**“April 16th of 1607 was a bloody tragedy for the inhabitants of Hanimal Kingdom. There were English soldiers everywhere, dragging my people around and slaughtering them mercilessly. Even citizens of Birmingham were hacking us into pieces as if we were livestock. Oh it was horrible!”
“Does anyone know what happened next?”
“We used our powers to defeat and kill those bastard Englishmen!”
“Not quite”
“We didn’t kill them dummy!! It’s against the rules!”
“Settle down Lora”
“Yeah, shut up Lora!”
“Guys, calm down. Lora do you know what happened to the Kingdom after 1607?”
“Of course! We moved to ‘Merica to get away from the Englishmen and went into hiding.”
“Correct! And do you know who helped us make it to AMerica?”
“Gasha!!”
“Gasha!!”
“I said it first!”
“No I did!”
“No I did!”
“Shut up, stupid.”
“That’s why I can hunt better than you”
“That’s why you’re a big human face”
“Alright that’s enough. Your homework tonight is to remember what you learned about Humans today. Go on home to your parents, and make no pit stops on the way. Understand?”
“Yes, Omega Nia”
“Yes, Omega Nia”
Lora and Lionel left with a wave goodbye. I wave back as I head back to my home as well. I’ve been teaching the same thing for 9 years now. Everytime I hear it I get more depressed. My people deserve respect and freedom. Not to be hid in the shadows of sinful creatures such as humans. Sadly, it’s the only way we know to live.
“Omega Nia, Alpha Qylis wants to meet with you to renew the barrier,”says Fabumi.
Fabumi is my right hand adviser in my clan. I am the leader of the the Tiger Clan and he helps me because even leaders get overwhelmed.
“Tell him I’ll meet him there at 8,” I say.
My ancestors and I, as well as other leaders of different clans have put up a barrier to cloak us. An average human being will look upon our place and see nothing but trees and birds. Large amounts of magic are able to be detected more and more as human civilization advances, so we have to renew it every 6 years. As long as we keep up on it, we’ll be fine.
“Fabumi, would you mind telling me the happenings of this week?”
“Of course not, your majesty.”
“I’ve told you a thousand times already. Just call me Nia,” I chuckle.
“Yes, Om—Nia. Tomorrow, you will meet with the Fyrèt Clan to discuss our annual celebration in December. Wednesday, you will teach the Tiger cubs how to hunt. Also, your half brother will be visiting from South America. And Thursday Gasha will be visiting for a week!”
Finally! Gasha hasn’t come to see us in 11 years. Back then my mother was the leader of my clan. In 2095, Humans created a machine that could detect large amounts of radiation and other waves of energy. Because of this, our barrier then was no longer stable. Strange objects called plastic found their way into our kingdom. Even domesticated animals roamed our pathways. My mother called upon Gasha to help us find another way to hide in plain sight. When she appeared, everyone was so relieved. There was even a big celebration for her return. After the big party, she taught Qylis to cite another cloaking rhyme that worked just as good. After we were saved once again by Gasha, she left and has been dead silent since. Even after Troy and I were crowned Omega and Alpha of our clans, there was no sign of her. She always came to greet the new leaders. I guess being alive for 4.5 billion years can take a toll on you.
“Nia, how nice to see you. How’s your mother?” Says Qylis.
“She’s in bed sleeping like always. How have you been?”
“Nothing much. Casting spells and cracking shells,” Qylis says with a chuckle.
I laugh. Qylis says that every time we greet each other. Sometimes he’s like a repeating record.
“Where is Troy?” I ask.
“Nobody knows where that bophead goes when he’s not being watched,” Qylis scoffs.
“I’m right here old manny,” Troy says as he jumps out of a bush nearby.
“Oh please, you couldn’t keep up with me even if I was 10 years older.”
“Wanna bet?”
“Hello to you too, Troy,” I say.
“Hello, my sweet adoring Omega Nia” Troy coos as he winks at me.
I roll my eyes and laugh. Troy is the leader of the Rhinosi Clan and his favorite thing to do is tease me. Since we were 4 he’s been giving me a hard time, but for us to be the top leaders of the kingdom we’re pretty good mates.
“Let’s hurry up and put up the barrier so I can go home please,” Qylis says.
“Sure thing old manny”
The barrier is 10 miles away from the edge of the clan homes. Those miles are just grass, swamp, and trees. No one is really allowed to come this far out. No one comes here by choice anyway. We have everything we need in the center village.
“We’re here.”
Troy and I shift back into our human forms. Qylis flies down next to us and we head to the barrier. As we get close we see a shadow on the ground. It looks like a rock, except for the fact that it appears to be moving. Troy immediately pulls out his bow and arrow. I extend my claws, on high alert. Qylis is on stand by. We near the animal and I hear babbling. I signal for Troy to stop to get a better listen. The thing continues to babble unintelligibly. I move closer to get a better look.
