The next morning had arrived, and Alena along with the others were readying up for their lessons.
While Tika, Maulana and Alena were finishing up changing into their uniforms, Ania and Yonka were already waiting at the dojo to fill in for the class. With them, Cheiro had joined to assist where needed, and stood off to the sidelines at the back of the practice hall. Elsewhere, Karra was already prepared. She wore her keikogi, just as all the students wore for discipline training. Her hair was done up, her training gloves slipped on, and before setting off, she picked up her knapsack to load Rammorias inside. He walked up to her on his hind legs, and climbed in as the two of them set off to class. Karra's face was filled with determination, as this was the day she would act.
The girls ran into each other in the dorm hall, Karra approaching with a serious face just as Alena and the others exited their room, while Elijah had been fitted on his usual perch over Alena's shoulder. Maulana showed a mixture of interest and surprise upon their group being approached by Karra, and Tika was the first one to speak.
"Oh hi Karra! Feeling a bit better today?" she asked, greeting Karra with a charming smile.
Karra took notice of Tika's demeanor, but cared not to reply to her greeting, as she laid eyes on Alena sternly.
"Alena... See me after class—alone," Karra insisted.
The brushing off—and serious nature of Karra's attitude—caused what cheerful demeanor that was shared among the three girls to drop off, as Alena's eyes filled with perplexity.
After speaking these words, Karra offered no explanation—and no time for the girls to react—as she continued passed them, offering little space as she made way towards the exit while bumping Tika out of the way. Maulana then felt a little offended by this, as she watched Karra walk off in a manner she had never looked to Karra with before.
"H-hey!" Tika exclaimed, being bumped by Karra. She couldn't believe Karra's abruptly serious, yet nonchalant attitude as she shoved passed. "What's your deal?!" Tika objected.
Alena watched as Karra bumped into Tika, then turned to face her as Karra walked away. Stepping forward, Alena had a sincere look of concern—but it wasn't for Tika's pride—it was for Karra, as she held her paws to her chest.
"Karra..." she called softly, wondering what was the matter.
Maulana approached behind Alena, and placed her hand on Alena's shoulder.
"Don't bother Alena, Karra has always been a bit uptight, but this isn't the same..." Maulana insisted.
Hearing this, Alena's face scrunched slightly, while her eyes seemingly grew larger as her look of worry for Karra deepened. Tika stomped her foot while making a sound of disapproval, as she was frustrated by their interaction and the rude lack of apology.
Maulana sighed through her nostrils, and relieved Alena's shoulder as she started toward the exit. "Come on, let's get going..." said Maulana, disdainfully.
As Alena saw Maulana starting to leave her side, she too started walking ahead—while Tika hesitated, almost pouting, before running a couple steps to walk alongside them.
Everyone had arrived at the dojo, and each student was moving to their usual space.
Kazran was waiting patiently at his position, and watched as everyone—including Karra—entered the practice hall, with Alena and the others being among the last few to arrive. His eyes lingered on Alena for a time as she found her spot in line, then his eyes turned to Cheiro who was watching him, and nodded to Kazran with a gentle smile.
"Okay! Is everyone ready?!" Ania called out from the head of the class, pumping her arms into her chest—her elbows coming to her sides before pumping one paw high into the air in a fist, while rising onto her toes with one foot, "Master Ken can't be here to guide you today, so my sister and I have been asked to fill in!" Ania's flood laid flat, and she dropped her arm to her side while hitting her first into her chest with the other—her tail flicking behind her, "Let's work really hard, and make sure to maximize our disciplines for the day!" She gave a little bounce, definitely appearing upbeat about teaching and was clearly ready to take on the day.
"Now we don't know exactly where Master Ken left off with his teachings, so Ania and I thought we would go ahead and switch things up for you just a little, and reflect on some of the lesson we have personally learned when we attended this class," Yonka explained, "So please pay close attention, and don't forget your prior teachings."
Having a new sense of familiarity and a new bond, Tika as well as Maulana watched the twins' announcement proudly, while Alena and Elijah observed with a soft intensity. Kazran had looked back over to Alena, catching the glimpse she had been giving to their new instructors. Soon after, he looked to the back of Karra—who was in the front row—noticing her stiff demeanor. His eyes slightly tensed, feeling something was different about her. Meanwhile, Karra stood there, thinking of nothing but the battle she now sought to have with Alena—a new, feeble student, so she could prove her worth. Her knapsack had been left tucked away, where Rammorias had been keenly, and patiently listening in.
