When the young girl opened her eyes, everyone was surprised, as a sense of relief trickled its way into one person more than the others. That slight sense of relief would soon be replaced with unease however, as the white-haired nekomata said no words, and simply stared at them all.
The girl twitched her fingers, rubbing the spread of them open and closed over the mattress linens. It was an unusual sensation. One which was like that of fine silk, slightly tickling her touch around the rims of her finger tips.
The girl's fluffy, white cat ears twitched slightly outwardly side to side, as she curiosly processed the soft sensations against her fingers; while still continuing to stare at The Tanzha.
Kenrir, standing at the back of the room, took note of this behavior, as something about everything he has seen so far seemed familiar.
"That's a long time to have been asleep, even on normal terms," Kenrir thought aloud.
As he said this, Variann and The Tanzha each turned back to look at him, as they were caught off guard by this well established statement.
"Perhaps the cause is something inside," Kenrir suggested.
As the girl's eyes were diverted to Kenrir, she watched how his mouth moved, and heard how his words flowed.
With everyone's attention on Kenrir, the girl subtly opened and closed her mouth in the faintest, as though she were attempting to speak for herself.
Noticing this minor action, Kenrir had wrapped his arms over one another, resting them over his chest.
"Perhaps mute isn't quite it," he corrected himself from earlier.
Variann had already realized it, even before Kenrir spoke up about it again, as she could her the faint clicking sounds behind her. Her attention perked up towards the sound, and when Kenrir finished his words, Variann had turned around to face her.
"Hello," Variann tried again, "Are you okay?"
Asking this, Variann lowered herself at the bedside, and the girl looked up at her with large, doe eyes.
Her lips held parted, and the girl's voice clicked as she tried to formulate the words.
"K... K..." a pause. "...'Kay..." she backwardly spoke.
Everyone twitched slightly, taken aback by the sound of the small girl's voice, as it seemed as though this was her first time to ever speak. The broken word was clear, but was spoken in an inhale rather than out.
The girl continued to stare, saying nothing more.
As her fingers came to stop moving along the linens, her hands soon gripped into them, folding the linens between her fingers. Realizing this foreign feeling, the girl soon rose her hand from the mattress, and held it lazily in front of her.
Variann and The Tanzha, with Kenrir in the back of the room, were observing closely every movement the girl would make.
The use of her arm felt foreign to her, and she soon turned it over as she spread out her fingers to examine the palm of her hand. She stared at her hand with a look on her face that seemed to be full of an innocent awe—her face soft, large eyes wide with unbeknownst wonder, and her mouth partially hung open.
It was like she was looking at something she had never seen before, and absolutely everything was new.
On the bulbs of her fingertips, and the bulbs between her fingers in her palm, there were ovular-shapes just like paw pads which were tender and slightly more defined than the rest of her skin, with a metacarpal pad under the base of her thumb.
The girl touched the pads of her fingers together in a slow, rhythmic motion, and her thick, sharp nails lightly clicked as she did.
By this point, The Tanzha were ready to make a decision.
"It may take us a bit to prepare, but we would like to take her in to examine her further," said the female.
"While we prepare, perhaps it would be best for you to gather someone to look after her. As she now appears to be awake, I would say there's no immediate danger," added the male.
Variann and Kenrir agreed, and with that, The Tanzha set off from Kenrir's quarters to make their preparations.
Variann and Kenrir watched as The Tanzha left, and soon after, Kenrir drew closer to Variann's side.
"So what are your thoughts?" Kenrir asked Vari.
Variann's eyes remained locked on the small girl, as a certain instinct seemed to begin brewing inside her.
"She's going to need clothes..." Variann stated. After all, it wasn't like they could just leave her to roam in an unfitted shirt forever.
The girl lay there, turning her head towards Variann with her eyes following in curiosity. The girl batted her eyes, as she continued to stare.
"C... C... C—ollll..."
The young girl's voice seemed to hum, as she continued trying to mimic the verbal tones of a selected word. This of course, caused Variann's eyes to perk up at her—and the top of Variann's hood shifted slightly, over the slight movement of her ears attempting to also perk up under the hood's specialized, and protective weight.
"Do you think you would like that?" Variann asked her softly.
That's when the girl changed the word she was trying to sound out, while watching how Variann's mouth moved closely.
"Lllll—ai... k..."
Variann had smiled at the young girl, as although she still felt quite concerned for the child, she couldn't help but find this experience to be a little charming.
"I'm sure you would like them. Anything would be better than what I've got you in now..." Variann admitted softly.
