Chapter 5

Whispers!

Rumors!

Legoshi walked into the Cafeteria with his hand wrapped in several layers of gauze and set firmly in a splint. Thankfully the broken bones in his hands, two metacarpals, his Fifth and Fourth on his right hand, had snapped cleanly. He quickly grabbed some food and searched out his friends. An odd thing to have with his anxiety, but a welcome change from being left completely alone all the time.

He found Bill standing next to a table. The Tiger was waving his arms animatedly around while laughing and talking freely. The others were laughing at whatever it was he was saying but trying to be respectful. IT resulted in a bunch of animals covering their mouths while trying not to laugh obscenely at whatever bill was doing.

"Legoshi!" Dom the Peafowl squawked in surprise. "Where have you been! You missed English with us! Jack and the others wouldn't say anything about what happened either!" The bird fellow was obviously concerned, which warmed his heart, but he furrowed his brows at Jack, Collot, and the rest.

"Well," Legoshi slid into a spot next to where Bill was standing. The tiger moved to let him in and then leaned back on a foot and regarded him curiously. "When we got to Math Class this morning, there was a Lion getting ready to tear our Math teacher apart," The Wolf slouched a bit and carefully picked up a spoon with his injured hand. He winced and adjusted his fingers in how he was holding the spoon and took a sip of his soup.

"What?" The whole group, minus the guys from 701 shouted. Bill felt like he had been sucker-punched.

"Yes," Collot murmured. The large Sheepdog sighed and took a small bite of his sandwich. "From what we were able to tell, the Lion had gotten into a heated argument with some Herbivores that decided it was a good idea to goad him. Things turned nasty when they mentioned something about his family or something 'er other… The Teacher tried to step in, but ended up having to fend the lion off with a stool. Before the Lion could lay a claw on them, Legoshi here took him down." The other canines shot proud looks at their friend and smirked when they saw him look away in embarrassment.

The others stared and looked from the Wolf's face to his bandaged hand and wondered how it happened.

"Oh! That?" Miguno smirked while pointing at his friend's hand. "Legoshi hit the Lion twice, first time to get him away from the teacher, the second time to knock him out when he tried to attack Legoshi. He hit him so hard he broke two of his fingers in his hand," He smirked while Legoshi coughed and glared at the ground with a red tinge around his cheeks.

The others gaped at him.

"You forget the part where that second punch that broke his hand knocked the Lion out cold." Durham chuckled. Bill clapped Legoshi on the shoulder and laughed loudly.

"I knew you were a badass! I mean, not anyone can stare me down and get me to fall in line," Bill brushed his knuckles across Legoshi's scalp roughly for a moment before letting go. He weaved around a swipe from the wolf and chuckled.

"It's interesting to see you all here like this," A voice pondered from behind them all. The group of thirty looked up and behind them to see none other than Louis the red Deer standing there with a bemused look on his face.

"Louis! It's good to have you back!" Kibi shouted with his arms thrown in the air. The others gave their won greetings with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

"What kept you from school Louis?" Bill asked with something on the verge of concern on his face.

"I had to stay back home for a few days. One of my family's maid staff that I had known for years passed over the weekend just before school." The others shared a look of intense discomfort. "Why those looks?"

"Louis… Do you know what happened last Friday?" Aoba asked the Deer.

"No," The deer sat down in a vacated spot at the middle of the group and began to nibble at his food. "The school has not said anything to me and I have been bombarded with questions all morning." he took a moment to sip some water. "What happened?"

"Louis...Tem was killed and devoured Friday morning in the Music Auditorium…," Louis stopped and gingerly put his glass down. He folded his hands across the table and stared at Sheila.

"What?"

"Tem was devoured, Louis. We were all here… The school made an announcement about it and the Police even made an investigation into it," Dom spat the word Investigation out like it were poison. Louis was surprised by the venom, and the fact one of his classmates had died, but not by the fact that he had not heard of anything now. Any sort of Devouring was always hushed up by the police if they could manage it. The fact it was a student made it all the easier. With the fact that media stations were not allowed to publish anything from minors without the consent of their parents, legal guardian, or a police sanction with judicial support.

