Chapter 6: Prey or Predator?
It was the end of the school day and the students were getting ready for their extracurricular activities or to just relax and enjoy their free time. For Kai and Legosi, there wasn't any club today so they could hang out if they wanted.
Kai however decided that he had enough of the wolf for the day, especially after Legosi kept his promise and wrestled the mongoose to the ground before tickling him mercilessly. He instead decided to spend some time with Dom and Kibi and bid farewell to his canine companion.
Legosi was on his way back to his dorm and began to think about the talk he had with Jack. The one about telling the truth to Voss. He knew that the fennec fox could keep a secret and would offer to help them break the news to the others, but he was still conflicted on whether or not to tell Voss himself or wait for Jack so they could tell him together.
As he was thinking about what to do next, he bumped into someone and was snapped back to reality. He looked down and saw white wool covering his stomach. The beginnings of an apology were forming, but before any words could escape his muzzle, the student looked up and revealed herself to be Els.
"Oh, hello Legosi. Funny running into you here," she said as she took a step back.
"Yea, literally," the gray wolf said with an awkward laugh, trying to make light of the situation.
The small herbivore bowed her head slightly as she let out a small giggle. "Sorry about that, I was thinking about something and I wasn't paying attention. A-Anyway, I'd better get going."
"H-Hang on a sec," Legosi barked as he put a hand on her shoulder as she tried to get by. "Are you alright? You look like you're nervous."
The sheep shook her head. "O-Oh, I'm fine. I was just a little lost in my own head. A lot has happened after all, so I'm sure a lot of animals are like that right now."
"I… I understand," Legosi said hesitantly as his ear flickered before he released her. "But you know, if you need help with anything, you can ask me or anyone from the club for help."
Els nodded. "I know, and I will, if I have any trouble I mean. But like I said, I was just thinking about something."
"A-Alright then," the large canine said as his ears folded back.
As Legosi started to walk away, the herbivore looked back before calling out to him.
"Hey, Legosi!" Els said as she ran over to him. "I uh… I know that things haven't been exactly normal around here and I might just be over thinking it, but… do you think our club is… 'safe'?"
"W-what do you mean? Are you scared that our club might be forced to shut down, or are you scared of… 'us?'" he asked as he pointed to himself.
The small herbivore defensively waved her hands. "Oh no, I could never be afraid of you. I mean there was that one time, but I know better now and I know that neither you or the other carnivores would do anything to us. It's just… I-I've felt this… 'presence'."
Legosi's eyes widened as his tail jumped.
"P-Presence?!" he asked in a slightly shocked tone, trying his best to remain calm.
Els nodded. "Yea. I-I don't know how to explain it, but I get this feeling that I'm being watched, but at the same time I don't really feel anything. It's like… it's like-"
"Like you're in a crowded room and you heard someone call your name, but can't figure out who or where they are?" the wolf asked, trying to finish the smaller animal's thought for her.
"Yes, that's exactly it," Els answered. "I know someone is there, but it's as if they don't have a presence at all."
The large carnivore clenched his fists. "Listen, Els… I don't want to scare you, but a lot of carnivores can hide their presence when they're… stalking prey."
Els looked at Legosi in shock. The wolf watched as all the color drained from her face. He could tell she wanted to say something, but she kept choking on her own words.
In a panic, Legosi gripped her shoulders, snapping her back to reality. He then went down on his knees so that they were at eye level.
"Els! You need to listen to me!" the gray furred carnivore barked. "I promise that I won't let anything happen to you, alright? But you have to promise me that until we figure out what's going on, you won't go anywhere by yourself."
"When you go somewhere, please ask someone to go with you. A friend, your roommate, or even one of us. Whenever you need to leave the club room for something, ask one of us to go with you. Ask Sheila, Juno, Dom, Kibi, even me. Please promise me that!"
Els, trying her best to stay calm, nodded to her friend. "O-Ok Legosi, I promise."
Legosi let out a sigh of relief as he stood back up. "Ok, good. For now though, let me walk you back to your dorm. I don't think it's a good idea for you to go anywhere else right now."
"Yea, you're probably right," she said with a nod. "Come on, we better go before we start looking suspicious."
Legosi nodded and the two made their way to the herbivore dorms. Legosi received a lot of terrified looks and hateful glares, but he more or less expected it with what had been happening.
This however, didn't stop Els from holding the wolf's hand and comforting him, taking him by surprise. When Legosi looked down at her, she gave him a gentle smile before leading him further in.
They finally made it to the sheep's room where Els greeted her roommate. She was scared of the very large Legosi, but after Els explained that he was just helping her get back, she thanked the canine for his help.
After saying his goodbyes, the wolf started running back to his room as fast as he could, hoping and praying that he would find the others so he could let them know what happened.
