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Chapter 2: The Royal College of Vulpineva

Isabelle was gone when Flora returned to her room. Flora was grateful for this because

she didn't want the red vixen to see she'd been crying. She felt dumb, like a little kit, but she

was all alone like she'd never been before: no friends, no parents, no siblings. It was only her

and her nasty roommate.

Flora checked the orientation schedule on her phone: Monday was another move-in day.

Besides meals at the dining hall, there was nothing planned until tomorrow. Flora brushed her

teeth and fur and then decided to explore the campus. She strolled the tan brick walkways

taking things in, reading the names of the buildings so that she'd be able to find them later. In

the warm morning light, golden sunlight dancing between the foliage of the ancient trees, Flora

found the campus a bit less grim than she had before. The scale and age of the buildings was

still somewhat oppressive, but it seemed more inviting than before.

However, as the morning progressed and more of the in-coming students--first-years

like Flora as well as transfer students--began to emerge, Flora was struck by the overwhelming

number of red foxes. Ranging in size from Flora's height to over two heads taller, they strutted

about the campus, confident and self-important. Their red fur, rusty to deep burgundy,

shimmered in the golden sunlight as if they were limned with flames. Flora found herself a bit in

awe of them; they seemed to know exactly what their place was in the world. Perhaps they

really were a superior species. They're just foxes, Flora reminded herself. Still, she couldn't help

but feel a little intimidated. The ruling class, including all nobility and the King himself, were all

red foxes. Even if they were no better than her, they had institutional power she'd never have.

For their part, most of the red foxes paid no attention to her though a few looked her over, their

eyes curious to appreciative. One tod even winked at her suggestively; Flora walked a little

faster.

When it was time for lunch, Flora made her way to the dining hall. In the back of the

cafeteria, there were three main stations with signs denoting "Meat", "Insects", and "Plants". In

front of these was a line of plastic dispensers filled with various kinds of kibble and pellets, and

to the left of these dispensers there was sliced bread and a salad bar with cold meats,

vegetables, and plant-based cheeses. Finally, numerous types of drink dispensers divided the

dining area into left and right halves. Flora made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on

wheat and got a glass of lemon iced tea. She then surveyed the tables, which were slowly filling

with students. Right away, she noticed a divide: the left side of the room was nearly all

predators, and the right side was similarly dominated by prey. There were exceptions, however,

particularly on the prey side, where there were several mixed tables.

Flora studied the predator side of the cafeteria first: once again, there were a great many

red foxes, largely sitting together though some of their tables also had one or two other

carnivores. Flora noticed one such table with an empty seat, but she was too nervous to go sit

down. I'm sure they're mostly nice, she argued with herself. But what if the ones at that table

were bigoted like Isabelle? She didn't want another argument, especially with five against one.

Flora continued to scan the room. She spotted a table of cats, already filled. A small

table had two weasels, a skunk, and a badger. A large table seated several raptors: eagles,

hawks, and falcons. Flora didn't think she wanted to sit with them; the way they tore at their food

with their vicious beaks instead of using forks and knives unnerved her. As she continued to

scan, she noticed something missing: dogs. There were no wolf-like canids at all, no coyotes,

no African wild dogs, not even a jackal. On the other hand, there were all sorts of foxes: "true

foxes'' like Arctic, fennec, and swift foxes; other gray foxes; zorros like chillas, culpeos, and

hoary foxes. She even spotted a bat-eared fox. Flora quickly scanned the prey side of the room,

but there were no dogs there either. Clearly, it wasn't merely that being a red fox was preferred.

Flora turned her full attention to the prey side of the room: there were lagomorphs and

rodents, ungulates, marsupials, an echidna, shrews and hedgehogs, armadillos, and bats.

There were birds from ducks to cormorants, parrots to doves, and songbirds to hummingbirds.

There was even a pair of primates but no apes as the hapless clade was--somewhat unfairly--

tainted by a truly loathsome species known for wanton slaughter, environmental destruction,

and enslavement of their own and other species. While this vile species had been driven to the

brink of extinction by their own violence millennia ago, a few survived and continued to commit

unspeakable acts, making themselves outcasts from wider society.

Not seeing any open seats at an occupied table, Flora was about to turn her attention

back to the predator side when a black squirrel--a color variant of the gray squirrel species--in

a pleated yellow tartan skirt sat down at an empty table for four. Flora trotted across the room

and stopped behind the seat across from the squirrel who looked up from her plate in surprise.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Flora asked. Though she was nervous, she put on a friendly,

cheerful smile.

The squirrel shook her head. Flora set her cup and plate on the table and sat down.

