AN: Thank you as always to those courteous enough to review, and for all the feedback given thus far. The story will feature a number of easter eggs and references to other material, so please understand that if something minor is not cited it's only meant as a neat reference for you to catch. If you have any questions or comments regarding the story, please feel free to contact me. Hope you enjoy it.
Homeroom
"Brace for impact!"
-UNSC Aegis Fate tactical officer, engaging Covenant CCS battle cruiser
"You know, you keep scowling like that Fara, your fur's going to bristle."
A teenage fennec fox huffed at her friend's reminder, and cinched her messenger bag tighter over a shoulder.
"I don't care if it bristles, we're just going to class anyway."
The pink-furred feline walking beside the vulpine examined her eyeliner critically in a mirror, pretending not to hear for a moment, "Nothing wrong with struttin' your stuff, hun," she answered soothingly, with a wink.
The fennec sighed, and rolled her eyes.
"I get enough guys staring at me Katt, and they either want my tail or dad's fortune."
"Well it is a nice tail..."
"Katt!"
The crimson fennec's ears were longer than that of a usual vixen, and the rich russet red and cream white hue of her fur set it apart from her peers. A pair of tight jeans and a grey sweatshirt with a Space Dynamics logo emblazoned on the breast hugged her lithe frame. The vixen's long hair was drawn into a ponytail, with the exception of long bangs that shadowed her fierce green eyes.
Her friend, a pink-furred feline with a styled bob of white headfur examined the eyeliner she'd been applying as they walked and clasped her compact cosmetic mirror shut. She had a scuffed black leather jacket on with a yellow tee, and a pair of worn jeans with the knees torn off.
The pink kitty hid a smile, knowing how easily she could get under the vixen's fur.
"Alrighty, cool it Fara."
The fennec in question sighed. Katt Monroe could be difficult to get along with sometimes, but she wouldn't trade the street-wise feline for anybody. They were certainly an odd pair; one a confident heiress of the Phoenix legacy in the starship industry, and the other an orphan motorcycle chick with a saucy streak. They'd been best friends ever since they met as children.
Katt stretched her arms above her head and yawned, delighting in the crisp morning air.
"New class, new year, looks like it's gonna be a hell of a time, girl."
"Knowing you," Fara quipped, "It will be one way or another."
"Damn straight. Have you heard from Miyu lately?"
"No, what's she up to?"
The kitty grinned, "Well, apparently that Human boy finally showed up yesterday, and Fay says he's not bad looking..."
Fara arched an eyebrow.
"Wasn't she the one afraid they'd all be short grey things with googly black eyes?"
Katt giggled and shook her head.
"Oh don't bring that up, poor thing'll burst into flames she'd get so embarrassed."
"Geez...So what else did she say?"
"Apparently he's a quiet dude. If you threw a bag on his head you'd never know he was an alien."
"A bag on his head? Memories of your past boyfriends, Katt?"
The feline elbowed Fara and the two shared a laugh. The bustle of the sidewalk soon gave way to the much more lively chaos of the CDSS front lawn, where hovercars were filing in and out, parents dropping off their kids as all manner of species filtered into school before the first bell.
The fennec grimaced as her PDA went off again, flipping the slimline white pad out to skim the flashing lines of text.
"I have to sit in on another board meeting this weekend."
Katt whistled, "Breaking out the little old black number in silk for it?"
Fara signed, filtering through several other points on her monthly agenda before powering down the handheld PDA, stowing it in her pocket.
"Probably not, It's only going to be annual profits being revised and Daddy wants me to meet some of our supplier's extended family. It's networking, but just something in business casual will be fine."
"What a shame, I don't know how you put up with all that stuffy corporate droning, hun."
"Be polite, be professional, and try not to kill every sleazeball you meet," the fennec said with a wry grin.
The two girls sidestepped a weasel skating by on a hoverboard, and casually ignored the resulting crash when he intersected with a skunk carrying a stack of textbooks. As they walked up the steps to the main foyer of the high school, Katt turned to the fennec and asked her something innocuously.
"Have you talked to Fox lately?"
Fara's tail puffed up immediately with a rigid tension and her emerald eyes narrowed.
"No."
Katt edged away from the irate vixen just a tad, "C'mon hun, how long are you gonna stay mad?"
The look Fara gave her could have frozen plasma.
"I mean, sure he was the one to break up with you, but he's not a bad guy..."
The fennec whirled on her pink friend and glared at her so close their noses were touching.
"He left me Katt," she enunciated with a jab of a manicured claw, "So he could run off and race cycles in a small-time league. He left me for a machine!"
