While training with Kazran, Alena was learning to control the primordial energies within herself.
As today wasn't an ordinary day for training—isolated amongst herself and her teacher—Kazran who was in charge of teaching her this time hadn't been against the idea of coming in comfort, so for a change Alena had been wearing the dress she had first arrived in. This after all, is what was most usual for her.
Alena was on her knees with her paws resting on them in meditation—something Kazran had been working with her on to learn how reach within herself to find her primordial power, the same powerful instincts that overtook her momentarily during her battle against Karra.
Her legs had been tucked under herself, and Kazran had been standing a distance away from Alena—keeping an eye on her focus, and soon quietly approached her. Alena's ear twitched as Kazran approached.
"It looks like you're struggling," Kazran noted, as he turned to the side to stand beside her. "Have you found it yet?"
Hearing Kazran's question, Alena struggled to keep her senses separated, between listening to what Kazran had to say, and maintaining focus on the current task. That's when her face scrunched slightly.
"I'm trying..." she muttered, "It's not easy..."
Kazran took a deep breath, closing his eyes momentarily as he looking within himself, trying to find a way to simplify the process.
That's when Alena however, had spontaneously pounced up onto her feet and sweeping her right foot back, she then stomped forward—lunging her right paw forward to strike the air, curling her paw into a fist. She held her pose for just a second, then closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath before repeating the motion to strike the air again.
As soon as Alena sprung up, Kazran opened his eyes to see Alena attacking the air.
"What are you doing?" he asked her in a tone of perplexity.
Alena quickly spun on her feet, holding up her clenched paws out in front of her chest as she smiled at Kazran almost playfully as she gave the slightly bounce—her feet not leaving the ground.
"Imitating you~!" she exclaimed, referring to Kazran's display during her very first class.
Kazran crossed his arms and tilted his head at Alena, giving her an irritably confusedlook.
"'Imitating' me?" he asked.
"Yeah! That strike you did in class! The one that moved the wind chimes the other day! I was trying to do that!" Alena explained energetically, as she closed her eyes and gave a wide grin.
Kazran held his demeanor, as his expression tightened further.
"Okay, but you're not going to achieve that with this kind of energy," he explained.
Alena spun back to her original position, as her arms were dropped down to her side.
"Well, it was worth a shot," she spoke bright-sidedly. Kazran's statement hadn't deterred her in the slightest.
Kazran straightened up, dropping his arms as her rotated over, facing the same direction as Alena while standing by her side.
"Let's just focus on meditating for now. You need to be able to manage your focus," Kazran spoke calmly.
Alena dropped herself to the ground obediently, all be it reluctantly, as she sat with her legs spread out behind herself—different from how she had been doing before.
"Hemmm—!" she hummed in a practical harumph, as she was displeased by this instruction. She wanted to complain, as the quiet focus was becoming a bother for her.
Alena huffed, and as she did, Kazran knelt down and propped himself on his knees—just as Alena had before.
"Here, I'll do it with you," Kazran stated, understanding her frustration.
Kanran then rested his paws on his knees just as Alena had done, and proceeded to close his eyes. When Alena saw him doing this, she seemed to feel more willing, as she scootched towards him just barely before repositioning herself and closing hers as well.
The two sat quietly, focusing—but while Kazran's expression was calm and settled, Alena's wasn't quite at ease. It had become difficult to remain still for so long, as she tried to meditate.
Elijah, who was of course close by, had quickly grown used to this pattern—and after watching the regular meditations for a while himself, he had eventually gotten into the habit of resting his eyes as Alena would attempt to perform her meditations.
The three of them were secluding their trainings behind the temple, in the rear courtyard, where few people would be passing through on a day such as this—and they were doing so underneath the canopy of the rear courtyards's large, beaten tree.
It was located at the far right corner from the library—or in the left corner from the pathway between the front and rear courtyards, straight ahead from that. From the library, the back of the temple would be to the left, with the pathway just beyond that.
As Alena and Kazran had gone back to their practice, Elijah soon propped himself into a seated position similar to theirs, as he too closed his eyes once more as they had.
Strangely enough, after just a few minutes of imitating their meditation, a sudden spark had materialized out of thin air in front if him.
This had startled Elijah greatly, as he immediately ran over by Alena and leapt onto her shoulder, before leaping up into the tree above.
When the spark occured, the sound had snapped over the attention of both Alena and Kazran, as they were startled from the abrupt, unfamiliar noise that had came so suddenly from close by.
