A Time for Reading (Attn: Tonnalea)

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Kira moved through the tower excitement showing on her face.  She had been give the task of teaching a novice how to read.  Kira was nervous, but at the same time was excited.  She moved carrying some books with her.  With some trouble, she managed to locate a primer that would help the young girl learn her letters and their sounds.  She purposely went to the room early to set up the room and mentally prepare herself.  She arrived and set the primer on the table with a pen and some ink.

 

She then sat and waited for the student to arrive.

 

OCC: RP your arrival, feelings about taking the class and introduce yourself - then we will get started

Edited July 11, 2013 by WolfbrotherKronos

[tonnalea]

    Ariani slipped through the hallways as quietly as she could, taking care to avoid everyone else when possible. Twice, she had had to stop to curtsey to a passing Aes Sedai, 

and she worried that they would send her off on some errand and make her late for class; fortunately, none did. 

 

 

    Today, she was to have her first class, a reading lesson. The idea of learning to decipher those strange markings found in books intrigued her, and at the same time had caused 

the sensation of butterflies wildly flitting around inside of her stomach. She was to be taught not by an Aes Sedai, but by one of the Accepted. This also made Ariani a little 

nervous, most of the Accepteds that she had met in the short time that she had been here had seemed bossy and impatient, and she worried that this one would be no different. 

She also knew that classes meant that she wouldn't be able to avoid direct interaction with the other residents of the Tower. So far, she had managed to keep mostly to herself 

and just watch everyone else from a safe distance, only speaking when she absolutely had to and almost always only to Aes Sedai. Between the few chores that she had been assigned, 

she managed to familiarize herself with the once confusing hallways, which further helped her to avoid being seen too much by the other girls as well as to get her wherever she needed 

to be well ahead of the time that she was actually due to be there. She liked being early. It gave her a chance to size up everyone else as they entered the room.

 

    Ariani arrived at the classroom long before even she expected and grinned roguishly at the door.  "I've got this place figured out now," she thought to herself as she let the grin disappear

 and pushed the door open.

 

    Inside and seated at one of the tables was the only other person in the room, an older girl dressed in a banded dress and looking as if she were so excited that she could burst. Ariani made

 her way over to the table and visibly tensed a little bit as her eyes settled on the books and ink displayed before her.

 

    "You are Accepted Kira?" she asked in a soft, melodic tone, "I am Ariani Cairawyn. I am to have a reading class with you today."

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Kira saw the subtle look of tension in the novice as she entered the room and introduced herself.

 

"You are Accepted Kira?  I am Ariani Cairawyn. I am to have a reading class with you today."

 

"Yes," Kira said smiling. "I'm Kira and I'm here to help you learn how to read.  Please take a seat and don't be so nervous about the books.  I'll be here to help you."

 

Kira waited until Ariani had sat down before continuing to speak. "Now, I'll be honest with you.  This might be hard and frustrating, but keep trying and you will get it.  Here is how things will work.  We'll start off learning letters and their sounds, and then we will move on to reading simple three letter words.  We'll get into more complicated words as you move on and eventually we'll read some stories.  We'll also practice some writing as well.  If you feel like we are going to slow or too fast, please let me know and we'll adjust accordingly."

 

Kira picked a small book out of the small stack she had brought in and opened to the first page before setting it in front of Ariani. "This is a primer.  We will use it to start learning letters."

 

Kira stood and moved to the other side of the table and sat next to the girl. "This is the letter A." Kira began speaking telling Ariani how the letter A sounded and even told her some words that started with the letter.  Kira moved through all the letters, stopping to have the girl repeat them and their sounds.  They worked through all the letters before stopping and then Kira asked nervously, "Are you understanding? Am I going too fast for you?"

 

OOC: RP your response - is Ariani understanding the letters? Is she getting frustrated? Then respond to Kira's question and ask any that Ariani might have...btw, this is my first time doing an RP class, so I'm still new at this XD

[tonnalea]

IC:

"Are you understanding? Am I going to fast for you?" Kira had asked. 

 

 

Light, this girl seems as nervous about this as I am.

 

 

"I get it, this is easy," Ariani said, never lifting her eyes from the primer, "How is it that I was never able to do this before?"

