It was a long day but by the end of it, Xinyi, Ace, Deuce, and Grim met in the woods behind campus.
"Woah! There are so many chestnuts here! With all these, we can have all-you-can-eat marron tarts!" Grim danced around, smiling happily at the sean.
Xinyi smiled, too, but she was more interested in the scenery. It felt nice to get out into nature, enjoying the evening sun and the warm earth.
"Let's hurry and Ow!" Grim cried out, causing Xinyi to look over and see the monster jumping back in pain. "Gah! The chestnut thorns stabbed my paw!"
Xinyi shook her head, kneeling and helping the poor creature tend to the injury.
Deuce attempted to pick up the shell as well, jumping back in pain as his hands closed around it. "It's going to be impossible to carry them all with just our hands." He cried, looking around the area. "It'd be nice to have a bucket to put them all in."
"Maybe we can find one at the botanical garden?" Ace said pointing in the direction of the building.
Deuce nodded in agreement, before looking over at Xinyi and Grim. "Shall we go look?" He extended a hand towards the girl, with a kind smile.
Xinyi returned it before taking his hand and walking to the glass gardens. It wasn't that far away and it didn't take long for them to find the entrance. Though it was surprising when they entered. The glass dome didn't look like it stored much, but inside it looked like it had its own ego system.
"Woah! It's a lot bigger inside." Ace said, looking around in wonder.
Deuce nodded in agreement before shaking away the amazement and focusing on the task. "We should be able to find what we need here. Should we split up and look?"
"Then, I'll go right," Ace says, already heading off in search.
"I'll go left. You and Grim please check in the middle part of the garden." Deuce directed as he too began to search for supplies.
Xinyi sighed, walking down the middle path taking in the scenery. "There are many plants I've never seen before." she mumbled looking around in amazement."
"Hey hey!" Grim yelled, bringing her attention to a plant in the far corner. "Look over here! There's a lot of fruit here! They smell delicious!"
"Don't touch that." Xinyi scolded, going over to stop the monster from taking a bite. When she stepped forward, her foot landed on something soft.
"Ouch!" A deep voice yelled causing her to jump.
"D-did I just step on something?" Xinyi whispered, looking down at her feet and finding what looked to be a lion's tail.
"Hey." Green eyes glared at her as she slowly lifted her gaze. "You've got guts, stepping on someone's tail and not apologizing."
"Are you the guy taking care of this place?" Grim asked, not seeming to notice the threat in the man's eyes. "Well, he has a scary face."
"And here I was thinking I'd have a good nap, but you had to go and step on my tail." The man mutters to himself, his eyes never leaving Xinyi. "This is the worst."
"I-I'm so s-sorry!" Xinyi exclaimed, bowing her head in apology. "I-I wasn't watching where I was going."
The man stared at her curly, his lion ears perking up slightly in realization. "You, Ah you're the little herbivore that the Mirror said can't use magic." He then hummed before coming forward and sniffing the top of her head.
Xinyi stayed still but kept glancing up at him in curiosity, while he had a small smirk.
"Ha, I don't smell any power on you." He said before getting closer to her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I apologize in advance for hurting an already weak opponent, though."
"I don't know why but the way he's looking at us is sending chills down my spine!" Grim yells before running off, leaving the two alone.
"I, Leona, can't just let you just walk away after stepping on my tail?" he said before taking her hand and forcing her to sit. "I'm in a bad mood now after being woken up from a good nap. What are you going to do about it?"
"Oh, um ah," Xinyi stuteres before looking at the Lion man. "I-I could sing a l-lullaby?"
Leona looks at her before sighing and lying beside her with a warning glint in his eyes. "Fine… but if it turns out you are a terrible singer, you may receive a scratch or two."
Xinyi shakes slightly before taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. Once her breathing was under control, she began to sing a soft toon. At first, Leona thought it was nothing special, but slowly his body began to relax and settle. It was soothing, to listen to her, like all the weight on his shoulder was slowly being lifted.
"Leona!" Called a joyful voice, stopping the girl and ripping Leona away from his slumber
"What?" Leona grumbled, turning away from the boy that came into view.
"I knew you'd be here." The boy said coming over to the sleepy lion. "You got supplementary lessons today."
"The annoying one had to come." Leona groaned, his eyes going back in dismay while Xinyi continued to watch in surprise.
"Leona, you already repeated a year." The boy scolded, with a playful pout. "If this keeps going we're gonna be classmates next year."
"Okay shut it. Stop nagging me, Ruggie." The man said, finally looking up at the boy with a glare in his eyes.
"It's not like I wanna nag you!" Ruggie exclaimed before shaking his head. "Geez, you can do anything you put your mind to, but you don't put effort at all. Come on, let's go!"
Leona tutted before looking at Xinyi who had a confused look on her face. "You better keep your guard up for the next time you see me, herbivores." He said before getting up and walking away.
Xinyi watched them, uncertain what to do now that she wasn't held captive. "Gah! That was so crazy! What's with that beastly guy?" Grim said once the coast was clear.
"He's kind of like a lion huh?" Xinyi said somewhat still in shock.
"We found a basket and some tongs over here!" Ace yells bringing both back to the task at hand.
"Did something happen to you two?" Deuce asks, noticing Xinyi on the floor with a frightened expression.
"Oh, that's right! Chestnut picking! We won't be able to eat some tarts if we don't bring some back!" Grim said, launching onto Xinyi's shoulders trying to distract her. "Let's tell them about the scary attendant after we pick some chestnuts okay?"
Xinyi nodded, slowly getting up and walking with the others back out to the woods. As they began the operation, Grim told what happened in the greenhouse. Xinyi piped in once in a while but mainly kept quiet, focusing on the task at hand.
"And that's what happened." Grim finished, getting up on Xinyi's shoulders once more.
"Yeah no, I don't think that guy is an attendant?" Ace said, carefully picking up the chestnuts.
Grim's eyes frowned in confusion. "Now that I think about it, he was wearing a yellow vest. Maybe he's from the Banana Dorm?"
"Banana… Oh, you mean Savenaclaw." Deuce corrected, putting a basket down and getting closer to the group. "Maybe Night Raven College has a lot of … delinquents."
"Alright!" Ace exclaimed once the last basket was full. "We picked up a lot so this should be good! Let's go back to Trey!"
"Nyaha! Making Tarts is gonna be fun!" Grim cheered, as they started to march towards the school.
They followed Xinyi towards the kitchen, Tray working away inside as they entered. Everything looked organized and ready to use, Xinyi even saw a few pans prepared to be filled with ingredients.
"Welcome back," Tray said, putting down an apron and looking at the baskets the four were carrying. "I see you've picked a lot."
"You can make big tarts with all these!" Grim said, helping to put one of the baskets on an open table.
"Even though you'll be doing more work, but… Do your best." Tray says, stepping back to watch. Xinyi nods, already starting to deshell the nuts and separate the insides.
"All of this, huh…" Deuce says looking over at the baskets of chestnuts. "I feel like we'll be here for a long time."
"Preparing is necessary before making dessert." Tray smiled watching as the other got into position.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Let's just get it over with!" Ace said, cracking one chestnut open after another. This might take a bit.
"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."
Lao Tzu