed suit quenching a thirst that I did not have, but still the water felt reinvigorating, making me more awake as I drank and washed myself with the water. "You'll get sick if you keep doing that furless youth." One of them said, sounding very much like a nagging mother.
"It's good for you, removing your scent." I said as I washed myself, the water removing my filth. They looked puzzled, but did not question me as I dip into the water to have a better bath, and then as I walked out of the shallows of the river, I looked at my wet skin and saw steam coming out of it, the water rather than dripping off or absorbed by my skin was turned to steamed.
I was confused, as I was sure I didn't have the dry-enzymes gene-mod, that would steam sweat and foreign liquids that touch my skin. The rabbits sniffed me as their ears twitched. "You're right, your scent changed. Rather than flowers, it now smelled like the river." I nodded, not wanting to explain how important hygiene was, as I'm not sure if that's how it works here.
They started washing themselves like how I did myself as I watched, as they washed there breast I saw nipples and as they washed their groin I saw they had very human viginas, they had more hair in their heads much like humans, and there chest and hips was very much furred, now that they were wet, I can see their shape better, the figures where very human with thick thighs, slim torsos, and strong arms very much pear like builds.
As they got out of the water and started shaking the water did not steam, but dripped like normal, one then started to approach me, before I could react she gave me a wet hug. "Why the sudden cuddle?" I asked her as I felt a heat within me become hotter and then steam, I looked back at her and she turned from a wet mop to a fuzz ball. I was confused but the other rabbits didn't give me time to think as they hugged me getting me wet again but not for long.
"You're useful, you are now part of our herd." That was what the first rabbit told me as she hand combed her fur and hair, as her yellow eyes looked into my blue ones. "Sure?" I was still not sure what was happening but I think my status from prisoner turned into slave or brother. I really hope they didn't turn me into a slave, I remember the history classes about the practice and I don't want to get whipped.
Act 2: Fire.
As the sun rose higher I was at the front of the Den shredding sticks into tinder. "What are you doing youngest?" I looked over to them as they were in their more human form, laying on the grassy, smooth slope of the hill, nibbling on young clover leaves that they gathered on our way back. "Making something really useful." I told them and they nodded. "
I was surprised, I noticed their equivalent of a nod was ear twitches, they seem to be learning from me by watching, is this their way to make me feel more part of them? I wasn't sure, but I think they were friendly enough. As one of them tried to hand feed me clover tips as I worked. "Eat! While working." She said and I know I can't refuse, opened my mouth, and she fed me the tips.
As I chewed I kept my work after stripping two sticks on a dry log I found, I first tried with the rocks I found. I'm sure the white rock with black glass like things inside it was flint, and this other gray one with brown and green vain is probably iron. I struck them together and they sparkled but it was small. The tinder was cold so before I started a fire with stone sparks I thought about making it hot first.
With a small stick on a dent of the log surrounded with the wood tinder and loose fur from the Den, I started drilling the wood, my hands moving fast as I felt the heat, then when I thought it was hot enough an ember started, I was surprised, so I continued. Fire, I need fire. Those were my thoughts, as I moved my hands faster and faster, as smoke started, I smiled.
But then the stick I was holding caught fire, surprising me, letting it go, as it started burning the tinder as a small fire began on the log, I recovered quickly and then added more twigs on it, feeding the fire until it was stable. I looked at the rabbits and they seemed surprised. "What is it youngest?" the rabbit I think was the oldest spoke.
"It's fire and with it I think we don't need to fear the night anymore." I smiled at them, as they started interacting with the fire, one of them catching fire on their fur, making her "Iehh!" as it stung her, I immediately patted her down, putting out the embers. . . it wasn't hot as I did so. And it made me do something stupid, as I touched the campfire, and I was right it did not burn me. . ."Yeah, I'm heat resistant now."
Act 3: Visiting a tree.