 

She was surprised that she was picking this up so quickly. She had felt silly sitting there mimicking the sounds that the Accepted had 

 

made and was relieved that there hadn't been anyone else in the class with them. It hadn't taken long before Ariani found herself 

 

running down the alphabet by herself, pointing out each letter and sounding it out. And just to prove to Kira that she had understood 

 

everything, she pointed out different letters at random and made their sounds. She had even been able to remember a few of the words 

 

that the Accepted had told her that had started with different letters and she recited those too. When she was finished with her recitation, 

 

she nodded in satisfaction and even let the corners of her mouth perk up just a bit in a barely there smile, and then just as quickly hid it again 

and replaced it with a cooler expression. Again, she ran through the recitation, sometimes sharply enunciating one letter and word and other

 times not so much. Every now and then she would glance at the Accepted sitting next to her, watching her for any sign that she might be growing 

impatient or irritated with her. 

 

 

OOC: She wouldn't have any questions about this part really. She has a good memory and she picks things up quickly. She probably won't get frustrated 

until you try to get her to actually read or write, that's when you'll see her temper. ;)  Oh, and by the way, you're doing a good job with the class. 

Edited July 18, 2013 by tonnalea

[WolfbrotherKronos]

OOC: Note that for this to count for reqs, you will need 250 words per post - just an FYI

 

IC:

 

Kira smiled as the girl told her that she was understanding.  She was even retaining the information that Kira was teaching her.  Ariani was able to go through the primer and repeat the information Kira had taught her.  She remembered the letter sounds and words that started with those sounds. Ariani definitely caught on fast.

 

"You seem to be catching on pretty fast," Kira said smiling. "Maybe we should move on to real words.  Let's start out with something simple."

 

Kira grabbed a pen, dipped it in ink, and wrote the letters C, A, and T on a sheet of paper.

 

"Let's apply what you have learned.  I'll help you with this one.  Let's sound out the letters and see what it says."

 

Kira helped the girl sound out the individual letters and smiled as she successfully read the word.  Kira was extremely impressed at how fast Ariani picked up things.  Kira hoped that things continued to go this well.  It was giving Kira the confidence she needed as a teacher.

 

"Good job!" Kira said. "You've just read your first word. Now I'm going to give you a few more and I want you to try these on your own."

 

Kira picked up the pen one more time and wrote several new words.  She decided to keep it easy by using rhyming words, so she wrote BAT, HAT, MAT, and SAT.  She pushed the paper in front of Ariani.

 

"Give it a try!" Kira encouraged the girl with a smile.

[tonnalea]

Ariani had seen so many different things before coming to the Tower, things that would bring a grimace to the faces of most girls her age. 

She had also done things to survive that she was sure would cause her to be considered a black sheep among the girls here had anyone but 

Valeri Sedai known. There wasn't too much that surprised her anymore. The Warder catching her at the Foregate had surprised her a little, 

as she had never been caught before, but one always runs the risk of being caught when they engage in that sort of activity. Learning that she 

could channel didn't surprise her because she was still, at this moment, unwilling to completely believe it. Being able to recognize letters and

 words associated with the letters had surprised her though. Never in her life had she thought that she would be able to do that. Her brother 

and father had been able to read, but they were so busy keeping up the farm that no one had ever had time to teach her. Thomas had promised 

that he would teach her as soon as they had gotten settled somewhere, but that promise died in an Inn back home and she would never know why. 

Remembering her brother brought her a brief flashback of that morning and she clenched her teeth to stifle the tears that she knew were there and 

shifted her focus to the paper that Kira had slid in front of her.

 

"C-A-T," Ariani spelled the words out and then sounded it out with Kira, "K-aah-t....cat!" She pushed her brother to the back of her mind for the moment 

 

and let herself feel good for once. It had been too long since she had felt proud of anything that she had done. 

 

"B-A-T....Buh-aah-t....bat," she sounded out the other words that Kira had written down and then pointed at a word in one of the books, "P-A-G-E....Puh-aah-guh-ee. Poggy!" She allowed herself a grin and flashed it at Kira, but it soon faded as the girl tried to suppress a giggle.

 

OOC: I fixed my last post. I don't know what happened with that. When I typed it out, it was the right length. Maybe I didn't get it all pasted in there. This one is way 

 

longer though. Oh, and I was trying to make the last word she tries to read sound more phonetic, so that is why it is spelled that way. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2013 by tonnalea

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Kira smiled as the girl pronounced all of the words correctly.  the girl then pointed at a word at the bottom of the page.  Ironically, it was the word next to the page number at the bottom.

