The UBI


    <span style="font-weight:400">Swift-tail returned to the burrow, fur wet from the springtime rain. He furiously shook the water out of his coat. There was nothing worse than wet fur; it was cold and miserable, and worst of all, ash always clung to it! The only reason to leave the burrow during the rain was because the humans were smart as well and avoided getting wet, which meant that the rain was the safest time to enter the city of men.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At least it had been a sessful trip with Swift-tail finding a sack of molding grain. He walked over to the food pile and spat all the grain he had stored in his cheeks. The food didn’t smell nearly as tasty as the stuff in the goddess''s pockets, but it was the best they had. It would help keep the family alive for a little longer, though it was only a matter of time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A padding gait announced the arrival of another of Swift-tail’s siblings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, thank the goddess, you’re alright!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was Fuzzy-legs, one of Swift-tail’s older sisters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Why would you thank the goddess? She hasn’t done anything.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Swift-tail! We owe the goddess everything. If she chooses to test ourmitment to gathering the world''s information for her, then we must endure.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Swift-Tail couldn’t argue with that, even if he knew the truth. When he had been a newborn kit barely able to leave the burrow on his own, he had sought out the green-eyed goddess to see her for himself. He had evenmitted the ultimate taboo and touched her mind, and what he found there wasn’t some powerful deity but a girl. Sure, there had been things off about her mind; there had definitely been kindness, but nothing divine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Swift-tail had tried to tell the others about what he found, but his efforts had nearly gotten him banished from the burrow for defying the green-eyed one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Mama wants to see us.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Swift-tail’s tail perked at that. Were they finally going to abandon this city to find a safer home? Swift-tail yipped before following his sister.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The burrow wasn’trge; it was just a hole dug in the ash of the Dead Ring that smelled of fur and mold. The bottom of the burrow was where Mama stayed, her belly swollen with another litter of kits. Swift-tail’s tail wagged a bit at the thought of the new batch of siblings. When they were born, he would no longer be the youngest. He couldn’t wait to have someone to boss around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Children, it’s time for another push into the city.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mama was far more powerful than her children, and Swift-tail could feel her emotions bleeding through with her words. He could feel her longing for recognition from their green-eyed goddess and her disappointment in herself for her inability to gather enough information to please the goddess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They could all feel it; they all wanted to fulfill their mission, but Swift-tail could feel something stronger: fear. If he let them go on like this, his family would all be killed by humans looking for the bounty. He had no choice. He had to speak up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Mama, if we go back to the city again, more of us will die. We should leave.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mama looked at him, and he could feel the love she had for her children.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Swift-tail, I know how you feel about the green-eyed one. But, it is our duty to serve her. Since you aren’t willing to give your life for her, I banish you from the burrow.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Swift-tail’s legs almost gave out from the shock. Banished. He could feel her intentions under her words, no matter how much she tried to hide them. Mama wanted him to live; she hoped that he would find a safe ce and avoid the death that wasing to the burrow. She was trying to save him because she loved him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And if he loved her, he would need to go against everything he’d been taught. He would need to go to the Goddess and speak to her before their mission wasplete. It was the only way to save his family.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a bob, Swift-tail left the burrow, bringing nothing with him. His family would need all the food they could get. When he emerged, he looked up towards the peak of the city of men, where the green-eyed goddess lived, surrounded by hoards of lesser humans intent on hunting his kind for silver. It wouldn’t be easy, but he would find her and beg her to save his people like a true goddess.