Chapter Text
The droning voice of a teacher. Quiet scratching pens. Hushed conversations held behind not-so-subtle paws. The huffed breathing and drumming fingers of a bored student. It all washed over Amity in a haze as she stared, unseeing, at her lecturer. Some distant part of herself knew that she should be paying attention. Her academic record had to be nothing less than perfect after all. If only she could find the will to care about whatever it was he was talking about.
The golden beam of sunlight angling through the tall window was far more interesting to her in that moment. It warmed her fur in a way that made her feel drowsy and filled her head with soothing white noise. Head resting on a paw, she watched tiny dust motes flicker in and out of view as they caught the light, her sharp, feline eyes latching onto them for brief seconds before they vanished again. Little glowing specks that danced across her vision like ghosts floating on a breeze. The world around her had felt oddly muted lately. Grey and cold. It made that warm beam of light all the more appealing.
Was she perpetuating a stereotype? Probably. If her parents knew she was giving in to her feline desires to bask in the sun they would lecture her for hours on appropriate public behaviour. As a bobcat, she was special. Her species was endangered, according to her family anyway. Bobcat numbers were actually fairly stable now but that didn’t play into the narrative her parents liked to portray and there was nothing more important to them than appearing important. So they were ‘endangered’. That made them special . Being rich socialites and business owners on top of that meant that they had a reputation to uphold. Acting like a lazy house cat would not do for someone of her status.
It felt really nice though, so she ignored the haughty, judgemental voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like her mother and let her eyes drift closed, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face and dreamily imagining herself lying in a sunny meadow somewhere far away from here. Somewhere with a cool breeze and a bright blue sky filled with big, puffy white clouds. Somewhere far, far away from this dark, cold, lonely place she was stuck in.
She was startled from her dazed daydreaming by the sharp trill of the school bell ringing throughout the classroom. It echoed loudly in her sensitive ears like a shrill scream and she sat up so suddenly that the hyena sharing her desk shot an annoyed look her way.
“Get your ass movin. We’re gonna be late for next period.”
She turned, blinking, to look at the gruff carnivore beside her, but she was already making her way to the door, having left Amity behind without so much as a backward glance. Huffing at the predictable reaction from her so-called friend, Amity stood to gather her things. She was vaguely surprised to discover she’d actually been taking notes during the lecture. Very neat, very detailed notes. She supposed there were some benefits to the never ending pressure her parents placed upon her to maintain excellent grades. Apparently she could take notes in her sleep. That was good to know.
Having finally gathered her things, she slung her book bag over her shoulder and made her way to the door, spare books and notes clutched tightly to her chest. She was the last to leave the classroom but, despite her desk-mate’s complaints to the contrary, she would be the first to arrive at the next one. She always was. It was hard to be late to classes when you did nothing in between them. Amity had no time or energy for the lingering conversations with friends or planning for school clubs that her schoolmates so eagerly enjoyed. Not when there were far more important things to be thinking about.
The days had been blending together more than usual lately, her mind focused only on the coming weekend when she would finally get the chance to do something meaningful again. Until then, she found herself floating between classrooms and her dorm in a haze, eyes glazed over, lost in thought. She moved through the halls as if on auto-pilot, students blurring by her, fading into the background unseen. Or maybe she was the one that went unseen.
Boscha, the striped hyena she had been forced to spend all of her time around since childhood, was strutting beside her like she owned the place. She certainly seemed to think she did and, in some ways, she was right. Her bright pink dyed hair and stripes were a neon glowing sign declaring she followed no rules but her own. Boscha revelled in having all eyes and ears on her. Thrived on the attention of others, no matter how she got it, which often led to her being cruel and violent to make sure everyone knew she was in charge. That she was important. That she should be feared and respected. Amity just thought she was a bitch.
She glanced over at the hyena and rolled her eyes. Boscha had been rambling on about some inane student gossip in that signature snide tone of hers for a while now and was so enamored with the sound of her own voice she had yet to notice that Amity wasn’t listening to a word she said.
In fact, Boscha hadn’t noticed that Amity hadn’t said a word to her in days. She’d barely said a word to anyone at all outside of classes. The self-induced silence made Amity feel a little like a ghost wafting through the halls of Cherryton Academy, much like those little specks she’d been watching so avidly in the sunlight.
