Hati quietly ducked under someone’s arm as he weaved through the masses of students crowding the hallway as they got released for Lunch. It’d been about a week since they’d arrived in Arca. He and Atlas had brought their scheduling issue up with Headmaster Anderson, but it hadn’t gone very well. He refused to excuse the class they needed, saying one shouldn’t make excuses to get out of commitments in Arca, regardless of how many times they told him that wasn’t the case. 

Hati groaned softly, letting out a sigh as he got to a less populated area that opened up. “I need a run…” He muttered. An unfortunately human run, Hati thought to himself dryly. Headmaster Anderson had sternly told him that to prevent as much anxiety and fear of his Arcan students as he could, Hati wasn’t allowed to turn or go on runs while he was a student, confining him to his human form for the foreseeable future. The rule was already making Hati feel a little uncomfortable, so he could only imagine the side effects this would have after the full moon. That was sure to be interesting.

“Hey! Dog-dude! Wait up!” Hati tensed at the voice of someone he didn’t recognize calling him. This had been uncomfortably popular in his recent interactions. Of course, Hati didn’t mind if people had questions about werewolves or traditions on the archipelago, and he’d answer them as happily as he could. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was people like this, that cornered him every possible time they could when he was alone to tease him relentlessly or ask questions that, like the nicknames he’d asked them not to use, didn’t actually have any purpose since they didn’t actually listen to any of the answers he gave. This time, it was a group of three, and the apparent leader was the one talking. He smiled in a way that seemed unnerving to Hati. “Do you wanna eat lunch with us?”

“Oh, uh..” Hati was quick to think of a reason not to. “I can’t, sorry. I have plans I can’t cancel.”

“Like what?” He asked. 

“That’s personal.” Hati answered, starting to walk away.

They followed him. “What, have you got to run off to your master, is that it?”

“Do werewolves have masters like dogs do?” the shortest of the group asked. The other guy elbowed him sharply and hissed at him to be quiet.

“What?” Hati bit out while he narrowed his eyes slightly at the implied leader of the group. It wasn’t the word itself that made him uncomfortable– he didn’t really know what it meant, likely due to him never learning the translation from the archipelago common tongue. He guessed by the tone that it was meant to garner a response due to his tone, though.

“Is he gonna take you for a little walk? Did he promise you some dog treats so you'd come quickly when he called?” He drawled, making it harder for Hati to understand his words, but getting the content of it nonetheless. 

Hati frowned, ignoring how his face heated up at the implications and irritated that someone he didn’t know was trying to make someone feel horrible about something he’d made up about traditions he couldn’t begin to understand. He reigned in his irritation for the sake of diplomacy. That’s why he was here of course. “That’s not what I’m doing, and that’s really-”

The leader interrupted him with a sly grin. “Aw, look~, Rover’s blushing!” He said with a chuckle to his friends. “Maybe his master is actually a girl~.”

That’s it. Hati glared sharply at him and let out a sharp, aggravated growl. The three paled almost simultaneously and backed up, and Hati used it as an opening to run  to the nearest hiking trail he could see. 

Running, even in his human form, always seemed to help him feel better. Hati turned off the manufactured trail to go deeper into the woods, leaping over shrubs and debris that got in his way. All of the new smells and sights he came across helped him feel more connected to the earth and the forest around him. Finally, he stopped and fell to his knees as he took a break, panting heavily as the exertion he put himself through finally caught up to him. “Gods, I don’t know what to do any more!” Hati complained, flopping onto his back and feeling the moss under him act like a pillow. A solid week of this was more draining than he’d anticipated. Hati had lost count of the amount of times he’d wished he could go back to his pack. He missed them so much it physically hurt, and it didn’t exactly help to have people constantly disregarding his feelings.

“Dry your tears, child of wolves. You are not at fault here.” 

Hati sat up. He could’ve sworn he’d heard a woman speaking to him in his native language. He looked around, but no one was there. 

