Winter 4987, 18 Ginmoth
Breathe...
… In. Master Veon-Zih sat cross-legged in a small shrine within the confines of Taolu Monastery in the Halakon desert. Behind him, the shrine doors slid open with a soft hiss, but he paid it no mind, letting the sound go as quickly as it had come.
Breathe...
… Out. The floorboards creaked and groaned as the newcomer took a seat beside him. He could hear them breathe, in through the nose, out through the mouth. He let that sound go too.
Breathe…
… In. He could smell hot dust and jasmine. Veon-Zih knew who the newcomer was. It was a little harder to let that thought go. But he was experienced and disciplined, and soon even that was gone, leaving his mind blissfully empty and at peace.
The two sat in meditative silence. Their breath eventually coming to match each other in the way rhythmic things often do. Until…
Dong... Dong... Dong…
The bell that marked the hour in the Monastery was deep and resonating, its vibrations filling the facility and traveling down the small mountain to nearby Zanit. Veon-Zih took one last breath and, letting it out slowly, opened his eyes.
“Fancy seeing you here, Master Velona.” he turned to smile at the woman beside him. She looked younger than she was, though the smile lines by her eyes and mouth gave some of her age away. She sat kneeling beside him, a delicately curved sword strapped horizontally across her lower back and a plain wood staff on the floor beside her. The Monks of Kensei were never found without their weapons.
“I believe that is my line, Master Veon-Zih,” she continued to face forward but looked sideways at him out of the corner of her eye, a mischievous grin playing at her lips, “This is my Monastery after all…”
“True, true,” Veon-Zih nodded solemnly, then stretched and reclined back, leaning on his hands, “But I heard you'd grown tired of Monastery life and were instead destined for pilgrimage…”
“Perhaps,” she finally turned to look at him fully, “But I will never cease to be amazed by your damn ears.” reaching out, she pulled at one of the offending appendages, then laughing, shifted her hips off of her feet and onto the ground, bringing herself slightly closer to him. “Where did you hear about my pilgrimage?”
Veon-Zih shook his head, “A wise man never reveals all his secrets.”
Velona rolled her eyes but asked, “Is that why you’re here, perhaps? To give up your life of traveling the kingdom slaying monsters and stopping vagabonds, and instead travel the kingdom to pay your respects to all the shrines while also slaying monsters and stopping vagabonds?”
The old Monk shifted his weight to one hand and made a show of rubbing his chin in mock thought, “Hmmm, you do make a convincing argument, but on the other hand.” he lifted his other hand off the floor, still maintaining his reclining position, his abdominal muscles flexing hard beneath his loose tunic. “I have a student I would need to visit, and that would interrupt the pilgrimage and possibly defeat the purpose.” he put both hands back down to lean on again.
Velona looked wide-eyed at him, her eyebrows reaching for her shaved head, “You have an apprentice? I never thought the day would come.” but Veon-Zih was wagging a finger back and forth at her.
“No. I have a student. That is a fundamental distinction.” her look turned more skeptical than amazed, “He has no ties to the Monastery or to the Monks of Ryukyu. Instead, he is bound to the Temple of Hengist.”
“But Monks can hold allegiance to... “
“As a Paladin.” he interrupted with a shrug, “Well, as a Squire soon to be a Paladin.”
Velona gave a small “Oh…” that made slightly more sense. Though it was clear she had no idea why Veon-Zih would take a student already sworn to another path. She managed another grin and added, "I bet the Monastery just loves that..."
Veon-Zih rubbed the back of his neck a little nervously, "They don't know, and they don't need to since he isn't learning anything that requires a Grandmaster's tutelage."
Velona could sense his desire to change the subject and obliged without prompting, “So why are you here then? You have been in the area many times over the years but have been conveniently absent from the Monastery.”
Her grin was mischievous again, and Veon-Zih looked away. She may not be bitter towards him anymore, but that didn’t mean he didn’t still feel guilt… and regret. “Actually, it has something to do with my student. You see, it's nearly Winter Solstice, and I'm supposed to be with him around this time for some training and general updates…” he let the sentence trail off and Velona circled her hand in the air for him to continue, “Well, I'm down here in lovely Halakon, and he's up in Hamerfoss…Clearhelm.”
Velona shook her head in disbelief, her eyes on the ground but her grin still firmly in place, “And let me guess. You were wondering if maybe I would like to start my pilgrimage in the north and work my way back down?”
Veon-Zih gave her an exaggerated scrutinizing look, “Are you sure you’re not a Mage? You seem to know an awful lot about the goings-on inside my head... “
“Oh, I wish,” Velona muttered, a hint of bitterness creeping into her voice. Veon-Zih immediately regretted his comment.
“Well, if you still have your contacts at the Mages Guild, I thought perhaps you could start your pilgrimage in the north, and we could do at least some of it together…” he looked away again as she looked him over from crossed legs up to bald head. He couldn’t give her everything she wanted, but he could do some, and they weren’t getting any younger.
“I would like that,” she said, her voice soft, the playfulness gone.
Veon-Zih met her eyes. She was smiling, but it was a soft, sad smile. “I would too,” he said just as softly.
***