Students parted around them as they walked, never daring to come close. It was helpful in a way. It kept them at arm’s length, out of the potential danger that came with associating with her. It also meant she didn’t need to pay attention to where she was going, which was nice. But it was terribly lonely. Her only companions were the ones forced upon her by her overbearing, controlling parents in order to maintain business connections and there was no hope of meeting new ones. No point either. No matter how much she craved real connections, she could never have them. Never allow anyone to get close. Never allow herself to put them at risk. It would be selfish and cruel.
So a ghost she would remain. A specter haunting the school.
A blight.
How appropriate. Her family certainly lived up to their name. Blights upon Bonesborough. Blights upon Cherryton Academy. And Amity? She was a blight upon the Blights. Not that they knew the true extent of that of course and, if she had anything to say about it, they never would. She just had to maintain her role as the perfect student. The perfect high society princess. The perfect upperclassmen on track for becoming the next Beastar. As long as she played her part, her parents would leave her alone. And she needed them to if she was going to keep doing what she had been doing for all these years. What she was planning on doing again this coming weekend.
She was yanked violently from her thoughts by a sudden impact somewhere around her knees. The world tilted sharply around her with a jerk and Amity was sent sprawling to her chest on the floor, her legs whipped right out from under her. Landing with a heavy thud, all of the air rushed out of her lungs as her books and notes went scattering from her paws across the hallway. Boscha’s cackling laugh echoed mockingly in her ears as she lay there, dazed and confused, head spinning slightly, on the cold tiles of the hallway. What the hell had hit her so hard?
Something squirming beneath her brought the world around her back into focus and, startled, she fought to roll over. When she eventually got onto her back, her eyes latched onto an otter girl struggling to free herself from where she was tangled up under Amity’s legs and skirt. An embarrassed flush crawled across her skin that sent fur fluffing up all along her neck and Amity scrambled away from the girl. Standing on unsteady feet, she tried to regain some of her composure by brushing off her pristine white uniform with as much dignity as she could scrape together. It was in rather short supply after being so unceremoniously thrown to the ground though so she settled for glaring down at her assailant in annoyance.
“Watch it, nitwit!” She snapped, ears folding low over her head. A young, brown rabbit that she recognised as Augustus, a member of the student council, was helping the girl to her feet and Amity felt a hot wave of indignant irritation flash through her. Her own ‘friend’ certainly hadn’t bothered to do a damn thing to help her in any way. In fact, she was still laughing at Amity like she’d just witnessed the funniest thing in the history of comedy. Shooting the hyena an annoyed look, she had to bite back the urge to growl at her. Unable to do much else for fear of attracting unwanted parental attention, she was forced to redirect her anger toward the otter instead.
Any angry remarks died on her lips though, the moment she realised that the girl was already rushing to gather her things unprompted, a profoundly guilty look twisting her soft features.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry about that!” She said, clutching Amity’s notes and books tightly to her chest as she stared up at her remorsefully. Her deep brown eyes were very striking and Amity found it hard to look away, especially with her giving Amity that embarrassed little smile.
It was just as hard not to notice how her mop of short, dark brown hair had fallen into her face in a frazzled mess or how the chocolatey fur on her arms and legs was mussed up from being trapped underneath Amity. Or the way she had wrapped her long tail around her legs, the end thumping against the ground in a clear sign of discomfort. She could see that same discomfort on her face too, ears pitched back flat against her head and wide open eyes staring back at Amity. The little smile was replaced with an embarrassed grimace and, oh God, Amity had been staring! Her throat suddenly felt kind of dry. Were her ears getting warm? And what was that weird fluttery feeling in her chest? What the hell was wrong with her?!
She was so distracted that she missed the moment the otter scurried forward to awkwardly shove her things into her arms before bounding back towards Augustus, pushing him down the corridor in a frenzied rush.
“How about we get back to that tour ay, Gus?” She said, voice loudly chipper but eyes lowered to the ground. She yelped another apology at Amity over her shoulder and, just like that, they were gone. They both vanished around the corner as quickly as they had appeared and Amity was left standing in the hall with a still snickering Boscha, utterly baffled and staring after the girl who had thrown her so off balance. Quite literally.
What on Earth had just happened? Heart racing, she could feel the long fur on her neck and cheeks still puffed up and had to reach up to smooth it down. She’d been strangely flustered by the entire encounter and that alone was enough to confuse her further. Amity Blight didn’t get flustered .
No, she decided she was annoyed. That was it.
