Mikvel woke up feeling dizzy and lost. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes were stone stalactites. Hanging cones of stone, aimed like arrows towards him, mocking the ground-dwellers beneath them. Dancing shadows made him feel as if he was underwater. When he lowered his eyes he noticed that he was in fact, partly underwater. Red, glowing water filled with glowing pink mushrooms that clung to his skin with their thread-like roots. He screeched in surprise and tried to tear of the many roots and mushroom caps that held him in place in the small pond. They gave way without much effort and soon he found himself crawling up the bank, panting heavily.

Mocking laughter rose up around him as he made his way onto dry dirt. At first, he couldn't see the owners of the voices, but then one of them swooped down low, talons sweeping through his hair as it passed. More laughter followed and soon he saw the flock of birds that had begun circling the air above him. They screeched in hoarse voices all around him.

"See the human is awake! See him stumble like a hatchling!"

"Eat him we should! But our Maker has made him a guest in our home!"

"None shall disobey our Maker, but that is not all!"

"What? What! Why then if not only for our Maker?"

"A guest it is! Sure it is! But of whom? Of whom?"

"The Queen of rats! That filthy dog! She has claimed this cub as her own she has!"

"Such silly ideas! To keep him as a pet she means?"

"As a bedmate, she must mean! A deformed beast she is! A half-blood will suit her!"

"As a cub, she must mean! To raise as her own and curse with her blood!"

"No as a father to her brood, surely she means!"

"Why not all at once!"

The birds roared with laughter. Mikvel didn't know what to say. The birds were clearly mocking him but what did they mean? The Queen of rats? Who was that? Why was he here? He slowly stood up, wincing at his sore body.

"It stands! It stands!"

"How broken and weak!"

"Would that really do as a bedmate no? So brittle and frail he is!"

"Surely he will break when that whore lays him down!"

"Surely he will fail to give her what she wants! Too frail he is to bring her any cubs at all!"

"SHUT UP!"

The birds were giving him a headache. They giggled like children at his outrage. Another one of them swooped down low and grabbed a tuft of hair. It tore and he shouted and swung his arms after it.

"How slow! How slow!" they taunted.

The birds kept bullying the human and the human kept on swinging his fists at those who got too close.

Meanwhile, Fanv had her own problems.

"No, Sam, you don't understand! I can't show up in front of him completely naked! Especially not with THIS!"

The pale human gestured wildly at her-... his? their, manhood.

Are you still made about the penis?

"YES! Why did you give me a dick!?"

I want you to make puuuups.

"I don't need a dick to make pups! I don't want to make any, to begin with!"

I thought you just did not want to become pregnant... So I made it so you just need to do the sex part?

"Not a good enough excuse! Anyway, back to my other problem. Sam, can you make clothes with your threads?"

'Uh... I don't think so... I don't really get what clothes are or why you need them so bad.'

"It's fabric that you use to cover your private parts."

'Could you explain again why you must hide these private parts? The parts used to breed are the private parts right, Great one?'

Pohc still looked confused about the need for clothes.

"It's because-.. you know? You can't just let it hang free?"

'Don't you just pull it in? You only need to have it extended when pissing or mating. You were doing it as a wolf, can't you do it as a human?'

The hare scratched at his own crotch, trying to figure out why there was such a fuss.

"My body did that automatically... I didn't even notice until after I transformed back into a human. And what's with the horns by the way?"

Horns are pretty.

Sam fumbled with the lump of threads he had been poking for awhile. He lifted it and showed off a net with thick strings and smaller holes than usual. It looked like a messy, cluttered spider net.

'Is this fabric? Have I made a clothes?'

"No... It needs to be less see-through. Oh, if you make a hole in the middle then I can wear it and it'll cover most parts. I could tie a rope around my waist and it'd be a really simple dress?"

'Weren't I making clothes?'

"Dresses are a type of clothes. 'Clothes' is just the group name. Like how the rodents are many different species but you call them all rodents."

'... I see. Less see-through and a hole in the middle. A dress...'

'May I have a dress as well?' Pohc chimed in.

Oh! Oh! I want one as well!

The spider knitted faster.

'Let's start with miss Fanv's dress since she has such a need for one.'

'So why must you cover your private parts and not the other human? Is it a status thing?' Pohc had too many questions...

