Rising Shards

I left out the parts about me biting Zeta a bunch when explaining it to the others, of course. I noticed she had a long-sleeved version of the uniform on. I kept smiling at her, wondering if my love bites had left marks on her. We both got all blushy whenever we left bite marks on the other, neither of us sure if it was a Cani thing to enjoy the vibes that said, “she’s mine." I had to shake my head to not blurt something about that out, going back to my brand-new tail.

“I worried it was a stress tail, cuz I’ve had those before,” I said. “But this gal has stuck around, so far so good!” I petted my new tail. Its fur was the same color as my hair, but a lot silkier. It had been strange adjusting to it, mainly how to sit without crushing it and how to walk with my balance being sorta different, but I had been daydreaming about this for so long, and had some experience having tails with the aforementioned stress tails and Feral Flus and whatnot. I wasn’t sure why I wanted a tail so badly, it was just something I daydreamed about as a kid. Maybe since my fangs were out as long as I could remember, I wanted some “new” Cani thing to feel like a change had really sunk in, getting the experience most other Cani I knew had.

“Did you keep this secret from Zeta?” Kalei asked.

“Oh no, Zeta was there when it came in!” I said.

“I figured I can’t get common shift sickness twice so soon after just having it, ya know?” Zeta said. “So I was watching over Oka while she was on campus. Cat Oka very cute!”

“Well, cool,” Kalei said. “Moving on to the important stuff.”

“How is this not important, this is a big life change!” I said.

“I wanna talk strategy for the Recreant game today,” Kalei said.

“Can that wait? Tell me how cute my tail is first!” I said.

“It’s super cute!” Zeta said. “The cutest a Cani tail has ever been!”

“Uh huh, very cute, now moving on,” Kalei said. “We owe that Chickadee something for that Kris Krag thing.”

“Chickadee, huh?”

Kalei’s former bestie Risa now stood behind her, stroking her chin.

“Oh, hey Risa.” Kalei said. "You know Chickadee?"

"A bit," Risa said. "She's very annoying."

"Ain't that the truth, you got any advice on..." Kalei trailed off. Maybe she wasn't sure if she should ask someone who went to Wildfire Hearts anything that could be used against us. Or she still felt awkward around her former friend that vanished and returned to her life.

"Not really." Risa shrugged. “I have a thing, so I’m just stopping by to say hey back."

Kalei didn't know what to say, barely getting her hand up to wave as Risa walked away.

“That was rather strange,” Zeta said. “You think she’d tell on us? Like leak our plans to the Wildfire Hearts folks?”

“I don’t know if she had any friends at Wildfire Hearts,” Aira said. “She got in a lot of fights…I never saw her win any of them, either.”

Kalei grimaced.

Our first game of the Recreant Protocol was one we’d practiced before. We’d all get into a field, a huge bundle of energy spheres would be launched out, and we’d have to volley them up and if we dropped any or got hit with any, we’d be eliminated.

“Speaking of people we’ll be up against today,” I said. you going to be alright with Laenie out there?” asked.

“I’m…going to avoid her, I think,” Aira said.

“Just stick with us, we’ll keep a look out.” Kalei said. “And where’s Marmalade? She crushed it at the practice version.” She jolted after spotting Marmalade in line, gesturing for her over and immediately trying to talk about the game when she arrived. Marmalade winced as Kalei talked, which didn't bode well for her joining us.

“I er, have a thing,” Marmalade said. “So I won’t be in class this morning.”

“What, like a dentist appointment?” Kalei asked.

“Ms. Corinani summoned me?” Marmalade said.

“What? That sucks. Corinani sucks,” Kalei was practically pouting about this, which I found interesting. “You don’t think she’s trying to get you away because you kicked ass at the practice version, do you?”

“Me? Kicking ass?” Marmalade actually looked around like Kalei was talking to someone else.

“If I remember right, you tied for first place.” Kalei said. “And thusly, Corinani’s dumb ass tries to get you off the board, like eating checkers pieces to win without trying.”

“It’s Corinani, it could be either some big plan by her or her trying and failing to function as a teacher." Lillia said.

“She asked a few others for help, too,” Marmalade said. “Iris, Maia, and Michi, I think.”

“Four of us? That’s so unfair!” Kalei said. “Well, Iris and Maia would probably just stand around or purposefully get eliminated. So really two, but still.”

Kalei was really steamed about Marmalade missing out on the game the most. After Marmalade left to meet with Ms. Corinani, Kalei got in her snippy mood, taking out her aggressions by snarking at us.

“Do you want to get some last-minute practice in or something?” I suggested, not wanting all our moods ruined before we even got out in the field.

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