“You mustn’t light yourself on fire to keep others warm. Especially if they clearly aren’t making any effort to be kind in return. If you lose too many pieces of yourself biting your tongue and taking nothing but pain, you won’t have enough of yourself left to be able to help others when you want to.” 

Hati listened, but still kept looking for the source of the voice nonetheless. He couldn’t smell anyone nearby, aside from local wildlife, and his attempts to  find someone came up unsuccessful.

A different voice, this one another woman’s continued. “You are never in the wrong for setting boundaries for yourself. Limits are a part of life. They aren’t something to be ashamed of.”

Hati finally gave up on his search and sat down. He didn’t know where these voices were coming from, so he decided to sit as the voice bounced off the trees around him, making it seem everywhere and nowhere all at once. Hati frowned. Was it his deities? He’d heard stories from older pack members about the gods talking to them, but he wasn’t even sure if he believed the stories, let alone ever thought it’d happen to him. 

“And you aren’t in the wrong for protecting your boundaries either,” This voice was different from the first two, but it seemed to shift in pitch as it continued, making it seem neither like a woman’s nor a man’s. “There’s war and peace in everything. A little chaos never hurts either; if it were me I would’ve made those bastards burn the moment they decided to cross me.”

“That’s enough, Loki. No need to scare the pup.” Another voice, this one definitely a man’s, chimed in. 

The androgynous voice spoke up again. “You think I’d scare a wolf that has any idea who I or my children are? I gave birth to a wolf! How dare you forget about my chil-”

“I think we’re getting off-track here.” The first disembodied voice interrupted. “What we mean with this little visit is this: even with happiness and love in your near future, you don’t have to endure continuous pain like this for the sake of diplomacy. No one should stand higher than the other in terms of status. If you’ve already tried to be kind and they’ve shown that they left that kindness fall on deaf ears. That means, Hati; it’s the time to run, to fight. Defend yourself, pup. 

For you are worth defending.”

…

“Alright,” Sirena piped up cheerfully as they walked. Milo looked at her curiously. “I have to get going to AP Arcan History with Jake now. I’ll see you after my extra classes, okay?”

She was doing this a lot, nowadays; disappearing with an excuse of schoolwork, yet acting cheerful even though she by her own admission loathed schoolwork. Milo didn’t complain though–he wasn’t particularly keen on his girlfriend dragging him to extra social functions when he as a prince had to attend more than enough of them–so he left her to her own devices when it came to public activities. They could always spend some time together reading a book in Milo’s room on the weekend, couldn’t they? 

“Okay; see you soon.” Milo said cheerfully, waving to her as she made her way towards the main building. Milo sighed when she was out of earshot, and continued walking by himself. He didn’t mind going on walks by himself– when he was smaller, he was always accompanied by a guard or a governess, meaning he never got to experience walking the grounds alone until he’d finished his training as a sorcerer. Even now, Orion was still accompanied by at least one guard at all times. Now though, he found walking the grounds alone soothing. It gave him time to think, and time to-

Milo paused and looked over curiously at the foliage off the trail as it rustled and shook. That was new. 

Milo watched Hati step out of the foliage and shrubbery with a sharp-toothed yawn, stretching like he’d been taking a nap. Milo grinned a little. It was nice to see him again since the orientation tour. “Hati?” He asked, watching the man jolt like he didn’t notice anyone was watching  until Milo had spoken.

Hati looked back towards Milo’s voice curiously before he realized who it was and smiled. “Oh. Milo, Hi.” He said, turning fully to face him. “Sorry I didn’t see you right away, I was a little preoccupied.”

Milo gave him a teasing smile. “I can see that.” He said. “Is everything alright? You seem a little worse for wear.”

“Ah, yeah.” Hati said as he averted his gaze. “I’m okay. I was just going for a walk but it turned into more of a run, and I didn’t realize how far I’d gone until I stopped to rest. 

“I totally understand that.” Milo acknowledged. “So, what are you up to now that you’ve finished your run?”

