Edited to fix typos and add/remove some lines
"OK, thank you all for coming" JC said, holding his hands up to calm the group of freshman students, mainly herbivores with a few small carnivores "as most of you know, the gardening club has been operating with a single member all year"
"yeah we know" a female wallaby called out "run by that dwarf rabbit who slept with that wolf" JC frowned gently
"be that as it may, who she is isn't the reason why all of you are here" he pointed out "the reason is, is that she's graduating in a few months, and when the new year starts, the flowers around the school will wither and die, I doubt she'd want that to happen"
"i wouldn't want that to happen" said a male chipmunk, who was sitting on the shoulder of a female raccoon "the flowers here are beautiful"
"agreed" added a male pygmy elephant "i wouldn't want her hard work to do to waste"
"alright then" JC said "she'll be in finals in a few weeks, I'll let all of you know when, and please pass the message along to any who are interested, that'll be all for now" they all got up and started to leave the room, the last to leave was a freshman otter boy who paused and bowed with respect to Kawa who walked in,
"planning for the future I gather" she said with a smile as she walked in,
"yeah, just making sure a certain rabbit's legacy doesn't wither when she leaves" JC replied, eyeing a vase of flowers nearby,
"I'm glad" Kawa said "but your future is the reason why I'm currently here" JC frowned when she said this,
"I'm guessing that I'm going to be kicked out at the end of the year" JC said bitterly "just like every other year before" Kawa stared silently,
"that's not for me to say" she said before turning "headmaster Gon is waiting for you, so please, come" she headed out with JC following her.
The walk to the headmaster's office was painfully silent, JC thought of everyone he had met and formed bonds with over the year, 3 particular had crossed his mind; Haru, the first who he met here who saw him as an equal, Legoshi, the first he could truly connect with, and Juno, the first who he had bonded with, he didn't want to leave all that behind him, he was so deep in thought that he didn't register Kawa knocking on the door and being allowed admittance, he looked up to face Gon, but then saw his foster parents there, a pair of Baboons, looking shocked that he was there,
"J-JC" the male stuttered before looking at Gon "did you send for him?"
"i did" Gon replied calmly "but only to discuss matters that are not related to the subject at hand" he looked at JC "have a seat son" JC silently sat down as Gon went on about how JC was doing alright socially and academically, nothing that was registering to him as interesting, but he looked up at Gon when he said something that he wasn't expecting "so I don't know why he would want to leave our school in the first place"
JC silently stared, everything starting to make much more sense now, his foster parents told him that society would shun him for being a human, and one of the examples would be schools only accepting him for a single year, he now knew that they must've orchestrated this to make him believe this, it was time to turn the tables on them now
"so JC, why do you want to leave Cherryton if you're doing so well?" Gon asked, JC looked at the floor and stared, putting on the facade he usually had when he was with his foster parents,
"because, I've been taught that humans don't deserve such praise" he said flatly
"w-what?! W-who would tell you such things?!" the female baboon demanded, Gon silently raising an eyebrow
"you both did" JC replied in the same tone "you also told me that I don't deserve to have friends, be academically capable or even have a life because I am human" Gon was silent for all of this, but sensing where this was going, he pressed button on his desk
"you stupid child!" the male shouted "you dare accuse us of doing such a thing?!"
"because the last time I told you both how well I did on a test, I got beaten, badly" the two were seething now, Gon approached and decided to drop a final bombshell, for all of them
"well then, this is further reason have JC as one of the highest level Beastar candidates" everyone in the room stared at Gon, JC more shocked then he had ever been, he didn't even see the fist striking him in the gut,
"you spoilt rotten human" the male said, striking him in the head, JC taking the blows and not flinching "we made a mistake taking you in" he grabbed JC and flung him to the floor, Kawa being held back by Gon "and now your a candidate for the Beastar" he punched him in the chest, panting "I'll make sure a filthy human will never hold that title" he lifted both of his hands to strike JC hard, but in a flash of amber, he was wrapped up by pulsating snake coils, JC sat up, seeing the eye patterns on the snake's body
"i might be a biter-class of snake" said the husky voice of Six-eyes as she held the male in her coils as the female stared in fear "but I am strong enough to crush you with my coils if need be, especially for hurting the one with the pretty brown eyes" she glanced over at JC, Gon cleared his throat,
"thank you Six-eyes" he said "if you care to escort both of them off the premises" she slowly unwrapped from the male who stumbled backwards, the two of them retreating out of the door, JC silently clutched his chest as Kawa ran over,
"you OK?" she asked, JC looked at her "anything broken"
"nothing" JC said calmly "only my pride" he looked up at Gon "will that be all sir?"