"Did they question any of you?" Louis asked, though his eyes lingered on Louis and Bill the most since they were the larger of the Carnivores present.

"No," Legoshi spat surprising Louis with his vehemence, "They asked the herbivores and smaller carnivores from the other parts of the school, but they avoided us like the plague!" The wolf sneered.

"They wouldn't even take any of our statements," Els groused. "Ellen and I went and tried to give them some details about Tem, since we saw him for hours every day…," She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes. "They brushed us off and said they didn't need our input to solve the case!"

Ellen nodded along and picked up a bread stick that she snapped in half angrily and bit the end off of.

"I want to find out who killed Tem," Bill muttered determinedly. The others looked at him like he had grown a second head. Save for Legoshi and the boys from 701.

"Your single-mindedness is going to get you hurt," Durham cut in.

"Yeah! Didn't Legoshi already talk you out of that stupidity of yours?" Miguno scoffed.

"I only said he should wait until after the police finished their report." The Wolf stood and stretched. He was finished with his meal and looked irritated. "Like I already told Bill, we should carry on with our lives, don't make a spectacle of ourselves, and document any odd behavior we see," The Grey Wolf turned and left abruptly. The others took his words to heart though. Louis not so much as he had not been there for… anything that had happened.

For the Red Deer, it was all rather odd. He was used to everyone listening to his words without question, yet here was a Wolf, a Carnivore, telling the other Apex Predators and Herbivores to remain calm and keep an eye out. It went against everything he had ever known about Carnivores, yet… Legoshi had always been different from the rest.

Legoshi sighed explosively and leaned up against a wall. His hand clutched his chest just above his still racing heart. His breath came fast and shallow all while his blood rushed in his ears. His hands trembled, even when clenched, and his eyes fluttered.

"What the hell," He muttered. He looked down at his hand and felt a wave of nausea come over him.

Hybrid physiology discovered! Regenerative abilities added!

Regeneration LVL 1/10

Legoshi felt the bones beneath his hand shift. He could feel it, even though it happened so slowly, and that caused him to clench his teeth in an effort not to vomit. His ears flattened against his head and he stuttered a heavy sigh.

"Fuuuuck. Why did this happen now?!" he groaned. "I was in the infirmary for hours… and now it does something!?"

He sneered at his hand, and the watch, before throwing himself into an awkward walk. He slowly traversed the halls and journeyed off towards history.

"Legoshi?" A feminine voice asked from behind him. He looked back and saw that Juno girl from the beginning of school. The very same Juno, the Wolf, that had tried to flirt with him.

"Um…," Legoshi paled as the girl stepped closer and looked him up and down.

"Are you okay?" She asked, concerned. "My goodness, you look horrid! What happened?" She put a largish hand on his arm and gently led him towards a bench.

"I... I think I ate something bad during lunch," He muttered. He knew the lie would sell, he looked like he was going to vomit any moment thanks to the sickening movement inside his hand.

"Well, do you need to visit the nurse?" she asked, legitimately concerned for her upperclassman, which was something that puzzled him because of their earlier interactions.

"I should be fine… Just… Need to get to class so I can sit down. Staying still seems to help," He grimaced at her and tried to offer a smile, but it only came across as a sneer.

"Let's get you to it then," she put herself under Legoshi's left side, the one he had used to grab the Lion thankfully, and propped him up. "Where to?" She asked, worry and excitement seemed to bubble up in her, but Legoshi caught her tamping it down and setting a firm face.

"History with Mr. Dowling the Raven, floor… 3, room 356," Legoshi ground out while trying to keep his lunch down. Juno the Grey wolf nodded to herself. "Well, we're on the third floor thankfully, and Mr. Dowling's classroom is not too far away."

