*
"The future is littered with prizes and though I'm the main addressee"
**
Savanaclaw Dorm
"All right, boys. Knock it off," A familiar deep voice demanded. The students turned to see Leona Kingscholar, the housewarden.
"Housewarden Leona! And Ruggie's here, too!"
"These guys were over here steppin' on our turf," The fox student says.
"So we gotta show 'em what's up!"
"I only see the sky that's up..." Y/n bluntly commented, looking up at the sky. her comment made Isfrid, Cater, and Ruggie stifle their laughter while Ace, Deuce, and Grim were slightly dumbfounded as the other Savanclaw students looked displeased.
"That's not what I meant!"
"Enough," Leona ordered, glaring at his dormmates. "Is this how men should treat a noble lady? Even a princess?" he snarled at them, causing them to shudder in fear from how scary his looks got. "And if I remember correctly, the princess here is also part of Savanaclaw as well as the other dorms." he reminded. 'If only she chose us instead...then those lizard bastards won't stand a chance,'
Upon closer inspection, Ruggie noticed that the others looked familiar. "Ah, I believe we met earlier, at the cafeteria,"
"Ah! It's you!" Grim exclaimed, pointing a paw at Ruggie. "It's the Grilled Cheeseburglar!"
"Whoa, whoa, let's not get carried away with such delicious-sounding nicknames," Ruggie pouted as he pointed at himself. "I have a proper name befitting my manly stature. It's Ruggie Bucchi. Don't wear it out,"
"Rubbie Bughi...?" Y/n tried to pronouce, earning a cute pout from the hyena as Isfrid lifted her off his head and into his arms so he could protect the bunny better.
"It's Ruggie! Ru-gg-ie Bu-cchi!" he said it slowly for the Queen of Butchering names to understand.
"Come to think..." Leona says, suddenly stepping close to the snow bunny with a smirk, earning a glare from Isfrid. "You're also that herbivore who stomped on my tail at the botanical gardens," he recalled.
"Huh?" Y/n tilted her small bunny head in confusion, obviously not remembering this occurring.
"You...You stepped on the housewarden's tail?" One of the students gasp.
"Now you're- mph?!"
Isfrid used magic to silence the other student by closing his hand that was underneath Y/n's lower body to support. (Because that's what you're supposed to do with small animals) "Ah yes. Even thought Y/n may had forgotten, I didn't," the ice prince smirked. "She told me about the grumpy caretaker of the botanical gardens. Turns out it really was you," he said in a teasingly tone, earning a low growl from Leona.
"Ah...you're also the botanical gardens caretaker...?" Y/n finally recalled.
"Bwah ha ha!" Ruggie laughed while squatting, blushing at Y/n's adorable mistake.
"Leona was the caretaker? To be fair, he does treat it like a second home..." Ruggie snickered.
"Leona! Ruggie! Let's show em who's boss! Especially that Diasomnia brat!"
'Diasomnia brat?' Isfrid close-eye smiled, a tick mark on his face.
"Stop barking like a pack of wild dogs," Leona grumbled in annoyance. "You really wanna risk starting a fight before the tournament? What if you get disqualified?"
"You sayin' we just let these trespassers go?!" the main guy exclaimed.
"Except for Y/n thought...since she Leona did remind us that she's technically part of our dorm..." The fox student reminded.
"Right!"
"No one's lettin' anyone walk away. We're gonna keep it nice and civil..." Leona smirked as he summoned a disc with his magic, wielding it high above his head.
"...And solve this with a game of Spelldrive,"
"Spelldrive?!" Ace, Deuce, and Grim exclaimed excitedly.
"In a match, you can use all the magic you want without violating any school rules, even," Leona pointed out.
"Shyeheehee! You're such a jerk Leona," Ruggie snickered. "I doubt these weaklings can endure so much as a single game,"
"It wouldn't be wise to underestimate me," Isfrid grinned darkly.
"Welp, I'm not takin' THAT lyin' down. Now we got no choice but to fight," Grim exclaimed, glaring at Ruggie.
"You say that like we had a choice to begin with," Deuce heavily sighed.
"All right, fine! You're on," Ace grinned brightly. "Cater! Remember this when you pick the official team!" he told him.