As the class kicked into gear, Ania and Yonka worked in unison, displaying their movements in perfect sync. Each student stood patiently, waiting still and upright for instruction. There were lessons shown which were familiar to everyone, with other lessons which were a bit more advanced, marketed towards the older students.
Many of the younger students watched with interest, while Kazran on the other hand was unmoved. As such, he became distracted, as he was once again reflecting on Cheiro's words from before. The class continued, and each student practiced the techniques displayed before them. As with every one of Kenrir's teachings, the class ended with a duel between two students, which Ania and Yonka each selected at random.
With that, the day's lessons were over, and all of the students made their way to enjoy what free time they had for themselves. Karra had wasted no time taking her leave, as she had walked quickly passed the rest of the class.
Once most everyone had left, Ania, Yanka, Tika, Maulana and Alena gathered together to talk about the class—while Kazran had decided to approach Cheiro, who noticed him coming her way, and decided to wait where she was at the back corner from the head of the practice hall. Yonka had turned her head to see Cheiro was busy, and as such, decided it was time for their group to take their leave.
"We should get going," she stated; then all of them had done just that.
Outside the dojo, in the courtyard, Karra had been patiently waiting on the dojo building's front wall. Her knapsack rested slung over her shoulder, and a quiet conversation was being had between her and the knapsack.
"How much longer must I remain in here until she shows?" Rammorias impatiently asked from within, his eyes peeking out to Karra, her eyes locked onto his in a side-eyed glance.
"She'll be here any minute. Just be patient, and try not to cause a scene..."
Karra was well determined, but now more than anything, she was annoyed with the small beast which had been pushing her to fight Alena since it had laid eyes on her. Karra was exhausting, running on nothing but the fumes of her determination after the small beast refused to give her any rest.
"I'm not going to be the one making a scene before much longer," Rammorias stated excitedly, raising his head out slightly to show off his delightedly, devilish grin.
Agitated, Karra quickly moved her paw over the fold of the knapsack and shoved Rammorias back down into the bag. As if on queue, voices could then be heard approaching from inside the dojo's entrance, and she gripped the cling with both paws to shake it before moving to find a spot she could stash it again for the time being. Rammoriaswas well agitated by this gesture. It may have been over the fold of the sack resting on his head, but no one had dared touch him before, and he began to let out a growling hiss in anger—stopping just as he took heard the voices approaching.
"Finally!" he thought to himself.
As Alena and the others exited dojo, Karra set Rammorias down and went on to approach the group of girls from behind. They were all so caught up in their conversation that they hadn't noticed Karra approaching.
"Alena—" Karra called abruptly. Her voice matched the serious nature that lingered in her eyes.
As they turned, seeing this, they all paused and wondered of what was to happen next.
Karra remained silent, meeting Alena's gaze with an intensity. As she recognized the silent gesture, Alena looked to the other four around her.
"It's okay, you can all go on ahead," Alena gently insisted.
The twins—Ania and Yonka—looked to each other curiously, while Maulana protectively placed her hand on Alena's shoulder as she thoroughly examined Karra's strange behavior, and everyone else watched the interaction between the two. Alena in turned, noticed the glare Maulana was giving to Karra, and rose her paw to rest over Maulana's hand. This led Maulana to break her glare from the one she had looked up to for all this time, as she met Alena's gentle gaze.
"Are you sure?" Maulana asked her.
Alena gave a soft nod, blinking in the process. Maulana felt unsure, as Karra's behavior had been increasingly unusual for a while now, but she removed her hand from Alena's shoulder and stepped back—although be it reluctantly.
Tika, Maulana and the others turned off to leave the courtyard, while only Elijah remained; still perched on Alena's shoulder as always—and Alena watched as the others walked away. Karra hadn't taken her eyes off of Alena for even a second.
Once she saw everyone had left, Alena returned her gaze to Karra once again.
"I want you to fight me," said Karra, staring at Alena with a glare as serious as before.
Alena flinched, shocked by Karra's insistant words.
"W-what...? But why?" Alena asked, stepping a single foot back as she cupped her paws one of over the other in front of her chest—her tail fur standing on end at the sudden detail.
Karra's face tightened up, and she went into a battle stance—spreading her legs apart while bending at the knees as she hung one arm down while the other was risen out by her side. Alena's eyes pulsated—now stricken with a deeper, defensive concern.
"Come on Alena—! Show me everything you've got!" she screamed.
Karra was ready to give it her all.
There would be no holding back...