---

Oleander laid down his mat and looked around. It was late afternoon and the scenery around him had begun to take on a gentle, warm hue. He sat down and admired it for a moment; the dojo really was situated in a beautiful location. Perhaps when he was older, he'd move to a similar area.

After he was satisfied, Oleander started doing his stretches, wincing slightly at the soreness in his body. He was a bit worried about his ability to complete this week's exercise, but felt that he had to keep with the routine and ultimately refused to opt out under any circumstance. Once he had sufficiently stretched and grown accustomed to the discomfort, he positioned himself at the start of the mat. Suvash had instructed them to practice a series of rolls to improve their reflexes and dodging capabilities. It was a simple enough action.

Oleander decided to start with a forward roll. He squatted down, making sure to keep his feet together, then positioned his paws in front of him keeping his elbows bent. He checked the alignment of his paws with his shoulders, adjusting accordingly to keep them even spaced.

Once he had gotten the starting position down perfectly, he tucked in his chin and carefully dropped his head between his arms, pushing himself into the roll and putting pressure onto his upper back. There was a bit of pain in response, but Oleander gritted his teeth and managed to push his hips over his head. When he'd reached the end of his roll, he bent his legs and stood up. It was barely a few seconds long, but it was more uncomfortable then he imagined. He took a moment to recoup, then repeated the same process several times. 

Ouch. Oleander rubbed his upper back - maybe it was time to move onto the sideways roll. He looked around at the other students and noticed that some of them were struggling to perform, though he assumed it wasn't for the same reasons as him. Regardless, he was glad to not be the only wyngling having a tough time. He walked to the side of the mat and sat down, legs slightly bent and torso up. He leaned forward, wrapped his arms around the bend of his knees and tucked in his chin. 

He pushed himself to the left, using his foot and the weight of his body to start the roll. However, instead of pushing onto his upper back, Oleander accidentally placed all his weight on his shoulder and cried out in pain, unfurled gracelessly and fell flat back onto the mat. He felt tears sting at his eyes and there was the sharp throb of pain consuming the forefront of his mind. As he struggled to get back up, he heard something bounding towards him and looked up nervously, unhappy that he had drawn attention to himself.

A large, yellow quad with an impressive curled mane and red eyes was now at his side. She made a pretty imposing figure and Oleander couldn't help feeling intimidated by her. Her tone of voice and what she said next caused him to relax a little, however.

"Hey there kiddo, are you ok?!" she asked worriedly. She looked him over with concern and noted the injuries on his body. "Yikes, those are some nasty looking bruises. Let's move this mat somewhere softer so you aren't rolling on any rocks or anything."

"Oh, um..." Oleander looked around, realizing that there were in fact a number of small rocks around him. She must have assumed those were the culprit. "Okay," he agreed, nodding his head. He stood up shakily and the quad helped him drag the mat further into the field.

Once they'd come to a nice patch of grass, she dropped the mat down and smoothed it out for him. She then turned to him and smiled. "What's your name?"

"...Oleander."

"Oleander? That's a nice and fancy name. My name's K'unlun, but you can call Kun, Kukun, or K if you want." K'unlun frowned, turning her attention back to the bruises patterning his skin. "We should have those bruises looked after; I'll go get Master Suvash and get you healed up."

Oleander felt heat rushing to his cheeks, embarrassed at the thought of inconveniencing the dojo's master. However, there was no way he'd be able to continue training like this as the pain had proved to be far too intense for him to handle, so he reluctantly agreed. He laid back down on the mat and awaited K'unlun's return.

---

Not five minutes later did Oleander spot the yellow and red duo quickly approaching his mat. K'unlun and Suvash knelt down beside him and Oleander felt as if his throat had gone dry. He held his arms out for his teacher to examine and kept his eyes averted.

"Woah, where did those bruises come from?" Suvash questioned, seemingly taken aback by the severity of them.

Oleander cleared his throat and said as confidently as he could muster, "It-It was the rocks. I wasn't paying attention when I put down the mat..." Embarrassing. So embarrassing. The heat in his face. He wished, at this moment, that he could just disappear into thin air.

Suvash sighed and placed Oleander's arm back down. "Rocks under the mat? Dang Ollie, you should have moved the mat to somewhere softer... Here, sit still so I can heal those for you!" 

The wyngling watched, fascinated as Suvash's magic glands began to glow a strong green. When Suvash placed his hands over the bruises, Oleander felt a cold, soothing feeling wash over his body and marveled at how quickly the bruises seemed to vanish. It wasn't often that he had been able to see magic magic being performed, so for him it was truly a sight to behold.

"Are you enjoying yourself here?"

Oleander flinched, his concentration snapped. "O-Oh, yes. I always look forward to coming here," he replied sheepishly, giving the man a small smile.

Suvash gave a beaming smile in return. "Awesome, I saw you kicking butt at Keeper of the Floaty Fruit - you must have really good hearing!"

Oleander nodded enthusiastically. "Um... yeah, I think so! Thanks."

A few seconds later, Suvash's glands stopped glowing and he took his hands away. "There we go, bye bye bruises and hello to wound free Ollie!" he said proudly. He watched as Oleander rolled his shoulders and shook out his legs, satisfied that these actions didn't cause any visible pain to the wyngling.

K'unlun bowed her head to Suvash. "Thank you Master, I really should get into magic class and learn earth myself so we don't have to bother you so much."

Magic class? Oleander's ears perked up. Was there such a thing in Wynsiph? Maybe he'd be able to attend one someday. He could learn to heal like Suvash.

Suvash shrugged. "Eh, that's alright. Gives me a chance to have some small talk with my students," he replied cheerfully, and gave her a thumbs up.

Oleander looked at K'unlun and Suvash. They didn't even know him, but they'd been this kind to him. It baffled him, to be honest, but it also gave him a warm feeling in his chest.

He found himself liking the dojo more and more.

---

K'unlun and Suvash - Rosedraq

6/512 wyns