Hanae saw what Kael and Ryven was wearing and decided to change it into a much more appropriate mountain clothing of her choosing.
Both matching blue work out clothing that is surprisingly very flexible and soft.
Hanae was still fixing Kael's collar when the entire mountain suddenly shook with a voice powerful enough to echo across the valley.
"CALEB BENTON! I CAN HEAR YOU FROM UP HERE!"
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Every adult inside the dressing wing froze instantly.
Kael's eyes widened in pure horror.
Then—
without hesitation—
he physically moved behind Ryven.
Fast.
Very fast.
Ryven blinked once as Kael grabbed the back of his sleeve like an endangered civilian seeking immediate shelter.
"Oh no," Kael muttered quietly.
Ryven looked down slightly.
"…what."
Kael peeked carefully over Ryven's shoulder toward the upper mountain cliffs.
"Master Sora is awake."
The reaction around the room was immediate.
Serena physically looked away.
Jules covered his mouth with one hand.
George Benton outright failed to hide his grin.
Which somehow made the situation infinitely worse.
Leon immediately looked interested.
"…Master Sora."
Kael pointed accusingly without leaving Ryven-shaped cover.
"Do not sound curious."
Too late.
Everyone already sounded curious.
Far above the valley, hidden among the upper mountain terraces and ancient cliffside structures—
wooden slippers suddenly echoed sharply against stone.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
The sound moved impossibly fast.
Not normal walking.
Not even running.
The rhythm echoed through the mountain pathways with terrifying precision while cherry blossoms drifted downward through the morning air.
Then the adults saw her.
And immediately lost their minds again.
A tiny old woman wearing ancient training robes came sprinting down the cliffside pathways with the speed of an orbital assault unit.
Wooden slippers striking stone fast enough to sound dangerous.
Cherry blossoms exploded around her as she moved.
The old woman vaulted cleanly over a railing.
Commander Hale physically blinked.
"…that's not safe."
"She's eighty-six," Serena answered calmly.
Silence.
"What."
"She says the mountain keeps her young."
Supreme Admiral Calder stared upward while the old woman practically flew down three separate stairways without slowing once.
"…that woman moves faster than my officers."
"She hit Mercer with a stick yesterday," Jules added helpfully.
Commander Mercer immediately pointed from farther down the terrace pathways.
"I WAS NOT READY."
"You challenged her to a duel," George answered.
"She's tiny!"
"She threw you into a pond."
Mercer looked deeply wounded by the memory.
"I maintain the terrain was biased."
"No," Hale answered flatly. "You lost to someone's grandmother."
"She's not someone's grandmother."
Master Sora's voice echoed instantly from halfway down the mountain.
"I AM EVERYONE'S GRANDMOTHER."
The entire valley broke immediately.
Even Garrick laughed quietly under his breath.
The old woman finally landed at the bottom terrace with enough force to scatter cherry blossom petals everywhere.
Then immediately pointed directly at Kael.
Found him instantly.
Even while he was hiding behind Ryven.
"THERE YOU ARE."
Kael attempted to retreat farther behind Ryven somehow.
Impossible considering Ryven was not a building.
"Hello Master Sora."
"DON'T 'HELLO MASTER SORA' ME."
The tiny old woman marched directly toward him while every admiral, commander, and Great House elder instinctively moved out of her way.
Not because they feared her.
Because the atmosphere around her radiated dangerous grandmother energy powerful enough to destabilize governments.
Master Sora stopped directly in front of Ryven first.
Then slowly looked upward.
And upward.
And upward.
"…you're large."
Ryven blinked once.
"…thank you?"
"Good."
Another pause.
"Easier to hide behind."
Kael looked betrayed instantly.
"Master."
"You think I did not see you scurrying."
"I was strategically relocating."
"You were fleeing."
"That is an aggressive interpretation."
Master Sora smacked him lightly across the forehead instantly.
Several admirals physically flinched.
Supreme Admiral Calder outright stared.
Nobody—
absolutely nobody—
hit Caleb Benton casually.
Except apparently this tiny grandmother from the mountain.
Kael rubbed his forehead dramatically.
"You abuse your favorite disciple."
"You survived."
"That's not the point."
"You are alive enough to complain. Therefore the correction succeeded."
Leon physically turned away laughing.
Even Ryven failed to hide the tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Kael looked deeply offended.
"RYVEN YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT ME."
"You ran behind me."
"That was tactical."
"That was survival instinct."
"Exactly."
Master Sora ignored all of them completely and finally turned toward the others.
The room somehow straightened automatically.
Even Garrick.
Even Valecrest.
Even Supreme Admiral Calder.
Because the tiny old woman standing beneath drifting cherry blossoms somehow radiated the exact same terrifying authority as the mountain itself.
Then suddenly—
she smiled.
Warm.
Bright.
Dangerously kind.
"Welcome."
The tension inside the room softened instantly.
Master Sora gestured proudly around the valley.
"You are making wonderful chaos already."
"That's mostly Mercer," Leon answered immediately.
"HE CHALLENGED ME FIRST," Mercer shouted from the training terraces.
"You challenged a historical reconstruction before breakfast," Hale answered flatly.
"That is not the issue."
"It absolutely is."