"I'm Flora," she introduced herself.

"Rosemary," the squirrel offered in return.

"Nice to meet you, Rosemary. When did you get here?"

"Yesterday, you?"

"Yesterday. Did you have a long drive?"

"Not too bad, I'm from Maplesburg."

"We stayed the night in Maplesburg," Flora told her. "I'm from Willowdale."

Rosemary frowned pensively, narrowing her dark eyes, "I think I've heard of it. That's

way to the North, right?"

Flora smiled, "That's right."

"I have a friend who went to UNV. That's pretty close to Willowdale, isn't it?"

"It's about halfway between Maplesburg and Willowdale. I have a friend who went there

too."

"What made you come to RCV?" Rosemary asked curiously.

Flora's smile decreased slightly, "It's a good school."

"Sure, but UNV is so much closer, and your friend is there. Assuming you applied and

got in, why not there?"

Flora was irked by the question, mostly because she was increasingly having doubts

about her decision. It would have been nice to go to school with Ellie. "Why did you come to

RCV?" she asked, a bit sharply.

The squirrel shrugged, "Not too many squirrels get into RCV, but if you're a fox," she

shrugged again.

"Not so many gray foxes get in either," Flora returned tartly. "We may be overrun with

red foxes here, but as my roommate already reminded me, it's about history more than species.

In other words, they're very special, and the rest of us aren't."

Rosemary blinked. "I'm sorry you're having trouble with your roommate," she replied

awkwardly.

Flora looked away embarrassedly, "No, I'm sorry. I'm sure you're right to a degree. If it's

only that they prefer red foxes, then why aren't there any dogs? They probably do prefer other

foxes too. Maybe I should have accepted UNV; if my friend had known RCV only let me in for

my species, she probably wouldn't have wanted me to come here either."

"It's still a good school even if their admission policies are fucked," Rosemary returned.

"And like you said, not every gray fox gets in, so there must have been other factors too. Are

there really no dogs at all though? I didn't notice."

Flora shrugged, "I haven't seen one."

"Huh. That's weird."

They were silent for a few seconds, and then Flora asked, "So what are you having?

Some sort of salad?"

The squirrel looked at her food, "Yeah, lettuce, cheese, and walnuts with French

dressing, you?"

"Peanut butter and jelly."

Rosemary looked at her curiously, "No meat?"

"I had some at breakfast," Flora explained. "Besides, gray foxes are omnivores. We're

not like cats, even if we can climb trees."

Rosemary started in surprise, "Wait, really? You can climb?!"

Flora smiled embarrassedly, "Not as well as a squirrel, but yes."

"I was going to climb up one to chill after lunch. I need a break from all the smugness.

You want to join me?"

Flora grinned, "I'd love to."

They finished lunch then headed outside. Flora followed the much smaller squirrel, who

barely came to her ribs when standing, while she looked for a tree she liked.

"The problem is there are so many nice ones," Rosemary commented.

Finally, Rosemary settled on a stately white oak. In a couple of seconds, she'd raced up

into the high branches. Flora could see her sitting on a sturdy branch and looking down.

"Are you coming?" she called.

Flora considered her flowing white skirt; she didn't want it to get caught on the bark and

ruined. She unzipped the side, slipped the skirt off, folded it, and laid it on the grass to the side.

Pants were not mandatory in Vulpinevan society where mammals frequently went out in a shirt

or less and you'd be lucky to catch a bird in anything more than a hat or tie. Flora turned and

walked back from the tree a few yards. Then she raced toward it, and hooking in her sharp,

retractable claws, she scrambled up the rough bark. She ran out of momentum and had to stop

on a lower branch than the squirrel, but then she hauled herself up the branches to where

Rosemary was sitting, digging in hard with her claws and trying not to consider the dizzying

drop. She sighed with relief as she sat by the squirrel.

"You really can climb!" Rosemary exclaimed happily. "That was impressive!"

Flora smiled bashfully, "I had a bit of trouble, unlike you."

"Well, you're the first fox I've seen climb at all, so that's something. It's nice up here, isn't

it?"

Flora took in her surroundings. Green leaves shrouded them, protecting them from the

heat of the August sun. Below, she could see the lawn and sidewalks with red foxes and other

students meandering along, small enough she could cover them with one of her furry light

brown feet. Peering between the leaves, she could see the tops of the white marble university

buildings, and if she caught a glimpse between them to the West, she could see part of the

Wolfsbane skyline.

"It is nice," she answered.

"Tell me more about yourself," Rosemary requested. "What do you like to do?"

