A Week in the Depths of HELL!! *Attn Liitha*

[Alriand]

The still, chilled air of morning felt refreshing on Alriand’s weathered face. A pale light shot up from the eastern horizon, and mists hung low around the garden where he sat in meditation before dawn. He opened his eyes and felt calm. It was his habit to take the silence before dawn to meditate in the gardens.

 

He breathed deep the clean air and made his way to his room on the top floor of the barracks. He was training Liitha again today, and for the rest of the week, in fact. Stamina training. Something that he didn’t particularly like (very few did), but not something he wasn’t prepared for. His own training had pushed him quite far, and this was one of the earlier steps.

 

He had trained Liitha once before with whips. She was a good student, but he thought this training might bring out more of her mother in her. Trying to get Tanitsja to do anything as painful and potentially boring as stamina training would have been far less than pleasant.

 

He entered his room and found his papers for stamina training on his desk. He had written down some exercises and ideas for training. He wasn’t one to go by the book on training, but it was nice to have some default practices. He heated a small kettle of tea in the hearth (another advantage of the gaidin’s quarters) and dressed in some more durable clothing. His usual black knee-boots, rugged twill pants, and a lightweight muslin shirt. Over his shirt he wore his knee-length weathered leather tunic and left it open in front. The tunic had been with him for thirty years. It was covered in stitches and worn down in many places, but it was almost a part of him. There were few material possessions he truly cared for, and this was one of them.

 

After buckling a belt around his tunic, he caught sight of himself in the mirror. His few grey hairs seemed to be multiplying. Or perhaps he hadn’t noticed them before. They were still relatively few, but regardless, he would rather they turned back to their ash brown they had once been.

 

Making his way down to the training grounds, he awaited Liitha. The yards were sparse at this early hour, but movement could be felt from barracks as people began to stir. When Liitha had arrived, he gave her a slight bow and then spoke. “Today begins stamina training. I’ll warn you now that not many people of fond of this week, nor of almost any of the training itself, but it will be good for at least building a resistance to tedious practice.†Liitha looked only slightly worried about what she might have to do. Alriand continued. “I hope you’ve had some hearty food for breakfast, because we’re about to burn all of your energy. Right now all I want you to do it follow me. And don’t lag too far behind. Understood?†At that, Alriand stared off at a light jog around the yards. Little did Liitha know how many laps she would end up doing. And this was still the warm up.

 

~ Alriand

Bonded to Lwena

GM

[Liitha]

Liitha woke and looked out the window, it was still dark but soon enough dawn would come. She streached and yawned a litle, then slipbed out of the blankets. She walked over to the wash basin and started by splatering her face before washing down in the cold water. After drying she went to find some clothes from her chest at the end of her bed. Picking out dark brown pants she had had sown from skin of a dear she had taken down herself, they where soft and comfortable, as well made for good movement and she had a feeling she migth need it today.

 

Roaming through the chest she picked out a black bandana and tossed it on the bed, then found a black top, sliping it over her head she tucked it into the pants, she ignored the goose bumps on her bare arms. Siting down on her bed with a brush she combed through her hair, when all the knots was out of it she tied the bandana on to keep it out of her face. She considered taking with her a shirt, but figured it would only make for dead weigth as well when she got hot she would be glad to have her arms bare to get rid of some heat.

 

She picked up her swords, a gift from her father, they where perfectly balanced and she was used to them after practising for a year with them.

Liitha straped them on her back after one last look on the heron's, one year almost exact since she earned them. Flashes of memories from the spar with Lyv went throug her mind as she walked down to the mess to get some food. Digging in on fruit and bread she stayed away from meat and anything that would weigh down heavy in her stumock when she started moving about later. She swallowed it down with some tea. It was dawning outside, but she had one more thing to do before meeting Alriand.

 

Sliping out she walked down to the stables and found Yaz, before this year was up he would be retired. She smiled as she lead him outside and gave him some hay in a corner of the fence, going inside she started diging out the dung. Not always did she have time for this, but as often as she could she did it herself. To remember and remind herself where she came from, as well she used the time to think, no one disturbed her. She passed Yaz half an aple as she passed by him on her way back up to the yards, biting into the other half herself as she walked.

 

Ariving in the yards she spoted Alriand and walked over. “Today begins stamina training. I’ll warn you now that not many people of fond of this week, nor of almost any of the training itself, but it will be good for at least building a resistance to tedious practice.†Liitha nodded and checked that her boots where properly fastened. “I hope you’ve had some hearty food for breakfast, because we’re about to burn all of your energy. Right now all I want you to do it follow me. And don’t lag too far behind. Understood?â€

 

Liitha smiled, "yes". As he lead the way to start runing laps she followed, she usualy did this every morning, both from instruction, time to think and in the begining also cause it was one more of those things reminding her of her mother, and as such made her feel closer to her. Thinking back in time to the first time she had ran laps here a smile passed over her lips, she had come a long way since then. Focusing she kept behind Alriand following with his back always in good sigth.