The Spider Queen

(Zrudread University Main Campus)

(The Sanctuary- Forest Lord Kingdom Park)

It was a beautiful day. Sophie smiled as she wandered through the Sanctuary on her way to pick up Moon.

The Sanctuary or 'The Zoo' as it was fondly nicknamed by the students was the area where the combat beast pets were housed.

It was an enormous stretch of land that contained battle arenas, veterinary clinics and hatcheries. 

There were different environments inside the Sanctuary since every pet had a preference for a certain biome.

In addition, a barrier device created a large force field around the Sanctuary so that none of the flying pets would be able to escape by accident.

The forcefield also made it easier to control the environments inside the park. 

The air was relatively pleasant smelling since robot androids would regularly clean the pens and air filtration devices were placed in locations across the park.

Moon was currently staying in the tundra district that was a good twenty-minute walk away from the entrance to the Sanctuary.

When walking through the Sanctuary it was like exploring a different world. 

Sophie could never get used to sheer variety of mysterious plants and animals that roamed freely through the park.

She saw fur, gills, scales, wings and all kinds of strange and bizarre appendages…

Tall green giants lazily snacked on leafy shoots, small furry creatures scurried across the tree branches and slender spider-like beasts weaved colourful webs.

Aquatic type combat beasts swam merrily in the large lakes and rivers. 

They would occasionally jump out of the water to grab the meals that the caretakers flung into the air.

Sophie looked up and saw an enormous reptilian beast soar above her head. The creature had two heads and four flesh-like wings that casually flapped up and down.

A caretaker was frantically pursuing the reptile while yelling for the creature to get back into its cage.

The reptile shot the caretaker a look of contempt and then with a burst of speed managed to disappear into the distance.

Sophie powered on her wrist communicator and snapped a few pictures of the chaos to show Cleo later.

After constantly messaging Cleo over the last few months, Sophie had gotten used to taking pictures of anything interesting.

Sophie continued her journey through the park while keeping an eye out for any students from her class.

It wasn't like she was good friends with anyone in the class except for maybe Luna and Plume but it would be nice to see her classmates again.

Sophie was determined to try her best to become a bit more sociable. 

Doctor Reynolds had suggested that it would help her improve her social skills by getting out of her comfort zone a bit more.

Unfortunately, it appeared as though today was not the day to begin her plan to make new friends since Sophie only saw upperclassmen and caretakers.

Well, it wasn't that surprising…

The Sanctuary was a large place so it would be quite the coincidence to bump into someone that you knew.

Sophie felt mildly disappointed but threw that feeling to the back of her mind as she finally arrived at the tundra district.

The temperature was noticeably colder, and it got worse as Sophie walked further into the zone. 

Eventually she could see small clouds of white mist whenever she exhaled, and the tips of her fingers felt a bit numb.

Most of the combat beasts inside this zone had white or lightly coloured fur but Sophie saw a few noticeable exceptions.

A green humanoid beast stood on its hindlegs and let out an earth-shattering cry. 

Sophie kept her distance from the creature and checked her wrist communicator for directions.

She walked a few hundred meters to the right and saw the entrance to an ice cave. Sophie entered the cave without hesitation and found herself in a beautiful world of frozen ice.

Large stalactites hung from the ceiling which created a winter wonderland. Sophie hurriedly snapped a few pictures and explored deeper into the cave.

Suddenly a harsh squealing sound echoed through the underground and Sophie recognised the cry.

It definitely came from a frostwing bat!

Sophie's figure blurred and then vanished from the spot as the hybrid girl activated her movement technique.

She arrived in a large open space where she saw something that she would never forget.

Squeak! Squeak!

(Hand over your snacks and no one gets hurt!)

Moon was currently spreading his wings outwards and intimidating a crowd of shivering frostwing bats.

His forked tail swayed from side to side, and he opened his mouth to reveal fangs much larger and sharper than those of a typical frostwing bat.

Squeak! Squeak!

(Hurry up! We don't have all day!)

One by one the frostwing bats walked up to Moon and dropped a small nutrient pellet in front of him.

Moon crossed his wings proudly and smiled with a stupid grin on his face. Sophie fought down her urge to laugh and quietly snuck up behind him.

Some of the frostwing bats noticed her presence but Sophie put a finger to her lips, and they did not say a word.

She arrived within striking distance of Moon's body and with one smooth motion she reached out and grabbed her naughty frostwing bat by the chest.

Squeak! Squeak!

(Who wants a fight?! Who wants a… Mommy?)

Moon's defiant attitude instantly vanished, and his face gradually turned pale in fright. 

He used his furry foot to push the pellets in the direction of the crowd of frostwing bats while praying that his mom had not been standing there the whole time.

"So… you're a thug now?" Sophie growled darkly as she gestured towards the pile of pellets.

"I seem to recall you saying some nonsense like 'no one gets hurt'." 

"Did you plan on injuring any of these bats? Tell me… if you hurt them… whose money do you think will have to be paid to compensate their owners?"

Sophie's golden eyes darkened, and she stared at her roguish pet who sheepishly looked down at the ground.

The crowd of frostwing bats watched the scene in amazement. 

Moon was the fiercest animal in the tundra region and his reputation as a 'little king' was common knowledge among the pets in this zone.

But now the crowd of frostwing bats discovered exactly where Moon had gotten his intimidation aura from.

The small trace of bloodlust that leaked out of Sophie's body was enough to cause Moon to tremble.

However, the large frostwing bat quickly calmed himself down because he knew that panicking would not solve the matter at hand.

Moon copied Sophie's usual actions and took a deep breath to relax. 

Sophie was still glaring at him but now Moon knew exactly what to say to get out of this.

Squeak! Squeak!

(Mommy it's… it's not what it looks like!)

Sophie raised an eyebrow in disbelief as she could not wait to hear what excuse her mischievous pet planned to use.