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_ _It was a warm, sunny day out, birds chirping and the cool breeze passing by in the town of Edinmire. A young cyan haired boy carried a knapsack on his shoulders, running toward an open, empty field to sit down and enjoy the day reading. He was one of the youngest Templar students at the academy in Edinmire, a bright boy with potential magical power. There was a large boulder in the field, the boy hopping up on it quickly and pulling the knapsack off to open it.

Inside it was a few papers and books. One of the books read on the cover as he pulled it out Templar: A History. This was clearly a study book the boy borrowed from the library at the academy. Opening the book and starting from the first chapter, he began to read the pages one by one and relaxed as each word was carefully examined.

Nearby in the same field, but in some taller weeds, was a young tiger girl. She was very petite with brown hair and golden eyes, chasing a butterfly with playful growls and purrs. This tigress was very far from her home of the rainforest tiger clans but she belonged to someone who bought her not very long ago. When she chased the butterfly into the open field where the weeds weren't so tall, the tiger could spot the boy on a boulder nearby. She snuck over quietly as if she were a little kitten ready to pounce and drew closer with each stealthy movement.

Her movements were so quiet that when she stood up the boy couldn't hear her walk up until she spoke out loud, "Whatcha readin'?"

He jumped at her words, almost dropping his book on the ground but caught it quickly with both hands. His eyes glared at the tiger girl and frowned in disgust, knowing back at the academy they taught him to be discriminative toward Keidran. The boy gathered himself and continued to read the pages, glancing to the nosy tigress standing beside him.

"You know...I come out here to *not * be bothered, weird tiger girl...Where did you come from anyway...?"

"Somewhere...I don't know. I just started chasing a butterfly then I found you. So now you answer me. Whatcha readin'?" She was determined to know what he was doing, looking over his shoulder to get a look at the pages with all the weird symbols and spells. Her handpaws held onto his small shoulders, tail swishing behind her excitedly. "Say what's your name?! Mines Flora."

He pushed her off and huffed, trying to read more in his book until she asked his name once more, "Well? What's your name?"

The young boy finally got impatient enough to turn back to Flora with his face scrunched up, closing his book shut before interacting with the tigress. "Trace Legacy......I attend the Templar academy just down the hill. We have no time or care to mingle with Keidran like you."

The young female felt her ears droop, sadness taking over her and then getting a sly idea as she watched him open the book again. Snatching it from his hands and running off with it in her mouth on all fours, Trace getting up from the boulder to chase after Flora.

"Hey bring that back, you fleabag! I have to have that for my studies!" He yelled at her as he pushed through the bushes and trees in the forest, hopping over a small stream that was passing through the wooded area. Trace looked everywhere for Flora and couldn't find her anywhere. If he didn't go back to the academy with his book in hand he would be in trouble with the Grand Templar Mary Silverlock.

_Where did she go...? I can't play games like this..._Suddenly Trace heard a rustling in the bushes behind him, turning slowly to face them and knew that's where she had to be hiding. He moved in slowly until he was met face first with the tigress pouncing on top of him, book held high so he couldn't reach it from the ground.

"Hey!! C'mon! Give it back!"

"Not till you play with me first. You play with me and you can have your book back.~" She answered, shoving Trace back into the ground with one hand and keeping the book away from his grasp.

"I don't want to play with a Keidran! I want my book back! Stupid....fleabag!" When she shoved him down again he gave an exasperated sigh, finally giving up. "Fine! Fine.....Okay? I'll play with you but promise to give me the book back?"

Flora got off him quickly and helped him up as she grabbed his hand in hers, motioning for him to follow to the clearing. He ran after her and knew they were really far away from the hilltop. Too far for him to go. Once in the clearing in the middle of the forest, Flora turned to Trace as she set the book down on a tree log.

"We are going to play hide and seek! You can count and I'll hide, okay?!" Before he could answer Flora ran off to hide and Trace turned around to close his eyes, beginning the count. "No peeking!"

