A couple weeks later, Luz was fully healed from her injuries, although she had a faint scar on her forehead. Gwen and Dell brought her to the local school, Hexside. They spoke to the Principal and he was intrigued to see if a human would be able to impress him enough to enter Hexside.
"So, you wish to enroll a human here?" Bump asked.
"Yes, we do. And when you see what she can do, you'll be begging for her to be in Hexside." Gwen said with a smile.
"Well, I am all for equality." Bump said, "But can she even do magic with her humany parts?"
"You'll see." Gwen said, "If you'll turn your attention to the stage."
On the stage, Luz stood with a smirk. She cracked a few joints before running to the edge and rolling on the ground, shifting, and landing in front of Bump in her Panther form. She let out a roar just for the hell of it.
"HOLY HEX!" Bump shouted as he jumped to stand in his seat!
"Surprised?" Dell asked with a small chuckle.
"H-H-How is this possible?" Bump asked, amazed as he calmly sat down again.
"What we know of humans is wrong." Gwen said, "They have a special ability to turn into these things called Spirit Animals."
"Spirit animals?" Bump asked with interest as Luz turned back to normal but kept her panther eyes.
"Every human has an animal, whether it represents them or is passed down from a parent, they can become one." Luz said, "Mine is a Black Jaguar, more commonly referred to as a Black Panther."
"A black panther? So that beast that's been reported-"
"Was me. But I didn't hurt anyone. I was just lost and injured but Gwen found me." Luz said to him, "I'm... also kind of stuck here."
"Stuck, Hmm? I suppose the legends of Titan's blood are true then." Bump said.
"I guess." Luz said, "I just fell in a lake and found myself here."
Bump nodded to this as he wrote the results on a clipboard, very interesting in a human AND spirit animals now. Perhaps having an exchange student would be good for Hexside to learn more about both.
"Hm, well, I find this very interesting." Bump said, "I look forward to you seeing what else you do at the start of the semester."
Luz smiled and did a fist pump.
"Now, is there any track you'd like to study?" Bump asked.
"Yeah... Beast Keeping." Luz said.
"Wise choice." Bump said, "Come to my office on your first day and I will get your schedule and uniform ready. Until then, please take some time to familiarize yourself with the school grounds."
"Okay but could I get a tour guide, so I don't get lost?" Luz asked him.
"Yes, I'll assign one of our top students, Amity Blight, to show you around."
"Amity?" Luz asked with surprise.
This made her feel a bit happier now that she had someone she knew giving her a tour. Better a friend than a stranger.
"I'll call her in and you can get started on exploring the grounds."
Luz nodded to this as the Clawthornes smiled at her, glad that she passed and that her first friend was going to show her around. As they were heading out to meet Amity, Luz bumped into someone.
"Oh, sorry. I wasn't-" Luz said before recognizing who she bumped into. "Skara?"
"Oh, hey!" Skara said, "Sorry I can't talk, I have to-"
"Skara, what are you doing?" A three eyed girl said.
Luz looked behind Skara to see a girl with light pink skin with three eyes and pinker hair held in a bun.
"Nothing, Boscha. I'm just talking to a friend." Skara said as she turned to her.
"A friend?" Boscha asked, looking at Luz, who kept her hood up, "Listen, I'll go easy on you, as you're probably new, but stay out of my way."
"Stay out of your way? Why?" Luz asked, confused by the sudden hostility.
Skara laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head.
"Boscha is just…a little competitive. She's one of top students in school and she likes to keep it that way." Skara said delicately. "She's a good girl once you get to know her though."
"Skara, come on." Boscha said, walking away from Luz.
"Sorry again, Luz. But wait, why are you here?" Skara asked quickly.
"I just auditioned for a spot next semester and passed. You're looking at the newest student of the Beast Keeping track." Luz said with a smile.
"That's so cool!" Skara said, "Can't wait to see you next semester."
