Ominous Meeing

"And that, class, is how you make a perfect Risotto." The lion clasped his hands together, his tail flicking. Some of the class was taking notes while the rest were either doodling, spacing out, or holding their heads up as they started falling asleep.

The bell ringing for the end of the class filled the room, everyone collecting their things and heading out to the field. One of the students, a green reptilian, was stretching as he yawned. "Man oh man! That class always makes he hungry."

Another student, a male fennec fox, snuck up behind him and climbed up his tail up to his shoulders, chuckling at the reptilian. "Well Duh, Jake! It's a class all about food! Say, wanna grab a quick bite before exercising?"

The reptilian tapped his chin, thinking for a few seconds. "Hmmm…yeah, that sounds pretty good." He looked towards the fennec fox; "Any ideas for the snack?"

The little fox shrugged his shoulders. "I'm up for whatever, man. Let's just grab some grub."

The 2 turned the corner of the hall, seeing a blue dragoness walking towards them, both the animals stopping dead in their tracks. They've never seen someone walk with such grace, even for a mythical. The Fennec fox leaned close to Jake, whispering; "Speaking of fucking 'Snack'."

Jake shrugged his shoulder, growling quietly. "Shut up, Tim! She'll hear you!" They both watched as the dragoness walked down the hall, looking at the class labels on the doors, grumbling to herself.

She then noticed the 2 standing in the hall, her ears twitching as she smiled, walking up to Jake and Tim. "Oh! Excuse me, but could you 2 help me?" The 2 couldn't hide their blush as she walked up, brushing her hair behind her ear as she reached between her breasts and took out her phone. She held her phone up to them, her tail flicking slightly; "Do either of you know where I could find any of these animals?"

Jake stared at the phone seeing an image of a Female sheep, a male gazelle, a make dog and what looked like a male Ram, his ears twitching. "Sorry, not a clue ma'am." He stared at the photo for a few more seconds, raising an eyebrow; "Actually…" He turned his head to look at Tim; "Isn't that Kip and Thomas?"

Tim leaned in to look, squinting his eyes slightly before leaning up, nodding. "Yep, that's them alright. The Sheep girl is Abby, remember dude? You tried asking her out? Got cold feet?"

The dragoness cleared her throat, tapping her phone where the Ram looking animal was. "Ok ok, but what about this guy. Do you know him? His name? Where he hangs out?"

Tim waved his hand towards the dragoness, his eyes closed with a smug grin on his face. "Oh yeah, if yer looking for that group, they'll be out at the exercise field. They're pretty hard to miss with that guy starting trouble with every-"

"Uh Tim? She's gone." Jake's words made Tim open his eyes wide, looking around in shock; "Yeah, as soon as you mentioned the Exercise Fields, she bolted."

Outside by the field, a bunch of animals were running around the track as other animals sat on the benches around it, cheering as the animals raced. While most of them were focused on the race, Abby and her friends Kip, Thomas and Sadie were sitting under a tree, smiling and laughing as they ate their lunch.

Kip took a bite from his sandwich, looking at Abby. "So Abby, where is Ares? He not gonna eat with us?"

Abby ate her salad, shrugging as she looked around the field. "He said he'd be late, but he should be here by now. I hope he's alright…"

Sadie rested her hand on Abby's head, giving her a comforting head pat. "Don't worry about him, hun. Out of all the animals in school, he's the last one I'd worry about."

Thomas' ears flicked, leaning in slightly. "Rumors have been going around that the group of mythical kids that were sent to the hospital the other day was because of Ares. You don't think…they're trying to get back at him?"

Kip laughed, booping Thomas on his nose, making him shake his head and rub his nose. "Puh-Leease! As if anyone is dumb enough to mess with my dreamboat! After he told off Vamps, and Then they became friends?" Kip waved his hand in front of him; "I'm sure he's just using the restroom, or giving the cooking teacher a few pointers."

"There you are!!" A loud female voice made the group jump. They looked towards where the voice came from, seeing a blue dragoness glaring at them. They quickly saw she was out of breath, her red tank top drenched in sweat, having her jacket tied around her waist.

"Do you…have ANY idea…how frikkin Huge this field is??" The dragoness snarled as she tried catching her breath; "I've been looking for you lot for almost an HOUR!!"

The group looked at each other slightly confused before Abby reached into her bag, offering the dragoness a bottle. "Um…I'm sorry? Please, have a seat and drink this. You look exhausted."

The dragoness' expression of frustration changed to shock as she saw the bottle of water, nearly tearing up. "Oh, thank you!" She carefully sat down next to the tree, leaning against it as she started drinking the water; "Oh gods above, I needed that!" She hooked her claw in the collar of her shirt, fanning it to try and cool off as she caught her breath.

