Life of a Nonhuman

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Nibbit smelt of singed fur and sulfur, when mixed with the smells of blood and burning that clung to the thoroughly ravaged field it didn't even seem that out of place, still smelled nasty though, even if the Wabbits didn't mind.
Hasuki had placed the Boss down a blanket retrieved from her bag, which was how the other Wabbits had managed to crowd around it, quickly licking him clean of the blood and ash on their coat, fortunately the boiling poison on the outside had evaporated so none of them were dropping dead from the Hound's bite on the boss.
The wounds were terrible, possibly not fatal on their own, but certainly dangerous, and the poison was already heating up their skin, the Boss wasn't even talking clearly now, just producing a mix of whimpers and squeaks that were gibberish to Nibbit, this stuff acted fast!

The gem once again pulsed with warmth, perhaps approving of this course of action, it would help him save the boss through transformation! Even if it's reserves WERE running incredibly low... There was at least enough for this.
The other Wabbits were staring curiously as he became a humanoid again and placed his hands on the Boss's hot skin, they didn't know what was going on but could guess that it might be helpful.
The light enveloped Boss, seeming to shrink for a moment... And then expand, quickly reaching human proportions, and within a few seconds there lay an unconscious, scarred, lightly muscles and very FEMALE Boss laying on a blanket in the field, they had ears and presumably a tail like Nibbit did, And though still in pain, was more clammy than burning now, their wounds were also less serious, looking much smaller on their larger body.
"E...ehh?! A.. A girl... Ahh! Close your eyes!"
Hasuki demanded, going red as she looked for something to cover the new humanoid Wabbit with, but the herd sort of took care of that, seeing someone that smelled like boss and had been Boss a moment ago shivering and fur-less spurred them into action, and Boss was soon covered by Fluffy Wabbits, which seemed to make the sleeping girl smile a little.
The fires were dying down too, though the field... Was destroyed, it would take months if not years to repair the damage, the Herd couldn't live there anymore... Plus whatever had been protecting them from predators was very clearly gone now.

 

[ayylmao]

Nibbit witnessed the light working in awe. As he had willed, it began to transform the Boss' body, slowly growing it little by little until he was the size of a human.

Or a she, as Nibbit now discovered.

"W-wwwwwwhaaaaattt?!"

It made him immediately jump backwards in surprise.

There was no mistaking it.

Boss was 100% a girl.

A-all this time, he's a girl all along?

He remembered the times where she rubbed her body to his, or, even worse, licked him in the face.

He now imagined her doing the same with this new, human body of hers.

Aaaarghh! I-I can't! I just can't!

Her body was a slim and tall one, with just a little bit of muscle. Smooth white skin and silver hair, along with white bunny ears and tail just like his.

A-and sizable boobs as well… He gulped.

Before his eyes could travel downwards and see her other lewd spot however…

"Ahh! Close your eyes!"

Hasuki interrupted him, distracting him just enough that when he looked back, the Wabbits were already all over her body, covering her up.

"Boss…"

Her wounds were now far less severe than when she was still a Wabbit, so her life was definitely saved.

However…

"Our clearing… it is ruined…" Nibbit said as he looked at his surroundings. Gone were the grasses, burned by the Hellhound's flames.

"We can't live here anymore, it seems…" he spoke to himself, smiling wryly. His ears drooped down as well.

"At the very least Boss is safe…" His smile turned genuine as he looked back at the sleeping girl. "Sleep well, Boss…"

Turning to Hasuki, he asked, "H-hey, found any clothes for her yet?"

If she couldn't find any, that meant they would have to go to a human settlement and buy one.

And the thought immediately sent shivers to his heart.

G-goddamnit, I used to be a human but i'm now actually being afraid of my own kind. How pathetic is that?

Maybe it's his Wabbit self speaking. They often had bad experiences with humans after all, with the poaching and all.

But how would they react with a human with bunny ears and tail? Judging by what Hasuki said, I don't think they'll react that well… especially since according to her, bunny humans are rare in the area…

He shook his head. He couldn't be afraid of humans forever. He imagined that with his current form, he's already more than a match against your average inexperienced adventurer.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

It looked like there was enough dried grass and flame roasted fruits left intact to feed the herd for maybe one last meal, so they would be able to make a trip to the nearby town without them all starving to death, of course there was some danger that with the Boss wounded as they were, the Wabbits may be attacked, but it was unlikely after the devastation wrought on the local area, as for the remaining wolves, they hadn't awakened either, and Hasuki had bound their legs with rope from the wagon, so if they woke up the Wabbits could easily keep them in line.
She hadn't WANTED to bind them, but knew wolves had instincts and may try and eat the Wabbits if they were hungry enough, even if it might make them ill.
Hasuki seemed to calm down, her blush fading as the Boss was now covered and safe from prying eyes... Sort of anyway, did Wabbits count as covering?

"S..sadly no... My trip here was supposed to be a one day thing so all my things are back at an inn in town... And I doubt she would appreciate being covered in the magical bags... That might be kinda mean and painful".
She commented.
"Though... The Poachers DID leave their coin bags in the wagon when they ran, we could use those funds to buy supplies..."
She suggested, though Hasuki herself didn't seem to like the idea... It's not like they had a choice, if they were going to relocate the Wabbits and two of their number now had human forms in addition to Hasuki... They were going to need a lot of things.
"We need to go to town, we can take the wagon to get there quickly, but it will take the rest of the day at least and we may need to rest there".
She explained.
"As for your umm, Wabbit form... I think some people might dislike that and want to hurt you..."
Her ears drooped again, she knew how it felt to be mistreated and didn't want her friend to feel the same.

Assuming that Nibbit agreed, Hasuki would get into the Driver's spot on the Cart, the placid horse having come back after being chased away by the Hell Hound, and take them to town, it would take a few hours, and when they arrived people quickly noticed them, there were looks of suspicion and distrust on many people's faces, living this close to the woods should have softened attitudes to beast kin, but alas, racism persisted even in this world it seemed.
The traders were at least willing to take their coin, at what would seem to be an inflated rate.

