Chpater 5: Birthright
  Several days later, Aaron was all set for school. At least all set the way he wanted to be. It was nice wearing a dress like he used to when he pretended with mom, with white trim and yellow stripes. Normally it was because he wanted to, but this time it was actually the outfit for the school. As it turned out, the local school actually not only welcomed demis who cross dressed, it was actually encouraged because it showed how sweet they truly were. And Aaron, according to Sora, was really sweet.
 "Miss Sora..." Aaron said, by now on a first name basis, "um.... thanks for helping to find my mom. But... even if we do not find her, I think that you are a nice person to be with. And I think... I'd love to stay with you."
 Sora smiled. "I hoped you would say that. And I will keep my promise. I will not eat you until you are ready." She hugged him. The fact that he knew about her eating demis, and had seen it, was encouraging.
 In fact, it was seeing it that made Aaron relaize at last how good it truly was. The wolf had ordered pizza delivery, and Aaron realized that meant he got the pizza... and she got the delivery boy, a rather adorable mouseboy dressed in red. She had worked hard that night with Aaron watching to make him into a delicious (and oddly cozy) looking pizza roll, the boy loving how good it felt it seemed. Aaron had watched with wonder as Sora ate the pizza boy, and even rubbed her belly afterward. But the biggest suprise was when he reformed later, getting dressed and heading back to where he came from. Aaron, seeing that, now knew there was nothing to fear from being eaten, and even began to imagine himself in that roll.
 Hence why he had snuck the cook book into his backpack. He had actually began to dream about how it would look, actually dreaming last night that he was the turkey, all kinds of wolves and pups at a thanksgiving table, all sharing in dinner, and then afterward him snuggled in a mass of big, fat, chubby wolf tummies. The dream actually made him smile with how cutwe it looked, and that feeling stayed with him.
 Maybe being food would not be so bad.
 "Ok now, we need to focus. you have all you need for school?" Sora asked, handing him his lunch. It was traditional fare with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a thermos of sweet cream.
 "I think so." Aaron said, sighing deeply. "I just hope I do ok. Are you sure no one will eat me?"
 Sora nodded. "Not unless you want to be.
 Aaron smiled as he headed out with Sora, for the first time in awhile climbing into the hovercar of his own free will. For the most part Aaron had stayed at the house, reading or looking about, or simply missing his mom. But today was different, as he finally got to look the hovercar over. It was a sleek design, looking in some ways like the classic race car the Mach 5. It was white in color with a sleek, speedy design, and is clearly meant for not only speed... but also flight.
 "Ok, strap in." Sora said, Aaron climbing in the back seat and buckling in. Sora climbed in soon after, started the vehicle, and started off for the school. Aaron quickly began to recognize the neighborhood he was driving through, but as he did he felt very queasy inside. In the past this had been a place where his friends played, and the houses were full of people he knew.
 But now... the place was in ruins. It was being rebuilt, but what it was becoming was not pleasant to the boy, as the homes now were becoming more like little hobby farms... with demis as the livestock. As they drove past one in particular a big bear was feeding several demi kids with tags on their ears baskets full of hamburgers and fries to get them big and fat. That in itself made Aaron uneasy.
 "Why do they have to be like cattle?" Aaron found himself saying out loud. Sora looked and pondered. She noticed how happy they were in their state and knew the right answer was in fact the truth.
 "Aaron, rememebr when I said that there were some humans who wanted to be food? Well.... a good portion of the survivors had that idea. Others had their memories wiped so they did not rememebr the sorrow from before. In both cases they chose to be like this most of the time. But I assure you they are not mistreated."
 Aaron was not sure of that, given how they seemed to just eat and eat solely so they could be eaten. While there was no fear of death... this seemed like a different kind of life loss.
 "We are here!" Sora said, bringing the boy out of his morose thoughts, and what he saw filling him with better ones. Demis and Fursons (As they now called themselves) were all getting off busses together, playing in the yard, saying goodbye to families, and just having fun. A few even suddenly wrapped themselves in rolls for suprised fur cubs, who put them in their lunches or had them right then and there. It looked so much fun Aaron had to smile.
 And when he stepped out, he was immediately taken away into the playful groups by the kids, who all seemed to get along. It felt true here. It felt right. It felt... heavenly.
 Even the bilding was inviting. Clearly a rebuilt schoolhouse, this was already finished and now seemed to embody the idea that there could be a peaceful world after all. Aaron smiled as he played with the kids, wsalking among them.
 "Hey there cutie pie!"
 Aaron froze as he heard that voice. It couldn't be. He turned and there before him stood a bunny demi, with floppy white ears, a cute cotton tail, and a big tummy, wearing a shirt that advertised the local farm "happy meals" on it. But... the face was unrecognizable. How she greeted him was unmistakable. The blue eyes. The cream skin. It.. it...
