13. You are late

After washing her face and drying it with a towel, Kora was once again ready for school. Dana stayed by her side the whole time and made sure that she ate her breakfast before leaving for school.

Walking out of the house, Kora found Emily was also leaving for school and asked Dana to send her and Emily. Though surprised that the girls already knew each other, she was happy nonetheless.

"Good morning, Kora! Did you sleep well? I slept well." Emily said and happily ran to where Kora and Dana were standing. "Where are you going?" She asked seeing that Kora was dressed.

"Morning, Emily, I slept well. It is nice to know and I am going to school." Kora answered after Emily had stopped in front of them.

"Good morning, Luna!" Emily greeted Dana when she finally realized who was there with them and then turned to Kora again not waiting for Dana to respond.

Seeing that the girl was not waiting for a response, Dana didn't bother giving one and watched how free the girl was with Kora.

"Are you going to school? Can we go together?" Emily asked, her eyes sparkling at the thought of going to school with Kora. "I want to introduce you to all of my friends. But I don't have many friends though."

Kora tilted her head and looked up at Dana who then nodded at her before she gave an 'Okay' to Emily.

"Luna, please forgive her for her disturbance." I woman said as she walked up to them. She was Emily's mother. "I will take her with me now, Luna."

"It's fine, she was just talking to Kora," Dana said. The woman finally noticed the extra presence there. She looked at Kora not able to identify her. She had seen her the previous day but she thought that was just for a moment she never expected the girl to still be around.

"Hello!" Kora said to the woman dryly.

"See mommy, I wasn't disturbing anybody," Emily said tilting her head up a bit so she could look at her mother's face. "Kora and I will be going to school together," Emily said happily. "Isn't it fun?"

While Emily was talking, her mother was looking at Kora, the girl looked familiar to her but she didn't remember meeting her before. She was slightly lost in her thoughts that she failed to hear most of what Emily was blabbing about.

She bent forward and on one knee to meet Kora's height and asked, "Hi kora, where did you come from?"

Kora tugged her brows and looked at her keenly then turned to the house behind her and pointed at it the woman followed her finger and looked at the pack house. "There...The house." She said still frowning at the woman. Why would she ask her that? Was it not obvious?

Hearing that, Dana wanted to laugh but she stopped herself in time before any sound could be heard.

The woman felt flustered by her response to the question. "I mean..." She wanted to clarify and rephrase her question when Emily interrupted her.

"Mommy we will be late, we have to go now," Emily said and took Kora's hand in her and started walking away.

"You can stay," Dana said to Emily's mother. "I will walk them to school." She walked away after saying that and the woman nodded behind her.

*********

Kora was placed in the same class as Emily as per Dana's request. Kora was already familiar with Emily and she wanted her to feel as comfortable as possible. After a series of classes, the children left for home but Kora took a different route which led to the training grounds.

Emily followed Kora thinking she was lost and didn't know her way back. "Kora this is not the way back to the pack house. Come let me show you." Emily said rushing to take Kora's hand but it was swatted away.

"Go back alone, I am not going there now," Kora said without looking back at Emily. Kora stopped walking when she heard Emily's sobs. "Why are you crying now?" Kora asked, irritated by her cries.

"Do you hate me now?" Emily asked in between her sobs. "Did I do anything wrong?"

"No, I don't hate you." Kora said and walked up to her, now standing face to face with her, "And no, you did not do anything wrong."

"Then why are going away from me?" Emily asked feeling a little sober after what Kora said.

"Because I am going to the training grounds." Kora said and stretched her hand to wipe the remaining tears from Emily's cheeks. "I am meeting Ezra there for training."

"Who is Ezra?" Emily asked not understanding who she was meeting to train her.

Kora wanted to facepalm herself but then she remembered that they don't call him just Ezra but gamma Ezra. "He is the gamma," she said lightly.

Emily gasped in surprise forgetting about her cries from earlier completely. " Really?" She asked. "Can I come and train with you too?"

"I don't know ask Lazarus," Kora said and turned around to continue walking. "I have to go now or will be late. I do not want Ezra to pick on me because I am late."

"Okay," Emily said. Just when Kora was about to take the first step away she asked, "Why would gamma Ezra pick on you? He is very nice."

"Don't worry about it." Kora said and walked away. "You won't understand anyway," Kora said and walked away while Emily waved at her from the back.

Kora got to the training ground and found Ezra standing with his hands across his chest as he watched the other children train and gave instructions to some of the older warriors who help him with training the young ones. He winced the moment he saw her and turned around.

He was mad that Lazarus asked him to train her knowing that she was underage. Other than that he did not hate the girl.

"You are late," Ezra said without even looking at her. "The next time you will be punished."

"Okay," Kora said and dropped her backpack aside. "What do I do now?"