"So, if you put X here and..."
Eyes dropping, mouth slightly agape, drool nearly dripping; her brain scrambled to understand, but could not. Katherine scratched her head for tenth time as she tried to keep up with what Cecilia was teaching them; both of them were carefully sat on the bar stools inside Jesslyn's apartment, currently not allowed to leave the place.
It was nearly ten in the morning and Cecilia was already on the third subject they both took, but with different teachers; it was a different subject after every hour. Cecilia was a brilliant teacher if both of them had to be honest; her explanation was flawless and she does not leave even the slightest detail behind, even elaborated on some parts that both of them did not understand.
"Did you guys get that?" Cecilia paused from the small whiteboard and looked over at them, a book in her hand.
Katherine shook her head timidly, "I'm a bit... lost."
"Okay," Cecilia nodded as she bit her lower lip as if to contemplate, before she turned to Hailey, "What about you? Anything?"
Hailey smiled, but shook her head, "I'm good."
"Alright," Cecilia pursed her lip to one side before she looked back at Katherine, "Show me your work."
Taking a deep breath, Katherine flipped her paper to show Cecilia her work; she waited patiently as the master mage examined her work and nodded at some parts whilst her fingers traced her workings. She noticed the look in her eyes, at how serious they seem to be – something she was unused to coming from some like her.
"You made a wrong calculation here," Cecilia spoke as looked up from the paper, "You moved the X to the wrong side," she told her as she narrowed her brows and pursed her lip to one side, "You don't have to move X when you've cancelled the rest out."
Katherine nodded as she looked at her answers, "I see..."
Whilst Cecilia focused on her, Hailey stared at the duo and found the scene a little too amusing; it felt as though Cecilia was Katherine's mother and she told her where to put the fork and spoons after she washed them. It made her giggle all of a sudden which caught the duo's attention.
"Is there something funny, Miss Shepard?" Cecilia questioned with a raised brow directed at the blue haired teen, who had a hand over her mouth as though to calm her laughter.
Hailey shook her head a second later, "No, none at all, Miss Sanchez."
"If you say so," Cecilia replied as she looked at her with half-lidded eyes as though miffed for using her last name, before she turned back to Katherine, who was spacing out with the eyes at the clock next to the beer cabinet. "Do you understand now, Miss Wilson?"
Katherine darted her eyes back at her at sudden call of her name, "Y-yeah, I got it."
Cecilia studied both of them through half-lidded eyes and felt as though they were not taking them seriously; it made her purse her lips to one side before she let out a sigh, then returned to the small white board and began to erase what she wrote on it previously.
Just as she erased the last part, the alarm clock that sat on the mini fridge buzzed out loud and shook violently on top of it; she trotted towards the little contraption and placed it out of its misery by pressing the long rectangular button.
"Okay, time for a five minute break," Cecilia announced as she made her way towards Jesslyn's room, but stopped and looked at them before she even held the handle, "Don't go anywhere, alright?"
With that, she disappeared inside Jesslyn's room, where the duo believed she would use the bathroom; surprisingly, every teacher's apartment had two bathrooms – one for the guest and one for the master's bedroom. It was as though the engineer knew that the teachers would have guests staying.
Katherine rested her head on the bar counter and let out a tired sigh; she still has not been able to control her legs, which frustrated her deeply. She wanted to walk on her own and having Hailey or Cecilia carry her from place to place did not quite appeal to her; she did not like being so helpless that she needed them just to use the toilet.
"I'm getting hungry," Hailey spoke as she stretched her arms up, "You need anything, wolfie?"
Katherine huffed, "Please stop calling me that."
"But I like calling you that," Hailey frowned a little as she poked the blonde's cheek, "But really, do you need something?"
Katherine turned to her and met her dark amber eyes, then took her features in; her blue hair tied into a ponytail that revealed much of her long neck, but hid much of forehead – the fringe almost covered her eyes if not brushed properly.
Staring at her dark amber eyes, she could swear she faintly smelt cinnamon roam the air and could somehow taste chocolate graze her tongue. Am I hungry? Katherine wondered as she swallowed a gulp of her saliva before she licked her dry lips.
