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afy2018 · 1 year

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Ilvermorny University of Femslash & Wizardry

Raelle jogged down the steps from the Childress dorms to join her friends at Newton Hall. A new year for her and most of the others at Ilvermorny University for Wizards. It wasn’t all that new of an academic setup, they were just in another part of Massachusetts they could hide in, and for Raelle’s sophomore year, not much had changed at home save for the casual skirmish with No-Maj civilians.

Collar looked at her watch and patiently stood before the red brick and white trim dorm. A few students emerged before she spotted one of her teammates and friends. Her hair tied back in a loose ponytail, Korra had on nice but casual clothes for their orientation which was a necessary evil in her eyes. They had been emailed and sent letters from both the Magical Congress of North America, the Wizarding bodies from their respective countries, and the campus about the current climate between their Maj community and humans.

She pulled out the latest note that had been stuck in her door. “Did you get this too?”

“Yeah, the RAs are on it this year.”

“I mean, it does mention class trips and overall access to the grounds this semester.” Korra glanced over her shoulder. “I swear Adora was right behind me.”

“This always happens, she probably got caught up with her siblings.”

“And Maya?”

“I don’t know, fucking around as usual,” she joked.

They heard the rhythmic thud of people running. They glanced down the road where Maya was leading her friends on their morning run.

“Speak of the devil,” Raelle smirked.

“I don’t know how she does it. We literally just got back in the dorms yesterday.”

“I’m not all that surprised. You know, she just has impeccable timing.”

Maya came to a halt at her friends’ feet and breathlessly nodded to them. A few of her teammates greeted them on their way to their respective dorms. Bishop waved them off and glanced at the paper in Raelle’s hand. “What’s that?”

“Last minute info before tomorrow. A reminder of conduct and reassuring students and parents that we will be safe here.”

“This really could have been an email,” she huffed, jogging in place a bit. “I’m gonna rinse off and join you guys by the ISU. When is it again?”

“It’s in fifteen minutes,” Korra called after her.

“I’ll be quick.”

“Hey, can you tell Adora to join us?”

Bishop swiped her card and gave them a thumbs up on her way inside. She spotted the Senior sitting in the lobby with her siblings. She peaked her head into the room and informed her, “The crew’s waiting outside for you.”

“Okay, thank you, Maya.”

Bishop continued to her room, shared with Andy Herrera, and gathered her toiletries. Hearing their personal shower in use, she slipped on her slides and jogged down the hall to the communal bathrooms before the early birds got to it. For her second year in university, Maya was starting to take classes towards her certificates and degree. Balancing school and athletics were difficult enough, but with the current threat of hate groups on their tails, she found herself relying more on her activities to stay sane.

She finished up quickly and grabbed her belongings, tossing her toiletries and towel on her bed and taking off to the front steps where Korra and Raelle were sitting.

“How long?”

“Five minutes, well done,” Collar commented. “And Adora?”

“You didn’t see her?”

“Skoden, she’ll find us,” Korra assured them.

The three students walked along the road to the student union. They stood near the back so Adora could find them easier and waited for the announcements to begin. On time, their Dean of Students stood before the mic.

“I’m glad to see everyone here, I’ll let the stragglers make their way over before we begin.”

“No,” Maya sighed, “Let’s get on with it.”

Raelle shoulder checked her as the Dean continued.

“First thing’s first. As we are well aware, the Covenant of the Sword and Arm of the Lord has been much more active in the past year. We have lost many lives this summer.” Raelle earned some gazes in her direction from Korra and her dorm mates. “I am glad that we have been given permission to continue learning. We have Aurors from Congress here to make sure that everything is going well and no breaches have been made. You are still adults, so access to leave campus will be given between six a.m. and eight p.m. Know that we are trying to make accommodations to the situation while letting you all feel like you’re not in Azkaban. If you have any questions, feel free to talk to your counselors. We also have a hotline you can call if anything arises. You can find the number both online and on the student resources corkboard in the Student Union.

“Now, for the next most important announcement. I know you are all interested in the students we have coming here this semester. As hosts, we must make them feel as at home as possible. In order to help them get acclimated to the States, we must resist any urge to be nationalist, racist, or sexist to these students. If a report is made, you will face suspension if not expulsion. Think about the things you say and do while you are around them. This is a fantastic opportunity to show the other Wizarding communities that we are inviting and respectful individuals.”

Adora jogged up to them, wrapped her arm around Maya’s shoulder to slow herself down. “What’d I miss?”