"Are you kidding me here...? All right, let's do this..." Cater sweatdropped before turning to Y/n. "Y/n, you can watch from the sidelines. Try to read their movements and convey it to us, okay?" he suggests.
"Mhm..." Y/n nodded her little bunny head as she looked up at Isfrid. "Would this count as my first Spelldrive match as a spectator...?"
"Of course. Watch your big bro beat these beasts," Isfrid grinned in a brotherly way as he petted Y/n's head.
*
Savanaclaw Dorm - Spelldrive Stadium
"I'm about to tear you guys, apart!" Grim shouted with a smirk as he, Isfrid, Deuce, and Ace stepped onto the field.
"Keep that talk up while you still can. Shyeheehee!" Ruggie snickered as he, Leona, and the other Savanaclaw members stepped foward opposite of the others.
"Fine by me," Leona bluntly says. "There's no fun in prey that doesn't bite back. Let's go herbivores. Do your worst," he smirked.
Cater, however, was with Y/n who was back to her normal form. "Can you stream this on my Magicam, Alice?" he asked.
"Okay...but how would this Magicam work...?" Y/n asked, a bit of a boomer when it came to phones.
"You press this live button and when the game is over, you click it again. be sure to get the whole scene, okay honey?" Cater asked, showing her how to go live on social media.
"Mhm...Good luck," Y/n nodded, doing a thumps up. Cater kissed her on the cheek as a thanks before he rushed back to his team. As the slight breeze blew through her long hair as she sat on the benches, she held the phone with her tail, acting like one of those camera sticks that was longer and flexible like her tail.
Once the same starts, Y/n pressed the LIVE button, streaming the match between team Heartslabyul featuring Diasomnia and Lumikuinen vs. team Savanaclaw
*
"That's how it's done!" Grim cheered, scoring a point of the team. "Keep up the pressure and stay on offense,"
"I'm not liking the smirks they've got plastered on their faces one bit...even Isfrid having a creepy smile," Ace sweatdropped.
"Good eye, Acey. I think your read's dead on," Cater says.
"Don't worry about it too much," Isfrid says with a smile before his eyes had a mischievous glint in them when he turned to team Savanaclaw. "Cockiness will get them nowhere, especially when they're underestimating their opponent,"
Meanwhile, with team Savanaclaw, Ruggie smirked, quite impressed with the other team's performance. "They're better than expected, huh, Leona?"
"Yeah...But we weren't expectin' all that much," Leona bluntly says.
*
"We were so close!" Deuce huffed as Savanaclaw got another point. "We could have reached the goal if he hasn't swiped the disc!"
"Not the sharpest claws in the plains, huh?" Leona smirked, the disc hovering over his hand. "We've just been toyin' with our prey. Rraaah!" he launched the disc toward the goal from far away, doing a long shot.
"Unfortunately for you, I'm doing the same!" Isfrid exclaimed, catching the long shot disc. "Haha! Nice try~" he grinned.
"Dude! What was THAT?! That long shot was insane! But Isfrid was also to catch it?!" Ace yelped in surprise.
"Perhaps you need to train more," Isfrid stated with the disc hovering over his hand. "Catching a long shot is child's play,"
"And now it's back to the game," Leona growled slightly "I'm far from through with you...heh heh heh..."
"Well...I hope you're prepared to loose, kitty. For I think it's about time to get serious," Isfrid smirked.
*
At this point, it was basically Savanaclaw vs. Isfrid. The ice prince was scoring most of the points from how magical and physically experienced he was. After all, he has been training since he was physically 5 which was way over 100 years ago. (For those who don't understand, Isfrid had the appearance of a 5 year old human child when he started training)
Leona managed to use his magic to do one final long shot toward the goal, causing the opposing team to get knocked out. Minus Isfrid, who actually used Leona's magic against him by deflecting the disc, causing it to bounce off his magic and changed toward the direction of their goal.
After a few more rounds, Savanaclaw had lost, obviously, with Isfrid doing most of the work. Grim and the Heartslabyul boys were on the ground from exhaustion. Y/n ended the stream as she stood up from the bench, making her way (downtown. My wife took my kids) toward the group and politely gave Cater his phone back who yelped from how cold it was.
"*pant* *pant*" Grim panted as he laid on his stomach.
"You're kidding..." Ace panted as well, laying flat on the ground with his magical pen in hand along with Deuce. "We actually won...but they're way too strong..."