 

[ayylmao]

The two decided that they did indeed have to make a visit to the nearest village. Since the boss was out, Nibbit was the one who instructed the pack to stay here and take care of the boss. He also told them to eat the dried grass and burnt fruit if they were hungry while they were away, as bitter as they might taste.

After Hasuki bound the legs of the surviving wolves, they departed. Thankfully, they had the gold left behind by the poachers that they could use. They were also lucky that the horse had returned after being chased away by the Hellhound.

The journey took several hours, where Nibbit would use to ask various things about the human society in this world.

-----

So this is the village… it looks… quaint, just like your typical medieval fantasy village…

When they arrived, Nibbit learnt the discrimination non-humans received first hand.

I'm fine if people just stare at me out of curiosity. But those looks… those are one of distrust and fear.

And I thought Hasuki and I looked quite harmless with our dog and bunny features… It's not like we have bat wings or horns…

"H-hey, I think we.should finish our business here quickly…" he whispered to the dog girl. "I don't like the stares we're getting…"

They soon arrived at the clothing shop. They were greeted by the shopkeeper, but the smile on his face immediately disappeared once he noticed that his customers were that of beast-kin.

"Three sets of female clothing please," he asked him with the cutest smile he could muster.

"Get them yourself," he replied coldly, pointing at the dresses being displayed. "And put your hands where I could see 'em."

Nibbit sighed. This is going to be difficult for sure…

He walked over to where the dresses were. "Hey, Hasuki. Help me out with choosing, would you? I… don't really know girl's clothing that well…" He smiled, scratching the back of his head.

After picking some, he then moved to the men's section. Needs clothes of my own… Can't just be walking in these robes forever… With no underwear even… People will think I'm a perverted flasher if the wind ever decides to lift my robes up…

In the end, he settled on a simple white robe and shorts pair. The shorts didn't have any holes for his tail, so he had to just bear the uncomfortableness until he could make a hole on it.

He seriously doubted that the shopkeeper would be willing to do it for him.

"Here." He put down the clothes on the counter. "I'd like to buy these all."

He didn't really know the usual prices of things in this world, so he did not notice when the shopkeeper jacked up his prices three times the usual.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Hasuki seemed pretty uncomfortable herself, though she was more used to the stares, having been active in the area for a while already, this really was a bad area, and if they had come at night, some of the more openly hostile people may have actually attacked them, most probably wouldn't have actually killed them, but certainly done some damage and chased them into the woods.
However, in broad daylight it was like different rules applied, and there were enough moderates around that starting a fight might actually cause trouble for the attackers.
"Y...Yeah... This places makes me feel unsafe... I'm defenseless right now..."
She was putting on a brave face but her ears and tail gave away how nervous the girl was, with her staff shattered she seemingly had little to no access to magic, so if someone attacked she was literally just a kinda scrawny, physically weak girl with some cute animals bits.

The shop they entered appeared to be the only clothing place in town, and while there were a few more expensive looking outfits, most of the clothing on offer was simple, tough clothes, made to last and be comfortable on the frontier of civilization, perfect for a bunch of people who would most likely be living in the woods for the foreseeable future, especially as it looked like repeat trips to town might not be possible.
The man looked the two over with disgust, why did beasts even wear clothes? They should just go die in the mud... But, he did need business, and would sell to them for a large markup, enough to pay for the clothes threefold as a little reward for being so 'kind and accepting'.
As they were choosing he couldn't help but make comments.
"You gonna wear those dresses yourself, freak show?"
He jeered, it wasn't a real question of course.
Hasuki wisely ignored him rather than try and fail to defend Nibbit... And showed him some durable clothes, actually going with pants for the Boss after seeing how Nibbit fought and wanting to protect the recently transformed Wabbit's dignity.
She was very aware of how they were overcharged but didn't argue... Even if they did speak up, it might just result in a higher price, besides, it wasn't even her coin...

Once they left the store Hasuki spoke quietly.
"It's... Better... In the cities you know? Not everyone is like this... But people on the frontier suffered the most at the hands of the beasts... And most people have family who were killed or maimed in the beast wars..."
Whoa, she hadn't mentioned anything about a beast war before, but judging from how she said it, it was clearly a dark time in this world's history.
Unfortunately they did not make it far from the clothes shop before being shouted at.
"Oi! You damned mutt! There you are... Where's my coin you Wabbit fucker!"
It was the leader of the poaches! Clutching a bottle of... Something alcoholic, and waving his club around, the other two behind him, the townsfolk were gathering around to watch, sure they might arrest the poachers after the fight, but that didn't mean they would stop it until the beasts were beaten...

 

[ayylmao]

Nibbit nodded in understanding. He too wished he could leave such an unwelcome, unpleasant place as fast as he could.

Especially when it reminded him of his old life.

Don't get him wrong, he wasn't a victim of racism or anything like that.

However, those stares of disapproval and suspicion, he was well-familiar of them.

He received them daily, from neighbors, co-workers, even from random strangers he passed by on the road.

He was a 30-year old man. He was supposed to be married already at such an age. And yet, he instead bought boxes after boxes of porn, something his noisy neighbors discovered by going through his packages.

A clear invasion of privacy, yet he couldn't really do anything about it.

Then there were the glares of disapproval from his boss and co-workers when he kept refusing to work overtime without pay.

Once again, it was within his right, but of course he was the bad guy, the nail to be hammered in such a situation.

And his looks, which just happened to make him look like a fat lecher, earned him suspicious glares from random strangers.

It was all too unfair for him, which sent him even more down his spiral of depression.

When the shopkeeper made his rude and frankly, unwarranted comment, Nibbit almost decided to just punch him and steal his clothes instead of playing nice customer with him.

But if I do that, it'll just worsen beastkin relationship with humans…

So he settled with just a glare. It was already enough however to set fear into the shopkeeper's hearts.

He's probably overcharging us… well, who cares? Not our gold anyways.

