3. Discipline—

Kiro walked away from that potions class lost in thought. He reminded himself time and again how a White mage's mind and heart must, above all else, be pure. He even remained preoccupied with this weakness of his during his subsequent classes that day. Fortunately, being preoccupied with discipline caused no problems. He shared another class with Talum, one focused on protection spells, and two others with Cheria. These two courses were basic healing and introduction to status enhancements. Still a little shaken from their chastisement, Kiro avoided eye contact with Cheria for the remainder of the school day. He was trying to avoid making the same mistakes he had made in the potions class, and also trying to avoid a conversation with her. What could he say to her, anyway? He felt some small shame, but more than that, he was determined to make things right.

After his classes were over, Kiro took the opportunity to visit the sanctuary, as mage Hamil had suggested. Kiro took the long way around the complex campus, allowing the sunlight and breeze to brush by him as he gathered his thoughts. Hamil was right; Kiro needed to regain his focus, somehow. Even as he had gone to his other classes, he found his mind returning to that potions class. Surely, that was because of the criticism he had received. No, he was not just remembering the reprimand. Her laugh was so endearing. What a cute smile she has. No! These are not appropriate thoughts, Kiro reminded himself. Kiro finally made his way to the sanctuary, its tall towers stretching upward from its grand facade. There were a few others inside, but none passing in or out as Kiro approached, so he opened the large, wooden doors as quietly as possible. As he stepped in, however, he noticed Cheria at the front, her back to him, knelt in prayer at the altar, no doubt for the same reason Kiro had come to visit. Kiro found this comforting, an affirmation that, despite a momentary slip-up, he and Cheria were on the right path together.

Kiro took a place a few feet to Cheria's left and began to meditate. While in the quiet sanctuary, he solidified in his mind the lessons of the day, including the most important one, in his mind, that of keeping one's heart and mind pure. He allowed the pristine energies focused in the sanctuary to fill him and reassure him of his proper path. This was right. Cheria was a good girl, a good White acolyte, and was worthy of proper respect. Kiro had seen this in the classes they had shared. She was always focused, well, except perhaps in that first potions class. There was only this one proper form of respect to give to a fellow White magic practitioner, regardless of gender. Kiro found that, perhaps because of the awkward situation in which they both found themselves so early, he was drawn to her, and cared for her well-being, as a fellow acolyte. There was no problem with that. There was nothing wrong with caring for someone, with appreciating someone, with deeply respecting someone. Thus, Kiro focused in his mind the positive emotions that were acceptable to feel for one's fellow students.

Calming himself with another deep breath, Kiro deliberately looked over his shoulder at Cheria, and found that she met his gaze as well. Their expressions were the same, calm, peaceful demeanor that was becoming of White mages, and they realized together that they had come out victorious over the internal discord that would have rendered their minds unfit for pure White magic. The two stood up and walked out together.

Once back out in the open air, Kiro was the first to speak, "Cheria, I wish to apologize for this morning—"

"Oh, no," Cheria interrupted, then taking a deep breath she continued, "I… I apologize as well. But, I think Hamil was correct; some meditation was just what we needed, don't you think?"

"Oh, yes." Kiro replied, a wave of relief and calm flowing over him from knowing that there was no awkwardness separating him from Cheria any longer; they could still be good friends. "A good moment of prayer was very helpful for… regaining focus."

A comfortable silence passed between the two as they pleasantly gazed into each other's peaceful faces.

"Would you like to study together sometime?" Kiro asked, hopefully.

"I would love to," Cheria said, nodding gracefully. She was comforted by Kiro's presence and appreciated the chance to redeem herself by spending time so closely with her fellow acolyte without the strain that had tainted their first meeting.

As they left, Kiro noticed his hand, seemingly of its own accord, begin to reach out to Cheria, but before it had moved even an inch, Kiro caught it with his mind, thinking how sitting in meditation can leave one's muscles restless. Then, resolving this clearly involuntary response to being inactive, he shook his hand loose, stretched, and continued on his way.

Over the next few weeks, Kiro, Cheria, and Talum would meet all together to go over their shared coursework. Talum was always energetic and eager to cover new material, while Kiro and Cheria preferred to review each step carefully and slowly, exploring it gently, and moving on only when both were quite comfortable with the mastery they had attained with each element of the previous material. Talum came to one of their study group meetings with several pages full of notes he had taken regarding chapters the class had not yet covered. He found the newest incantations fascinating, but was frequently unable to remember everything that had already been covered. His hunger for new knowledge was voracious. His early attempts at impressing everyone with a demonstration of Shellra met with some embarrassing fizzling sounds, a few brightly colored sparks, and a very magically exhausted Talum. This gave Kiro and Cheria some amusement as well as some hope that, perhaps now, they could get Talum to slow down to their pace and review the previous week's material in preparation for their next examination.

Magic, Kiro insisted, required careful rote memorization and repetition. There was no benefit to blazing on ahead of everyone else. If Talum really wished to become proficient, he would need to take it more slowly and keep repeating spells at each level, over and over, until they were as easy and simple as could be. Then, greater magical focus would come more easily.

Occasionally, this would try Talum's limited patience. After all, Talum was a second-year student, and Kiro was only a first-year. Who was Kiro to lecture Talum on the proper way to study? Besides, he only shared a single class with Kiro, and none with Cheria, so it was not as if he was getting a great deal of help with all of his classes by reviewing the basics with them. Instead, he would occasionally leave them merely with a copy of his notes, and go to study with a group that was more along his pace. Kiro and Cheria did not mind much when he left them alone with each other, since it gave them more of an opportunity to move at their own pace. They hoped that Talum would find better help, or at least help to which he would pay greater attention, in his new study group. In the mean time, Kiro and Cheria decided to go ahead and continue their studies alone together; they saw no particular need to add a new person to replace Talum.

So, I have developed the plot a little bit, but I wonder still about my character development. Naturally, I am trying to bring Kiro's personality the most attention, and I want his relationship with Cheria to reveal some things and to give some context to Kiro's future life experiences. Please review. The user, mastersam, has been very helpful with his reviews, but I would really appreciate a breadth of perspectives. If you have read thus far, what do you think of it? How do you think I could improve? Do you agree with mastersam's reviews? Do you have a different persepective? Thank you for reading.