"How many of you have touched an animal?" Gerenet-Shr asked the class.

Reianna looked around, and the ones she would have expected were the ones to raise their hands: Cayelyn, Jame, Fawna, and Saevi.

"Animals are an important part of the world. Not only do they provide us with food, but they help plants grow in nature by spreading seeds and eating ones that overgrow.

"Throughout the ages, historical records show that people from Hianbru, Kruami, and other nations that we've discovered have tried to eliminate them to prevent them from turning into Yani, but not only is it an impossible quest, but a foolhardy one as well. Without animals, there would be no other life. Nature is too symbiotic for that."

He paused to give the class time to absorb his lecture.

Emilisa raised her hand.

"Yes, Emilisa?"

"Other nations? You mean there are more left other than Kruami and Hianbru?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"What are they like?"

Gerenet-Shr paused. "I'm not really sure. I've never been. But," he said, lowering his hand so that Emilisa lowered hers as well, "That's not the point of today's lesson. Today, we're talking about animals. I have a question. Who knows where Natt is right now?"

"Your bed?" Taraia said.

A couple of kids snickered.

Gerenet-Shr glared at her.

"The fields?" Avae asked with her hand in the air.

"Yes, Avae!" Gerenet-Shr said, giving Taraia another glare, but the lime-green-haired girl just grinned in return.

"Arion, what is she doing out there?"

"Spotting spots…no, umm, ah! Checking for changes?"

"Yes. Does anyone know where to check?"

Maecy raised her hand. Gerenet-Shr pointed at her.

"The feet."

"Yes! Though depending on the type of foot, we give them different names. Large, solid ones like what cows or horses have, we call those…" Gerenet-Shr pointed at Jame.

"Hooves."

"Correct."

"How about softer ones that dogs or cats have? Cayelyn?"

"Paws?"

"Yes! Excellent. Now, hooves are easier to tell because they start to pick up a particular sheen to them. Paws are slightly harder as you have to check the underside.

"Now, does anyone know what makes an animal turn into a Yani?"

No one raised their hand.

"They gain access to the interface. Fortunately, integration isn't fast, so daily spot checks are usually enough to catch any animal before it changes. Learning to do and remembering to do spot checks is vital to the safety of a community. That is why we are going to start doing it as a class."

Reianna frowned. Did that mean they would be joining Natt out in the fields daily?

A large beast with gray and white fur and captivating ice blue eyes appeared in front of the class. Reianna froze in her chair. She'd seen the farm animals in the distance on their runs, but she'd not gotten near them. She'd never been so close to a wild beast before.

"Oh, Yani! He's so cute!" Fawna squealed and jumped out of her chair. The blond girl rushed the creature and knelt down next to it. She rubbed her hand through its hair, and the monster licked her face. Fawna closed her eyes while laughing and turned her head away from its tongue.

"Yes, as some of you might know, this is a dog. I've learned that it's called a husky. Okay, Fawna, that's enough. Please return to your seat."

Fawna pouted and went back to her desk.

"This is going to be our class pet. We will spot check him daily. Each pod will be responsible for him for a week. Any missed spot checks will be dealt with harshly."

Reianna raised her hand. "Is it dangerous?"

"As he is now, no. He's got a very sweet temperament."

"But he just tried to eat Fawna."

Fawna giggled. "No, he didn't, Reirei. He was just giving me kisses. That's how dogs kiss."

Reianna looked from her friend back to the beast that was breathing heavily with its tongue dangling out. Banca had said Reianna's hair reminded her of her dog. Banca kept a creature like this.

Looking around the class, everyone stared at the creature. Some looked at it with apprehension, like Reianna, some looked at it with adoration, like Fawna, and some looked at it with expressions in between.

"Reianna, would you like to come pet him?"

"No. No, I wouldn't."

A number of hands shot into the air. "Can I pet it?" Medow asked.

"Sure. Anyone who'd like to, come on up and pet it."

Saevi, Kamron, Braelyne, Avae, Thoms, and Medow stood and went to the front. They surrounded the animal and knelt down to pet it like Fawna had. The creature was beside itself as it spun from kid to kid. It licked Avae, and she squealed, then hugged its neck.

"This is the softest thing I've ever felt," Thoms said.

"It's amazing," Avae said. Her eyes sparkled.

Saevi and Braelyne just nodded their agreement while Kamron continued to silently pet it.

"You should go, Reirei," Fawna whispered into her ear.

"That's the creature Banca said I reminded her of."

"You can't hold that against dogs."

"I'm a cat person."

"That wouldn't surprise me, but have you ever seen a cat?"

Reianna shook her head. The only animal she'd really seen had been Liam's horses. They'd amazed her, but they were too big. She knew cats were small, and her book said people were "cat persons" or "dog persons." Seeing the dog, Reianna didn't think she was a dog person.

