Oksana and Helen finished skinning the rabbits and then Oksana cut three of them up. She took the fourth one and boiled it so that she could get the meat off of it and have some pulled meat.

"Are we going to be heading out any time soon?" Priscilla asked.

"Why would we? This is a gold mine of supplies. We have all the meat we could wish for and if we set up a dew catcher, we can have plenty of fresh water. With the garden of spices, we could practically live here." Helen said.

"Although we could, at some point we do need to try to leave." Oksana said. "We need to try and get out of this forest, not hold up in it. Eventually, the weird things of the forest will start to close in on us and then we will be boxed in."

"Why are you trying to leave so fast?" Helen asked.

"How many times do I have to tell you that this place is suspicious and creepy and I don't like being here?"

Helen rolled her eyes, tired of Priscilla's nagging about the forest. "Look, you told me that you followed me because you trusted that I was the best person who would know how to survive this forest, right? Well, now you're with two of the best people who would know how to survive this forest because you've got Mrs. Blount with us now. What more proof do you need that you're going to be okay?"

"I saw something really weird last night, you know? While you two were snoring away, there was some weird shit happening."

"Like what?"

"I saw those rabbits do a friggin blood ritual in mourning of their comrades and they did something. I can't really explain it."

"You said that you couldn't sleep last night, right? Maybe instead you were in and out of consciousness and were having a lucid dream."

"Never in my wildest dreams could I have made that shit up."

Helen just shook her head and went back to talking with Oksana. Priscilla sighed and just sat to the side, pulling her legs up to her chest and wondering what she should do. She wanted to leave because she didn't trust what happened last night but she was not savvy enough to leave the only two people who were capable of helping her.

As she sat there hoping to find a solution soon, she watched Oksana and Helen having fun with the cooking of rabbits. She wished she had paid a little more attention in science class and also outdoor ed so that she could do this by herself. She vowed that if she was able to get out of the forest, she would take a course and learn how to survive on her own. She knew that things weren't right but no one believed her and if she had some sort of skill, she'd be able to just up and leave them and find a way to survive on her own. Helen turned to look at her for something and Priscilla made a face.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Did you always have buck teeth like that?"

"Buck teeth? I don't have buck teeth."

Oksana looked over and Priscilla made a face at her too.

"What is it?"

"You have buck teeth too."

Oksana and Helen looked at each other and Helen turned her head a little.

"Hey, she's right. You look like your teeth are longer in the front." She told her teacher.

"I don't really know what you mean, but she's right about you as well."

They turned to look at Priscilla and they both pointed at her. Priscilla gasped, touching her teeth and realized that her teeth were longer than normal as well. The students both looked at Oksana for answers and she shrugged, in complete confusion herself.

"I wish I could tell you why this is happening, but I don't know..."

"It's the rabbit ritual last night." Priscilla said, sounding funny with her teeth in the way. "They did something to us. We're turning into rabbits!"

"No we're not." Helen growled, scratching her face. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of."

"We killed their comrades! They are getting revenge!"

"If that were the case, then why would they go after you? You didn't eat the soup, remember?"

"I had the juice from the soup. All they probably saw was me eating soup, not the contents of it. Oh my god..."

"Stop being overdramatic about it." She said, scratching her face and twitching her nose at a tickling feeling. "This forest is weird but it's not magical."

"Oh yeah, then why are you twitching you nose like a little bunny, Helen?" Priscilla growled.

"There's a tickle in my nose. People move their nose like that all the time."

"Girls, this is no time to argue. Clearly there is something amiss, but I don't think there is much cause for alarm." Oksana said, putting her hands on either of their shoulders. "I know this is confusing and scary, but we have to stick toge-oooh..."

"Mrs. Blount?" Helen asked in worry.

Oksana put her hand to her stomach and seemed confused for a second. The moment passed and she shook her head.

"Moi izvineniya... I felt an odd feeling in my stomach just then."

"Are you okay?"

Oksana nodded. "I'm fine. It was probably some gas moving around."

Priscilla felt a twitch in her nose and started moving it around like Helen had before. She tried to consciously not do that; it felt like when she had shaved and her hair was growing back in and it was itchy.

"My point is that we need to stick together to get through this odd time. The more we fight, the less united we will be and that's not good."

It was hard to take the older woman seriously when she was fliffling her nose like a rabbit.

"It's hard not to fight when it's clear that we are turning into rabbits and Ms. Grillz over here is telling us we aren't." Priscilla said.

"Because we aren't. Like I said, you were having a lucid dream last night that was mixing your fear and lack of sleep and now you're trying to tell us that this forest is a magical place that can turn people into animals and animals have blood rituals for their fallen comrades. How ridiculous does that sound?"

"It may sound ridiculous but if it's really happening then it's not really that ridiculous is it?" Priscilla hissed, trying to keep her composure as her S's sounded more muffled due to the length of her growing teeth.