Legoshi sighed and felt his head become thick with something before he groaned. He leaned on her heavily for a moment and she somehow took his weight without challenge.

It took them a few minutes, but after a while, Juno got Legoshi to his class. With nobody in side she quickly got him to the third row of seats and situated in his seat.

"Thanks a bunch, Juno…," He grumbled. The vixen blushed and looked away while holding her arms close to her sides.

"You're very welcome Legoshi… Um, I also wanted to apologize!" She stuttered for the first time since he had known her.

"For?" He asked, confused.

"How I first treated you, um, it wasn't very ladylike… and I know I made you uncomfortable after how you ran away… So! I want to apologize for my conduct!" She bowed stiffly to him and kept her eyes focused on the floor. With her eyes focused there, she did not see the perplexed look that Legoshi shot her. He looked away and scratched his face.

With his nausea now under control he didn't need to rush a reply. He looked back at her and put a hand on her head, like his grandfather used to do when he was little.

"Juno," he gently rubbed behind her right ear. She tensed and shivered under his hand, but she refused to look up. "You didn't do anything wrong, though I was put off by how forward you were," He retracted his hand. "I do accept your apology, even if you didn't need to give one. How about instead, we be friends?"

She looked up then shocked and blushing madly. She finally saw the kind look in his eyes, and not the wary or alarmed gaze he had before when he saw her. She also caught the hand being offered to her.

She smiled and took it gratefully. "I would be delighted Legoshi," She giggled. "Well, I better be off! Miss Frigga the Ferret is going to get mad at me if I miss her class!"

"Good luck! And maybe bring a grilled Gouda cheese sandwich from the cafeteria! When I had her class they were her favorites and got me out of a few tight places!"

"Thanks, I'll remember that!" She waved and ran off to her class.

Not ten minutes later Mr. Dowling walked in with a horde of eager students on his heels.

"Mr. Hachami!" the Raven called in surprise at seeing Legoshi sitting there in the middle of class.

"Yes sir?" He looked up and noted that almost a hundred students were staring at him with wide, fearful, eyes.

"You just surprised me Mr. Hachami, it's been a while! How is everything my boy?" the Raven asked while walking to the front of class. The rest of the students, with more trickling in, filled out the other seats.

"It's been… Hard. With my friend Tem being killed and all things are not as…," Legoshi trailed off and stared at his desk. A wave of whispers rushed through the classroom. Many of the Herbivores pointed and whispered at him while the Carnivores shared many odd looks between them that ranged from heartfelt to disgusted with pride somehow falling in between.

"Yes, I heard about that… I'm sorry for your loss Legoshi," The Raven walked up and stood before the Wolf and stared into his eyes. "The pain of losing a friend is never easy. I have had to put many friends to rest over the long life I've lived," The Raven had slightly clouded eyes from cataracts and looked to be older than any animal the new students had ever met. "If you ever need to talk about it, Legoshi, my office is always open," The Raven walked back to the front of class.

"Good afternoon! MY name is Mr Dowling! Or Mr D for those of you not comfortable calling me by my last name. In my class, we will be going over the History of our Great Nation of Fumetsu Kasai! Also known modernly as the Immortal Fire or Flame depending on your translation. We will start with the Birth of our Nation in 357BCE and work our way up to 1799CE."

The students shared excited words and quickly got their books out.

"WE will start with chapter five! As it contains a very good description of the birth of our nation." Mr. Dowling walked to the middle front of class and flipped open the large tome that was their History book for the next three years. The reason for that being that students had a choice to either start the class in their first or second year at Cherryton Academy. Either way they would eventually complete the required three years of History before leaving school.

"After Lord Feodora Mass, the Arctic wolf, led his five thousand Levies against the greater army of High Lord Brighton the Hippopotamus, and won, the lower regions of the peninsula came under the Wolf's direct command. A total of seven hundred square miles were now a part of his budding Kingdom.