“The usual announcements. We need to be nice to the exchange students.”

The Dean organized his notes, crossing something off the paper before he continued. “As for our Athletics, we will not be competing with other teams this year as we have in the past. Instead, we are going to have the Exchange students team up and host our own tournaments and games. Any further questions will be answered by your coaches. Now, that is all I have, any questions will be answered by Counselors. You are all dismissed.”

The students began speaking as they dispersed, the Dean speaking with some faculty while the guards tried to fend off students from approaching him.

Maya looked up to the sky, “What the fuck.”

“Yeah, I heard about that from Pruitt yesterday.”

“Is it going to affect our eligibility?” Korra asked.

“No, they’re writing off this year and having us be the Snallygaster Club rather than Ilvermorny University.”

“Oh, good. Well, I guess we’re going to have a lot of scrimmages, then?”

“I don’t know. The Footy coach for the Exchange club is going to be Dick Wcinski.”

“Wait, no, like the Dick Wcinski of the Narguns?”

“That exact one. He coaches Uni in the off-season.”

“Wow, that’s insane. Hopefully, we can learn a thing or two from him?”

“Or you’ll have to question the players?” Raelle inquired. She earned a few weird glances including an oblivious one from Maya. “Oh, come on, I can’t be the only one who thought about that?”

“About what?” Bishop inquired. She quickly realized what her friend was insinuating and shook her head. “In times like this that is the last thing we need. You and I alone have to give up so much time for our EMT class, we don’t have time to mess around with Exchange students.”

“It’s good to relax from time to time, Maya.”

As she was going to rebuttal Collar’s plan, she and the others received a text from their Captain, Robert. “Crap,” Adora began. “We have to go. A few updates and recruits. We’ll see you around, though.”

Raelle nodded as her friends left but she quickly prodded Maya in the ribs, earning a groan. “How’s the healing?”

Bishop waved her teammates along and shook her head. “I’m fine. Don’t give me that look. It’s much better.”

“Doesn’t seem like it. Did you rest at all this summer?”

“Yeah,” she tried turning away, getting yanked back.

“Let me do my thing.”

“Fine, make it quick,” she begrudgingly agreed. She pulled up the side of her shirt for Raelle to lay hands upon her to investigate the problem.

“How does that feel?”

“Not great, Rae.”

“Okay, you did not rest at all, then.” She pulled out her wand and cast a bone mending work on her.

After a few moments, Maya took a deep breath in and nodded. “Thanks.”

“I offered the first time. Your ribs have healed over the damage, so they won’t be perfect.”

“It’s fine,” she jogged after the others.

Collar put her wand in her back pocket and meandered around campus. It was her first Sunday back, so she decided to skip out on church, she could always make it up later, it was her father’s tradition anyway. Raelle really only attended so he wouldn’t be alone. She had debated staying with him or leaving for her sophomore year, but Edwin insisted she put her schooling over doting for him.

Lost in her thoughts, she nearly ran into a group of Durmstrang students on their way to their orientation.

“I’m sorry,” one of the girls chuckled. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” Raelle nodded then quickly apologized, “I should be apologizing.”

“Do you know where the Student Union is?” she asked.

“Yeah, just continue down this road, you’ll see a large building with those words on it.”

Another student looked around then asked, “Do you know where the Lewis dorms are?”

“It’s easier to show than describe.” She began to lead them down the main road near the main academic buildings. After weaving through the mass of exchange students departing from their buses, Raelle pointed to a large building. “Here, Lewis dorms.”

“Se, jag sa det till dig, Scylla.” she jokingly berated her. “Thank you.”

They began to their dorms, the girl she guessed named Scylla glancing back before one of the dark-haired students pulled her to the front of the pack. Someone came up behind Raelle, sliding into view quickly with a wide grin. Byron towered over her with an inviting embrace.

“A whole summer back in Montana and I didn’t even get to see you, Rae!”

“I know, I meant to write, but you know.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about your mom, I know you two had a complicated relationship.”

“It’s fine. I’m just glad that my dad’s functioning,” she tried to reassure him. Byron nodded and hugged her. “I’m fine, I swear. What have you been up to?”

“Well, I have been checking out the men since they arrived. Those Durmstrang kids are no joke. I don’t know what they’re feeding them, but they are intimidating. Watch out for stickball season.”

“It’s an American sport, we’ll be fine.”

