I woke up the next morning to the sound of water outside my window. I had failed to notice last night that my room was next to a stream. Philana was already reading by the time I got up. It was funny to watch her try to flip pages with her hooves.
Hey, I heard that! She said.
"Heard what?" I asked.
You were laughing at me. She said.
"I was not!" I said.
I read the emotion of humor off of you. You didn't need to laugh out loud. She said.
"Sorry about that…" I said.
No matter. I was just so eager to read. I haven't read in ages! She certainly sounded excited. Oh, and, you are wanted in the dining hall.
"Okay." I said. I walked out into the commonplace where the ocelots were playing with each other or napping under the sun streaming in from the giant window on the ceiling. I entered the dining hall, and Atlanta immediately ran up to me, seized my hand, and planted me down at a seat next to hers. I smiled as I closed my eyes and inhaled the aroma of a beautiful breakfast. A man, the first one I have seen here, rushed up to me and put a plate heaping with food in front of me. It was wonderful. I felt at home because of the scrambled eggs on the middle of my plate. I assumed that they weren't from a chicken, but it was close enough. There was sliced mystery meat that looked exquisite and chunks of fruit that I could not name. I tried not to look at the array of bugs on my plate as I scarfed down my meal.
"You were hungry!" Atlanta commented as the server boy took my plate away.
"Yeah, I guess it's nice to have some real food in my stomach!" I said. She laughed.
"Well, you should take a few minutes to digest before you start your martial art training. You are good at martial arts, aren't you?" She asked.
"Well…. Truth is, I never really tried. My mother came to me, though, a few days ago. She told me to try it." I admitted.
"At least you have some natural talent. Here, I'll show you where you'll be training." She said. We got up and left the building. When we had walked half a mile through an exotic rainforest path, we were left in a clearing. There was nothing there.
"So this is where I'll be-" But I was cut off by a wicked screaming from the trees. Before I knew it, a woman was leaping out of the canopy, straight towards me. I turned to Atlanta, but she looked just as surprised as I was. The woman was about to land on me, but I put my hands up and pushed her to the side. She landed with a thud. She sprung up, though, dagger drawn. She was barreling towards me, determination blaring in her eyes. Before she could react, I reached out and knocked the dagger out of her hands before using my left leg to come around and knock her to the ground. I grabbed her hair and fought off any attempts to grab me. She stopped struggling.
"Good job!" She said. She kicked me off of her with an extreme burst of strength. "I'm Daphne, and I'll be your trainer for the next three days. You've got a lot to learn."