"I like to read. I like to swim and bike ride, and sometimes I play street hockey. But my

favorite thing to do is just hang out with friends; it doesn't matter how. What do you like to do?"

"Climb, obviously, and chill. It's nice to have a friend to chill with. I like to draw. I also like

to listen to music and dance, but I do that on my own."

"Oh? Why's that?"

Rosemary laughed. "Because I look like a complete idiot."

Flora grinned, "That's okay as long as you look like idiots together. My friends and I are

always goofing off."

"Tell me more about your friends," Rosemary requested. "You said one's at UNV. What's

she like?"

"Ellie is the bravest person, I know," Flora answered. "It gets her in trouble sometimes,

but she always stands up for what's right. She always knows what's right too, so it can be

difficult to change her mind. She's very argumentative, as you can imagine."

"I can. What species is she?"

"She's a rabbit."

"Huh. What about your other friends? What are they?"

"Samantha and Olivia are rabbits too, and Charlotte is a red squirrel."

"Oh, so that's why you sat with me."

Flora flicked an ear self-consciously. She looked away and kicked her feet. "I just saw

you sit and thought I'd try to sit with you. I didn't want to sit by myself."

"There were places on the other side," Rosemary returned. "There aren't many predators

here who choose to sit with prey."

"I saw some others. Besides, didn't you just get here like me? Maybe it's different when

everyone's here."

"I was warned before I got here," Rosemary replied. "A former student who works with

my mom heard I was going here and told her to tell me. It's not the friendliest school for prey, or

city for that matter. Really, unless you're a red fox, you need to keep a low profile. This is red

fox central. They like to be in charge, and they don't like to be challenged. Other foxes can get

along well too so long as they go along with what red foxes want."

Flora felt sick to her stomach, and it wasn't the height or something she'd eaten. "That's

awful!" she cried. "I never should have come here! You shouldn't have to get warnings just

because you're prey! Why are they so awful?!"

Rosemary shrugged, "They're rich and spoiled, and no one tells them no."

"But you make it sound dangerous. What do they do? Do they hurt people?"

"Probably not physically, at least not most of the time, but there are ways for them to

make your life Tartarus. It's not that different from anywhere else really. It's always dangerous

for prey to make predators angry."

Flora looked at her dangling feet miserably. She remembered Ellie talking about getting

a handgun license before she left, and now she understood why. "I should have stayed in

Willowdale," she murmured. "I never realized how safe it was there."

Rosemary cocked her head to the side, "Is there something special about it?"

"It's mostly prey," Flora answered. "Carnivores are just eleven percent of the population.

My friends and I used to joke about how limited my options for boyfriends were. But now I have

hundreds of options, and it's horrible. No one should have to live in fear!"

Rosemary put her hand on top of Flora's, "Things are getting better all the time. Most of

the predators I know don't treat me as lesser, and they're not happy about how things are.

Attitudes are changing, and the laws are mostly there. It's preventing those who can break them

from doing so that's the biggest problem."

"What do you think needs to change?" Flora asked.

"The first thing I'd do is abolish the monarchy and nobility," Rosemary answered bluntly.

"There are too many laws being undermined by loopholes to benefit the ruling class. For

example, colleges aren't supposed to be able to discriminate, but the law was written to

specifically exempt RCV. They called it a 'red fox heritage site' or something. I looked it up, and

their justification is gibberish."

Rosemary's solution seemed a bit extreme to Flora, but as she thought about it, it made

sense. What was even the purpose of the monarchy in the modern day? Vulpineva was

supposed to be a parliamentary democracy, so what did the King and nobles even do? Rig

things in their own favor, apparently. Maybe at one point, they'd helped liberate prey by using

their power over the other predators to push forward the transition to lab-grown meat, but now,

their actions were impeding progress. In preserving their own power, they perpetuated systemic

imbalances of power that allowed abuses to go unrectified.

"If that's what it takes to make Vulpineva safe for prey, then I'm with you!" Flora

responded. "What good are they anyway?"

"I don't know. They're kind of pretty, I guess," Rosemary answered as if taking the

question seriously.

Flora cocked her head toward the squirrel questioningly, and Rosemary grinned,

showing her large incisors before they both broke out in a fit of giggles. They held tightly to the

limb as they kicked their legs in glee.

"Heeheeheeheehee, you're right. They're, heeheeheehee, too gorgeous to get rid of.

We'll have to keep them around just to, heehee, look at them."

"Heeheehee, I didn't say we have to get rid of red foxes. Heeheeheehee, I'm sure they'll

be able to find jobs as, heeheehee, models or something."