At the behest of his commanders and Advisors he declared himself High Lord Feodroa The Arctic Wolf and dropped his last name. As it was recognized at the time that any animal that distinguished themselves to such a degree no longer needed a family name to be known in the Kingdom. It was heavily regarded with respect to be mentioned by species and have everyone know exactly who you were."

"357BCE saw the foundation of Fumetsu Kasai. Nine large settlements made up the beginning of our nation. Gisha the Captial. Dimasu, our major port city on the western coast. Folong, our only other port city at the time on the eastern coast. Hilo in the south. Sifal in the north. Cetrine in the east. Dowlong in the west. Finally there were Velon, Garth, and Amdu along our only land border to our north; they sat right on the edge and worked as the bulwark against the rest of the other Nobles that had tried to take us over in our early days.

"High Lord Feodora took massive liberties with how he wanted to organize our new nation. He made it a requirement that each of his Lords had to have a levy of no less than one thousand able-bodied animals under their immediate command at any time. It was the first-ever recording of a standing army in our history. In doing so it allowed our nation to fight off several invasions by the Northern Lords of Kobal, the nation that once resided to our north before the 11th Century CE.

"This action also provided enough trained animals to fight off a sea invasion at Folong when our island neighbor Kerpral tried to attack the port city. The fighting lasted for a month as our own forces had to traverse the mountainous terrain that lines our eastern coast.

"IN 340BCE High Lord Feodora counter invaded Kerpral and subjugated the island kingdom. One hundred thousand islanders, all reptiles, swore fealty to Feodora and the Lords under his command declared him King of Fumetsu Kasai."

Legoshi stood up and stretched. The class around him discussed the lesson so far since Mr. Dowling was giving them a minute to stretch their legs. The history of their nation had always been fascinating to Legoshi, but it always gave him chills when parts were brought up.

What many modern animals tended to forget was that back then, and up until the late 9th century, there were still feral animals living in the wild. There was no divide between Carnivores and Herbivores like there was now, no need to fear that your meat-eating friend was going to devour you whole when there was a feral version of yourself still taking a shit in the forest they could go hunt instead.

Something had happened at the end of the 9th century that had changed all of that. One day there were Feral Animals everywhere, and then they were gone. All that was left in the forest were the bugs. The seas were no longer inhabited by sparsely intelligent individuals, but by nations of their own that had no compunctions about eating each other to survive like the land animals.

"Alright class, now we are going to break up into groups and discuss what we have read so far. In the last ten minutes of class, I will be asking each group to give me their most agreed-upon view of this little bit of history we have read today!" Mr. Dowling walked the long isles that divided the rows of students. His wings were held behind his back and his cloudy eyes darted from student to student with sharp intensity while he spoke.

Partially blind he may be, but sharp as a tack was he. He quickly assigned groups, and graciously put Legoshi with his dorm mates.

"So, This is the first I've heard about us having a King…," Miguno muttered while flipping through his history book. He stopped on chapter five and laid it on a desk in the middle of their circle.

"It's not very well known anymore, and it's not one of our better marks on history. I know some of it since my dad used to teach me some of the things he learned in University before he died." the Golden lab scratched his arm with a wry smile.

"Mmm, I've spent some time reading about it all before, Library does have quite a bit on our recorded history that hasn't or can't be censored by the state," Legoshi groused with a sigh.

"Well, what about what we've learned in class? What do we think?" Collot verbally poked them into action.

The group turned their attention to the chapter and came up with three main views. First was that their first King must have been a military genius to thwart an army twice his size on disadvantageous terrain. Second was how strategically sound their homeland was founded and how quickly it was established. Third was their confusion on how an island nation was counter invaded in a time where naval warfare was limited.

There wasn't much stated on how Feodora invaded Kerpral, just that he did it with just over ten thousand men. It also mentioned in a note that the Invasion lasted nine months and cost the Fumetsu almost half their troops.