The girl had knocked her over and then vanished without even so much as an introduction. Though she had apologised and picked up her things for her... But it had still been rude of her to run Amity over! Not to mention Boscha had done nothing but laugh at her misfortune! So no, she wasn’t flustered. That hot, bubbly feeling in her gut was anger for sure. She was definitely just mad. What was startling though, was realising that it was the first thing she’d felt other than apathy in ages and she couldn’t, for the life of her, fathom why.
“What a total weirdo. She was running around on all fours like a savage.” Boscha’s voice snapped Amity back to reality and she looked over at her. She was smirking at the corridor the otter girl had practically sprinted down as if she could still see her, one paw resting on her cocked hip. Amity wasn’t sure who exactly the little pose was meant to impress. The other students had all scattered by now and they were mercifully alone in the hall. No one was around to see Amity’s weird reaction to… whatever that had been.
“What otter is strong enough to knock over something twice its size? The girl must be some kinda freak,” Boscha continued, turning her sneer towards Amity and raising her brows like she was waiting for her to agree. After years of having to put up with Boscha, Amity was used to letting the girl’s bullying and general bitchiness roll off her shoulders. Used to just ignoring it and going about her day because there was nothing else she could do. Boscha would not be told what to do and she certainly wasn’t going to change any time soon so Amity had given up the effort of getting her to be less of an asshole a long time ago. She didn’t have the energy to try anymore. But something about that comment had rubbed her the wrong way and she felt her hackles unexpectedly rising at the girl for the first time in years.
Then the bell was ringing again and she felt her heart leap into her throat. She was late for class. In all the years she’d been attending Cherryton Academy, she had never once been late for a class and now, thanks to Boscha and that… that otter girl , her perfect record was ruined. Oh, she was livid .
Clamping down hard on the urge to bare her teeth, she turned and stormed off, tail flicking angrily behind her and purposefully ignoring Boscha’s angry calls for her to wait. She may not be allowed to antagonize the girl but she didn’t have to put up with her either. She was already late as it was.
Amity spent the rest of the day thoroughly distracted. She’d been distracted before sure, but this was different. Her previously sluggish thoughts were now buzzing in her head, so much so that she failed to take any notes at all in her final classes of the day. She couldn’t stop thinking about the incident in the hallway or the otter that had caused it all.
She’d never seen that girl before and Amity was fairly certain she’d heard her mention a tour, so she had to be a new student. Why would she be transferring in the middle of the semester though?
She’d been strangely… fluffy for an otter. Boscha had also been right about her being weirdly strong, even though Amity would rather die than admit that. Boscha didn’t need anything to fan her already overinflated ego and Amity telling her she’d been right about anything would send the girl into orbit with all the hot air she’d be producing. But the otter had knocked her over fairly easily and Amity had to be nearly half again her size.
It was all so confusing and she found her mind fixating on the strange new girl. It was frankly quite irritating. It was bad enough that she’d run Amity over and made her late for class, but now she was running around in her head too? Rude.
Annoyed, confused and still weirdly flustered, Amity decided she would not be able to handle an entire evening with Boshca without losing her mind, so when Skara, another of her parentally pre-approved friends, asked Amity to hang out with her at the theatre club, Amity jumped on the opportunity. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do after all and the theatre kids were always entertaining. The club was a welcome treat.
Being around all that creative energy was refreshing. She’d always been an inherently creative person and she’d take any opportunity to soak up some of that theatre kid energy that she could, even if she could never openly explore that side of herself. A Blight performing like a commoner? Her parents would have heart attacks at the very thought. A rather appealing reason to join actually, if you asked her.
So, eager to enjoy a little vicarious escapism, Amity found herself sitting amongst the theatre band, idly listening to their excited chatter about the current compositions they were working on while she completed homework for the day. The background noise of their chatter was just the distraction from her weird day that Amity had needed. She glanced up briefly at the sound of light, high laughter to see Skara enthusiastically leaning over sheet music with three other members of the band. She was in her element here and it was nice to see the lioness coming out of her shell without Boscha around to stifle her.
Looking at her now and seeing how happy and open she was amongst her fellow club members, Amity felt bad for ignoring Skara the way she so often did. Skara was a sweet, gentle girl that only joined in on the bullying her group tended to enact on the smaller, weaker animals because she couldn't stand up to Boscha. In fact, if she weren’t forced to associate with her, Skara would most likely have been one of Boscha’s many victims. Unfortunately she, like Amity, was stuck with Boscha because of their parents.
