A Vulnerable First Meeting
| Phineas thought he had found a decently secluded part of the Gardens. He was shaking from the disappointment of his most recent training time. Saidin kept eluding him, the stream of the power flowing through his fingers, so to speak, as he tried to reach out and grab hold with the ability that had been born inside of him. Perhaps, that was what was the most frustrating of his current trial: he had been born to channel. Still, some might have said he’d been born to beat metal at an anvil, but that ability had only really developed after hours of work in the forge. In his mind, he could acknowledge the need for practice, but that did not eliminate the pain in his heart. All around him, he could see the progress others were making. The small successes felt so little when compared with the other Soliders’ and Novices’ advancements. He had even heard that one of his acquaintances had been raised to the Accepted recently. It didn’t matter that she had been at the Grey Tower longer than he had: he felt so unaccomplished next to all the rest. Thus, he was sitting in the furthest corner of the Gardens that he could find, letting out his frustration as was only possible. His black coat and shirt lay on a shrub; he had not wanted to drench the garments in sweat as he worked through some of the exercises he’d used to build up muscles as a blacksmith’s apprentice. The hard workout helped him calm down, but it had not been enough to fend off the tears that had begun to fall as Phineas had finished his workout. Even the satisfaction that came at the end of his routine was not enough to compensate for his disappointment. Thus, he found himself on the floor, tears slowly falling down his face. He was constantly trying to clear his nose and wipe away the excess fluids. The coolness of the air on his sweaty body would’ve felt good in any other moment, but he was too caught in his own emotions to really delight in it. What more could he do to progress? Pondering that question, Phineas heard rustling and walking from the path that led to his secluded area. Frightened that someone would see him and realize by his face what he’d been doing, he cast around for a place to hide. Unfortunately, being an open area big enough for the hulking Soldier to exercise, there was no hiding place readily available. As the walking came closer, Phineas moved to wipe his face and feigned being midway through his exercises in hopes that his red, wet face would be mistaken as the result of exertion and not emotion. When the figure finally manifest, Phineas stopped what he was doing and saluted, “Good afternoon, Dedicated,” he said, suddenly aware that he was out of uniform on the Tower grounds. |