 "Mom?" Aaron said. And instantly the bunny smiled, winking.
 "Well, you figured that out fast!" She said.
 "MOM!!!!!" He screamed, hugging the bunny... and then he realized something. "Wait.... how can you be the same age as me?"
 "Reformation." His mom explained. "And since we are the same age.. .better call me Mina in front of everyone okay?"
 Aaron began to cry. "Mom...I... I thought I lost you..."
 Aaron's m.... er.... MINA smiled. "I promised you before we were gonna get through this didn't I? And now we have. And here we are, two adorable demis." She sighed. "Shame your father died in all this, but.. .at least now I know I have you."
 The two hugged again, happy they were each alive. The two walked into the school, and were tickled pink to learn they were in the same class. They then learned that not all Fursons were based on animals... at least not common ones.
 In their room was a HUGE dragon, who crawled in through a massive hole in the floor. She was a female dragon and wore spectacle,s but was big enough she could eat a whole class of demis and still have room for dessert. She smiled at the two and let them talk while she set up for classes, though she kept them in mind, watching as they talked.
 Aaron told Mina all about how he had woken up and had been taken in by Sora. His mother was glad about that given that now she could no longer be a mom and was more like a sister, which neither would mind as long as they were together. But when Aaron mentioned he had not been eaten yet, she was puzzled.
 "You haven't?" She asked.
 "No... Sora made a promise not to until I was ready."
 Mina nodded. "I understand, given how you were. I on the other hand thought I lost you, but I refused to let the owner of happy meals.... all lower case... erase my memories. So I kept every memory of you in my heart, hoping I would see you. In the meantime I have been in high demand the last few weeks. Bunny demis I guess are super tastyu and I havebeen eaten a LOT by the Fursons!"
 Aaron blinked. "You have?!"
 "Yup! And I loved every minute of it. I have been roasted, baked, stewed, cupcaked, rotisseried, and all the while I never felt a bit of pain as I was cooked and eaten up. Heck it felt so good I wanted it all the time, so I was glad to be such a money maker for the pig."
 Aaron chuckled. "Wow mom.... I mean Mina... you really do like this."
 Mina nodded. "Sure do. And I know you will when Sora eats you. Don't think I didn't see that cook book when you put your backpack away. I know you want to be a tatsy treat more than anything now."
 Aaron blushed. Mina really did know a lot about him. Still he had to be completely sure. "Ummmm.... I have to be sure Mina... I'm scared that I have to keep searching."
 Mina nodded. "Yes?"
 "What is our last name?"
 "Wilde."
 "When was I born?"
 "September 14th."
 "What is my favorite color?"
 "Aquamarine. It goes well with that dress Aunt Tildy gave you."
 Aaron began to cry. It was her! It had to be! He settled in for class as the dragon leaned in close.
 "You two mind if I have you join me for lunch?"
 Aaron smiled.. .and nodded. He was finally ready, now that he had his mom back.
 Or so he thought.
  CHAPTER 6: Conquest
 School was a lot more fun than Aaron remembered, and over the next few days he and Mina spent a lot of time together as mother and son, as sibling,s and as best friends, all wrapped up in one reformable package. Best of all, at long last he had been eaten, meaning the door was wide open for Sora to eat him whenever he wanted.
 That door had been opened by the dragon teacher he had, who had a delicious sibling sandwich for lunch that first day. She smeared Aaron with peanut butter and Mina with jelly, and squished them into a big bun so they were snuggled up, making Aaron blush and Mina laugh. When the two reformed after a good amount of crunching and chewing, they decided to do it more often, and sure enough they soon signed up for a cooking class as well as one where they could do plays centered around fairy tale.s... especially ones where things got eaten.
 All of this and more Sora found out about, and when Aaron gave Dr. Leon a bit of Mina's furry tail for a comparison, there was just no mistake. The DNA was a perfect match. Mina WAS Aaron's mom. But as they found that out, the two had a visitor. He was fat and also muscular in the legs and arms, and snorted unhappily as he entered the home. Sora recognized him as the same pig who he taked to the night that she had found Aaron.
 "Alright, let me make one thing perfectly clear. You keep that Demi of yours away from my property." He said, without so much as a hello or asking if he could enter, showing his rage. Sora blinked.
 "Why is that?"
 "Because he is ruining my buisness! I own a spread of 120 demis, and you know how many are bunnies? ONE! Mina is MINE wolf, so unless you plan to sell me that bit of venison, keep him away from my Mina."
 Aaron stood up. "Mina is my Mom! We just found out dfor sure!" He held up the DNA results, Sora nodding in agreement, as was Dr. Leon who had delivered the news. The pig took one look at it...
 ... then promptly ripped it up.
 "What you were before was no concern of mine, LIVESTOCK."
