Osric studied the apple carefully balanced on the flat of his blade. Any of the monks could have split the fruit cleanly in half with a slight jab of a finger, he hadn't quite reached that point yet. Luckily, they had let him keep his sword. With a deft flick he launched the apple skyward. He rose up on one leg, preparing to strike with, hopefully, pinpoint accuracy at the base of the stem. The apple revolved as the earth called it back from the sky, he would only have a brief opening to hit his target. There! His sword flowed through the form, lancing forward-

'Yo! Ozzy!' Morris strolled through the garden, unmindful of the monk following closely behind. His last visit had concluded with the attempted "liberation" of a few of the abbey's rare herbs. The monks supported wholeheartedly Osric's attempts to reform Morris, but they weren't fools. The monk departed with a cheerful wave from Morris when they reached the clearing.

'What's up with the fruit-on-a-stick?'

Osric sighed as he regarded the apple impaled on his blade. Then recited: 'Caressed by the air and nurtured by the ground, it is a union of the two elements. When one is able to combine sky and air within oneself, then one can split it perfectly as it is caught between the two.' He reached out and pulled the apple off the swords tip, then sliced it in half with a deft flick of the blade.

'Uhuh... aren't you supposed to use your chi or something?' Isn't the sword cheating?'

Osric flopped to the ground, tossing Morris an apple half before pulling out a rag to clean his sword.

'the abbot says-' at this Morris rolled his eyes- 'the abbot says that a sword is as core a part of my body as my arms or legs. My path is not the same as the monks', but he believes knowing their routes will help me find my own'

'Right, like how you want to help me get on my path or whatever. Speaking of, I thought we could go on a little bonding trip outside the city. Y'know, so you can help me reach enlightenment and stuff.'

'I don't know which is more surprising, your sudden urge to reform or your desire to leave the city.'

'Well... uh... y'now... fresh air is good for my complexion... and..uh... Look, stop staring at me like that! I'm in a bit of a bind ok, a little disagreement with Leon.'

'Leon. The mob boss.'

'Yeah, that's the guy.'

'A slight disagreement was it?'

'Just a little kerfuffle over the nature of property'

'Property?'

'Well in this case, more of a specific property I guess you could say, uh, one of his carriages'

'And the dispute over this carriage was...'

'Well, I thought it would be okay if I, y'know, borrowed it for awhile... and I doubt the whole crashing it into the mayor's townhouse wall didn't help sway public opinion in my favor. Anyways, whadaya say, ready to go on an adventure with your buddy Morris, whom you care for like a brother?'

'Right now?'

'Of course! No time like the present, beautiful day for it really, why I-'

'When exactly did you crash the carriage?'

'Couldn't have been more than half a bell ago, why do you ask?'

'Just curious,' Osric replied, nodding towards the monk hastily approaching.

'You don't think they'd come here for me!'

'I do.'

'You gotta help me out Oz!' Morris looked on frantically as Osric conferred with the monk. Finally, Osric turned and set off toward the main build at a brisk pace, motioning Morris to follow.

'The abbot says,' he paused, waiting for Morris' customary reaction. With none forthcoming, he continued: 'we are to take one of the secret passages out-'

'Secret passages! Nice,'

'You'll be blindfolded, sorry. We will then set out on the mission the abbot had planned for me already. I have permission to bring you along.'

'You were going to leave without telling me?'

'No, I just hadn't thought of how to convince you to join me yet, your present circumstances however make that no longer necessary.'