“Okay, but don’t come calling from your bed when one of those girls body slams you.”

“If one did, I’d probably say thank you… or sorry.”

“The brave Raelle Collar kneeling for someone.”

“Come on, I almost ran into some a few seconds ago and they were all attractive… even the boy.”

“My my my, more fluid than we thought.”

“He was very pretty, but not enough to change my mind.”

“Good.”

“Yeah yeah, be gay do crime.”

“Oh, did you already read my pin?”

“No, but you say it all the time,” she commented, taking note of the enamel pin on his satchel. “Very gay, I like it.”

“Thank you. I try,” he joked. “I know you were wanting to go into EMT, how’s that? Did you get the classes you needed?”

“Yeah, that’s the upside of being an athlete and a veteran’s child.”

“Good.”

“What about your desire to leave the Wizarding world entirely?”

“I decided to stay until this blows over, I’m not inclined to be hunted down at Culinary school.”

“I know what you mean. I could have gone to a school in Boston or even one back in the midwest, but they’re all No-Maj. Besides, I like playing Stickball, it’s the one social thing that doesn’t irritate me.”

Asami had already received a letter from her moms since they left Hogwarts. It was nice to see that they were already on top of their classes and invested in the host school’s activities. She signaled her brother to meet her in the quad before their orientation. She took their parents’ letter to the greenbelt while Mako pulled himself out of bed.

“Hey, why do we need to have the orientation right now? It’s nearly nine-thirty,” he complained.

“I’d rather get this out of the way now than later in the day.”

“Is that from mom?”

“Yeah. Both this time but it looks like mama wrote most of it. Bolin seems to be doing well according to them… and they’re worried for our safety.”

“Well, not surprising.”

“We’re probably just as safe here as we would be back home.”

Mako shrugged and read the letter. “Cool, I miss them already.”

“Who’s your roommate?”

“Noatak. He’s nice enough, annoying though,”

“At least you can speak with yours. Mine’s some Durmstrang student named Nessa. She's very nice, but spends most of her time with her friends. Let’s go.”

They followed the signs to the Student Union where they spotted their Dean with the one from Ilvermorny as well as their MoM of Education, ready to set the rules for them this semester. Everything they were being told had already been stated in the letters they had been sent when they were signing up for the program. Longbottom and Hedgeflower were just there for formalities. Asami lolled her head back in boredom before tapping on her brother’s shoulder.

“Hey,” she whispered, “do you want to leave?”

“Yeah.”

“Crab crawl?”

“Yup.”

They slowly slid away from the meeting, going around back and walking around the grounds. They approached the more forested area of the campus, the sound of yelling and cheering echoing from a field.

“Want to check it out?” Mako offered.

“Why not?” she agreed.

The Lewis siblings approached a massive field where they saw students running and playing what looked like rugby. It was hard to tell what the rules were, but there wasn’t much else they could get until they drew closer. They clung to the sidelines and sat by a pair of students.

“So, what’s this?” she asked the students.

“Footy,” one of them explained. “It’s based on Aussie rules football, but way more intense and we’ve added a few tricks to make it a bit more interesting.”

“Like what?”

Raelle pulled out her wand and cast a harmless jinx on an athlete. “They have to avoid the jinx barriers in the stadium.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it makes the game fun!”

“So, who’s playing?”

“Our college team and the highschoolers.”

“What’s the point of it?”

“They’re trying to figure out who’s ready to be pulled up and who needs to transition to the club team. We do it with all of our sports.”

“That’s smart.”

“Do you guys do that with your sports?”

“We don’t have sports at University. Once you finish at Hogwarts, you either continue to play rec or pro. We have some small clubs, but they’re more for pick-up games.”

Asami noticed the reserves casting jinxes as well, one nearly hitting the sideline. Another caught an athlete in a blue jersey, sending her flying into one of her teammates and pushing them across the grass and into Raelle.

“Sorry, Maya,” she gasped. “Oh, hey, Rae.”

“Korra,” Collar acknowledged.

“Jeoff, you’re in!” she called out to one of her teammates. Maya pushed her teammate away and jogged back onto the field. Korra rolled between her friend and the English students. “So, who are you two?”

“Asami and Mako Lewis,” the older sibling introduced. She reached her hand out getting an awkward handshake in return. “What, do you only fist bump or high five here?”

“I just hate handshakes, very colonizer.”

“I get it,” Mako agreed.

“So, you play, what are the rules?” Asami asked.