Amity was fairly certain she might actually have befriended Skara naturally if their circumstances had been different. They were both gentle natured, despite being predators. They were also both artists, if in different ways and Amity would very likely have been coming to this club as a member if she’d been able to. They could have met as fellow performers. Instead, they’d been forced together by their parents at a very young age and that had left a bitter taste in Amity’s mouth about the entire relationship. It wasn’t Skara’s fault of course, but that didn’t make it any easier. They weren’t friends. They were just mutual accessories. She might also be just a tiny bit jealous of the fact that Skara got to openly explore her creativity while Amity was forced to suppress hers.
A commotion at the door drew her attention and when Amity looked up from the complex math homework she’d been working on she found herself frozen to her seat, eyes wide and body rigid at the sight of a familiar brown form barging into the room. It was her . The otter girl. She was here ! A hot flash of annoyance sent Amity’s fur ruffling again and she frowned, irritably trying to press the fur around her neck back down with a paw.
She’d come to the theatre club to distract herself from the girl and now she was invading her space again ? Watching her carefully, Amity saw how she bounced from person to person with apparent ease, animatedly chatting to anyone that would give her the time of day. The girl certainly wasn’t shy.
She made her way excitedly to the theatre director, chattering to the peacock brightly while he nodded at her with a big smile spread across his beak. Amity couldn’t hear what they were saying but it was apparent that she was joining the club. That was interesting. So she was an artist of some kind too. With a happy little hop, the otter shook the director’s wing and then darted away to go introduce herself to the other crew members.
Her presence was a huge disruption to the quiet chatter from earlier and Amity found herself unable to look away. Her boisterous attitude had changed the entire atmosphere of the club. The room felt bubbly and energized and Amity could feel that energy tingling under her skin like electricity.
She found herself wondering what it was the girl specialised in. With her loud, extroverted personality she might assume she was an actress but she appeared to be lingering around the backstage crew so maybe not. Blinking with the sudden realization that she was staring again, Amity huffed and tried to brush her curiosity aside. She had no reason to care what the new girl got up to in her spare time.
The otter was chatting to one of the stage hands when she glanced over in Amity’s direction. It had been the briefest of looks, her attention almost instantly back on the elephant she’d been talking to but then she froze and did a double take. Her eyes locked onto Amity’s and widened with recognition. Even from across the room, Amity could clearly see the deep brown colour of them brighten a little and something in her fluttered.
The girl was all warm tones of chocolatey brown from head to toe and, combined with her sunny attitude, she reminded Amity of the beam of sunlight she’d been basking in earlier that day. Looking at her felt a little like drinking a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day and oh God, what the hell was she thinking ?! Flushing once more and having to, yet again, pat down her ruffling fur, she clamped that ridiculous thought down hard, shoving it deep down to be ignored. What the hell was up with this otter? Worse, what the hell was up with Amity ? She’d never been so hyper focused on another person before, especially one she hadn’t even officially met yet and oh look, she was coming over now. Shit.
The girl was bouncing over to Amity with a bright smile spread across her face. Literally bouncing. She hopped from side to side on all fours in big gamboling leaps, seemingly without so much as a second thought about how silly she looked. Amity was reminded of what Boscha had said about her in the corridor earlier but she didn’t have much time to think about it because the girl was already popping up onto her hind legs right in front of her, grinning broadly.
“Hey! It’s you! I’m so glad you’re here!” She said with such enthusiasm that Amity was momentarily stunned. Having the girl’s attention focused so fully on her made that fluttery feeling in her chest flair to life and Amity glowered at her irritably. There was no way this girl was for real. Amity had met many people in her young life thanks to her parents’ incessant networking parties and in her experience no one was ever this friendly and open. Not honestly anyway. If they were it was all an act to lure you in. She had never fallen for it before and she wouldn’t now.
“Oh, it’s you . The inconsiderate otter that knocked me over in the halls and made me late for class. You should watch where you’re going, running around like that,” she said irritably and the other girl flinched, her eyes darting away uncomfortably for a second before turning back to look up at Amity with clear remorse. Ok, maybe that had been a little harsh. The girl had apologized after all. Still, Amity didn’t like the weird buzzy feeling she was giving her so she forced down her guilt over snapping at her and huffed.