“Stay back. I’ll go see what it is,” Troy says.
“I’ll go with you,” I say.
“No you should st—”
“I am a Omega. I don’t need you to hold my hand daintily,” I say as I approach the creature.
I finally reach the moving rock. I peer down to examine it. It has a face! Eyes, mouth, nose and fingers. It’s skin is slightly pale. It’s eyes are the color of Qylis’ skin, a marine blue. It has dark hair on its head, like the night sky. It can’t be anything other than a—a.....
“A human!”
“How did it get here in this spot?”
“It has to be a trap. We have to kill it.”
“No! We could use it for research.”
“What are we gonna research Qylis?! How long it takes them to kill us?!”
“Oh, you know what you can suck my—”
“QUIET!” My roar startles them silent.
Think Nia, think. We have a human baby. We’ve never encountered anything like this before. It would be a shame to pass up this opportunity to learn more about them. This could even be the key to our freedom. On the other hand, it may be a trap to lure us out. But why now after all these centuries? And why a baby? Do they not care for their young? Maybe they accidentally lost it? It doesn’t like a trap.
I sniff around for any unfamiliar scents.
There’s nothing out of the ordinary but this baby.
“Qylis carry the baby back”
“What?!”
“Roger that”
“Nia, are you seriously going to take this ticking grenade into our homes?!” Troy exclaims.
“Troy, sometimes you need to learn when to shut up,” I say.
I hear Qylis quietly snickering and missing Troy’s fist by a inch as he flies back to the kingdom, baby in hand.
“What is the meaning of this? Are you trying to get us killed?”
“Qylis, why did you let her bring it back?”
“He’s a old man. There’s nothing he could have done.”
“Who says it was Nia’s idea? This had to be the brain of that trickster Troy.”
“Let’s not go pointing unnecessary fingers.”
“Maybe it’s a opportunity sent by Gasha.”
“Gasha has never sent us a baby. Why now?”
“HEY!!” I say.
All eyes turn to me.
“I know you guys have many, many, many concerns about the human baby. Yes, there are a lot of risks, but it’s only a baby. How harmless can a baby be?”
“I heard human babies are worse than the big ones. The adults are even terrified of them,” says Taz.
Taz is the leader of all Demons. She has the personality to match too.
“Did you really hear that or did you forget to take your meds?” Troy jokes.
Taz hisses at him. He flicks his tongue back at her.
“Qylis and I have already analyzed and examined the baby. There’s nothing it can do to implicate us. Qylis even carried it on the way back and he is perfectly fine.”
“Actually, It is a she. Cleo informed me that baby humans are indeed harmless as long as they are fed. They also need to be tended to because they are not intelligent enough to look after themselves. That includes changing their under clothing after they release waste.”
“They also pick up on language and behavior,” Cleo adds.
The faces surrounding the table started to retract from anxious faces into relieved sighs. I look at Qylis and with my eyes as I thank him. He grins at me and nods reassuringly.
Most of the counsel is made up of senior leaders. The seniors were crowned around the same time as my mother, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that their views are old fashioned. There are 11 clans; Fissle, Tiger, Serpent, Rhinosi, Demon, Fyrèt, Watcher, Hunter, Lizuma, Starlet, and Avey. 7 of them are run by senior leaders, who are not easily persuaded. They have been living in one spot for countless of years, and they don’t exactly like that I’m trying to change that. They won’t come out and say it because the leader of the Tiger Clan is also the over head of the kingdom, as well as the Rhinosi Clan to co-rule. Troy and I decide how the kingdom functions. If we want to punish or outcast a clan, we can. But I had already established in the beginning of my ruling that I don’t plan on doing that. I don’t want power. I want freedom.
“So what exaclty are we going to do with this human baby?” says Kota, Omega of the Serpent Clan.
“We’re going to keep it of course,” I say with a smile.
“Where?” says Zaun, Alpha of the Fissle Clan.
“With me. And Qylis and Cleo will come over every week to do an examination,” I say.
“Sounds good to me.”
“Great! Counsel adjourned.”
I wake up at the sudden sound of
a loud and deafening screeching noise. It has to be someone dying right? I roll over with a start and out the bed I go to the door of my bed room when I stop abruptly.
Ah shit! The freaking human baby!!
I turn and hastily make my way to the crib I had Fabumi build for me. Cleo said that’s what human babies sleep in. I look at it, I mean her in disgust.
I already fed you. What else could you possibly want?
She continues to cry as I stare at her.
Maybe she wants her mother. Or her daddy.