Oksana sighed, knowing from her experience as a teacher that sometimes children fight for no reason. She went back to looking over the boiling pot of rabbit and dipped a ladle into the pot. She suddenly felt the odd feeling in her stomach again and put her hand on it, rubbing it a little to alleviate the pain. As she rubbed her stomach, she felt like something was trying to poke through her top lip and so she moved her hand to see what it was. It felt like when she shaved her legs and the stubbled was coming through except it was on her top lip now. Trying to keep her cool and not raise alarm to the fighting teens, she took out her compact mirror and looked at her face. On her top lip on either side, there were deep little dots and small, tough hairs coming out of them. She touched them and then looked at her nose, finding it looking a little thin and it felt soft. Not skin soft, but soft like... a rabbit. That feeling came back in her stomach and she pressed her hand to it, trying to get the feeling to go away when she noticed that her stomach felt a little plump. She looked down and saw that where her once flat stomach was there was now a small pooch that was starting on the bottom of her torso, pressing against her pants. She knew for a fact that that wasn't there before because she worked hard to keep herself thin and fit and the only time she ever got like that was when she was bloated. She had never had a reaction to rabbit before and she wasn't sensitive to any of the spices she had found. She chalked it up to the stress she was under and tried to come up with a plan to get her and the girls out of there.

************************

Helen finally threw her hands in the air and turned away from Priscilla.

"You're insane!" she said, turning away.

"I'm not insane! I know what I saw last night! Why would we all be turning into rabbits if that weren't true?"

Helen turned around to say something when she felt a weird feeling in her stomach and she moaned, doubling over.

"What's wrong?" Priscilla asked.

"I feel like I'm going to be sick." Helen said, leaning on her knees.

Priscilla turned to talk to Oksana when Helen grunted and stood back up, her arm over her stomach as she hissed in pain. Helen looked down and her eyes bulged a little as she watched her stomach expand just a little from under her arm, making her look like she was bloated. Priscilla looked at her own stomach but didn't see anything out of the ordinary or feel anything weird. The only thing she did feel were the whiskers coming in over her mouth (she was already convinced of the rabbit thing, so she didn't have to deny what they were) and she was getting a headache, but that was about it. It seemed like her teeth weren't shifting anymore to make her look any more like a rabbit in that regard, but she also had a small itchy feeling on her skin and was sure she was going to sprout fur at any moment. But nothing regarding her stomach.

Helen looked absolutely terrified as she looked at her protruding stomach.

"What in the hell?"

"Oh!" they heard from where Oksana was.

They both turned and found Oksana leaning over with her hands on her knees, looking like she was cringing in pain. She stood up again and turned to the girls, her stomach looking like it was about three months pregnant and her shirt starting to ride up over the protruding mass. Oksana looked very frightened and she tried to pull her shirt back down over her stomach.

"J-Just stay calm..." she said, sounding anything but.

"Mrs. Blount, you look like you're pregnant." Priscilla said softly.

"It must be a reaction to the soup."

Priscilla looked down. "I'm not having any stomach reactions..."

A sharp pain went through Priscilla's head an it felt like her ears were ringing and yet like things were exploding at the same time. She screamed, putting her hands over her ears when she realized that her ears seemed to be missing. Panicked, she started touching the sides of her face but didn't feel her ears. Oksana and Helen looked scared for her and were yelling her name but Priscilla couldn't hear them. They sounded like they were in tunnel far away. Priscilla started getting dizzy and Oksana helped her sit down as she pulled her legs up to her chest, trying to keep the dizziness at bay. The top of her head started throbbing and she felt sick, so she laid on her side on the grass, trying to keep the nausea down. Apparently she was crying because Helen used a napkin to wipe her eyes and was rubbing her arm in a comforting manner. Her head was still throbbing and spinning but soon the nausea went away and she was left to try and calm down in the grass. She didn't know what was happening but she hoped it wasn't anything close to what was happening with Oksana and Helen.

******************************

After a few minutes, Helen stopped rubbing Priscilla's arm as she seemed to calm down. She looked at Oksana, who looked like she also had a headache, and stood up.

"Mrs. Blount, what are we going to do? What happened to Priscilla's ears?"

Oksana looked at the girl as she laid in the grass, seeing the small bumps on top of her head.

"I think she's developing rabbit ears. If that's the case, our human ears are very different from rabbit ears and so there has to be a restructure of the ear canal and placement. I believe once the rabbit ears are fully developed that she will be fine."

"So... you're giving into this too?" Helen said, not in a condescending way like she was with Priscilla, but in a semi-defeated way.

She also looked up to Mrs. Blount and if the teacher said that they were most definitely turning into something, then she was more inclined to believe it. There were only three people there and so two people with the same logic equals the truth... at least that's how she was viewing it.

"I don't think there is a way to deny it anymore, moya devushka. Our features are definitely starting to take on those of the Leporidae. Our teeth are longer and the whiskers are starting to sprout as well as the theory with Priscilla and the rabbit ears. We really can't deny it anymore."

"Then what about our stomachs? Why do we look like we are bloated when Priscilla doesn't? Does it have something to do with the rabbits?"

Oksana touched her small stomach, rubbing it like a pregnant woman would, and was surprised to find that it was hard just like a pregnant woman. She pressed on her stomach and found it as tight as a drum. She had a theory, but she didn't think it was correct and needed more proof.

