The Symbiotic Relationship Between The Rabbit And The Black Panther [EN]: Chapter 1

The Symbiotic Relationship Between a Rabbit and a Black Panther, Volume 1 – Episode 1 (1/75)

I opened my eyes to complete darkness. Alert, I perked up my ears and heard the rustling sound of footsteps on dirt.

I stretched out a foot and gently tapped the wall blocking my path. The rough texture of woven straw transmitted itself to the sole of my foot.

‘Could I be inside a basket?’

Judging by the swaying of my body even when I was still, it seemed like it was the basket I occasionally went into.

Where are they taking me? As if to answer that question, a rough voice I had never heard before rang out.

“We’re almost at the black panther’s territory.”

“Let’s get rid of it quickly. But seriously, how can it not transform into a human form even after the coming-of-age ceremony?”

“Didn’t the priest determine it was a curse from the Beast God? …It’s unsettling.”

Straining my ears, I quickly realized that the topic of their conversation was me.

That’s right, it’s so strange. I’m definitely a beast-person with reason [a sentient humanoid with animal features], so why can’t I escape the form of a baby rabbit even now?

My mother would get annoyed and scold me with an angry face whenever she saw me, distorting her beautiful brow.

‘Why aren’t you transforming into a human? Your younger sibling, Kairi, is already a full-fledged beast-person. Everyone transforms within three years of birth, so why aren’t you!’

She would shout loud enough to make my ears tingle. Occasionally, unable to contain her anger, she would grab a switch or sometimes punish me by not allowing me to leave my room.

Not that I could go out even if I wasn’t being punished. My mother, and of course my father, were ashamed of me.

In the first place, it was impossible to open the door on my own without a maid.

The Rabian family.

Our family was the prestigious Rabian noble family in the rabbit territory.

My mother was Aven Rabian, the third wife of my father, and she was upset that I, the firstborn, couldn’t quickly take on a human form.

Fortunately, my younger brother Kairi succeeded in humanizing before he was even three years old. At that time, I was already five years old, yet still in the form of a baby rabbit.

Beast-people generally achieve humanization before their third birthday, so why?

Everyone was wondering, and I was frustrated because I didn’t know the reason myself.

I’ll change tomorrow, I’ll change the next day, I’ll be different in a week. As if mocking my futile expectations, time flowed cruelly.

Eventually, last month, even after turning eighteen and having my coming-of-age ceremony, humanization did not proceed.

I went to the temple with my mother, who had a suspicious look on her face, and the priest shouted that it was a curse. It was a voice so loud that my heart fluttered.

“Hey, aren’t we too far from the territory border?”

“We need to take it this deep to avoid any repercussions. …They ordered us to make sure it dies at the hands of the black panthers.”

“We can pick that grass over there and take it back as evidence. It’s a poisonous plant that only grows in the black panther’s territory.”

Listening to the conversation, I immediately realized that I had been abandoned. I had a feeling that would happen.

After visiting the temple, the way my parents looked at me changed from annoyance to contempt. I clearly heard them muttering that even killing me was unpleasant.

“Hey, you’re going too deep. Once you cross the border, you’re no longer protected by the territory.”

With the man’s anxious urging, I felt the basket touch the ground with a thud.

Since this is said to be the black panther’s territory, it was clearly the border forest that bordered the rabbit territory. A place where black panthers were sure to be swarming.

No. Please don’t leave me in a place like this. I’ll try to become a proper beast-person.

I frantically scratched at the straw, but my feet didn’t even reach the lid. My vision became blurred as my eyes clouded over.

“Aaaaaah!”

“Cough!”

Suddenly, I heard a surprisingly loud scream. I stopped pawing and reflexively held my breath.

Every nerve in my body was on edge. If this was really the black panther’s territory, the beast-people who were moving me might have been hunted by black panthers. Should I play dead?

With a clatter, the basket began to shake, and then the lid opened. Suddenly, bright light poured in, and my eyes closed involuntarily.

Before I could even recognize anything, I was grabbed by the scruff of my neck and lifted into the air.

“A baby rabbit?”

A somewhat slow-paced voice rang out. It was a pleasant voice, clear yet with a moderate bass.

I squinted my eyes slightly and saw a surprisingly beautiful man.

Silver hair, like pouring out silver threads, was right in front of my nose. I briefly relaxed my guard at the brilliance, then began to struggle to survive.

‘A, a black panther!’

The black panther clan. I had only imagined it, but the person in front of me was definitely a black panther.

‘Aren’t red eyes creepy?’

‘They are. I saw a member of the black panther clan in the city once, and it was strangely eerie.’

The maids gossiped that the black panther clan generally had red eyes.

The man had clear red eyes, and what sparkled between his lips was definitely a fang.

In the first place, this was the black panther’s territory, so the man was highly likely to be a member of the black panther clan.

‘Let go, let me go!’

As I desperately shook my front paws, I suddenly felt a chill and stopped moving. The man’s expression, devoid of emotion, felt excessively cold.

‘I might get eaten.’

He stared blankly at me, who had frozen in place, then smiled with his eyes folding into crescents. It somehow seemed like a smile filled with satisfaction.

“Are you crying?”

Have you never seen anyone cry before? I must have been crying since I regained consciousness in the basket.

I wanted to pretend to be okay, but it felt like something was stuck in my throat.

However, I had no choice but to stop crying at the man’s next words.

“Cry more.”

Oh my, is he crazy!

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