"Okay, you six go sit down," Gerenet-Shr said. "Anyone else want to come up?"

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Jardan, Miya, Maecy, and Kolt went up front, and the scene repeated itself with the petting and the animal's excitement.

"Rei, will you go up there with me?" Jan asked.

She glared at him. "No."

"Please?"

"Go with Fawna."

He shook his head. "She's already been. You need to touch it to check it for changes. Come with me."

Reianna looked at him, then back at her classmates, who smiled and petted the wild beast. She swallowed.

Reaching out his hand, Jan motioned his head towards the front of the class and the fuzzy monster. At last, Reianna nodded and took his hand. He led her to the front, and the others parted to make way for them. She looked at Gerenet-Shr, who smiled and nodded at her.

The beast looked up at her and wagged its tail. She didn't want to touch it, but Jan was right. This was an assignment. As a hunter, it was something she would have to do.

Without kneeling like the others had done, she reached out a hand, and the thing bumped its head into it. Jerking her hand away, Reianna clutched it to her chest. The creature moved its attention to Jan, who'd started petting it.

It was soft. Thoms was right. With its attention focused on someone else, Reianna once again stretched her hand out and put it on the dog's body. Its thick lair of fur sank beneath her hand, and she stroked the animal.

She repeated the processes—place hand, stroke, lift, place. Before she knew it, she'd also squatted down to be closer to the animal. Its face was in hers.

"Try rubbing behind his ears. He likes that," Gerenet-Shr said from behind her.

She looked up at him, then back to the dog. His tongue dangled in front of her, but he didn't try to lick her like he'd licked the others. Taking her hands from his sides, Reianna rubbed his ears. They were even softer.

Did she hate the dog because of Banca or because she feared it would turn into a Yani? The dog radiated pure joy. His tail never stopped wagging, and he locked his eyes on Reianna's face. Then, it happened. The dog licked her face.

It was wet. It was smelly. It felt like love.

Reianna's hands rubbed the dog and petted him all over. She didn't know how long she had pet it until Gerenet-Shr put his hand on her shoulder. "Reianna, can you go back to your seat?"

Looking around, she finally noticed that she was the last one petting the dog. "Sorry, Gerenet-Shr."

She stood and went back to her seat, only the dog followed her. She looked at it and then at Gerenet-Shr. "What's it doing?"

"He likes you."

She shook her head. "No, I was just the last one there. Go back," she told it and pointed at Gerenet-Shr.

The dog looked up at her and panted with his tongue out, while he wagged his tail.

"Gerenet-Shr?"

"Just sit down. He'll come back on his own."

Reianna sat down, and the dog watched her for a second, then lay on the floor next to her. She looked down at it. He no longer looked at her, but sat there with his tongue dangling out.

"Gerenet-Shr?"

"Don't worry about him, Reianna. Like I said, he seems to like you. What would you like to name him?"

"Name him?"

"Yeah. He doesn't have a name yet."

"Oh! I know!" Xav said. "He's big, a husky, and loves Reianna for some reason. We should call him Taraia!"

The class laughed, but Taraia stood, walked over to Xav, and smacked him in the back of his head. "I'll big-husky you if you don't shut your mouth."

"Taraia, please sit. Xav, that was inappropriate. Reianna, do you have anything you would like to call him?"

Reianna had never named anything in her life. Fifi was out. Any sort of name that reminded her of that made her sick to her stomach. She thought of the dog. His white and gray hair. His panting. His dangling tongue. His crystal-blue eyes. "Crystal?"

"Excellent name. Does anyone else have a suggestion?"

Taraia raised her hand.

"Yes, Taraia? And your suggestion better not be 'Xav'."

"Just name the dog 'Crystal'. That's what Reianna wants."

It wasn't like that was true. Gerenet-Shr just asked her for a suggestion. She looked at the dog that sat next to her. He paused his observation of the classroom to look up at Reianna. He saw her looking at him, and his panting pace picked up; his tail thumped against the floor.

"Crystal?" she asked.

The dog stood up and his tail bashed into Taraia. Taking a step forward, he was tall enough to put his head in Reianna's lap, which was exactly what he did.

"Well," Gerenet-Shr said, "That seems to settle that. Now, let me teach you all how to care for a dog."

For the rest of the class, Gerenet-Shr taught them how to care for Crystal, what he ate, how to feed him, bathe him, and train him. The entire time, Crystal sat with his head in Reianna's lap. She rubbed his head while she took notes in her interface.

One thing that Gerenet-Shr didn't mention that she felt he should have was how…addictive dogs were. Not even an hour before, she'd thought of Crystal as a terror, a beast that was going to devour her and her friends. Now, she didn't know how she would survive without his head in her lap, soothing her.