“Each team has eighteen players, with four on the bench. We play in twenty-minute quarters. Because it’s a high-scoring game, they divide the points up by half then add them together for the final score. As for playing, you can grab, tackle between the shoulders and knees, push, pull… anything really, as long as you don’t attack your opponent. If you have the ball, you must dribble it every fifteen yards or you can pass by hitting or kicking it to your team. There are two markers denoting the number of points you get, if you punt it between the middle posts you get more points.”

“What about the lines, I see people running out of bounds?”

“Soccer rules, as long as the ball doesn’t leave the boundaries, you're fine.”

“Is it big here in the states?”

“Yeah, there are about thirty teams in North America and twenty in Oceania for colleges alone. At the pro level, there’s only forty and we compete internationally.”

A player in red jumped onto one of Korra’s teammates, vaulting off of her to grab the ball. “Oh my god! Is that allowed?”

“Yeah.” Her teammate fell to the ground. “Oof, Bellwether’s gonna be pissed!”

“Something else Abs can taunt her about, then,” Raelle mentioned.

“Ama, you’re in for Beifong!” Sullivan called out to her.

“Well, that’s my queue,” she noted and jumped back into the match.

Byron glanced over to ask, “What are the sports you guys play?”

“Mostly gobstones, quidditch.”

“How boring, nothing that really gets the blood pumping?”

“Quidditch is a great sport to stay in shape with.”

“Did you play for the school?” Raelle inquired.

“No, but Mako did.”

“Really?”

Her younger brother nodded and explained, “I played Chaser for Slytherin.”

“We have a team that plays during the winter season, do you think you’ll join the Exchange team?”

“I mean, this looks so much more interesting.”

“I know right, and you’re a good size to play. You’d probably get midfielder if you tried out,” Byron took note.

“Maybe I’ll try this out, too,” Asami noted.

“I’m sure you will,” he insinuated, earning an elbow to the side from his friend. “Really?”

“Not here, dude,” she chuckled, earning weird glances from the English siblings.

The Durstrang students followed their Dean and the education board member around campus, Dean Balodis pointed to the gym and out to a building for the zoologist students. She steered the group to the sports fields.

“This is the practice field, there’s another on the other side of their competition field. If you want to play Australian Rules Football, Quidditch, or Stickball,” she read from the list, “Ask us and we will connect you to the coaches.”

“Do you think you’ll play?” Nessa asked her peers.

“I don’t even know what their other sports are,” Scylla shrugged.

“I’m not sure I’ll play either,” Porter agreed. “I might join a club, though?”

“Not even Quidditch? You might give them a run for their money?”

“I only ever played to be with my friends, so if none of you are playing, then I’m not sure I’m going to. I also kind of want to focus on my studies. Now that all of my general ed is out of the way, I have more hours in a workshop than normal.” His classmates nodded in agreement while they continued to follow Balodis past the fields.

Balodis pointed to the practice field in use and explained, “Right now, their High School and College teams are playing Australian Rules Football. It’s an interesting game and one we were hoping to put into play at Durmastrang Institute this year.”

Scylla glanced over at the brutal game, watching as the mixed gender teams scrimmage. She slowed down, her friends continuing on as she watched. Porter looked back at her, so she reassured him, “I’ll catch up in a few.”

Searching the grounds, she spotted the blonde student they had run into earlier. She wished Izadora hadn’t pulled her ahead when they were walking away, she wanted to speak to her more. It was Izadora who had told them to make friends here anyway. Scylla walked back around the field and sat between the Ilvermorny and Hogwarts students.

“Oh, you?” Raelle nodded.

“Yeah, we were getting shown around and I thought I’d come watch this. Australian Football?”

“Footy,” Byron corrected. “More people call it that here.”

“Makes it sound more American I assume?” she guessed. “I never got to introduce myself, Scylla Vädurshorn.”

“I’m Raelle,” the student introduced, “This is Byron and these are the Lewis siblings.”

“Asami, I’m in the Lewis dorms, funnily enough. I think Longbottom had too much fun with that one.”

“Me, too,” Scylla informed her. “That’s great.”

“I have this girl Nessa Clary as my roommate, do you know her?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah. She’s one of my friends. She roped me into coming over here. I have to say, I enjoy how open your campus is. Our Tredje Riga is very small, but it is also surrounded by a town.”

“Sounds nice, though,” Byron commented, “We’re kind of in the middle of nowhere.”

“So, do you play?” Asami inquired their latest addition.

