When they arrived back at their dorm, Maulana walked over to her personal storage chest at the base of her bed, which was on the right-hand side of the room, and began rummaging through herthings.
She had moved a few things in her chest, and out she pulled out a rolled-up fabric.
Tilting her head over and noticing this, Tika smiled at this implication, as she soon walked over to the storage chest at the foot of her own bed—where Alena had spent the last few nights sleeping.
"You know, with Alena doing her own specialized training, it's occurred to me that we haven't gotten much practice with our equipment in a while," Maulana stated, as she stared at the roll of sturdy fabric for a few moments.
By this point, Tika had already opened her chest—and without having to move anything around, she pulled out a sturdy, coiled up chain from the chest and immediately closed it.
Maulana reached into the roll of fabric, and out from it she pulled a single kunai, before spinning it around her hand and looking at it.
"Fine point. So maybe it's time to take this opportunity to get some in?" Tika asked, as she walked over to the center of the room and stood before Maulana, unraveling the chain and slipping her hand along the metal—allowing it to hang off her hand a bit, and had a small weight hung off the end.
Maulana smiled, "Those were my thoughts exactly."
Maulana soon closed her chest, and stood up, as she turned to face Tika who was already smiling at her. "So, should we head to the place?" Maulana asked her, kunai and fabric roll in hand.
Alena had been practicing discipline for a few days now, and had been working around a new specialized schedule alongside Kazran while Kenrir taught his normal classes. The two of them would have short practices, and would later join the rest of Kenrir's class as part of her disciplinary regiment. It was the day of a ceremony, and there were a few select students who hadn't shown up for the class.
Once the class had ended, these students would meet with their loved ones at separate points, and their instructor Kenrir would set out to see each of them off.
Oddly enough, although Karra had since disappeared, two women had soon set foot to The Great Divide—the same location that Karra would regularly visit, and was set to depart from on her own.
It had been a long time since Cinni and Mora had seen their daughter Karra, and they had since received the news of her disappearance which was still fresh on their hearts.
There they stood, holding onto one another, as they stared off beyond the path.
It wouldn't be long before Kenrir would approach the two women, as he would give his sincerest condolences for the disappearance of their daughter.
He would soon offer to set up a small shrine there, one that would symbolize good fortune for their daughter's return. With little else to be done, the two women agreed, and they remained there for the entire day—just as Karra had frequented the The Great Divide, waiting for Maybelle's return before her.
Early on the next morning, Variann would soon return from her search, as she would come back carrying a helplessly unconscious little girl...
Upon arriving at the temple grounds, Variann could be seen carrying the small, white-haired girl around the dojo, where she knew Kenrir would be settling in watching the sunrise. When she arrived, Variann remained quiet, looking up to Kenrir who had been staring off while holding a steaming cup of tea. A second cup was set beside him, and remained capped off—a habit he had long since formed, though he knew his earlier disciple would not return.
When he felt a presence, Kenrir turned down his gaze, and Variann entered his view. The faintest of surprise was well hidden from his gaze, and he soon set down his cup and rose to his feet. Kenrir dropped from the roof, and as he approached Variann, she read his eyes for a brief moment before turning her gaze to the little girl.
Kenrir was able to see girl's tail hanging out from the shirt that covered her, and being this close, took note of the length. The tip of the girl's tail wasn't typical, as it had appeared to have been cropped off at the end. There was little way of knowing just how long the girl's tail should have been. Another trait that he noted, was that her hands had dense, pointed nails resembling that of a human's—but of what could be seen on her dangling hands, were toe bean bumps on her otherwise human-like hands.
"Where did you find her?" Kenrir asked softly.
"About seventy-five blocks west... somewhere in the span of a waterfall..." Variann answered. "She was all alone..."
"How long has she been like this?" Kenrir followed.
Variann looked up to view Kenrir's directed gaze, as she hesitated on this question—for did not know for certain the answer.
"She has been out like this since before I found her..."
That's when Variann turned her attention back to the little girl.
"What do we do with her?" she asked softly.
It didn't take Kenrir long to think of the answer, as he reached his hand up and ran his fingers across their girl's single black lock of hair—stopping his hold right at the end.
"Take her into my quarters. I'll gather The Tanzha, and bring them over to examine her," he answered Variann.
With this answer, Variann returned her eyes to Kenrir, and soon she looked over to where Kenrir's cups were on the roof.
"What about your tea?" Variann asked Kenrir thoughtfully.
Kenrir briefly laid his hand over Variann's shoulder, and soon stepped off behind her.
"I've had enough," he said, just before setting off to contact The Tanzha from nearby in the village.
As Kenrir left her side, Variann didn't give a second thought, as she went on to carry the young girl in as instructed.
It was within Kenrir's quarters where the young girl lay, limp on Kenrir's mattress just where Variann had lain before.
The Tanzha were now in the room, both standing over the young girl by her bedside, as they thoroughly examined her and awaited for the young girl to wake up.
"What do you think happened?" Variann asked The Tanzha.
The Tanzha woman kneeled down, placing her closed fist on the ground below her, as she positioned herself close to the body. With her hood cloaking her, her other hand moved up towards her face. From a side view, our scene could see the Tanzha woman grab onto her mask. Pulling it slightly to the side at a view unseen, The Tanzha scanned over the small girl, then set her mask back into place.
It was only clear to The Tanzha male of just what his colleague was up to, yet not even he have seen even a glimpse of the woman's face—for his colleague had done so from his opposite side.
"She doesn't have any wounds or blemishes, so it may be better to first see if she wakes up," the Tanzha woman suggested.
This of course made little sense to Kenrir, and Variann most of all.
"I've been carrying her for hours through that neck of forest. If she was going to wake up, don't you think she would have done so by now?" Variann argued.
"With that being the case, it may be better if we take her back to our facilities to get a better look at this matter. It is after all, the case that few things we know could put one in such a state," suggested The Tanzha male.
Kenrir remained quiet.
"Isn't there anything you can do for her here? How did she get out in those woods? Why isn't she responding to—" Variann's question cut off there, as the young girl before them all finally began to stir. No longer was she lying completely limp, as her arms and hands began to shuffle side to side on the mattess.
Small whimpers could be heard, and The Tanzha women stood up, as everyone else had remained silent. As the girl stirred however, Variann rushed over to the bedside at the head of the mattress, and the small girl had cracked open her eyes. The girl stared into nothingness at first, and before long, her barely open gaze turning over her side—as she took in a blurred look at Variann, until her sight came into focus.
The small, white-haired nekomata opened her eyes further, and they could be seen in a dark color— similar to that of black.
The girl didn't speak a word, as she stared at Variann, trying to understand her face.
The moment of her staring carried on a bit too long, and becoming a bit unsure of how to feel about how the girl wasn't reacting in any sort of way, Variann decided to awkwardly break the ice.
"Hello... Are... you okay?" Vari asked her.
The girl didn't respond, and instead turned her head so her face was pointing upward, while keeping her eyes glued to Variann's out of her corners.
Kenrir shifted slightly, finding the girl's reaction and lack of response a bitunusual.
"Could she... possibly be mute?" he asked.
Hearing this question, the girl slowly lifted her gaze over Variann's shoulder to glance at Kenrir who was standing at the back of the room.
"Most unusual..." The Tanzha woman subtly said under her mask, with a tone that seemed like one of interest.
The girl's cat ears turned, shifting their position outward in curiosity, as her eyes and chin slowly angled over to the two masked individuals. In that moment, her fingers over the mattress at her sides began spreading and closing, as though she was just learning how to move them...