“Yeah… I’m really sorry about that. I was just so excited to get to see the school, guess I wasn’t paying attention,” she said, one paw rubbing awkwardly at the fur on her neck and Amity noticed she had wrapped her tail around her legs again, the tip tapping lightly against her foot. A nervous habit perhaps?
The immediate apology startled Amity and she frowned. She’d been expecting some sort of push back. For the facade to slip. But the girl looked like she genuinely felt bad about what had happened and that was a little unsettling. She was far too willing to accept blame for something that Amity knew she’d probably been partly responsible for. She hadn’t been paying attention to where she’d been walking after all. Granted she didn’t usually need to but still… The otter perked up a little and gave Amity a small smile before extending her paw.
“I just realised I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Luz! Luz Noceda. It’s really nice to meet you…” She trailed off, raising her brows at Amity questioningly and Amity rolled her eyes. Fine, she’d play her little game. She took Luz’s paw and gave it one firm shake before releasing it like it might catch fire.
“Amity Blight.” Luz’s smile widened into a lopsided grin.
“Cute name. It suits you!” Amity’s fur instantly fluffed up all around her neck and her ears twitched. Had she just called her name cute ? Ridiculous. The nerve of this girl! She was not cute! She was fierce and powerful and why did she care what this stupid otter thought anyway? Luz didn’t seem to notice Amity’s reaction and plowed on happily, paws gesturing animatedly as she spoke. “Are you part of the theatre club too? I’m gonna be working with the art crew so maybe we can hang out here!”
She was bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet and staring up at Amity eagerly, her tail thumping against her foot a little faster now. Flustered and annoyed without really knowing why, Amity grunted and looked away.
“No, I’m just here with my friend. I have more important things to deal with than clubs,” she muttered. She caught the way Luz deflated in apparent disappointment out of the corner of her eye and found herself turning back to look directly at her again. She tilted her head up at Amity and gave her a hopeful little smile.
“Awe, that’s too bad. Hopefully I’ll see you around though, if your friend is part of the club!” The idea sent a weird thrill down Amity’s spine that immediately set her on edge. She did not like all these weird new feelings. Not one bit. “Well, I’m gonna go mingle a little. See ya around, Amity Blight.” She shot Amity a set of finger guns, clicking her teeth for good measure before she was off, darting back across the room to chat to the other animals milling about. Amity could only stare.
Who the heck was this girl? Why did she feel the sudden desire to join Skara here more often? This was absolutely ridiculous. She had far more important things to be dealing with and she could not afford distractions like Luz Noceda. The girl was an annoyance. A bright, bubbly, fascinating annoyance.
She watched as Luz talked amicably with her crewmates and felt a hot, angry bubbling in her gut at the way the girl was so happily chatting to them in the same way she’d just been talking to Amity. Like Amity was just another person here. Why the hell did it matter to her if the girl wanted to be equally as friendly with everyone else here as she’d been with her anyway? Luz could do whatever she liked, Amity had no reason to care. But she did care and it really pissed her off.
Frowning at Luz’s back from across the room, Amity decided that what bothered her was the fact that it had to be an act. She was faking it to get attention and Amity hated fakes. She’d dealt with far too many and she really did not feel like having another around. That had to be it. It was the only explanation.
Luz couldn’t possibly be this nice. Not in this school. Not in this town. Because if she was as open and kind as she seemed this place would eat her alive and, for some reason, that thought terrified Amity.
And so it begins. This is a collaborative fic I've been working on with JulipCord (known here as Juju3k16), an amazing artist who had the big brain idea of Lumity, but make it beastars! We've been planning and plotting and you guys are not ready! Basically we're working together to create the plot (which often involves us squealing over the increasingly adorable fluffy Lumity scenes we think of), I'm doing the writing and she's making the fantastic chapter art. I mean come on look at those pictures! Go give her love on instagram because girl deserves it!
Words form the artist herself: get ready to suffer my cute wrath :3
Between this and A Luminous Bond, updates aren't exactly going to be super fast but I'm hoping I can update both fics once a month at least. Sadly as much as I'd love to spend all day writing, I have a full time job so I hope you guys can bare with me here.
Some notes of the characters: Luz is 16 (second year student) and Amity is 17 (third year student). There will obviously be no sexual themes of any kind in this fic but they're going to be dealing with some heavy shit and, thematically, it makes more sense for them to be older.