Chapter 12: Territory Breakthrough

After taking their leave, the group speed walk as quickly as they can. Deuce and Tanzanite turn their heads around and are shocked to see Jade and Floyd are chasing after them.

Deuce panics, "Shoot! They're chasing us!"

"And I don't think they plan on having a good conversation," Tanzanite says.

Floyd calls out, "Hey, couldja stop, friends? Just for a second? We just wanna chat!"

"Decidedly, no! Full retreat!" Riddle says.

Hearing that, everyone begins to run away from the twins as fast as they can. Floyd and Jade see that everyone is gone.

"Awww... They're gone," Floyd says, disappointed.

"Heh heh," Jade chuckles, "I do so enjoy a brisk midday jog. Alas, we'll have to pick this up another time. Come. We need to prepare the lounge for tonight."

"Bummer. But all right," Floyd replies.

Sometime later, in Main Street, Briar, and her friends, including the students of Heartslabyul dorm are able to arrive and are able to arrive and are exhausted from their retreat.

Panting, Grim says, "... That was terrifying. What is the deal with those guys?!"

"Yeah. That guy, Floyd, is kind of scary," Sereia says.

"Yes. Jade is also scary in his own way," Tanzanite says.

"What was with those two?" Jasper questions.

"I'm not the one to ask. Those two have baffled me since we were freshmen together," Riddle says.

"Messing with them seems like a reeeal bad idea," Cater says.

Then Ace says, "If I were the culprit, I know I'D steer clear."

"You said it. I rather not get near them within thirty feet," Briar says.

Looking at his phone, Cater says, "Then it's off to the next name on my list! It's getting late, so let's make this the last one for today, 'kay?" Then Cater says, "It's Jack Howl: freshman, Savanaclaw Dorm. Rumor has it that he's a great athlete. Scouts from all the major teams are fighting to sign him.

"Classes are over, so he should be at his dorm,"Deuce says.

Then Riddle says, "Oh, is it 5:00 already? Rule 346 says that 'croquet must not be played after 5:00 p.m.' I should head back to Heartslabyul and make sure that no one is breaking the rules in my absence."

"Tch. I thought you'd rounded out some, but nope, you're as square as ever," Grim says, bluntly.

"Th-that's not true!" Riddle says, "I assure you that I've become much more lenient about enforcing the rules."

"He really has. He's way nicer than before. And we all appreciate that Riddle diligence," Cater says.

Then turns to Riddle, "So go do what you gotta do, Boss!"

Riddle nods his head in reply.

"Then I guess the rest of us are headed to Savanaclaw House," Ace replies.

Soon, the group arrives in the Hall of Mirrors and to the Mirror for the Sabanaclaw dorm. The mirror appearance has stone structure, and the outer rim of the mirror has bones, and the wall has lion claws on the wall. There are also flaming torches on each side of the mirror.

The group walk through the mirror and find themselves in the Savanaclaw Dorm. This place is a lot different from the Heartslabyul Dorm and the Pomfiore Drom.

The Savanaclaw Dorm looks like a wide open hot place with some trees, large rock pillars and platforms. And the drom looks like it's made of stone, and it has the flag with the dorm's symbol.

"Huh... So this is Savanaclaw," Deuce says.

Grim is amazed, "Whoa, did they carve this place into a mountain?"

Then look at the large bones, "And check out these huge bones! I wouldn't wanna meet whatever animal they're from."

"Couldn't be less like Heartslabyul," Ace replies.

"No kidding. Even the air here feels so...primal. It's like we've left the bounds of civilization," Cater says.

"Yeah. The place sure looks a lot different than the other dorms I've seen," Jasper says.

"Now that we're here, we need to find this Jack Howl student," Briar says.

"Yeah," Ace replies.

Then turns to Cater, "So what's this Jack guy look like?

"Apparently he's got wolf ears, silver hair, and a big, bushy tail too," Cater says.

"A big, bushy tail…" Grim says, looking around.

Suddenly, he notices someone, "Wait, you mean like that guy runnin' laps over there?"

Everyone turned their heads to see the student that Cater described. He has tan skin, silver hair with wolf ears and a bushy wolf tail. He also has golden brown eyes, and is wearing a school P.E. uniform. The student in question is running laps around the field of the dorm.