Pulling her finger away, she caressed the blonde's cheek involuntarily as she recalled how she told her not to question their bond. It made her wonder what kind of bond it was, knowing full well that they were not more than close acquaintances.
"What are you doing, fae?" Katherine questioned as she reared her head from the counter and gently swatted Hailey's hand away.
Hailey shook her head, "Nothing, sorry."
Raising a brow, Katherine observed her and noted the passiveness in her eyes – something she was unfamiliar with from her. Often she saw her with either irritancy, playfulness or even just pure joy, but now, none of those were in her and made her wonder what went into her head; she smelt the air and found nothing suspicious or worth mentioning in the air, other than the smell of burnt tobacco from Jesslyn's room.
"How well do you know Jesslyn?" Hailey spoke out of curiosity as she noted the soft gaze in Katherine's grey eyes that told her that she was examining her. "When did you guys meet?"
Katherine plopped an elbow on the counter and leant her cheek on her knuckles, "Almost three years ago, I guess."
"How was she back then?" Hailey inquired as she crossed her legs and plopped her elbow on her knee for her to rest her chin on her knuckles as if to observe Katherine, like a reporter getting a big scoop from a nearby witness.
Katherine hummed as she squinted her eyes as if to recall, "She was carefree and serious at the same time."
"I see," Hailey noted as she raised a brow, "Was she already engaged back then?"
Katherine shook her head, "She was still a little promiscuous back then," she sighed at the memory, "She often came back to the mansion with a different woman every month," she frowned, "And I had to make sure to keep the room in check."
"I thought so," Hailey hummed as she crossed her legs, left over the right, "What do you mean you keep the room in check?"
Katherine cleared her throat and steered her eyes away, "I was a uh, servant back then."
"Oh," Hailey replied in a low voice as she uncrossed her leg, "So, you can cook?"
Katherine shrugged, "I guess."
"Will you cook something for me?" Hailey smirked in an attempt to clear her thoughts about her past – something she could sense that Katherine felt uncomfortable to talk about.
Katherine rolled her eyes and narrowed them at her with half-lidded eyes, "You owe me a bath," she pulled away from the counter top and crossed her arms across her chest, "So no," she smirked back, "But, nice try."
"I was hoping you'd have forgotten about that," Hailey giggled as they heard the door click behind them; their eyes met the dark brown gaze of their teacher, who somehow looked amused at them. They watched her walked through the living room and back to the white board before she cleared her throat. "You smell like mint, teach."
Cecilia chuckled, grinned, and then winked at Hailey, "Want to taste?"
"Cecil," Katherine warned her with furrowed brows and an intense glare as Cecilia merely chuckled before she turned her eyes to her; Hailey looked away for a moment as a dash of pink coloured her cheeks, "It makes me wonder why you're our substitute teacher."
Cecilia hummed and tilted her head, amused at both of them, "Because Jesslyn has her own class to teach."
"We're aware of that," Katherine replied as a sigh escaped her lips, "For how long will you be here, anyway?"
Cecilia pursed her lips to one side, "You want me gone already?"
"No," Katherine shook her head, "I know how busy you are after all."
Cecilia chuckled at her response and gave her a knowing smile, "You know me so well."
Hailey sat back patiently as she observed the exchanged between the two; it seemed too casual that was so different from how Cecilia had been talking to them for the last three hours of lecture. It looks as though Cecilia had already shook the morning sleep away from her eyes and found the humour back inside her system; this was how Hailey had seen her and for it to be different in the morning was something else.
"Now, onto the next subject."
A round of sighs escaped the duo's lips, but much to Cecilia's amusement, she merely smiled at them; they were both intelligent for the lack of a better word and were naturally gifted. It amazed her at some point that the Fae was able to keep with her style of teaching – explicitly direct with the attitude of a Spartan.
For the next hour that led them to nearly noon, the duo kept their backs straight at Cecilia's professional tone of teaching; her voice woke them enough for them to pay complete attention to her without even missing the slightest details. At times they would even ask her a question openly and Cecilia would gracefully, intelligently, and charmingly answer back.
