Sandstorm [Leona x Reader]

Prologue 0.5

Guhh...

I attempted to stretch and cover my ears as bothersome scratching filled my head but shortly after realized that I couldn't move.

"Nani desu ka...?"

A faint voice made it to my ears, and suddenly a blast of blue fire knocked off the top of whatever confined me.

"Eep!"

I heard the voice again but couldn't see where it was coming from.

"Now I just gotta grab the silks and- BWAH! You're not supposed to be awake!"

I looked down to see a little ferret-raccoon-thingy with blue fire in its ears. Yelping, I tried to press farther back into my previous containment, which now seemed to be a coffin.

"Human! Give me your uniform now, human, and I might spare you!"

What is he talking about?

"Eh? I'm being harassed by a ferret?"

"I'm not a ferret! I'm Grim, wizard extraordinaire!"

I jumped and started running faster than I ever have until I ended up in a library with floating books similar to the ones in my parent's library. I instinctively hunched over to pant and catch my breath, but noticed I wasn't even out of breath.

"What the- Gahh! Why do I have a tail!?"

A bushy snow leopard's tail was hanging out of the robes that I could only describe as creepy. My hands flew to the top of my head and made contact with soft fur.

No, no, no, no, no! This is not happening!

I tried pulling on one of the ears to get them off, but a sharp pain was all I got in return. The room then flared with flames for a moment and that ferret was back.

"Hah! You thought you could outrun me? Foolish human! Give me that robe unless you want to- YEOWCH! Hey! What was that for?"

"It's tough love."

It's a...bird-man?

"Finally, I found you. You are one of the new students this year, no? You must have been quite eager to debut. And your familiar, he is in clear violations of school code."

The ferret struggled and yowled in the bird-man's hold.

"I would never serve a lowly human! Let me go!"

I silently scooted off to the side to let them have at it.

"Disobedient familiars all say the same. Do be quiet for a while, won't you?"

He duct-taped the raccoon's mouth shut.

"Uh, he's not-" The man cut me off, "My, my. Of all my years of teaching, you would be the first to open your own gate and stroll about. Are you so impatient that you must awaken early? Either way, orientation has already begun. I will lead you back to the mirror chamber."

My head swirled with thoughts and confusion.

Orientation? Gates? Familiars?

He must have noticed my obvious puzzlement.

"You awoke in a room of gates, no? All students arrive on campus by passing through such gates. Though they usually have the restraint to wait patiently until I awaken them."

The ferret must have woken me up by blasting the lid off my coffin. Then he started lecturing me about taking responsibility for the ferret I had only met today and commenting on my late orientation.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?"

He looked perplexed at my question.

Is he some celebrity that I'm supposed to know?