Yuuki and Arthur stood up from the table and began walking.

“Are we walking somewhere, or are we just walking?” Yuuki asked.

“Have you been to the botanical garden yet?” She shook her head. “Alright, that’s where we’re going.”

The large glass dome had intricate rune patterns carved into them. They had to show their id cards to be let in, and were told not to touch anything and to stay on the path. The temperature and humidity inside was far higher, making them feel like they were transported into a jungle. The taller trees inside reached almost the top of the dome, vines ran from one tree to the next, exotic flowers bloomed on the sides of branches. They began walking down the pathway that led through this foreign landscape.

“The flowers are so pretty!” Yuuki was looking around enthusiastically, like a child that was brought to the botanical garden.

“They sure are.” Arthur looked around the place with melancholy unbecoming of someone so young. “Wish there was something like this where I’m from.”

Yuuki’s ears perked up a bit and she looked at him. “Where are you from?”

“Why would that matter?”

“I like looking at maps.” She said with a large smile.

Arthur couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m from the Curyn dynasty.”

“Hmmm… that’s the small blue one on the coast in the top right?”

“Yes, it’s to the northeast. It’s not blue though.”

“Then what does it look like?”

“It’s colder than here, so there’s always snow except during summer. There are lots of hills, pines, rivers-”

“Snow?”

“Yes, snow.” He looked at the confused girl. “You don’t know what snow is, do you?” She shook her head. “Figures. I tend to forget… doesn’t matter. Where are you from?”

“The Valrose Woods! There are lots of big trees there. There’s also lots of bunnies.”

“I can’t imagine hunting being easy. You wouldn't exactly blend in with the greenery.” He threw a glance at Yuuki’s white tail.

Yuuki suddenly had a large smug smile on her face. “Oh really?” Saying that she suddenly turned invisible.

Arthur looked around confused as she disappeared from sight. “Ehm… are you still here?”

She turned the invisibility off, not having moved from where she was. She said nothing, and looked at him with a smug grin.

“So that’s a thing that exists. Good to know.” He seemed concerned. He already knew she could go invisible from a report he was able to get a copy of, but just how easily she did it was surprising. He had expected it to take much longer to prepare, be extremely energy consuming and the general outline to still be visible. Instead of that, she had the chance to be the horror in a horror movie. He wanted to believe she was an innocent and adorable child, but it was getting harder and harder. ”Well, this has been very enjoyable, but I’m afraid I have some things I must attend to.”

“Ok. I’ll see you tomorrow I guess. I’ll stay here for a little while longer.”

He nodded and left, leaving Yuuki alone in the garden,  casually walking around. That was, until four girls came in as well, shortly after Arthur had left. They were walking in a group and began quickly approaching her. All four were twelve years of age, all nobility by the looks of things. Two were human, one was an elf and one was a rabbit-kin.

“You!” One of them exclaimed, pointing at Yuuki.

“Yes?” She didn’t seem too worried. In fact she was as cheery as was usual.

“You’ve been spending time with Arthur, right?”

“Yeah. He’s fun. Talks a bit weird though.” That last part made the others freeze for a while, but they quickly recovered.

They began to draw closer and surrounded her.

“A commoner like you is not worth his time. So don’t talk to him again, got it? Or else.”

The cheery attitude from Yuuki’s face faded and was replaced with an emotionless one. “How original.” One of them tried to grab her, but she quickly evaded and ran off the path and into the ‘jungle’.

“After her!” The four began running, trying to catch her, but they couldn’t see her. They ran for almost a minute before looking around, confused. There should’ve been a path by now.  They began hearing birds and they kept on running.

Yuuki checked out from the garden and went back to the dorms, deciding to read some more books. The fantasy genre in a world that had magic was slightly different. To them, the fantasy was more along the lines of myths and legends. Yuuki did her best to educate herself as much on different cultures as she could, knowing that it could be an advantage in a war. With that, the first day had ended for Yuuki.

The four girls eventually got out of the garden, dirty and tired and received punishment for ‘straying from the path and inhaling hallucinogenic spores’. They were no longer allowed in the botanical gardens until further notice and had to pay for the replacement of the plants they trampled over. Whatever story they were trying to tell, no one believed.

--

The next day, the first lesson was ‘magic basics’. Yuuki arrived in the classroom first, due to having had breakfast before sunrise and simply began reading a book she borrowed from the library. Because the students weren’t split into classes yet, they were split into three groups based on age for now. As such, when students began, she saw Arthur take a seat next to his friend that was assigned to him as bodyguard.

“Sorry, is this seat taken?” A human girl, even younger than Yuuki, with golden colored eyes and hair asked the fox-kin.

“Nope.” Yuuki replied simply with a smile. “I’m Elizabeth.”

“C-Cassandra.” The girl replied quietly as she sat down. She avoided eye contact and all in all seemed very shy.

The teacher, a female half-elf with dark brown hair, entered the classroom and the lesson began. She introduced herself and told the students what the curriculum would be in the coming year, what book they would need and that they also needed to bring a notebook to the lessons to take notes. With the constant need to tell the children to keep quiet, that was as far as she could get before the bell rang and they streamed out into the garden for their 15 minutes. The teacher just sighed and sat down, looking over at the only two who were still in the room.

Yuuki seemed to be drawing using ink while Cassandra was looking at the process with great interest. The teacher decided to walk over to investigate. She saw the fox-kin currently drawing a photo-realistic version of a large tree using fast movements that seemed impossibly accurate. Normally she didn’t approve of students making doodles during class, but this was a piece of art. Yuuki finished the drawing, unconcerned with the teacher and began blowing on it to dry the ink.

“That’s a beautiful tree. Did you make it up, or have you seen it before?”

Yuuki turned around and smiled at the teacher. “It’s home.”

“Home?” She was confused at first, but when she understood, her heart sank to her stomach. “Is this where you lived?”

“Yeah! Right here.” Yuuki pointed at one of the lower branches with a smile, seemingly not realizing the severity of what she was saying.

Cassandra next to her just stared at the piece of paper and looked like she was about to cry. The teacher squatted down and hugged Yuuki, who looked confused, but accepted it happily. The break ended with the bell and the teacher got back to her seat, and eventually so did the students.

“It’s the first lesson, so how about something practical. Any volunteers?”