She grew up hiding who she was because of the threat of being taken away, like her father. Luca Hood, the daughter of Ruby "Red Riding" Hood, never trusted anyone, not fully and unconditionally at least, but when the soon-to-be King Ben decides to i...
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School preceded the following day for all concerned as if they hadn't just broken into the museum the night prior. Ben had an errand, so he asked Blair to run it for him. Yet, Luca seemed to be carrying a clipboard with a small stack of papers to the Fairy Godmother's location. At the same time, Blair caught an extra hour of archery practice during her free period under the disguise of 'studying.' Luca hesitated to accept Blair's plea for escape as it meant walking into the Remedial Goodness class. Yet, with her fears wrecking her nerves, Luca still walked into the class as if it never bothered her in the first place.
The calculated footfalls of her combat boots first caught the group of villainous kids who looked dead bored in the makeshift classroom. Carlos was the first to look up and immediately sat up straighter when he realized who entered the room. Luca's hood was down, and her hair loosely hung down her back, the teal highlights standing out as usual. Carlos noticed it was the same red hood as yesterday, covering her black floral lace blouse and skater skirt with fishnets underneath. What sounded like chains jingled as she walked, and he saw the glint around her hip. On the other hand, her expression was the most distant he had seen her. From his years with his mother, Carlos was painfully aware of the expression of dread on others. His friends wore it often, although now that he recalled, they carried that expression a lot less. Nevertheless, Luca absolutely dreaded this room.
"Oh, hello dear," Fairy Godmother's voice was nauseatingly sweet to Luca as she approached the older woman. "Ben needs you to sign some paperwork. It's a permission slip from you to the King and Queen to hand over, temporarily, your artifact for the coronation," Luca stated quietly, monotone in voice and face. The Fairy Godmother gently tugged the clipboard, her perfectly manicured, pink nails clicking on the wood. The sound resounded in Luca's ears. She hated the clicking. "I'm sure you all remember Luca. Oh, and here comes my daughter Jane," Fairy Godmother exclaimed as she signed the paperwork Luca handed her. Luca hears a frightful squeak as she picks at her black-painted nails before turning around and seeing Jane scurry down the middle aisle.
Jane was always a curious figure to Luca. Despite her heritage, Jane didn't walk with arrogance or hubris. One would think that, as the Fairy Godmother's daughter, Jane would walk the same ground as Audrey Rose or Chad Charming. Yet Jane was almost as recluse as Luca herself. The young fairy carried a few papers on a clipboard in her shaking hands and handed them to her mother; Luca could see "Coronation" written out in bold letters. The ugly smell of fear wafted heavily of the petite brunette as Jane tried to shield her front from the other occupants in the room. Despite the scent making her want to throw up, Luca could understand why Jane was on the brink of fainting from terror as Mal was looking at the fairy as if she were fresh meat. Jane could never look Luca in the eye, with the young wolf's appearance making her weary, Fairy Godmother's influence no less, but Luca knew Jane was far more scared of the other four.
By then, Fairy Godmother had handed Luca her paperwork. Not wanting to be in the room any longer than she had to, Luca sped down the aisle and out of the classroom. Carlos stared after her with curiosity. The young boy had seen her recluse, standoffish, and even harsh, but he had never seen her emotionally dead. It made him uneasy; the kind his mother's emotionless face would instill in him. The type of calm that was dangerous. One glance at his three friends let him know they saw the same thing. Why did Luca make him feel familiar in a world so diverse from his own?
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"Tell me why I must sit on these uncomfortable bleachers again. They make my tailbone hurt." Luca grumbled as she shifted her weight from hip to hip. Blair sat next to her with a camera in her hand. The ginger's hair was still pulled up in a ponytail, the braids showing on the sides from her impromptu archery practice. Her athletic clothes still stung from sweat as she didn't have time to shower before tourney practice started. "Belle asked me to snap some photos of Ben during practice today. I think she thinks once Ben is crowned, he is going to be a completely different person, and she'll lose her darling baby boy." Blair's voice heightened near the end to mock Belle's concerned words from the morning.
Luca giggled at her friend as she fixed the position of her sunglasses that guarded her sensitive eyes from the blazing sun. Luca was glad that fall was quickly rolling in as the clouds would overcast more often, and the weather turned chilly. Luca was never a fan of the bolstering summer heat of Auradon and was excited to wear sweaters more often without worrying about overheating and sweating. Nevertheless, Luca turned her gaze to watch the boys huddle near the sidelines to go over the plays. Two new faces caught Luca's eyes. Jay and Carlos had somehow found their way onto the field for that day's practice. Jay stood next to the rest of the team, a similar bloodthirsty look in his eyes that matched the equally malicious smirk that tainted his lips. On the other hand, Carlos looked practically hopeless as he wandered into the Kill Zone, his chocolate eyes wide with confusion. Luca had to admit, the uniform did wonders for him...
"Jay, Ben, offense. Chad, you're on defense. Taylor, you're the shooter," Coach Jenkins ordered with a clipboard clutched in his fist. All the boys, smelling pungent with salty sweat, yelled, "Yes, Coach!" before racing off to get in position. That was when Jenkins noticed Carlos hovering in the red-painted grass. The coach's baritone voice yelling at Carlos made both girls laugh as they watched the small boy stumble out of the Kill Zone. Practice commenced soon after that, and Luca became engrossed in two particular boys' movements. She tracked Jay's quick and agile maneuvers as he plowed through the field. "He is like a team all on his own!" Blair gasped as she watched Jay throw down body after body.
Luca noticed the look of amazement she didn't see often in Blair's eyes and smiled. However, what brought her attention back was the higher-pitched screams coming from Carlos. Luca quickly found the small boy throwing his bat at Jay frantically as his friend barreled toward his more petite frame. "Jay! It's me!" he cried, "It's Carlos!" Luca even gasped as Carlos proceeded to buckle down in a fetal position to protect himself. The ravenette closed her eyes and held her breath. The sound around her deafened slowly. Luca could no longer hear the cheers of the cheerleaders or the team's grunts. Even Blair, who sat close to the werewolf, seemed to have stopped breathing. All that remained was the steady, fast heartbeat of a freckled boy.
Luca's eyes snapped open when the steady beat skipped just in time to see Jay hurdling over the more petite boy's body and b-lined towards the ball. Next, Luca's eyes found Ben as he seemed to have the same idea. "Come on, Ben!" Luca heard Blair shout as the ginger stood up and snapped pictures one after the other. However, the last picture captured a gem of a moment. Luca almost laughed at Ben getting thrown to his ass as Jay, despite being on the same team, went for the ball and charged for the goal. "He's like an animal," Luca said with a laugh, now standing with Blair, who looked at Luca with a taunting smirk.