Once outside, they headed back to their parked wagon right away. Hasuki then told him how not all humans were like that and that the humans here had a good reason to be distrustful against beast-kind.

"I see…" he replied. "Hmm, i thinkI understand their viewpoint a little bit now…"

"I don't know anything about the Beast War though. I'm a Wabbit, remember?" He gave a cute smile at her. "Maybe you can tell me about that?"

Their pleasant conversation however, was soon interrupted.

By a familiar, yet hostile face.

It's him! It's the poacher from before!

And there are his friends as well behind him!

Quickly, he stood in front of Hasuki, protecting her.

"Hey, what do you want with her, you drunk buffoon?" He said with a venomous look. "If you touch her, you'll feel my foot on your face."

He was absolutely serious. He still despised them for what they tried to do to him and his herd. Not to mention the way they treated and addressed Hasuki.

"Your coins?" He now grinned at him, daring him to attack. "Why, I just spent it in that overpriced clothing store." He pointed backwards with his thumb. "Maybe go ask the nice man to return some of them, hmm?"

He was clearly enjoying what he was doing, riling him up like this.

"Now, if you'll excuse us, we want to go back to our wagon, thank you very much." He put emphasis on the "our", knowing very well that it was their wagon originally.

Boldly, he took Hasuki's hand, pulling her with him, before brushing through the three drunkards.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

It was truly impressive that the Shopkeeper actually flinched at the glare Nibbit sent his way, even in his humanoid form he really was just kind of adorable rather than intimidating, a good chunk of that came from his big fluffy ears though, it was hard to really feel threatened when someone had those two adorable fluffy things sticking out of their head.
"Hmm... Even if there IS a reason for their hate of us it doesn't mean it's a good one... And from what he said about those dresses I think he might just be a mean person".
Hasuki was pouting again, it was a better look than the almost despairing face she had earlier, having Nibbit with her made returning to the town a lot easier, and knowing that they likely never needed to return only further improved her mood.

However it quickly fell again as she decided she really should tell him about the beast wars so he would know if it came up again... Which it most likely would since he was living as a beast kin now.
"The beast wars... Were a series of conflicts that arose when several kingdoms attempted to build in neutral, tribal territories... Several Beast kin groups attacked and destroyed the settlements, and the kingdoms sent their own forces in to reclaim them... This effectively started a war when both sides refused to back down, and then while the armies were busy in the Great Plains and the Desert of Glass, the tribes of the Forest attacked as well, to help their allies... A lot of people died... Especially among the beast tribes..."
Well that explained why the forest was so dangerous now, the tribes had probably been keeping the peace before the war.

Unfortunately before she could explain any further the poachers interrupted them.
The leader of the poachers looked Nibbit over like he was some sort of disgusting mess that someone had dumped in front of him, and spat on the ground between them.
"Go fuck a Wabbit you monster... This mutt has a contract with us, so we can do whatever we want until she helps us deliver that Wabbit herd!"
Hearing that their money was gone seemed to enrage the man, spittle flying out now as he shouted.
"How fucking dare you! You filthy thieving monsters!"
Uh oh, he'd maybe pushed a little too far, as the lead poacher was now swinging the bottle at his head while the other two drew their clubs, it seemed a beating was in order for those dumb men.

 

[ayylmao]

Nibbit laughed at Hasuki's reply. "Yeah, you certainly got a point. He's a mean one, that man. That kind of attitude isn't good for business, you know?"

He didn't tell her, but even her pouting face was cute.

She then gave a short explanation of what the Beast War was.

"I see…" He replied to her with a thoughtful look. "So it's a simple territorial dispute… though sounding from your explanation, it seems the humans are more to blame…"

It's similar to the history of my old world, I suppose…

He didn't know what the Great Plains or the Desert of Glass were, and he wouldn't know, as they were soon interrupted by the arrival of the poachers.

Nibbit gave him a disgusted glare when he told him that they could do whatever they wanted with her until she delivered the Wabbits, just because of some contract.

"You know she doesn't belong to you, right?" he said coldly. "Is slavery even still accepted in this kingdom?" he continued. "You only got yourselves to blame anyways, to be so weak that you got beaten up by mere Wabbits." He shrugged, shaking his head.

This was enough to trigger the prideful man to attack.

He quickly swatted the glass bottle off his hand with a high spinning kick, before kickjumping him straight on the chest. The impact sent him flying, straight to the walls of a nearby house.

This was why he decided on wearing shorts. He needed that mobility to do his kicks properly in human form.

The other two drew their clubs, and they immediately charged towards him.

So slow… so predictable...

The moment they got into his range, he spinkicked them both in one move on the face. As they were stunned by the blow, he continued by kicking them on their feet, making them both fall to the ground face-first. Painfully so, if he might add.

Standing over them triumphantly, he was so very tempted to declare who he really was. The fact that he was one of the Wabbits they had run away from, it must be very humiliating for them, to be defeated yet again by him like this.

If I do that though, I would no doubt attract more attention from the humans. I doubt a Wabbit who can turn into a human like me is common in the slightest…

He certainly wouldn't want curious researchers and trophy hunters to pour from all over the country after him!

"Learned your lesson yet, you three?" He spoke to the poachers with his hands on his waist. "Got beaten by Wabbits. Then you got beaten by a rabbit beastkin. Ironic, isn't it?" He grinned. "Maybe next time you guys will get beaten by a giant bunny or something."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Pretty much... I guess Humans were just tired of killing each other for more land and thought we would be easier targets..."
She smiled a little for a moment.
"Turns out they were wrong!"
Yeah, fighting an enemy that had no one leader or base of operations, no way to be decisively crushed... And one that likely had a good deal of sympathy from many citizens? Probably went absolutely terribly, which may be why they were called the Beast Wars rather than the Beast Genocides... Of course even if they did win, it would have been called an 'integration' or' colonization, at least based off of what he knew from his own world.

