Hi everyone! Got another chapter ready to go!

Enjoy!

Chapter 8:

After the final bell rang for the day, Claire and the others packed their stuff and arrived at the woods behind campus where Trey mentioned the chestnuts should be. Sure enough, the thick trees here had hundreds of prickly burrs on the branches and on the ground – all ripe for the taking.

"So many chestnuts!" Grim said, his mouth drooling. "We could make hundreds… no, thousands of Mont Blanc!"

"Wait, Grim!" Claire called out as he ran to pick the nearest chestnut on the ground, "Don't–"

"Ow, ow, ow!" Grim winced, dropping the spiky husk. "That prickly stuff hurts!"

"Let me see." Claire knelt down and looked at his paw. "You're fine. Though it looks like we'll need to find some gloves if we want to gather enough for the Mont Blanc."

"And we'll need a basket to carry them," Deuce added.

"Well, the botanical garden is nearby," Ace pointed to the glass dome poking out from the top of the forest, "It should have what we need."

The journey was short, and when they opened the glass doors to the building, Claire found herself stunned once more by the sheer majestic size of the campus grounds.

The botanical garden was nothing like she had ever seen. She had visited one or two during a school trip and vacation, but she had never encountered one as exquisite and well-maintained as this place. The greenhouses each were the size of a mansion and interconnected with various gardens of plants from different regions. The sign at the entrance read that they were currently in the Temperate Zone.

"Wow, this place is big," Ace noted, looking up at the sixty-foot glass ceiling.

"Big doesn't describe it," Claire said, staring at a twenty-pound basket of exotic-looking flowers dangling from above. There were even small garden arch bridges to cross over the small water gardens flowing through the area. Now she was dying to see what sort of rare and exotic plants were here that may not exist in her world.

"It'll take forever to navigate around here…" Deuce noted, looking left and right for a map in this maze. "There should be a groundskeeper here. Maybe we should split up to find them. It'll be quicker that way."

In the end, Deuce went left which was covered with green leaves while Ace went right which led across the bridge. Claire and Grim took the small hidden stone path in the back.

"Look at all the fruits!" Grim said, staring hungrily at a large red peach that was so big and heavy that it caused the thick branch to bend, almost touching the ground. "They smell so good!"

"Hey, don't touch or eat anything," Claire warned. "This is not ours; the last thing I want to do is apologize to the groundskeeper for your gluttony." Despite the urgency, she found herself distracted by the colorful and unusual flowers and trees here. This place would be excellent for a nice quiet walk after school or maybe to have lunch or a picnic.

As they rounded a corner, a huge willow tree came into view and made Claire gasp in surprise. In full bloom, the tree was filled with pink-and-white flowers, hanging on strings of branches. The cherry pink and pearly white petals floated softly in the air like flurries of snowflakes.

She was so mesmerized at the sight that she didn't notice where she was stepping.

"OW!" a voice cried sharply, cutting through the air.

Claire immediately flinched and took a step back. She looked down at her feet and barely caught a glimpse of a thick rope disappearing into the bushes.

"Hey," the voice spoke again, annoyed now, "Who the hell are you?"

There was a rustling behind the bushes, and a rather disgruntled six-foot-tall student stood up He had on a form-fitting yellow waistcoat over his white long-sleeve collared shirt, a brown buckle belt with black slacks, and black leather gloves.

He wasn't beautiful. He was jaw-dropping-eyes-widening-heart-pounding-face-blushing beautiful.

His long luscious dark mane of hair was tousled yet fell down his shoulders so naturally and perfectly. Twin braids rested at the front of his shoulders. His dark chestnut skin brought out the deep emerald green in his eyes. If he wasn't wearing a scowl on his face, he would have looked like a fairytale prince.

"What's the matter with you?" he said, hands across his chest when Claire continued to gape. Around one of his wrists was a pair of colorful beaded bracelets. "Isn't it obligatory to apologize after one rudely stepped on someone's tail?"

Tail? Claire glanced down and noticed the long rope she had stepped on earlier was actually this guy's tail. It had a thick black tuft at the end that flickered back and forth in irritation.

He's a beastman, she realized, remembering Cater's lesson from lunch. Claire had been so entranced by his exotic appearance that she even missed the lion ears poking out on the top of his head.

"Are you the groundskeeper?" Grim asked brashly, staring at him, "You look more like a thug than a – mph!" Grim never finished his words as Claire quickly grabbed him covered his mouth.

"Sorry about the tail, we didn't mean to disturb you," she squeaked and bowed apologetically. However, the guy didn't seem to have heard and stared at her with such intensity that it made Claire blush.

"Wait…" His eyes narrowed in realization. "I know you. You are that herbivore that the mirror said can't use magic..."

Soft and deep, his voice was now filled with interest and amused curiosity. It sounded familiar though Claire couldn't place where she heard it.

He leaned in closer, observing every detail on her frozen expression. His perfectly smooth but arrogant face was marred with a thin dark scar on his left eye, going from his left eyebrow straight down to the top of his cheek.