 

"P-A-G-E...Puh-aah-guh-ee. Poggy!" she said grinning.

 

Kira had enough composure to not laugh.  She understood the girls mistake.  The common tongue could be quite complicated.  Kira sat back and thought for a minute about how to get Ariani over this hurdle.

 

"Now that word is a rather complicated word in our language," Kira said keeping calm.  "What I have taught you today is the very basic way to read in our language.  Unfortunately, this word doesn't quite work under those guidelines that I have taught you.  We will learn those, but for now I don't want to confuse you with all of the rules in the language.  This word, just so you do know what it is, is page.  I don't want you to get discouraged though - it took me a long time to learn what you have learned today.  You have come a long way in a short time, and I think you will do fine."

 

Kira took out a pen, a sheet of paper, and some ink. "I'd like you to try something new for next week.  I want you to try to write and hear is how I want you to do it." Kira place the paper on top of the primer. "Do you see how you can see the letters from the primer on the paper? I'd like you to practice writing them this way." Kira dipped the pen in the ink and traced the letter A on the piece of paper.  "Do you think you can do all the letters for next week and then we will continue to work on reading?" Kira said.\

 

OOC: RP your reaction - then RP returning for the next lesson and reflecting on the homework.

[tonnalea]

Ariani bristled and clenched the hem of her skirt, her jaw tightening. Not poggy?

She had sounded that word out just the way that the Accepted had described and it wasn't right! She just said....and now 

there are different rules? This was close to driving her into a complete and total meltdown. It wouldn't be fair to Kira if she 

lost her temper now, not after doing so well. But how was it fair that she had to learn these blighted letters one way, only to 

be told that they sound completely different another way! Light! How many ways to read are there?

 

Kira must have sensed an impending outburst on Ariani's part, because at that moment she decided to end the class. The Accepted 

never lost her temper, instead remaining calm and collected, showed Ariani how to trace the letters on a sheet of paper. It was Kira's 

calm demeanor that kept Ariani from completely destroying the room that they were in, her temper began to cool somewhat as she 

watched the Accepted trace the letters. 

 

The reading class had been the last class of the day and Ariani rushed up to her room and immediately began tracing the letters. She 

knew exactly what the first thing she would do with this new knowledge, and that was to write to that Innkeeper back in Caemlyn and 

apologize for almost killing him. Maybe he would forgive her, or maybe he would send someone for her head. Maybe he would be able to 

tell her why her brother had been killed. Maybe he would still have the knife, her brother's knife. Maybe he would send it to her. She would 

have to give it to Valeri Sedai for safekeeping for now, but maybe......maybe it was too much to hope for. 

 

Keeping that horrible morning in her thoughts, she traced the letters one by one. When her hand began to cramp, she stopped to stretch and 

then went back to it again. She had found a goal....a mission, of sorts. Learn to write, write to that man and beg his forgiveness. 

 

The week seemed to speed by, as it usually did for her. There were classes, and chores, then more classes and even more chores. She spent 

her nights focusing on her letters, how to read them, how to write them...until she would fall asleep on top of a pile of paperwork and wake 

up to get dressed for another day.

 

Ariani walked into her class the following week, and slid into her seat across from Kira. Proud of what she had managed to accomplish this week, 

she laid a pile of papers in front of the Accepted, and then a single paper off to the side. 

 

"Those," Ariani said, pointing to the large stack of papers, "Are what you wanted me to trace." And then pointing to the single paper, "I did not trace 

this." Her eyes flashed with pride. The freehand letters were crude, but they could be deciphered...barely.

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Kira smiled warmly at Ariani as Ariani handed her the papers.  The girl had ambition.  That was certain.  She not only did the required assignment, but had taken it farther.

 

Kira looked at the handwriting on both pages and finally handed back the one with freehand letters.  "I'm very happy you did this.  It shows you are taking this seriously and want to do the best you can.  In order to improve what you have already done very well, I'd like you to practice this every day.  Don't do the tracing anymore, you've moved beyond that.  Everyday, I want you to write every letter."

 

Kira moved toward the desk they were working at and guided Ariani to it. "For today, let's continue working on letter sounds."