“No, I’m more on the academic side of things. I used to be on the Dueling squad but I like studying Dark Magic and Alchemy more.” She then noted, “Had Karkaroff not been arrested, I could have studied under him.”

“Oh,” Asami nodded, recalling that she was only one contact away from the person who investigated his anti-muggle ideologies. “I mean, I’m sure there’s another person you could learn from who isn’t as… well racist.”

Silence fell upon the group quickly, but Raelle tried to pull them out of their funk as they nearly got hit again by two high schoolers. “What kind of sports does your… Trey Riga have?”

“Um, we have Qudditch, Orienteering, Dueling, and Competitive Potions.”

“Why didn’t you do Competitive Potions?”

“I was more interested in the research and creation than making the strongest potion the fastest. It is interesting watching them, though. I had some friends on the Dueling team. Nessa and the others were on it before we graduated.”

“Oh shit, I forgot I have an RA meeting like, right now.” Byron hopped up and jogged to the dorms.

“Lewis and Lewis. Come here,” they heard their dean call out. Asami’s blood went cold and she sprinted out to him.

Scylla looked around with a satisfied smirk. “So, Raelle, what do you do in your free time?”

“I normally just chill unless I have practice for stickball. It’s like Lacrosse but we play by Native rules.”

“Interesting? Does your school have a lot of roots to your Native population?”

“No, this is really the only thing we have here other than the Indigenous People’s Club.”

“What else do you do?

“I like to play Dungeons and Dragons? Do you know what that is?”

“No, I’ve never played.”

“It’s a really nerdy roleplaying game. It’s open world and the Dungeon Master or narrator uses the rules of the game to create situations for us to play in. It sounds complicated, but once you get into it, it’s a lot of fun!”

“Sounds like fun. What else interests you?”

“Music. I grew up in the midwest, so of course country and folk, but being out here I’ve gained an appreciation for alternative music?” she tried to slyly hint.

“Like Green Day?” Scylla played along.

“Yeah, but I relate to Shura and Kiyoko more, yourself?”

“I like Gaga, Sinead O’Connor, Debbie Harry. They have a unique style.”

Raelle couldn’t help but grin at her confirmation. “Your English is so detailed.”

“It’s the primary language class we have at the Institute.” Scylla relaxed and continued to watch the match. “So how long is this game?”

“They’re playing fifteen-minute halves today, but normally it’s twenty-minute quarters. But it goes by quickly.”

Scylla nodded from her position. “So I’m guessing you know the others on this team?”

“Yeah, we all play DnD, so that’s why I’m friends with them. We’re also all queer athletes, so that’s another reason why.”

“Really.”

“Well that and we all happen to be half-bloods… except Maya, she’s Civ-born.”

“Civ?”

“Civilian born. Her parents are not Wizards.”

Scylla furrowed her brows at the reveal, somehow, despite her upbringing, she couldn’t help but feel drawn to Raelle’s calm demeanor. “How are her parents?”

“Her mom’s nice, she makes killer brownies. Her dad however is an asshole, but she’s too blind to see that,” Raelle finished in a whisper. “He’s just horrible. This is the only magical thing he lets her do outside of attending this college.”

“People like him annoy me.”

“I know right? I just wish she could meet my dad, I think then she’d be able to see what a civ-parent should be like.”

They continued to watch the ething Scylla could tell her new friend enjoyed, but their budding morals was something she had some trouble figuring out. She could see that despite the tense battle between the humans and wizard there were kids like Raelle and her friends who believed that they weren’t all immoral. Scylla had been born to two wizard parents who had been murdered by their own community of human neighbors. She was soon adopted by anti-human parents who brought her up in a strictly Wizard community. Seeing this campus, she could see how weird the relationship between the Americans really were, but nothing could take away from the atrocities committed against Wizards by the CSA.

“Hey,” Raelle asked as the match came to a close. “My team is planning on meeting up and playing tomorrow around three if you’re interested in stickball?”

“Are you inviting me to watch?”

“Yeah, and learn the game?”

“Okay, I’ll come by,” she agreed.

“Perfect.”

Maya needed to pass basic anatomy this semester. She was lucky to have gotten into the EMT program, but now she needed to really pay attention to pass those classes. Prepared to go over the syllabus and hopefully their first lesson for the class. She was excited for the semester, though, as they were going to work with a cadaver. Their professor stood before the class with a chart.