The fight was over in moments, the three poachers had no real training or skill, and were no match for someone as strong as Nibbit, they didn't even try to get up, though at least one was conscious, after this it was unlikely they would be confident enough to hunt again, after all, if they couldn't handle Wabbits, and one bunny man was enough to curb stomp them... They likely wouldn't be able to beat anything, no matter how hard they tried... This beating here likely changed the path they would take in life.
Of course now the town were getting antsy, probably best to leave before they decided to arrest the victors for something made up on the spot, food and other things could wait, there were other places further away with goods they could buy once the herd was established properly.

As they returned to the Wagon to leave Hasuki's tail was wagging furiously.
"Wow!~ You are so cool~ Those meanies didn't stand a chance against you!"
She seemed to have a bit of hero worship going on now, this was what? The third time he'd saved her? Yeah she would probably follow him anywhere at this point.
As they rode she offered to answer any questions about society he might have, as well as mentioning that there were indeed other towns and such they could trade at, this had just been the only option due to the urgency of the situation.

When they returned it was to an embarrassing sight, The Wabbits were sitting on and apparently bullying the wolves, who had been untied and were now acting as mounts, it seemed the herd had somehow tamed them, or more likely, kicking the Hell Hound's ass had made Nibbit their boss or something.
Meanwhile, the still naked Boss was apparently getting used to her body, she was still clearly hampered by her wounds and shaking a little from the effect of the poison, but had worked out how to walk.

 

[ayylmao]

The savoring of their victory had to wait, as there was a high chance the other humans would not take too kindly of him beating up one of their own, be they drunken poachers or not.

Giving another hostile look towards them, Nibbit grabbed Hasuki before darting away, leaving the village as quickly as possible.

"Hehe, thanks." He replied to the bunny girl's praise with a smile, his own tail wagging in excitement. "It was nothing, really. They're far easier than that hellhound for sure."

The ride back to the other Wabbits went smoothly. Neither the villagers nor the poachers bothered to chase after them. Well, after the asskicking I gave them, who can blame them really? He thought to himself as his nostrils flared with pride. Oh dear, it seemed our dear wabbit is getting just a little bit too overconfident of himself.

"Hey, Hasuki." He started a conversation, just to pass the time. "Why don't you tell me more about how human society works? Doesn't need to go that far, just the guys that lived near us would be enough for now."

"Call it a paranoid hunch, but I have a feeling we will be dealing with them more in the future," he explained himself. "Now that I have both transformed Boss and myself into this form, who says I wouldn't end up doing the same with the rest of the Wabbits eventually. When that happens, I don't think we can go back to our easygoing ways."

"The smarter the creature, the more needs it would have. Just like me and the Boss now needing clothes," he explained. "And to procure those needs, either cooperation or conflict needs to happen."

"You know where I'm going with this, right?" He smiled wryly at her. "When that happens, I wouldn't mind if you decide to just pack and leave. You're not one of us after all."

It was ominous, but he felt it needed to be said right then and there, upfront and honest.

When they returned, they found the Wabbits somehow taming the wolves they had taken as prisoners. And Boss was there, still somewhat slowly and awkwardly learning how to walk with her new two feet.

"Boss!" He called out to her, blushing once more as she was obviously still naked. "You're fine now?" He asked. "Here! Have some clothes! You have a human body now, just like me, so you should wear some clothes! Humans have no fur after all!" He tried to give a good reasoning why she should cover herself without saying the obvious, that she was turning him on by walking around naked like that.

He then reported his encounter with the poachers to her.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Hasuki needed to consider the question for a while, it was true that she had spent most of her lie living among humans in their society, but even she didn't understand the rules and traditions all the time, but she did at least have enough of a grasp of the basics to explain to Nibbit, he did need the information after all.
"Hmm... Well human society is pretty varied depending on where people come from... I come from the royal territories, which are essentially a group of minor kings, usually with only a city and a few villages to their names who banded together into a nation of sorts to protect from neighbors... It's the council of kings on top, a few minor nobles below them and then a load of rich merchants and stuff, one of the kings is a beastkin so we're treated fairly most of the time".
She explained, before letting out a quiet sigh.
"At the moment we are on the very edge of the Royal Territories... I think this used to be imperial territory at one point, I umm, don't know much about the other countries other than the two closest seem to be imperial in nature, and both have tried to expand into this forest before... Without much success".

"Oh... Right... Umm, If you want me to leave... Just tell me okay? I don't want to be a nuisance".
Hasuki told him, ears dropping a little, the way she had heard it, Hasuki thought he wanted her gone, just like how the guild had kept sending her off on long goose chases to get her away from cities.
She didn't mind though! If he wanted her gone she'd find somewhere else to go.
When they arrived several Wabbits bounced over to comment.
"Nibbit! It's Nibbit! Nibbit I name baby after you!"
Oh, well it seemed he was quite popular and the her was fully used to him being a humanoid now.

The boss almost seemed to go a little red as Nibbit called out to her, she didn't over up, but almost wanted to, this new form had come with a blossoming sense of modest, it just hadn't quite planted itself fully in her mind quite yet, though judging from the goose bumps all over her skin, she was definitely going to appreciate some clothing.
"I... Not fine..."
She admitted, not too prideful to admit that she was still unwell, and up close there was also signs of exertion, it seemed she was pushing herself despite the pain and weakness.
"Human... You made me Human... Humans are strong, I can protect the herd better now".
She seemed to have improved her speech capability, and was clearly proud of herself as she started to dress.
"Yes, Humans get cold too easily, need these for warmth, Thank you Nibbit".
She needed a couple minutes to get dressed, and some instruction from Hasuki, but managed to figure out, the clothes managed to outline just how toned she was, as well as hiding most of the scarring she had accumulated over the years.

After hearing what he did to the poachers the Boss nodded admirably, a small grin on her lips.
"Good, showed those weak predators how strong Wabbits are".
She declared, apparently happy enough from that to try and rub their faces together, still very much used to Wabbit ways of showing affection.
"Oh, made predator wolves be good, said you are Pack Leader now, thought you should deal with them... Herd seems to like them".

