MOMENT OF TRUTH¹ eli moskowitz

lull

Amara woke up in the middle of the night to hear the door open to Johnny’s apartment.

“What the hell?” Amara questioned. She got out of bed and saw someone trying to shut the door.

Johnny’s door liked to stick to the hinge. It was a pain to open and close if you weren't careful.

Amara charged at the man and did her favorite jump kick to his back, slamming him into the door.

The man groaned. “What the hell?” Amara grabbed the man’s arm and put him in an arm lock. “Amara?” The man questioned.

“Sensei?” She questioned as she let go of him. “Where were you?”

Johnny turned around and flipped the light on. He looked at Amara in shock. “How did you get in here?”

“You let me move in. I have a key.” Amara questioned. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I just, I need to lie down.” Johnny spoke. He made his way over to the back room leaving Amara standing at the door.

She knew something wasn't right. She went back to her room and texted Miguel.

Amara
What's up with Sensei?

Miguel
A friend of his passed.
They had the funeral this
weekend.

Amara
Oh.

•♪~†~♪•

Amara and Johnny walked into the dojo together the next day. She saw everyone stretching and getting ready for the field trip. Sensei Kreese said they were going to go on.

Amara was excited. She was so sick of being cooped up in this dojo. She wanted to explore the world.

When the two walked in Miguel made his way to Johnny as Amara made her way to Hawk.

“Hey.” Hawk greeted her. “You ok?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Amara spoke. “Just worried about Sensei.” Amara began to stretch her arm..

“You still pissed about the LaRussos?” Hawk asked.

“Hell yeah I'm still pissed.” The blonde girl answered. “We should’ve stolen more than the Medal of Honor.”

Johnny walked out of the office and looked at his students. “Everybody, get your gis on. Training starts in five minutes.” He said.

All his students looked at others, confused about the situation. The group of five, Amara, Aisha, Hawk, Tory, and Miguel all walked over to their senseis.

“Yeah, what's wrong?” Johnny asked.

“N-Nothing’s wrong.” Miguel spoke, “I just thought we were going to the woods for a special  training today.”

Johnny looked at Kreese then back at his students. “What's happening in the woods?”

“Well, I thought it was a good time to separate the men from the boys.” Kreese told him. Amara looked at Aisha and Tory before she cleared her throat. “And the girls, too, I suppose.”

“How?” Johnny asked.

“Coyote Creek.”

Johnny sighed and turned his body to Kreese. “I'm not sure they're ready for that.”

“There's only one way to find out.” Kreese told him.

Hawk looked over at Miguel and Amara as they looked at each other. “We're ready, Sensei.” He spoke. “We wanna prove ourselves.”