"Ah-... I didn't think about that... Sam, can you make something for Mikvel as well?"

And you are absolutely sure you do not want to mate with him-

"YES. If you mention that in front of him I will punch you. Humans don't talk about 'breeding' so lightly, it's rude."

So complicated... Can I hint at it?

"Can you make hints at all? You're very straightforward about... everything..."

Oh, yes, I have been training! I would start by telling him how strong you are. Then about what great pride it brings one to call you theirs, and finally I will address the fact that you suit and partner since you have ALL the parts necessary to-

"Ok stoooop right there! No hints!"

Aw.

'Is THIS a dress?'

Sam held up a tangled mess of threads.

"No, it must be flatter. Try to make a square or a circle."

Sam threw the tangled mess aside and then proceeded to puke up threads on the floor, circling around and pushing and pulling loose strands into place. He looked rather silly doing that. She got a bit queasy after watching all the legs move though so she quickly looked away. A squirrel ran into the cave and stopped as she noticed it.

'Honored Queen, your human has awoken! The Frightcrows are currently tormenting him!'

I wanted to name the scarecrows at first but that name is a bit too obvious is it not.

Fanv shot up as Maker kept going on about being original yet not too original.

"Are they hurting him!?"

'No, Great one. They are simply toying with him like they do with all Outsiders.'

"I gotta go save him!- But I am naked. And if I run in as a wolf I'll scare him to death..."

'Why not just walk in gently and looking friendly, Great one?'

"I made a grown mad piss himself. My wolf shape is not friendly looking at all."

'DRESS!'

Sam triumphantly held up a solid, round plate of hardened thread. It was about 1 meter in diameter and had a hole in the middle to fit a head. It was thin and without holes. The thing was stiff as a plank.

"Sam... It must be softer. I'm sorry..."

The spider made a noise that sounded very much like a groan. An impressive feat considering he had mandibles instead of lips. Fanv turned back to the rodents.

"Can you chase the birds away from Mikvel?"

'They would just eat us, Great one...'

"Ah, ok... I won't tell you to go die for him."

'We would gladly die for our Great ruler if she so wishes!' They squeaked in unison.

"NO, that's not what I meant. Uh... Just tell me if they hurt him or anything like that ok? No dying allowed."

'You are too kind to us, Great one! We are happy to serve!'

The lethally loyal group of rodents scuttled away after doing what looked like a salute. Who taught them how to salute... Fanv jumped a little when Sam poked her in the side. He held up a smaller piece of what looked like silky, smooth, white fabric.

'Is this good? No holes and it's soft.'

Fanv took the piece and got surprised at how soft and nice it felt.

"Yes perfect!"

'Really? But it's hard to make and takes more time and concentration than all my other types of nets so far...'

"It's perfect! I knew you could do it Sam!"

'If you say so... Alright! I'll make the best dress any spider's ever made!'

He's such a softy for praise. Fanv hummed to herself as she waited for the spider to finish his work. She quickly got bored and started to pick at her hair, braiding strands of it. The spider-fabric really took longer than the other "dresses" he made earlier... By the time the spider deemed his work done she had a decent lengthed braid.

'I have made a dress! What do you think- What did you do with your hair?!'

"I just braided it?"

'Braided?'

"Yes, I just move bits of hair around and woosh, braid. The dress looks wonderful!"

Fanv picked up the simple dress and marveled at the soft silk. She didn't notice Sam sneaking behind her until he carefully picked at her braid. She turned her head and Sam moved without dropping the braid, so he wouldn't tug at her hair.

"It's just a braid, it's not hard to make, really."

'Teach me.'

"Uh, ok. Uhm, first you need some hair or string or something to braid."

The spider quickly spun a bunch of threads.

"Good, then divide the strands into 3 equal parts like this and move each part like this."

The pale human then showed the spider how to make a simple braid. He imitated her work and hissed in dismay when his threads tangled up or Fanv undid her own braids to start over. At some point, she explained how hair-ties are used to keep the hair braided.

The group of rodents that came rushing from the lake cave returned to the sight of a horned human dressed in a piece of fabric thrown over its shoulders and a sash tied around the waist, and a spider with several short braids and ponytails tied to its short fur. White silk braids littered the floor. The rodents took a moment to watch in confusion before shouting in unison:

'The Bansheep have approached the human!'