The fresh outside air of the late dawn filled his lungs which had grown accustomed to the rank smell of disinfectants and blood that would be invading the great hall for several days to come.

Reinmar stepped down the first flight of steps, feeling revitalized despite his unsteady steps being guided by his hand gripping the lion statue in passing.

"C'mon then… Yer slower than a blind lass." a familiar voice came from behind him.

He had never even heard her behind him, her delicate hand resting upon the back of the lion at the top of the few stairs, her sightless eyes gazing in the distance.
"I'm sorry Gwen… I'm not as swift as I was a few weeks ago." Reinmar chuckled, grunting at the unpleasantness in his chest reminding him of his injuries.
"Oh. T'is you. Rein-... Reinhart? Rein-... Oh forgive me, t'has been a while." she utters, her accent head bowing in thought.

"Reinmar. And yes it has. Two steps forward and at your chest height is my hand. Perhaps we can support each other when passing this flat without support." he responded, his hand already outstretched. "Yer still as gallant as all of 'em men among Witchers. The farmer and noble alike ready to help the blind girl." she said, a smile despite the bitter aftertaste of her word. Though she still took the offered hand, stepping down to be by his side, hooking her arm into his. "Six steps before the next steps're at our toes. Ye'll manage that." she said, squeezing his arm gently as the only gesture of genuine gratitude which was met by a smile Reinmar once more forgot she could not see.

As the two made their way down to the small terrace overlooking the lands outside, the telltale faint call of the lessons could be heard. "Fetch my arrows!" the call of Master Toril was carried by the wind to the pair.

Further to their left they heard another voice, strict and rhythmically calling bodyparts as students were running in circles, dropping the called part to the floor before running onwards. "Back! Forehead! Back!" Master Elinor's voice called.
It was a beautiful morning. The sun was gracing them and keeping them warm despite the wind holding the remnants of the past winter's chill. Gwen's hair braided down her back with a small lock flowing backwards, her eyes closed as she relished in the sensation of the sun. Reinmar feasted his eyes upon the tapestry of everything having returned to normal for as much as they ever will. His mind returned to his conversation with Master Bastian before the election that took place.

"I will keep this place as what it is intended to be. A place of learning. A school, made to train young adepts into full fledged Witchers that in turn will find their own way. Not a garrison of elite soldiers to be used at a King's whim." the now elected Grand Master said to him and he kept true to these words.

"Yer trembling…" she spoke first, breaking a silence that lasted several minutes, her hand tightening as if to offer support. Reinmar nodded his reply before offering a response. "I just got out of the Great Hall." he said as if it would be enough. Judging from her reaction, this was indeed the case. A deep sigh escaping her lips that echoed an unspoken sorrow.

Several moments passed as some adepts nodded their head in acknowledgement of Reinmar's reappearance in passing to their next lesson. As the stairs grew quiet again, Gwen spoke once more, though her voice softer and more fragile. "The times are cruel… Aren't they? It seems everyone now carries physical and emotional wounds. Everyone's steps have changed… Even the tone in their voice." she uttered.
Those words quickly erased Reinmar's fleeting thought of the luck her blindness brought, for she could see the horrors just as clearly as he could and even understand them better with senses sharpened by the lack of sight.

"Oh Reinmar.. I need to dream again. Tell me of the sky again." she finally pleaded, her voice a faint huff as she gazed up, past where his head is, with a hopeful smile trying to hide the sadness behind her eyes.

Reinmar exhaled a brief sigh before gazing up, remembering the first time he had explained the sun and the moon to her, how he had explained how water was like a mirror rippling due to the wink, like the sheets on an unmade bed. He wetted his lips as he pondered on how to explain what he saw before just letting words flow as he thought, using a child's eye.

"The plains on either side of the fountain stretch on for several steps before reaching the edge of the trees, interrupted by the bridge past the fork in the road which splits the forest in two all the way to the statue at the far end of the track. The trees sway in the morning wind, like a tall people dancing to the song of a flute."
Gwen's hand tightened, the pain showing in her face at the mention of music, though a grateful smile for his smooth passing of the delicate subject.
"And at the top, the trees thin out, showing a tapestry of clouds slowly moving about like a few sheep grazing on a field of blue." His words paused then, watching the woman lean against the banister, her shoulder resting against his side. Her voice speaking out softly, not wanting to let go of the image building in her mind "What is blue…? I've no concept of color.".

Reinmar's head was racing. What could he possibly say that would give her an idea of a color… How could he explain something so simple as 'blue'? Thinking of this made him realize that even the simplest of things were riddled with complexity, not to be taken for granted. "It's alright…" she finally said as if hearing his thoughts. "If it's too difficu-.."

"Blue is many things." Reinmar interrupted her. She settled back into her comfortable stance, leaning against him more as his words once more continued to paint the picture in her mind.

"Blue is the sky and the ocean. Blue is also a feeling. Blue is so much more than a color." he explained, letting his mind go beyond the basic ideas of what one can see, even closing his eyes. "But how d'ye tell them apart?" Gwen asked.

"The blue in the sky is an endless promise of mystery. Like a voyage without frontiers. It's also gentle and bright as it should rouse us and motivate us to start a new day. We call this sky blue." he explained.

Gwen relished in his words, impatient to hear more. "What of the ocean?"

"The ocean…" Reinmar began, needing but a second to continue. "The ocean is a darker blue. It's unpredictable as the surface is refreshing and clear. Though below it lurk dangers and adventure able to daunt even the wildest explorers."
"How do you call that?" she prompted, her head lifting again to gaze past Reinmar's head as if she expected him to be taller. "Marine blue." came his answer, to which she nodded. "Makes sense." she stated before setting her head against his arm.
"The emotional blue has no name… It's a definition… One can say they are blue and it won't mean they are colored blue… It would mean they are overcome with sadness."
As his words came to an end, Gwen gazed up once more. "So… I am blue?" she said pensively. "Aye…" said Reinmar. "But your smile gives us warmth like the sun and gives us as much comfort as the moon in the darkest of nights."

