Shadow was lost in thought, wandering around the room.

She had a pretty solid grasp of what was happening at this point.

Shadow was going to be a beastman. A “rare shadeling subtype” that was slightly more bestial than the average beastman. She would be getting clothes that she would get to wear, and she would practice walking around upright more often, although apparently, that wouldn’t be as much of an issue as they'd thought?

It was all very exciting, but she was just as excited about being adopted. Annie had explained to her more thoroughly what it all meant. They would be bonded, a family. Mother and daughter. Shadow understood that it was a very deep bond and commitment. It was like Annie was promising to the world to love and protect her forever. This apparently also had implications in law, so it mattered a lot. Shadow had gotten pretty emotional. She may have cried a little, but she did keep the keening soft.

The adoption was how Annie could become her mother, without actually being her ‘birth mother’. Apparently, that honor went to some shadeling she had never met that made her egg.

Shadow had been doubtful a shadeling could be smart enough to make something like the egg she had started her existence in, but quickly realized that it wouldn’t have made much sense for anything else to have made it. She realized she really had no idea about how shadelings came into being, or really any creature for that matter. She’d asked about it, and Annie assured her the processes didn’t have much to do with intelligence, but the explanation was complicated and would need to wait for later. Shadow noticed Annie had gone a bit red with her non-answer. 

Weird.

It seemed that having to do the address had been what changed Annie’s mind about the beastman plan. When Headman Willmot had come to get her help, he’d asked her to explain what exactly was going on with Shadow. Things had turned out alright last night, but people still wanted an explanation. Shadow’s ‘I can be a beastman’ plan had been the best idea Annie could come up with.

Apparently, the crowd’s reaction to the story had given her more hope that it’d work out. Although Annie mentioned the villagers didn’t much like her anymore, for reasons. Then Annie had told her they could talk more later, as she needed to be properly introduced to someone who was waiting outside for them.

That person was Kirrik, the beastman from earlier, who somehow worked for Annie despite them not really knowing each other?

She had to admit she was really curious about him.

She was distracted from her thoughts as Annie re-entered the room.

“Ready?” Annie said, looking down at her with a smile.

Shadow nodded and hopped up on the chair. She’d laid out her wax tablets up on the table so the taller people could read better. She was pretty sure she’d be needing to write.

Truth be told, she was nervous. The crocodile-man had been scary when she’d met him the first time, and then he’d threatened to shoot Annie with an arrow. It was a little hard to believe they were all friendly now.

Annie made a beckoning motion into the hallway, and Kirrik stepped in, followed shortly by Jonas.

Annie shut the door behind them.

Kirrik approached the table with some uncertainly.

“It’s um… Nice to meet you. Again, I guess.” Kirrik said, scratching the back of his head.

She gave him a slow nod and wrote her response.

‘it’s nice to meet you again, too, as long as there is no more pointing of arrows at my friend.’

She paused for a second, then crossed out friend, replacing the word with mom.

He raised his brow at that, giving Annie a glance.

"Ah, yea, sorry about that. Won't be happening again," he promised, then gave his head a small shake, giving her an intense look. She was having trouble reading it.

“So, you really are some sort of… extremely smart shadeling variant,” he said.

Kirrik was looking at the tablet, shaking his head slightly. Was he smirking? Maybe amusement? Amazement? Shadow tried to understand his face, but it was hard. His face wasn’t very human-like, and that was what she was used to. She could at least tell he was relatively relaxed from his smell and posture.

Then she remembered.

Wait, I'm supposed to be a beastman!

‘No, I’m a beastman, not a shadeling!’ she wrote, shooting a nervous glance at Annie.

“Oh, I’m sorry Shadow, he already knows. He... spoke to me after the address. A full explanation became necessary. He… well, in the end, he helped assure me that this plan will work as well as anything else we’re liable to come up with.” She gave Shadow a warm smile. ”And why go with something else when this one comes with so many upsides.”

Shadow felt that thrill of excitement and warmth again.

We’ll be family. Kin.

She smiled up at Annie, then looked over at Jonas, a thought running through her head.

He’d still been in the other room when Annie had told her the plan, so she hadn’t been thinking of him.

‘If you’re going to be my mom, can Jonas be my dad?’

She looked up at Annie, the question written on her face.

Jonas burst out laughing, and Annie’s face turned red. Kirrik raised his eyebrows.

“That’s… no, he can’t.“ Annie choked out.

Shadow gave her a sad look, drooping.

'Why not?'

“It’s… that would only be possible if Jonas and I were married,” Annie tried to explain.

Shadow tilted her head. She wasn’t actually sure what that meant. Was that an issue?

Jonas finally contained himself enough to speak.

“Whaddya say, Annie! Give it another shot? Perhaps we’d tie the knot this time!” he said, huge grin on his face.

“Jonas! Stop it!” Annie spat, face managing to flush even further.

Jonas sighed, and with a small shake of his head, turned to Shadow.

“I’d be happy to be a father figure for you Shadow, if not your father by law,” he said with a smile.

She tilted her head further. That didn't explain anything.

Jonas laughed again.

“Don’t worry about it, we can explain later. You’re meeting Kirrik! Don’t let me distract you.” He took step back, motioning at the pair to continue.

