little bird // r.keene

xxiv. new recruits, old enemies.

"Tory was just kickin's ass. I took care of Chris. Oh, and Hawk got that beta Demetri in an arm bar just like Chris Jericho and just..." Mitch raised his knee and made a snapping noise, Hawk's smile faltered. "Cold blooded." Mitch laughed as he told the story of the previous night and the fight at the arcade. "No mercy." He pointed at Hawk.

"Way to go, Hawk."

Tory had been watching him, she saw his shoulders tense up at the mere mention of Demetri and yet she was just sorry she hadn't seen Sam LaRusso.

"I didn't actually think you were going to do it." She told him Hawk's eyes hardened when they met hers and he took a sharp inhale.
"They got what they deserved for what they did to Miguel." He said flatly and Tory's eyes fell when Hawk brought up her ex-boyfriend. Tory had tried and tried to extinguish her thoughts about him for weeks. A fraction of her, undeniably felt terrible about what had happened to him, there was no questioning that. And yet, when ever she pictured his face, all she could see was what she had seen the night of the party.
Miguel kissing Sam.

"You still haven't seen him yet, have you?" Hawk asked gently .

"I don't want to talk about it." She told him before shaking her head and walking away.

Hawk inhaled and was about to continue his warm up when his attention was caught by the ringing of the bell above the front door of the dojo. His eyes followed and there he saw a band of kids from their school. The group that used to make his life miserable. The group that made his life hell when he was just Eli.

His expression dropped and his mouth fell agape slightly.

Kyler grabbed Eli and held his face, "Hey, where are you going?" Oh, look at this freak." He sneered and Wren clenched her jaw unconsciously.

"Oh, shit!" His friend laughed as Eli remained silent, "What kind of girl would ever kiss this shit?" Kyler taunted, wearing a sickening smile.

"Class, welcome our new students." Kreese's voice cut through the simmering chatter in the dojo. He walked around the mat, his thumbs hooked in his gi. The new members remained silent by the doorway, staring down the kids in their gis.

Confidently, Mitch sauntered over to the group, a thick smile on his face. "I'm gonna call you guys... Chodenose and Taintbreath."

"What the hell did you just say?" Kyler stepped forward, meeting him in the middle and Mitch's smile immediately faded as he uncrossed his arms.
"Oh, err, nothing. It's just something we do around here sometimes." He tried to justify, Kreese watched on with a smirk. Kyler just smiled as he made Mitch flinch.

"Ok." Mitch said weakly before returning to his place on the mat. Hawk approached Kreese, keeping his voice low and flat.

"Sensei, I don't think these guys are Cobra Kai material." He said honestly and Kreese turned to face him.

"Weren't you the one saying that we should get new recruits?" He asked, he had been hoping Wren might already have turned up by now after their spar two days ago. But anyhow, he was confident she would come sooner or later, he knew she needed a way to channel her undoubted rage... Otherwise, he knew it was inevitable she would self-destruct and it was only a matter of time before she realised that herself.

Until then, Kreese had to find new students to fill what the dojo had lost, and these new kids were exactly how he was going to do it.

"Well, yeah. But..." Hawk paused, "Look, I know some of these guys, and they're-"
"Natural athletes. Which is exactly what's been missing in our dojo." Kreese turned his head to agress the class. "Everyone fall in." He called out and the kids began to line up when one final student walked in the door.

It had been weeks since Wren wore her gi, but just like before, it fit like a glove. Majority of the class was surprised to see her, their eyes fixed as she wordlessly dumped her bag at the side of the dojo, but not Kreese. No, he wore a smirk evident for miles.

"Miss, Evans..." he addressed her directly, his voice ringing throughout the room, as she slid off her shoes, "So glad of you to join us." Wren straightened up, turning finally to face the small crowd of the dojo as her eyes surveyed the room.

People, kids, friends, had come and gone. Unsure if they had been kicked out or left of their own accord but what she did know is that she recognised some of the faces that filled their places.

Specifically fixing her gaze on Kyler, whose cocky smirk dropped when she focused her eyes on him. His shoulders tensed but kept them firm and open, almost as if to make himself look bigger- more intimidating maybe but still... Kyler couldn't deny he felt a soft shiver trail down his spine and over his skin when he saw her, just as Eli's had when he saw him.

Wren turned away from Eli to face Kyler who was still standing behind him and she punched him in the face.

It was a hard right hook to the lower jaw which stunned him for a few moments, she may as well have punched his friends as well based on the expressions painting their faces. Wren used that precious window of time to dart away and grab her bag and give Miguel, Demetri, and Eli a grin before she bolted out of the library.

"Good to be back, sensei. I see I haven't missed out on the party." Her eyes were fixed on the new recruits as she remained motionless by the wall. The other students paused, flickering their eyes between the student and teacher, wondering how she could address their sensei so casually when they had come to know him as a cold, unforgiving man throughout the last few weeks.

"We were waiting for you." Kreese smirked shamelessly, Wren threw a glance at her feet before training her eyes on him once more, making sure to keep her expression mindless and unbothered by all the drilling eyes fixed on her. She was doing a good job too, her careless demeanour might have been interpreted as cocky but Kreese knew what it really was.

Power.

"I'm flattered." She offered flatly, stepping on the edge of the mat mere inches from Kyler's shoulder- he still towered over her undoubtedly. "But not necessary, I have no doubt you would have survived without me."

Kreese cocked his head, "Take your place on the mat..." Diverting his attention from his her, Kreese looked around at the other students and dispersed his attention, as if to address them but still spoke to Wren directly, "...Champion."

And there it was. Not at all a reminder for her, despite addressing Wren. But a reminder for everyone else in the room, new and old students alike.

That was Kreese's message to the new students, that if they wished to learn, adapt and succeed at Cobra Kai... Wren was the bar to reach. But he knew, even she, had much to learn from him.

Wren found her spot in the middle of the mat, placing herself neatly between Hawk and Tory. She threw a quick glance at them both and gave a curt nod as if to say:

I'm okay.
I'm here.
I'm ready.

"Joining Cobra Kai is a privilege." Kreese announced in a loud, clear voice everyone was in their place, "It's not a gift. Which is why our new recruits must earn their positions in this dojo." Wren noticed out of the corner of her eye Hawk turned his head as he let his eyes rest on Kyler.

She instantly knew what this meant for him. She knew all too well that confronting your past was no easy feat and she was simply reminded of how small he had felt when he considered himself just Eli.

She knew how small Kyler had made him feel and deep down in her, that spark of anger that had been blazing when she fought Kreese, was ignited.

"Prepare yourselves for combat. Only the strong will survive."