Meanwhile, Jack and Manny walked through the halls as they searched for a place to continue their discussion. Their search was cut short when the labrador walked into what felt like a wall, knocking him to the ground.
"Ow," Jack moaned as he shook his head. "What did I hit?"
"Oh, sorry about that little guy," the large figure said as he picked up the still dazed labrador, practically lifting him up into the air before putting him back on his feet. "I really need to watch where I'm going."
Jack blinked a few times before looking up and meeting the gaze of a grizzly bear in a student uniform.
"Oh, um… hi. Sorry about running into you," he said sheepishly.
"It's fine," the student reassured. "Hope my fur was enough to cushion the impact."
Just as Jack was about to answer, Manny spoke up.
"Hey, I know you. You're Riz right? The bear in the drama club?" the fox asked.
Riz nodded. "Uh huh, that's only bear in the club."
"Well that actually applies to everyone in the club," Jack said as he looked to the side with a raised eyebrow.
"Yea, you're right about that!" the bear said with a laugh. "One wolf, one tiger, one anteater, one sheep, and so on. Or at least that's how it was. Now we have two wolves and two sheep."
"Yea, I always thought that was weird if I'm being honest," Manny said as he tilted his head. "Every animal feels more at ease when there's more of their own kind around. The fact that there was only ever one of each of you guys made me think the club wasn't gonna last."
"Yea, a lot of students thought that too, but we proved them wrong," Riz said with a hint of pride in his voice.
"You sure did, at least until the… 'incident'," the fox said with slight skepticism.
"Hey now, no need to bring that up," Jack said as he put a hand on Manny's shoulder after seeing Riz look down and fold his ears back.
The fox waved his hand. "Hey, I'm not trying to start anything. I'm glad your friend's club is still going, but you gotta know what I'm talking about… Ever since that freak went into a crazy rampage, the club was put on everyone's blacklist."
Jack looked to the side as his ears folded back and his tail drooped. "Well yea, but they've come a long way since then and have even managed to get new members."
Manny let out a sigh. "I know and like I said, I'm glad they were able to keep going. I'm just saying that what happened has affected everyone."
"Remember what I said about looking deeper into things. This is one of those things. Sure, everyone is going about their daily lives, but they are still shaken up pretty badly, even if they don't show it. It's honestly thanks to guys like your friend, the wolf, that the club is able to stay afloat."
"Most students have been able to move on or are beginning to forget about it, but there are still a good number of animals having their fair share of sleepless nights. It's why I'm certain that no one is gonna have any real piece of mind until that crazy, blood thirsty, Beast is captured and brought to justice."
Riz had been clenching his fists, hanging on to every one of Manny's words. As the fox finished, he turned away, causing Jack to call out to him.
"Hey Riz, wait a second," Jack barked. "Listen, I-I'm sorry about all this! It isn't your fault that the club has been struggling. It's just that people talk and I'm sure as long as you guys keep working hard, you won't have to deal with that for too much longer."
The brown bear turned his head to Jack and gave him a closed-eye smile, his fists still clenched, unbeknownst to the two canines.
"Don't worry about it," Riz said in a gentle voice. "He's right, we have a rep now and it's hard to shake that off. Still, you also make a good point. Everyone is working hard and I'm sure we'll figure things out. Now, if you excuse me, I have somewhere to be."
"Um, before you do, can I ask you something?" the labrador asked.
Riz unclenched his fists as he looked at the yellow dog with genuine surprise. "Oh, what's on your mind?"
"Well it's just… I was wondering if you noticed anything weird… with the club I mean or with its members? Like, are they behaving differently and talking to anyone you don't recognize? Things like that?" he asked.
Riz brought a hand up to his muzzle. "Hmm… nope, can't say I have."
"O-Oh, ok then, thanks for your help," Jack said in a melancholy tone.
"Well, if there's nothing else, see you around."
The bear waved goodbye and headed off, leaving the two canines alone. Manny then suggested to Jack that they go to the library so they could continue their talk.
Meanwhile, Pina continued his interrogation of Collot and Miguno. He managed to convince them to tell him about Legosi's fight with Bill, the cafeteria incident, and about the wolf showing his fangs to a crocodile in order to defend his friend. While he found this interesting, it didn't tell him what he needed to know.
"Very interesting," he said with a sly smile. "Sounds like he's a pretty loyal friend."
Miguno nodded. "He sure is! Legosi is the kind of guy who always has your back."
Collot looked down as his ears and tail drooped. "It's a good trait, but it has caused its fair share of problems. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that he has become more dependable, but he's also gotten so reckless."
Pina brought a finger up to his chin. "I see. Then I'm guessing it's this recklessness that caused the police to get involved."
Miguno looked to the side as he scratched his head. "Well, that's… that's something we'd rather not talk about. I mean, if it's ok with Legosi, then sure, but since he isn't here, we really shouldn't say anything."
