Chapter 2: Awakening

It was early November and all the animals at Cherryington Junior High were excited. Today was the club fair and all the students were eager to see what kind of after school-activities the school had to offer.

"At least it's finally over," Legosi said with a sigh.

Legosi is a larger than average wolf for his age who's been feeling down ever since he left for school. Cherryington was a dorm school, so the students were expected to live there through both middle and high school life. Since it was his first year there and his first time being so far from home, he had been anxious almost every day and was having a hard time sleeping.

"It's ok Legosi," Jack said as he put a hand on the wolf's shoulder. "I know it's hard, but at least I'm here and our roommates are really nice."

Jack is a labrador retriever and a childhood friend of Legosi's. He and the wolf have been inseparable ever since they met in kindergarten. When he learned that he and Legosi were going to the same middle school and were sharing the same dorm, he practically jumped on his friend when they reunited.

"I know, It's just… We've been here for two months and I still feel out of place. Sure our roommates are ok, but I still feel like I don't know anything about them," Legosi explained.

"I can talk to them ok when it's just one on one, but when they're all together, which is almost all the time, I feel like I'm intruding. They're loud, they banter, they tease each other in a friendly way, and I just… I don't know. It also doesn't help that one of them challenged me to a fight on the first day here."

"Yea, but you beat him," Jack responded. "Now the guy treats you like your brothers. Sure, he challenges you to a sumo or wrestling match every other day, but you always look like you're having fun. In fact, he's always telling me how much he respects you for going at it with him even though you're so shy."

"Yea, that's true," Legosi said with a small laugh. "It's actually amazing that even though he hasn't beaten me once, he still keeps at it. He stays so confident that he'll win next time and I can't help but admire that."

"If it was me, I probably would've given up a long time ago. I think that's why I started exercising more. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like I don't want to let him down by becoming weak."

"Yea, it's great to have a guy like that in our pack," Jack barked. "He keeps us on our toes and gives us a reason to improve."

Legosi, now feeling better, gave the labrador a hug as he thanked him for the pep talk. Jack returned the hug in kind as their tails wagged happily.

This was actually a very common way for canines to show affection and friendship. Even timid canines like Legosi were able to do this without too much trouble. Licking too, but that was saved for close friends and family. If a canine licked another animal, it showed how much trust they had in that animal. Because of that, many consider it an honor to get licked.

"Yo, love birds, you coming or what?"

The two canines turn their heads to see Durham waving at them.

Durham's a coyote who can be considered the muscle head of the group despite having very little actual muscle. He's competitive to a fault and loves challenging himself. Yet despite that, he respects those who are stronger than him and is a very loyal friend and packmate.

"Speak of the devil and he'll show up," Jack said with a laugh as he let go of Legosi.

"What's that mean?" Durham asked.

"Oh nothing, we were just talking about you," the labrador answered.

"What about me?" the coyote asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We were just talking about how we met on the first day and how you picked a fight with me," Legosi answered. "Jack was trying to help me feel better since I'm feeling kind of homesick right now."

"Oh, if that's all it was, then how about a quick match?" Durham said with a big grin as he took a stance. "After all, nothing like a good wrestling match to get you out of your head."

"Wait, what?!" Legosi barked in surprise. "But we're in a classroom, so-"

"One, two, three, GO!" Durham yelled before charging at the wolf.

Legosi immediately went into battle mode as he got into a grapple with the coyote. The two locked hands as they stared each other down.

The wolf quickly took the advantage when he started pushing Durham back. Legosi then knocked the coyote's hands away before slamming him into the ground with a belly to belly suplex. With the two of them on the ground, Legosi pushed Durham onto his stomach, climbed on top of him and brought the coyote into a nelson hold.

"Do you give?" the wolf asked as he painfully stretched his dommates spine.

"N-Never!" Durham growled.

Legosi let out a smile at this. He knew his packmate would never admit defeat so easily and so, he learned something new just for this. While keeping the hold, he stood up slightly before planting his knee straight into the smaller canine's back. He then pulled even harder than before.