Cecilia fed them with information not just from one book, but from another as well, going beyond what an average teacher would have told them; she was agile in her hands to point as much as her glib tongue easily countered anything that was not necessary for them to know. She was nearly the perfect teacher, if not for her strangest attire.
The duo stretched their arms out at the sound of the alarm clock's frenzied beeping that once again signalled the end of the hour. Lunch was upon them with at least forty-five minutes worth of a break, enough for the three of them to walk to the cafeteria to buy food.
A knock came at the door and Cecilia went over to open it lazily; she did not wish to approach the door and wanted to just flick her wrist for it to open, but she did not want to waste her powers over such a trivial matter. Even powerful mages like her wanted to still remember that she was in fact human.
"I've brought food," Jesslyn announced cheerfully as she held up two green eco-bags full of plastic containers, before she walked in her own apartment then laid the food on the counter, "I hope you guys like seafood."
Cecilia groaned as she approached the containers, "There better not be any prawns."
"Sadly, there are," Jesslyn chuckled as she laid out the food in front of the duo, "Eat up you two."
Katherine eyed the food before she looked at Jesslyn, "I need to go to the bathroom."
"I'll help you," Hailey quickly offered help as she aligned a smile on her lips, but Katherine shook her head at her. Her grey eyes turned to Jesslyn, who caught on what she wanted and merely offered a small nod before she round the counter, then immediately carried the blonde.
Katherine eyed her seriously through furrowed brows, "We need to talk."
"You could've just told me that," Jesslyn replied in a whisper with a small smile as she carried the blonde to the bathroom, which left the two behind her curious. Opening the door, she entered the bathroom in the master's bedroom, then placed the crippled teen on the toilet bowl and allowed her to do her business. "What is it, Kathie?"
"I want to walk again," Katherine responded after taking a deep breath, "Can't you guys do anything?"
"I'm human," Jesslyn shrugged, but only earned her a Katherine's hardened stare, "But I've already asked the doctor in the infirmary to find a chant that can make you walk again."
"Has he even found a reason behind my crippled state?" Katherine questioned.
"He still insists its mental," Jesslyn frowned as she placed a hand on Katherine's shoulder, "I'm not allowed to tell you this, but," she paused as she met her grey eyes, "The bullets they used on you were coated with vampire blood."
"Blood?" Katherine raised a brow, "Does that mean?"
"No, you're not in any immediate danger," Jesslyn shook her head as she offered a smile to reassure her, "Athena drained out the poisonous blood in your system," she explained as she saw her grey eyes look away, "But we have reason to believe that your body wants to recover on its own."
"Then why am I still like this?" Katherine nearly seethed as her knuckles clenched the sides of the toilet bowl, turning white as she gripped harder in anger.
"We don't know," Jesslyn frowned, "But we're certain that you'll fully recover in the next full moon?"
"But that's a month from now!" Katherine exclaimed her frustration as she furrowed her brows and glared at Jesslyn, "I don't want to be so immobile and," she looked away as she felt her heart constrict in pain, "Helpless..."
"I'm sorry, Kathie," Jesslyn looked away in guilt, feeling completely responsible for her current state, "I never wanted for you to feel that way or for you to be like that," she stooped down to her level and met her sullen grey eyes as though life had escaped her, "But I know you'd recover, I have a lot of hope for you."
That's easy for you to say.
"Done?" Jesslyn asked as Katherine cleaned herself and pulled her shorts up; she was lucky enough that Jesslyn allowed them to be in their casual clothing rather than be in their uniforms. Being imprisoned – or at least, that's what Hailey called it – was not really that bad considering the two of them have a lot of freedom; she had anticipated a close watch with little to none privacy.
Carrying her once again, Jesslyn returned Katherine to her stool by her bar counter, where Cecilia and Hailey turned to them after a humorous conversation; Katherine would have heard it had she not been talking to Jesslyn about her condition.
"You okay?" Hailey asked Katherine as much as she heard Cecilia asked what happened. The blonde looked at her and offered a slow nod, before she took the fork, then ate. Hailey was about to place a hand on her shoulder, when Katherine shuffled away from her.
