Back to Your Scheduled Routine

[Kender Bard]

(Year 1021, Winter, Talen'sul, Eresserod)

After the trip to Reave, Vasil threw himself into preparations for his upcoming presentation, getting ready for when Trevor would call upon him again. As a result, he was swift to inform Demetri that he'd be going back to the structured schedule that was laid out for him when he first joined. All he had to do was go to the appropriate rooms and someone there would take care of him. Although it was normally the mentor's job to take a hands on approach, nobody expected the Grand Master to do that too often, and Vasil had important things to take care of. He promised, however, to take a more active hand in Demetri's tutoring once he got some of his work done.

And so it was that when the morning bell rang, and Demetri's 'first' day at real training began, Tywin was quick to offer his help. "I know I have training to do too, and all, but I think someone should be with you that's not a teacher. I'm sure my own mentor would agree to let me change my schedule around to match yours today if you'd like."

[Skittlebug]

While he had enjoyed the trip to Reave, and being in the know about what Vasil had been planning, Demetri had found himself eager to get back to what he was 'supposed' to be doing. He was glad for Tywin's offer of help though, agreeing that it would be good to have someone else there, who'd been through all of this not too long ago.

"I appreciate it, you won't laugh at me too much if I make a fool of myself, will you?"

[Kender Bard]

"Perish the thought," Tywin told him. "Fetch a bit of breakfast for me while you're in the line and I'll go open a discourse with my mentor and see if I can't plead my case. It shouldn't take long. If it does, though, then I'll try to find time to meet with you again. There's usually a little bit of free time before and after each meal so if nothing else, I'll see you by lunch."

[Skittlebug]

"Fair enough." Demetri headed over to do just that. Once he had their meals he found a place and sat down to wait for Tywin.

[Kender Bard]

Fortunately for Tywin, he didn't miss breakfast, coming in with plenty of time to spare as he slid onto the bench next to Demetri, grunted a word of thanks, and shoveled the morning's porridge into his mouth as fast as he could. Once sated, he stretched, yawned, and said, "Well I'm sharing your lessons today. What's first after breakfast for you?"

[Skittlebug]

Demetri grinned, pleased. He was already pretty much done his own breakfast, and he hoped Tywin wouldn't choke himself eating at that pace. "Great. I've got physical training first."

[Kender Bard]

Tywin moaned with a skyward glance. "I just ate too... Ugh... Fine." He pat his stomach. "I'll try not to vomit on your feet." He snorted and grabbed their empty bowls, taking them both back to be cleaned and then standing near Demetria, arms crossed. "What did Master Vasil have you do while you were gone?"

[Skittlebug]

Demetri chuckled at poor Tywin's plight. "Oh, stretching, some working out, meditating. Probably have to pick up the pace on all of them now that I'm back I imagine."

[Kender Bard]

"That's not so bad," Tywin replied, mollified. "That's the easiest stuff, in fact." He jerked his chin towards the exit. "Well, unless there's something you wanted to do real quick, we should head over and see who your teacher is going to be in place of the grandmaster."

[Skittlebug]

"Yeah well, it wasn't all that easy to me." Demetri grumbled, getting up to put away their dishes. "Let's get to it."

[Kender Bard]

The training hall was fairly full this morning of monks of all ranks and nearly all of them engaged in some sort of exercise. Tywin glanced about until he spotted an older woman surveying the room. It wasn't the same woman from the last time Demetri had visited the training hall. Tywin walked over and bowed slightly to her.

"Yes Tywin?" the woman asked, turning slightly to face him. "This isn't your usual training period."

"I'm accompanying Grandmaster Vasil's student," Tywin explained with a jerked thumb back at Demetri. "We're not sure who's going to be teaching him though."

"I guess that'd be me," the woman replied with a slight smirk. She bowed to Demetri. "I am Mistress Azeneth, Red Belt of the Third Order." She indicated the grey cloth with three red stripes on it. "I'm not sure if anyone explained the significance of the belts to you, and their coloration, but it means I'm a graduated monk who has mastered three forms to perfection." She ticked off the three marks. "Red for battle."

[Skittlebug]

Demetri returned the bow. He raised his brows at her explanation, seemed impressive. "What other colours are there?"

[Kender Bard]

"Green for nature or 'outside forces' of a sort," Azeneth explained. "Blue for the mind. We have a special one, and a special one, white, for 'spirit' which is somewhat nebulous and is generally reserved for senior monks. Only the grandmaster can award a white mark. You'll have noticed he wears a fully white belt to denote his station as our spiritual leader. White Order monks have usually mastered something from each of the other orders as well. True balance is our ultimate goal."

[Skittlebug]

Demetri listened curiously as she explained, nodding here and there. "What do you start out with, a blank belt?"

[Kender Bard]

"Black," Azeneth explained. "All novices are black belts. After passing tests in each of their studies, they are granted the status of grey belt. After that, where they go with their studies is largely up to them rather than a specific path laid out by their mentor. As you gain more marks in your belt, the more your journey becomes one of self discovery. But we all started the same." She smiled slightly. "And today we'll start with you. Has Grandmaster taught you anything yet?"

"Some stretching and similar," Tywin offered. "The basics."

Azeneth nodded slightly. "Well, let's see how well you're doing. Boys, touch your toes."

Tywin was bent and touching his toes in a blink, evidently more flexible than he initially appeared.