As Agalon helped him from the horse and went to open the gate to the place the fighters were kept, Xaxac watched Takashito. Takashito was wearing the uniform of a house slave, but it was too big for him, so he had rolled up the sleeves and the legs of his pants. His collar with the earth crystal was still visible, and it reminded Xaxac of the collar he had once seen on Crazy Harry’s pet dragon.

Takashito was a prisoner, because he had killed someone.

Xaxac had killed someone and no one seemed to care very much.

But Takashito stood, looking out over the fields of the plantation and seemed to be deep in thought. He had a look that Xaxac thought he may have once had himself. That was the look of someone who had been locked in the room and had not been out in a long time.

“In here,” Ara demanded, and Takashito obediently stepped in front of her, which Xaxac thought was odd. Slaves normally walked behind their masters.

“Good morning, gentlemen!” Agalon proclaimed as the fighters lined up in front of him, but they weren’t looking at him, they were looking at the strange man with the blue skin. “Let’s get started! We got another match comin up, so impress me Wyatt!” He turned to address Ara and explained apologetically, “I’ll be right back. I got an injured fighter I gotta attend to.”

Ara nodded and Agalon walked off to do whatever it was he did every morning with Billy.

“This is… not what I thought it would be,” Takashito said as he rolled up his sleeves even more. “I thought the duke would have… I thought it would be different.”

“They ain’t soldiers,” Ara said as if what he had said was ridiculous, “They’re slaves.”

“Right,” Takashito said, “Slaves. Humans are slaves here.”

“Here?” Xac asked.

“Yes,” Takashito said as if the question confused him, “In Uril, humans are slaves.”

“Not…” Xac asked as a thought threatened to plant itself in his mind, “Everywhere?”

“You’re here to train,” Ara warned, “Not to talk. Elves was tasked by the great god to guard life everywhere.”

“The empire has grown,” Takashito said as if it was an agreement, “It may be the same everywhere. The academy fell, so… everything is different now.”

“The military academy?” Xaxac asked. It fell? But that’s where Lorry and Jimmy were!

“The great mage academy,” Takashito clarified, “One of the wonders of the world. You do not know this?” He studied Xac and came to the conclusion, “There is likely much you do not know. Come, out onto the field.”

He walked to the middle of the training ground and Xaxac, having no other instruction, followed him. Ara turned to sit at the table and watch them.

“Something is bothering you,” Takashito said as he turned to face Xaxac.

“I’m fine,” Xac said in confusion.

“You are not, but that is alright,” Takashito said, “Listen to me. The most important thing to know about fighting is that you must know your environment. You must… understand the world around you. Let me ask you something. Would you rather be a stone, or a river?”

“Do what now?” Xaxac asked.

“In this world,” Takashito asked, “Would you rather be a stone, or a river?”

“Neither?” Xac asked.

“If you had to choose,” Takashito demanded, “Do not think about it. Answer.”

“I… I got no idea?” Xac said, “I’m a bunny.”

“You are a rabbit?” Takashito asked, “Oh! Oh, because you are a shifter! Yes. But you are also human. That… that is not what I mean. You do not think very much,” he asked as he looked around the enclosure, “Do you?”

“I think too much,” Xac sighed.

“I did not mean that as an insult,” Takashito said as if he was afraid Xaxac would be mad at him, “I only mean that perhaps humans who live here… may not want to think very much. May not think in metaphors. But that was how I was taught. Xaxac, there is a natural order to the world. Trees that are too rigid will break in a storm, but those that are flexible will survive. Riverstones will be worn down by the water flowing over them until their rough edges are smoothed away, and the parts of them that are left are beautiful.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Neat,” Xac said.

“At… the end of the day,” Takashito said, “What I have to teach you is how to flow and bend, how to change with the world around you. The animal that survives is the one best suited to the environment. If the environment changes, the animal must be able to change with it.”

“I’m a shifter,” Xac said, “If there’s one thing I can do, I reckon it’s change.”

“Good,” Takashi said, “Then let us begin with some basic poses. Follow me, do as I do.”

“Oh shit!” Xac proclaimed, “River! River because it changes, right? That’s what I was supposed to say? Nah, yeah, I get it. I get it. River.”

“...Just… follow me…” Takashi said with an emotion that Xaxac could not read.

“Good work, Honey Bunny,” Agalon said as he passed them to meet Ara at the table. “The rest of y’all get over here to work on strength trainin!”

“Oughtn’t I be doin that?” Xaxac asked as the rest of the fighters fell to the ground and began doing pushups.