She can sense something bothered her and wanted to know what ran through her mind; if she could touch her – even just a slight graze – she may be able to guess at what could be bothering her. Katherine was awfully silent as she ate her seafood pasta plate with tempura on the side, which only heightened her worry.
Jesslyn and Cecilia were engrossed in their own conversation and had left the two teens alone; they were discussing the school and wondering about what Cecilia thought about the teachers around compared with her own experience with them.
The whole topic was not truly interesting for the duo, mainly because they had their own minds elsewhere; their eyes were staring at their own plates laid out before them. Jesslyn noted their silence and turned to them, then examined the look in their eyes; she saw boredom, frustration and most of all, exhaustion as if they have not slept in days.
"I forgot to tell you guys," Jesslyn spoke and caught the duo's attention; their eyes slowly rose to them. "You missed two days of race meetings," she told them, but only earned a perplexed look from them, "I'll take you to yours later, Shepard," she smiled at Hailey, who nodded shyly, "I'm sure you know where you have to go later, Kathie."
"The den?" She asked, "How am I going to get there?"
Smiling, Jesslyn let out a soft chuckle as Hailey looked at her with a raised brow as much as Katherine furrowed hers, not seemingly amused by her response. She was a bit peeved at the fact that Jesslyn can take her situation so lightly, when she was extremely angry at it.
What part of it was exactly funny?
"I have someone who'll bring you there."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Ready to go?"
"I didn't expect it to be you."
"Well, the coach asked me since I know you – sort of."
"Thanks either way, Ori."
Smiling, the blue eyed teen nodded and stoop down to her level before she backed up to her; she offered her back first before she would shift into a much better ride for her friend, hoping for it to be a horse or possibly a unicorn.
Katherine wrapped her arms around the blonde and pulled herself closer as she felt her hands lift her by her bottom; somehow, she felt her heartbeat skip for a second from her touch. The smell of lavender invaded her nostrils from the close proximity of Ori's sandy blonde hair.
Did she just take a shower? Katherine wondered as she felt her companion stand and adjusted her carefully before she looked over her shoulder. Their faces were close – too close for Katherine's comfort – but she did not shy away and stared into her greenish-blue eyes instead; her breath smelt faintly of mint as though she had brushed them recently, even revealing her perfect pearly whites at her.
"You might wanna close your eyes," Ori suggested as Katherine nodded and did as she was told; a blinding light blinked in the dark of her vision, which made her think that it was safe to open them. As her eyelids slowly reeled up, she found gold in front of her as she ran her hand through the long, silk mane in front of her that felt so soft under her palm.
"You're beautiful," Katherine mumbled under her breath as Ori whinnied in response; she could sense that Ori was trying to tell her something, but thought that only her own kind could understand her once shifted. "I'm ready, when you are."
Shaking her head in response, Ori began her slow trot towards the wolves' den; she knew the way like the back of her hand simply because she has been around the institution long enough for her to know the way around it – even aware of some hidden spots none knew of. Wind picking up, Katherine wrapped her arms around Ori's neck as she sped through the forest.
The rush of the wind felt calming on her skin as much as it provided some form of tranquillity. She leant against her neck and enjoyed the breeze that touched her skin as much as the orange hue of the sun slowly sharpened around the trees, which almost made them blend into a new different colour.
With the soft wind and the calm colours, Katherine could not help, but feel the drowse come to her; her eyelids threatened to close, but her enthusiasm to see her den prevented her from falling into slumber. Her surroundings began to blur as her eyelids slid down to a close; she can faintly hear her surroundings as much as her own calm breathing.
Come to us, child of the moon.
What?
Come.
Who... are you?
Seek the moonlight's curse, child of the moon.
What are you... talking about?
Seek us.
"Katherine."
Fogged vision, silent surroundings; Katherine tried to clear her head as she tried to find the voice. The dark of her vision soon dissipated as the colours of the sky dawned on her; the orange of the slow setting sun painted the earthen walls of the den's entrance. It was dark, but not too bright either, just enough for her to see where she was.
"Are you alright?" Ori's lips creased down as her eyes stared at her with worry all over her irises. Katherine turned to her as he vision finally straightened, enough for her to see the green inside her blue eyes; they were heavenly, nearly as beautiful as the sky.