 

[ayylmao]

"I see… I see…" Nibbit kept nodding at her explanation. "A council of kings here… then two empires nearby..."

"I am surprised though, how there's a Beastkin amongst the kings," he commented. "I suppose you might be right." He smiled at her. "That the cityfolks are more tolerant of our kind."

"O-oh no, not at all!" He quickly corrected himself. "I-I don't want you to leave! Not in the slightest!" He panicked a bit as he tried to explain himself. "I'm just saying that if you ever felt burdened being with us, then you should just leave! You have no obligation to help us Wabbits after all!"

"I-I'm just saying that I have a feeling it would only get tougher from now on. So you don't have to feel bad in the slightest if you ever decide to leave us…"

There. He hoped he hadn't miscrontrued his meaning once again.

-----

Once they arrived, Nibbit was immediately swarmed by happy, thankful Wabbits, which he certainly did not mind in the slightest, with how fluffy they were.

"You're… not fine, Boss? You're still feeling unwell?" He said, looking terribly concerned. "Damn it, I knew we should've bought some medicine as well!" He wanted to punch himself for this stupid mistake.

"I'm glad you liked it, Boss!" He smiled at her. "I was worried you wouldn't… I had to do it to keep you alive, you know…"

Thankfully, the Boss was willing to put on her clothes immediately. Nibbit naturally looked away as Hasuki helped her with the task.

Once she was dressed, he gave his report on the poachers.

"Hehe, I tried my best, Boss!" He blushed from her praise. "You should've seen me kicking them down one by one!"

And then, she suddenly walked forward and rubbed her face all over his.

"B-b-b-boss, w-w-w-what are you doing?" He said with his face as red as a tomato.

O-oh, that's right… She still thinks like a Wabbit… And that's how Wabbits show affection to each other…

"B-Boss…" He tried to explain. "T-that's not how humans show affection with each other… w-well, I-I suppose they could use it… b-but only towards their mates! Not anyone else!"

"I-if you want to praise me, then you can just give me headpats!"

O-oh God what am I saying?

After he calmed down, she also told him that the wolves now viewed him as their pack leader.

"W-whaaat?"

Well, that's… an unexpected surprise.

Then again, I beat the hellhound, which used to be their leader. Maybe that's why?

"I'll go talk to them then." He nodded at her.

When he went to meet the wolves, to even more surprise, the Wabbits were there, rolling around, playing, and even licking the wolves. "H-hey you guys, you're not afraid of them anymore?" He asked the Wabbits.

He then came over to the wolves. Standing over them with his hands on his waist, he asked, "So you guys think I'm your new leader, huh? Then, first rule. No harming Wabbits. You have to agree to that before I'll set you guys free."

Once they did, he personally took off their bonds one by one until every wolf was free to walk around.

"You guys have eaten yet?" He asked them with a smile. "I assume not. You guys are carnivores while us Wabbits are herbivores."

"So this is my second rule." He showed a two with his fingers. "You would only hunt animals that I gave you permission to. And definitely no hunting humans. We don't need that kind of problem here."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Well, at the time the other kings were more concerned about guarding their flanks than who they had as allies... And by the time the danger of invasion had lessened enough deals and alliances had been struck that they couldn't just remove him from the counsel... Of course the Beast Wars strained things..."
She explained,
Of course, there was nothing like mutual threats and possible profit to bring former enemies together, and nothing like conflict to set them against one another again...
Hasuki seemed visibly happier once the misunderstanding was resolved, it seemed she didn't want to leave any time soon, which could help, as neither Nibbit nor any of the Wabbit herd had any real understanding of the world outside the forest, and Hasuki would be able to instruct him on both Beast and human culture.

"Medicine?... What that?"
Boss questioned, before dismissing it as a 'human' thing that didn't concern her.
"I... Have felt worse, I will be all good soon,.
She tried to reassure him, not wanting Nibbit to worry about her, especially when they had more important things to figure out, like food and a new safe home!
She was confused by his reaction to her affection... None of the other Wabbits had any trouble with it! Of course then he explained it as being a dumb human thing, causing her to pout.
"I am Wabbit, not human, I can do what I want..."
She declared, before proceeding to pet his head like it was nothing, even if there was a slight, instinctual blush on her cheeks, she ignored the comment about mates... Even if it did make her feel funny when used in reference to Nibbit.

One of the smaller Wabbits answered his question.
"Nope! These not predators! They weird Herd mates! Won't Hurt us!"
It declared confidently, it seemed the average Wabbit was very incredibly quick to trust and forgive, and always eager to expand their herd with more strong members to fight off predators.
Oddly, the wolves were easy for him to understand, and it was clear the Wabbits could too, most likely the magical gem was at play, and had somehow gifted them to ability to communicate, how many other creatures had it done that for?
One of the wolves, the most bruised of the lot seemed to take the role of speaker for the others.
"We not eat, only Wabbits here, we not eat Wabbits".
It declared, cocking it's head to listen to Nibbit's rules.
"Those rules good, like proper Alpha".
It seemed that was an agreement! Great, now all they needed was a place to live, preferably away from the nearby village, and it would need shelter, clear space and preferably some sort of ability to keep predators away... Like the temple for example.

 

[ayylmao]

"I see…" Nibbit replied. "An alliance of convenience, huh? Such a thing… can be quite fragile, you know…"

"I just hope a civil war wouldn't happen in this country…" he continued. "I imagine the two empires would swoop in and conquer this land if that ever happens."

"Pounce when you see weakness," he chuckled. "That's how a predator should attack."

-----

Oh right, Boss wouldn't know about medicine…

"Medicine is what humans drink to get better when they fall ill!" He explained as simply as possible.

"Glad to hear that! But for now, take it easy, Boss!" He put a hand on her shoulder.

To his chagrin, the Boss rejected his argument over not rubbing her face to his, saying that they were Wabbits, so they did Wabbit things, not human things.

She petted his head as well, making him melt on the spot. His rabbit ears twitched around happily.

