Path of the Hunters [PART 3]

He made his way out the door, but jumped back, startled by the orange echidna on the other side.

"Yo," Elesis said, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Don't do that!" Cross said, hit heart rate returning to normal.

Trip looked up from where he'd managed to hide behind the echidna and smiled slowly. "Hi."

Elesis raised an eyebrow. "Jumpy bunch today, huh? Crescent reacted the same way."

Cross sighed. "What are you doing up this early? Last I checked, your day doesn't start until 10, at the earliest."

"Oh, shut up. I'm still under bet, remember? My day starts when Yue's does." She scratched her head, said hedgehog poking her head out from behind her legs.

Trip blinked, shuffling behind Cross again. The girl always made him feel shy.

Yue's golden yellow fur seemed to shine at the sight of the gray fox. "Hi, Trip!" she said, smiling brightly.

"Hi," he murmured, staying safely behind Cross.

Cross chuckled. "It's okay, Trip. She's not gonna bite you... You're not gonna bite him, are you?" he asked the girl.

"No!" she said, shaking her head and giggling.

He blushed, staying where he was. "Can we go eat?"

"Okay, okay. We're going, now."

"Can I come?" Yue asked.

"Nice try, kiddo," Elesis said with a smirk, hefting the girl into her arm. "You just came from eating. And the way you did, you'll gave Nova a run for his money."

"Aw, okay."

"On the subject, it's breakfast sampler at the mess hall. Better get moving before Nova gets down there." She walked down the hall, back to her own room.

"Bye, Trip! Bye Uncle Cross!" Yue waved at the two boys as she was carted away.

The fox waved shyly, the flew up to perch on the echidna's shoulder. "'Kay."

Cross walked down the hall in the opposite direction. "Why so shy, Trip? She was just being nice."

He shrugged, tails swishing and entangling with one another. "I dunno..."

He chuckled. "You know, you kinda remind me of myself."

He blinked at that. "How?"

"Well, when I was young, I used to very shy around other girls my age."

"You're not now."

"Well, I have my moments. But, I really have Elesis to thank for breaking me out of that."

"How'd she do that?"

"Well, when we were kids, I used to get bullied a lot, especially by girls, which was probably why I was so shy of them. One day, Elesis stood up for me, and we've been friends ever since. She showed me all the ropes on dealing with other girls. It took a while, but I finally got it down."

"Girls don't bully me... They're nice, but I don't know what to do about them." He sighed. "They're weird."

He chuckled. "That is a definite. I still haven't figured out Elesis, and we've known each other for over twenty years."

"How come girls are like that?"

He shrugged slightly. "I wish I knew."

"Does anybody?"

"If they do, they're the smartest person on the planet. Personally, I don't think it's possible."