Twisted Wonderland

Leaving for The Holidays

"Hey, guys!" A voice calls out to you.

You turn around to see Ruggie approaching. "You can stop standing in the middle of the hall and blocking traffic now!"

"Ruggie?" Deuce's eyes widen. "Wait, what's with all that luggage? A backpack, three duffel bags, and a giant cooler..."

"Oh, this?" Ruggie laughs. "I took all the food that was about to hit its sell-by date at the cafeteria and the school store. Since we're about to go on break, they gave 'em to me basically for free."

"For real?" Ace asks. "There's no way you can eat all that."

Ruggie grins. "You'd be surprised. The neighborhood kids devour this stuff like, well... a pack of hyenas. Besides, gotta make sure my grandma eats well over the holidays. Speakin' of which, this frozen food ain't stayin' frozen for long. Gotta run! Smell ya next year!"

"Oh, Ruggie! Wait!" You put a hand to his shoulder.

Ruggie turns to you, tilting his head in surprise. You open you bag and pull out a piece of paper. It had a drawing of Ruggie. He was sitting atop the trunk of a large elephant skull. You hand it to the hyena. "This is for you."

Ruggie takes the paper and looks over it. "You drew this for me?"

"I thought this could be good holiday gift." You rub your arm nervously. "I got inspired by the terrain in the Savanaclaw dorm."

Ruggie looks to you. "It's perfect! It's even better than your last drawing you made me."

You smile brightly. "I'm glad you like it."

Ruggie tucks the drawing into one of his many bags. "Thank you, Y/N." Ruggie salutes you and makes his way to the mirror.

"There he goes..." Deuce scratches the back of his neck. "What was that about neighborhood kids, though?"

"Ruggie comes from a place where food is a bit scarce."

You turn around to see Jack behind you. "So whenever school lets out for a long break, he stocks up on all the food he can get and shares it with the local kids."

"What about you, Jack?" Ace points to the cactus strapped to Jack's bag. "What's with that planter you're hauling? You taking up gardening or something?"

"It's a cactus I've been growin' in my free time. It'd wither up if I didn't keep it watered over break." Jack clears his throat. "A-anyway, enough about me!"

Grim tilts his head. "Ruggie's sharin' his food with a bunch of kids who ain't even family, huh? Never knew he had it in him."

"Hyenas believe in sharing spoils equally." Jack explains. "I'm sure that's how Ruggie was raised."

Leona steps beside you, scoffing. "The mere thought of a feeding frenzy like that gives me the willies. I can barely stand the noise one kid makes as it is."

"Does that mean you're skipping out on visiting your family, Leona?" Jack asks.

"Man, I wish. Nah, they'd give me no end of grief if I did. I'm goin'." Leona groans. "Talk about a holiday chore."

Jack twitches an ear. "But you're not bringing anything?"

"So? I got my wallet and smartphone. What else do I need?" Leona shrugs. "I've got clothes at home anyway."

Grim rolls his eyes. "This's a whole different kind of extreme."

"You're not even bringing your homework, are you?" Ace folds his arms.