"...mom?" The female ratfolk looked up from the pot she was scrubbing and down at the kobold standing to his right, her ears perking up as she cocked her head to one side.
"What is it, Koh?"
"...I'm not a ratfolk... am I?" The female rat's stature momentarily sank for a second, before straightening back up and smiling. "What makes you say that, honey?" The kobold frowned back up at her, grimacing. "We don't... look the same. I mean... I have scales, you have fur... I can see fine in the dark, but you can't... even our claws are different, look?" The kobold held up his hands, looking between them and his 'mother's' and frowning.
The female ratfolk stepped back from the washing tub and dried her hands on the apron she wore, kneeling next to the kobold. "Koh... what we look like isn't important. You are still my son, and I still love you... and always will." The kobold frowned back as his shoulders drooped. "But what am I? Am I... am I some mutant? Or a monster?"
Reaching up and placing her hands on the kobold's shoulders, she looked him in the eye before smiling. "Listen, Koh... you're... not a ratfolk. That is true. But where you came from or what you are isn't what makes you... you." She pulled the creature closer as she wrapped an arm over his shoulder. "But... I think it's only fair you know where you came from. When I first came to Avistan from Tian Xia, I was part of a wagon train. As we passed through one of the towns, I purchased a basket of eggs for my newest stew recipe. Well, you can imagine my surprise when one of those eggs was ENORMOUS compared to the others... but the owner didn't know where it came from. So he let me have it. As I brought them home and set the basket near the stove... something marvelous happened: the egg began to hatch!"
Koh listened quietly to his mom's tale, a mixture of shock and uncertainty covering his face as she spoke. "Well, you can guess I was quite surprised. I took the egg out and placed it on the table, waiting to see what came out. After a few minutes, I heard the most adorable squeal from inside, and a moment later, a head poked out through the shell!" Koh's head frills drooped back at this.
"Was that... me?" His mother smiled back at him. "That was you, Koh. Now, I had never taken the time to find a mate after leaving home, and I had never given any thought to raising babies... but when you tumbled out of that egg, looked up at me with those big yellow eyes and begged me to help you to your feet, my heart melted. I couldn't help, but love you to pieces."
The kobold looked down again at his claws, spying his adoptive mother's hands and glowering back at his. The female rat smiled, before hugging him tightly. "Koh... you're a kobold and I'm a ratfolk... but that doesn't mean I love you any less. You are also my son, and no matter how many of my turnips you sneak, how infatuated you are with kung fu, or how different we may seem, you will always be my beautiful little boy." Koh frowned, but hugged his adopted mom back. He felt uneasy and uncertain about what exactly he was... but the fact she was still that was comforting.
