Esmerelda returned to her little cottage on the edge of the village, her back yard reaching several paces into the forest. It was a little rough for wares when she first arrived at it after the initial portion of recovery, a hole in the ceiling and a broken front door, but after a few days of staying at the inn, the men of the village had quickly repaired any damages and made the building suitable for life.
The women of the village had pitched in to provide some basic furniture and bedding. Esmerelda had thanked them by hunting wild game, namely an absurd collection of Horned Rabbits. The farmers were especially thankful as those Horned Rabbits had been a trouble they had struggled to deal with.
Esmerelda's feline physique made hunting the agile creatures much easier than it would be for a humanoid.
She was thankful that she and her son were welcomed with open arms. The merchants did say they were that kind of people, but she was still expecting some discrimination or suspicion from the fact that they seemed to be the only Shaktara in the village, and have been for quite some years.
She did feel a little bad about her son being held up in the cottage since their arrival. She hadn't intended for him to hide himself away, he just seemed so absorbed in his books. The child was naturally inquisitive since the day he could form sounds. He questioned much, to the point Esmerelda had run out of answers to give. She had given in nearly a year prior and arranged for some books to be delivered shortly after their scheduled arrival after meeting a merchant along their travels.
Simon seemed to take advantage of the fact that she was bedridden and used the chance to have her teach him how to read properly. Esmerelda managed to gain the assistance of Priest Kenly as he came by to continue checking up on her. Simon seemed to learn even faster than she had expected. From what the priest had explained, once Simon had a grasp on letters, he seemed to master reading within a few days.
She had managed to scrounge enough money to get a number of books on math and history, fictional stories for children, and books of myth and mystery. The fact that she had a personal stash of a few romance novels for herself was totally unrelated. The only type of book she could not acquire for her kitten were books of magic. She had no idea where to acquire a grimoire.
It was that train of thought she had when she opened the door to her new home and was welcomed with the sight of her son splayed out on the floor on his back, looking as if he had run circles around the entire village.
"Simon? Are you ok, kitten?" Esmerelda raised an eyebrow, looking to see if her child had gotten the zoomies and caused any damage. With no sign of disturbed furniture, she took a step forward into the cottage and closed the door with her tail before continuing in, leaving her child on the floor as she deposited her share of meat in the kitchen.
Simon only panted softly and nodded absently. He had no intention of telling his mother of his experiments yet. Not until he had results to share.
After a moment of silence, Esmerelda finished her work in the kitchen and returned to the living room and sat on the chair near the unit fireplace. She looked down at her son and smiled as he roused himself to a sitting position. "I met a group that has an interest in meeting you. They seem like quite the imaginative group."
Simon shook his head to help stir his thoughts. He may have been cautious in his experiments, but he may have still taken it a bit far. His mind was still a little fuzzy as he looked up at his mother. He met one of the children before, Mayce he thought the name was. He thought meeting the other children would be fun, but he had been so absorbed in the books his mother had gotten, and now the mana and magic he was discovering, that he had totally forgotten. He waited a moment as his mother continued talking.
"I think it would be nice if I took you into the village proper and introduced you to everyone tomorrow. You can't stay home all day every day. It's bad for your health." She stated matter of factly, as if there was no more discussion to have.
Simon held no objections, merely nodding as his mother started settling in to work her fabrics. She had taken up the hobby of stitching while she was on bedrest, taking to it quickly as she used her claws to help guide the thread where she wanted, without a needle. Simon watched her, fascinated by the smooth movement of her claws. It was simply mesmerizing. He had tried to copy her before, but his skill level was nowhere near his mothers.
Spending time quietly together, the two relaxed after their days, both exhausted in invisible ways. Simon watched his mother as his body recovered from his mana exercises, Esmerelda letting her legs relax after tracking and hunting for much of the day.
Simon continued to watch his mother carefully stitch the cloth back together before breaking the relaxing silence.
"Mama, I wanna learn to hunt like you and fight like you." He sounded almost dreamy as he spoke, sleep fighting to take him. "I wanna be strong and agile like you."
Esmerelda only glanced at his sleepy face before she nodded. "Very well. I will prepare a training schedule for you, but before that, you are gonna visit those nice children in the village and make some friends. You've been holed up in here for far too long." As shocked as she was to have Simon suddenly say this out of nowhere, she was thrilled for her son to have the initiative to start training so young.
She had wanted to start training him as soon as he was able, but she feared scaring him away from it. Now that he asked, she can train him properly with the assurance that he will not back down. She just had to be careful not to push him too hard.
Simon smiled at his mothers response as his head tilted, sleep taking him as he slumped to the floor.
I wonder what he did to make himself so tired.
She glanced around the room again as she put down the kitten's pillow case, now pitched from its most recent claw marks from the boy's fitful sleep. She had seen as he struck out blindly in his sleep. The boy had some form of night terrors she could only think to be from the attacks a few weeks prior.
She picked him up carefully, using the now repaired pillow to support him, before carefully slipping him into his bed. She waited a bit, watching him as he slept, gripping the doorway tight as she kept a careful eye on her sleeping child.
She relaxed as no signs of night terrors rose, only the gentle jostling of a kitten rearranging himself before nesting into place to sleep comfortably. Whatever he did to tucker himself out seemed to have helped her child get some sleep. She sighed quietly before slipping from the doorframe, closing the door gently and stepping away on silent steps.
-
The night was quiet. Many slept in the village of Hollow Hill. Many, but not all. Mayce was unfortunate enough to not be able to sleep that night, flashes of the tiger boy's face flashing through his mind.
Ever since their meeting, Mayce had a nagging feeling he had seen that purple before. He couldn't place the time or place, but he had known that purple. He was eager to meet the one they belonged to. Mayce learned from his mother that the boy was only four, but due to the life span of a Shaktara, there was a bit of what his mother called a dilation, but she wasn't sure that was the right term for it. Compared to a human, Simon would be around the age of 7, so three years younger than Mayce, kind of.
The boy's mother, on the other hand, was intimidating to Mayce. Her sleek but strong frame was terrifying to most of the children. A born hunter, the adults had claimed. Her emerald green eyes must have been her namesake.
He hoped he never became prey for the woman, for Mayce feared what her fury would look like. His own mother was loud and violent when she was upset or angry, as she often beat rowdy customers with her rolling pin when they got too rambunctious or out of hand. She was sturdy enough to act as her own body guard and bouncer when needed.
Surely the tigress' own fury would be that equal to a hunter. The only hunter Hollow Hill had known was a half-elf half-human archer who specialized in hunting Horned Rabbits. He may have to return to being a tanner with how much prey Esmerelda had brought. If not for the fact that the entire village knew how quickly the rabbits could breed, Mayce would have feared for their number.
Mayce couldn't help wondering if Simon would be a fierce hunter like his mother. Maybe he could be a better hunter than his ma.
Mayce shook his head and tried once more to fall asleep. He had to be well rested to have enough energy to play to the max after chores. If he finished them quick enough, his mother may even let him go play early. All the group had discussed something about it an hour prior before they retreated home for the night.
Esmerelda had told the children that she would bring Simon to the village proper to introduce him to everyone the next day, but she did not say what time. The group decided to all wake early and do their chores as fast as possible to have more time for their first day with the new kid.
Mayce struggled for a bit longer before he finally managed to drift off to sleep himself.