Katherine shook her head as she touched her forehead, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"You fell asleep?" Ori spoke, more of a question rather than a fact.
Katherine nodded as she met her eyes, "Yeah, sorry."
"It's okay," Ori shook her head to dismiss her unneeded apology. She placed a hand on her shoulder and offered a warm smile that had assured the young blonde further. "We're here by the way."
Katherine looked to the long, dark, cavern hallway to her left and smelt a warm, familiar scent – the smell of home. Eagerly, Katherine tried to get up, but felt herself fall down, only for Ori to catch her before her face hit the hard ground; she widened her eyes for a second as she remembered the reason why Ori was there.
"You seem out of it," Ori commented as she helped Katherine sit up straight against the cave's wall, "Here," she offered a hand as Katherine stared at it for moment, feeling a little bit peeved over her incapability to walk on her own two feet, "Is there something wrong?"
"Orianna."
A voice echoed from within as the duo glanced towards it. A figure in the dark of the cave stepped into the lighter parts and revealed the pack hound; his eyes bore a darker shade of grey – much deeper than Katherine's – that nearly looked sinister if not for his warm, charming smile.
"Oh, hey Prince," Ori greeted with a small smile as she turned to Katherine, who stared at her pack hound as though in awe, "I was just bringing a freshie here on coach Faraday's request."
Prince gave a slow nod as she looked at the blonde beside her, "You must be the nom that got crippled a while back."
Katherine looked away at his words and Ori noted the hurt look in her face – disappointment and self-pity etched itself on the crease between her brows; it made Ori frown and shot Prince a glare that would have made any normal person flinch at its intensity, but the tall, slightly built teen merely looked back at her.
"Yeah," Katherine let out a soft sigh, dejection clear in her voice, "That's me."
Ori placed a hand on her shoulder, "Look, it's not that bad, Kathie."
"How is this not bad?" Katherine looked away as she bit her lower lip to contain her anger; she knew that lashing out of Ori would do nothing about her current state. "I'm next to pitiful in my state."
"Kathie you're not, okay?" Ori comforted her as she placed another hand on her other shoulder, which made the blonde turn to her; their eyes met and Ori could see the helplessness in her eyes as though it pleaded for a much better answer. "It's just temporary, because you can still use your legs."
"What makes you so sure, Ori?" Katherine nearly hissed as she held back her unwanted rage.
"You can-"
"Shift into half."
Ori and Katherine turned to Prince, who kept a steady gaze at Katherine; he kept his stance firm, his back straight and his eyes calm. Ori returned her gaze to Katherine, who looked as though she was in disbelief, but the sullen look in her eyes had somehow vanished; it looked as though what Prince had said to her made a little bit of sense.
Taking a deep breath, Katherine stared into her open palms and watched them close into a fist; she tried to focus her mind in an attempt to summon her half state. A second went and gone, but Katherine was still the same – human and crippled; she turned to Prince for guidance, but found a rather unpleased look upon his face.
"It's okay, Katherine," Ori comforted as she placed her hands on Katherine's fist, hoping to calm her down, aware what Prince was doing to her, "If you can't then it's fine."
"What do you mean 'it's fine?'," Prince questioned with furrowed brows as though taunting the young blonde, "If you can't even change then what good are you to me?" he chided her as Katherine heard her heartbeat against her ears, "You don't belong in this den if you can't even change, pup."
"Prince!" Ori scolded him with furrowed brows, "You're not helping."
Hearing his poisonous words, Katherine felt anger build up in her system, "Don't call me a pup."
"Why?" Prince scoffed and glared down at her, anger evident across his face, "You think you're strong just because you have lycan blood in you?" he chuckled sarcastically before he looked at her with disgust, "You're not a wolf – in fact you're nothing at all," he barked with menacing eyes darted at her, "You're just a pathetic, little cripple with nothing to fight for," he scoffed once more, "You're a weakling."
Katherine gritted her teeth as she glared back at him; her anger soared through the earthen roof. She glared at his slow, retreating back as she felt the urge to strangle him for calling her weak; she felt her body burn with seething rage – one that needed to be released for more than a day now. And she will let it out.