"no, there is the real reason I asked you to be here" Gon replied as he waved at a chair in front of his desk "have a seat" JC slowly moved to the chair and sat "i actually called you in to discuss this" he handed JC a folder of his DNA result, JC opened the folder and silently read it's contents, he mouthed the word that was there, then looked back at Gon
"thylacine?" he questioned,
"that's correct, the lab tested your blood several times to make sure that they didn't make a mistake" Gon replied, JC staring at the paper more,
"funny" he said "how an extinct animal is alive within my DNA, and the DNA of a Beastar candidate….wait" he stared silently, realising what he said, before looking up at Gon "seriously?"
"yes, you're in second place behind a promising freshman who'll be your greatest competition, her name is Juno" JC's eyes widened more, now the girl he loved was also his greatest rival, but he gave a small smile,
"i see, but then, I will not allow that to drive a wedge between us" he said before standing "if that's all sir?" Gon nodded, JC bowed respectfully and left the room, heading straight for the library.
JC pulled out a book titled "Extinct Animals, vol. 10, 1500-1999" and walked over to a booth in order to read, pausing as he saw a familiar rabbit studying at one, he smiled and approached and sat with them,
"nice to see that you're studying for the finals" he said, Haru looking up at him,
"yeah, trying to get a high enough score is my first step to the rest of my life" she replied as she stared at the book JC had
"so, seen Legoshi recently?" JC asked, Haru's lips slowly curled into a smile
"i have, sneaked up to him while he was sleeping in class"
"oh yeah, I saw that"
"he and me went off to our secret place to talk, almost put my foot in my mouth, saying that the more I fell in love with him, the more I missed Louis, he was a bit disheartened at first, but after I explained it to him, he swore that he'd do his best to keep everyone safe" JC nodded gently,
"that's Legoshi alright" he said, opening the book he had, flicking through looking for the right page
"what cha looking for?" Haru asked,
"I'm looking for the entry on thylacines" JC said, going back through the pages a few times
"page 305 to 307" Haru said "i had to read through that very book for study yesterday"
JC nodded and flipped to those pages, looking over the basics
"lets see, heavily spiritual, believe in a life after death, ancestors preyed on…..hmm? Could contact any of their ancestors during the ritual of the departed, interesting"
"why are you so interested in this particular species?" Haru asked, JC looked at her,
"apparently, I have 12.5% of their DNA in me, from a great grandparent of mine" he said, taking some notes "just thought that I'd get to know them better"
"i see, I can only guess why you'd want to do that, but I know you too well, I know that you want some secrets, so I wont pry" Haru said gently,
"thank you Haru, I'll leave you to your studies"
"OK, see you later" Haru said, returning to her book, JC placing the book back on the shelf and heading off.
The black market lights gently buzzed amongst the small crowds within, JC silently walked along the streets, glancing at the stores as he walked, seeking out somewhere in particular, he paused in front of a burger shop, looking at the sign to find the meat he was looking for, he nodded when he saw it and stepped forward, before he could go inside, a small group of black suited lions stepped out, escorting a familiar deer, Louis, JC stared, but was not surprised, Juno telling him this ages ago, he stared at JC in surprise, but didn't say anything, one of the lions noticed this,
"something wrong boss?" they asked, Louis stared at JC before stepping to the side to allow him to pass, JC lowered the brim of his fedora and headed inside the burger shop, hearing Louis' reply
"no, nothing"
JC stepped up to the counter, a falcon serving him
"welcome kid" he said as he looked JC over "by the looks of it, you haven't had proper meat in years, I'm surprised you'd come here first before having some raw meat, just to savour it's taste"
"my kind are unable to digest raw meat properly without getting sick" JC replied bluntly "regardless, I'll take a kangaroo burger with the works" the falcon nodded and called back to the chef to start the work "I'll be back in around 10 minutes" he added and left.
