MIKA POV:
The next morning I woke up before the sun was even out. Isola was arguing with someone. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I listened to the conversation happening in the study.
"That's not going to happen. You will need to grow up eventually. You can not stay locked up in here for the rest of your life!" Ishi yelled.
"We could have done this days ago, before they returned. Now we have to deal with them! I blame you!" Isola yelled back. "And because it's your fault, you will have to accommodate me." Isola stomped her foot like a child throwing a fit.
"Fat chance." Ishi said back, sounding pissed. "You can't be afraid forever. Besides, the only people in the arena will be us and maybe a couple other warriors. They won't dare bother you with me around." Ishi stood, imposing as ever and crossed her arms.
I decided to try to act normal, even though I was listening in on their conversation. I got up and started getting dressed for training.
"The warriors aren't who I'm worried about. they can talk all they want. You know who I don't want to see.." Isola said, sounding a little depressed.
"Good gods, just get over it." Ishi snorted.
"It's not that easy!" Isola yelled back, then quietly added, "Besides, what if he decided to go there today? I don't think I could handle seeing him again." Isola looked bashful and was twirling her fingers.
"You aren't getting out of this. Enough of your hypotheticals. He's going to be too busy with his new fiancée to bother with you anyways. Show up after we have finished practice for the day."
I finished dressing and didn't know what to do with myself so I made my way over to look for food in the kitchen.
"Can we wait until it gets dark? That way no one else will be there?" Isola asked.
"We will have to ask your eavesdropping houseguest." Ishi said sarcastically.
I nearly jumped out of my skin. The fur on my tail stood on end and my tail shot up. They both looked over at me, standing in the kitchen with a leftover bread roll in hand and mouth open to take a bite.
"Umm.." I tried to act natural, despite my clearly bothered appearance. "It's kind of hard not to listen, you were being very loud…"
"Whatever." Ishi said, sounding annoyed. "Isola wants to try the transformation potion tonight. Can you meet us in the arena when it gets dark or will you be gallivanting in the woods again?" She looked angrier than usual, a dark aura surrounded her as she looked at me with her arms crossed.
Isola was standing just behind her, looking at me with pleading eyes.
"I thought it wasn't going to be ready for another week?" I asked, with mild disappointment.
"It's ready now. There was no miscalculation, that was my mistake." Isola said.
"Oh.. Um, sure I guess." I tried to sound casual.
"Okay. Happy now?" Ishi said angrily, directing it at her sister then at me.
Isola slumped away back to her books as Ishi and I were preparing to leave for training. I grabbed my bag and headed out the door with her. The sun was just starting to come out and everything outside was peaceful; a stark contrast to the war zone that was just inside the house.
Ishi and I walked in silence for a while. Finally she looked down at me and said, "Even if we succeed in forcing the transformation, you will still need more training to be able to transform at will and to control your beast."
"Of course." I said.
I was feeling a little melancholy at the idea of this all ending so soon. Every day here is busy and eventful, I feel like I'm finally becoming who I am supposed to be. It's not that I don't want to go back to Hilraine with Marshall, a lot of the people there are quite nice. I feel like I have a purpose here though. I wish they would let us live here. But that wouldn't be possible either. They don't allow any non-felines to live here, as soon as I am done being treated we will be kicked out.
Dania has been asking around about other chipmunk villages, she's not going to be staying with us either.
"Hey, snap out of it." Ishi said, snapping her fingers in my face.
"Sorry, lost in thought." I said as I realized we were already at the arena.
I could hear the sound of people sparring below. I looked at her curiously since up until now we have been the only ones here every day.
"The king and his warriors returned yesterday. They train here too. Just ignore them though, you are here with me." She said as she jumped down into the arena.
I followed suit and landed steadily and silently, just as she taught me. We found an area to use and we started with our meditation. Despite the ruckus around us I was able to concentrate quite well today.
Everything faded away and I felt peaceful. I followed Ishi's instructions to call out to my beast.
'Hello?' I called out to the emptiness
I felt a gentle stirring as a quiet voice responded, 'hello?'
'I did it! I found you!' I said, giddy that it finally worked.
'sleepy…' the voice quietly responded
'Wait! Don't sleep yet! I want to talk to you!' I called out
There was no answer this time. The presence I felt before was gone too. I opened my eyes to see Ishi staring back at me.
"It worked!" I said excitedly.
"It did?" She asked back, skeptically
"Well kind of. She was there but she was sleepy." I told her.
"it's impressive that you were able to communicate with her. It takes some warriors decades to be able to do that." Ishi said.
"Wait, really? Then…" I recalled a couple days ago when I tried meditating and it didn't work. I told Ishi that it didn't work and she smacked me upside the head and yelled at me for being useless.
As if she could read my mind she simply said, "You lacked focus. See what you can accomplish when you are focused?" She sounded like she was berating me more than applauding me.
"Hmmph." I grumbled and pouted.
"Alright let's move on." Ishi said as she assumed the first stance for the Ki maneuvers.
I followed her every movement with precision, at one point I caught up and we were perfectly in sync. I could feel the power surging through my body as I closed my eyes and performed the rest of the set naturally. I didn't realize that the other warriors nearby had stopped sparring. They were staring at us in awe. When we finished the last pose, I opened my eyes and to see a variety of felines standing nearby and clapping. I was embarrassed and confused as I looked over at Ishi. They were all staring at me, including her. I was so confused.
She walked over, brusquely pushing her way through the small crowd. "Okay, shows over. Get a move on!" She stood in front of me with her hands on her hips, as if warning them all away.
They slowly dispersed and whispered among themselves. I pricked up my ears to listen in and Ishi smacked me on the head.
"Owwwww." I said as I grabbed my head.
"That's a bad habit of yours, eavesdropper. Now let's keep moving." She walked over to grab the bamboo poles.
"Why were they staring, Ishi?" I wasn't about to let it go.
She sighed as she tossed me my pole. "Because you are one of only a few non-felines who have been able to learn and perfect the set."
"Really?" I asked, excited.
"Yes. If it isn't abundantly clear by now, we don't exactly let outsiders into the city - much less teach them our ways." She said with heavy disdain.
"Then why did you?"
"You are a special case. If you actually are blessed, then you will be accepted by all tribes. But for now, it's because Isola said so."
"I'm surprised they let you, without knowing anything about me. Even if Isola said so."
"What's what supposed to mean?" Ishi became feisty at the mention of her sister.
"She told me that she was almost chased out for her research." I said back, cautious not to tick her off.
"Yeah. 'Almost.' They wouldn't exile her because she is invaluable to our community. She is a brilliant alchemist. Even if she is shunned for being radical or a heretic or whatever, she still keeps us all healthy. Her word still carries weight around here." Ishi jumped to defend her sister.
"I didn't mean any offense, I was just curious." I said, trying to lighten the mood.
"I know." Ishi sighed and caressed the bridge of her nose, "Old habits, sorry."
Before we could continue the conversation a young feline ran over and called out to Ishi. "Ishi! We need your help over here, Lilianna and I-" The young feline started to ask Ishi for help with the basic maneuvers for her and her friend, but Ishi wasn't having it.
"I'm busy." She said. Glaring down at them like she does to me sometimes. She was so fierce that I could almost see hellfire raging around her. The young feline tucked her tail and quickly backed away.
"Ishi.." I started, wanting to tell her that I could wait if those kids need help.
She turned her murderous glare towards me and I quickly changed my mind.
"Let's get started!" I forced myself to sound chipper, despite the cold chill that ran down my spine.