 

For the next few weeks, Kira and Ariani worked on sounding out words.  Kira began to teach her the more complicated rules of the language.  Sometimes the girl struggled and clearly got frustrated.  Kira could understand that.  The rules sometimes contradicted each other and Kira could recall her own frustration when she was trying to learn how to read.

 

Kira was truly surprised at how quickly Ariani pick up on things, and Kira began to push her harder.  She didn't want to overwhelm Ariani, but she wanted her to be challenged.

 

Following their last lesson, Kira brought out a couple of children's books that she had found at a library.  Kira was confident that Ariani would be able to work out most of them.

 

Kira passed the books to Ariani and said, "I think you are ready for these.  I want you to try to read these.  If you have trouble with any of the words, write them down and we will go through them next week."

 

OCC: RP your reactions to the increased pace of the lessons.  Is Ariani feeling overwhelmed, and if so, does she tell Kira? Also RP her trying to read the stories.  Does she do alright, or are there a lot of words she doesn't understand (reading level of these books I would say is about the same as Clifford the Big Red Dog).  RP her coming back into class with any questions or concerns - or state if she is ready to move on.

[tonnalea]

OOC: Sorry it took so long to reply. Tired from taking care of the sick people in my house, and for awhile, I thought that I was getting sick too.

 

 

IC:

 

Kira had seemed pleased that Ariani had taken the initiative to write the letters without tracing them, and Ariani had explained her drive 

to take the lesson further simply with, "I have someone that I need to write to." 

 

 

They practiced letter sounds more and Kira explained the rules more in depth as they went on. There were a few times that Ariani had gotten 

frustrated, swore loudly and threw a book on the floor....but she cooled down as quickly as she had heated up, quickly apologizing for her outburst 

and then cleaning up any mess that she had made. Usually, she figured things out after the second attempt. The Accepted never lost her temper, 

although a couple times she seemed to come close, but she always kept a calm voice and seemed to be more understanding than anything of Ariani's own temper.

 

Ariani had left class most days feeling more confident with her newly acquired ability and practiced writing the letters until they were clear and easy to decipher, 

her penmanship becoming more fluid and feminine. Sometimes she would marvel over how pretty writing could be and would write words different ways, just to see 

what they'd look like. 

 

Kira kept giving her more and more assignments and there were days that she felt a little overwhelmed, but she refused to say anything about it, no matter how tired 

she would get from studying. Eventually, Kira had given her some books to try in addition to trying to write the letters. Nervous at first, Ariani took the books back to 

her room, positive that she would have a stack of papers full of questions for Kira to have to explain to her. This would be the first time she had tried to read without the 

Accepted right there to help her through it. To her surprise, she read the books easily and had only one question when she returned to her next class.

 

"Do you have anything more difficult to read?" she asked, elated that she could now make sense of the written gibberish she had seen in books and on paper that she 

could never really decipher before. 

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Throughout the lessons, Kira always tried to maintain her calm, especially after the lessons got harder.  Kira soon learned that the novice and her were a lot alike.  They both had a fiery temper.  The only difference was, Kira had learned how to control it.  Her lessons with Rasheta Sedai were enough to stop outbursts and usually she would channel her temper into something more productive.  Ariani's reading lessons definitely did that.

 

The girl never ceased to amaze Kira, she always came to the lessons with work completed and often did more than required.  Kira knew that there was another reason the girl wanted to learn literacy, but Kira never asked.  If it was personal, it was Ariani's business, and if she wanted help with her personal things, she would ask and Kira would of course offer any assistance she could.

 

Ariani's handwriting had improved dramatically.  Not only were the letters legible, but they were graceful.  It was as if Ariani had discovered that not only was writing something you did well so people could read, but it could be an artform as well.

 

Ariani came into her next lesson after Kira gave her some books to read on her own with a smile on her face.  She handed the books back to Kira and asked, "Do you have anything more difficult to read?"

 

Kira couldn't help but smile as she placed the books in her bag, and pulled out a two more.  These ones were larger than the ones she had given her last week.  She handed one over to Ariani and kept one for herself.  Both books were actually the same.

 

"Let's spend the day just reading.  You read out loud, and I'll follow along and help out if you need it.  Next week, I have a special trip planned for us."

 

Kira opened her book to the first page and waited for Ariani to begin.