W-why does it feel so good? I-is it a Wabbit thing or do I really want to be petted like this?

Aaaah, this feels so wrong, yet so right…

He could only look downwards, blushing far more severely than the Boss.

-----

The wolves immediately agreed, so he set them free. They even got to call him their Alpha now.

Since when the Wabbits could talk to the wolves that smoothly? And me as well, for that matter?

Hmm, is this the work of the gem as well, I wonder?

He brought the wolves in front of the Boss.

"This is the leader of the Wabbits," he introduced her. "We just call her Boss around here. Make sure to give her the proper respect, alright?"

"And now, we have to talk about our plans for our new home. Anyone got any good ideas they'd like to share?"

…

"No one? Alright then, how about we use the ruins? Oh right, you guys don't know about the place. It's the one I visited with Hasuki the other day," he explained.

"It's isolated, away from hunters and poachers, and it has a magical barrier of some sort that makes predators go away. And of course, lots of delicious green grass around."

"Oh, and it's not far from here at all! Just one day worth of walking!"

"How about it, Boss?" He asked their leader. "Sounds good?"

"And of course, the wolves are coming too! They can act as guards, shooing away less dangerous predators and warning us of more dangerous ones! You guys are okay with that, right?" He looked at them.

It was then decided. They would start their new life at the ruined temple.

-----

Their journey there was harder than he had expected, thanks to the Wabbits not really being used to traveling in such a long direction. Nibbit would help carry a couple of them on his body, with the Boss and Hasuki doing the same as well. They didn't meet with any predators or monsters, thankfully enough.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Boss sniffed at his explanation of medicine, clearly not impressed, it seemed making her use human things might be a bit difficult, at least at first, she did seem to like wearing clothing now, if only because it gave her some of the warmth that Wabbits seemed to endlessly crave, Nibbit was at least mostly unaffected by this compulsion, so it was most likely some sort of mental affect, rather than a physical need.
"I will Take it Easy... Only Until better though!"
She assured him, back when she was the only protector the Boss wouldn't have rested in case something bad happened, but with Nibbit there... She could relax...
Boss sort of skipped away when she was done petting Nibbit, the childish looking action was surprisingly graceful, and seemingly at least partially driven by Wabbit instinct, she certainly covered ground quickly.
Hasuki had gone red watching the petting and looked away until they were done, though didn't say anything.

The wolves bowed their head to the Boss, who was currently lifting up one of the smaller Wabbits, which seemed to greatly enjoy being up so high for the first time in it's life.
They didn't speak, but Boss acknowledged them with a nod and they bounded away to sniff around their new 'pack' none of the Wabbits seemed to mind the sniffing, having accepted the wolves without any issue.
When it came time to decide on a place to go there were no real suggestions, the Wabbits had never willingly left the area they were currently in, the wolves only knew of an empty cave and Hasuki was certainly no help, so when Nibbit brought up the temple there was no argument, the wolves were happy to act as guards, and Boss was more than eager to get the herd to a safe, food filled place instead of this burned out field.

As they couldn't effectively drive the cart to the temple, Hasuki hid it as best she could behind a particularly thing bit of vegetation and took the horse with them, the trip was absolutely draining for the hungry Wabbits, and a normal herd would almost certainly have died along the way, and a few might have anyway if not for being carried by Nibbit, Hasuki, the horse, and even the wolves sometimes.
Finally, exhausted and hungry, they reached the temple, trees thinning out to reveal the lush grass and bountiful space of their new home.
The Wabbits immediately hopped towards particularly tasty looking grass to stuff their faces before a nap, while the wolves seemed to be investigating one of the collapsed bits of ground as a possible Den.
"I doubt this is what the builders of this place had in mind... But I'm sure they'd be glad it is being used for something important".
Hasuki commented.
Meanwhile Boss seemed confused, she had managed to acquire a piece of fruit, but wasn't partaking of the grass... Perhaps her human instincts were starting to take root?

 

[ayylmao]

"Of course, Boss, of course!" Nibbit replied with a reassuring smile.

As usual, always a hard worker huh, Boss?

He saw her skipping away. And he couldn't help but think how cute she was doing that.

A natural Wabbit thing, huh? Guess my human mind doesn't make me do that automatically, unlike her.

Her movements are pretty graceful though. She must have no problem fighting in that body, even without a human mind.

With no one stating any objections against his plan, he clapped his hands and smiled cutely, his rabbit ears twitching with excitement.

"Wonderful! We can go now right away! To our new home, yay!"

He raised his right fist, hoping the others would follow or else it would feel very awkward indeed.

-----

The Wabbits did not hesitate in the slightest to eat the delicious grass in front of them the moment they arrived at the temple. Nibbit smiled. Ah, the joy of being innocent and simple-minded…

Hasuki commented about the building's original purpose by it's builders. "Yeah, I doubt they would expect their building to be used as a Wabbit home like this." He gave a little chuckle.

He then noticed the Boss, who seemed to be confused about something.

"Hey Boss, what's the matter?" He asked her. "That's a fruit, isn't it?" He pointed at the object on her hand. "Humans can eat fruit, just like Wabbits! Humans can't eat grass though…" He looked at the other Wabbits.

"Oh, I know!" He just remembered something important. "You can reverse back to your Wabbit form if you want! Like this!"

He immediately shrank back into a furball, making his clothes all fall down to the ground. He then escaped from them, bouncing to attract her attention.

"If you do this though, everytime you return, you gotta put on your clothes one by one again!"

He enlarged again, turning back to his human form.

"Convenient, no? You can eat grass in your Wabbit form if you want!"

He proudly grinned, putting his hands on his waist.

Completely forgetting the fact that he was standing completely naked, right in front of a girl too!

"Aaaahhhh!"

It took him a few seconds to realize what he was doing. Blushing severely, he quickly covered his crotch with his hands.

"B-Boss! Look away! Look away!"

After she did, he quickly put on his clothes in a panic. First his briefs, then his shorts and shirt, then the cape covering them.