“It could not hurt anything,” Takashito said, and called out, “Your grace!”

“Yeah?” Agalon asked.

“Is it possible Xaxac could do basic training with these men, and I could work with him afterwards?” He studied the group on the ground and added, “Perhaps I could work with them all afterwards.”

“All of um?” Agalon asked skeptically. “Is that gonna… do anything?”

“I do not know what it could hurt,” Takashito said, “Though I do not understand the rules of this sport. I was only told I was training a ‘fighter’.”

“...sure,” Agalon said, after great deliberation, “I guess get down there, Honey Bunny.”

Xaxac pulled out the fabric of his adorable, perfect robe and frowned.

“Ought I… change clothes?” He asked, trying to make his eyes as big as possible.

“I reckon we can wash that,” Agalon said, “Might as well take a bath anyhow.”

Xaxac pouted, but moved forward, knelt in the empty spot beside Wyatt, and tried to copy him. He was shocked when he looked up and saw Takashito had dropped to the ground and was doing pushups as well. He had never seen an elf do that.

“Keep your back straight,” Takashito called to him, “And go all the way down. Use your core strength to keep your body aligned, like the others. You will build up your strength.”

“I think I mighta been wrong,” Xaxac said as the sweat began to seep from his forehead and he thought of his makeup, “Maybe I ought not be doin this. I forgot how awful this was. And I’m already real strong. I got that shifter strength.”

“Don’t complain!” Wyatt hissed, “Folks who complain get punished!”

“Aggie wouldn’t hurt me,” Xaxac huffed.

“He’s paralyzed ya before, dumb bunny,” Wyatt whispered, “Don’t risk it.”

“I was shifted!” Xaxac argued, “That… that ain’t exactly me it’s… it’s… complicated.”

“Keep your back straight!” Takashi called again, “Straighten out!”

“I dunno why I thought I’d wanna do this,” Xaxac hissed as he fought to get air into and out of his lungs, “I need a drink! I want a cigarette! I’m sweatin my goddamn makeup off, gettin my cute outfit dirty. I want a drink. Aggie! Can I have a drink? Can I have some whiskey?”

“With lunch, darlin,” Agalon promised, and Xaxac scowled.

When had this happened to him? When had he gotten so weak? So spoiled? How was everyone else acting as if this wasn’t torture? How was everyone enduring it so well? And why wasn’t he the best at this? He was a shifter! He was a monster! It had never made sense that he had walked into this enclosure and thought he was the weakest person in it! Because he never had been.

He straightened his back and began to push against the ground.

The stupid ground that always ruined his fun drunken nights by smacking him in the face. He hated it. And he hated being so weak! And he hated that he cried all the time! And he hated that he hadn’t seen his family in so long that he was beginning to accept it as the natural way of the world. And he hated that everyone had been afraid of him since his secret got out, because he wasn’t even sure anymore that he was a monster. He hated that Lorsan always made Agalon so angry, but he hated that he had left and taken Jimmy with him. He hated the dreams he had where he saw the Viper lying in the snow without a skull, and he hated that he had forced himself to stop caring that he hurt people, but humans were just animals and they were all going to die someday. He hated that he was a stupid, disposable, replacable animal that needed someone to watch him because he couldn’t even be trusted to feed himself or have sex with his friend or even talk to people without being punched in the face.

But he loved the sound of the crowd cheering for him. And he loved Agalon loving him. And he loved the way Alex and Wyatt had feared and loved him after he had won that match. It was the first time in a long time anyone except Agalon had cared about him for something he did instead of something he was. He may work at being cute, may wear the makeup and shave his face and wear all the pretty clothes- but then he was just another pretty little thing Agalon owned.

Bunny Foo Foo was a fighter, and people loved him because he was strong, and fast, and he could win. He had always been afraid of people, had always been afraid of people being afraid of him. But… sometimes it was difficult to tell the difference between fear and love. He was pretty sure Wyatt was afraid of him, but he fucked him like he loved him, and for the few minutes that went on, it made the overpowering darkness recede a little, made it possible not to think.

He wanted a drink, and if he could just make it through the morning, Agalon would give him one, and when they got home tonight he would let him get absolutely shitfaced and fuck him into oblivion, hopefully in the bath, and then he would wear one of his other cute outfits, but he would ask Agalon if he could wear something old, like his houseslave uniform, to work out in, and Agalon would probably let him because he loved him.

He wished he wasn’t sweating off his makeup.

He noticed that his hands had sunk into the dirt and had a sudden compulsion to rip up the ground and dig under it, just to see what was there.

But he had to focus.

He was already tired.