"It's all thanks to Isfrid," Deuce panted out. "There's not a single weak link in his and Savanaclaw's defensive line!"
"I would rather not be compared to those brutes, especially since I did all the work," Isfrid crossed his arms, huffing.
"Listen, Leona, sweetheart...Everyone knows you're a Spelldrive legend. You know we can't compete against you like Isfrid!" Cater panted out, his eyebrow on his knee, looking quite exhausted as he put his ice cold phone in his pocket.
"What's that? You givin' up already?" Leona asked with a pissed off smirk. He was completely pissed to have lost to Isfrid who didn't look even a little bit roughed up as he watched the ice prince get close to Y/n, dusting off her clothes from little dust.
"Shyeheehee! Where'd all that confidence from earlier go, huh?" Ruggie asked from above, sitting on his broom stick.
"On your feet, herbivores," Leona demanded as he stepped toward the group, glaring mostly at Isfrid who stuck his tongue out. "Let's go one more game,"
'How predictable. Can't even accept losing to a weak team?' Isfrid scoffed.
Y/n looked at the states her spouses and Grim were in, looking completely exhausted as they weren't even ready to do another around. "How is this...any different from being beaten up?"
"What's goin' on here?" A familiar voice asked.
Leona looked behind him to see Jack, looking quite displeased with the situation at hand. "Huh? Jack. We're just having a little fun with some trespassers," the lion says.
"Is kicking a bunch of rookies around suppose to be fun?" Jack asked sternly, narrowing his eyes at his housewarden. "Especially in front of the crown princess?"
"What's thiiis? Look at you, Jack!" Ruggie grinned as he rested his hand behind his head while flying. "Look at you, Jack! Heroically standing up for the downtrodden to make himself look good in front of the crown princess. How woefully admirable. Shyeheehee!" he laughed.
Jack clenched his fists in irritation, having a slight blush on his face about Ruggie's comment about trying to look good in front of Y/n. To be honest, it wasn't a lie but it wasn't necessarily the truth either. "...I'm just saying that this is disgusting spectacle and I don't wanna have to see it,"
Leona eyed Jack before sighing. "Hah...Don't be such a killjoy," he scoffed.
"Hey, Jack! You're actin' damn high and mighty for a first year!" The main guy exclaimed.
"...If you're gonna play the upperclassman card, you oughta act the part," Jack sternly says.
"Whaaat did you say to me?! You wanna piece of this too?!" One of the human students shouted.
"Pretty bold, frosh. All that machismo you've got going for you is real," Leona said with a smirk as stepped toward Jack's side, patting the wolf on his shoulder. "All right, that's enough. Dealing with you people is pointless," he scoffed, glaring at the boys near Y/n while Isfrid just mockingly waved a hand goodbye with a cat-like grin. His eyes were filled with jealousy, wishing that it was him and him alone giving Y/n affection. "Let's go, Ruggie," he says, backing off.
"Toodles," Ruggie waved as he followed after Leona.
"Trespass on our turf again and you'll be in for a world of pain!" The students shouted, directing the threat toward the boys since Y/n was technically part of Savanaclaw.
Y/n mocked the students by shaping her hand into a hand puppet, opening and closing it to mimic the students yapping as she rolled her eyes. "Is everyone okay?" she then asked.
"Heh. Well, I can't say that was my finest moment on the field," Cater chuckled slightly, bashfully rubbing the nape of his neck with a blush on his face.
"It was...Jack, right?" Deuce asked. "Thanks for the help,"
"Whatever," Jack says, turning his head over to the others. "I didn't do it to save your asses,"
"Great," Ace sighed as he placed his uniform jacket back on, along with Isfrid, Cater, and Deuce. "I'm drenched in mud over here! Let's just call it a day and go home,"
"I need a ice bath after this..." Isfrid sighed, wiping the sweat from his face as he noticed that Y/n's face was slightly red caused the environment. "And you're joining. You're supposed to be already in the ice bath by now," he harshly scolded her.
"Fine..." Y/n sighed.
"What about me?! I'm gettin' pretty hungry over here," Grim whined, his stomach growling.
"You're flithy! You also need a bath!" Isfrid shouted.
"Mrah! At least give me a warm water bath!"
"All right, Jack, we're heading out," Cater says. "Don't get in any accidents, you hear?"