"Uh, hey!!" Alena complained, as she was quickly taken by surprise again when Elijah had used her shoulder in such an unexpected way, throwing her briefly off balance.
Her head wiped back and forth between the sudden noise, and the branch where Elijah was now residing on, as she had become not just startled—but confused as well.
Kazran's attention hadn't turned away from the focal point of the spark, and he soon stood up, hoping to get a better look at the area.
"What was that?" he questioned.
Alena had turned her attention back towards where the sound had occured, but she too was unable to see anything of significance.
"Maybe it was a stick breaking?" Alena suggested. After all, what else could it have been?
"I'm not so sure..." Kazran muttered, taking the high volume and frequency of the sound into consideration.
Alena turned her attention back up towards Elijah, and Elijah returned her glance by giving a unsettled meow.
Alena and Kazran both understood that Elijah too was at a loss, and after a few moments of looking at nothing, Kazran had decided to prop himself back down once again.
Alena had lowered her gaze, looking down to Kazran as he tried to clear his mind for now and return to the training at hand.
Alena's watched Kazran for a few moments, then looked over again to make sure there was nothing out of the ordinary which might've gone overlooked.
The three had soon settled, but Elijah had refused to come down from the tree, as he remained alert for anything that could cause such a sudden sound.
As she focused, Alena finally began resting her mind—easing the tensions upon her person—as she started to see the empty within oneself.
Meanwhile inside the village, a woman could be seen sitting in a wooden chair, hand sewing together some fabric. The needle and thread movements were steady, and expertly fluid—the shades of color overlapping beautifully.
Time would be short before the scene would pan over across the indoor surroundings of Cheiro's hut, and by the door, a dress of slim elegance was on display—the primary color being red.
The dress itself is smooth, bearing a silk shine. It was like that of a Cheongsam dress from Chinese culture—only instead of having a section that would cuff around the neck, the top of the dress had no fabric to cover the wearer's neck, and instead has a neckline that comes down into a V. A black, fluff-lined rim was finely sown into it, and instead of short sleeves, small black frills—designed to rest comfortably around the shoulder—are present. Fine white, semi-elastic ties held the V opening together, which appeared to be made with a similar shiny material. Down towards the hem, the dress hung divided in a V-shape, coming down into points on either side—while being the same way on both the front and the back. Along the hemline was a strip of black silk which traced along the edge of the hem. The dress was long, and was perfectly made to allow room to grow. Along each side, halves of large, shiny black, decorative X's could be seen trailing down from just below the shoulder line, ending just above where the center V would begin on the hem.
A brief moment after laying sight on the dress, a knock is heard at the door, and the scene pans over as we hear fabric setting shuffles—along with Cheiro standing up from her seat, as she walks over to open the door.
Just outside the hut, we see Variann standing on the other side—still holding the white-haired girl in her arms. Faris had been curiously turning her attention all around her surroundings, and had looked to the door as Variann's knock had toned. The moment the sound of knocking ended, Faris had turned her attention back to Variann, staring up at her with a similar curiosity.
As the door opens wide, Cheiro's attention is immediately drawn to the little girl. The girl stood out, being an unfamiliar face throughout the whole of the village. Faris hadn't immediately turned her own attention away from the one carrying her, and Variann soon greeted Lady Cheiro—serious at first, but unable to help but crack a gentle smile.
"Miss Cheiro," Variann casually greeted, giving only the slightest nod as she turned on her shoulder in front of her.
"Well good day Miss Variann—and just who is this little dear?" Cheiro asked warmly.
Faris finally turned her attention to Cheiro upon hearing her voice, and she reacting with some surprised as she saw the older woman, Faris's eyes briefly widening further as she took the sight of Cheiro in.
"This is Faris," Variann answered softly. "I'm here to get this little one some clothes. Do you by chance still have some selection available?"
Tika and Maulana, who had run into Variann and Faris earlier, had been torn between feeding into their curiosity about the young girl and getting in some training—however ultimately, after some shared discussion with Variann, the two girls had decided upon the latter.
Upon hearing Variann's question, Lady Cheiro gave a warm smile to Variann, and soon turned her gaze upon the silent, doe-eyed little girl.
This is where Variann would go to get the clothes she sought. Clothes that are befitting of the one in her arms.
"Right this way dear," Cheiro invited kindly, as she stood aside to welcome the two inside.