With the island of Kerpral, Modern Kerpral that is, being a stronghold of Fumetsu Kisai it was worth noting that most of its fortifications were hand made and laid across heavily forested areas so erosion did not topple the meters thick walls and towers. With all that in mind the group could see how an invasion could be made, with little in the way of natural defenses, it made it easy to land troops and simply walk on into the nearest city.

"Alright, class! Time for your responses to the activity!" Mr. Dowling walked to the center of the room and looked around at all the eager faces. "We will go in order of groups made. Group one!"

"We came to agree on the view that High Lord Feodora the Arctic Wolf had to be a brilliant strategist, we could not figure out how anyone could have overcome an army twice the size of their own without being some sort of brilliant tactician."

"Good, and a sound assessment of the late High Lord turned King. Group two!"

"We came to the agreement that the assault on Folong was rushed."

"Good observation group two, we will delve deeper into the consequences of that particular invasion in a later chapter as it has far more consequences than anyone at the time could have ever guessed." The Raven called on a few other groups before finally turning to Legoshi and his friends.

"Group seventeen, your turn."

"Well, we don't exactly have a view, per se, but we did come to an agreement on something," Jack meandered as their spokesanimal.

"Oh? And what is that?" Mr. Dowling asked, interested in what his students could come up with.

"When we looked over the information about the counter-invasion of Kerpral we found little evidence of how they actually did it, we figured that since the island only recently, in the last two hundred years, was fortified that… well… they just rafted on over. With a force of ten thousand like the records state it must have been an easy first battle since they could just walk right into the first city they found and sack it to the ground. We kind of agreed that had the Kerprali had any sort of forewarning then Kerpral would not have fallen at all. The fact they surrendered and pledged fealty made it all the more apparent to us that something more happened on the island than what is here."

"Excellent! Bravo!" Mr. Dowling clapped his wings together and cawed happily. "IN chapter six and seven we actually delve into those mysteries as there is no documented evidence of what actually happened on Kerpral back then. There have been stone tablets with mythological stories found that date to around the fall of Kerpral, but none of them are much help in determining how exactly King Feodora took the island with only five thousand losses against an entire nation of people number more than one hundred thousand."

The bell then rang and the class grumbled loudly. They had been enjoying themselves and were disappointed that they couldn't all give their answers. Many of them started to stand and grab their things when Mr. Dowling coughed to gather their attention.

"Tomorrow is a new day, students. We will go over those who were not called on tomorrow. However, if you have a free period next I would be more than happy to have you sit in and give your views during that time. If not I will see you all tomorrow regardless!" The class erupted into a mass of hushed whispers and excited chattering. Legoshi and his friends gave the Raven a heartfelt farewell and left the class.

For their free period, they spent time in the library delving into the dust-ridden tomes of Captain Ferix and his Companion Dr. Qwrack. They read several comics, issues #33 - #45, before their last class of the day.

Science class was a boring affair for the lot of them, even the teacher found their current discussion boring. As was required by the State, with each semester started there was to be a health and safety orientation before real classwork could commence. By law, it had to encompass two Class days and could not be skipped even if the same students from the year before were the only students taking the class. Subverting, changing, or even altering the state-provided safety course could land the teacher, and by extension the school, in a serious fine and possible jail time.

An hour, and several fried brain cells, later the class was let loose. Even the teacher could be seen running away from the classroom after having to recite line after line of boring text from a four by six pamphlet with seven-point font lining every page from margin to margin with nary a space between.

Sixty-eight pages of solid text were what made up the pamphlet and anyone who took the Science class would be proud to say that upon their graduation they took their mandated pamphlets and burned them in a symbolic ceremony that told them the torture was all over. Unless they went to University to learn the higher sciences that is.

With their class over they went to Club Room 6 on the far side of campus. The only one in the Club was Legoshi, but the others had joined the construction club that was helping provide manpower when it came to building the set and major props for the stage.