The pink feline stared back at her with a smirk.
"Hell, girl, there's plenty of men I'd ditch for a little machine, if you know what I mean."
Fara crossed her arms with a frustrated exclamation while Katt laughed loud enough to startle a rabbit passing by.
"Hurry up and let's get to class already you walking hormonal rug," the vixen grumbled.
The girls hurried alongside other teenagers rushing to first period. Past the rows of lockers they went until room 117 was in sight, and the pair slipped in the doorway and took their seats at the back of the room. It was still early, and their homeroom teacher wasn't there yet.
Fara slouched in her seat and took a moment to crik her neck, already feeling the stress creeping into her muscles. Between school and accompanying her father to formal business events in preparation for inheriting the company, her social life was dismal. If it wasn't for her close circle of friends she would never get out at all. Their peers had more or less given her the title of 'ice queen' of Corneria District High, but the fennec could safely say she'd welcome the title if it meant less boring creeps lusting after her.
The digital intercom rang a shrill single-tone warble, first bell of the day.
As a couple of the late students filtered through the door, Fara spotted Miyu Lynx making her way in and waved her over to the back.
"Heya girl, long time no see," The wildcat threw her backpack over the back of her chair and laid back with her lean arms crossed behind her head.
"Hey Miyu," the fennec said, "how've you been?"
"Can't complain. Still looking for a new job but nothing's caught my eye yet."
She looked across the vixen to the pink feline opposite her, and winked.
"Still breaking hearts Monroe?"
Katt smirked, "You know it hun."
As their homeroom teacher walked in, a middle-aged female wolf with her hair in a bun, Katt leaned over to whisper as the noise died down and the morning announcements came on.
"So where's the alien?"
Miyu pointed towards the general direction of the front of the school, and mouthed 'office,' before looking up to the teacher starting roll call.
"Welcome class," the wolfess said, a pair of stylish red spectacles on her muzzle glinting as she addressed the class, "I'm Miss Cunningham, your homeroom teacher for the year. As you're all aware if you've read the prepatory packages, you will have first period in this classroom, where we will cover Languages, World Studies and History. You will rotate amongst other classrooms for periods two and three, break for lunch, and then rotate twice more for periods four and five, followed by dismissal at 0345 hours."
The woman paused, her ears twitching as she looked over her notes.
"Now you might have heard that we have a guest attending our class in particular. We will be hosting an exchange student from the recently contacted alien race Humanity."
Excited whispers broke out, kept to a low murmur by the stern glance of the mature wolfess.
"The student is part of a cultural program we are operating in conjunction with the human government, and from what I was told he will be checking in with the main office before-ah. Here he comes now."
A silence fell across the classroom as the teenage Cornerians all hushed, waiting to catch their first glimpse in person of one of the aliens they had all seen on the net, and despite herself Fara found her curiosity piqued, sitting up straight to get a look.
The sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway, there came a knock at the sliding door, Ms. Cunningham keyed the switch, and in walked the human.
He was about the same height a Cornerian teenager would be, standing straight-backed like one of those CDF guards around the star ports, although his frame more closely resembled the canines rather than the longer-limbed apes, which was strange considering their species had supposedly ape ancestry.
His face was muzzle-less, even flatter than the monkeys, yet somehow the angular weirdness suited him. The only fur visible was on his head, a bark brown cut similar to their own hairstyles. His bare skin was strange, almost like the amphibians but a pale peach color. He was wearing what probably passed for jeans on his world, and a black tee with a worn leather jacket overtop, a rucksack thrown over his shoulder.
The eyes though, they seemed to be smaller than a Cornerians, but way he stared reminded Fara of something she couldn't quite place, but put her on edge.
The fennec let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.
"Logan Jones," the human spoke, his voice low and deliberate, while handing some papers to the teacher, "The staff had me wrap up some details before coming here."
"Of course," to her credit Ms. Cunningham didn't outwardly bat an eye at the prospect of a living alien addressing her, "If you'd like to say a few words to the class I'm sure we'd appreciate it."
He looked at her for a moment, and nodded slowly, stepping to the front of the room where he set down his pack as the wolfess put an encouraging paw on his shoulder.
"Hello," he started awkwardly, looking across the blank faces of the species in the classroom, as he thought for a moment about what to say.
"My name's Logan, I'm from the planet Tribute, in the Epsilon Eridani system. As part of the joint UNSC/CDF exchange, they sent me along for some diplomatic reason that I really can't explain so please don't ask me to," he trailed off as some uneasy chuckles popped up.
