A Wolf in Vale

The towering spires of the academy loomed above him, like vast marble trees. Jacob's eyes widened as Hira lead him across the campus
"You live here?" Jacob asked.

Casting a cursory glance over her shoulder, the Tanker responds. "Yeah. I just have a much smaller dorm since I don't live with a team. It's not too bad though it's always cold."

"Are you kidding?" Jacob frowned "it's really hot round here, way warmer than the north" he gestured to his bare chest "it's why I don't wear a shirt.

Hira's face flushes a little. "Yeah, hehe... people tend to turn the heat way down during the night for some reason so I get really cold..."

The boy's eyes widened
"You can control the temperature here?"

Hira gives a dismissive wave and then sighs. "Yeah, but only the staff gets to mess with the ventilation. So technically it's their fault everything is cold." Coming up to a small barracks, she opens the door and holds it. "Come on, I'm the only one in this barracks block so you won't have to worry about waking anyone."

He ducked inside, slightly embarrassed. This human stuff is so strange, it feels like I know what it should all be he thought to himself.

Hira steps in after him and shuts the door then starts walking down the hall. 223... 225... 227... Ah! Here we are. Once she finds her room, she grasps the handle to it and opens the door. "This barracks block is also appallingly small. It's 10 rooms in total. If I recall it's one of the older blocks so it also has no insulation." Stepping in, she drops her armor case on a small rack hammered into the wall.

"Keeps the wind off your back and the leaves off your face" he smiled "what more is there?" he reached back and shut the door behind him. Lifting his bag closer to his face he reached inside "I've got something that might help with the cold" his hand withdrew from the bag, clutching a large Ursa pelt, the grimacing plated face still attached on one of the edges. He held it out to Hira "as payment for lunch."

With a smile, Hira takes the pelt from him. "This is a wonderfully preserved pelt. Normally they're shredded to pieces. Thanks!" She carefully sets it on top of her dresser and unclips the mounting harness for her armor and weapons, the straps and buckles making a dull thud as they hit the floor.

"Ran into it just before I left the ice fields, caught him across the chest, would have been a waste not to take it" Jacob shrugged off his jacket and rolled it into a makeshift pillow.

Hira unzipped the front of her robe and pulled it off, untucking the t-shirt she's wearing underneath. "That makes sense I suppose." After folding the robe and setting it next to the Ursa pelt, Hira walks over to the corner of the room where there's a standard mattress on the floor with sheets and a thin blanket haphazardly strewn across it. With a sigh and a grunt she sits down on it, pulling her hair into a ponytail before tying it off with a piece of thin leather. "So, what was it like in Clan Reaver?"

"Don't remember much" Jacob admitted sitting down next to her "the clan was more or less wiped out when I was 9, I've had to fend for myself since then. But one thing I remember is sitting around a blazing fire, tucked under my Dad's cloak and cooking Beowulf meat." He sat down beside Hira and laid down, supporting his head with his Jacket pillow.

Laying herself out next to him, Hira nudges his chin with her horns. "Oh come on, that's ALL you remember? I remember a lot about the village I was raised in. We had houses carved directly into the stone. Pretty defensible but avalanches made it so we had to dig tunnels a lot."

"We moved a lot, I remember that" Jacob shrugged, he wrapped an arm around Hira "and the white fang" he growled "I remember them." he looked down at her "I would have liked to have seen your village, sounds beutiful."

"It's still there I think. I technically own the house but I don't live there at any point so I rent it out to people." Pressing up against Jacob, Hira grabs the blanket and pulls it over them, laying her head on his shoulder. "You are... surprisingly warm."

He chuckled.
"Thanks" he tilted his head to peer through the window, staring at the moon, now rising above Beacon's spires. He swallowed the urge to howl and rested his free hand on his chest.

Hira noticed Jacob resisting the howl. "If it makes you feel better, go ahead. I won't mind. I don't have increased hearing like most Faunas."

Jacob grinned
"Thanks." he closed his eyes, sitting up slightly. His head tilted back and he opened his mouth, a long howl sounding from somewhere within him. The noise continued for a few seconds before he stopped, his ears twitched instinctively, trying to pick out the sound of another wolf in the night. He smiled before lying back down "that felt better" he admitted.

Sitting up, Hira looks at the moon with a grin. "My turn!" She says. The sound of thunder rumbling comes from deep in her chest before it raises to a roar. She tilted her head for a moment after the roar and then laid back down. "Man, it's been so long since I've done that."

"Did you get a reply?" Jacob asked, the grin still adorning his face.

Sighing, Hira looks wistfully out the window. "No, but I didn't expect one either. That was a local village call we used during blizzards."

"Never hurts to try" Jacob gave her a comforting nudge.

Burying her face into his neck she smiles and mumbles. "Yeah, I suppose. How long did it take you to get down here to Vale anyways?"

"Ten years" Jacob grunted "didn't come straight here, made a few detours on the way, but yeah... took me a little while."

Ten years... wow, that's a long time. Hira let out a low whistle as he said how long it took. "Dang, that's... wow. Yeah."

"Had to grow up a bit first" Jacob explained "didn't think Beacon would accept a little kid. Still, I'm here now. How about you? How long did it take you to get this far south?"