[Kitsumi]

Ghor'Rin gazed fondly at his kits playing. It was a bright summer day, and he had decided to take his young offspring to the park. They had only recently come home from the nursery, and already Ghor'Rin was as loving and active a father as any. His heart had seemed to triple in size as his three kits made their way into his heart. He wasn't lifemated to their mother - he didn't see the need to be. He was fond of her, yes, but only as a friend. Their night together had been sort of an accident; their kits were a blessing, though.

[Kitsumi]

Cinderella, Dmitri, and Chance scrabbled in the dirt as their father looked on. Cinderella was such a beautiful little girl; she seemed to radiate innocent beauty and youthfulness. Dmitri was already looking as if he were going to grow up to be a born athlete. The way he played with the ball his father had bought him, the strength in such a small body - there was little doubt about his destiny. Chance, however, wasn't quite as happy as the other two. Some sort of disease he was born with caused his flesh to rot and fall off - somehow, it always replenished. It never killed him, and it wasn't contagious. But it was painful at times, and he could tell that other people looked at him funny. It made him a bit sad, even as a kit.

[Kitsumi]

Ghor'Rin sighed, as he noticed that Chance wasn't playing as hard as the other kits. He wanted to go say something that would help...but he didn't know what to say. Rin had been around kits before, of course. In fact, he loved being around them. But this was his first time being a father. It scared him, not knowing what to say or do.

[Kitsumi]

Dmitri, swishing his short stub of a tail, leapt towards Cinderella, bowling her over. "Gotcha!" He shouted happily. However, he wasn't prepared for Cinderella's sudden upward push of her back legs to his stomach. He was thrown off of her, yelping. She giggled, and began batting at his exposed belly. "Now I got you!" she called.

Meanwhile, Chance just sat, looking down. He had been playing, until a sudden pain in his paw caused him to look...and see that another piece of skin had just fallen off. He hated being different. He hated being strange.

[Kitsumi]

"Hey!" Rin called out to his two more active kits. "Don't rough house so much. I don't want one of you to get hurt. You can wrestle a little bit, but be careful, okay?"

Then, he looked to his other son. Sighing, he began to walk towards him. He may not have known exactly what to say, but he had to say something.

[Kitsumi]

Dmitri and Cinderella's ears went back a bit, ashamed at being reprimanded. Both squeaked out a hasty 'sorry' before going back to their playing. They continued rough housing, but at a slightly gentler level.

Chance held back the urge to wail in distress. His paw burned where the skin was gone and the air was able to hit the exposed, softer flesh beneath. Even worse than that, he was almost positive that a couple nearby were talking about him. They kept looking over and pointing at him, and then whispering. It was obvious they were talking about him.

[Kitsumi]

"Chance?" Rin sat down beside his son. Wrapping his tail around the kit protectively, he pulled the kit to his side. "Are you alright? Why aren't you playing with Ella and Dmitri?" He was pretty sure he already knew the answer. But he wanted to hear it from his son.

[Kitsumi]

While Ella and Dmitri continued playing and squealing, Chance looked up at his father. Holding back tears, he pointed with one paw to the piece of flesh laying in front of him. "Part of m-my paw fell off. It h-hurts really b-bad too." Leaning against his father, the tears began to come. "They l-look at me f-funny daddy. I k-know they d-do."

[Kitsumi]

A heavy, sad sigh escaped Rin. "I know, son. They're not used to seeing someone like you. But you know what? You need to show them that you don't care. Show them that you're still a normal kuhna, just like Ella and Dmitri. Can you do that?"

[Kitsumi]

Ella and Dmitri began to wander off, knowing that their father wouldn't be watching. "Let's see how far away we can get before he notices we're missing!" Ella whispered. Dmitri nodded excitedly, and they began sneaking off.

"I dunno if I can d-do that daddy." Chance sniffled. "Cause I do c-care and I'm n-not normal."

[Kitsumi]

Rin sighed. "I know, son. And I'm sorry. You know that I would give up all the money in the world if it would heal you." He nuzzled his son's head with his nose. "And you know that your mother and I love you, as do Ella and Dmitri. To us, you'll always be special."

[Kitsumi]

Laughing and giggling, Ella and Dmitri snuck further away. "Think about how surprised dad will be when he looks up and we're gone!" Ella giggled, and Dmitri quickly agreed. "He'll be so proud of our sneaking skills!" They  continued to sneak even further away...

"I know," Chance sniffled. "B-but will I ever h-have a mate of my own? Or even f-friends?"

[Kitsumi]

Yet another sigh came from Rin. "I know that you think no one will accept you." It was obvious that this was exactly what his son was thinking. "But that's just not true. Your mother and I love you. You're siblings love you. Why do you think that other people couldn't love you? You'll have friends, I'm sure. And you'll find love too."

[Kitsumi]

By now, the two mischievous siblings were out of sight. "Wow, dad'll have a hard time finding us now!" They giggled as they hid behind a tree. "Won't he be so surprised?

Chance sighed. "I guess you're right daddy. I just hate being different. I wanna be like everyone else."

[Kitsumi]

Rin smiled. "I know, son, I know. But everyone's different in one way or another. If we were all the same, how would the world function? We'd all have the same type of job since we'd all be the same. And then all of the other jobs wouldn't get done. We wouldn't even be able to survive, would we?"