Shadow shot Jonas a dirty look, but turned back to Kirrik, accepting that she wouldn’t be receiving an explanation for now.

Kirrik, for his part, had been watching the whole exchange with wide eyes.

“Unreal. You’re really a shadeling? With a swarm and all?” he asked her.

She nodded, her ears drooping a bit. She didn’t like to think about her swarm.

‘Yes, I am. I used to have a swarm, but they all died.’

Kirrik shifted a bit.

“Um, right. Sorry about that. Guess that’s why you’re here,” he said, sounding a little uncomfortable.

She… supposed that could be true. She didn’t really know what would have happened if her swarm hadn’t died. Would she have decided to go with Annie and Jonas if her swarm had still been alive?

Honestly? Yes. She probably would have still left, swarm, or not. Especially since they attacked her.

She gave him an uncertain head waggle, made a fluttering ‘kind of’ motion with her paw, then went back to writing.

‘I think I’d have left anyway. Annie and Jonas were the first beings I met that could think like me, and they saved me.’

“Really? I guess that was Ms. Clarke's doing?” he said, looking at Annie curiously.

“Please, you can just call me Annie.” Annie said, waving off his formality.

“And yes, I found her lying on the ground, bleeding, after her own swarm had attacked her. She’d been trying to lure them away from the Giant Frost Tortoise we were tracking using the scent of another animal, but the scent confused them and they turned on her.” She gave Shadow a sad look.

She nodded at Kirrik in confirmation. Annie had given a good summary.

Kirrik glanced between them and nodded.

“Makes sense, given your reputation,” he stated.

Annie gave an exasperated chuckle.

“I suppose it does… I saw her lying there suffering like that and I knew I had to help.” Annie responded with a shrug.

‘Jonas took a bit longer to win over, though. I’m glad I couldn’t understand you back then.’ Shadow added with a grin, looking at the man.

“Heh… yea, I guess I was pretty off-target, wasn’t I?” The man muttered, looking abashed.

She’d come to realize just how much danger she’d been in as she learned the language more. Thankfully, by the time she figured it out, their relationship was solid. She also understood where he’d been coming from. Humans smelled like food (although she was good at ignoring that at this point). If it’d been one of her siblings Annie had healed, it definitely would have attacked her.

Kirrik cleared his throat.

“Yea. That’s why I didn’t buy the beastman story. Couldn’t believe she’d be willing to bring a beastman into a city, naked, collared, and pretending she was a dog. That didn’t fit at all with what I’d heard about her. The fact that I’ve never heard of a shadeling-type clan before also helped.” He said, scratching his head a bit.

"And for you to really think the villagers were so stuck in the past that they would kill the beastman if you didn’t lie? That seemed an odd thing to expect if she really was a beastman, even looking like she does."

Annie was staring at the floor now, grimacing.

Kirrik looked over at Annie and Jonas.

“Trust me. Get her some clothes, treat her like your kid.” He looked back at Shadow. “You walk upright, at least for first impressions. Stay friendly. Nobody’ll dare to say a thing, regardless of what you look like. No one's gonna be willing to accuse a beastman of being a monster. That sort of thing’s not exactly acceptable anymore.” He said, nodding, shooting a glance at the two humans.

Jonas grunted.

“You certainly have that right.” He said with a wry chuckle.

Annie just nodded, looking sad.

Kirrik suddenly stiffened a bit.

"Uh... not that it was the worst plan. There are plenty—"

"It's fine Kirrik. The plan was terrible. I was... too caught up in the fact that Shadow actually is a shadeling to really consider how... unlikely that would seem given she behaves so intelligently," Annie said, looking kind of miserable.

“Right... Oh! I guess we’ll be traveling together. It's about time for me to get back to Glossa anyway.” Kirrik said, looking back at Shadow, trying to change the subject.

Annie perked up a little at the mention, her brain switching gears.

“Yes, I asked Kirrik if he would be willing to come with us and teach you some things about beastmen. It would be good for you to know about your supposed culture, although, given the fact that you’ll be an orphan I’m adopting, people shouldn’t wonder about any gaps in what you know," Annie explained. "Are you okay with that?”

Shadow looked at the beastman, surprised, but not necessarily against the idea. He seemed decent enough, at least when he wasn’t pointing arrows at people.

She gave them a slow nod.

This all was quite a lot to take in. She figured she was missing some context on some of the things they’d said, but she understood enough.

Annie gave a single clap.

“Excellent! I suppose it’s time to get you some clothes, at least some temporary ones. I don’t expect the tailor here will be capable of making you anything that fits your shape particularly well on such short notice.”

“Or at all.” Jonas interjected.

Annie gave him a dirty look, but didn’t correct him.

Shadow nodded more enthusiastically. She was all for that idea! Although…

‘They’ll fit better than your shirt, right?’ she wrote, looking over at Annie.

The two humans burst out laughing.

Kirrik just looked a little amused, not quite understanding the context.

“Yes, these clothes should certainly fit you better than my shirt,” Annie reassured her, still chuckling.

Shadow was grinning, huffing a bit in imitated laughter herself.

“Alright, let’s head to the tailor.” Annie decided, leading the group through the door.