I stand there studying the ugly face of the crying baby. Her face is turning a bright red. She looks like a lighter version of Taz. I giggle. She starts reaching out above her, as if she’s grasping for air with her tiny little hands.
Maybe she’s lonely.
I hesitantly reach out my hand for her to touch. She immediately stops crying and curiously looks at my hand. She then reaches out and grabs my finger. We stand there silently observing each other until she makes a obscure sound.
“Say it again. I can’t understand you,” I say.
There’s a pause before she repeats the sound. She then reaches both hands out again grasping for the air.
“You need me to get closer?” I ask.
I lean in as far as I can. I wait on her to speak, when out of no where she puts her mouth on my cheek! I draw back immediately.
“Ew! You grimy, juvenile little thing,” I exclaim while wiping my face.
The human baby starts whimpering. I think she’s about to cry.
“No,no! Please, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any harm.”
It’s no use. She opens her mouth as wide as possible and let’s out a high pitched cry. I see why babies are worse than the adults. I don’t know what to do so I pace back and forth.
Come on, Nia. Think! What calms babies down. When I was a baby what did mama do?
She picked me up and.....
“Come here you belting cow.”
I scoop her up in my arms and sway to my window. Mama always stood by a window when she was coaxing me back to sleep. She would tell me glorious tales about how the world was so big even daddy would like a ant compared to it. She said the stars were created for us especially by Gasha. When we were sad and low we would just look up and see the bright stars and be rejoiced and happy again. Mama always reminded me that one day, we would be able to see the rest of the world. Sh said that there were more than just trees and grass, but mountains higher than the sky and water holes bigger than kingdom called oceans. A whole unknown land that I want to see.
I snap out of my thoughts and I notice the baby has gone limp in my hands. I look down to see she is asleep. I lean in this time caref of her mouth to get a better look. She doesn’t look as bad when she’s sleeping. Almost adorable. Or I should say tolerable. I move to put her back in her crib, but second guess it and decide to lay her in my bed. She might get lonely and wake up again. I lay her down beside and cradle her body so she doesn’t roll anywhere. I look down to make sure she’s still sleep and then I close my eyes with oceans and mountains on my mind.
“Mommy Niiiiiaaa, wake up”
“Leave.me.alone.”
My little brother came to visit me from South America yesterday and hasn’t stopped being annoying since. He’s been calling me “Mommy Nia” ever since I told him about the baby. Speaking of her though, I should get up and feed her. She gets hungry often.
I try to pick her up at my side but all I feel is nothingness. I wake up in a brisk fashion and almost burst with panic until I see her on Abu’s hip.
“Aw look, Mommy Nia almost ripped the sheets off her bed looking for her poor precious and deadly human baby,” he mocks in a baby voice.
“Yeah, and I’m gonna rip the skin off your face if you don’t stop calling me that,” I lash.
“My deepest and most sincere apologies my dear and beautifully talentedOmega Nia,” he sarcastically says.
I get out of bed, snatch the baby from him, and push past out my door.
“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”
“Nope, not really. I want to spend all my time with my wonderful big sissy.”
“Oh, lucky me,” I mumble under my breathe.
“You know big sis, I really don’t understand the concept of sarcasm. If you don’t want to spend time with me then just sa—”
“I don’t want to spend time with you.”
“Well too damn bad. You’re stuck with me for the next 2 weeks. Woo-hoo!!!”
His “woo-hoo”ing makes the baby laugh. Her laugh is contagious and I find myself grinning, but it is gone the next second. She may be a baby, but I still don’t know if she’s completely harmless. This could still be a trap. As a leader I need to be on my toes and prepared. Thank Gasha that....well Gasha is coming today to see us. I wonder what she will say about the human baby?
I’m standing at the barrier with Troy and a carriage waiting for Gasha to arrive. It’s tradition to greet when she passes through the barrier. Because she was the one that taught us the latest barrier spell, it doesn’t need to be taken down in order for her to enter. Anyone that casts his/her own magic or spell can’t be effected by it. It’s a good thing because Qylis sleeps a lot during the day.
“Has the human baby tried to kill you yet?” Troy says.
We both lightly laugh.
“Unfortunately for you no. But when she does I’ll make sure you be the first to know,”
I joke.
“You better. I can’t have anyone eating up my wife on my watch.”
“Oh, now that you said that I want to get eaten up now.”
“Come on, don’t hurt my pride like that.”
Troy puts his hand to his heart and feigns hurt. I laugh loudly and hit him in his chest.
“Ouch. You’re killing me, Ni.”
“Hush. Stop being so childish.”
“Would it really hurt you that bad to become my wife?”
“Yes!”
“Why?! I’m not that bad. Come on just give it a try.”
“Shhh! She’s here.”
“No, she’s not.”
“I can smell her.”
