Koto contemplated several things very quickly. I could just pick him up. I could probably take him. He's a monk, so he could actually dodge any attacks. I wonder if I could get Hotcakes to threaten him. With fire. Probably not. He needs to loosen up. The last thought was the one that stuck in his head.

"Do you think you're going to get your tattoos if you're all work and no play?" Koto grabbed Zhao's arm, now dragging two people behind me. Zhao just floated on the air scooter, so he was pretty easy to drag, actually. "I'm kidnapping both of you today, because it's nice outside and I want to have a good day, and you do too, and that doesn't involve class." He towed them toward the small, hardly visible and rarely used path that lead down the mountain in a winding trail.

He could see the stream from the path, a thin line of cold mountain water. He hadn't been able to bend from a natural source since he left home! It was always water from the fountains... never the flowing, fresh water he was used to. His grin widened.