New Territory

Kaelan adjusted his leather armor as he walked through Twin Pines Middle School's wide hallways. The walls echoed with slamming lockers and chattering voices. He'd never seen anything like this place—so many people packed into one building.

"You're new, right?" A girl with short black hair and thick glasses appeared beside him. "I'm Maya Chen. Seventh grade."

"Kaelan," he replied, shifting his longbow on his shoulder. Several students stared at his pointed ears and emerald eyes.

Maya's face lit up. "Perfect timing! We're having Animal Rescue Club tryouts today. You look like someone who'd be great at saving animals."

Kaelan nodded confidently. He'd tracked deer through dense forests and helped injured birds. How different could rescuing animals be?

"Meet us by the pine trees after school," Maya said, hurrying toward her classroom. "We really need someone with your... outdoor experience."

As the bell rang, Kaelan wondered what kind of animals needed rescuing at a school.

The Great Indoor Hunt

After school, Kaelan found Maya and three other students standing by the twin pine trees. A boy with messy brown hair held a clipboard, while two girls whispered nervously behind him.

"Great! You made it," Maya said. "This is Jake, our club president."

Jake looked Kaelan up and down. "So you're the animal expert Maya found. Perfect timing—we have an emergency."

"What kind of emergency?" Kaelan asked.

"Mrs. Peterson's classroom hamster escaped during lunch," Jake explained. "Nibbles is somewhere in the building. We've been looking for two hours."

Maya nodded eagerly. "We thought with your hunting skills, you could track him down."

Kaelan blinked. He'd been expecting to rescue injured wildlife, not chase a lost pet through school hallways.

"Also," Jake continued, "the class lizard got out yesterday, and there's a missing cricket somewhere in the music room."

"Cricket?" Kaelan repeated.

"Yeah, it was supposed to be food for the lizard, but now both are loose," one of the girls added.

Kaelan adjusted his longbow strap, realizing this wasn't quite the animal rescue he'd imagined.