Guilty x Creatures Ch. 65

"And how are we doing today, Miss Mica?" asked Mokai as he turned to the kiochi.

"Good! Really good!" declared Mica as she beamed up at him "Ready to get started!"

"Eager then, good." nodded Mokai "Well before we get going. Let me introduce you to one of my instructors. She'll hopefully be helping us with your lessons from here on out."

Mica's eyes immediately jumped to the woman sitting on the bleachers. And she blinked as she realized that while the woman was still polishing the sword in her clawed, cat-like hands, she was also gazing right back at the kiochi.

-

Sitting with her long tail curled along her side, her paw-like feet planted on the seat below her and the sword resting across her lap. The woman had a casual and even curious vibe about her as she absently swished the tip of her tail and let her bright, golden colored eyes run slowly up and down Mica's length.

Though definitively feline in nature, there was little chance of mistaking her for a simple cat, no, this woman's linage had clearly come from far beyond the borders of civilization, and out from the darkest of the deep jungles.

She was humanoid in form and face, and had black-tipped feline ears sitting perked and alert atop her head, amid a sea of silk-like raven colored hair. The rich, bronzed skin of her face and torso was strikingly offset by the sleek coat of short fur that covered her shoulders, back, hips, tail and limbs.

This fur was a tawny gold in its base color and was overlaid with a series of mottled, dark spots.

These spots, or the dark patterns that adorned her fur, were reminiscent of ink dripped haphazardly upon paper. Blotch-like and nonuniform in their shapes, with each individual mark being unique in its design. In color, they were an earthen tone towards their centers and this darkened to a full black along their edges. Despite the brightness of her golden fur, these markings gave her a dappled, shadowy appearance that, even when sitting as she was in full light, left her with an aura of mystique and a sense of danger, which signaled that if she were to simply will it, she could easily turn aside and at any point, disappear back into the wilds of the world.

Without question, this woman was certainly no mere cat, she was an nagual, a werejaguar.

-

"Well, well, well..." said the werejaguar as she set the sword aside and silently sprang to her feet "So this is the famous Mica..."

Mica stood her ground as the taller woman sauntered up to her and smiled just enough to show off her sharpened teeth.

"I've heard quite a bit about you lately." continued the werejaguar as she laid her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side "You've apparently made quite the impression... Nice to finally put a face to the name."

"Oh really? I'm famous, huh. That's cool." said Mica as she mimicked the werejaguar's stance "So what do you think? Do I live up to the hype?"

"I don't know yet." said the werejaguar as she lifted her head out of its tilt "Still gotta figure that out..."

Dressed in a dark green sports bra and a pair of athletic shorts that left her tight stomach on full display, the werejaguar was poised and confident as she and the kiochi both stood facing one another and let their long tails each curl aimlessly about through the air behind them.

Clearly capable, and yet still friendly in her demeanor, the werejaguar was impressive in her own right, and Mica couldn't help but to instantly like her.

"Nadia." said the werejaguar as she held out her hand "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mica."

"Likewise." said Mica as she eagerly shook the paw-like appendage "I'm looking forward to learning from you!"

"Good to hear!" smiled Nadia as she turned to Mokai "I can tell she's got some toughness to her, and probably an attitude problem. I like her already!"

"Excellent." nodded Mokai "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

Having stepped a bit off to the side from everyone else, Kianna tentatively glanced about at the rafters of the roof before moving towards the shadowy hole that apparently led to the buildings upper story.

"Oh, Isabella! There you are! Hello again, sweety!" she cried as she spied the little girl's face peering down at them from the large darkened hole in the ceiling.

The little spiderling wasted no time in descending down the rope covered pillar and scurrying over to the dark elf.

Kianna dropped down to rest on her haunches and opened her arms out wide in time to scoop the racing little girl up into a welcoming hug.

"It's so good to see you again, sweety!" cooed Kianna as she nuzzled her cheek together with the little spider's "Have you been a good girl since we left?"

Isabella nodded her head enthusiastically before turning to her Father for confirmation.

"She has, definitely." chuckled Mokai "She's even gotten better at making her bed every morning."

"Oh that's good to hear!" said Kianna as she reached back to her bag "And since you've been a good girl, I've got a surprise for you..."

Isabella eagerly craned her neck as she tried to look around the dark elf and see what it was she had in store for her.

