Lana jumped on her chair then ran down the table in the direction of the snobby level 5 cretin masquerading as a human being. As she got to the end of the table, she tucked her head and swung her vine like a whip while pushing off the table with her legs. As she flipped, the vine wrapped around the boy's neck, ripping him from his seat and making him do a not-so-graceful flip, landing on the floor on his back screaming "AAARRrGh". She was by him in a second, kneeling with her knees on his shoulders pulling the whip-vine to ensure he learned his lesson. "What is your name, punk!" His minions started to rise from the table but the look on her face and the vine around their friend's neck stopped them before they got too far out of their seat. She let up the pressure a bit, "NAME" she growled.
"Malp" he responded.
"Wow. Your parents really loved you with a name like that… Mal with a p. How perfect. Well," tightening the vine again, "Malp," emphasizing the p at the end, "My name is Lana and the boy over there with a number 1 on his watch? Yeah. He's on the Do Not Touch List. Do you get my drift?"
Malp attempted to demonstrate that he did. Lana released the vine after saying the word "wither" causing it to turn to dust and got up, returning to her breakfast like nothing happened. Her brother, having experienced this at least once every year, continued devouring his food, lamenting only having grabbed two plates full.
The others at her table stared at her but she ignored them, now having worked up a small appetite. She tucked in to the food remaining on her plate noticing her brother's wandering eyeballs toward her plate. "After class today, we'll go to the library and use their market and buy what I need to cook for us to increase our rations." Dobin knew she was speaking to him but she didn't look up. She hated the attention behaving like that earned her, but she also knew it was necessary if she was going to protect Dobin. She wasn't trying to keep him from learning to protect himself. Quite the contrary, it was a skill he needed. However, she understood if he was to get stronger, he needed to first improve his skills. A level 1 against a level 5 just wasn't a fair fight. Only the weak would choose to fight a lower level the way these bullies did.
***
A blond boy noticed a girl in multi-colored pigtails run down her table toward another level 5. Inside his head
Look at her! She's amazing! Sil, come look at this! Raten said.
Curious, Sil did as Raten asked. He observed as Lana gave the boy a lesson and learned her name. He gave a small smile then went back to his corner in the back of the boy's mind as Lana returned to her meal.
****
Almin looked at her confused, "cook?"
Lana looked at him. "There were many times in the orphanage when we were informed we had misbehaved and were denied a meal. I learned to use my ability to grow food. I learned how to cook at 8 years old through cookbooks in the library. Ever since, we have been able to supplement our food. Honestly, we both agree that the food I grow is better than anything that has ever been served to us, produce-wise. I don't know if it's because I'm using my ability to grow the fruits and vegetables or if it's because we are literally eating right as it's picked but we honestly prefer it so being denied food stopped being a discouragement from bad behavior for us."
"Would you be willing to add more people? I, for one, would love to be part of extra meals?" Almin continued. Then he tucked his head realizing he just invited himself into a family affair.
Lana smirked, "Schedules don't always link up but what I can do is. If you are not able to meet me for a meal, what I grow in excess, I can send up to your room and you can eat them raw or cook them in your own kitchen. How's that?"
He nodded and smiled, "sounds good."
"Good. If we are all finished, we should head to class."
As they dropped their trays off at the window, the other students began to move as well. She thought them strange but left without giving them a second thought.
In class, they all sat in the seats their teacher assigned except Dobin. He swapped his name tag with one next to his sister and sat down, hoping the teacher wouldn't realize it. Lana also noticed Logan was absent. Come to think of it, he was not at breakfast either…
The teacher walked in a few minutes later as the class was filling up, students took their seats. The teacher leaned against his desk and observed the students. Suddenly, his eyebrow raised as he looked at Dobin and the other student then he shook his head realizing the boy and girl had the same last name. He decided to let it slide.
As the last student took their seat, "Today's classes will be overviews and what to expect from your time here. Brief histories will be provided and such, the same with tomorrow. I wanted to start today with any questions you may have after familiarizing yourself with campus yesterday. You've been given your materials and are able to get a head start on your lessons as a result. Does anyone have any questions? Courses, campus, library, clubs, anything?"
Lana raised her hand, "If I wanted to purchase food to cook in my room in the kitchen, where do I do that if the student market isn't open yet?"
"Great question! Your watch has a few maps preloaded. One map is of this campus. South of this campus, is a town used by the military. It's family housing so you'll find stores, any sort of facility you'd find in a SMALL town. We are talking a place to buy groceries, barber shop, movie theater, restaurants, dry cleaners, laundry mat, which you should not need because your building is well-equipped in this regard but you may be able to get a hair style at the barber shop you may enjoy. Oh, there is an ice cream parlor there as well you kids may enjoy. You are welcome to explore the area if you'd like. You just need to make sure you attend classes and abide by curfew. You may also want to attend to your grades. The military base is to the west of both the town and the campus. There will be occasions you will venture that way as well." he said with a smile. "Are there any more questions?"
Lana raised her hand again, "You said the classes that produce something needed to work in the market. Can you tell us more about that or is that something we need to learn from our respective clubs?"
"That would come from your respective clubs," then Nis looked around the room.
Several other students had questions sparked from material she had yet to read. It was all good information and this class seemed like time well spent. So far, it seemed she had a good class, good teacher, and good people to hang around. She was wondering when the other boot would drop.