He was really tempted to grab the book and go but he knew better than to just trick a helpless girl. As he counted long enough to twenty and gave Flora time to hide, Trace stopped to look around to see if he could find her hiding anywhere obvious. The nearby bushes were empty and she obviously wasn't hiding behind any trees.

She's nowhere to be seen....Ugh....This is about as fun as watching the grass grow.....

The young boy kept looking until he gave up, slumping to the ground against a tree and looking up only to find Flora on a branch above him. It startled him at first but then he realized she was scared herself. "Alright I found you now come down."

"Ah....I would, Trace....but I'm too scared to climb down...." She answered quietly, claws digging into the branch as she started to slip.

"Very funny tiger. Now come on and get down!"

"Trace I really can't! I'm scared of heights!" Flora yelled back and yelped as she slipped to underneath the branch, claws holding on as much as they could.

He panicked and began to climb until she slipped more and fell, moving to try and catch Flora before she hit the ground. When Trace caught the small tigress she landed on his in his arms but made him fall backward into another stream that ran through the woods.

"Gods Flora....you could have been seriously hurt....don't you know cats can't get down once they climb trees? You have to be more careful next time..." He sat up with a groan, butt hurting from landing on the bottom of the stream. Thankfully they weren't seriously hurt.

Trace looked Flora over, the feline giving him a hard hug and purring softly against his cheek with a nuzzle, "Thank you for catching me! I'm sorry I made you fall too..." He gave her a small pat on the shoulder, helping her up as he stood. Flora kept purring and dusted the dirt off his clothes, smiling a bit at the human boy before taking him by the hand to lead him back to the clearing.

As they neared the clearing, talking the entire way back, Flora got the study book off the log and handed it back to Trace.

"Here...I know I shouldn't have taken it...Honestly I was just looking for someone my age to play with. My humans on the farm have children but they aren't allowed to play with me because I'm a Keidran..." She explained and continued to walk back toward the edge of the forest where the hill started.

"It's alright...Hey! Maybe we can meet up tomorrow to play again?! I get out of classes in the afternoon so....maybe I can meet you in the same place at the same time..?" Trace took the book and walked back with her slowly, hearing a familiar voice call out at the hilltop.

"Trace?! Trace Legacy where are you?!"

It was one of the Templar masters called Euchre, looking for the cyan haired boy. Trace rushed toward the edge of the forest with Flora's hand in his, hiding behind a tree. If Euchre found him with a Keidran, Trace would surely be in trouble this time.

"Trace who is that?" Flora asked before he put a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, looking around the tree before hiding again, "That's one of the instructors, Master Euchre. If he sees you, I'm in trouble. Just stay here till we're out of sight and I promise I will meet back here with you tomorrow."

He held up his other hand to grab her little finger with his as a sign of a promise, Flora licking his nose quickly before going to hide behind another tree. "Okay promise.~"

Trace moved from behind the tree with a wave and ran up the hill to meet Euchre, who turned around just in time to see him and then Flora as well. He was now more concerned than ever that the boy was playing around with a tiger Keidran, focusing on the situation at hand.

"Where were you? You know you're not allowed to go any further than this hilltop....." The man asked before Trace looked back at the forest to see if Flora was hidden away.

"I......I thought I saw something....I wanted to see what it was so I wandered off. I got lost and finally found my way back."

Of course he was lying to get Master Euchre away from the area to let Flora leave without being spotted. He smiled and looked as if he was ignoring the tigress standing in the woods, patting Trace on the shoulder gently as he began to turn away.

"Alright. Well let's get back to the dorms before Silverlock finds you covered in dirt. Just remember next time to not stray from this hilltop. Your parents and Silverlock would have my head if I lost you." Trace grabbed his bag and put the book inside, running off toward the academy while Euchre turned slightly to watch Flora making her escape through the field from whence she came.

He really shouldn't be around that tiger...The other masters find out about this he and I could both be in a lot of trouble....