Once they'd laughed themselves out, Flora wiped the tears from her eyes. "I need to use

the bathroom. Will you be here if I run and come back?"

"Sure."

Flora carefully descended the branches, shimmying between the ones too far for her to

reach, and then shimmied down the remainder of the trunk. When she got to the bottom, she

immediately noticed that her skirt was missing.

"Is this yours then?" a voice drawled behind her.

She turned to see a red tod, more than a head taller than her, holding up her lacy white

skirt and grinning amusedly.

"I've never seen a fox come out of a tree before," he teased. "Are you trying to learn to

be a squirrel?"

Flora shook her head nervously, "Can I have my skirt back?"

The tod inspected it closely. "I think it got a bit dirty laying on the ground. Why don't you

come back with me, and we'll wash it so it doesn't stain," he suggested slyly.

"Please just give me my skirt back," Flora pleaded anxiously. She absolutely was not

going anywhere with this shifty tod, but she was also nervous that he'd damage her skirt if she

rejected him outright.

The tod frowned annoyedly, "I'm trying to do you a favor. Now let's-hey!" his complaining

tone was cut off with an outraged yelp as a streak of beige and black-striped fur flashed

between him and Flora, taking the white skirt with it.

The tabby tom, who wore a loosely done, bright orange tie, stopped a few feet past the

tod and grinned roguishly.

"Give that back!" the tod snarled.

"Look, dude!" the cat meowed loudly. "I get that you like the skirt, but I don't think you

two wear the same size!"

Flora noticed several people stop to turn toward the disturbance. They eyed the trio with

expressions from curiosity to concern.

"I wasn't!" the tod began to protest; however, he seemed to think better of it as he

noticed the onlookers. "Whatever, I was just trying to help," he growled. He hurried away.

"Thank you," Flora sighed in relief.

The cat gave her a friendly smile, "No problem." He handed her the skirt, "It's not my

style anyway."

Flora slipped the skirt on and zipped up the side. "My name's Flora. What's yours?"

"Chester," the tabby answered. "Were you up that tree a minute ago?"

Flora nodded, "I was talking to one of the other first-years."

"Cool. Are you done, or are you going back up?"

"I need to run to the bathroom. Then I'm going back up."

"Mind if I-"

"Flora, is everything okay?" Rosemary interrupted.

Flora turned back to the tree where Rosemary was clinging to the bark, upside down.

Her yellow tartan skirt was also inverted over her torso, which looked rather ridiculous.

"I'm okay," Flora answered. "I just had some trouble with a tod. Chester helped me."

Chester smiled at the squirrel, "Hi, I'm Chester."

"Hello," Rosemary returned cautiously.

"Sorry, I really need to use the bathroom. Can we talk more when I get back?" Flora

requested.

Chester nodded, still smiling, somewhat goofily Flora thought.

"Yes, don't wet yourself standing here! Go on!" Rosemary chided.

Flora hurried away down the sidewalk. Her dorm wasn't the closest building, but she was

sure she knew where the bathroom was inside. Once she'd used the toilet, she returned to her

room to exchange her skirt for something she could climb in and selected a fitted red t-shirt

printed in white with a pair of cutlasses and "Willowdale Pirates", her high school's mascot. She

was jogging back toward the oak when she almost ran into Isabelle.

"There you are!" the red vixen exclaimed. "I missed you at lunch!"

Flora blinked in surprise, "Were you looking for me?"

"I wanted to introduce you to some of my other friends," Isabelle explained. "I told them

about you, and they were very interested."

Flora didn't really know how to respond to that information. What could Isabelle have

said that would have made the red fox's friends want to meet her? "Um, I can meet you at

dinner if you want. I'm hanging out with some people right now."

"Alright, but I'll be waiting at dinner. At six in the dining hall, see you then," Isabelle

stepped around her and continued leisurely on her way.

Flora was a little curious but mostly trepidatious about meeting the red vixen for dinner.

She hurried back to the tree, hoping Rosemary and Chester wouldn't have decided she'd been

gone too long and left.

When she arrived, neither was on the ground, but she was able to spot Rosemary's

bright yellow skirt through the branches. Flora scrambled back up the trunk and heaved herself

up the last branches; she didn't think she would be climbing the tree a third time today.

Rosemary and Chester were seated on the sturdy branch she and Flora had occupied before.

Flora took the spot closest to the trunk on Chester's left.

"Welcome back," the cat meowed genially. Kicking his feet and grinning with cheerful

amusement, he returned to surveying their surroundings. "We must make an odd trio up here if

anyone can see us," he remarked.