Abby and Sadie looked at the boys, raising an eyebrow, completely lost as to what's going on. Abby then looked at the dragoness, bowing her head slightly. "Um, it's a pleasure to meet you ma'am, but you were looking for us for some reason?"

The dragoness finished the water bottle, letting out a sigh of relief. She then sat up, nodding as she looked at Abby. "Well, kinda yes, kinda no." She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone, showing the group the photo of them with Ares; "I'm actually looking for the guy with the horns. Do you know where he is?"

The group looked at the photo, their instincts giving them a bad vibe. Sadie looked at the dragoness, raising an eyebrow. "And why should we tell you where he is? We don't even know you!"

The dragoness' ears flicked slightly as she blinked. "Oh! Sorry, I completely forgot!" She bowed politely; "My name is Vanessa Crimsonwing, of the Crimsonwong family. It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

The group practically jumped in shock hearing her name. "C-C-Crimsonwing?!?" They all blurted out in surprise.

Vanessa jumped slightly, raising a finger to her lips. "Sshhh! Quiet! Not so loud!" She looked around, seeing the other animals were more interested in the race, letting out a sigh of relief; "Good, no one heard." She looked back at the group; "Please keep your voices down. I'm technically not allowed here."

Abby nodded nervously, the group doing the same. "B-But that doesn't explain why you're looking for Ares. Why would-" Sadie's paw quickly covered Abby's mouth, not realizing what she was doing.

Vanessa sighed, putting the phone away. "Look, I'm not here to cause problems. I just wanted to get some intel from the guy. One of the Crimsonwings was beaten to a pulp the other day, and this 'Ares' guy was shown entering the restroom before he and a group of his cronies entered, but Ares was the only one who walked out."

The group remembered what Thomas mentioned a few moments ago, about the rumors. Kip stood up, snarling. "So what? There could have been anything happening in the restroom!"

Vanessa raised her hand slightly. "That's why I want to ask him a few simple questions." She waved her hand in front of her face; "I honestly couldn't care about Dreg. He was always trying to overstep and climb the ranks of the family." She then raised her hand with her index finger pointing up; "but if I get some answers, then I should be able to-"

"Be able to What exactly?" A familiar voice came from behind the tree as the group looked to see Ares walking up, his hands behind his back; "And what answers are you looking for?"

Vanessa looked up at Ares, his eyes feeling like they're cutting through her. She quickly stood up, surprised that Ares was looking her at eye level. "The other day, a group of Mythicals were hospitalized due to serious injuries. Do you have any idea as to what happened to them?"

Without hesitation, Ares nodded. "Yes. They were hired to attack me, so I defended myself." Ares looked towards Abby; "She and I were heading to the field when they started following us. I felt it safer to lead them away from miss Abby, in case they tried something with her."

Vanessa nodded, crossing her arms under her breasts. "I see. And just for clarity, did you know if any of them were from the Royal Families? Blackscale, Crimsonwing, Emberwing, Equestrian?"

Ares raised an eyebrow. "Before I answer, may I ask for your name, my dear?" Ares had a feeling this dragon wasn't just some random mythical, but he wanted to be sure.

"Vanessa, and that's all you're getting for now." Her tail started to sway, looking Ares in the eyes; "Now answer. Did you, or did you not know if any of them could have been from the Royal Families?"

Ares bowed slightly. "Well miss Vanessa, I do apologize, but none of the assailants gave me their names. Were any of them from the Royal families then? If so, I offer my condolences to the families I might have crossed." He then stood back up, staring at Vanessa; "Now, about your last name. Which of the Families sent you?"

Vanessa chuckled, moving one of her hands to her hip and the other raised in front of her, holding up her index finger. "With that info, you won't have to worry about that, curly horns." She smiled and winked, walking past Ares, patting his shoulder; "I'll make sure the higher ups know it was just a simple misunderstanding."

Ares and the group watched as she walked away, heading towards the building. Suddenly, the doors swung open, revealing the vice principal, miss Phoenix, glaring at Vanessa.

Vanessa, now stopped in her tracks, had a look of shock on her face seeing Phoenix stopping her. She smiled nervously. "He-eyy miss P! H-How's things going?" She pointed to the side, stepping back slightly; "I was just uhhh…" She suddenly opened her wings and took off, Phoenix quickly following behind her, yelling something that was muffled by the group of animals and the race.

Ares raised an eyebrow, then looked back at the group. "Did…she call me 'curly horns'?"

Kip jumped over to Ares, his tail wagging as he ran a finger over his horn. "Oh I'm Definitely using that one! My sexy Curly Horns~"

Ares let out an exhausted sigh, gently grabbing Kip's hand. "Please don't. Simply my name will be fine."

Abby, Thomas and Sadie all stood up, looking at Ares. "So you were attacked??" Abby held her hands up to her chest; "Why didn't you tell me?"

