Before going to sleep, Lana asked again about milk for baby beasts then pulled the baby out of her undergarment. Kattie looked at the infant beastie and realized she needed to call her father immediately. She explained the situation and her father provided caring instructions. Kattie then went to the beast pantry, got what was needed and taught Lana how to feed the little guy. Sven had eaten a few snakes on the planet, so he was happily sitting on his perch singing a rawkus song.
Lana sent a text message off while Kattie was in the best food closet.
[If you aren't busy before breakfast, do you want to come visit? I have something I want to show you.]
[I'll be there at 6:30.]
Smiley face
Smiley face.
The next morning, Blaine showed up right on time. Lana pulled him into the kitchen because Kattie was still asleep. Blaine adored her sweet and innocent but up to something facial expression. Her confidence made him warm inside. Perfect traits for a woman in his opinion. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her until…
She reached into her cleavage and brought out a black kitten-like creature, called she called panteri. It had roots tightly wrapped around its baby legs and small little tentacles coming out of its back, just behind its neck. There were highly dexterous little hairs at the rhombus-shaped ends of the tentacles.
Her face beamed with happiness. Blaine was shocked to see a tiny beast emerge from such an intimate area when she wasn't from the Beastiary family. If the school found out, she could be punished. Severely. His worry level just ticked up three notches. Make that four.
As he stared at the creature, he realized it looked familiar. It was missing a set of legs but yes, he was sure it was the same beast she kneeled to on the planet. Didn't she call those panteri as well?
"Baby beasts need to be kept warm, so he needs to stay with me. He'll be a bosom-buddy for right now. Can you help me think of a name?"
Kyle wanted to hold the baby and took over. Lana moved to hand him to Kyle and the baby's roots wrapped around her fingers. She took that to mean he didn't want to leave her hand. His eyes weren't open yet. Lana allowed Kyle to pet him instead. The baby purred at Kyle's gentle touch.
"Can you explain how you have a beast? Clearly you missed some facts in your story yesterday…"
Lana smiled apologetically and explained what happened, including her conversation with the big panteri.
Kyle nodded without commenting on her story. "How about Kent?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"There is an old comic where the character was an orphan from another world… He was super strong and became a protector of humanity."
Lana smiled, "Kent it is."
Kyle leaned in close and they embraced in a kiss. She was happy to have the affection of such an amazing man, but she was also conflicted because there were two in the body. She would need to choose one someday. His hands drifted down and lifted her up to sit her on the counter. He began caressing her but moments later the baby informed them, with more volume than one would expect from such a tiny thing, that it was time for breakfast.
Kyle groaned.
Lana chuckled, "welcome to parenthood! We'll see about tonight…"
Kyle nodded, "can I feed him?"
"Of course! Let me make his bottle."
Once prepared, she handed him the bottle. She placed Kent back in her cleavage to get him used to eating in that position. Since that would be his hiding place during the day, he needed to eat from there. It would be his home during daylight hours for the time being. Kent was almost done making a mess while eating, when Kattie heard the cries. Lana's clothes were soaked with milk when Kattie entered the room. Blaine quickly backed up just a bit. They were meant to have just started dating, though they were catching feelings long before now.
"Blaine, did you miss her that much?" Kattie said, not properly dressed for visitors. She looked between Blaine and Lana and felt uncomfortable, like she interrupted something.
"I wanted help naming Kent, here. Blaine's creative so I asked him. He wanted to feed the little guy. That's all." Lana smiled.
Kattie didn't buy it but dropped the subject.
Blaine returned to his room to put on his uniform. The girls did their morning meditation. Lana put the sleeping baby in her bed while she showered.
Lana contacted Rene and Bonol to see if there was free time around 7:45. Since the time off was unexpected, they met Bonol at the forge after breakfast. Rene saw Lana finish eating and walked out with her, stringless bow in hand as requested.