Flora smiled shyly, "I suppose so. Thank you again for helping."

Chester turned back to her, smiling bashfully and scratched his nose. "It was nothing,"

he returned embarrassedly. "To be honest, I didn't even think about it; it was a spur of the

moment thing. I've never done something like that before."

Flora looked down at her black-clawed feet and kicked them nervously. Did that mean

he liked her? "W-what made you do it then?" she asked softly. She glanced at him sidelong.

He shrugged, "I guess it just didn't seem right to keep walking."

"I think it was brave," Flora murmured. "He was a lot bigger than you, and who knows

what his parents are?" The cat was roughly her size.

"Red foxes, probably," Chester quipped.

Flora smirked and rolled her eyes, "Oh, do you think so?" she returned cheekily.

"If you two decide to do anything weird, let me know so that I can leave first," Rosemary

remarked dryly.

Flora blushed, and Chester's ears and nose turned pink as well.

"W-we weren't," Flora stammered embarrassedly.

"We definitely weren't," Chester agreed emphatically.

Flora was a little hurt by his certitude. She looked away, stung and feeling foolish. He's a

cat; of course he's not interested, she scolded herself.

"Sorry!" Chester yelped. "I didn't mean it like that! I'm gay!"

Flora turned back awkwardly, even more embarrassed by her reaction now. "Oh. I'm

sorry; I shouldn't have assumed."

Chester smiled awkwardly, "Don't worry about it."

Rosemary scoffed amusedly, "So much drama. I'm glad I'm pan ace."

Flora cocked her head to the side confusedly as she peered around Chester at the

squirrel, "Pansexual and asexual? How does that work?"

"Panromantic and asexual," Rosemary corrected. "I'm not sexually attracted to anyone,

but if we vibe right together, I'm down for cuddling."

"I'm pretty sure I'm straight," Flora volunteered. "I have a friend who's a lesbian, and I

was never attracted to her. She was a squirrel too though."

Chester let out half a laugh, "Hah, I mean, I've heard of it, not squirrel and fox

specifically, but predator and prey. I support them, but I've never been attracted to prey either."

"I'd try it if I met the right predator," Rosemary declared.

They were silent a moment, and then Flora decided to switch to a less awkward subject,

"Where are you from, Chester? I'm from Willowdale."

Chester glanced at her t-shirt, and Flora blushed, realizing that fact was printed across

her chest. "I'm from Prairie Meadows."

"That's East of Maplesburg, isn't it?" Flora asked, pleased that she had some idea where

it was.

"East and a little North," he replied. "Willowdale's North, right?"

Flora nodded. "I wonder if there's anyone from Wolfsbane who isn't a red fox," she

mused. "I'd like to look around sometime, but I don't want to ask my roommate."

Chester flicked an ear uncomfortably, "Are you having trouble with your roommate?"

"We argued," Flora admitted. "But then, when I was on the way back, she told me she

wanted to introduce me to her friends. I said I'd meet her for dinner."

"Good luck then," Chester offered.

"You can tell us how it went tomorrow," Rosemary stated. "We should meet for lunch

again. You can come too, Chester."

"Cool, let's exchange numbers," Chester suggested.

Each of the mammals slipped their cell phones out of their hip holsters, which were very

convenient to have when one rarely wore clothes with pockets. They went in and out of fashion,

but at the moment, they were in. They exchanged numbers.

"Call or text us if it's going really bad, and we'll think of a way to get you away,"

Rosemary added. "You could send a text, and then one of us could call and pretend it's an

emergency."

Chester glanced at the squirrel worriedly, "Do you think it will?"

Rosemary shrugged, "Assuming her roommate's friends are red foxes too, it could."

This speculation didn't do anything to help reassure Flora. She wished she hadn't

offered to meet Isabelle for dinner, but it was too late to back out now. Besides, she couldn't

exactly avoid her. "Hopefully, she'll want her friends to think we get along," Flora put in

nervously. "But I suppose if it goes really terribly, she won't want me to go again."

"Is that what you want?" Chester asked.

Flora looked down at her feet and kicked them anxiously, "I don't know. If they think like

her, then I don't want to hang out with them." She looked up at Chester and Rosemary shyly,

"Why would I want to hang out with a bunch of bigotted snobs when I can hang out with you

two?"

Chester grinned, "Makes sense to me."

They hung out in the tree half an hour longer until their rears began to get sore from

sitting on the branch and then descended the tree one at a time with Flora climbing down first

and Rosemary last.

"Alright, see you tomorrow, if not before," Rosemary concluded.

"See you," Flora returned.

"Bye," Chester added.