And soon after she appeared from out of a tree stump. Literally. Not like a rabbit out of its hole, but like the stump formed to let her appear. Earth is a product of Gasha, so she can manipulate the natural part of it as such. Regular animals like birds and fish can be controlled by Gasha. And also plants, trees, and bodies of water. However humans and hanimals can not be controlled because we have high intelligence. I guarantee that we wouldn’t have to have a safety system if Gasha could control humans.
“Nia and Troy, my wonderful children,” Gasha excitedly says.
I smile widely at her.
As she crosses the border I say,” Mother, how are you?”
“Mother, Nia can’t be your child anymore when we get married,” Troy says matter-of-factly.
“Oh my stars! I kind of always knew you guys would be lovers. I’m thrilled! When is the wedding?”
“There is no wedding Mother,” I growl and look pointedly at Troy.
“You don’t want a big celebration?” Gasha asks.
“Honey, I understand that you don’t like big parties, but do it for Gasha,” Troy inputs.
I think of all the ways I can kick Troy into next week. He’s always teasing me. How can he sit there in Gasha’s face and lie? I never ever want to marry this jerk face.
“Nia, I would be really thankful if you would celebrate your marriage. It’s way more exciting than you think.”
“Mother, there’s no—”
“There’s no one yet to plan our wedding. Would you be interested in helping us out? You know it was always Nia’s dream to have you plan her wedding.”
“Do you really want me to plan it? It would make my whole century Nia!”
WHAT?!!
“Then it’s settled. We’ll meet sometime today to discuss. Now let’s get you back to the kingdom to meet our people,” Troy states with a smug smile.
I want to tear him to pieces right then and there, but I don’t want to upset Gasha so I just settle for a death glare the whole ride. I have to let her down easy sometime through the day. Oh, that sneaky *** Troy. I will end him!
“What are you going to do with her?”
“I don’t know yet, Mother,” I sigh.
“I’m keeping her because in hopes we can solve the human problem. So far though, we have no leads.”
Gasha moves to the mat the baby is laying on and picks her up. She peers into her eyes intensely for a couple moments before breaking into a grin.
“She isn’t tainted.”
I look at her in confusion.
“I mean that her heart doesn’t know hate, anger, or jealousy. She’s pure.”
“At what age does a human know hate, anger, and jealousy?”
“The answer to that question is infinite. Some don’t even experience it until adulthood. Some can be exposed to it as young as childhood.”
“So how do I keep that from getting to her.”
Gasha smiles. She glides over to me and puts the now sleeping baby in my hands.
“You can’t. The good of a person is not determined by how much hate they have experienced, but by how they choose to deal with them. The best you can do for her is to teach her the good of the world. Teach her the values th—”
Gasha goes into a fit of coughing. I wait for her to finish, and the coughing continues for what seems like a thousand years. They sound wet, like there is something in her throat trying to catapult its way out. Gasha looks as if she’s about to colapse. I’m starting to worry.
“Gasha, are you ok?”
I briskly put the baby on the mat to help her, but by the time I head over to her she’s done coughing.
“Nonsense child. I am okay. It happens when the humans use too many greenhouse gasses.”
“How did they find you? Is there a cure for greenhouse gas?,” I say panicking.
“It’s not what you think, Nia,” she says with a giggle.
“Now like I was saying, teach her the values that the kingdom lives by. She needs as much light and positive energy as she can get. This is your chance. You can start change with her, Nia.Do not waste it.”
“How am I going to teach her? I don’t even know where to start,” I say dejectedly.
“Sweet child, you have the support of your people on your side. Your mother may have some idea,” she says with a wink.
“Can you at least give me some idea?”
“Unfortunately, no. Don’t underestimate yourself. You are capable.”
“Mother, please.”
“You are too old to whine, Nia. Now it’s time for me to take my leave. Remember what I said.”
And with those words she went to the nearest window, jumped and transformed into a butterfly. On and away she went.
I never got the chance to tell Gasha that the wedding was never gonna happen. Ever since we had our talk, millions and millions of thoughts have been on my mind. I’ve never taken care of a infant full time before. Me and Abu are 3 years apart, so I never had to take care of him. I never had to care for myself as a child either.
I don’t even know where to start. Teach her good values. What if she still turns out as vicious and cruel as the others? I am scared I’ll fail. And then Gasha’s coughing; what was that about? Is it really nothing? Could it be a bigger problem than she says? What if she’s dying? I don’t know what I’ll do without her.
Movement by my window snaps me outta my thoughts and into defense mode. I creep out from under my covers and extend my claws, ready to scathe anyone who dares peek in on me. I’m 2 inches away from the window when a yellow face and hands aggressively plant their hands on the glass. I jump and trip back over my feet and fall to the ground.
“Let me in, clumsy.”
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