"GAHH!" Durham yelled.

Jack, knowing what the yelp meant, got close to see if Durham would give the signal. As expected, Durham raised his hand, forfeiting the match.

"And the winner is Legosi!" the labrador barked.

Hearing this, the wolf released his hold before standing up. He then helped Durham back onto his feet while apologizing for being too rough.

"Thanks for that Durham," Legosi said before giving him a hug.

"Hehe, no problem," Durham said as he returned the hug. "I swear though, I'm gonna need a chiropractor if you keep using moves like that."

"Hehe, sorry about that," the wolf said with an awkward smile.

"Why are you apologizing?" Durham asked. "I love when you use moves like that. It shows I still have a lot to learn and why you are worthy of being called bro."

"So, who are the love birds now?" Jack snickered, trying his best to hold back his laughter.

"Shaddup, this is a MAN'S hug! It shows comradery, brotherhood, and respect! It's not like that sissy hug you give," Durham explained with a taunting grin.

"Hah! I'll show you what a real hug is like!" the labrador said confidently.

Legosi, who understood where this was going, let go of Durham. The coyote then proceeded to hug Jack, though it was more of a painful bear hug. Jack however, refused to be outdone and gave his packmate a strong squeeze.

The two continued to hug each other for a few minutes. However, to anyone watching, it looked more like they were trying to break each other's spines.

It was actually impressive that Durham could hold his own despite the brutal beating he got from Legosi. Still, Jack wanted to show what he could do and kept up the pressure.

Legosi folded his ears at the sight of how stubborn his dormmates were. It was clear that it was a stalemate, yet they wouldn't give an inch. He knew if this kept up, they would be late for lunch and would worry their other roommates. With this in mind, he decided to end things.

The wolf walked over to the two and attempted to pry them apart. When that didn't work, he brought them both into a big hug. He, of course, squeezed them hard, which in turn made the hug they were giving each other that much stronger.

"Sorry about this, you two," Legosi said awkwardly as his tail drooped. "But, we really need to get going."

"O-Okay, we'll stop!" Jack winced as he gasped for air.

"What he said, just let go!" Durham yelped as he felt his ribs crack.

The wolf let his friends go, causing them to fall on the floor. Legosi then helped both of them up to their feet before throwing their arms around his shoulders to support them as they walked.

Five minutes later, the trio made it to the cafeteria. By that point, Jack and Durham were able to walk on their own, so they didn't get any attention from the other students.

"Are you sure you two are ok?" Legosi asked in a worried tone.

"We're fine Legosi," Durham answered with a small laugh. "We just had our bones broken and the life squeezed out of us, that's all."

Legosi's ears folded back as his tail drooped. Despite the smile the coyote had, the wolf couldn't tell if he was joking or being sarcastic. This was one of the reasons why he felt out of place with his new pack. They would often joke in ways that he just didn't understand. Things like ganging up on Durham by calling him stupid or teasing Jack for being an 'egg-head', whatever that meant.

"Legosi, we're fine," Jack said in a reassuring tone. "Durham's just trying to be funny."

"R-Right," the wolf responded.

Durham looked up at the larger canine. He was about to ask if he was ok when the trio heard someone calling for them.

"Hey guys! Over here!"

The three of them turned to the voice where they saw Collot, another of their roommates.

Collot is a white English Sheepdog with a fairly athletic build, despite not being into any sports. He's the biggest and strongest member in the pack after Legosi. As such, the others tend to get frustrated with him since he didn't have to exercise much to get that big. He also likes to tease Durham, who consistently loses to him in sumo and has a habit of giving his packmates nicknames, which they aren't very fond of.

Despite that, he's a really good guy who tries to look after everyone. He's easily the most social of the group and often got club invites, all of which he declines since he'd rather spend time with Legosi and the others.

"Hey Collot! Sorry we're late," Legosi said with a wave.