Claire wanted to look away, but she also didn't want to back down. Her heart pounded wildly in her ears, and the guy gave a half-grin as if he could hear it too. His beautiful face was right next to her neck, and then… he gave a sniff.

Startled, Claire immediately covered her neck and scurried backward. What was his deal? Did she smell or something?

"So, it is true," he said, amused at the reaction, "You really don't have a speck of magic. And you carry a scent I never smelled before. How interesting…" He gave a deep chuckle that rumbled and revealed the fang in the back of his mouth.

Claire turned pale. She recognized that smile. It was from the ceremony that first night – he was the one who mocked her for not having magic.

"To be honest, I usually don't like taking down a prey that can't put up a fight…" he continued, enjoying the look of terror on Claire's face, "However, you did step on my tail during my perfect nap, and now I am in an unforgiving mood."

Suddenly, Claire's heart was pounding for a different reason, and a chill went down her spine. Next to her, Grim trembled. Even though the guy spoke calmly, there was a haughtiness and murderous intent emitting out that even the raccoon could feel.

"I said I was sorry," Claire stammered, managing to find her voice again. "I didn't mean to." She shakily took a few steps back, but the guy shortened the distance between them with two long simple strides. He bent down so that they were now eye level, and she could see her frightened reflection in his green eyes.

"You think, I, the great Leona, am just going to let you go run away just because you apologized?" he growled. "You have a lot of nerve for a non-magic, considering what you just did. I suggest you start gritting your teeth."

Claire wanted to scream for help, but his frightening scarred face clamped her throat shut from fear. This guy was not like those two arrogant students at the cafeteria. He could probably just use his bare hand and rip out her tooth.

"Claire, let's get out of here!" Grim said, tugging at the hem of her dress. However, even as he said it, it was clear that there was nowhere to run, and Ace and Deuce weren't here to stop it.

She immediately raised her shoulder as she closed her eyes, waiting for the impending hit.

"Leona!" a cheerful voice suddenly called out, "There you are!"

Claire flinched and open her eyes wide in shock as her unexpecting savior with short fuzzy dandelion hair popped out from one of the bushes. Like Leona, this guy wore the same yellow uniform. His, however, seemed to be second-hand as it was rather large on him – the sleeves on his jacket had to be rolled back several times. He, too, had round ears on his head but they were larger than Leona's.

Leona closed his eyes and sighed. "Bad timing." He straightened up as the scrawny pale student came up to them.

Hyena… A voice whispered in the back of her head though where it came from, Claire wasn't sure.

"What do you want?" Leona demanded at the unperturbed student.

"Come on, you know why. You are going to be late for remedial class," he said, ignoring Claire and Grim. He wore a carefree look on his face with a pair of mischievous gray eyes and casually had his hands behind his head.

"Another annoying thing to deal with," Leona grumbled, closing his eyes and putting a hand to his head.

"It's because you keep failing," the guy complained, not showing the least bit of fear, "If this keeps up, you and I will be classmates next year."

"Whatever," Leona said, annoyed, "I don't need the same lecture from you."

"You think I enjoy this?" the hyena guy said, his large ears flattened in irritation now, "I wouldn't be doing this if you just show up to your damn classes. If you put in the effort, you would be at the top. So, stop complaining, and let's go!"

He pushed Leona from the back and directed him to the exit.

"Tch… fine," Leona said but turned back to Claire one last time. "You herbivores better watch your back the next time you decide to walk on my turf. If you don't…" He left the threat hanging with a flick of his long tail and walked off with the fuzzy yellow dandelion.

It took a minute before Claire numbly realized that the danger passed. Still trembling, she dropped to her knees. "That was scary," she managed to say.

"I was sweating bullets!" Grim exclaimed, gasping as if he just ran a marathon, "Who was that scary groundskeeper?!"

"I highly doubt that was the groundskeeper," Claire said flatly as she tried to calm her pounding heart. If that hyena beastman hadn't shown up, she… well, she didn't want to think about it. She was still lost in thought and didn't hear Deuce or Ace until they were literally standing next to her.

"Claire, what's wrong?" Deuce said, touching her shoulder lightly, "Why are you sitting on the ground?"

"No… No reason." She shakily got up and tried to push the fear out of her mind. "What's up?"

"We found baskets and tongs," Ace held up the items and looked at her suspiciously. "What happened?"

"N-nothing."

"Doesn't sound like nothing." Ace tossed her one of the baskets, and she managed to catch it before it hit the ground. "You can tell us about it while we pick those chestnuts," he said before Claire could protest again.

"Oh right! Chestnuts!" Grim said, "Come on! We need to get that Mont Blanc!"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Deuce asked, still worried.

"I'm fine," she plastered her best smile. "Come on."

Author's Notes

More character introductions! We finally meet our Savanaclaw students though definitely started off on the wrong foot. Seems like Leona is starting to get suspicious of Claire.

Thanks for reading. See you next chapter!

-JD