“Welcome to Bio 5 or Anatomy. I am Professor Collins. To help our exchange students get to know us and to help with any language barriers, I’ve paired you all up. This will be your lab partner. I recommend swapping information for studying. They will also be with you for the exams and cadaver days.” She went through the list quickly, pointing to the numbered tables. “Deluca Andrea, Bishop.”

Herrera blew her a sarcastic kiss as they parted. Bishop went to their table, taking the spot on the right while her partner got settled. She reached her hand out to greet the student. “Maya,” she introduced.

“Andrea.”

“You’re a Batons student?”

“Yes, so why are you taking this class?”

“I want to be a firefighter, but I need an EMT certification to join. You?”

“Doctor, so, I need to know the human body.”

They pulled out their notebooks as their teacher went through the syllabus, her boredom quite clear as it only took five minutes. She pulled up the Histology unit and began her profession. It was easy to tell just how passionate Collins was about Anatomy, popping in her own jokes and mnemonic devices to help her students. After forty-five minutes, they took a break. Maya stretched and joined Herrera outside.

“Sorry, we couldn’t pair up this semester,” Andy apologized.

“It’s fine, Andrea is really funny. How’s your partner?”

“Fine, kind of serious, but fine.”

Maya glanced at her watch while Andy went back inside. She poked a bruise from her collision the day before, wincing instantly. “Goddammit,” she huffed. A student tapped her shoulder, drawing Maya’s attention.

“Bishop?” an exchange student asked.

“Maya Bishop, yeah.”

“Carina, I’m Andrea’s sister.”

“Oh, are you twins?”

“No, I’m just starting a different career.”

“Oh, what’s your new focus?”

“Medicine you?”

“Emergency medical services.”

“Well, it was nice to meet you, I hope Andrea isn’t too annoying,” she joked.

“He’s unbearable,” Maya played back on their way to their seats, then reassured, “Only joking.”

She found her place beside Andrea and waited for the class to resume. For the remaining forty-five minutes of class, she got to see her partner’s more annoying side, but she culminated it up to being his only descent American-English. Some of the slang and idioms he had trouble understanding, but nothing she couldn’t break down for him. As for the content, Maya felt fairly satisfied with how her notes were looking and confident in her current comprehension. She packed up her belongings then was accosted by Beaux Batons students.

“How may I help you all? To warn you, I do not know French, I took Chinese.”

“Nothing like that,” Adrea tried to reassure her. “We were shown around campus by our Dean, but we were wondering if there were any shortcuts or cool secrets on campus?”

“Oh, of course, um… I’m only a sophomore, so I’m actually not very familiar with that stuff yet, also, if I share it, they wouldn’t be secrets anymore, would they?” She grabbed the remainder of her belongings and tossed her backpack over her shoulder, “Besides, I have track practice soon.”

“My sister runs, do you think she could join your friends?”

“We run four to five miles every morning at six a.m. So, if she’s willing to get up at that time, then sure,” she begrudgingly agreed.

“That sounds good to me,” Carina confirmed. “These are my teammates, Arizona and Amelia.”

“Nice to meet you all. We meet outside of Newton Hall every morning. Sorry to leave you all behind.”

Maya slipped out of the class before she was late to the locker room. Jogging with her backpack strapped on, she almost felt like it would have been a good workout had she not already been rushing to lead the group as per usual, and Swythe wouldn’t let her live that down. She slid into the locker room and rushed to get dressed. Andy was already by her locker with the youngest Beifong, Opal. Libba strolled in last with her goons who quickly dispersed at the sight of Maya. One thing she enjoyed about being outwardly intimidating. Bishop stretched a bit and counted the team.

“All right, Libba, take Beifong and Dixon, I’ll take Adil and Andy,” she instructed her.

“Oh, we have a freshman who wants to join the team, Dixon let her on and wants you to figure out where she would best fit in.”

“So, distance then first, okay.”

“She should be on her way.”

“Alright, I’m going to grab Adil, meet us outside of the weight room.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she sarcastically agreed.

Maya rolled her eyes and waited for her teammates who arrived not much later. The new student was of an athletic build, so that was good. She was tall and dressed properly for running, so Maya guessed she was a runner before she came here.

“Victoria Hughes, meet Maya, she’s our unofficial captain,” Andy introduced.

“Hey, Vic or Hughes works for me. It’s faster to say and easier to cheer,” she joked, earning a slight smirk from Bishop. “So, when do we start?”

“Right now. Normally we jog lightly for a few minutes then stretch and do interval running.”