"Hey Alpha, no worries," the white furred canine said with a smile.

"Collot, you know how I feel about you calling me 'Alpha' like that. I really wish you would stop before you give everyone the wrong idea."

"Aw come on Alpha, I call you that because you beat me every time we play something other than video games or chess. Plus, you're bigger and stronger than me and you're a wolf, so it makes sense."

"Still, I wish you'd stop."

Collot just smiled as he shrugged his shoulders. He turned to the other two, who he noticed were looking pretty sore.

"Let me guess, another loss for the 'eternal rookie'," the sheepdog snickered.

"Don't call me eternal rookie you bastard!" Durham growled. "I'll show you!"

"You mean like all the other times you showed me? That's exactly why I call you eternal rookie in the first place. Because you showed me that you can never win a match against me, and I don't even exercise."

The coyote's face turned a bright red. It didn't matter if it was from anger or embarrassment. What did matter, was the fact that he was one word away from biting the sheepdog's face off.

"Collot, can you just knock it off already?" Jack said in an annoyed tone. "We're really hungry and aren't in the mood right now."

"Hehe, sorry Jack, you know I can't help it," Collot said with a small laugh. "Lucky for you, I already got you guys food, so we can just go and sit down with the others."

The trio perked up at the news. Durham was still upset, but he could never turn down food, even if he was at his boiling point.

"Sure, and thanks for that," Legosi said with a smile, his tail wagging happily.

The four canines walked over to the table where the last two members of their pack were waiting for them.

"Hey! You guys made it!" Miguno said with a huge toothy smile as he waved to Legosi and the others.

Miguno was the odd man out of the pack. That's because he's a spotted hyena, which isn't a canine. Despite that, he fits in with his roommates so well that he might as well be a canine. He's also the jokester of the pack and is the class clown.

He loved to tell jokes and pull pranks, most of which are harmless. When Miguno first met Legosi and saw how down he was, the hyena tried to cheer him up by making him laugh. Since then, he did whatever he could to make the wolf and the rest of his new grin from ear to ear as much as he does.

Miguno was the kind of animal that likes to see others smile and will even go as far as to play the fool in order to do it. It's given him a reputation of being a goofball without a care in the world, but that was far from the truth. The Hyena just likes to help others when they're sad and show them that things aren't as bad as they think.

Unfortunately, his loud personality tended to make things awkward between him and the much more reserved wolf. Yet, he really wanted to be friends with Legosi and hopes that he can be as close to the larger carnivore as Jack is.

"Hi Miguno, sorry we're late," Durham said with a grin.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're here. Any later and you would have missed lunch all together."

"Well, we would've if Legosi didn't step it," Jack said with a smile. "Anyway, how are you and Voss doing? Hope classes weren't too hard for you."

"Naw, we're all good!" the hyena said with a mischievous grin. "Right Voss?"

Voss let out a sigh, or at least, motioned like he was sighing before turning to the others and giving them a thumbs up.

Voss is a fennec fox and also a mute. As such, he used sign language in order to communicate. When everyone met each other on the first day of school, his packmates thought he was a stuffed animal since he didn't talk. They've learned their lesson since then, but it didn't stop them from using Voss as one from time to time. He didn't mind though since his friends were comfortable and he liked sleeping in beds that were bigger than his.

Voss was the most levelheaded of the group and often acted as the voice of reason, despite not having an actual voice. It was a little hard for him at first, but thanks to Legosi and Jack, it wasn't that big of an issue.

That was because they learned basic sign language from Legosi's grandfather. He worked as a medical assistant for a hospital that specialized in taking care of disabled and hybrid children. As such, they were able to help Voss talk to the others. Since then, he's become a lot closer to the duo and enjoys spending time with them.

"See, I told you the big guy and I were doing ok," Miguno said with a laugh.

Jack squinted at the hyena for a moment before turning to Voss.

"What did he do?" the labrador asked with a deadpan expression.