They went their separate ways. Flora returned to her dorm to study for her chemistry

placement exam, which was being held tomorrow morning. She'd been able to study during the

drives the past two days, and she felt fairly confident that her advanced placement chemistry

class from senior year of high school would enable her to test out of general chemistry and into

organic. She was a little nervous about taking organic chemistry her freshman year, but testing

out of more introductory classes would allow her to take more classes she was interested in

later.

Isabelle was in the room when she arrived, reclining on her bed and listening to pop

music, but she respectfully put headphones on when Flora sat down with her notes without

Flora asking. Flora reviewed her notes with some breaks to stretch her legs or listen to her own

music. When she was done, she withdrew her phone to check the time: 5:44. She turned toward

Isabelle, who was still lying in bed and poking at her phone, her bushy auburn and white tail

draped over the side.

"Do you want to head to dinner?" Fora asked awkwardly.

Isabelle turned her head toward Flora then heaved herself up, "I suppose we should. Let

me get dressed first."

Isabelle was already wearing a mid-thigh-length, light pink skirt, but she also donned a

sleeveless black blouse with lace fringes around the neck and arm holes. Flora decided to put

her lacy white skirt back on as well. She was turning toward the door, when Isabelle stopped

her.

"Do you have a nicer top?"

Flora turned back, "Do I need to dress up?"

"I'd like you to make a good first impression," Isabelle stated. She rifled through Flora's

closet and selected a scoop-neck green blouse with cropped sleeves. "Try this."

Flora peeled off the red t-shirt and put on the other top.

Isabelle nodded satisfiedly, "Much better. Let's go."

Isabelle took the lead as they exited the room and escorted Flora across campus to the

dining hall. The sun was still above the tops of the streaked white marble buildings, and the

temperature was just on the warm side and quite pleasant with the occasional breeze. Once

again, there were a plethora of red foxes traversing the tan brick walkways. The campus even

smelled foxy with the musky scent of the vulpines intermingling with the aromas of flowers,

bushes, and other vegetation on the warm breeze. As they approached the dining hall, Flora

caught the sweet and savory scents of cooking as well, and she realized she was quite hungry

after her early lunch.

Isabelle led Flora up to the dining hall and through the meat and plant stations. The meat

station was having beef brisket, roasted potatoes, and grilled chicken, and the plant section had

steamed broccoli, tofu, and a squash medley. Isabelle took brisket, a few potato chunks, a

couple pieces of broccoli, and a few pieces of squash. Flora took the same. Neither of them had

any interest in the insect station, but Flora stopped by the salad bar to make a small spinach

salad with bell peppers and blue cheese dressing. Finally, they each got a glass of ice water.

The table with Isabelle's friends was already mostly filled: there were two empty seats

directly beside each other at the large, circular table, and the other six were filled by three red

vixens, two red tods, and one swift fox vixen. Flora was glad that, at the very least, she wouldn't

be the only one who wasn't a red fox. Isabelle took the seat by one of the red vixens, and Flora

took the last seat between Isabelle and the swift vixen.

"Is this the girl you were telling us about, Izzy?" one of the tods inquired.

"Yes, this is Flora. Flora, these are Katrina, Meredith, Orion, Quincy, Stella, and Moxie,"

Isabelle recited the other foxes' names in a clockwise rotation from her left.

Flora smiled shyly at the swift fox, Moxie, on her right, "Hi."

"Hi! So you're Isabelle's roommate then, right? I'm Stella's," Moxie replied.

Flora nodded, "That's right."

"Izzy mentioned you're from a town that's majority prey," the tod from before, Orion,

remarked.

The vixen on Isabelle's left, Katrina, cut in snippily, "Vulpineva's 'majority prey.' Even

Wolfsbane is only a little under half prey. Izzy said it was majority rabbits!"

"Rabbits are prey," Orion rejoined irritatedly.

"But if it's over fifty percent rabbits, then surely the total percent prey is higher!" Katrina

reasoned.

"Why don't we just ask her which it was?" Stella suggested mildly. She peered around

Moxie and smiled at Flora placidly, "Was it majority rabbits or majority prey?"

Flora smiled nervously, "I think it's only thirty-something percent rabbits, actually. It's

eighty-nine percent prey."

"Briar Grove is over seventy percent prey," Moxie put in comfortingly. "It's not all that

unusual."

"Do you have prey friends then, Moxie?" Isabelle queried curiously.

Relieved that the attention was momentarily off of her, Flora ate a bite of brisket. The

other tod and vixens not involved in the conversation were eating as well.