“Cool.”

Maya led them off, around the campus, a light jog to get warmed up. Hughes seemed to keep up with them easily, passing Andy a few times.

“So, who’s the French boy?” Herrera asked.

“I don’t think he’s French, they had a weird accent.”

“Probably Italian,” Adil guessed.

“DeLuca, so I agree.”

“He seems cute, has he surpassed your crush on little Ms. Collar?”

“Andy,” Maya corrected her. She rolled her eyes and slowed down so they could stretch.

“What? You two got along so famously.”

“One, I’m not interested in dating. Two, I had to translate everything for him. And three, how’s it going with Sullivan, still pining over him?”

“Brought out the big guns.”

“Is this a common topic,” Hughes asked the other athlete.

“Sometimes,” he admitted.

“No, not often,” Maya offered. “Adil, can you lead us through some stretches?”

“I’m just saying,” Andy began, “You have so many options.”

“Andy, later.”

They continued to go through some dynamic stretches until Maya led them along their usual path. They passed the practice fields where their stickball team was practicing, a coincidence which always raised eyebrows, then they rounded the academic buildings and through the main road. There, they spotted the various international groups and faculty. Maya took them around the back of the faculty quarters and to a wooded area that was mostly surrounded by old oaks. She could see Vic starting the lag behind.

“Let’s go, just another mile, Hughes.”

There was no response, but Maya was glad to see the recruit’s determination when Vic returned to her position a few strides behind Bishop. The beautiful scenery distracted from the difficult pace they kept up the remaining mile until they got back to the locker room. Maya stretched a bit and stood with her team while they cooled down.

“Not too bad, Vic,” Andy complimented. “How long have you done track?”

“Since middle school.”

“Nice job,” Maya nodded in her direction before disappearing into the locker room.

“Bishop!” a student called after her.

Maya took note of the Beaux Batons student who flagged her down. She nodded in her direction as well in greeting as she stood by the locker room door. A blonde student approached her and reached her hand out.

“Arizona, we met earlier.”

“Again, perfect English, I’m impressed.”

She only chuckled in response and inquired, “Where would you like us to meet you?”

“Here works. Just make sure you’re early. We like to do some static stretches before.”

“Wonderful.”

“Hi, Maya,” Andrea’s sister waved, joining their conversation. “Avery wants to talk with you.” Robbins nodded and went back to their group. “Thank you for letting us join you.”

“It’s nice to meet new people,” she disingenuously agreed. “Besides, we split people by their events. I do distance.”

“Me, too!”

“Great,” she nodded, tapping her hand on the door. “I’m going to get cleaned up, I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, before you go, I just wanted to talk about my brother.”

“Oh, so that’s why you sent your friend away?”

“Yes. I’m just hoping that you can keep him focused during labs, he gets distracted easily.”

Maya furrowed her brows and nodded, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well… he likes to do things his own way which can get him lower scores.”

“Aw, so it’s in my best interest. Does your brother have ADHD, by chance?”

“No, he just really loves science classes.”

“I would love to continue this conversation, but I have a DnD appointment.”

“DnD?”

“Dungeons and Dragons, it’s an RPG with dice. I can tell you more about it next time I see you.”

Carina nodded at her plan and let her go, taking note of a student sprinting past her to the wooded area. Figuring there was nothing for her to do, she followed the student, keeping a large space between them. Once they had broken through the glades, the student whipped around to face Carina. Her eyes were unnaturally bright in the low light of the dark woods, an effect she deemed similar to that of the Forbidden Forest in Scotland.

“Who are you?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, why are you following me?”

“You were running into the woods.”

“You were following me.”

“You ran before I followed you?” Carina cocked her head to the side and studied her. “Are you a lycanthrope?”

“Ailuranthrope,” she corrected her. “Like it even matters to you.”

“Aconitum, Decapoda Crustacean Magis, Granum Infernus,” DeLuca quickly spouted out. “The therianthropic cure.”

“Do you have the items?”

“No, but I might know how to acquire them if we do research.”

“Fine.”

The walk back from their dramatic meeting was much calmer. It allowed her to study her subject a bit closer. She sounded like one of the exchange students and seemed to be only slightly smaller than Carina, had she not been slouching so much, and had a lean possibly underweight physique.

“Do you have a name?”

“Catra.”

“I’m Carina DeLuca.”

“Good for you.”