After a few days with them, we've become more familiar with each other, giving them names, and giving my own. "Lazir, where are we going?" The friendliest spoke, as she walked by my side in full bunny girl, they've turned less and less into their large rabbit form when they were with me. She was wearing a grass skirt and bikini top I made, as I was only wearing a skirt.
"I'm visiting the talking tree Spark." I told her honestly, as I've already told them of the story of me falling from the skies and being rescued by a talking tree, helping a flower patch and meeting a rude mushroom. "Why are you guys following me anyways?" I asked them as all four of the sisters were following me, each one with flint spears, a grass basket, and a grass skirt, only Spark liked wearing the bikini top I made.
I was kitted out the same way, except I had a small smoking piece of wood, which I can use to make a fire quickly. "It's dangerous to wander alone youngest." The oldest said as her ears twitched listening to our surroundings. "I know it's dangerous, that's why I thought you guys would stay at home, Ash." I felt a light tap on my head, and turned to my side more surprised than angry.
"You're dumb Lazir, Always safer in a herd than alone." Said Amber, the one that knocked me out the first time I met them. "Amber's right Lazir, we shouldn't travel alone or the meat eater's would hunt us." The last one was Tinder, she was the best grass weaver among us as I only showed them how to make the skirts and baskets and then she made better ones after a day of working.
"In my old family, we had an elder that was able to speak to trees. He said it was not like how we speak with each other, but more like our spirits talking to each other." Ash said, as we walked. During the nights we usually tell each other stories before sleeping, in the den while the fire kept going outside, I made sure it would last the entire night until dawn.
We spoke to each other as we walked, mostly talking about the things we saw and the ideas I shared with them. They were not as dumb as I thought, they were just primitive. "Remember Lazir, no going to the forest, too dangerous." I nodded to Ash, remembering her story about them being survivors from a larger herd living near the forest.
Imagine a tribal clan of more than 6 big families of rabbit people, each having 8 to 10 members in each family, wiped out, only having 4 survivors, my spine chilled at the thought, they told me they were attacked by a pack of meat eaters and the way they described them, made them sound like giant sabretooth cats.
"Help! Help!" I heard someone yelling, on the hill with the tree that saved me, I started running and saw a boar, with large tusks eating the white mushrooms, and digging the base of the tree with its tusks, as the tree was swiping at it but doing nothing but wipe it with it's small branch near its base. "Stop!" roared towards the boar, it stopped and looked at me as I threw my spear at it.
My aim was true as I hit it's side. "Oick!" It growled fiercely, as it charged down towards me I took another spear from my back. "Come here little piggy!" I yelled to the beast, it was actually pretty big as it was maybe a little bit bigger than I was. "Is everything here a mega fauna!" I steeled my resolve while charging forward.
Before the charge met I trusted forward with my spear, the strike went barely through, stabbing its open mouth into its throat, as its head butted me away, I was in the air for a few seconds then pain, as I landed. "Argh! Damn pig!" I said with a breath, as I forced myself to stand, my adrenaline pumping pushing me forward.
I looked back and the boar was choking on the spear, it looked at me in it's redden eyes, I didn't have another spear so with my flint knife I prepared to accept it's charge, but before it could near me it stopped and fell, a spear stabbed through the side of its neck. "Thank the earth mother, we reached you." Said Ash, as she let go of her spear on the boar's neck.
"Dumbass!" I felt my head slapped. "You're safe!" and my side hugged as the adrenaline drained and I saw the girls were with me. Spark hugging my side and Amber the one who slapped my head. "Sorry for rushing in, I heard someone asking for help." As I said that I realized something. "Can you girls carry this up that hill? I need to check on someone." They nodded as I looked serious.
I ran and saw the mushroom's mycelium webbing as I heard her cursing as the tree tried to calm her down. "Damn meat things! If I can I'll. . ." She quieted down as I appeared. "Are you okay?" I asked her as I knelt down and covered her mycelium in dirt again, I saw she only had a few smaller mushroom heads. "Sigh. . .I'm fine now, thank you strange meat thing." I smiled at her. "Call me Lazir." I told her as the girls reached me as they dragged the corpse.
