Life as a baby wasn't exactly what I would describe as exciting. Sure, I could go on all day about my epic adventures that consisted of trying to crawl my way from one side of my little home to the other, but I might get a brain aneurysm if I did, so I'll refrain.

However, it wasn't all bad, as I idly toyed with the nice, round rock that my mother had given me to play with some time ago, something that, while far from being as good as an iPod in terms of entertainment, worked well enough to satisfy my babish urges.

I didn't know how long it has been since I'd been reborn, but it must have been at least a month. I'll admit, I'm not sure how I'd avoided having a nervous breakdown, considering the fact that I'd lost everything of my previous life. My parents, siblings, friends... Would I ever see them again?

What was even worse was the fact that I was already beginning to forget. Already, names, dates, and some other facts had begun to elude me, and deep in my heart, I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop myself from forgetting even more.

Feeling depressed at the thought, I forced myself to stop gnawing on the hard round stone, ignoring the dull ache in my gums. I don't know when exactly babies are supposed to grow teeth, but I'm pretty sure it's not this early on. But then, I'm not exactly human anymore, so what do I know?

As if to confirm that sentiment, I turn to look at the little but still prominent tail sprouting from my butt, happily waving side-to-side. It came out from a small hole in the pants mother had dressed me up in, and honestly, it still felt surreal.

It was akin to having an extra arm, of sorts, only much more sensitive. It lacked the fur that my mother's tails had, but there were already faint wisps of brownish-red hair on it, something that I suspect I inherited from dear mom. Or dad.

And, speaking of dads, or rather, the lack thereof, I just knew that it wasn't just my mother and me that lived here. I'd heard people speaking and even seen their outlines a couple of times as mother entered the tent, but none of them had ever come inside to see me.

Thus, my conclusion is that either my new dad is a hit and dip bastard, or there's something else going on.

Well, it's not like I care much. I'm quite thankful that my attention span has been reduced to that of a goldfish, and that I spend almost 80% of my time asleep. Otherwise, this whole 'being a baby' thing might kill me by boring me to death.

My ears twitch slightly, and I heard a slight rustle. I turned to face the entrance, and sure enough, I saw mom walking in, shaking herself like a dog so as to throw off the snow gathered on her. Once that was done, she let out a satisfied sigh before her eyes focused on me, a bright smile appearing on her face.

Till the day I die, I refuse to admit that, when she picked me up, I actually let out a happy, childish squeal. Despite my denial of my actions, my mother dearest seemed to enjoy my response, judging by the bright laugh she graced me with and the way she started rubbing her cheeks against mine while babbling at me in her foreign language.

I happily babbled nonsense back, trying my best to pick out meaning from her words, something that was surprisingly hard, considering the fact that her language was one utterly and completely foreign to me.

Once she was satisfied, mom wasted no time in shrugging off her coat, revealing her naked chest, which she promptly shoved me against.

Honestly, at this point, I didn't even really feel embarrassed. Just sort of resigned and hopeful that I would soon graduate onto real, solid food, because despite mother being a very beautiful woman, I... really couldn't see her that way.

After a round of feeding, we played together for a while, with her allowing me to try and catch her tails as she waved them all around me, subtly correcting my posture whenever I tried to pounce or pull off anything more complex than just waddling and swiping at the furry things.

After a bit, though, I noticed that mother seemed to have something on her mind, but I was too distracted by the fluffy tail tickling my face to bother her about it.

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I was quickly forced to correct that feeling when she picked me up. I let out a protesting cry, childish anger welling up within me. I had been so close to catching one of those damn tails!

My rationality reasserted itself quickly enough when I saw mother also picking up one of the blankets from our bed before wrapping it around me, covering me in two layers in total between clothes and furs.

Then, with me still held carefully in her arms, she walked out of our home and into the outside world for the very first time. Despite feeling a bit off-balance at her suddenness, I nonetheless eagerly watched with wide, bright eyes as we passed through our home's doors.