DeLuca only gave her a closed-mouth chuckle as they came upon the campus. “How long have you had this?”

“As long as I can remember. My name is just a pun. Cat-ra Miāomiāo.” Carina couldn’t keep her laughter in once she got the joke. Her subject’s hair stood on end as she glared at her. “Hey!”

“I’m sorry, it’s perfect, no wait, purr-fect.”

“Let’s just get to the library,” Catra sulked.

“But no memory of the incident?”

“No. They couldn’t even find a mark on me, but I follow the same pattern and signs.”

Finally meandering to the library, they glanced around at the signs and directions for the proper section. Carina spotted her new friend at a table with three other students, their dice clattering in a fabric box. She wanted to watch their game a bit but instead ascended the staircase to the book portion of the library on the top floor. They looked down the aisles, reading the Dewey Decimal System to find anything that might help them in their research.

“Hey,” a student whispered to them. Catra whipped around first, quickly sizing them up. “Do you guys want help?”

“No-”

“That would be wonderful,” Carina interrupted. “We’re looking for a book on plants.”

“Okay, follow me,” the student invited. She pulled out a small notebook and skimmed the pages until she found the section. “580 is botany. Was there any specific book you were looking for?”

“Magical plants.”

“Okay,” she looked down the aisles and pulled a few books. “You guys have a good grasp on English, right?”

“For reading, mostly,” Catra admitted.

Adora replaced a book and pulled out another. “Here’s a good start. There’s a bin by the tables you can put these in when you’re done. Some of these are in Common script, so that should help a bit.”

“Common?”

“Yeah, you know, the language everything thing magical is based in or at least translate into.” Earning a confused look from the students, she further explained, “I can always translate it for you?”

“Not necessary,” Catra assured her.

“Are you sure,” DeLuca inquired. “This could be helpful?”

“I won’t ask any questions,” the student assured them.

They all glanced at one another before Catra finally conceded. “That’s fine.”

“I have to let my friends know to end the session, so pick a table and I’ll be back soon.”

They took the books and sat at a private table in the mostly empty study area. Carina looked over the titles while her partner’s eyes glazed over at the sheer amount of reading material before them.

“Did you really have to invite her?”

“She could be of use. My English reading isn’t the best, either, so I’m hoping her translations will be of use unless you don’t want to get cured?”

“Fine. So, what do these mean?”

“Well,” Carina began, flipping to the index. “I’m going to see if the plants we need are even mentioned in this book. Once we find what we need on the flora, we need a book on fauna to find the Decapoda.” She quickly filtered through the book, discarding some in the bin beside them while she left the others on the table. “Okay, this book is in that common writing that girl was talking about, but the other one has the Granum Infernus. So, it looks like these can be found all over North America, it grows best in the tundra and flowers in Autumn.”

“Autumn?”

“Fall, this time of year,” Carina further explained.

“Hey, I’m back,” the student cut in. “So, did you find what you were looking for?”

“Partially. I still need some help with this paragraph.”

She glanced over her shoulder to read the passage, cocking her head to the side. “Um… so, this is about the Aconitum. It’s also known as Monkshood here. Why do you need- nevermind. It says that they are indigineous to the northern hemisphere, so here, Europe, and north Asia. It is a poison, so whatever you need it for, I would be oh so very careful. They grow in damp soil in sunny but cool areas. They come in a ton of colours, look,” she showed them the book which had swatches of the known colours. They could also take note of what the plant looked like. “So, yeah.”

“How do you read this?” Catra asked, trying to comprehend the calligraphy.

“Top to bottom and Right to left. It’s a lot like Japanese and Hebrew in that way, but it is complicated.”

“How do you know it so well?”

“I-I don’t know, it just makes sense to me?”

“Does it have a spoken language?”

“No, it’s just written. It’s like in science or math how there’s a universal language that goes with it so others can make sense of it, this is the same way. You know, this language is interesting because while most of the world considers it dead-”

“Thank you very much, student, for you help.”

“It’s Adora, actually.”

“Great.” Catra stood up from the table and placed the books in the bin beside them. “Hopefully, we can get what we were looking for. Have fun with your friends.”

Adora nodded and glanced between the two students then inquired, “You two aren’t doing anything illegal, right?”

“No,” Carina reassured her, “we’re just doing something for a research program. Thank you again for your help, Adora.”

“If you need any help, I know someone who’s really great with potions?”

Catra nodded and went on her own mission, avoiding her new crew. “I will take you up on that offer sometime.”