@Arnyn
September 7th
Evening, after supper
Trastion held his breath for a moment as he waited. He thought, during that moment, that she was going to declare that camping was too enjoyable for him, and that he should find some other accommodations during this period of punishment. Or, he also worried that she'd insist that it should cost him something out of the money he'd been trying to save. So, it was a relief when she finally answered that it was alright. Camping it was, then. Of course, he knew that it was the time of year when it got cold at night, so it was a slightly less pleasant time of year to be camping. Still, he almost felt guilty that he was going to be doing something he enjoyed, but the thought of all the extra duties, plus the extra training that she promised would be rigorous... and the thought of more things being added on later.. he figured he'd be regretting this evening for a very long time. A couple weeks of camping would be like a reprieve from it all, right?
He had no more questions, at least none came to mind right away. Hearing her say that he was dismissed, Trastion stood slowly. Something else had occurred to him. If he was going to camp, he would need his supplies. And she'd said he would need to convince someone to get his stuff for him, because he wasn't allowed at the barracks. That in itself wasn't such a problem, but what he was suddenly concerned about was the fact that he would probably need to continue the drunken act, when he spoke to anyone. He frowned at that thought. He'd have to put that smelly shirt back on, right? And.. oh. No laundry service in the morning, either. He hadn't anticipated that problem. His mind was racing with all of these issues, wondering how he should be acting by this point, and how to get the attention of one of his roommates without actually coming into the building.
Reaching down to pick up the shirt from in front of the door, Trastion's attention was brought back to Arnyn when she spoke again, calling out his name. He turned and gave her a serious nod. "Yes, lieutenant, very clear. You have my word." He answered solemnly, then gave a fist to heart salute to her, paused to make sure she was really done with him before leaving the office. Once he had left, he lingered in the hallway for a bit. He had a lot to think about, and figure out, and hoped to get his stuff without too much difficulty, so he could hurry and find a good spot to spend the night. With all his thoughts focused on that issue, it didn't even occur to him about how difficult it would be to get
back here so early in the morning...
@Arnyn
Trastion Leithor
September 8th
Sometime before Dawn
He had slept terribly, despite having managed to get his supplies from the dorm. Not only did he find it quite chilly out in the woods, but he kept thinking about how badly he'd messed up, and how much his idiotic words had probably hurt someone who didn't deserve that. When Trastion did finally get to sleep, he'd woken shortly after, feeling as if someone was lurking near his camp. It turned out to be a raccoon, but after that he'd found it difficult to shake the memory of a bad dream that troubled him at times.
It was difficult to figure out what time it was now, suddenly being so far from the barracks. It was a cloudy night, too, so he couldn't even see the stars to try and make a guess. Having to rely on himself to know the time... he was not quite accustomed to that. When he'd camped for fun, it didn't matter what time he or his brother got up. After he left home, and was living on his own in the woods, it didn't matter then either, unless he had a job. But when he had a job, he'd usually stayed fairly close to others, so he could figure it out based on when everyone else was getting up.
He had just begun nodding off when he became aware of the fact that there were birds chirping, though it was still dark. He lay huddled in his bedroll, listening for a little while, before it dawned on him that it must be close to dawn. It had that feeling in the air, like it was just a little bit before sunrise. He would have liked to watch the sunrise from where he was, but knew he'd be up in the training area with Arnyn, by that time, and probably wouldn't get to actually take the time to watch and enjoy it. Too bad. There wasn't much time now before he'd get up, and then...
And then, suddenly, the amount of distance he would have to go in order to meet Arnyn for training, also dawned on him. And the lack of time that he had in which to cross that distance! He might have set a new record in donning his gear as swiftly as possible, but he didn't have any way of keeping track of how long it took him. While he had, initially, been thinking he would have some sort of breakfast before he set out to go back up to the sixth circle, there was no time for that. He didn't even take the time to pack up his camp, and hoped very much that his things would still be there when he returned.
He almost ran off without his sword, but doubled back hastily to snatch it up from where he'd left it next to his bedroll. Would he be needing the bow? He didn't recall her saying anything about it, but... better grab it, just to be sure. He fumbled, trying to balance both weapons while grabbing for the quiver as well, and then just on the off chance he might get half a second to scarf down a quick breakfast, he grabbed something from his pack, which he had thankfully already had in there before he got banned from the barracks and Mess.
The run up the circles was.. not very enjoyable. He did manage to secure his sword at his hip by the time he reached the main gate, and then one of the guards held him up a bit, insisting he needed to secure his weapons before he entered, so there wouldn't be any risk of arrows falling out of his quiver and littering the streets, and all that. It was, in a small way, a relief to take a moment to do that, but he felt anxious the whole time. He was already late enough!
Unknown to him, the guards had a good laugh asking themselves, after he was out of earshot, amused as they watched him run off in such haste.
He'd done plenty of running down in the training grounds, especially last month. There had been times during the previous month of training that he'd thought he wasn't going to make it to the end. It had been
intense. So, he wasn't unused to running, nor even running in full gear. But..
uphill? Six levels... he'd heard each level was a hundred feet high. So that meant he had to run up six hundred feet, not even in a straight line, either! All the while struggling to keep his weapons from jostling and bumping, while trying to choke down a hard, dry biscuit with a chunk of dried meat on it, and realizing he'd left his waterskin in his pack, and only had the small canteen bouncing at his side. And he'd forgotten to top it off since the last time he used it.
Huffing for breath, with his side hurting from pushing himself so hard, Trastion no longer felt the least bit chilled as he finally arrived at the training area behind the Armory. He was amazed to find that he had somehow beaten the sun, for it had not yet risen, and he didn't even yet hear any sounds to indicate Cali was getting the forge running. Resting his hands against a fence bordering the practice area, he let it support him as he focused on just breathing for a moment. Surprisingly, Arnyn wasn't there yet, he noticed, though it was a small relief, as he hoped that would give him a few moments to catch his breath.
