#21 Running Wild

Kassia was no longer surprised that Professor Fairburn located her so easily. Her professors could be almost demigod-like in their magical abilities. Kassia followed her to the clearing that apparently did not want to be found unless Professor Fairburn allowed it. Boarites were already there, munching away. Kassia had to wonder how they survived without the professor.

"Yes, ma'am," she responded to her question.

Upon hearing what she would have to do next, Kassia hid a wince. Her delicate city girl hands did not like the sound of possible splinters from snapping off branches. But she had signed up for care of magical creatures and would simply have to put up with it. So, she nodded to her professor and then went for the tree with the lowest-hanging leafy branches.

Kassia picked the thinnest of branches with full green leaves. She could only assume that magic was responsible for them being so full in the spring. She began snapping away, which wasn't as bad as she thought it would be- except for the insects on the branches. She shook them off in disgust, and then hurried to put the branches in the designated shady area before they crawled onto her.

Kassia gave a small yelp when she got her first splinter. She looked at the sliver of wood pushed into her skin. Though she tried to pull it out, her nails could not grasp the tiny piece. The thought of her hands ruined and made barbaric by vile wood and brambles was enough to make her bottom lip quiver.

But she persevered nonetheless. Giving up now would just mean that an entire year of ruined shoes, gloves, and dignity at the hands of very smelly creatures would have been for naught. Although Kassia secretly did like a few of the creatures she'd worked with, she was going to transfer into Divination next year for the sake of her bank account.

At least she wasn't getting bugs on her- not that boarite drool was much better. Kassia pressed her lips into a thin line as the boarite lapped up the insects on her branches. Not ideal, but at least drool wasn't alive and would crawl into her bedroll as she slept.

It seemed to take forever, and when Kassia thought she was finished, she still had to adjust the nest and branches. Her hands had been poked and tormented. Could she get tetanus from a tree branch? What a horrible thought. Thankfully, Professor Fairburn yanked out the splinters herself.

Kassia flexed her hands. It hurt about as much as her own careful eyebrow plucking, and she was pleased that the filth was out of her body. Kassia then listened as the professor gave her the next task- get the young boarites to test out the nest.

She looked over at the young boarites, some of whom were snuffling in the bushes. Kassia approached them noisily so as not to startle them, and stuck out her hand so they could learn her scent. Two of them sniffed her hand in interest, but quickly changed their minds once they realized she had no food to offer them. Kassia sighed. She certainly wasn't about to pick them up and bring them over.

She stared at her ridiculous nest, wondering. Her friends' cats and dogs loved climbing onto furniture that their people used. It was like they didn't trust a new item of furniture until a human used it. Rolling her eyes, Kassia kneeled and then laid down in the nest. She sprawled, sticks poking into her at all angles but doing her best to look comfortable.

Kassia did not have to wait long. She was expecting only one boarite to be brave enough, but to her surprise she was surrounded by three. They oinked softly and nudged her with their wet noses. Two crawled into the far side of the nest while a third snuggled with her. Kassia just lay there, very still.

One of the waitresses at her stepfather's bar had given Kassia her newborn baby to hold just last year. Kassia had just sat there, frozen in terror, completely at a loss until her own father swooped in and rocked the baby with love and adoration. She did much the same now, still as a log. It wasn't until Professor Fairburn rescued her that Kassia was able to stand.

She was surprised at the woman's strength. Kassia looked down at the sleeping boarite, who stirred at the loss of body heat but otherwise remained asleep. Then she looked at the wheelbarrow full of muck that Fairburn pointed out. Kassia could deal with muck. She brushed twigs off her robes and set to her next task, taking a shovel.

Kassia did not have the strength to pull the wheelbarrow around, so she simply scooped a chunk of smelly muck onto her spade and carried it to where it seemed to be needed. She made the lines of muck even, going back and forth between them and the wheelbarrow. After a while, her arms and shoulders ached from the weight of the surprisingly heavy muck.

Kassia was fully exhausted by the time that the professor instructed her to stop. She watched the Professor picking up various brushes and held back a groan, expecting to be asked to brush another boarite. She was startled, then, to hear that she was going to be babysitting instead. Kassia watched the professor set to her task before turning onto the young boarites.

Besides the sleepy ones, some were playing and rolling in the grass. Kassia sat near them, no longer caring about the state of her robes. They seemed to like when she laid down, so she did just that, stretching out near them.

Lying down had not been the correct thing to do. Kassia got stomped on, and boarites stuck their filthy faces into hers. She rolled into a sitting position immediately, covering her face and sending the one on her back rolling into the grass. She wiped and scrubbed at her face before glaring at her wards.

"Rude. You should respect your elders."

Kassia picked up a solitary branch and wiggled the leaves at the young boarites, hoping they would attack it rather than her face this time.

The boarites made quick work of the branch, pulling it roughly enough out of Kassia's hands that her left palm was cut. Kassia stood up, glaring at them. She turned her back on the babies and looked around. As a small child, she had poked in the more disgusting places of the world. She soon found what she was looking for- a large, flat rock that had long been undisturbed based on the moss growing on it.

Kassia used her boot to flip the rock over, revealing a huge nest of ants complete with larvae. She gestured hugely to the uncovered nest at the younglings. Clearly she had to think like a disgusting animal in order to keep them appeased.