Chapter 1: Bunny, Are You Ready for This?

Felix looked at the letter before him again, but the words didn't change.

The examiners were willing to give him a license, as he had passed the exam with flying colors, but they wanted their 10,000 gold coins first.

And that was the root of the matter.

Felix Harland was the eldest son in a twenty—child rabbit shifter house. He loved his parents but knew they could barely afford to feed all the mouths around the house.

Like many other rabbit shifters, the Harlands were poor farmers. They fed themselves mainly with the produce they could get from the land.

Felix wanted something more.

He wanted a new life where he could be a healer, make a lot of money, and help his many brothers and sisters get degrees and follow their dreams!

Sure, he did alchemy and rune crafting on the side, but he didn't have a license for that, either.

Granted, those two licenses were cheaper, at 1,000 gold coins each, but even that would see the Harland clan starving for months.

So, Felix earned what he could secretly and lived his life with a bowed head.

But that was yesterday, and this was today.

Looking at the letter, Felix realized something. He would end up just like his parents if he never got out of their farmhouse.

With more children than he could shake a stick at, debt to his ears, and no hopes or dreams.

Felix stood from the old, weathered chair, a relic from his grandfather, and went to his room.

He checked to see if the loose floorboard had been moved, but it was not. He knew there were no thieves in the Harland home, but things had been tough, and he had left money around the house to help his parents.

He took out his meager savings. It still had a toy frog keychain hanging from it.

There were thirty gold coins inside.

Felix knew that if he didn't do something with this money now, while he was still without a debt to his name, he would never have the chance to later.

So, like a thief in the night, the albino bunny shifter wrote a heartfelt goodbye note to his parents. He cleaned his room, stashing everything he could in his weathered backpack.

Then he left the house before the rest got back from the field.

Alone on the road, Felix wondered where he could go. Does he ply his trade in Elise?

The ghetto there could use a healer.

But it was the capital. The police would surely investigate him!

The thirty gold coins would serve him for a time if he slept under trees, but what next?

He needed medical tools, alchemical tools. He at least had his trusty rune-smiting needle.

He supposed he could make riskier runes. He knew how to make a dimensional rune, but it would require a sacrifice.

There was no turning back!

He walked out of his parents’ farm, along the road framed by the ever-blooming forget-me-nots. He walked until he reached the forest.

And then, he got an idea.

He was an alchemist, as well as a healer and rune smith. Self-taught, but had passed his exams, even if nobody wanted to place him into a journeyman program, so he could earn his licenses, rather than pay for them.

The forest was a breeding ground for various herbs and valuable fungi!

With this thought in mind, Felix began to look around himself. The swaying blossoms provided an opportunity!

The bunny shifter took out his scissors and collected helpful herbs. As a child, he had played in this forest and knew where to find what.

When he came upon the meadow with Safunamon, he helped himself to enough to overflow his backpack. More than ever, he lamented that he didn't have a bottomless bag.

He couldn't cut more of the expensive herb and had to continue on his way.

Night fell. Felix was shivering.

He wondered if he should hunker down for the night, but then the howl of a wolf ushered him ever forward.

More than one traveler had disappeared in this forest. He didn't want to be just another nameless grave.

Felix kept on walking until he found the road again. What he saw made him pause.

A camp was next to the weathered highway, with a crackling fire dancing merrily in a pit. A man sat by the fire, and there was a pot over the fire.

Realizing how hungry he was and knowing he'd drop if he didn't rest, Felix decided to go and chance the stranger's hospitality.

When the bunny shifter came close enough, he saw that the man was blonde, with clear blue eyes and a muscular frame.

Next to him, Felix looked far younger than his eighteen years.

"Good evening, sir. May I share your fire and your meal? I can pay," Felix took out his coin purse, which jiggled as he did so.

The stranger regarded him for a while and then nodded.

"Keep your money, rabbit. Can you even eat meat?" The man asked, placing a cloth on the dirt next to him.

Felix took that as an invitation and sat on the fabric.

"I can eat meat, sir," Felix heard the melodic sound before he could register that it was laughter.

"Sorry, I have a dirty mind, and you walked in on that," realizing what the man had just said, Felix scooted away. "No, don't be like that. It is just that you are so respectful. The name is Edward Venny, and you are?"

"Felix Harland. How did you know that I am a rabbit shifter, sir… I mean, Edward?" Felix gulped when he saw that the clear blue eyes had something playful in them.

He had seen this gaze in his father when his mother teased him. Usually, there was a new member of their family soon after.

"I am a cat shifter," Edward said, then hummed. "Cats like bunnies, Felix. Do you have anything against me calling you by your name?"

"No, it is not a problem," Felix looked around as his stomach grumbled. He watched Edward remove a bowl from a bottomless bag and pour a generous helping inside.

Felix’s mouth watered.

"I'm sorry the stew is with jerky, but I had nothing else. It should have softened up," Edward told him, handing him the bowl.

"Thank you for the meal," Felix said, placing the bowl on his lap. He clapped his hands together and then proceeded to say a prayer in his mind.

Edward regarded him for a while and then hummed.

"What are you grateful for, bunny?" The cat asked.

"Meeting you and this wonderful meal," Felix replied truthfully.

And if Edward's soft gaze did things to his stomach that made him think of butterflies, then, well, could he be blamed? Edward was handsome and kind, and Felix was a rabbit who wanted to make something of himself.

In Felix's mind, if Edward believed in him, then Felix would be one step closer to achieving his hopes and dreams.

A step to changing lives.