Anika smiled as she watched the children that had been coming to her for lessons in the past couple of weeks. They were lined up facing each other, each child holding a stick as they practised blocking and attacking their opponents. Stepping away from the barrel she'd been sat on, Anika caught one boy's stick as it sailed through the air. "Alec, what have I said about moving ahead early?"<br/><br/>One of the boys flushed with embarrassment, already nursing his arm with a distinctly sulky look to the pout on his face. "Don't run 'fore you can walk, or you'll get hurt..."<br/><br/>"And what happened this time?" Anika held the stick out to him, and he took it, still pouting.<br/><br/>"I got hurt... But Anika, girls shouldn't fight!" He pointed at the blue eyed blonde girl he'd been set against and Anika raised an eyebrow.<br/><br/>"Oh? And what am I, a kitty?" She waited for an answer, but didn't get one-Alec was too busy sulking. Finally, she sighed. "All right, children-that's enough for today. Don't forget to practice your feet placement when you get home. Alec, you're staying with me. I want to walk you home and speak with your father about this."<br/><br/>"No!, Please, Anika, I'm sorry! Just... please don't tell Papa..." Alec's face changed to one filled with apprehension now as she knelt before him to look him in the eye.<br/><br/>"Alec, look at me now and stop sulking. Now, the reason I want to talk to your father isn't because of your behaviour, but because he hasn't paid me for your lessons yet. Understand?"<br/><br/>Alec stared at her a moment, and then nodded as the other children left. "I understand..."<br/><br/>"Good boy. All right, now, we should... go..." Anika fell silent when she looked up to see the ship drop from the sky, her eyes following its descent a moment. Yearning to leave this planet filled her heart, but after being thrown off her last ship-apparently, the Captain hadn't appreciated being told that he needed to know how to fight, too-she wasn't sure about joining another crew.<br/><br/>Alec reached for her sleeve, tugging lightly on the long fabric. "Can we fly...? Please? Just this once, Anika?"<br/><br/>She looked down into hopeful eyes, and finally smiled. "All right, but you have to promise not to let go, Alec. We don't want you getting hurt, after all."<br/><br/>With his eager nod, she picked the boy up, using her free arm to hold him secure as the other kept hold of her Key Staff. Wings that were normally kept together separated, and she crouched a moment before taking off into the air and circling towards where Alec lived-which was also where the ship had landed. Out of curiosity, Anika looked the ship over-and was just in time to see people step off, a male and female. She frowned at that, knowing there should be more crew members, but quickly put it from her mind as she tilted to the right and moved away from the ship again, her wings beating quickly to keep her and the child in the air.