"Any questions?" her teacher asked.

She raised her hand. "Do I bring him with me to class?"

"While I did store him in my inventory, I don't recommend doing that. Time doesn't pass in inventory, and, while that may extend his life, we believe in Hianbru that overexposure to the interface increases the chances of changing."

Reianna's stomach bottomed out. The idea of this beautiful, sweet animal transforming into a formless, black monster terrified her. It wasn't that she was scared of the Yani he would become, but her heart tugged at the idea of losing him.

"It's okay, Reianna." Gerenet-Shr put his hand on her shoulder, and Crystal gazed into her face.

It wasn't until then that she realized she'd been shaking her head and muttering, "No."

Gerenet-Shr squatted down on the other side of her from Crystal. His hand stayed on her shoulder, and he rubbed it. "Most animals live and die without transforming."

She nodded, but her eyes stayed on her desk, and her hands trembled. Crystal put his nose under one of them. Reianna's gaze fell to the dog. She began rubbing his head, and his tail went off again.

As he stood and went back to the front of the room, Gerenet-Shr said, "One of my colleagues has also found that the changes are even less frequent here in Kruami than in Hianbru. He thinks it's due to the large presence of natural-born Yani outside the wall, but we'll get into that sort of theory in your fourth year."

Reaching the front of the room, he turned around and gripped the lectern. "However, I might have just done the cruelest and most evil thing to you all. You all, like Reianna, will probably fall in love with Crystal, but I can't guarantee that he won't change."

He gazed from face to face. "There might come a day when you have to put him down. We don't know how an animal is chosen to become a Yani. All we can do is pray that it doesn't happen to Crystal."

Backing away from the lectern, Gerenet-Shr paced behind it.

"But, to finally answer Reianna's question, we will leave Crystal in the dorms while we are out. He'll be happy there, and the maids can care for him."

The lunch break bell rang. Reianna went still, and Crystal lifted his head off of Reianna's lap. He didn't look around; rather, he stared into Reianna's face as if he were trying to determine why she was apprehensive.

He had no way of knowing that it was their first time to go back to the cafeteria since the Yani attack—since the food assault.

"Alright. That's all for this morning. Be careful. I don't need to remind you: pod formation. You are going into a wild Yani nest. Squad formation would be best. Kolt, how many in a squad?"

Eight, Gerenet-Shr. Two pods of four."

"Correct! Okay, you guys get out of here and go eat. Reianna, leave Crystal. I'll watch him while you are gone."

Reianna nodded and rubbed Crystal's head.

The class stood up and made their way to the door. Crystal watched them go, but didn't follow. He just sat next to Reianna, panting heavily and swishing his tail across the floor.

It wasn't until Reianna stood that he also stood. When he followed her to the door, Reianna looked at Gerenet-Shr.

Walking over to them, her teacher grabbed Crystal's nape. "Enjoy your lunch, Reianna."

Crystal's tail stopped wagging, and his mouth was closed.

"Don't look at me like that!" Reianna said as her heart melted. She felt guilty that she was abandoning him, even though it was only for an hour.

"Bye, Reianna."

"Bye, Gerenet-Shr."

With one last look at her new pet, Reianna left the room, closing the door behind her. Her pod and Emilisa's pod were still outside the classroom, waiting for her.

Fawna hooked her arm in Reianna's. "Come on! I'm starving. Aren't you excited to see what the first meal back's gonna be? I bet it's insane."

Reianna's mind wasn't on lunch. She was concerned about how much she'd grown to like Crystal so much, so quickly. Her heart ached.

Thoughts of her—no, the class's dog filled her mind, heart, and stomach. She didn't think she'd be able to eat a bite. Should I get extra meat and bring it back?

She shook her head. Gerenet-Shr said that food flavored for humans wasn't that good for dogs, that unseasoned, bland meat, even raw meat, was better for dogs. As they made their way to the cafeteria, she thought about how to go about getting non-cooked meat, and her ideas just weren't coming.

Because she knew she needed to eat, she grabbed a couple of plates, but didn't really pay attention to what was on them. Following Xav and Dmi to a table, a scene transpired in front of her that she never thought she would see.

Despite all the nobles already being there and eating, A familiar lilac girl sat at a table by herself, pushing her food around, not really touching it. Banca looked up and saw Reianna, then looked around at the cafeteria. All the other seats were taken.

Banca stood and carried her mostly uneaten plate of food to the recycling place. She no longer rode around in a wheelchair, but she still limped.

Reianna watched her go. It seemed the rumors she'd heard from Natya and Yesenia were true. Banca was now an outcast. Reianna felt bad for how much that made her heart feel so good.

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