A rough begining, (Warders Yard, Open to anyone on the Tower grounds)

[Calvin Gulwin]

   Starting over from scratch is never easy but, this was way worse then Calvin had imagined. The trainer picked to work with Calvin and a small group of four others was a burly man with a permanent scowl on his face. The mornings began with rising just before the sun hit the horizon which in itself was a blessing for it was mid summer and the days heat got very oppressive. It started with twenty laps around the Tower grounds followed by a short but hearty breakfast, then the others were sent to work on sword forms, while Calvin worked on building strength. It was his job to feed and water the horses in the stables, each bucket of water and bail of hay did not weight that much by itself, it just never stopped, Bucket after bucket hay bale after hay bale till the lunch bell rang! A short but again hearty lunch followed by the only somewhat rest of the day, an hour of lectures and lessons on the history of the White Tower and its role in the world. A whstle blew at the hour mark and they were expected to sprint to the small hills on the north side of the grounds. Once there you sprinted up the hill and jogged back down then repeated, sprint up jog down. This felt like it lasted so many hours but in fact only lasted two. This was followed by a short break to drink water and try and get your breath back. The other went again for sword forms after this but, as weak as he was Calvin was made to do more strength training. This time It was unloading the wagons of whatever the ships brought that day to the Tower and the Warders yards. Then a short dinner followed by more learning before they were expected to goto sleep in the barracks.

 

      Week after week the pain got a little less, the tiredness was not as bad, but still everyday felt like another nightmare. After about a month the trainer let Calvin try at forms instead of the afternoon strength session. The weapons felt heavy but he didnt dare show it as he worked through the forms with different weapons. Two more weeks in Calvin settled on a weapon of choice , that being axe and shield, and yet another two weeks and Calvin wasnt doing any strength training just sword forms like everyone else. Things were slowly getting easier and new trainee's were being brought in just as scrawny as he started, this time two new recruits needed the strength training, but he could not afford to be sad for what was about to come for them. New people would come for a long time for the wheel never stops turning and the Tower will always be needed to fight the dark. 

 

  One night after the dinner lesson Calvin spotted an odd sight, it was a Aes Sedai sitting on a bench in the Warders yard. It wasnt the sight of a Aes Sedai in particular but the color of her ring that puzzled him, what was a Red Aes Sedai doing in the Warders yard? She was paying no attention to anything but what she was doing, he didnt even think she noticed him take a seat on a bench, three benches away. The Red Sister had needle and thread and was delicately mending a beautiful red floral dress that laid in her lap. The needle work was so perfect you'd have thought the dress was just bought, oh how he admired her work. It was the first time since arriving he had found himself thinking these thoughts, they needed to go he needed to work himself harder. Before she could notice him, he got up as quiet as possible and headed to his barracks where he belonged! Tommorrow will come soon and he needed to obviously work himself harder.