The little girl batted her eyes again, and she looked up from Variann lips to meet her gaze.
That's when Variann reached up her hand, and she clasped her palm over the small girl's, who was still holding it in the air. The girl's eyes followed the touch, and she examined the back of Variann's hand for a bit before turning her gaze back over to her.
There wasn't much the girl could say, and soon Kenrir turned his attention down towards Variann.
"Would you like some help?" he asked her.
Variann shook her head with her eyes remaining on the child.
"That's alright, I already carried her all this way. I can take her," Variann stated.
Reaching out, Variann pulled the sheet back off the girl, and rising up a bit, she slipped her hands under the girl and lifted her from the mattress—standing up.
The young girl didn't move much—she just continued to watch Variann with a doe-eyed glance as she was lifted from her position. Before she knew it, she was being huddled against Variann's chest, with her legs hanging freely over her arm—as she was being held in a seated position.
The young girl was light, more-so than one her size would be were most humans be trying to carry her, as her size was relatively that of an eight year old human child.
Variann matched the young girl's curious gaze, and without another word, she took a momentary glance at Kenrir, gave a gentle smile, and set off carrying the girl out of his quarters.
Noticing the little social queue, Kenrir could tell that Variann was experiencing something natural—that as far as anyone would know, she may not get another chance to experience for herself as she is again.
"This is good, I think..." he inwardly considered. "After all you've been through... you deserve something like this..."
"May you have moments like this going forward..." he then muttered. This was a quiet moment for Kenrir, and his thought was spoken a mere few moments after Variann had gently slid the door shut behind her.
The next moment, Kenrir took a deep breath as he closed his eyes.
"I wonder what you would think... I can only imagine how you'd react if you were here with us right now..."
Right now, Kenrir was thinking of none other than his previous disciple.
As Variann exited the dojo, the colors of their surroundings diverted the small girls curious eyes, as she gradually looked around, taking in the landscape.
It was now high noon, and a couple students were seen exiting the dormatory building as they were enjoying their day off.
Tika and Maulana, were on their way to check up on Alena, who had since left to start her training with the class prodigy.
As Variann turned left to head towards the temple ground pass, Tika and Maulana had entered the courtyard, stopping at the entrance as the sight of Variann carrying a small girl caught their eyes.
"Who is that...?" Tika asked softly.
Maulana seeing the girl, experienced an unusual, familiar feeling—and soon the two girls rushed over together.
Never had Variann felt so distracted before, as she wasn't even remotely concerned with the sounds of footsteps rushing over. She had been watching the girl react to the world around her, and looked up only as she stopped in front of the two girls who came to a sudden halt.
"Miss Variann...? Who is this?" Tika asked curiosly.
With a soft smile, Variann shook her head.
"I've no idea. I found her alone in the forest, and it doesn't seem that she's been able to speak," she explained.
The two girls looked at one another with a growing curiosity.
"I was just thinking... Without knowing much about her situation, can we not have something to call her?" Variann wondered aloud.
As she spoke in an unusually gentle tone, the two girls had their attention directed towards Vari, as part of themselves were slightly confused by this change of demeanor.
"Something to call her? You mean like giving her a name?" Tika asked.
"Doesn't she have one?" Maulana asked.
It was strange for her, as she couldn't shake the feeling there was something familiar about the young girl, so she felt certain that her thought must be the case—and yet, something inside herself wanted to help look after her.
"She didn't have anything on her when I found her," Variann said, addressing the question, "—so is there anything wrong with calling her something just for now?" she asked.
Tika and Maulana took one good, long look at the small girl, who had been following their conversation with silent glances. As they looked at each other once again, they were pretty sure they had the same answer in mind.
"So then... what do we call her?" Maulana asked hesitantly, only slightly unsure of the idea at the moment.
Variann had already made the decision, as she had been thinking about it from the very moment she set food out of Kenrir's quarters.
"I was thinking... Faris..." she answered in a soft warmth, with her gaze turned towards the young girl's once again.
The two girls stared at Variann, a bit taken aback by how motherly she was behaving, but it wasn't long before Tika lit up in her usual perkiness.
"Wow~!! That's a great name~!" Tika exclaimed. "It's really pretty~!"
Maulana's gaze then turned down to the young girl, as she stared off at her with acceptance.
"Faris..." she murmured, solidifying the name within her mind.
From that moment, Faris blinked her eyes curiosly, as she began shifting her glance between each of them before ultimately returning her eyes to the woman who held her—as they were gazing back at her—once more.
"That's right, Faris~" Variann murmured.