A Visit.

I remember it like yesterday...

The chill on the wind. Snow still on the ground in patches of shade. The crystal clear sky.

I had spent the better part of the day hiking the trail up to the small plateau resting near the summit of the mountain. The arduous trek had left me short of breath even though I'd been in the best of shape and my legs felt like lead and my lungs burned with each breath.

When I reached the crest, the small cottage was just as it was all those years ago. Thatched roof covering the timber walls with the small stone patio and rickety fence. This time however there were two people sitting at the small table outside the cottage. He must have gotten a new apprentice in the past few years then.

I walked up slowly, trying to regain my breath and ease the pain in my legs.

"Greetings Kitochi Oritsu. We've been waiting this day for you to come. Please join us and have some tea," the Master said in his quiet, raspy voice. His age written in the deep, leathery crevices of his face.

"I would be honored to join you this day Master," I replied bowing slightly even though the Master couldn't see with his blind eyes. The apprentice nodded in return, sipping his tea.

Dropping my pack to the ground I sat down gingerly on the pillow as the Master poured steaming tea into a cup and placed it in front of me. Bowing again I lifted the cup and sipped. The tea was the best in the State. The most expensive too if one could get it made for them as I had for the past handful of years. These visits were part of a deal made long ago in order to receive the tea.

Hak'len. An ancient tea, kept alive traditionally by the Master of Tea, brought from the lost home-world of Caldari Prime and its leaves grown secretly in these very mountains for generations. Every few years an apprentice was chosen to take on the role of Master of Tea when the current Master passed away, however lately it seems the apprentices haven't been lasting.

"I see you've a new apprentice Master. I do hope he lasts. The past few seem to have not been suitable for this," I said to the Master, respectfully nodding to his apprentice; not an easy job being an apprentice for this kind of job.

"Indeed he has been more than worthy of the role. However he cannot claim the title until I pass and I believe I have a few years left," The Master said quietly, chuckling a little; a rare display of emotion. "However that is not the reason you're here Master Oritsu is it? You're here because you need a special make of the tea correct?"

I almost gasped but then recalled the man's cognitive abilities, a special trait in the Master and his chosen apprentices. Smiling I replied, "Indeed. It is the anniversary of my brothers death and I am to finally visit home this year to pay respects. I'd be honored to be able to share it with my mother and father... and my brother that he may not soon forget its grandeur."

Silence and ensued for a few minutes while the Master had thought over my request. It was asking a lot of a man who only made the tea normally for the CEOs of the mega corporations during special meetings and the like. By knowing the man's family before he was apprenticed I had gained a special privilege in being able to obtain Hak'len myself.

"Very well. Come back in three days and it shall be ready for you. There will be four servings worth and no more. You know what you must bring in exchange," he replied, looking at me with his glazed, blind eyes. It almost looked as if he was sad, if such a thing could be possible; I wasn't sure at the time.

"You do me a great honor Master and I thank you and your apprentice for this," I said quietly, bowing in my place to both of them. "I shall return in three days with the required goods."

I stood and bowed again before picking my pack up and starting the trek back down the mountain. This time my legs complained a bit less, the tea having reinvigorated me.