"Ori get away," Katherine told her as she removed her hands from her hold as her eyes kept leering at Prince's back; her jaw clenched tight as she tried hard not to let his words trifle with her, but it was already too late.
"Katherine, don't let him-"
In the blink of an eye, Ori felt a gush of wind burst from Katherine as she charged Prince from behind; her eyes widened in surprise, but at the same time, she felt a tinge of worry shake her heart. Standing up, she watched as Katherine pounced Prince and placed him into a choke hold as she stood a few inches taller than the five-foot-seven tall lad, who did not seem to be fighting back.
"Stand down," Prince commanded through a somewhat strained tone, probably because of Katherine's tight hold around him as he found himself grappled from behind, "You don't need to fight me."
Katherine growled out loud, "I am not weak!"
"I can see that," Prince smirked as he kept staring back into Katherine's golden eyes that emitted a lot of anger in them; her grip tightened around his neck that would make a normal human flinch. Prince was trying his best not to show how difficult it was for him to breathe, but instead tightened his jaw and glared at her with golden eyes, "Release me."
"Katherine, stop it!"
Ori's voice shook Katherine away from her blinding rage and brought her golden eyes to her blue; she saw fear cross her face, but was immediately overridden by worry laced with a mountain of concern. For whom though, she can only guess.
Realising her error, Katherine loosened her grip, then flipped Prince to the other side of the cave and turned to Ori with an apologetic look, but lowered her gaze; she could not seem to face her after her sudden outburst, almost hurting her own pack hound. Shame dwelled inside her already and just added weight to her already heavy conscience; she could not fathom what the outcome of her outburst would be.
"Ori, I'm s-"
A pair of hands pulled her and found herself nestled inside a warm hug, which made her eyes dart towards this hug giver. Ori had her face buried in Katherine's chest as the blonde felt her friend quake with worry as much as she can smell her fear, but of what, she knew not; she was not ill informed of death between wolves and thought that Ori must have somehow encountered such a thing.
"Don't ever do that again," Ori hissed softly as she emerged from hiding in Katherine's slightly hairy chest, but then looked away for a moment, "At least, not when I'm around."
Wrapping her hands around her, Katherine offered a silent hug and nodded at her; she did not understand her fear, but only granted her silent wish. She did not pry and offered an apologetic smile before Ori nodded, then pulled away from her; the wolf watched her turn and approach the pack hound.
"Don't worry Ori, I-"
A loud smack echoed inside the cave as Katherine stared wide-eyed at her upperclassmen; she could not understand what just happened other that Ori's hand connecting to Prince's cheek. She could tell that it did not hurt him at all, but he merely frowned at Ori, who appeared to be fuming somehow.
"What was that for?" Prince demanded; his tone lowered as much as his eyes slowly turned into a glower.
Ori held her stance and crossed her arms, "For being a jerk."
"I have done nothing wrong," Prince defended himself as he kept his head high, "You shouldn't even be here, Morphling."
Ori furrowed her brows at him, "You've done nothing?" she frowned and turned away, not really up for arguing with him, "Yeah, you did nothing."
Katherine examined the air and realised that the two of them looked away; she can tell that both of them had a history, but did not wish to pry. Her emotions stirred into a calm as she felt herself shrink into her normal human size; as soon as she shifted back, her feet wobbled as she lost control, leaning against the wall to support herself as she slid down.
"I'll stay with you until the hour is over," Ori spoke as she approached Katherine and pulled her onto her back, "I don't want to be there where he can do nothing."
Katherine shook her head and leant closer to Ori's ear, "Ori, I can manage," she offered a smile and shot her pack hound a quick glance, before she found Ori's blue eyes turned and found her grey irises, "You can go to your own meeting, Ori."
"No," Ori shook her head in response as she kept pacing down the cavern hall, "I'm not going to leave you with him," she whispered as she looked away and drew a deep breath, "Just let me, okay?"
Listening closely, Katherine could hear the slow and painful skips in Ori's heartbeat that made her give in to the blonde; she did not wish to denounce a silent oath – something she can sense from her – that seems to be haunting her somehow. She allowed the blonde to carry her inside the cave, where they garnered a few stares from the other wolves, but both of them did not care.