“Studying, most likely. Some of my classes are still postponed around the start of the… semester? I think that’s the word.” Hati shrugged. “I know it’s really early to be studying, but my pack always says it’s better to start good habits early.”

“Oh, that sounds nice. Mind if I join you?” Milo asked. 

“Sure, I don’t mind at all!” Hati said cheerfully without a second’s hesitation. However, after a moment, he paused and looked up at Milo with an apprehensive expression. “...Why?”

“I enjoy your company. Why else?” Milo hummed, watching Hati give him a look that resembled an untrusting animal. It almost made Milo chuckle. “But if you don’t want to, that’s okay too.”

“No, no.” Hati said, doing jazz hands at the mere idea of scrapping the abstract plan they’d made. “You’re free to join me; I don’t mind. Just to warn you though, Atlas is coming to study with me in a little bit.”

Milo raised a brow. Of all the things to warn him… “Why are you warning me about that?” 

…

“Hatiiii,” Atlas complained while he unceremoniously dropped his books on the table. “Kill meeeeeeee!” He plopped into the empty chair he’d claimed, and threw himself onto the table dramatically. 

Hati didn’t even look up. “No.” He said. 

“But the High Spirits have seriously lost their marbles this time!” Atlas whined.

“And why are you saying that this time?” Hati asked in a monotone, turning the page in the book he was reading. Milo hadn’t actually been studying; he’d been using his magic to periodically turn pages in the tome he’d set in front of him, but other than that, he was spending his time watching Hati curiously. The werewolf was a strange one for sure. He seemed, almost uncomfortable reading books, but still focused on his task as much as he could. The teachers in each class weren’t even grading him anyway, meaning there was no point to studying harder than most Arcan students, but he still continued to go through the piles of books he’d grabbed from the library. The only thing he needed to do in his classes was show up, so what drove him to such lengths?

“They want me to finish this entire Spiritual History unit in a week! It’s seven chapters!” Atlas complained. “It’s going to take me twice to even read that! How am I supposed to pass an oral exam next Friday?!”

“We’re not going back home so soon, are we? I mean, I’m not complaining, but I wouldn’t be studying this much about Arca if I knew…” Hati frowned in thought, but he looked back to his demon friend when he spoke up. 

“Ugh, no. The high spirits are having me do it remotely through that one doorway spell I showed you. They're going to filet me, Hati! You know spiritual history's my worst subject! I can't stand all the overly complicated ritual specifications Arca put in place for  their sorcerers after the Great Exile for literally no reason! I-”  Atlas finally noticed him and frowned, his expression darkened. “Hati, why is he here?” The demon asked in a low growl, his pupils dilating into slits as he glared. The room seemed to darken around him, and his eyes glowed as his energy surged through him. “If he’s bothering you too, I’ll-”

“No, Atlas, it’s not like that!” Hati shouted frantically, grabbing onto one of his friend’s jacket sleeves as a nervous attempt to get him to stop. No, more like a warning for Atlas to stop before he stepped in. 

Atlas stopped the intimidating tactics immediately, looking at Hati with a surprised and curious expression. “It’s not?”

“No! I invited him, so stop being rude!” Hati corrected indignantly. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Hati growled. 

“Oh.” Atlas shrugged and sat down again as if nothing had previously happened. “Then sorry, Milo. I’m just a little overprotective of my friends. If Hati says you’re cool though, then we’re cool.”

“Atlas,” Hati got his attention as he bookmarked and closed the book he was reading. “What parts are you having trouble with? I’ll help you.”

Atlas looked at him with yet another surprised expression. “Seriously?”

“Sure! I have to keep up to date on pack histories, so I’m pretty used to stuff like this. Plus, I like helping my friends!” Hati said cheerfully.

“Hati…” Atlas looked at him, then nearly tackled him with a hug as he sobbed into his friend’s shoulder. “You’re a lifesaver! Thank you, my hero! My life will be spared because of you!”

Hati just chuckled, and shoved his friend off of him. “No need to exaggerate.”