Humble Beginnings (Leiva/PM for Entry)

[Leiva]

    As much progress as her master insisted she was making, Leiva couldn't help but feel like she was making none at all. It was, of course, hard to feel that much else when whenever she completed her assignments in the most logical way she could conjure, she stole the wrong thing or the right thing in the wrong manner, according to her mentor. Of course, she had been a thief for maybe a whole fortnight, so she figured she should at least afford herself some leeway in that regard, but it was still difficult not to feel utterly hopeless about her chances to become a successful thief eventually. She made a mental note to try to curve her impulsiveness, as per Ryuzaki's recommendation.
    But even then, who could blame her? She'd been eating dried cuts of meat and spoiled dairy products for her entire life. Was it really that much to ask to eat a nice, cooked meal for once? The novice supposed that her mentor just might not know what never having a hot meal in one's belly would feel like, and she used this assumption to rationalize her behavior. Sure, she was completely impulsive in her choice of meal, but she saw an opportunity and took it, and really, isn't that what being a thief is all about? Yes, surely. That was a satisfactory answer for her.
    Leiva merely nodded after Ryuzaki finished grilling her out, eager to see the area that he had picked out. She found it slightly difficult to keep pace with her mentor, especially considering her small stature in comparison, but she ascended the staircase that Ryuzaki led her to after weaving through the crowds with relative ease. She stood atop the flat rooftop and took in the sight of city. It truly was a breathtaking sight from this height; one could watch the bustling crowds with ease under the gentle lamplight, the hazy light of the moon and the stars cascading across the plains like a velvet sheet being set upon a freshly made bed. Up here, the noise and the chaos of Bulgar was far below Leiva, and it was a beautiful feeling, completed by the gentle evening breeze flowing. It took the novice a moment to gather herself and notice that Ryuzaki was beckoning her, and she joined him at the edge of the roof with a start, setting the meal to her side with a contented sigh. 
     She looked to Ryuzaki as he offered her his waterskin, returning his small smile with a large, jovial grin. She took it gladly and, before taking a large drink, said: "Yeah!"
     After a short moment's drink, Leiva took the waterskin away from her mouth with a sharp exhalation and offered it back to Ryuzaki, setting her eyes upon the spanning landscape below the two. "I dunno if I've said this yet, but I'm glad that you're teaching me all this stuff. I might seem pretty ungrateful, but really. Thank you. If you hadn't come along, I'd probably be dead." Leiva punctuated the rather grim statement with a chuckle, still observing the streets below. 

[Ryuzaki]

The assassin nodded, gently, thinking. Yes. If he had left her on the plains, she most certainly would have perished.

“Indeed.”

Ryuzaki was silent for a moment, almost as if he was trying to find the words to express what he saw clearly in his mind. Then, suddenly, but fluidly, like water welling up and spilling over the edge of a tilted pitcher, the words flowed forth, in a rare outpouring of the assassin’s inner feelings.

“You would have been dead. But that would not have been fair; you had not been given a chance at life. I am giving you that chance, Leiva. You are walking the road you were meant to walk. Which forks you take will be your choices – what you make of your life is your burden, your responsibility. But I, I am here to give you an equal chance, an opportunity to lead a life that is longer, fuller, and richer than that of a girl dying of thirst in the sea of grass.

You see, I too was once lost in the sea of grass. But I was lost within, and that is a much stronger confusion to overcome. I thought I saw through the fog, thought I grasped the path. But I realized that I had seen but one part of the path, one road. That road will lead to my dream, but there are others, too, other paths that wind off before returning to the main road. And so I have walked these paths…

…marveling at the will of my friend and rival, who grew from a frightened boy into a hero, a man fighting for a world of light and peace.
…staring in wonder at the sleeping form of a woman with whom I found myself inexplicably drawn to, tied to, with whom I felt complete.
…gazing into the eyes of a dying girl, whose body neared its end but whose spirit cried out to fight on, to get up, to stand tall.

…and so I have realized that I am more lost than ever. Yet somehow, amid the haze, beset by the traps and snares of the enemy…I have found myself.

So too have I found you. You are my pupil. My student. My protégé. I will help you to become strong. And you will forge for yourself a new path, a way over the chasm. Greatness lies within you. We shall draw it out.”

[Leiva]

    Leiva picked up her meal and began eating with the ravenous desire of one whose stomach had never contained within itself a hot meal as Ryuzaki reaffirmed her statement. During the moment's pause, she looked up to her mentor and observed him, starting when he began his outpouring. She did naught but listen and nod along as the assassin spoke of his own hardship and struggles, some of which the novice could identify with, others, not so much. But, regardless, this was a rare opportunity that the would-be thief had attained, an opportunity to get to know her teacher further. It appeared, from his words, that Leiva had not been his first apprentice. It sounded to her like there had been two others, but she supposed that those two had come long before her, especially considering his statement about watching one of them grow into a hero. Her mentor spoke as if he was an old, world-weary man plodding along throughout the world as if he had seen it all and the novice was finally beginning to understand why, even if it was just a small piece of her mentor's backstory.
     Then, the subject of Ryuzaki's words seemed to have shifted to Leiva herself, and with that, she found herself looking out across the sea of trade and light below once more. A grin pulled at her lips as her mentor spoke of her inner potential. If there was one thing to be said about Ryuzaki, it was that he had quite a way with words. 
     After a moment's silence following Ryuzaki's finished statement, Leiva sighed contentedly and discarded the empty plate off to her side, leaning back and planting her hands upon the surface below her, supporting her. If the novice was to be honest with herself, she found it hard to reply to Ryuzaki's profound monologues most of the time; she never had had a way with words, and compared to present company that characteristic highlighted itself more than ever. But at the very least, the novice's mentor deserved something more than a sigh and a grateful look, so Leiva spoke. "Yeah. Even if I'm not really getting it now, I will get better. Especially with you teaching me. And I guess I'll just keep forging paths until I make one that has me standing next to you as equals!" With that final statement, Leiva turned her head back up to her mentor, a determined yet carefree grin settled across her face.
       But soon enough, the feeling of a full stomach and the busy day caught up with Leiva, and within moments, the novice was asleep, having passed out on top of the building. Not exactly the most glamorous of places to sleep, but she had absolutely slept in worse.
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Leiva exit thread.