Love Blossoms in Strange Conditions (Werewolf x Herb)

Chapter 1

Herb woke up that morning feeling a bit ill, but still had a favor to do that day. He lifted himself from his bed, only to feel a horrible shiver travel down his spine. Goodness, was it cold today! Herb shook it off though, the kingdom never rests even on a chilly day.

That morning, Herb had brought Snow Sugar over to Clover cookie while he would be gone to inspect some flowers that were dying at the school Latte taught at. Latte seemed troubled by it, Herb noted mentally, sensing that something unusual was happening to the plants. Herb was the one for the job, so he promised to check the plants. Of course, that WAS his job. 

Unfortunately, that day was a horrible day to go out. Herb was not pleased with the massive amount of wind that was going through the streets, causing papers and scraps to fly everywhere. Leaves flew in the air as Herb struggled to walk, it only worsened Herb's fear of not being able to return home in time to make a meal. With his tight schedule, it could probably count as an irrational fear.

Once he had arrived, it was very noticeable how the flowers heavily impacted the school's atmosphere. The dying Pansies made the school look gloomy and eerie, something that would definitely scare a few students attending. Luckily, school wasn't open this day, as Latte mentioned, so Herb wouldn't have to deal with concerned students. Instead, he had to deal with concerned teachers.

Almost immediately, Herb had bumped into Latte when arriving at the school.

"There you are!" Latte greeted Herb, "a bit cold today, hm?"

"No kidding! I can barely walk!" Herb raised his voice to beat the volume of the wind.

"Come now! It's these flowers here, it shouldn't be too much to look at, right?"

Herb gave a reassuring smile. "Yeah, this should be a quick and easy trip."

Just as Herb said that, something about the Pansies threw him off. Some of the flowers had begun to wilt away, while the others had been frozen before they got the chance to die.

"My... my, that is quite strange," Herb squinted his eyes.

Latte's suspicions grew. "What? What happened to them?"

"We should probably record the temperatures at night... some of these flowers are frozen over."

"Frozen over?" Latte was puzzled, "why, autumn is no where even close to ending! How did it get so cold so quickly?"

Herb thought for a bit, "well, it shouldn't be this cold. I know it's a magical school and everything, so maybe a spell caused this? I mean, the wind is cold right now, but not enough to form frost or ice."

Latte looked down at the ground, considering the idea, "well, I guess so, but spells don't really last that long. There's always-"

"Always..?" Herb questioned her.

"A curse," Latte let her sentence spill, "but obviously curses aren't allowed on school grounds. And if a curse were casted, one of the staff members would have seen it."

Herb continued with the questions, "What about at night?"

"No one's allowed in or out at night, it's to ensure the safety of staff and property of the school. Unless, a staff member casted it, but that can't be-"

Herb stopped her. "You can't rule out that possibility."

"But I can!" Latte spoke out, "I know the staff members that stay over night, and none of them know of an ice curse this powerful."

Herb glanced at Latte, "so this will have to remain a mystery?"

"Honestly, it most likely will until we launch an investigation."