And, once we did, my first thought was a rather simple one. It was cold.

I shivered violently, feeling the biting frost of the air all around me. I'd thought that mom was being a bit over the top by grabbing that blanket, but now, I was seriously considering trying to get her to wrap me up in six more.

There was snow everywhere. And, judging by the way mother sunk down to her hips the moment she stepped out of the cleared area in front of our home, it was also rather deep.

As if that wasn't bad enough, it was also a struggle to see anything. I tried squinting my eyes, babyish hands coming up to try and shield me from the snowflakes, but to no avail.

It didn't seem to bother mom too much, though, as she easily pushed through the waist-deep snow until she reached a part that had also been cleared out, one where it only reached up to her feet.

From there, I was able to catch glimpses of different tents not too different from my own, all of them with their own respective paths leading to them. They weren't exactly close to our own, but they weren't far away either. It kind of reminded me of a camping area, except this one looked as though it was an actual permanent encampment.

Mother half-ran through this passage, pressing me against her warm body as she did, something that I was more than happy with as I snuggled as close to her as possible, desperate to get some of her sweet, delicious heat.

Before long, we'd reached our destination: A large, very long tent, one that almost looked like one of those Native-American longhouses.

With a quickness to her steps that revealed her eagerness, mother stepped through the longhouses' doors, and once she did, I was inundated by a pleasant warmth, one that sharply contrasted with the freezing cold outside.

I took my time to look around. Unlike our own tent, this one was both a lot bigger and much less empty. There were all sorts of things and objects thrown around at the edges of the place, and at the center, there was a large, rectangular table with four benches, one on every side.

On said benches sat 7 people, all of them with the same beastly traits that mother had, including but not limited to fox ears and tails. However, unlike mom, all of them only had two tails, and without exception, they were all staring at us.

I shrank back into mom's embrace, feeling somewhat nervous at their attention on me. Seeing me shrink like that, mother glared at the assembled people and let out a harsh growl, something that had everyone quickly looking away.

Giving me a small pat on the head, she then walked over and sat on the bench as well. Once she had, she promptly began talking with everyone, and oh-so-slowly, the others started to speak as well.

I couldn't tell what they were talking about, but I wasn't optimistic enough to think it didn't have anything to do with me.

And indeed, after a few minutes of mother and the rest of the fox people talking with each other in their foreign language, mother looked down at me with a pensive look.

Then, after a short moment of silence, she spoke. "Kira. Kira Yedra."

The moment I heard those words, I immediately knew what they meant despite the language barrier between us.

Despite all logic saying otherwise, I just knew that, from now on till the day I died, my name would forever be Kira Yedra. It felt almost... sacred.

Despite my confusion and slight disbelief at my own reaction, I still gave mother a large grin before parroting back at her my own name. "Kira! Kira! Kira!"

My mother's responding grin was positively shining as she swung me around, laughing all the while. It wasn't long before everyone joined in as well.

Once everyone had settled down, I was passed around to every other person in the room. While it was a bit difficult to distinguish their genders, considering they all had soft-looking, almost feminine faces and very long hair, I think it's safe to say that, including mother, there were 4 women and 3 men in the room, me not included.

I squirmed in embarrassment as delicate hands carefully held me, some of them taking the time to pet my ears and scratch my head, an act that had me almost purring, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure foxes don't actually purr like cats.

Thankfully, I was saved from that specific embarrassment when mother seemed to decide that enough was enough, and after gently yet firmly taking me back into her arms, she put me in one of the longhouses' corners, where several very fancy-looking carpets sat.

I was a bit surprised at the sight of those carpets that looked like as though they'd been made by expert artisans, especially considering how basic and primitive everything else looked. Still, I didn't say anything about it.

Not that I could have, even if I wanted to.

And so, as the adults in the room all returned to their chattering, sometimes looking at me, a lightbulb suddenly went off in my head.

Isn't Kira a girl's name?