Once he was all covered, he finally let out a breath of relief.

"A-and that's why you can't just shift forms willy-nilly! Putting on the clothes afterwards must be done in private! No humans should be without clothes in public!" He finished his explanation, still with flushed face.

Afterwards, he walked to the interior of the ruins. Hmm, I wonder if we can renovate this place… make it actually be livable… it would be nice if we could…

We'll need the help of professionals though. A bunch of people who knew how to restore and fix up ruins… How in the world would we even get that kind of people?

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

While nowhere near as innocent and mindless as they had been before now that the stone had seemingly affected and evolved their minds and bodies, the allure of food to a hungry herd of Wabbits that hadn't yet beaten their instincts was impossible to ignore, and they feasted until their bellies bulged out, making it hard to bounce, leaving just a few still exploring their new home, and then began lazing around, to be fair though, even humans did such things when hungry, or even just because they felt like pigging out, so it wasn't really fair to judge them.
At one point a bunch of the more industrious Wabbits worked together to hit a tree until fruits fell without destroying the whole thing, which the wolves quickly ate, it wasn't meat, but was at least something to fill their bellies, and besides, it was healthy for wolves to eat some fruit... A fact that seemed to come from the stone in Nibbit's stomach.

"Heh... Yeah... Gosh it's going to be a pain to clean though, I was never good at wind magic so I guess I'll need to make a broom or something..."
Hasuki was seemingly already planning on trying to make the ruins livable, first step was definitely dealing with the inches thick layers of dust, and maybe finding that ever illusive front door, even if the Wabbits seemed fine outside and the wolves had only claimed a dead end tunnel as their lair, Hasuki and Nibbit would need shelter, and it was cool and dry enough on the lower floors that they could conceivably use it as a storage, maybe dry some grass for winter or other harsh times, or even dry meat if they got around to hunting, which was another issue, the wolves could probably hunt for themselves but would need to know what was or wasn't okay to eat.

Boss seemed glad for the help.
"Fruit is still good... But messy, Can't eat in one bite..."
She explained, that did make sense, humans had a little more involved process of eating than the Wabbits who could swallow a lot of things whole, or at least with minimal chewing, instead relying on their robust stomachs to handle anything they put in their mouths.
She actually looked away when told, a slight blush on her face, yeah this new human form was definitely affecting her perceptions!
"Hmm... Like this?"
She asked after they had both regained their composure, taking a deep breath before her body shifted into her Wabbit form, her own clothes ending up in a pile that she quickly escaped... Was she perhaps a little bigger? There was also a small black streak in her fur, likely as a result of permanent damage dealt by the Hell Hound's Burning poison, well it was at least easy to tell her apart from the others like this.
"That's better... Like this form for eating... But Other form stronger".
She declared, swallowing the fruit in one bite and letting out a satisfied sigh, quickly hoovering up some grass as well.
"Mmh... Not Human though, so doesn't matter".
She declared, though did later transform in her shirt, so was at least covered by that until she pulled her other clothes on, and there was that blush again, almost like she was forcing herself to keep acting like Wabbit even if it went against her new instincts.
Hasuki had also gotten a discreet look while he was distracted.

As he though about renovations more information came unbidden to his mind, the stone filled his mind with images of towns, and a map showing the forest and other nearby lands, it seemed there was a small village about two days travel away by horse that might have crafters, and a larger one three days away, it seemed the stone was going off of half remembered memories though, and went into 'hibernation' after this little bit of help, needing to carefully manage it's limited reserves until it could find more energy.

 

[ayylmao]

Nibbit watched with a satisfied smile as the Wabbits feasted on their new home. "Wow, they adapted so quickly now I feel silly for worrying if they'll get used to being here or not!" He talked to himself, putting his hands casually behind his head, giving a glance and a chuckle towards Boss.

"And I see the Wabbits are helping the wolves , sharing their food with them! Huh, never knew they ate fruits." He commented further.

With Hasuki, he gave a preliminary assessment on how livable the ruins were. Like she said, the place was very dusty. With no wind magic, they would have to do it the old-fashioned way. With a broom.

"Hmm, maybe we can make a broom using the leaves of the trees outside. Just a makeshift one, nothing permanent," he suggested to her. "You tie them with a leaf rope into a long branch. I think I saw a couple trees big enough for that."

"But just us three (referring to the Boss), cleaning this whole place up? I'm not sure we can do that…"

The lower levels could be used as a storage. His Wabbit mind knew Wabbits didn't store food like some other animals. Instead, they just hibernated through winter. Wolves, however, just had to survive with whatever hunts they could find in the cold season, which was why some wolves would even dare attack human villages. It was out of hunger, not malice.

Both lifestyles are no good… To have a safer, more high-quality life, we need to start storing food…

Just like humans…

"Still can't find the front door too… I wonder where it could be…"

"Haah, if only we have a ghost that could pass through walls… Wait, how do ghosts work anyway? Are they just like any other monsters?" He asked Hasuki.

The Boss seemed to have difficulty eating the fruit, which Nibbit responded with a smile.

"That's the point. Humans enjoy their fruits slowly," he explained. "Savor the taste, bite by bite." He wagged his index finger with a little smug smile on his face.

After he wore his clothes once again, it was time for Boss to try shapeshifting as well.

"B-Boss, aaahhh!"

He panicked a little. He already told her not to change here willy-nilly where he and everyone else could see her naked when he changed back!

He was glad however that there seemed to be no issue with her transformation. She could do it immediately and there was no issue with her Wabbit form, except for a streak of black fur on her.

Must be from that Hellhound… a Wabbit scar, I suppose… she doesn't seem to mind though, thankfully enough…

He knew how bothered a girl could be by any kind of scars on their body.

For men, though, it might make them look them cooler.

But with this boyish look though, yeah, no… He smiled wryly.

She liked that form better for eating. He himself though felt he could enjoy food better in his human form.

When she transformed back, he had to look away from her. Even though she might not mind standing naked in front of him, he felt he would be a bad guy who took advantage of an innocent girl if he feasted his eyes on the most definitely beautiful sight.

