Early mornings were nothing new. Sleep on the Isle was a luxury, one he made sure the others in his pack had as often as possible. There was food to scavenge to keep stashes stocked. Territory to defend. Things to steal and then sell. Workouts to do. The sooner you were awake the sooner you could get started and beat others to whatever scraps were available.

His old habits from the Isle weren't going to change any time soon and he enjoyed the Basic Training class. It was a perfect way to get the blood flowing and the body ready to face the day. And if yesterday was anything to go by, he'd need to be ready to deal with the second half of the day. Who needed to know that much about numbers anyway? Evie and Carlos apparently.

Passing another student, Jay started his fifth lap around the training grounds. So far Lonnie was one of only a few students that Jay couldn't call "soft". Several of his classmates struggled to keep pace during the six-lap jog around the training grounds and others could only manage twenty push-ups before giving up. How had people like this taken out villains like Maleficent and Gaston?

The first two hours passed quickly, dedicated to physical workouts that all of the Knight classes did together. After a half hour break, the classes separated and he joined the rest of the students in Basic Training for drills with swords and shields; repeating the same footwork again and again and again before switching to a different move and starting the process again. Jay hated the shield. It was bulky and felt like a lot of unnecessary weight. Why waste energy holding it when the same energy could be used to dodge or attack?

For now, he just did as instructed, but he planned to practice without the damn thing during the weekend. Maybe get Carlos to help. Pup was fast and agile enough to make him work for it and Jay knew Carlos's limits so he wouldn't push too hard. A mistake he'd have to be careful to avoid when they actually moved beyond just drills. Auradon had the same concept of sparring as the Isle: fight one another to get stronger, but Auradon seemed to have rules about holding back most of the time. Yeah not hurting your partner was ideal, but if neither of you actually gave it your all then you wouldn't know if you'd survive a real fight. For now, it wasn't important.

Muscles aching in a good way, Jay moved to his designated locker in the changing rooms. Gods he felt good. Energized. Stripping off the practice armor and then the shirt, Jay stretched, loving the burn. Like the day before, the other guys went silent and he grit his teeth. Every instinct warned of danger. Too many eyes on him. Everyone too quiet. But he refused to be intimated. Especially by a bunch of weak-ass nobles.

So he stretched again, allowing his body to flex, confident, comfortable. Letting them know he was aware of them and he didn't care because he could take them all on. A cobra just waiting for someone to get too close.

One prince in particular was paying a lot more attention to him than he'd like. Something in his expression was too similar to that Audrey bitch and at some point Jay knew the ass would make a move too. As long as it was directed at him and not the others, he didn't care. He'd seen that prince during the initial workout. He was weak and slow compared to the regular Auradon students and nothing compared to Jay. But if he chose to fight with words, that was more dangerous for the others. Jay'd stopped caring about what people thought of him before he'd even met Mal at twelve.

After changing, he headed for the door. The others would be waiting for him at the cafeteria and the sooner they were together, the sooner they could make sure they got the best of the food. Before he could leave, the prince moved to partially block the doorway. Dumbass had his stance wide and his head high; an obvious challenge. One he, Harry, and sometimes Gil, used if they reached a standoff, neither side able to truly beat the other. But this prince wasn't them and if he thought he could take Jay on, who was Jay to deny him?

Without breaking stride, Jay barely looked at him and angled his shoulder just enough to slam against the prince's. The shock and flash of pain in the other boy's expression made him grin, and he kept walking, unbothered by the hit.

Smirking, he met up with the others and Carlos took one look at him and frowned. "That's a dangerous smile," he muttered.

"Who did you beat up and how much trouble are we in?" Mal asked from where she was leaning against the wall, only half amused.

"I just bumped into some prince who was in my way," Jay grinned and Carlos rolled his eyes, but his own grin gave him away.

"Good," Mal nodded. "Gods, some people just don't know how to walk around here."

Evie's smile sharpened just a little. "And we're just a little clumsy sometimes. Happens to everyone."

"Exactly," he laughed.

Lunch was good as always and he pointed out the prince from earlier to the others. While they all agreed he looked arrogant and stupid, Evie did hum, "He is handsome though."

"We'll get you a prince. Just not that one," Jay informed her and she sighed a little.

"He'd have been easy to control."

"E, I'm pretty sure Mal or Jay would kill him in less than a week," Carlos said and Jay didn't disagree. There was only so much bullshit he could take when it came to people interacting with his pack. That prince would probably mysteriously disappear in twenty-four hours if Evie tried to catch him.

The second half of their day was dedicated to English. Reading wasn't the worst thing in the world, it was more useful than math in most cases, but English wasn't about reading. Not only were they expected to learn how to write, they were expected to write about a book they'd be reading. By the end of class, Jay was ready to shred the next piece of paper he saw. Writing shouldn't be so difficult and books shouldn't have that many words. Nothing needed that many words.

Mal was the only semi-sane one of the other three. Having to write about things they read and reading books that didn't give actual information annoyed her as much as it annoyed him. But she was more willing to acknowledge writing.

The other two, though, were insane. Not Cruella levels of insane but it felt close.

"We'll be able to write," Carlos grinned, somehow not tripping over Checkers as she wove between his legs. Somewhere nearby Jay knew the dog was trailing them. The dog was becoming a permanent shadow, keeping its distance but following them everywhere. "E, we'll be able to write. And read. Actual books."

"It'll be fun," she nodded. There was an extra bounce to her steps and even though it was because she was losing her mind, at least she was happy. They both were.

"Whatever," Jay said. "Just don't waste too much of your time. You don't want to go soft."

Brown eyes glanced at him, glittering as Carlos's smile became a sharp smirk. "You're just saying that because you suck at it."

Jay narrowed his eyes, but Carlos's smirk only grew sharper.

"If you ask nicely, maybe E and I will help you."

"That's it. Come here, pup."

But Carlos was already running, laughing as Jay gave chase.