"Like I've said, you've got no reason to be worried about me," Jack reminded with a huff. "Now scram already," he demanded. He just stood there as the group made their wave back to the mirror.
"....." Jack lowered his head, scowling at the floor as he balled his fists, feeling something refreshingly cold in his heart.
*
Savanaclaw Dorm
Just before the group exited the dorm, a certain hand grabbed ahold of Y/n, causing the boys to turn back in surprise. Isfrid crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at Leona Kingscholar who held onto Y/n's wrist. "What do you want with her, Kingscholar?" he sternly asked.
"I just want to have a word with her," Leona says, glaring back at Isfrid as Y/n just blankly looked at the both of them.
"Not a chance!" Ace shouted, stomping over to Leona and Y/n. "You kicked us out but then ask for Y/n?" he says, grabbing Y/n's other wrist and pulled her toward him, out of Leona's grasp.
Before Leona could say anything else, Y/n intervened. "It's alright. I'm also part of Savanaclaw, so if I'm needed by the housewarden, it's only natural for me to comply?" she stated, earning worried gazes.
"But sister...your ice bath!" Isfrid clenched his fists.
"I will be back soon, brother," Y/n assured. "So just go back and groom Grim first. That is...an order,"
"Tch..." Isfrid scoffed, knowing he can't defy her orders. "Of course, your majesty. Please...stay safe," he says, glaring at Leona. He then picked up Grim and pushed the Heartslabyul boys out, earning a headache in return when Ace and Deuce protested about leaving Y/n alone in a wild den of hungry animals.
"Now that their gone..." Y/n muttered before looking at Leona straight in the eye. "What business do you have with me...? I certainly hope it isn't about your obvious sabotage...for I know every detail,"
Leona was slightly caught off guard, balling his fist. 'She certainly knows too much. I must think of a way to have her on our side...or I'll have to think of a way to get rid of her...'
"Of course, there is a way, boy,"
Leona slightly widen his eyes before smirking, earning a confused look from the crown princess. 'Of course there is,'
*
Lumikuinen Minka - Your Room
Y/n sat on the sofa chair of her vanity, brushing her hair as she blankly stared at her reflection after a pampering session from Isfrid who basically took the role of her maid. She wore a fluffy kimono with a obi sash tied around her waist to secure it. "*Snooore* Mhm. Didja see that...*snore* Totally wrecked 'em with my power shot...*Snore* Grim talked in his sleep.
Y/n turned her head toward Grim who was asleep on her bed as the Northern Lights above the dorm shined, it's light illuminating on her snow white skin. "Haah...he must've loved getting to play Spelldrive..." she mumbled. But at the corner of her eye, she noticed a shadow in front of her window before quickly moving away. 'A shadow...? Who would dare...' she narrowed her eyes at the window on high alert. She quickly stood up pursued the intruder without even bothering to put on shows, so she was going outside barefoot.
*
Lumikuinen Minka
"Hm? Who's following-" The so-called intruder sensed a presence behind him only to widen his eyes in surprise to see his beloved behind him, staring at him with a stern expression as she held her sheathed katana.
'A student...?' Y/n tilts her head in confusion as she stared at him, noticing the moonlight shining upon him that made the student looked almost as ethereal as the stars in the night. 'Why does...he look familiar...?'
"...So it was just you, your majesty the crown princess," The student says, staring directly at Y/n in the eye.
"So you're...also a student," Y/n spoke first after a few seconds of just staring at each other. 'Those are some huge horns...bigger than mine and Isfrid's...' she observed. "Tell me...horned human. Why are you here on Lumikuinen grounds?"
Meanwhile, with Isfrid. 'So he finally got caught huh?' he smirked, leaning against the window inside of Y/n's room. 'Malleus Draconia...I did warn you that she'll notice your presence sooner than later,' he sighed.
'I wonder if she'll remember walking with you once upon a dream,'
~To be Continued~
*
Modern Era Secrets:
- Despite taking the form of a bunny, Leona and Ruggie knew that it was Y/n based on her scent. It was only confirmed their thoughts when she spoke the comment about "What's up"
- Winter Spirits in general have the ability to shapeshift into any animal associated with winter. Examples are a polar bear, penguin, snow bunny, snow lion, etc
- Malleus was totally watching Y/n before she noticed his shadow