Skara waved to Luz before quickly catching up with Boscha, who was less irritated with Skara back with her.
'I have a feeling Skara likes her." Luz thought, 'Boscha probably does to but gets very aggressive when someone else talks to her.'
Just like when an animal wanted another as their mate, hopefully that won't work here.
"Luz, there you are." Amity said, walking to her in the hall.
"Hey, Amity." Luz said.
"So, you're the new student I would be giving a tour to?" Amity asked with a smile.
"Yep. Just got accepted for the next semester for the beast keeping track." Luz said to her.
"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me." Amity said.
Amity then noticed a slight scar hidden under Luz's hair and moved closer to see it.
"What happened?" Amity asked, worried and shocked.
"Nothing bad." Luz said, "Just... some prey decided to fight back."
It wasn't a total lie, she could've made Golden Guard her prey if she wanted.
"Who or what?" Amity asked, moving away from the scar.
"Nothing important. We should focus more n the tire before you get in trouble. Even if you were excused, I don't want you to get in trouble." Luz said to her.
They walked a bit, Amity showing her the Beast Keeping room, when she bumped into Willow.
"Oh, h-h-hey, Amity." Willow said, trying to avoid looking at her.
"H-h-hi, Willow. Listen, I-"
"I have to go."
Willow walked away, not even saying hi to Luz.
"What was that?" Luz asked.
"Willow and I have a… bit of history." Amity said, "It doesn't matter."
She may say that but Luz can tell it did matter. Whatever history Amity had with Willow, it must've been something bad.
'Amity must be trying to make amends but doesn't know how. Maybe I can help.' Luz thought.
And thus, she began to plot. Luz still paid attention to the tour and to the important spots along the way like the gym, the ladies locker room, and the Beast Keeping homeroom but still thought of a way to get Willow and Amity together so they could talk.
"So, any questions?" Amity asked.
"Yeah. A few….." Luz said but keeping her real question hidden. "Like why did detention have a big, foreboding door? Everything about just screams "danger" to me."
"I don't know personally but I've heard from others that it's a democratic entity that puts you in a pod and tells you that you will be a good student." Amity said with a straight face, shocking Luz greatly. "I am aware of how frightening and deranged that sounds."
"Okay, suddenly nervous about coming here."
"Don't be, so long as you follow the rules and don't give Principal Bump a reason to send you there." Amity said to her. "Anything else?"
"Hmm, do you know what kind of animals I can expect in the Beast Keeping track?" Luz asked.
"Oh, there's a lot."
Amity began listing off the various animal demons that Luz could only imagine until she's seen them herself. Griffins, Rat-Worms, Fire Bees, Trash Slugs, etc. Luz was slightly horrified by some of them.
'What the hell is this place?'
Amity brought Luz to the lunchroom to eat something before she left, a small celebration meal as it was for her acceptance into Hexside next semester.
"There's lots of options here, as well." Amity said, "Particularly, in the meat department."
"Meat you say?" Luz asked with a smile.
"I'll show you the menu." Amity said as she leads Luz to the lunch line.
She began drooling over the meat.
"So much meat." Luz said.
Luz didn't care what kind it was, meat was meat. Except it it was from another human, that's where she draws the line, but since there were no other humans here, that wasn't a fear.
"This looks delicious." Luz said.
The new Beast Keeper couldn't help but want to eat everything she saw. Prepared for this, Amity squirted her with a water spell.
"Down, girl." Amity said.
Luz hissed and batted her hand to Amity, wanting her to stop with the water!
"Wait, Panthers like water." Luz said, forgetting that she is a natural swimmer.
She held her mouth open and gulped down some water before nodding to Amity.
"Thank you." Luz said before she went to get her meaty meal.
Amity rolled her eyes.
"So much for that idea." Amity mumbled. "And don't get too much. Other people need some meat too."
"I'll try." Luz said.
As she did get meat, she kept her mind wandering, trying to come up with a way for Amity and Willow to get along.
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