"I'm already fluent in Lylat common, but I'm probably not going to catch any of your slang, and I can read just fine as well, so if you have any questions don't be afraid to ask me."
A male Labrador Retriever raised a paw hesitantly, and the nodded for him to go ahead.
"So what kind of society do you humans have? Like, I mean... Are you violent, or...?"
"It depends on what planet you visit. Generally we're the same as you. Monogamous marriage, laws against theft and violence, elected officials..."
A Terrier spoke up in the second row, "Did your people have a lot of wars?"
It was at that moment that Fara saw something in the human boy's expression, that inexplicable thing that had put her on edge before.
He had the same look her grandfather did when he talked about the Macbeth civil war.
Another moment and it was gone. The human smiled tightly and said history wasn't his strong suit but that humanity had a tumultuous past.
Ms. Cunningham thanked him for the brief Q&A, and ushered him to take a seat as a short polite applause sounded off. The teen dropped his ruck next to an empty seat in the back row, exchanging a quiet 'hey' with Miyu, before taking a seat.
Fara stared at him out the corner of her eye, brows furrowed. There was something eating away at the guy, and she wondered if the others had picked up on it.
Shelving the thought, she opened up her tablet console, and started to write down some notes as the teacher began to outline her lesson plan for the year.
The bell rang for second period, and the class shifted as everyone got up to vacate before the next kids came in.
"Hey Logan, over here!"
Miyu called the human guy over, jostling Katt as she giggled something under her breath.
"What's up?"
The lynx looked over her class schedule on a PDA, idly chewing one of her claws.
"I've got Home Ec next with Katt, where are you off to?"
He looked at his wrist mounted display before answering, "Math next, room 203."
The two felines looked at the vixen next to them, who narrowed her eyes at the pair suspiciously.
"Fara's heading there next," Miyu supplied helpfully, a tiny smirk on her face, "Fara meet Logan, Logan meet Fara."
The fennec sighed and shook her head at her friend's antics.
"Nice to meet you, Fara Phoenix, daughter of the spaceship magnate and all that jazz."
The human teen looked between the friends with a puzzled frown and shook her offered paw, "Logan Jones, local alien."
The pink-furred girl slipped in with a positively saccharine grin, "Katt Monroe, nice to meet you too, hun." The human looked a little taken aback by the flirtatious kitty.
Miyu glanced at the time and grumbled to herself as she hitched up her backpack.
"Well kids, as nice as this little meet and greet is, we gotta get going," She winked at Logan and made a 'finger shooting' motion as she left, "You be a good boy now, see you at lunch."
Jones gave her a lazy sarcastic salute, resulting in the feline pair chuckling as they left.
He turned back to Fara who was packing her messenger bag.
"I can head to the next class alone, you don't have to stick with me if makes you uncomfortable."
She shook her head at the offer, her ponytail whipping aside as she did so.
"No, it's fine. They were just teasing me earlier." She looked at him wryly, "I had a bad break up and they've been trying to set me up every now and then."
Logan shrugged at her explanation, falling into step alongside the fennec as they left the classroom.
"Fair enough. Don't take this the wrong way but I'm not really looking to start a relationship either."
The vixen grinned sardonically at him, "What, alien guy visiting another world not interested in the local girls? Not much of a Captain Kirk, are you?"
"Who?"
Fara shook her head.
"Nevermind, guess you wouldn't recognize the show."
"A lot of stuff here seems to be going over my head," Jones muttered. Fara laughed.
"I wouldn't worry about it, if you spend any amount of time around the gang you'll probably get a hang of it sooner or later."
He looked at her askance.
"You guys are awfully welcoming of a total stranger."
The russet-furred vixen ran a paw through her hair, "Miyu vouches for you, and she can tell if someone's bad news instinctively. Even Fay took a shine to you. Besides, if it was one of us going to a new place all alone, we'd want someone to be there looking out for us."
The human teen had slowed to a halt just before the doorway to room 203, staring at the fennec. She turned to him, giving him an inquisitive look.
"Just like that?" asked Logan, an unreadable expression on his face.
Fara nodded, a patient smile on her face.
He stared in thought a moment longer, at last quietly saying with a gentle smile, "Someday, I'll have to repay your hospitality."
The two cinched up the straps of their packs and headed through the doorway to their next class. Musing over the curious alien to herself, Fara decided he seemed to be alright, and that she wouldn't mind him hanging out with the gang after all.
Fara wouldn't think of that moment again for a long time, until what he said was proven true.