Voss explained that Miguno zapped a zebra with a joy buzzer, causing its mane to frizzle during first period. He also told them that during third period, the hyena pranked the teacher by putting party poppers in her desk so that when he opened it, a bunch of streamers and confetti would shoot out. She fell for it of course, but she laughed it off since it wasn't too bad.

"You never change, do you?" Collot said with a sigh.

"Like you're one to talk," Durham muttered.

"Well, if you're here, I assume that means you didn't get in trouble, right?" Legosi asked.

"Nope, totally got away with it!" Miguno laughed.

Collot, Durham, Jack and Legosi let out a groan. They knew saying anything would be pointless, so they just sat down to eat.

As they started eating, Collot, Durham, Jack, and Miguno struck up a conversation with each other. It didn't take them long to start getting rowdy, as they swapped news, told jokes and playfully teased each other.

This was where Legosi was at his worst. Whenever they got like this, he felt like all he could do was watch from afar while they talked. Voss tried to make him feel better, but there was only so much the fennec fox could do since he needed the wolf to concentrate on his hand signs.

"Oh, before I forget, there's something I wanted to show you guys," Miguno said as he reached into his bag.

He took out a sheet of paper and showed it to his roommates. He explained that a teacher was handing them out and that it had a list of all the clubs and sports teams participating in the fair today.

"What do you guys think, wanna join a club?" the hyena asked.

"Sure, sounds like fun," Durham said as he looked over the paper. "Maybe I'll join the football team. I've always been pretty good."

"Yea, pretty good at getting your fangs knocked out," Collot teased.

"Screw you!" the coyote barked.

"Hmm, Maybe I'll join the debate team," Jack said as he tilted his head. "Of course, the literature club and Japanese culture club look good too."

Miguno was about to say something, but before he did, he noticed Legosi staring down at his food. That's when he realized the wolf hadn't said a single word since they started eating together.

"Hey Legosi," the hyena said in a soft tone as he tapped the larger carnivore's arm. "What about you? Is there a club you might be interested in?"

"Huh… Me?" Legosi asked in a quiet and confused voice.

Miguno nodded before taking the paper from Jack and handing it to the wolf.

"Um… I guess the bug catcher's club could be fun," the large canine said as calmly as he could. "They catch and research different bugs, they go on camping trips, and… oh! It looks like they even have beetle sumo!"

Legosi was really getting excited at the thought of all the fun he would have, something his roommates could tell from his increasingly wagging tail. They wanted to laugh at how cute the usually timid wolf looked, but did their best to hold back so they didn't upset him.

As the wolf kept reading, he noticed there was a blank space at the very bottom of the page. He thought it was strange since the space was big enough for another club to put its name and description.

Legosi was about to ask Miguno about this, but as soon as he lifted his head, the world went silent and all the colors that once filled it were replaced with silhouettes that glowed with an ethereal blue light. The cafeteria walls were blue, the tables, chairs, everything had its shape outlined in a blue light.

The wolf was completely stunned. It was like he was in some kind of drawing or grid system where the artist drew the basic shapes of everything, but no other details and the canvas was black.

When he looked around, he noticed the same thing was happening to the other students. However, there was something different about them. While most of them, or rather, their silhouettes, glowed with that same blue light, some of them glowed red for some reason.

Legosi was about to tell his friends, but noticed that they were glowing too. Unlike the others though, their silhouettes glowed with a brilliant golden light.

He wanted to tell them, but then he noticed the paper was changing. When he looked down to the blank space, words started to appear there.

"The historical research club?" the wolf said in confusion.

"The historical research club?" Jack asked with a raised brow. "I didn't see that one."

"It's right here," Legosi said as he pointed to the once blank space.

The others looked to where he's pointing, but saw nothing.

"Um… Alpha, is this a joke or something?" Collot asked.

"It's not a joke, and stop calling me 'Alpha,'" the wolf said in a slightly annoyed tone. "Look, it's right here!"