Bonol was already there and had not even started the forge due to the day's strange schedule, but this was his home as her tree was hers.
Lana called the meeting, so she did the talking. "Bonol, you did such a great job that I wanted to ask if you could use these crystals to make armor. Also, on our adventure, we discovered this bow and I was wondering if it could be restrung? Is it worth it?"
Bonol looked at the scimmia crystals and thought they would make very nice armor since they had very thick skin. These were tier 4 so it would be 3 crystals and 4,000 credits each. Lana wanted armor for Dobin, Almin, Alto, Rene, Blaine, and Kattie. Chekof and Karlen didn't need a chest plate. She handed over 18 crystals.
Bonol then looked at Rene's bow and said it was very worth it. It was a level-4 bow. Lana then pulled out another scimmia crystal and asked if it would work. Lana thought she was going to use the crystal from the baby's mother, but she was a level 5. She thought the bow was as well. Lana was the first to commission him after this outing so her order would be done first, a max of 2 weeks. Everyone was contacted and told to see Bonol for measurements to get new armor.
The students were given two days off to mourn those who died on the outing. They found out it was more than just Blaine's class that suffered casualties. Alto, Dobin, and Almin spent many hours in the game during the two days.
On Thursday, classes resumed but the students would still get their weekend as normal. Lana started carrying spare bottles for Kent because she couldn't exactly make food during class.
In Agricultural Class, their assignment on cacti was due. Lana had turned in a 30 page paper fully referenced with all the data she meticulously collected. Her classmates presented their plants and findings. The other person who got her cactus seed killed the seed before it even had a chance by overwatering it. It was no surprise. This student struggled all term. He wrote a paper on what had happened and then had to write what should have happened. His name was Duff.
Lana was last to go. The teacher viewed her as his star pupil and expected a lot from her. He had gone out to look at her cactus. It was a monster. He even saw it move on its own once. He had a lot of questions. They went outside to see her Percy the Prickly Pear together. They all could see a 10-foot plant that looked like it had 30-paddle-like hands swatting at flies like it was on a murderous rampage.
Lana looked at the class. "This is Percy. He's a prickly pear cactus from the Opuntia genus. He enjoys minimal water and sunbathing. These plants grow all over the world as long as the right conditions present themselves such as a hot, dry climate and sandy soil that drains well. Some are short, others grow quite tall. This one can grow as tall as 15'. They have flat, rounded paddles that resemble leaves, but they also come with spikes that are not so kind to the fingers. In fact, they can irritate the skin. The yellow, pink, and red flowers produce fruit, which is said to be quite tasty, but I haven't tried it, yet."
She looked back at the plant that was finally settling down, apparently pleased its murder spree came to an end. "The paddles are also edible. They can be part of a regular meal, made into a jam, or brewed into a drink. In some places, they can be invasive. I don't think we need to worry about that here. Many people plant this cactus because it's beautiful, especially when it flowers or fruits."
Duff walked up, "I'm sure this plant was moving around wildly when we walked up. Why is it still now?"
"It's a plant. It's supposed to be still unless the wind is blowing it. Perhaps what you saw was someone playing a prank with a wind ability. My teammates practice their ability in this area."
He pushed on a pad and broke it off.
"You Imbecile! Just because you failed to grow a plant doesn't give you the right to harm mine!"
He turned around to face her. The cactus came alive and started battering the boy. Lana could hear it screaming obscenities that were unfit for human ears as the poor boy was hurt again and again.
Lana sighed. She didn't want to kill it. It was her friend. But, if she had to kill it…. She pulled out her whip and chopped it at the roots.
She carefully picked up some of the pieces. This plant was not meant to be moved around. She had no idea now it moved like that without falling to pieces.
"Duff, go see the doctor, I can't help you."
"For the rest of you, Sergeant Elder, can you collect a list of how many want to taste prickly pair? I don't want his life to mean nothing."
She walked under her tree without another word. She didn't want her classmates to see her cry.