"I do! One of my friends is an opossum," Moxie answered cheerfully.

Isabelle frowned, "Are opossums prey? They have fangs."

"They're not part of Carnivora," Moxie replied. "But they're not herbivores if that's what

you mean."

"If they're not carnivores, then they're prey," Orion stated decisively.

"I know that, Orion," Isabelle returned annoyedly. "I just didn't remember which order

they were from."

"They're marsupials," Moxie told her genially.

"Do they eat meat?" Isabelle inquired.

"Felicity does," Moxie answered.

Isabelle turned her attention back to Flora, "None of your friends do, do they?"

Flora swallowed a mouthful of broccoli and shook her head, "Charlotte eats fish, but

that's it."

"I've never understood why they don't," Orion remarked. "It's not made from prey

anymore. What's the big deal?"

"They just don't like it," Flora returned. "Or it's not really good for them. Rabbits need

fiber; they eat a lot of grass and hay."

"Is Charlotte a rabbit then?" Moxie queried.

"Charlotte is a red squirrel; my other friends are rabbits."

"Interesting!" Moxie replied. "Red squirrels are pretty small! What is she? A tenth your

size?"

"About that," Flora confirmed embarrassedly. Charlotte was actually one-fifteenth her

weight.

"You must be really good with prey if one that small considers you her friend," Moxie

praised. "I think that's great!"

Flora smiled shyly. She thought Moxie's praise was a bit strange, but she was relieved

she hadn't been shocked like Isabelle.

"Are we glossing over the part where it sounded like her only other friends were rabbits?"

Katrina asked pointedly.

"I caught that too," the second tod, Quincy, put in mildly. "I assumed she meant her other

prey friends."

Flora shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't want to get into an argument like she

had with Isabelle. "I have predator friends," she answered evasively.

"You don't have pictures of any of them on your desk," Isabelle pointed out, a bit

accusatively, Flora thought.

Flora shifted in her seat again and crossed her right foot over the left. She felt the red

foxes' amber eyes probing her. Was Isabelle's intention to humiliate her? To punish her for their

argument? Flora wished she had refused to come. "My good friends are all prey," she stated

defensively. "But it's not as if I can't get along with predators."

Some of the red foxes exchanged skeptical looks with each other, but Moxie put a hand

on Flora's shoulder.

"I'm sure no one was suggesting that," she soothed. "You're a fox after all, and I assume

your parents are foxes."

Flora nodded.

"I still think it's strange if all of her good friends are prey," Orion declared. "When you're

around prey, it's hard to relax. I can't imagine always being like that with my friends."

"It's not hard if you know them," Moxie countered politely. "Felicity is very easy-going."

"I don't know about red squirrels, but rabbits are hardly known for their lack of

excitability," Orion returned dryly.

"My friends know they can trust me," Flora told him irritatedly. "That's all it takes."

"Are you calling us untrustworthy?!" Katrina sniped.

Flora winced, "Th-that's not what I meant."

"Prey only trust you if you behave exactly how they think you should," Orion proclaimed

derisively. "In other words, they only trust 'tame' predators."

"If being 'tame' means prey can trust you, then it sounds better than the alternative,"

Flora returned acerbically. "What's the opposite? Being savage? We should be trying to make

Vulpineva safe for everyone!"

Orion rolled his eyes, "As if Vulpineva isn't safe," he scoffed.

The other red foxes exchanged meaningful glances, and Moxie looked uncomfortable.

Flora's stomach twisted as she realized she'd allowed herself to be goaded into the same

argument she'd had with Isabelle, but this time she'd all but called the other foxes savages.

"I'm not feeling well," she murmured. "Excuse me."

Without daring to make eye contact with the other vulpines, she stood with her tray and

quickly made her way to the prey side of the drink dispensers. Upset with herself and what she

felt had been a setup to embarrass her, she blinked hot tears from her eyes and swallowed

against the lump in her throat. She wasn't as alone as Isabelle thought, and she wouldn't let the

cruel vixen make her cry in the middle of the cafeteria! The conveyer for the dirty dishes was on

the back wall between the two sides of the room. Flora considered just dropping off her tray and

returning to her room, but after a moment, she decided against it. She sat at a small empty table

on the far side of the room and picked at her dinner until the remaining food was cold and

unappetizing.

Half an hour had passed by the time she finished. She assumed Isabelle and her friends

would be gone, but she didn't want to walk past them if they weren't. She considered her

predicament a moment then texted Rosemary and Chester, I'm in the cafeteria. Can you come

get me?

Chester texted back first, I'm already here. Where are you?

On the prey side, by the far wall.