The other's kept looking at the page, but couldn't see anything remotely similar to a historical research club.

"Can you guys… really not see it?" Legosi asked as his ears folded back and his once lively tail drooped.

The others shook their heads. They apologized to the wolf, but explained that they just couldn't see anything.

Legosi looked down at the paper. That's when he realized why he could see the writing but his dormmates couldn't. It was because of whatever it was that's going on with his sight. Even now, he didn't see his friend's faces, just their golden silhouettes.

"Hey Legosi," Jack said, getting the larger canine's attention. "Since we can't see anything, why don't you read it?"

"Jack," the wolf said with widened eyes.

"Are you serious Jack?" Durham said with a raised brow. "There's nothing there. For all you know, Legosi is just pulling our leg.

"I agree," Collot said as he crossed his arms. "Seeing is believing after all."

"Hey you two!" Jack barked, getting everyone's attention. "I may not know what's going on, but I've known Legosi my whole life and I can tell you he isn't the kind of person to make something like this up. I know we just met all of you two months ago, but I promise you that if Legosi says there's something there, then there is."

Collot and Durham looked at each other, unsure how to respond.

"I believe him."

The group turned to the voice and saw that Durham was raising his hand.

"Listen you guys, it's true that it's a little weird, but it's obvious that Legosi wouldn't lie to us. So, if he says something's there, then why not give him the benefit of the doubt?"

The two still weren't sure, but that's when Voss climbed on the table. He walked over to Legosi and put his hand on the larger carnivore's arm, showing that he's willing to listen.

"Alright, I guess we'll hear him out," Durham said with a sigh.

"Well, he is the alpha, so why not?" Collot said with a smirk.

"You guys… thank you," Legosi said with a small smile, completely ignoring what Collot called him. "Ok let's see, it says, have you ever wondered if what they teach you in class is true? Did you ever think about how we came to be or why our society is the way that it is? Then join us! Learn the truth those in power have hidden in order to serve their own ends. But be warned, once you have seen what lies behind the curtain, there is no turning back."

"Well that's not cryptic at all," Durham said sarcastically with a deadpan face.

"Seriously, it sounds like something a cult would write," Collot said with a raised brow. "Does it say anything else?"

"It has a room numb-"

Before Legosi could finish, the writing started to disappear.

"Wait, no! Don't go!" the wolf barked.

He looked up from the paper and saw that everything was going back to normal. His friends were no longer enveloped in the strange light, nor was the world empty and blue.

Legosi, what's wrong?" Jack asked.

Legosi didn't answer. He returned his gaze to where the writing was, only to see the blank space again.

"It's gone," the wolf said softly as his ears folded back. "The writing's all gone."

"Well that sucks," Durham said as he leaned onto his fist. "Did you at least get the room number?"

"Yea, I did," Legosi answered with a sigh as he put the paper down. "The room number was 258."

"258?" Miguno asked. "I don't think I've heard of that room before."

"Oh, I know where that is!" Jack barked. "It's actually in the old school building, the one our school now uses for things like storage or special events."

"So basically, we have strange writing only Legosi can see and an old building our school's pretty much abandoned," Collot said in an unamused tone. "Please tell me I'm not the only one getting red flags here."

"It is a little weird, but it's not like there's any harm in checking it out," Jack said as he brought a hand to his muzzle.

"I'd really like to see it for myself too… if that's ok I mean," Legosi said sheepishly.

"Why not?" Durham said as he shrugged his shoulders. "We just go there today after school and if there's nothing there, we just go back to our dorm. If there is, we see what it's about."

Voss gave everyone a thumbs up, showing that he wanted to see it as well.

"Well, seeing as I'm out voted, I guess I'm in," Collot said with a sigh.

"Great!" Miguno cheered. "We go there, check things out, and we come back with no problems."

"Y-Yea," Legosi muttered to himself before looking at the paper once more. "But, why do I get the feeling it isn't gonna be that simple?"