Returning to his cabin he, shut all the windows, placed the burger box on the bed and pulled out a bag of eucalyptus leaves, looking back on some notes he gathered that day he took out some bowls and placing a few leaves in them, standing them up and lighting the tips, kneeling in the centre, he opened the box, he stared at the burger for a bit before glancing at his notes again, he inhaled and sighed before opening the burger and placing a hand onto the kangaroo meat inside,
"may the flesh of this unnamed be blessed as they become part of my body, may their spirit move on to be with their ancestors while my spirit transcends into the dream time to meet with my ancestors, so that I may understand them better" he said, replacing the bun onto the burger and lifting it up, eating it slowly to savour the flavour that he had forgotten since his parents died,
as he ate, he didn't notice the smoke from the gently burning leaves contorting and swirling around above him, forming into a large serpent with a horned crest and mane, it's jaws slowly opened as JC finished the burger, striking down at him, JC exhaled and collapsed, passing out.
JC groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, finding himself on a desert plain, the sky seeming to contort with many colours, he looked around franticly as he heard whispering, pausing when he spotted many footprints appearing from nowhere, he stared as yellowish-brown furred wolf-like animal people approached, all wearing nothing but strips of red cloth around their waists with the females wearing something similar around their chests, many more appeared around him, the whispering becoming more clearer,
"you don't belong here"
"your filth is a blemish to us"
"your kind disgraced ours"
"no, please" JC pleaded as they got closer "i only want to learn from you" but these words fell on deaf ears as they got closer
"enough, all of you" the strong male voice caused the others to falter, as a large male thylacine appeared by JC "his being here is not for us to decide, it's theirs" he added as he looked skywards, the others did the same, curious, JC looked up, gawking when he saw the gargantuan serpent, it's coils slowly shifting colours, it moved closer, it's eye alone nearly filling the sky
"i allowed this young one into this world" the serpent said in a voice that didn't sound male nor female, or was it both "for he is the first with your blood to try and contact our home, he might be impure, but that doesn't matter with me, you all are to treat him as one of your own kind, he'll need your guidance for the next stage of his journey" the serpent backed away before its face faded, possibly obscured by it's coils,
"our deity, the rainbow serpent, has spoken" said an elderly thylacine as he and a female elder, neither that JC had noticed before, approached him
"he has the mind of a great artist" the female elder said, her hand on his head "a storyteller and a logical thinker"
"and his heart" the male said, their hand on his chest "is that of a mighty warrior, one who shows compassion and justice" his hand moved and JC's top faded,
"ah, you have our markings" the female said, examining the stripes on his back "despite being only part of us"
"yeah, I always thought they were birthmarks, so I hid them" JC said "i apologise"
"no need to apologise to us, you did not know what they were" the first thylacine said "i am Jandamarra, your great grandfather, I have been watching over you all your life" he looked at the elders "these are my grandmother and her grandfather, elders of our linage"
"there are so many questions I wish to ask, but I don't know where to start"
"no need to ask" the male elder said "for when you did the ritual, all our collected knowledge was passed into you, just focus on wanting to speak with Jandamarra to understand more"
"but for now, you have to leave us" the female said "i sense that someone near and dear to you is trying to wake you"
JC nodded and closed his eyes, next thing he knew, he felt some hands on his body, and hearing Juno muttering under her breath, he groaned gently to let her know that he was waking,
"JC, JC are you alright?" Juno asked, sounding a bit worried, JC looked up at her with a smile
"I'm better then OK" he said, slowly getting up, feeling stronger then normal, he gave a small grin "just, reaching out to my ancestors" Juno just stared, not sure how to understand this "I'm part thylacine" he added for clarity,
"thylacine? They died out nearly 90 years ago" Juno stated,
"i know, my great grandfather was one" JC said "didn't ask why he did though"
"regardless, it was scary, coming in here, seeing you unconscious like that" Juno said, hugging him "don't ever scare me like that again, you jerk" JC smiled and returned the hug,
"i promise" in the back of his mind, he knew that he might have to break it in order to protect her, or someone else.