Leela wondered if change had a smell.

The strange scent had been in her nose the whole afternoon, ever since she started the hunt. The air was heavy, musky and wet, so much that her antlers itched dreadfully and she had to constantly stamp the ground to get the mud off her hooves. It was nothing she couldn’t handle, however. Her bow was strong in her hands as she slowly shifted through the underbrush. But her thoughts kept being drawn back to that smell!

It wasn’t foul, but it wasn’t pleasant, and it wasn’t familiar either. Leela knew many smells. Those of the true deer, of the normal Benelim, of the Animite Benelim like her, the foul Maelim, countless animals and plants created by the Gods. This was none of them.

Her Soulsight could detect it too, and that’s where she’s headed. It was strange. It felt like… change. A mysterious omen of unknown providence. A distant soul ember that wasn’t like anything she’d encountered. With a majestic leap, she jumped over a fallen tree, and that’s where she saw it. The source of all this mystery.

It was a brown basket. There was something in this basket.

She cautiously approached it. The air stilled and Leela straightened.

Something else was here. She wasn’t the only hunter out.

It stank terribly, of rotting flesh and lingering ozone. She readied an arrow. In hunting, it was always about the first move. With a loud sickening screech, a harpy darted out of the trees. It was lithe and gaunt. Her feathers were stained crimson, her black eyes manic and her teeth sharp. Leela was ready and shot an arrow. The harpy underestimated her speed as the arrow struck her wing and she fell from the sky, landing in a distant bramble in an explosion of dirt.

Leela loaded another arrow before the basket gave her pause.

It was moving. Shuffling ever so slightly on the ground. Leela peered inside it and her heart stopped. She bleated in amazement. It was a human baby. It couldn’t have been older than a couple days. It looked pink, soft and fragile. Its eyes were closed.

That was the smell! It was human. It all made sense now. She’d never seen a human before. Many her age hadn't. The eldest among them had, of course, but that was long ago. The two races hadn’t communicated in centuries! What devilry caused a human child to be left out here all alone?

Abruptly something collided with Leela, knocking her onto her back. Red gashes trailed across her shoulder and she mewled in pain. She looked up in a daze to see the harpy. It was still alive, screaming at her in its own tongue, gesturing to its broken wing. It rushed her in a mad dash, screeching all the while. Leela drew her knife, but the harpy was faster. Pinning her down in an instant. Leela slashed at the harpy with her antlers, drawing fresh blood. But it wasn’t enough, if anything it made her angrier. The harpy snarled as her teeth closed in on Leela’s throat.

An arrow pierced the harpy’s skull, inelegantly ending the fight. “You should have waited for me,” said a mirthful voice.

Leela groaned loudly in reply. The second hunter shoved the corpse away and helped Leela to her feet. Katherina always loved big entrances. Her long pointed ears shook as she gave Leela a confident grin. She examined the gashes on Leela’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

Leela raised her arms and signed, “It’s a flesh wound, I’ll be fine.”

Katherina nodded. “Why are you here? There’s no game. That harpy saw to that.”

Leela gasped. She almost forgot about the baby! She darted past Katherina and picked up the basket. She sighed in relief upon seeing that the baby was okay. She handed the basket to her friend.

Katherina’s eyes widened. “By the Gods.” She picked the baby up, cradling it in her arms. She turned to Leela, “You smelled her?” Leela nodded. Katherina grinned. “Gotta love the Animite sense of smell- wait a minute.” Katherina gazed down upon the child and tilted her head. “Why is she still calm?”

“What do you mean?” Leela signed, her hands slow and cautious.

Katherina caressed the baby gently. “That harpy’s wails would have gone out for miles. And yet here she is, still asleep!”

The two Benelim shared a glance. “She’s deaf,” Leela signed. “That’s why she was left here.”

“Humans,” Katherina spat. “Repugnant as ever!”

Katherina handed the baby over to Leela. At long last the baby’s eyes opened. Leela teared up. She was small, so innocent. So vulnerable. The baby cooed softly, and even gave a little grin. As much as she could without teeth anyway. Leela’s deer-like face managed to smile back. The child giggled at the sight.

Leela glanced at Katherina and they both realized the same thing. They couldn’t just leave her here and it was obvious that the humans didn’t want her.

Katherina gave a deep sigh. “She’s coming with us.” She placed a hand on Leela’s shoulder. “You know it’s the right thing to do. We’ll raise her as a Benelim! She’ll be one of us! We’ll teach her Benelim Sign when she’s older. She’ll fit right in.”

Leela was nervous. She had never been a mother. She was infertile. She didn’t know how to raise a child. She hadn’t even held one til now! But one glance at the child, cooing and staring at her with tender, curious and loving eyes, made the decision obvious. Leela nodded.

“What should we name her?” Katherina asked.

Leela made a similar noise to the bleat she made when she first found her. Animite Benelim couldn’t talk like their normal kin, their beastial mouths and throats couldn’t make the shapes and sounds. They use Benelim Sign Language to communicate with others, but their names have always been based on the exclamation of joy their mothers said upon seeing their children.

Katherina stared for a long moment. “R-ruth? Ruth?” Leela nodded. “Ruth. I like that.” She turned to the newly named Ruth and smiled.

Leela grinned too. Change had a smell after all.