"I think it might have to do with the rabbits, but I can't say for sure."

"What is it?"

Oksana touched her stomach again. "In many cultures, rabbits are used to symbolize fertility..."

Helen made a face. "Are you saying we're pregnant?"

"I'm not too sure. It's just a theory."

"But then, why isn't Priscilla getting any symptoms? It seems like she's getting more of the transformation features than we are."

"This is a very confusing situation, Helen. Unfortunately, as much as I wish I had all the answers for you, I truly don't. I think we should try to leave the area as soon as Priscilla is able to continue on."

"What if leaving makes it happen faster?"

"It will happen either way, so what different will it make if it's slower or faster?"

Helen made a face but if Oksana said that it was best to leave from where they were, then it was best to leave. Everything seemed to be getting more and more ridiculous by the minute anyway, so what difference did it make?

************************

A few hours later, Priscilla opened her eyes and found herself on the ground. She looked around for a moment and discovered that the sun seemed to be low in the sky. How long had she been asleep? She pushed herself up onto her elbow and put her hand to her head when she felt something tight on the top of her head. She moved her hands up and felt something fuzzy. She immediately froze and then continued touching the fuzzy thing as she ran her hand up it. She heard a small noise and felt the thing turn, making the noise more clear. Priscilla closed her eyes, realizing what it was.

"Are you shitting me?" she said to herself, checking out the mobility of her new rabbit ears. "This is insane..."

"Priscilla? Are you awake?" she heard someone ask.

Priscilla turned and saw Oksana and Helen were over by the fire again, Helen looking at her from her spot. Priscilla stood up, trying to keep her balance from the new equilibrium her new ears made for her, and she swayed over to them. When she got there, though, she was completely shocked by what she saw. Both women, who were normally very fit and strong, were both sporting very large bellies that were well beyond trying to hide under their shirts.

"Holy shit, what happened to you guys?" she asked, sitting down between them.

"We're not quite sure. It has to do with the rabbits, obviously." Helen said, leaning back. "Mrs. Blount thinks we might be pregnant."

Priscilla wrinkled her nose. "Pregnant? With what?"

"That is the question." Oksana said, putting a loose blonde hair behind her ear. "We are either just pregnant or we are... pregnant with a rabbit."

"Why do you even think that? I mean... yeah, you guys look pregnant but what does that have to do with rabbits?"

"Rabbits have been a symbol in many cultures for fertility for thousands of years. Since the forest is such a strange place, there may be an issue with making more rabbits and so they use humans as their hosts."

Priscilla made a face. "I feel like that's too simple of a solution and it doesn't make sense as to why the rabbits did a whole blood ritual for their fallen comrades. Making some stupid humans pregnant doesn't seem like this forest's style. There's got to be more to it."

"Well when you see the bunnies doing a ritual next time, feel free to step in and ask them 'what the hell', huh?" Helen growled, putting her hand under her distended stomach and grunting uncomfortably. It almost looked like her stomach swelled up a few inches and she closed her eyes. "This is torture."

"How is your head, dear?" Oksana asked Priscilla.

Priscilla's ears moved on their own. "The ears are weird and it sounds like everyone is talking super loud, but I'm not nauseous anymore. I still have a dull headache but that's probably from the transition of the ears and stuff."

"We were waiting for you to wake up so we could tell you what our plan is. We are going to leave the fields in the morning and try to make our way elsewhere. It isn't advantageous to stay here and with the only thing being rabbits to eat, I feel it will just raise temptation."

"What about the rabbits you caught and skinned? Are you still going to keep those?"

Helen scoffed. "Waste not, want not. Those are perfectly good rabbits. We just won't kill anymore."

"Oh, well, I think that's a fair- NOT!" Priscilla yelled. "You do realize that it's because of you two eating the rabbits that you're in this position, right?"

"That can't be right because you wouldn't be growing rabbit ears if that were the case."

"Uh, yes it would. If the rabbits only saw me eating out of a bowl and didn't know that I didn't actually eat any meat, it would explain some things."

"I think the soup has something to do with it a little, but I believe it may have more to do with the killing of their comrades that has given us these strange extra symptoms." Oksana said, taking said boiled rabbit from her pack. "I will kill no more of them but wasting the meat of the rabbits I have already killed is something I can't do. Killing for sport is not something that I do and with perfectly good meat here, I will make sure that I have not killed the animal in vain."

"Mrs. Blount, please forgive my curtness, but I don't think the rabbits give a fuck about your morals in how you eat their friends. I'm telling you that it has to do with you actually eating the rabbits, not necessarily killing them."

Helen sighed. "So I guess you're not going to eat again?"

"No! My god! How can the two of you be so smart and yet so dumb! I can't wait to get away from you guys... You're going to cause me to get rabbit-screwed like you two." Priscilla got up and started walking away. "Don't say I didn't warn you both. I'm telling you: if you eat more of those rabbits, you will definitely regret it."

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what could possibly be the reason? is it the eating or the killing? (￣～￣;)