 Aaron gasped. "What did you call me?!"
 "Livestock. Cattle. Low intelligent meat creature. Take your pick but that is what Demis a-"
 WHAM! With a sharp kick, Aaron slammed into the leg of the pig, the pig squealing in pain as he fell. He wated to do more but Sora held him back.
 "WHY DID HE ATTACK ME?!" The pig shouted angrily. "WAS HE PROCESSED?!"
 Sora growled. "That is not your concern, little piggy." She licked her lips. "Now listen and listen good. Mina is this boy's mother, and you will not keep them apart."
 "I don't care WHAT they were before the war wolf!" The pig shouted, staning up. "And you, Dr. Leon, acting so high and mighty with your silent protest over there, given what you know?"
 Dr. Leon stammered, as Aaron turned to him. "What is he saying?"
 Sora looked quizzacly at the lion, but the pig spoke first. "Dr. Leon knew exactly where he sent your 'mother', veal. He helped to get it put togther, is even one of my best customers."
 Silence. And then...
 "Is that true?" Sora asked. "You knew.. and din't tell us?!"
 Dr. Leon sighed. "I had a hunch she was related. But... I never got a DNA test until now."
 The pig snorted. "Not ike you didn't have a chance."
 Aaron began to whimper. "And... did you know?" He aksed Sora. Sora shook her head, glaring at the pig and the wolf.
 "If I had, I would have had him reported."
 The pig snorted with laughter. "To who?! Demi races have no rights. Oh sure they learn together and can be in families... but they are still lesser beings. They blew themselves up, so we are their masters now to keep them in line and in the lunchboxes." He leaned in close. "And the best part is they would nothave had those restrictions if their leaders had just agreed to our terms. But no, they were too selfish to share. And then they blew their salvation from the infestation out of the sky again and again. In my opinion killing the human race for demis was the best move we made, aside from keepingthem in their proper place."
 Sora stood up. "THAT DOES IT. I will not have you insulting my son! You get out of this house! And as for keeping him from Mina I refuse to do that. That boy lost all he had, and now when he has it again you want to steal it from him. Yes she is a bunny, and yes those are rare, but so is the love family shares with one another, and I will NOT allow you to tear that love apart!"
 The pig was silent and still as Sora shouted at him, then just shrugged. "Empty words from an empty head. Mina is still mine to do with what I please as proper and just livestock. I will nto have her taken from me." He turned to the boy. "And if I see you with her boy, I will kill you." With that warning he turned and left, but not before Sora growled one last time at him. Aaron collapsed into tears, Dr. Leon sighing and looking away in shame.
 "I'm sorry Aaron. I never heard or seen him act like this. He is always so friendly, so kind... I don't know..."
 "Please leave me alone..." Aaron said. "Just... go away." With that he headed to his room, leaving Sora with Dr. Leon. She looked at him then up to where Aaron went.
 "Doctor... just tell me why."
 Dr. Leon sighed. "Bunny is my favorite food... I was worried if..."
 "I never would have said no... until now." She opened the door for him. "Somehow or another we are getting Mina away from that pig. I am reuniting mother and son."
 Dr. Leon sighed. "I know... and I wish I could help. But the only way is to buy Mina as a permenant livestock."
 Sora nodded. "Then that is what I will do."
 ***********************
 Meanwhile, in his room, Aaron kept sobbing until he had no tears left. So this was truly the world he was in now. On the surface it was peaceful and happy, with demis and fursons side by side. But the truth was that Demis like what he was now were still reguarded as the humans like he once was, not forgiven in any way, and as such treated as the conquered slaves, with no rights or privledges other than to choose how to be the main course. Was this the life he truly had now? Was the seemingly peaceful mission of the aliens relaly just a conquest for food? Was that really all he and the other humans would have been, just food? reformable, eternal snacks for the fursons?
 Yes, he realized. Yes, that was all he was. Suddenly, the good, wonderful feelings he felt when he was being a meal felt.... wrong. Felt like... a form of control. A chain, forged not with iron but through the breaking of will. Aaron felt very, very alone. And witht hat feeling came a realization. He had found his mom, only for him never to see her again.
 No.
 No that would not be.
 He was getting his mom back. He was telling Sora that right now. He wiped the tears form his cheek and went to go downstairs, only to find Sora waiting at the other side of the door.
 "We are going to buy your mom." She said, matter-of-factly. "And I don't care if I have to sell all I own to do it. You two are going to be together if it is the last thing to do. I will NOT break my promise to my deer little one."
 Aaron smiled and hugged Sora. Then he looke dup at her. "How can I help?"
 Sor asighed. "Well... your not gonna like it."
 Aaron listened as she told his plan. Then she was shocked when he nodded to it. Indeed it was the best idea he had heard.
 After all... dragons have a lot of gold.