little bird // r.keene

xxvi. combat

Kyler won his fight, much to Wren's dismay.

Then again, she knew Mitch, she knew how he fought. When the match began, something, some small voice in the back of her mind had screamed that he wasn't strong enough. The voice had been right.

Defeated, Mitch pushed himself up and to his feat and began to hobble back to his place on the edge of the floor.

"Where are you going?" Kreese asked him flatly, his thumbs hooked on his gi, Mitch looked surprised and gestured to the empty space on the edge of the mat.

"To my spot." He answered in a low voice, Wren watched as his brows drew together, emphasising his confusion. She clenched her teeth.

Power belongs to those who take it.

Kreese's words rung in her mind. Mitch had possessed some power but Kyler had stripped him of it. Now he had nothing. Since meeting Kreese all those months ago, Wren now knew how he functioned, which means she also knew what was coming.

Wren felt a small slither of sympathy for Mitch, possibly fueled by her hatred of Kyler, but he had been at the dojo for so long. He had gotten too comfortable. Too confident. Too cocky. All of which had been his won mistake.

Mitch was done.

"You lost to an untrained fighter," Mitch's face sunk, "He's going to take your place on the team." Kreese told him, a series of confused looks were exchanged amongst the students. Mitch looked over at Hawk, who shifted on his feet uncomfortable before stepping forward.

"Sensei, Assface has been loyal to the dojo." Hawk pointed out, standing beside his friend.

"I'm afraid he's not..." Kreese paused, Wren knew he was toying with Mitch, painfully dragging this out, "Cobra Kai material. I told you, only the strong will survive." Wren watched as Hawk's eyes fixed on the floor and, as if reading her mind moment's prior, Kreese added one more thing... "Power belongs to those who take it."

Tory won her match, making sure to kick the girl who she had been fighting, Wren didn't know her name, in the mouth for good measure when she was already on the floor.

"You chipped my tooth, bitch." The girl told Tory, still sprawled on the mat looking up at her, Tory looked unbothered.
"You needed braces anyway." Wren smiled, doing her best not to chuckle at Tory's reply.

"Good job, Nichols." Kreese said from beside them as the pair of girls faced each other. "You know the drill, off the mat." He said to the newcomer and both girls returned to the edges.

Tory stood next to Wren, "Well done." Wren uttered to her, Tory threw her a victorious smirk, curling up the edges of her mouth.
"I needed that." Tory replied and Wren returned her smile. She, too, was ready to fight- her skin itched to begin a match, on the mat or off, it didn't matter.

It was almost as if Kreese was deliberately not pairing her with anyone just to piss her off, maybe this was some twisted lesson in self restraint. Wren didn't know.

"You, big boy." Kreese nodded to the boy in the red sweater, Wren didn't know his name either and neither did he particularly want to. All she knew is that he was one of the boys that had made Hawk's life miserable at one point in time and that was all she needed to hate him.

He strolled onto the mat, hyping himself up for his fight but before Kreese could nominate anyone, Hawk's voice rang loud and clear.

"He's mine."

"Get him, Lip." Kyler shouted in support, mocking Hawk's self assertion in the fight. Wren looked over at Kyler and his eyes slid to hers, gently she shook her head subconsciously...

Kyler's brows drew together suddenly and Wren didn't blame him. They mocked Hawk because to them, he was still the frightened little boy they used to pick on. They didn't know how far he had come, all because of them, all because of their torment and ridicule... They were about to find out how much he had grown.

"Ok, all right. Let's see if I can fix that lip of yours then." The boy said, raising his fists, readying himself. Hawk shed his gi and Wren stepped out to take it from him thoughtlessly, their eyes locked for a moment and in his face she saw a smile.

A smile that told her, he had been waiting for this for a long time, longer then she had known him. And now, here it was being handed to him. She gave him a firm nod as he let go of his gi.

"Do it." Was all she needed to say, not like he needed her permission but still, Hawk knew she understood what this meant for him.

Wren knew, once more, how this was going to end.

Kreese saw the exchange and just like he had known all along, just like he had hoped for, both Wren and Hawk were stronger when they were together. Kreese looked over to the boy holding the flags and gestured for him to lower them because he also could see there was no holding Hawk back from this.

Clutching Hawk's gi in her hands, Wren moved away from Tory and closed the gap between her and Kyler. His eyes flickered towards her, then returned to the mat.

"Watch." He heard her whisper and it was enough to send shivers down his spine.