You, Ace, Deuce and Grim are walking in the woods behind the campus. Grim bolts once he spots the chestnut trees.
"Whoa! There really are a ton of chestnuts just layin' around. I'm gonna be livin' large on chestnut tarts! Mmm! Let's get grabbin'- YOWCH!" Grim pulled his paw back from the chestnut, holding it close to his chest.
"Myah! The chestnut spines pricked my paws!"
"I don't think we can do this with our bare hands." Deuce says. "And we need something to put them in, too."
"Maybe we can find some supplies in the botanical garden?" Ace suggests.
Deuce nods. "Let's take a look."
You and the others enter the school botanical garden. It was a huge, glass domed building that was filled with various different plants. Immediately upon entering, the humidity inside hits you like you walked into a wall. A path from the door split into three, leading towards different locations inside the garden.
Ace lets out a low whistle. "Whoa, I didn't realize this place was so huge."
"If it's this large, it's got to have a groundskeeper. Let's split up and look." Deuce suggests.
"Sure. Dibs on the right side." Ace already started walking along the right path.
"Then how about I go left, while you and Grim go straight ahead?" Deuce turns to you.
You nod and head your separate ways. You and Grim stroll through the middle path, taking in the scenery as you go. Everywhere you look there's beautiful flowers and trees and bushes full of fruits. Grim eagerly sniffs the fruit he finds.
"Hey, come take a look at this! There's a ton of fruit growing here! Smells like they're ripe, too!"
"Hey!"
You jump at the harsh voice. You whirl around to see a boy emerge from the foliage, he towers over you. He has thick, dark-brown hair that goes below his shoulders in length, with long, side parted bangs that fall over his eyes. Two sections of hair on both sides of his face are braided and tied at the ends with yellow bands. He has emerald green eyes and a thin scar over his left eye that goes from his eyebrow to his cheek. He doesn't wear his uniform jacket but still has his long sleeved white undershirt rolled up to his elbows and a yellow vest paired with black gloves. You notice brown lion ears peaking through his hair along with a lion tail swishing side to side. You remember him from the ceremony.
"You got some nerve steppin' on my tail and just walkin' away!"
"Are you the groundskeeper?" Grim steps besides you. "Not sure you oughta be talkin' to students that way, pal."
The lion scoffs. "Ain't nothin' worse than bein' in the middle of a good nap and havin' some jerk step on your tail."
"I'm so sorry," You try to reassure the angry lion. "I didn't see your tail on the path."
"You... I know you." He takes a step closer to you. "You're that herbivore from orientation who couldn't use magic." The lion leans towards you and sniffs the air around you.
You take a step back. "Uhh."
The lion leans back, looking unimpressed. "Huh. It's true. You don't smell of magic at all. Well, can't say it'd be much fun to hurt someone so helpless. Still gonna do it, though."
Grim leaps into your arms and leans in to whisper to you. "I dunno what's up with this guy, but when he looks at me, it makes every follicle of fur stand on end."
"No one gets to stomp on my tail and just walk away without payin' the price. I'm in a bad mood on account of bein' woken up from my nap, too. That's gonna cost you a tooth."
He advances on you and you step back only to bump into a tree. "I don't have any money but I can try make it up to you if you want." You try to keep your voice calm despite the current situation.
The lion let's out a dark chuckle, putting a hand to the tree by your head, trapping you in. "You don't want to be in debt with me little herbivore."
He stares down at you, sharp fangs hidden beneath his grin. You stare up into his emerald eyes, you only hope he can't hear your heart hammering in your chest.
"Leona! There you are!"
The lion sighs in frustration and removes his hand from the tree. You let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding. You both turn to see where the new voice came from.
A boy was walking towards you and Leona. This boy seems to be average height and has sandy blonde short, fluffy hair that flips up at the ends, with mid-length, messy bangs. He has bluish-gray eyes, and has brown hyena ears on the top of his head. This is paired with a short hyena tail of the same color. Small fangs show when he smirks.
"I knew I'd find you here! We got after-school classes today, remember?"
Leona rolls his eyes. "Ugh... And now I've got this guy on my tail."
The hyena puts his hands on his hips. "Leona, you've already had to repeat one year. If you get held back again, we'll be in the same grade!"
"Oh, put a sock in it already. I'm tired of all yer yappin', Ruggie."
Ruggie glowers. "Look, you think I like always being on your case? C'mon, man. You act like it'd be hard for you. You could skate through life if you'd just TRY. Come on! Let's go already!"
Leona folds his arms and turns his glare to you. "Hrmph... Next time you stink up my territory, there's gonna be a price to pay, herbivores!"
Leona walks past Ruggie, the hyena smiles and waves at you. You shyly wave back and watch as the disappear in the foliage.
"Myah! I don't like the sound of that! What is up with this nutso?"
You sigh and shake your head. "Yeaaah, that guy was definitely not the groundskeeper."
You and Grim walk back to the fork in the trail to meet up with Deuce and Ace. You find them happily trotting your way.
"Yo, guys, we found baskets and tongs." Ace waved said tongs around.
Deuce happily approached you and Grim but stopped upon noticing your downhearted expression.
"What in the world happened to you two?"
"Just another encounter with another student from this grand school."
Deuce looks like he was about to say something else but was interrupted by Grim remembering why they were in the gardens.
"Oh, right, the chestnuts! We gotta gather those chestnuts so I can get my tart on! We'll fill 'em in on the crazy groundskeeper while we forage"
You and the others are putting chestnuts into baskets, trying to get enough for Trey to make the tart. You explain you encounter with Leona as you gather the spiky chestnuts to the two boys while Grim interjects.
"...and then he peaced out!"
"Yeah, no way was that guy the groundskeeper." Ace says as he puts a chestnut into his basket.
"Y'know, now that I think about it, he WAS wearin' the golden vest of that Pajama-clog dorm." Grim observes your progress from your shoulder.
Deuce tilts his head confused. "Pajama... clog? You mean Savanaclaw? You know, I'm starting to think that there's an awful lot of delinquents here at Night Raven."
You nod in agreement with Deuce. You gather more chestnuts and set your full basket next to Deuce and Ace's baskets. Ace lets out a sigh of relief and wipes the sweet from his brow.
"All right, that should be enough chestnuts. Let's get these baskets over to Trey!"
Grim excitedly rubs his paws together. "Myahaha! Now that we're all gassed up, it's destination Flavortown, baby!"
"Welcome back." Trey greets your group as you walk into the kitchen. He stares in amazement at the nearly overflowing baskets of chestnuts. "Looks like you got plenty!"
Grim hoped from your shoulder and stands next to the baskets on the kitchen island. "Now you can make us some massive tarts!"
Trey laughs and shakes his head slightly. "Well, the bigger the tarts, the harder it'll be to peel all these nuts, so... good luck with that!"
Deuce's eyes widen in shock. "We have to peel all of these...? Suddenly the whole room is spinning."
Trey adjusts the rim of his glasses. "Preparation is the key to good baking."
Ace rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. We've come this far. We're not giving up now!"