Suddenly, a rush of information entered his mind. A small village, and a bigger one; where they could get some crafters. We certainly could use them to fix the ruins… maybe… if they're willing… And they can increase our quality of life as well… though that's mostly for us three who has human forms...

That rush of info though… Must be the gem again… I think it's sleeping now though… I feel its energy seemingly slowing down, hibernating inside me...

"Hey, Boss… Hasuki…" He called them both over. "I have a proposition."

He then told them how he wanted to get some carpenters to fix the ruins so they could actually live inside it.

"Now, I know what I asked sounded crazy. I mean, I'm basically inviting a bunch of humans to our new home, even though we just got attacked by them," he admitted beforehand. "That's why I'm intending to only get humans who are symphatetic to us monsters. So I will go there and examine how they acted to my presence first. Maybe even staying with them for a while to observe them."

He then turned to Hasuki. "Do you know about these two villages?" He pointed at her map, matching it with the info he received. "Which one would be more likely to be accomodating to us monsters?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Yeah... Three people could maybe clean a house, but those ruins are so huge... And I don't think the Wabbits are industrious enough to help us clean... And even if they were I wouldn't want them in the ruins while they are still so unstable and full of traps..."
Sure the traps in question were degraded and mostly defunct, but that could still be enough to scare or even hurt a Wabbit, and they had a grand total of three bandages from Hasuki's equipment as medical supplies, so nothing to help a really bad wound.
Hasuki perked up at the question, tail wagging, she knew about spirits and loved being able to show off things she knew!
"Oh! Most people call them spirits... And they are usually magical creatures with spirit like qualities... You know, nature spirits, minor elementals and the like... But some living creatures can become 'ghosts' when they die, if they have enough innate magical energy and die not wanting to pass on... They are really hard to get rid of but usually peaceful and helpful! Back at my guild there were three different ghosts, and only one of them was mean!"

The boss bounded over when called, she was dressed, though had forgone shoes for some reason, the grass was pretty soft so it was probably fine for now, but with her messy hair it gave her a bit of a wild woman look, at least it was tempered by the big ears and fluffy tail, hard to look intimidating when you had those things attached to you.
Boss was first to speak up, and seemed uncomfortable.
"Humans bad... But... Ruins being fixed could be good... Give Herd somewhere to hide in cold and storms".
She stated before issuing a warning.
"If humans act bad, I will beat them up and make them leave, so you make sure to get good humans only".
Well, that was fairly reasonable, and she seemed to agree that having shelter could be good for the tribe.

Hasuki was much more on board with the idea, nodding enthusiastically as he spoke.
"That's a great idea! Probably way easier to restore half collapsed ruins than build from scratch, really expensive though... We might need someone who would work for little to nothing... And that's not exactly very common... If nothing else I might be able to sell some of the defunct golems to the Guild for umm... 'Archaeological funds' If they agree that it would be worth their time that is".
She offered before answering the question.
"Hmm... The closest is human majority, it was affected by the Beast Wars but not as badly as many other villages... The other one is Low Elven, they usually tend to get along with most sentient beast folk, and have some absolutely amazing carpenters, well, most elves are naturally skilled at carpenters but especially ones living near forests... Of course we might still need to find a stonemason to help with some parts of the ruins".

 

[ayylmao]

Nibbit listened carefully to Hasuki's explanation on spirits. He was glad that it seemed to work the same way spirits worked in most fantasy stories.

But ghosts? They're actually welcomed in society like that?

"Wait, you have ghost adventurers in your guild?" He asked, surprised by the revelation. "And three of them at that? That's… really bizarre, to say the least…"

Demihuman adventurers were certainly common in the fantasy stories he used to read. But actual ghosts being adventurers? Now that's new.

-----

Nibbit was glad that the Boss agreed with his idea. He was afraid she wouldn't care about living improvements, just like he expected an ordinary Wabbit would. They would be satisfied just by having fresh grass, and they already had that in abundance.

I suppose her transformation is making her think more like a human…

Hasuki then explained about the two villages. One of them was still human dominated, though apparently they were affected less by the Beast Wars, hopefully making them less hostile to demihumans than the last village they were in, and the other was a low-elven one, which should be even less hostile to their kind than any human village.

"Stonemasons, huh?" Nibbit paused. "How about dwarves? Are there any dwarven villages nearby?"

He imagined that dwarves would be pretty good at that, if he remembered his fantasy stereotype right.

"We certainly can use carpenters to build houses, though I imagine only us three with human forms would actually use them," he told Hasuki. "Maybe we can use them to build wooden walls and fences as well… Wouldn't give much protection, but if we ever got into farming, with sheeps and cows and such, that could be useful. Wabbits don't really eat meat though. Only the wolves, which there were only a few of them. Milk though, Wabbits can certainly drink, even though it wasn't part of their ordinary diet."

Of course, he knew about Wabbits liking milk from the gem's knowledge and his own instinct.

"Yeah, you're right," he replied to Hasuki bringing up how expensive it would be to get workers to come to their place. "We certainly do that!" he responded to Hasuki's suggestion of selling the golems. "Good thinking, Hasuki!" He smiled at her.

"If we're going to find someone who would work for cheap though, it must be someone who's sympathetic to our cause," he continued. "Maybe if we can find a Wabbit lover... or even a bunch of them..."

"N-not the kind that just loves us for our fur, of course!" He quickly added. "I-I'm not going to ask the Wabbits to let their furs be taken away like sheep!"

Boss certainly would never be down with such a… barbaric plan like that.

After thinking some more, he finally decided. "Let's go to the low elven village first." He told them. "I… think I already have enough bad experiences with humans for now." He grinned sheepishly.

Before he departed however, he realized something.

"Boss, do you want to come with us?" he asked her. "Y-you don't have to if you don't want to, of course! I mean, you got the herd to take care of after all! B-but I think it would be good for you if you get to see how humanoid races lived their lives! You got a human form now after all!"