Trailing close behind them was the pack hound, who did not say anything throughout the whole walk; Katherine could smell a deep regret in him as much as she could hear the rhythm of guilt his heart drummed.
What kind of scar have you given her? Katherine wondered honestly as Ori walked to the far end of the room, enough for both of them to see the tall protruding rock in front, presumably the podium of the room.
Ori placed her down and she sat beside Katherine, who was silently observing her with a nonchalant look on her eyes; her grey eyes were rested upon the rock, where Prince had made his way to. His school coat was a little ruffled as much as there were several wrinkles on his slacks, which made her regret throwing him somewhat.
"So, I thank you all for coming once again," Prince began as the crowd turned to him, eyes looking up at him as the orange of the setting sun coloured him in a slightly mellow aura, "I just have a few things to point out," he spoke as he procured a piece of paper from his pocket, "First of all, I..."
As Prince spoke out, Katherine felt Ori lean against her shoulder and made her turn to her; there was a distinct sadness in her dull irises as she looked at Prince as though reminiscing. The slow beat of her heart made her somewhat responsible for what happened and made her question how she has caused her such a pained expression.
Uncertain, Katherine knew not how to comfort her friend and casually slipped her hand into hers; she locked their fingers as she rubbed her Ori's backhand with her thumb, hoping to take her mind off whatever was making her sad. Despite her attempts to soothe her mind, Katherine could still sense her far away and decided to place an arm around her, then pulled her close.
It took the blue eyed junior by surprise as she turned to face her friend, who remained silent as though paying attention to Prince speak; she was not too interested in what he wanted to say, even though the crowd was silent, patiently listening to him as he got to the point.
"I may not know what happened," Katherine spoke without glancing towards her upperclassman, "But, I'll be here if you need me, Ori," she spoke as she slowly turned to meet her eyes; she could hear her heartbeat calm at her words as much as a slow curve appeared on her lips. "Not that I need to tell you."
"Of course," Ori replied as she watched her friend return her gaze to Prince. Just hearing her say that banished the worry inside her heart as she leant against Katherine's hug and enjoyed the sound moment. Her eyes found Prince and saw a little bit of gold clash with his streaks of grey, which told her that he had his eye on her.
"And that's it for the announcement," Prince ended his speech as the crowd howled in acknowledgement even in their human forms and eventually broke in a small laughter, "Now, for the moment everyone is waiting for."
A round of low growls and a row of howls soon erupted from the crowd as Katherine watched several people shift to half in excitement and anxiety; it widened her eyes for a fraction as she smelt the fury in the air, pulling Ori closer as though anticipating a riot to erupt.
"Let the fight begin with our first contender," Prince stretched his arms out to bask in the growls of his brothers and sisters, before he slowly lowered his hands, but left a hand raised to point to the farthest part of the room. "First up, you."
Katherine could feel a chill graze her spine as she stared into Prince's golden eyes that emitted a lot of hate as though directed at her. She looked around her, hoping to find whom he referred to and crossed her fingers that it was not really her; it was not that she was unfit to fight, but she did not wish to do so on her first meeting.
Or was this their rite of passage?
Searching, the crowd murmured amongst themselves as much as a few grew impatient with the fight and even roared for the person to stand. Prince kept his finger pointed, his brows furrowed in fury as much as his golden eyes glared daggers into whoever he pointed at. Ori also looked around, hoping to find who it was and get it over with; she was a little nervous about the whole fight and wanted to be gone from the place.
"The blonde beside our guest," Prince finally pointed out as Katherine jolted slightly at his description, aware that it meant her; she knew not how to respond, but felt the eyes upon her, making her a little nervous – almost scared. "Get up here, now!"
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A/N: Hello, hello! How are you guys? (: I just got a quick question, IF and I say IF, I had twitter, would you follow me? I've been thinking about it, but it would seem pointless if none followed me lols. So, think yeah?
Vote, Comment, and Follow if you haven't! (: All support is appreciated and I am very grateful of ^^ Dedicated to pl4yg1rl for her support! I read your profile and I'm surprised your at college at 14 :O congrats though and thanks for reading my books ^^
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