Reinmar spent most of that day with Gwen, even helping her with some chores in order to learn to move around again despite the pain and stiffness of his faded muscles. They ate together and talked together for hours on end, even leading into the middle of the night.
After bringing Gwen to her room and bidding their goodnights, Reinmar slowly made his way to his own and while his injuries were aching from the strain after his first day out of of the hall, he felt he was taking his first step to becoming a new man. He entered the hall only to slide into his bed. It took no time for sleep to find him as his eyes weighed heavy, enjoying the first night of quiet sleep in a long time.

As the first rays of the sun graced his room, Reinmar awoke from the steps down the staircase leading to the upper flight. Tammas gazed down at the bed, a faint grin on his face. "You finally decided to move, huh?" he asked, moving for his tunic and the small armory near the chair, beginning to fit his gear on. Reinmar, nodding as he sat up, brushed a hand over his wounds.

"Good." Tammas continued. "Took your time. Hadewig already left."

Hadewig was another one of Reinmar's roommates. Hadewig was half-blind, having lost sight in one eye after the trial of grasses. When Reinmar gave Tammas a questioning look, he received a simple shrug in response.

That was when Tammas slotted the last dagger into his armor before heading out, his blades vaguely clacking against each other before even that sound diminished.

Reinmar's eyes landed upon the final empty bed. That one belonging to another Phoenix called Cecilia. She had warned him for what was about to happen and he had not listened, too consumed with his own issues. He felt stupid for not having figured it out, would that he might have done something about it… or even prepare better.
What he remembered from the Night of the Prophecy was a possessed Gedymin charing right past his defences, stabbing her as she stood defenselessly, holding the torch he had pushed into her hands.
He remembered how she was gravely injured, bleeding profusely from injuries at both her chest and her throat by the time he lost consciousness. His face went pale at the sudden fear for the worst before his door once more opened, forcing his thoughts away as quickly as they appeared.

"Reinmar! You're up!" a voice exclaimed, though without true excitement. In the doorway stood Bastian, Gedymin's chosen apprentice, sword strapped to his back and a brow quirked before he promptly changed his previous statement. "Well. Sitting more like."

Reinmar offered a smile, though he did not get it returned. Bastian's face, though scarred before bore a fresh injury, a gash coming from a nasty hole in his jaw. Bastian was shot during the Night of the Prophecy, a crossbow bolt that cut right through his cheek. One that could as well have been lethal now left him brutally scarred, giving him a rough and hardened look.
He remembered Bastian as a smiling and driver persona and yet the man before him was none of these. His eyes that once sparked with dedication had grown colder. The playful grin on his lips had turned grim.

Bastians hand flicked his own nose before emitting a loud sniff before moving to the window to peer outside. "Some have left already, like Jaeger and company. How's your travel looking?"

Bastian's answer came in the immediate movements of Reinmar who had promptly gotten up with a pained groan, needing a moment to stabilize before he began to gather his stuff. Gedymin's apprentice watched with unmasked scrutiny as his fellow Phoenix went to work, his movements clumsy and hindered, the bare chest still displaying the tense stitches keeping him from popping open like an overly laden linen potato bag. "What do you think you're doing?" he finally asked as Reinmar tied his stuff in a sheet, forming a makeshift travelling bag.
"I've got to catch up. I'm travelling with Jaeger and Ruta." Reinmar responded.
A short silence followed during which Reinmar could not pinpoint the plethora of facial expressions forming upon Bastian's face in the space of a few seconds before it settled back upon the bag. "You're not ready to travel yet." he stated matter-of-factly.

Reinmar returned a defiant gaze before being forced to sit as a stitch was threatening to pop. His hand covering the crime, he found his voice "I promised Jaeger."

"And a fat lot of good that'll do if you pop your stitches and die bleeding on the road." Bastian retorted calmly. Bastian had a way to bring his points across with brutal logic and counter arguments. Many would argue he'd make a fine politician, with that silver tongue of his, was it not for his urge for adventure and morals.

"They won't wait for me." Reinmar argued though knowing his point weak. "Indeed they won't. It just means you'll have to hurry up… once you're able." Bastian once more returned, now gesturing to the poorly packed sack. "And that'll lead you nowhere. Tell you what. Let's make a deal."
It was Reinmar's turn to quirk an eyebrow, eyeing the man up and down. "Not selling mirrors, are you?" he asked, triggering a brief grin from Bastian's grim demeanor before once more being drawn back to the matter at hand. "No. But I'll pack you a bag and you focus on getting better. And if you can carry the pack I made you out of the room and down the hall without stumbling from your injuries, I won't stand in your way."
Bastian's was right and as much as Reinmar hated it, he shook the outstretched hand begrudgingly.
Bastian stood at that moment, adjusting the strap holding his sword with a solid tug before sniffing once more, peering at the door. "I'll see you at lunch. You missed breakfast." he said before moving to the door.

When Bastian looked back, he saw Reinmar's gaze land upon the empty bed once more. Reinmar's gaze was laden with pain and fear, the knot in his throat visible as he had a question he dared not ask out of fear for the answer.
"She's with Gedymin." Bastian answered, drawing Reinmar's gaze. "He's been treating her but she hasn't woken up yet. Her wounds were severe. You can leave her a letter."
Offering an acknowledging nod and a sincere "Good to have you back, brother." Bastian stepped out of the room, leaving Reinmar to his thoughts.