A few seconds later, the beige and black-striped tabby stepped up beside her table.

"Sorry, I didn't see you here. We're just across the room. Do you want to join us?"

Flora nodded. Chester was seated near the wall with the conveyor on the prey side, so

Flora dropped off her tray before following him to the circular table. Four other mammals were

already seated at the cat's table: a wolverine, a stoat, a muskrat, and a fox squirrel.

Chester grabbed another chair from a nearby empty table and pulled it up between his

seat and the wolverine's. "These are Lance, Becca, Ian, and Amber," Chester introduced them,

beginning with the wolverine.

"Hi, I'm Flora" Flora murmured sheepishly. She felt more nervous about meeting new

people after her bad experience with Isabelle's friends even though she assumed anyone

Chester was sitting with would be nicer than the snooty red foxes.

Lance gave her a friendly smile as she sat down.

"I guess meeting your roommate's friends didn't go so well," Chester commented

sympathetically.

Flora shook her head, "I guess it went how I should have expected."

"What happened?" the fox squirrel, Amber, chirped, her interest apparently piqued.

"My roommate asked me to have dinner with her friends, but it seems like she just

wanted to embarrass me. We haven't really gotten along since we met."

"That sucks," Amber returned sympathetically. "Why aren't you getting along?"

Flora crossed her left foot over her right and looked down at her hands in her lap

embarrassedly. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk about it; she didn't want anyone to think she

was playing the victim for attention. "I guess we just don't see things the same way. She thinks

it's weird that I didn't have predator friends in high school."

"That's a weird thing for her to be concerned about," Amber commented.

Flora nodded.

"Her roommate is a red fox," Chester pointed out.

"Oh!" Amber squeaked in epiphany. "You could have just led with that."

"I think that's a little unfair," Chester remarked. "Someone being a red fox doesn't

necessarily make them hard to get along with."

Amber gave him a dubious look, "How many red foxes do you know?"

Chester shrugged, "A couple."

"Were they easy to get along with?"

"I didn't really hang out with them, so I wouldn't know."

"Unless they haven't been spoiled rotten, getting along with them means agreeing with

everything they say," Amber asserted. "Her roommate was probably hoping for her own foxie

sycophant." The squirrel looked at Flora embarrassedly, "Sorry, I think you can request a

different roommate."

"I hope I won't need to go that far," Flora replied worriedly. "She might ignore me now

that she's confirmed we can't get along; that would be fine with me."

"It's not great to have a roommate you don't get along with, but I guess that's

unavoidable sometimes," Amber remarked. "You can pick a different roommate next year."

"Where are you from, Flora?" Lance asked curiously.

"Willowdale," Flora answered.

Lance smiled amiably, "That's the town with all the rabbits, isn't it? It would be kind of

weird if you didn't have prey friends coming from there. I'm from Rowansburg."

Flora nodded, "Yeah, I guess so. One of my friends was considering going to

Rowansburg for undergrad."

The wolverine grinned, "I would have considered it, but I didn't want to live at home.

Besides, not everyone gets into RCV."

Since her realization about the number of vulpines and lack of canines, Flora felt less

confident about the merit of her admission, but she offered Lance a small smile and nodded

anyway. They chatted about their hometowns and plans for registration, Flora divulging that she

was taking the chemistry placement test tomorrow. It turned out that Lance and Becca were

going to be taking it too. When they were all finished eating, they exchanged promises to see

each other soon, and then Flora returned to her room.

Isabelle was reclining in her bed with her phone when Flora entered her room. Flora

grabbed her towel and toiletries and turned back toward the door to head to the shower.

"Where were you? I was worried," Isabelle interrupted.

Flora stopped without turning back around. "Why?" she asked tersely.

"I was afraid you might have done something drastic."

Flora turned her head to look at the red vixen sharply, "Nothing you or your friends say

could make me hurt myself. I don't care if you don't like me so long as you leave me alone."

Isabelle looked hurt, "I didn't want you to; I was worried!" she protested. "And I tried to

give you a chance to get along with us; you didn't want to."

"You helped push the conversation where it went," Flora accused.

"You weren't being truthful!" Isabelle replied indignantly.

"I was trying to avoid the argument," Flora rejoined.

"You have to come to terms with why you despise your own kind eventually!" Isabelle

declared. "Or you'll never have predator friends."

"I'll never have predator friends who despise prey. I already have predator friends, and

I've met more since I got here. One of the people I spent the afternoon with was a cat!" With that

rebuke, Flora turned and stomped out the door. When she returned after showering and

brushing her teeth, Isabelle had disappeared again.