Ailaia

She shrugs her backpack further up her shoulders and takes a deep breath. After weeks of deliberation and careful planning, she had left her home behind and ran away from her old life. She loves her dad, but she was sick and tired of him worrying about every little thing that ever happened to her.

Sure, she's only eleven, but she knows how to defend herself if it ever comes to that. She takes another deep breath, and begins her trek up the mountain in front of her.

She steps into the seemingly abandoned monastery. She selects a room far away from the entrance, with windows facing toward the courtyard in case she needs to make a quick exit. She spreads out her sleeping bag, and lays down on it, placing a framed picture of her mother and father on the ground, not far from her face.

"G'night, Mom and Dad. See ya tomorrow..." And with those words, she falls into a deep sleep.

So deep, in fact, that she does not notice when an old man with an incredibly long beard creeps into her room and covers her with a blanket from her bag.

The next morning, Ailaia wakes up to the sound of grunting. She crawls over to the window, and her heart almost stops when she sees a figure in black in the courtyard. There is an old man sitting at the top of the steps leading into the monastery, and she could swear he looks straight at her and winks. Winks!

She ducks behind the windowsill, already calculating ways to get out of the monastery. But even if she could leave, where would she go? She couldn't go back home - she couldn't -

Her frantic planning is interrupted by the old man calling out: "Would you like to try, little one? You've been watching for a while now."

She squeezes her eyes shut and mutters a word which is not appropriate for young ladies such as her, before heaving herself up and over the windowsill. "I'm sorry sir, I left home and I thought this place was abandoned because let's be honest this place is kinda dusty and I came here to be alone except obviously it isn't abandoned and I'm not alone-"

"Stop," the old man says firmly, though there is an amused twinkle in his eye. "You left home?"

"Yes, sir," she says quietly, head bowed. "But I don't really want to talk about it."

The boy in black steps forward. "Did they hurt you?" He demands. "What? N-no! My dad would never do that," she protests. "Look, I said I didn't want to talk about it, so can we not talk about it?"

"We will not talk about it any more. Now, as I asked before: would you like to try?" The old man asks her.

"She can't do it! She's just a kid!" The boy argues. Ailaia bristles. "Who are you callin' a kid?" She asks, arms crossed. "Y'know what? Maybe I will do it!" She scans the course and plots out the best path. She leaps up onto the first pedestal... and then promptly falls off. "Owww..." she groans. The boy in black smirks, but his eyes betray some of his concern.

"See?" He says. "You can't do it."

"How...?" She mutters. "I... that's not possible. I should've been able to... none of my calculations were off... were they?"

The boy's face softens. "Hey, I'm Kai. What's your name?" Ailaia looks up at him. "I... I'm Ailaia. What the heck even is that obstacle course?"

Kai exhales and runs a hand through his 'perfectly' spiked hair. "Honestly, I don't know." He extends a hand to her. "C'mon, get up."

She takes it, and he helps her to her feet.

The old man goes back into the monastery as the two of them talk, and smiles to himself under his long beard.

Kai and Ailaia train for three days before Kai can do the obstacle course quickly and flawlessly. Ailaia can't, not quite yet. Her legs are a little too short, and her body too small to make the jumps between the platforms. It frustrates her to no end, but Kai reminds her she is only eleven, and rather small at that.

The day comes when Sensei Wu sits outside and drinks his tea - but not before Kai finishes the course. He bends next to Wu and asks - rather smugly - "Was that one sugar, or two?"

The old ninja master collects his things and starts inside, impressed by his student's fast progress. Kai walks beside him asking when he could learn some 'spinjitzu' thing. To be honest, Ailaia doesn't really hear much of their conversation. Wu says something about how Kai had already learned how. Wu shuts the door of the monastery, and leaves them with a final word of wisdom: "My advice is to get some sleep."

Later that same night, as Ailaia crawls into her sleeping bag and Kai brushes his teeth, Kai begins messing around, saying "Take this! Aaand THAT!" Ailaia can't help but giggle at his antics, saying, "Kai, you're such a dork." He smiles at her in the mirror, a kind smile that doesn't match his normal cocky, overconfident attitude. He continues his antics, yelling "Hi-YAH!" and kicking the air around him.

He punches the air as three figures clad in black surround the both of them. Ailaia notices first.

"Uhhh, Kai?" She says as she crawls out of the sleeping bag and backs toward him. She bumps into Kai, back to back with him.

Kai, ever eloquent, sums up their situation.

"Oops..."