Spirit Animal: Pride of the Panther

Ch. 22: Surprise after Surprise

Pretty soon, Luz woke up.

"Mmm." Luz let out as she opened her eyes, seeing her dear friend right in front of her.

"Luz! You're awake!" King shouted as he jumped and hugged her.

"K-K-King?" Luz asked, her vision still a little blurry.

"I'm so glad you're up! I've been so worried after Eda told me about what happened!" King said as Luz rubbed her eyes to regain her vision.

"Eda?" Luz asked as memories of last night came back, "W-w-where is she?"

"She's in the kitchen, making us some lunch. She spent most of the day fixing up the house after Dell dropped me and Hooty off." King said before pointing next to Luz. "He also left that for you."

Luz looked to her side and saw the strange log of black wood.

"What... is it?"

"It's palistrom wood." Eda said, coming in from the kitchen, "Good to see you up, Kid."

Luz was so happy to see Eda was alright but was more curious about the log of wood. Though she put more attention to her breakfast as Eda handed her a plate of food.

"Thanks but what's palistrom wood?" Luz asked, looking at the log.

"It's what a witch's palisman, like mom's Hawksly and my little Owlbert, are carved from. When I was growing up, a certain age, you're allowed to carve your own palisman from that wood." Eda said as she pointed to the log. "Nowadays, the trees are endangered, so it's hard to get a hold of one. I guess dad has been helping replant trees and decided you need to make your own. But you've been through a lot, so you can take your time and think about it. By the way... your friends came by when you were sleeping, they wanted you to meet them when you woke up."

"Really? Where?" Luz asked before digging into her food, realizing she was so hungry.

"They said the Market, they were going to hang out today and wanted to know if you'd like to join." Eda said, "So why don't you get a little food and head on out."

Luz nodded as she continued to eat her "breakfast", thankful it was mostly meat and she could fill up quickly to see her friends. Though she was glancing at the black palistrom wood next to her, thinking a bit about what she would carve it into when she was ready.

"Alright, done, see you later Eda!" Luz said.

She ran out the door and shifted into her panther form before running into the woods.

'I'll worry about my potential palisman later.' Luz thought, focusing more on her friends and possibly putting them at ease if Eda told them about her injuries.

She made it to the end of the forest and shifted back, before running out.

"Willow? Gus?" Luz called out in the crowded market.

She bumped into someone and looked up, seeing familiar three eyes.

"Luz?" Boscha asked in surprise.

"Boscha? Oh, I'm sorry about that. I'm just in a rush." Luz said to the triclops.

"A-a-actually... I'm glad I ran into you." Boscha said.

"Boscha, there you are." Skara said, walking up to her, "Oh, high Luz, you look a little... beaten."

"Yeah, it's been a rough day." Luz said, "So, why are you so happy to have run into me?"

"I... I wanted... I need to-"

"Take your time, Boscha, you can do it." Skara said.

"I... I wanted to apologize for how I acted towards you." Boscha said.

"Really?" Luz asked, VERY surprised by this.

From the moment they met, Boscha seemed like a very prideful person and was never willing to admit her faults. Yet here she was, apologizing for acting so hostile towards Luz for being friendly with Skara.

"I've... done some thinking." Boscha said, "I want to change, I... I want to be someone that Skara can be proud to love."

Skara blushed and smiled.

"Aaawww. Well apology accepted." Luz said with a smile, "I hope to see you later."

Luz bid the couple goodbye before rushing off to find her friends. She found Willow, Gus, and Amity.

"Hey, guys!" Luz called out to them.

"Luz!" They said, seeing and rushing to her!

"We went to the Owl House and Eda said you were sleeping." Willow said, "Did you spend all of last night studying?"

"Studying? Oh oh! Yeah, I was studying and I ended up crashing in the couch." Luz said.

'I guess Eda didn't tell them the truth.' Luz thought.

"Well, now you're here, let's go do something." Gus said.

"I've had my eyes on something cool for a while. How about we start there?" Willow asked the group.

"Sounds like a plan." Luz said with a smile. "Let's go."

The group went through the market, expecting a fun time. Things were going well for the group... until something or someone had ruined their outing together.