A Valley of Thorns

A Lioness All To Himself

In Leona's room, Kira was resting on Leona's chest while he played with a chessboard. Leona had one arm around Kira while another was holding a chess piece.

There was a knock on the door. "Leonaaaa!" Ruggie then opened the door, carrying a food tray. "Nice work today. I brought both of your dinners. I also took care of another job."

"Thank you for bringing me dinner. You didn't have to." Kira said, she rubbed her head up against Leona's chest in an affectionate way. The lion purred as a response. "Don't worry about it, Little Lioness. 'Course nothin's a problem when it's for both of you."

"Listen to you. As if you're not in this for yourself." Leona replied. He placed the chess piece down on the board and rubbed Kira's head gently. "Aw c'mon Leona! This is for the both of us...We're in this together when it comes to wantin' to turn the world on its head. To survive, one has to use any means possible. Even the hyenas joined forces with the King of Beasts. Followed him because they wanted to improve their lot in life. That's why I too..."

"Amazing speech. I admire your dedication, Ruggie." Kira smiled. "Hmph...then hunt more discreetly. Don't leave any evidence." Leona said. He gave Kira a kiss on her cheek. "Shishishi! No sweat! A hyena's specialty is not leavin' even a scrap of its prey behind. So, Leona. Who should our next victim be, and from which dorm?"

"Let's see...How 'bout the wolf skulking around and listening in on people's private conversations?"

"Huh?" Ruggie said, turning his head to the door. "I know you're here, fresh-meat. Kinda tasteless of you to eavesdrop on us with those huge ears of yours." Leona said growling a bit. Jack entered the room. Kira got up and ran to him, getting in front of him. It was her way of not wanting Leona to hurt him. Leona sighed, "What do you want this late at night?"

"Need me to sing you a lullaby? Shishishi!" Ruggie giggled. Jack looked at Kira, who was still in front of him. She was like a lioness protecting her cubs from the males who try to kill what's not their offspring. "I just wanna know...why. You're the culprits, right? What's really motivating the ones behind all these attacks on campus?"

"I get it. You want a bedtime story. Fine, I've got a good one for you. A comedy that occurred before you even enrolled:"

The annual interdorm magift tournament.

We of the Savanaclaw dorm were the routine champions,

but for the past two years, we faced Malleus, who led the opening match of the tournament.

Both times the outcome was total defeat.

Our dorm with its reputation for brutally eliminating their opponents,

competed like a kitten who'd yet to open its eyes.

And that disgusting display was broadcasted to the entire world.

What do you think came next?

The dorm leader was branded incompetent.

And Savanacla's chances of being scouted by top companies or the pros went up in smoke.

"That's....That's just because you weren't good enough." Jack said. Leona got up from the bed and over to the balcony. "You couldn't be more right. We weren't taking this seriously and giving it our full effort until last year." Leona leaned against the balcony fence. "Trying to fight that monster head-on without any sort of strategy was stupid. Savanaclaw being based on the King of Beasts "Spirit of Persistence"? What a joke!"

"BUT THE COWARDLY WAY YOU'RE SNEAK ATTACKING PEOPLE IT'S JUST WRONG!" Jack exclaimed. "Jack, calm down." Kira said, trying her best to calm Jack down and to not upset Leona. "Heh. Wrong?"