"Ta-dah!" said Kianna as she held up a brand new Dragon Force Warriors children's book she had picked up while at the mall "I hope you don't already have this one yet. It's supposed to be the newest one to come out so far."

Isabella's eyes lit up as she reached out and took hold of the book before gazing at its cover. After a moment of stillness she turned back to Kianna and eagerly held it out to her.

"Sure, we can read it while your Daddy and Nadia gives Mica her lesson." said Kianna as she stood up and cradled the little girl in her arms while making her way over to the bleachers.

Curling herself up into a little ball as Kianna sat down, Isabella settled herself in on the dark elf's lap before quickly looking through the pictures in her new book.

"So is this your way of trying to butter me up?" asked Mokai as he leaned in close to Anton.

"Huh, what?" questioned Anton "What do you mean?"

"The book." said Mokai as he nodded to Kianna and Isabella.

"Oh, no. That was all Kianna's idea. As soon as she seen that book, she had to get it for Isabella." said Anton "I hope that's okay? She's not overstepping, is she?"

"No, not at all. It's nice of her. And I appreciate it." said Mokai "I was just making sure there were no ulterior motives at play."

"Ah, no. I've already gotten everything I want out of you." chuckled Anton "So there's no reason to try manipulating for even more."

Mokai laughed before shaking his head.

"Fair enough." he said as he turned to face Mica "Why don't we go ahead and get started then."

"Sounds good to me!" exclaimed Mica as she immediately began to stretch.

For the next two hours Nadia ran through sets of simple maneuvers with Mica while Mokai watched and added bits of advice or recommendations at various points throughout the lesson.

For their parts, Anton and Fiona divided their attention between Mica's training and Kianna's antics with Isabella. While Tessa on the other hand, had kept her eyes locked to the lesson taking place before her. Having been seated right next to Kianna, the mantis had stayed completely still for the full two hours as she became focused with rapt attention on every little thing that was both said and done by the two instructors.

How much she was actually comprehending out of everything that was happening in front of her was anyone's guess, though Kianna in particular was just thankful that she had at least been distracted enough to stop messing with her dress.

Throughout their lesson, the mock combatants of Nadia and Mica steadily grew more casual in their conversational banter and it was easy to see that a friendship between them was quickly developing. And as their allotted time began to run out, the werejaguar made it a point to let Mokai know that she was definitely interested in working with the kiochi further, much to Mica's delight.

When they were fully done for the day, Mica, Anton and the rest of the group thanked Mokai and Nadia for their time and Kianna promised Isabella that she would see her again soon, as their next visit was planned for the same time that following next week.

Their goodbyes and thank yous said, the group left through another of Anton's portals.

"Well that was fun." said Fiona as they stepped out of the portal and into the foyer at the front of the house "That jungle cat chick is pretty cool."

"She is! She's a badass!" nodded Mica "She knows what she talking about too. That girl knows how to fight!"

As they made their way into the house, Tessa suddenly stopped short and went stiff before beginning to rapidly wave her antennae back and forth.

"Tessa?" questioned Kianna "...You okay?"

Without an answer, Tessa leaped straight upwards and flipped herself over in midair so as to be able to grab hold of the ceiling with all six of her clawed limbs. Crawling silently across the ceiling now, the mantis quickly shot forward and disappeared deeper into the house.

"What the Hell? What's gotten into her?" asked Fiona.

"She's probably just excited to be home. Cause now she can shred that dress into pieces..." sighed Kianna.

"Ah, yeah, that makes sense." nodded Fiona.

"Don't worry, I'll try to stop her from destroying it completely." laughed Mica before she suddenly disappeared from sight as she teleported after the mantis.

"Wait! Mica, don't go!" cried Anton though it was too late, the kiochi had already gone.

"What? What's wrong?" questioned Fiona as she and her sister both turned back to Anton.

Anton stood still for a moment as if he were listening for something, before dropping his gaze to the dark elves.

"Can either one of you sense them right now?" he asked softly.

The dark elves blinked in question before shaking their heads.

"No? What are you talking about?" questioned Fiona as she looked out into the house "Sense who?"

"Mica and Tessa..." said Anton as he locked eyes with Kianna "Can you feel their mana signatures?"

"...Oh, uh?...No!" gasped Kianna as she pointed her ears straight upwards in alarm.

"Wait! I can't either!...What is this? What's going on!?" demanded Fiona as she turned back to Anton.

"...The ward is down." said Anton as he flared his aura "We're under attack!"