Master Sora waved one hand dismissively.
"Good."
Everyone blinked.
The old woman nodded proudly toward the training sectors.
"A dojo without noise is a dead dojo."
That sentence landed strangely deep inside the valley.
Because suddenly—
this entire place stopped feeling like preservation.
It felt alive.
Not a monument.
Not a hidden relic buried beneath the mountain.
A living home.
A living school.
A living history still breathing beneath waterfalls and cherry blossoms.
Master Sora turned back toward Kael again.
Then narrowed her eyes.
"You are thinner."
Kael immediately looked defensive.
"I almost died."
"Yes," she answered calmly.
Another pause.
"Very rude of you."
Leon outright lost composure.
Even Ryven looked away briefly.
Kael looked deeply offended.
"MASTER."
"You made your mother cry."
Serena immediately looked away again.
George Benton outright lost the fight against smiling now.
Jules looked emotionally exhausted already.
Kael muttered quietly:
"I survived though."
Master Sora's expression softened instantly.
Just slightly.
Enough.
"Yes," she answered quietly.
Then she reached up slowly and fixed the part of his collar Hanae had not finished yet.
Gentle.
Careful.
Like she had done it a thousand times before.
The entire room softened after that.
Because suddenly the impossible mountain, the hidden dojo, the ancient masters, the dragon painted across the cliffs—
all of it finally made sense.
This place had never been built around combat.
It had been built around care.
Master Sora studied Kael's face quietly for another second.
Then she reached up again—
this time pressing one weathered hand gently against his cheek.
"You scared everyone."
Kael's sarcasm disappeared immediately.
The valley quieted too.
Because there it was.
The thing underneath all the jokes.
All the laughter.
All the chaos.
Fear.
Wrong Sky still lingered inside everyone standing here.
Inside Serena.
Inside Jules.
Inside Ryven.
Inside the instructors.
Inside the younger generation.
Inside Kael himself.
Master Sora's thumb brushed once beneath Kael's eye.
"You do not get to throw yourself away simply because you are willing to suffer for others."
The room went completely still.
Kael looked down quietly.
"…I know."
"No," she answered softly.
Another pause.
"You understand sacrifice."
Her hand lowered slowly.
"But you are still learning survival."
That landed harder than anyone expected.
Because suddenly—
the entire valley remembered exactly what Kael had done.
The beam.
The convoy.
The battlefield.
The way Ryven refused to let go of him afterward.
The way Serena and Marcus entered the war personally.
The way the entire Federation almost lost him.
Master Sora looked toward Ryven next.
Her eyes sharpened slightly.
"And you."
Ryven straightened instinctively.
"Do not encourage his nonsense."
Kael looked offended immediately.
"EXCUSE ME."
"You would follow him directly into death," she continued calmly.
Ryven did not answer.
Which honestly answered the question perfectly.
Master Sora sighed dramatically.
"Oh good. Two difficult children."
Marcus folded his arms quietly beside Serena.
"…she figured them out fast."
"She raised Kael," Jules answered.
"That explains everything," Hale muttered.
Master Sora finally stepped back slightly while studying Ryven more carefully now.
Not suspiciously.
Curiously.
Then thoughtfully—
she nodded once.
"You stay close."
Ryven blinked once.
"Yes."
"Good."
Another pause.
"He needs someone who refuses to move."
The entire room softened again.
Because yes.
That was Ryven.
Steady.
Immovable.
The person who stayed.
Kael looked briefly toward Ryven after that.
Quietly.
Softly.
Then immediately ruined the emotional atmosphere himself.
"She still hits me more than anyone else here."
"You deserve it more than anyone else here," Serena answered immediately.
"BETRAYAL."
"Truth," Ryven corrected calmly.
Kael physically pointed at him.
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE MY SUPPORT SYSTEM."
"I am."
"THIS FEELS HOSTILE."
Master Sora smacked him lightly again.
"Stop yelling."
"Yes Master."
Then naturally—
she ruined the emotional recovery immediately.
Master Sora stepped back.
Looked Kael up and down critically.
Then pointed toward Ryven.
"This one feeds you properly?"
Kael nearly choked.
Ryven visibly malfunctioned.
Supreme Admiral Calder coughed violently into one hand.
Leon physically walked away laughing.
Valecrest outright turned his face toward the lake trying to recover composure.
Even Serena failed to hide the tiny twitch at the corner of her mouth now.
Kael pointed dramatically.
"MASTER."
"What."
"You cannot ask things like that in front of admirals."
"Why not."
"Because now they're going to make eye contact weirdly."
Several admirals immediately looked away.
Which honestly proved his point.
Master Sora looked completely unimpressed.
"If he feeds you properly, then he stays."
Ryven blinked slowly.
"…stays."
"Yes."
Another pause.
"You look reliable."
Kael looked delighted instantly.
"Congratulations. The mountain adopted you."
Ryven looked toward him flatly.
"I feel threatened."
"You should."
Master Sora nodded approvingly.
"Good instincts."
The valley dissolved into laughter again.
And somewhere deep inside the hidden mountain beneath drifting cherry blossoms, ancient dragon walls, and waterfalls echoing through the morning air—
the Main Dojo quietly decided Ryven Voss belonged there too.