Thomas pried Kip off of Ares, looking at Ares slightly confused. "You beat the snot out of Mythicals? How the heck did you survive?"

Ares raised his hands in front of him. "Calm yourselves, please. They were simply trying to 'throw their weight around', so to speak. I simply defended myself accordingly. Now, who exactly was miss Vanessa?" He looked over his shoulder towards where she flew off; "I have a feeling she wasn't just a curious kitten."

Sadie nodded. "Well you're right about that. She's one of the Crimsonwings! Apparently one of the punks that attacked you was a member of her family." She sighed in relief, resting a paw on her chest; "We thought she was here to get revenge or something."

Ares glared towards where Vanessa flew off, reaching into his suit's inner pocket and pulling out his phone. "Hmmm…perhaps our friend, miss Vampirium Blackscales, could fill us in on more info on this Crimsonwing business." He clicked her contact, dialing her number as he held the phone to his ear; "After all, she did mention they were rivals of the Blackscales."

A few seconds pass before Vamps answered. "Miss Vamps, this is Ares…are you alright? You sound out of breath…very well. I called because I need a favor. Meet me in my dorm at 8:30 tonight…yes. Oh, and Please be sure to Not arrive early again. I would like to have my relaxing soak without having to worry about you seeing me in my birthday suit…very well. See you there."

Ares hung up the phone, staring at it curiously. Shrugging, he returned his phone to his inner pocket, looking towards the group. "If you like, you are more than welcome to join. My Dorm room is 437. If you'll excuse me."

With that, Ares bowed slightly, then went towards the Dorm buildings, leaving the group to decide what to do. Kip, however, was distracted by other things.

"Did…Did he say Vamps saw him naked?!" Kip's tail was wagging wildly before Thomas grabbed him by the ear; "Owowowowowow! Tommy! Don't tug my ear!"

Thomas let go of his ear, glaring at Kip. "Then stop getting so damn Thirsty around Ares!" He sighed, rubbing between his eyes before looking towards Abby and Sadie; "We'll see you gals at Ares' dorm." He then looked back at Kip; "And I'm gonna make sure you don't try sneaking into Ares' dorm early."

Abby giggled, holding her hand up to her mouth. "Oh! I should get some snacks and drinks!" Abby raised her hand into the air, smiling happily; "You can't have a get together without snacks and drinks!"

Sadie chuckled, winking at Abby. "Yeah ok, you get the stuff, imma go head to my dorm room and change." She smiled and waved, walking towards the dorms; "See you at Ares' Dorm!"

As Sadie went off, Thomas and Kip walked off bickering. Abby went to the store down the road from the school to get some food and some drinks. Afterwards, seeing she had time to spare, Abby went to her dorm room to change.

Around 8:15, Abby was walking down the halls of Dorm 4, looking for Ares' room. She was wearing a pair of tight fit blue jeans and a black crop top. She was carrying the snacks and drinks while she was reading the dorm room numbers. After a little while, she finally reached room 437.

Abby checked her watch as she stood in front of the door. 'Hmm…8:22.' She looked up and down the hallway, then back at the door; 'Maybe I should check to see if he's ready.'

Abby knocked on the door. "Ares? It's Abby. Sorry I'm a little early, but I brought some stuff for the get together!" After a few seconds of silence, Abby knocked again; "Ares? You in there?" Abby tried the door knob, finding it unlocked. She opened the door, peaking in slightly; "Ares? It's Abby. I'm coming in."

Down the hall, Vamps was leading Kip, Thomas, Sadie and Rachel towards Ares' dorm room. Kip, much to Vamps' displeasure, was trying to get her to spill about the last time she was in Ares' dorm room.

"Oh come ooon! Just a little info? Pleeease?" Kip was pulling out all the stops, puppy dog eyes, whining, anything that he thought would work on Vamps to get her to talk.

"Oh just stop! I'm not going to tell you because I refuse to bring up those images again!" Vamps was trying her best to brush Kip off, but remembering what she saw made her cheeks flush red; "Besides, his room is just around the-"

A loud blood chilling scream echoed down the hall, making the whole group's ears perk up, their instincts flaring. Kip and Sadie started running down the hall. "That sounded like Abby! Come on!"

When the group turned the corner, they saw a group of animals moving down the hall, many of them on their phones talking. As the group got further down the hall, forcing their way through the crowd, they noticed they were forming around room 437. The group finally got through the crowd and saw inside the room, and their hearts dropped from what they saw.

In the walkway were bags of groceries dropped on the floor, the contents scattered. In the living room they saw Abby kneeling on the ground, crying as she was holding Ares' head on her lap while clasping his hand. His eyes were closed as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, a large pool of blood under him from a gunshot wound to his abdomen.

"Ares…" Abby's voice was weak and cracking, her tears dripping onto Ares' face; "Please…Don't die!"

To be Continued.