"Whoa, good eye! There's no way that's not our boy," Cater says..

"And I thought those twins were big! This guy's HUGE!" Ace says, shocked to see the student, Jack.

"No wonder all the scouts are after him," Cater says.

"With that build, he'd be an asset on any team," Deuce says.

"He's kind of scary," Sereia says.

Cater kneels to Sereia, "Gettin' a little nervous there, Sereia? Don't worry, hon! Cay-Cay's got your back. I won't let the big bad wolf bite you."

"Um okay," Sereia nervously replies.

"Let's hurry and talk to him before he heads back to the dorm," Briar says.

Tanzanite looks around and asks, "Um, where did Grim go?

Suddenly, they hear Grim call out, "Hey, you! Mr. Scowls-a-lot!"

Everyone turns their heads to see Grim approaching Jack.

Jack stops running and turns to Grim, "...Huh?"

"Just wanted to let ya know somebody's probably gonna try and hurt you. But don't worry—Grim the Great will protect you!" Grim says with confidence.

"What?" Jack replies, and says, "Look, don't bother me when I'm training."

Ace, Jasper, and Briar sigh.

Cater panics, "THAT'S your approach, Grim? I can't even count all the ways that was terrible. If you were on Magicam, I'd totally unsubscribe from your feed." and covers Grim's mouth.

Grim muffles, "Mmmph! Mmmmmph!"

"Sooo sorry about that, Jack. Listen, king, could we have just a minute of your time?" Cater replies.

Jack crosses his arms with a glare and asks, "What's all this about? You said you wanna protect me from something?"

"A lot of Spelldrive tournament hopefuls have been hurt in 'accidents' on campus lately," Deuce explains.

"And we're trying to figure out who's behind it," Ace adds.

"Go on," Jack replies.

Then Cater says, "To put it bluntly, our plan is to stake out some of the criminal's prospective targets. What do you say? Will you give us a hand in catching this guy?"

Jack remains quiet for a minute. Then answers, "No. I can take care of myself. I don't need your protection."

"But if something happened, you might want backup," Briar says.

"Yeah. Let us help," Sereia says.

Even Trinket replies with a tinking sound.

But Jack says after remaining silent, "... I told you, I don't need your help. And besides I doubt I'm gonna be a target. Seeya."

Then Jack runs off on his run.

"Aaaaand he's gone," Cater recipes.

"Well, can't say I didn't warn him," Grim says, frustrated.

"Yeah well, you might want to reconsider your approach there, bud," Ace says, to Grim.

Grim crosses his arms, "Hrmph! You humans are so finicky about every little thing!"

Briar crosses his arms and begins to think, "I wonder what Jack means when he said 'I doubt I'm gonna be a target,'?"

"Maybe he means that he doesn't need to worry about being targeted," Tanzanite says.

"I'm not sure, but I have this weird feeling that he means something else," Briar says.

Suddenly, he hears someone say, "Hey, what are you lot doing here?"

The group turns their heads to see three Savanaclaw students approaching them.

The second Savanaclaw student says, "You're a long way from Heartslabyul House."

Then the third one says, "Heh heh. Probably lackeys sent by Mr. Red Baby!"

"You think you can just barge onto our turf and walk away without payin' the price?" the first student says.

"Wow, anyone else having déjà vu...?" Deuce questions.

"Fine, we're leaving. Sorry to bother you," Ace says.

"Yeah. We'll just be on our way now," Briar says.

The group begins to leave, but the three students stop them.

"Aww, don't be like that. Play with us first!" The second student says.

Then the third student says, "Let's play Predator and Prey! Guess who gets to be the prey?"

"Listen, we don't want any trouble, so we'll just leave your dorm grounds and everything will be fine," Brari says.

"Oh, so the young lady doesn't want any trouble, eh," The first student says.

"There's no need for you to be so shy.I'm sure you like our little game," The third student says.

Sereia, Grim, and Trinket quickly hide behind Briar. Tanantie does the same with Jasper, and Jasper becomes protective.

Suddenly, they hear a third voice, "Cut it out, you three."

Everyone turns to see Leona and Ruggie approach them. Briar grows worried to see Leona because she has seen him a few times. Sadly, she also remembers accidentally stepping on his tail. She feels that the situation they're in is about to get worse.