The east of Canas was doing nothing but festivities throughout the area; the large area and as Kara looked around, she saw many of the wolves remained in a wolf human hybrid. Instead of being all werewolf, or all human form, it was a mixture of both. A good distinction would be the human ears plus the wolf ears.
The Omega was called over to an outside ramen shop. She sat upon a stool and was immediately asked what protein she wanted.
"Um, shrimp," she answered. The man nodded his head as he began to cook. "Whats with the activities?"
"Oh," he started. "We're celebrating our twentieth anniversary to when we became a pack," he exclaimed.
Kara lifted an eyebrow. So this pack was different than the south. While the south was distrustful and hated how Apex forced them into one pack, this pack took pleasure in being united into one entity.
"That's what we needed: to unite under one Alpha. And we got that," he placed the bowl of ramen in front of Kara.
Kara stared down at the steaming bowl of ramen, the savory aroma of rich broth and the faintly sweet scent of shrimp rising in delicate wisps.
The noodles glistened beneath the golden surface, dotted with green onions and thin slices of fish cake.
A single shrimp curled at the edge, its shell blushed pink from the heat. She hesitated for only a moment, long enough for the shopkeeper to notice—before lifting her chopsticks.
The first bite was scalding, broth clinging to her lips, the shrimp tender enough to yield without resistance-
Clip, clip!
The chopsticks fell to the ground. A sweat drop came to her head. He smiled at her.
"I knew by your accent you weren't from here, you know," he began. "This district used to be known as the red light district two decades ago."
Kara continued to eat her ramen, doing the best she could with the chopsticks, even with assistance from a nice Omega hanging with her friends.
"But isn't there a war going on?" Kara asked, dabbing her face with her napkin.
It was now the chef's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Why worry of a war we plan to win?"
Kara's fingers trembled slightly as she lifted another shrimp to her lips, the delicate flesh dissolving almost instantly against her tongue. The broth clung to her skin in tiny droplets, its heat a sharp contrast to the cool evening air drifting through the open shop.
Around her, the festival pulsed, laughter, the clatter of dishes, the occasional burst of fireworks painting the sky in fleeting blossoms of red and gold. None of it mattered in the quiet space between her and this bowl.
The noodles coiled around her chopsticks like live things, slippery with broth, glistening under the paper lanterns strung overhead. She barely noticed when another shrimp slipped from her grip, vanishing into the depths.
Plop!
Kara walked to her hotel, entering into the lobby, a very interesting architecture she had never seen before. But then, she had never been around this area of Canas before.
She slid her shoes off, and she was given a pair of slippers to wear by the hotel attendant. He bowed slightly as he handed them to her. Her feet slid into the slippers, feeling the softness of the fabric.
Kara walked down the hallway, her steps muffled by the tatami mats beneath her. The walls were made of polished wood.
The lanterns hanging from the ceiling cast a warm glow, their light flickering slightly as she passed by them to her room.
She entered into her room, stripping, and going to the hot tub that was in her room.
The hot tub steamed, its surface swirling with lazy currents that distorted the submerged lights below.
Kara's bare feet pressed against the smooth tiles as she descended into the heat, her muscles unwinding instantly. The water enveloped her, its warmth seeping deep into her skin, rushing to the core of her exhaustion, but her ear twitched.
Ssshhh!
She heard. She quietly got out the tub and wrapped a towel around her waist. When she stepped out the restroom, she was face to face with a shinobi.
The shinobi was dressed entirely in black, their face obscured by a cloth mask, revealing only narrowed eyes glinting with deadly intent.
A kunai glinted in their hand, its edge catching the flickering lantern light, just before it sliced through the air toward Kara's throat.
SWOOSH!
Kara placed up a shield using her magic that allowed the kunai to flick off it.
The shinobi wasted no time, no hesitation between moves. Their body blurred forward, their next strike aimed low, and a sweeping kick meant to take Kara's legs out from under her.
She twisted mid-air, the towel around her waist snapping loose as she flipped backward, bare feet slapping against the tatami mats.
She grabbed the towel in mid air and wrapped it around herself.
"You smell familiar," she said, noticing the ramen smell that hung on the shinobi. He said nothing as he move toward her.
The shinobi's next attack came in a fast and rapid. It was a fist, elbow, knee, each strike flowing into the next with predatory precision. Kara blocked, pivoted, countered; her bare feet skidded against the tatami as she parried a knife-hand strike aimed for her ribs.
"ENOUGH!" Kara yelled, the man stopping in time. She walked to the man as he floated into the air. The witch wasn't going to entertain this anymore.
She walked to him, taking off his mask. She laughed, shaking her head.
"Thanks again, for the ramen," she said. "Now...I was expecting you, just not when I was bathing."
The man fell to the floor but he stood up quickly. "I'll tell you nothing," and with a swift movement, the kunai was in his neck.
SLUSH!
The blood gushed out onto the floor. Kara quickly moved to him, placing her hand on his neck and saying, "Aqua Senere." Nah, she wasn't going to let this man die.