[tonnalea]

OOC:  Sorry this took so long, Kronos. It was just too hard to think of roleplay while I was trying to deal with all of this sickness in my house. 

 

IC:

"Long ago, before the Breaking and even before the Time of Madness, people were never in want for anything. Material wealth was not a concern for 

the people of this age, and so their focus was shifted to the well being of the community, " Ariani began confidently, "Having status in the community 

was everything and the only way to achieve this was through service to it."

 

Ariani glanced briefly at Kira, feeling as if the other girl had been reading over her shoulder. She returned to her book when she saw that Kira was focusing 

on her own book. Clearing her throat, she continued in a sing song tone, "Channelers in this age had to work just as hard for this status. They were common 

during this time, so having the ability to channel was rarely, if ever, seen as an advantage to gaining the respect of the community. This age was called, the Age 

of Legends...."

 

Ariani continued reading, stumbling over a few words occasionally and then correcting herself almost immediately. The more that she read, the fewer mistakes 

were made and she was almost confused when Kira called the lesson to a close for the day.

 

"Have I been reading that long?" she thought to herself.

 

As Kira was gathering the books up, Ariani pulled two papers from her own satchel and slid them face down to the Accepted. She did not release the papers right 

away, despite Kira's attempt to pick them up. Instead, she locked eyes with the older girl and a serious expression crossed her face.

 

"I need to send this to someone," Ariani said in a tone that she felt sounded more serious than anything that she had ever heard, "It...it is important. I think that 

my letters are right, but I want to be sure."

 

She gripped the pages tighter as Kira nodded and began to pick them up. "Wait," Ariani continued in a stern voice, "There are things in this letter....about me and 

my past. I am trying to trust...I am trusting you, Kira. Do not speak of the contents of this letter to anyone....please. No one. I get enough stares as it is.

This can NOT get out. Please."

 

 

When Ariani was sure that she made her point, she released the papers and waited for Kira to read them. She only hoped that she was putting her trust into the right person.

 

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Kira was impressed with the girls reading.  Kira didn't have to correct her even when she stumbled over her words.  Ariani was doing very well at picking things up and she was reading complicated words.  Kira had a feeling that this would be their last lesson.

 

When time was up, Kira let Ariani know calmly.  Kira was surprised that when she finished collecting the books, Ariani passed a couple of pages over to her.  Kira attempted to pick them up, but the other girl held onto them tightly.  Upon looking at Ariani, Kira saw the resolve in Ariani's eyes, she also saw a little bit of fear.  Whatever was on these pages was important to Ariani, but she was afraid to show them.

 

"I need to send this to someone.  It...it is important. I think that my letters are right, but I want to be sure." Ariani told her.  Kira was almost taken aback by Ariani's tone.  Kira had never heard her speak like this.

 

Ariani went on to tell Kira that the contents of the letters were secret, and she was trusting Kira to keep that secret.  Kira nodded in agreement before turning the pages over and reading.

 

Kira was amazed by the content of the letter but kept her calm, not showing that to Ariani.  She read the letter, focusing on spelling and grammar.  The letter was well written with very few mistakes.  After finishing, she passed the papers back to Ariani.

 

"There are very few mistakes," Kira said pointing to different words on the pages and showing Ariani what she needed to fix.  "You have worked really hard and have learned a lot.  I think we can say our lessons are done.  This doesn't mean I won't be here if you need me.  If you ever need any help with anything, always feel free to come and ask."

 

Kira smiled and patted Ariani on the back, "Your secret is safe with me, but I wanted to say that it takes a really strong person to face their past and try to make it right.  I'm proud of you."

Edited September 3, 2013 by WolfbrotherKronos

[tonnalea]

Ariani fidgeted nervously as Kira read over the letter.  She hoped that she had not been wrong in putting her trust in the girl. 

Kira's face was expressionless as she read the letter, and Ariani shifted uncomfortably in her seat. No one had known 

anything about her time before the Tower, even the Mistress of Novices didn't know the whole of it. She had been a thief, 

and until she received a letter in return for this one, she feared that she was something even worse. 

 

It wasn't long before Kira placed the letter back down on the table and pointed out her mistakes, of which there were very few. 

"Your secret is safe with me," Kira finally said after praising Ariani for her work and closing the class. 

 

Ariani stayed in the room long enough to correct her mistakes and seal the letter. It was done, finally. She hurried to get her

letter sent.