Into the World of Twisted Wonderland Pt 2

✨Side Story 34: Dog Tired✨

A/N: Hiyas everyone! Remember the question I asked in the finale of book 5? Well I wanted to ask you guys again just because! So the question was: Which is more important to you?

Do you look back to the PAST?

Do you live in the PRESENT?

Or are you looking forward to the FUTURE?

Just tell me which one is important to you and tell me why! I won't tell my choice but it's a dang hard choice you know!

Also this side story was based on a funny little one panel comic I saw on Twitter a while ago. Amazing how just one panel made me write this entire side story!

Jack walks in the woods, a destination in mind, watching his surroundings. He looks around, seeing the familiar green of the tree, bushes, and grass. Though the weather has warmed up a bit compared to the beginning of the year, there was still a bit of chill in the air, but it didn't stop the various critters from waking up and bustling about, seeing that squirrels has started to run around, looking for other mates or food and birds starting their hunt for food and new nest locations. He looks around, feeling nostalgic at the sight, reminding him that Night Raven College and his hometown were completely different. He continues to walk, taking notice of any abnormal sounds as he heads to a small clearing within the woods, continuously looking around for anyone who might have followed him. It wouldn't be good if anyone saw him doing the next few things. After talking to Crewel about his signature spell, he offered a proposal: try to stay as long as possible in wolf form and test your endurance. He even offered a place where he could hide from prying eyes: the vast woods behind campus. Jack was secretly grateful for the advice, seeing how transformation potions were illegal and that if people saw a giant wolf on campus, panic would ensue. After all, they might deem him dangerous and when he's in his wolf form, he can't really communicate that he's a student to people.

He heads to an inconspicuous bush, away from prying eyes, but good enough to use a placeholder and put his stuff underneath, making sure it's safe from anyone who might stumble around the location and try to take it. He can't take his items with him, and to be honest, it would be quite weird to see a wolf carrying a watch and phone on its body. He chuckles at the thought, sounding like something that might occur in Heartslabyul with the crazy amount of rules they have. He looks at his watch, seeing that it's about 3:30 p.m. If he can time it right, he might be able to finish his training before people start to head to the woods, distracted by their clubs. He tracked his progress after doing this training regime. He would do laps around the woods and see how long he can keep his form while exerting himself. Last time, he did about 5 laps within 30 minutes, and he was fatigued at the end. Maybe he can just push himself a little longer.

"I just need to at least do 7 laps..." He mumbles, setting a goal in mind. "All right. Unleash the Beast!" Soon after the words was said, a light start to envelop Jack, changing his form into that of a large wolf. He looks around, glaring at anything that pops up, mentally sighing seeing that it was just squirrels and birds chattering and chirping about. Good. No one saw me. He looks around, seeing that when he's in his wolf form, everything seems bigger, mainly because of the major difference between his human form and wolf form. After all, people usually pick fights with him because of his height. When he thinks about it, it makes sense, seeing that Leona was about the same height as him and people in Savanaclaw try to pick fights with him. He shakes the thoughts out of his head and focuses on the objective. It's time to start. He starts off walking then transitions into a run, starting his training.

He started to feel a bit tired at the 4-lap mark. He looked around, seeing that everything was still the same, but the light around him felt different. He may not know how to check time by looking at the sky, but he can at least tell that at least 10 minutes have passed. He stopped running, settling into a trot instead as he sighs. He's making good progress at least. He looked around, observing his surroundings only for his ears too twitch, snapping his head to the direction of the sound, seeing that leaves were being rustled by something, only for Kalim to pop out of a set of bushes, looking for something, only to turn his head and look at Jack.