"Here let me give you girls a gift, I think you'll love it." I helped the girls and dragged the boar corpse, leaning it on the tree, making sure to avoid the flower bed. I pulled out the spears, and drained the blood of the boar pouring it on the tree, mushroom, grass and flowers, wetting the earth with blood. "What are you doing Lazir? Why bleed the corpse?" I looked at Ash, and then explained to them.
"Blood is good for plants in measured quantities, they grow faster and bigger with it, fertilizing the land." She looked unsure of what I was doing but accepted it, others did the same. "Do you like the gift? Tree, Mushroom, flower. . . Grass." I said the last one as I felt her presence she giggled announcing herself. "Aww, still can't understand how you notice."
The bloodied patch of grass said. "I know you've been watching me from time to time grass." I said to her, smiling at this trickster grass spirit. "It's good, I feel better Lazir. . .As thanks, you can give me a name and I accept you eating my fruits much like you did with the tree." The white Mushroom said to me, I was surprised, I thought she would keep being rude to me.
"Lazir? Are you talking to the spirit of the tree? You keep singing the sounds made by the leaves and grass as the winds move past them." I was confused that I thought I was speaking normal Human-galactic. . .Was that another gift from my future self? Being able to speak to anything sentient? I smiled at the thought of that, figuring the god blessed me with more than I thought.
"I name you Agaria, the edible white mushroom that grows on the base of trees." I felt heat in my chest as I said these words and felt a connection to her, much like the connection I made with the rabbit girls. With that I felt my instinct as I touched the boar. "Burn!" With that it's flowing blood burned into the boar's corpse, I don't know why but I felt my fire burning every last bit of blood left inside the corpse.
"Okay help me skin and butcher this, girls." I said to the rabbits as I worked to skin the boar whole, cutting its head with its head, spreading and stretching the hide with rocks on the grass on the side of the hill. I took the tusks off as those would be turned to weapons.
We had a lot of meat and fat as I buried the organs on the other side of the tree, pleasing the plant spirits here. I started cutting the meat separating the fat. The girls looked horrified as I did so. "Don't tell me you're gonna eat that!" Ash screamed at me. I was honest in my answer. "Yes, after cooking it." She was confused and looked sick as she asked. "Why?! You eat plants!"
I thought of an answer for this. "To make myself strong, and for you to become the same." Surprisingly it was Amber who vomited, but I expected this to happen. They did not want to become like those that killed their herd, so they refused. I was fine with it as I know change takes time, and a lot of convincing. With the butchering done and everything laid out.
I made a fire using the sticks and twigs around and then started cooking both the mushroom and meat. The smell was good, I had some salt with me, as I found a vein near the river. "Hey tree, can you give me some more fruit?" I said to the tree, as she and other spirits spoke. "Sure, just spread the seeds again." the branch with fruits went down.
"Girls go pick some fruits for you to eat, and collect the red ones only." They nodded, not looking at me the same they did earlier that day. As I kept cooking, one of the barbecues was okay now, so I took a taste and it was good. I set it aside on a rough wooden plate I made, and kept cooking.
The branch went back up as the girls filled two baskets with berries and they ate, a little farther than normal from me. I smiled and with a plate of barbeque of Agaria mushroom and boar meat. I approached them and they looked scared. "Look, I'm still me, even after eating the meat, cooking it purifies the curse and makes you able to eat it."
I said to them trying to be convincing, looking to Ash as she was their leader, Before I came, and still is. And it worked. Ash gave a breath and spoke. "I trust you Lazir, sorry for us being like this." She bit and ate a chunk of the barbeque, and from what I feel from her she's enjoying it as she ate more and more. "That's really good!"
"Ha ha ha! I told you, now let's eat and help me dry the rest." The rabbits join me eating juicy fruits and barbecued meat and mushrooms. I was worried they were pure herbivores but no they can eat meat, and hopefully digest it. With this and if I find more survivors of their last herd, I may be able to make something.