The dall sheep frowned at this before returning to his confident persona. "Yea, I can see how that would be a touchy subject. Although, from what I saw before, you two are at your wits end with all this."
"I just thought that having an outsider's perspective would make things easier to figure out. After all, many problems have been solved thanks to an unbiased third party."
The two canines looked at each other. Before they could talk about what to do next, they heard the library doors open. They turned their heads and saw a fox walk in with Jack close behind.
"Jack!" Miguno barked happily,his tail wagging like crazy. "What are you doing here and who's the fox?"
"Hey guys," Jack called back, his tail wagging as well. "Didn't think I'd see you here."
The two walked over to the table. "This is Manny, he's uh… a new friend of mine."
The fox gave them an awkward smile. "Hey there. I'm Manny, he-he-he… it's um… nice to meet you."
Collot raised an eyebrow. "Are you ok man? You look a little tense."
Manny took a small step back as he kept his smile. "Ye-Yea, I'm alright. I uh… just get a little nervous around dogs, especially big dogs."
Collot leaned in slightly and squinted, though it was hard to tell thanks to the fur covering his eyes. "Hmm… say, have we met before? You look really familiar."
The fox took a step back. "I uh… I just have that kind of face."
Jack quickly moved in between the two and spoke. "So, what are you guys doing here? Getting in some extra studying?"
"We were just talking about some stuff," Miguno answered. "At least we were until our new acquaintance showed up."
Jack turned his head and finally noticed the dall sheep eying him. As the labrador stared at him, he couldn't help but inspect the herbivore's features.
He noted that the sheep was rather tall for his species and was admittedly attractive, even to him. His baby blue eyes were slightly larger than normal and his horns were long and spread out.
As the yellow dog continued to size up the stanger, he couldn't help but notice that despite the fit and well toned body, this herbivore looked quite femanine. What's more, Jack couldn't seem to take his eyes off him.
"Like what you see?" Pina asked with a flirtatious smile, fully aware of what Jack was doing.
"Huh?" the labrador barked as he was snapped back to reality. "Oh, sorry about that. You kind of… caught me by surprise."
"Hehe, I tend to do that a lot," Pina said with a grin.
Before anyone else could comment, Manny took a step forward. He examined the herbivore and realized who he was.
"You're him aren't you?" the fox asked. "The new transfer student everyone's been talking about."
"Guilty as charged," he replied.
Everyone's eyes widened. The three canines then started to growl at Pina, trying their best not to show their fangs as their faces wrinkled.
"Whoa, what's going on?" Pina asked, still keeping a confident smile. "I don't mind if you want a piece of me, but even I can only handle one at a time. Well… Maybe two if I'm feeling frisky."
The 701 pack glared at him. They slowly stepped closer to him in a fashion similar to how a pack hunts its prey. Their prey however, did not step back or even flinch. When they saw this, Jack and the others stopped growling and stepped away, still giving Pina a glare as they did.
Collot then turned to Manny. "Hey, Manny was it? Thanks for telling us who he was."
"Sure, no problem," the smaller canine said awkwardly. "But, why is that a good thing?"
Miguno shook his head. "Because you just stopped us from sharing something that this jerk would use to torture our friend."
"Who, me?" the dall sheep asked nonchalantly. "Now what could little old me do to such a big, strong-"
"Don't even try it!" Jack barked. "Legosi told us about you! How you insulted all the carnivores in the club, how you talked to him as if he was the one who ate his friend, and how you gripped his muzzle and told him to eat you like it was nothing."
"What you did traumatized him so much that he was in tears when he got back to our room. You hurt him more than anyone else has and frankly, it's unforgivable."
Collot put a hand on Jack's shoulder as he took a step forward. "We want you to leave, now! Stay away from us and stay away from Legosi!"
"Heh, guess I've been found," Pina said happily as he shrugged his shoulders. "Well, no need to worry. I'll get out of your hair. But before I go, I should let you know an interesting thing about me. I may be a herbivore, but when someone catched my eye, I go after them with the same mindset as a predator on the hunt."
The herbivore walked to the door. As he opened them, he turned his head to the canines for one last parting shot. "I'll find out more about your friend, one way or another."
With Pina gone, Collot and Miguno turned their attention to Jack and Manny.
"So Jack," Collot said in a sharp tone as he crossed his arms. "Care to introduce us to your new friend or rather, RE-introduce us to the guy who picked a fight with us?"
Miguno's eyes widened as he caught on, before looking at Jack.
"Ha-ha, I guess I have some explaining to do."
Here's this chapter's secret.
Did you know that Collot can recognize people and animals much faster than his roommates? This is because Collot has a stronger sense of smell than the others, with the exception of Legosi, and because he has a better memory than everyone else, with the exception of Jack. As such, he can remember scents from someone who he hasn't seen or talked to in years.
