To Control the Uncontrolable [ATTN: Noy & Vykor][Repost]

[Kalthandrix]

Estel

 

Isha stood in the courtyard on his home waiting for his two mentees to return from their breakfast at the inn. While Vykor had already been there a few days, Noy had only arrived yesterday, yet the two were becoming fast friends.

 

Leaning against the house, the Asha’man wondered whether these two would learn as quickly as he had. It was so much easier when the students were willing, and though Noy was Amadician, the boy seemed eager enough. Vykor, however, had a more fervent reason to learn to control the Power he was able to wield.

 

’You’re going to teach more men to touch Tainted saidin’ Isha was having trouble discerning whether these thoughts in his head were his own or were from some sort of external power. Wherever they came from, they scared him to death. ’Better for you to…’

 

’NEVER!’ Isha screamed.

 

Just then, his two concerned mentees entered through the archway. With half fearful, half curious looks, they stared at him. Isha just smiled weakly.

 

Then he abruptly began the lesson.

 

“Well now, you two are finally going to learn how to control the Power you can wield. Not that I’m going to teach you too much that’s useful right away, but by the end of today you should be able to seize saidin.â€

 

He talked amiably with the two men, but all at once his demeanour changed. No longer was he the approachable friend that he usually was. Instead, he was the drill sergeant of an army: hard as steel, unsympathetic and aloof.

 

‘Follow me.’ was all he told the two, but it was cold as winter and spoken like a king giving judgement- the prisoner was to be forced into hard labour.

 

He led them to the edge of the woods near his home. Stopping, he seized the Source and felt the effects of the Taint. Like fresh manure it oozed into his very soul and only his iron self-discipline kept his breakfast from ending up on his polished, black boots.

 

With an enormous club of Air, he smashed it into the tops of the trees and a cracking of wood and rustling of leaves followed as the entire tops of a dozen trees came smashing to the ground. A light wind blew the thousands of loose leaves towards the three black coated men, leaving a carpet of green where there had been only bare earth.

 

Finally, as if the rest of the mess wasn’t good enough, Isha wove together an enormous, explosive ward around the topless trees and the mess he had made. Then with a glance at the two boys, he picked up a stone and threw it to the centre of the ward.

 

The stone never made it.

 

It was incinerated in midair as were the tops of the trees, the leaves, and the dozen or so trees themselves. The explosion had been contained by the ward, and left a huge circle of ash, dotted at the far edge by the tree stumps.

 

“I believe you two have your work cut out for you, I want his entire area cleared to bare earth.†The jest was cold and no amusement sparkled in the dark brown eyes on that iron face. “May I suggest you remove your shirts, coats and boots before you commence your work. You can gather the ashes into a heap. Any tools you need, such as brooms, shovels or ropes can be found in that shed†he said pointed to a ways away from where the ward had left the site of devastation “and I’m only a call away. But I’m not going to help you two, and I expect this to be done. Oh, and don’t forget to remove the stumps.â€

 

With that, he strode away to the inn for an ale and to perhaps talk with a few of the other Asha’man without classes.

 

ooc: remember that neither of your chars can use saidin yet, so this is all done manually.

 

Kalthandrix

 

Vykor shut his mouth with an audible 'click', almost taking the tip of his tongue off in the process.

 

The destruction around him was...astonishing and horrible at the same time. With the thunder of the explosion still ringing in his ears, he heard Isha giving Noy and himself instructions to clear the debris with a voice as cold and hard as steel. This was a side of the Asha'man that he had not seen before. “I believe you two have your work cut out for you, I want his entire area cleared to bare earth. May I suggest you remove your shirts, coats and boots before you commence your work. You can gather the ashes into a heap. Any tools you need, such as brooms, shovels or ropes can be found in that shed and I’m only a call away. But I’m not going to help you two, and I expect this to be done. Oh, and don’t forget to remove the stumps.â€

 

Remembering his words on the first day he met the huge Asha'man and also Isha telling him that he expected whole hearted effort. Vykor's only reply was a salute and a "Yes Sir!" and off came his black coat and undershirt. His satchel was placed under both the layers of the clothing he had just removed. The boots he kept on- the explosion had made some of the tree into very sharp looking slivers and stakes of jagged wood.

 

Vykor then went over to the shed and pulled out some rope and shovels. 'It would be best to drag the larger material out of the way before getting started on the rest.' he thought as he came back. He said so to Noy and the two of them got to it.

 

At first it was almost fun. The heavy labor of moving the larger sections of wood out of the way loosened up Vykor's sore muscles and reminded him of the time he had helped Ned Briel expand his field after a huge windstorm had knocked down some of the trees on the south side of his land. But after a while, the rope dug into his shoulders while the ash and other small debris flew up into the air. The ash was thick upon his body and clogged his nose. The worst part was the taste though, and the memories it stirred within him. Images of the line of fire streaking from his hand and incinerating Aaryon threatened to unman him. The ashes of his friend had flown thick in the air that day too; covering his body, clogging his nostrils, and coating his lips. Vykor paused to spit the taste from his mouth, bile rising again, which he swallowed back down before it could spew forth from his mouth.

 

Panic was setting in!

 

Trying to calm himself, he thought back to the day he met Isha and the feeling of emptiness he was able to attain by feeding his emotions into the flame that the large man had conjured. He had found himself doing this a lot lately, staring into the flames of Isha's huge hearth and last night while in his room, watching the fire burn in his rooms smaller fireplace- trying to burn out those memories.

 

Needing to escape his rising panic he tried to envision the flame in his mind, focusing all of his will on keeping that flame there and throwing his jumbled emotions into the greedy fire. It was hard, the image of the flame slipped from his mind time and again, but each time he brought it back and began again; this task alone helped calm him as he sought the flame.

 

jasonr

 

Noy was concerned over Isha, he was struggling with himself again. He hoped the madness wasn't taking his Mentor. Isha told Vykor and him to follow, his usual friendlyness gone, replaced by a stern outer apperance. Noy supposed that if they truly were to learn, then Isha could not baby them forever.

 

They stopped abruptly and without anything Noy saw, branches fell and made a huge mess everywhere. Isha glanced and them and threw a rock where the branches were. There was a huge explosion. Noy's face was hanging open. Amazing how could

one person create such a huge mess.

 

Then amazement turned to horror when he was told that they were to clean it all up. Light there was no way. It would take all day. Well they had better get started. Isha gestured to where they could find the equiptment they needed, and walked away. But not before telling them to remove the stumps also.

 

Vykor first sugested that they move the large stuff out of the way first, and Noy agreed. So they got rope and some shovels and began their work. After about two or three hours or so, all of the large debreise was out to one side. The explosion had created more waste, but it had also nad the chunks into smaller, more manageable sizes. The rest was small enough to be lifted by the brooms.

 

Noy picked up a broom, to sweep away the ashes. Light, the broom was a woman's job, he was still tyred from moving the large waste, and sweat was starting to appear on his body. The routing of the stumps would be easyer for Noy. At least he knew how to do that. Sweeping was a mystery, Noy observed how Vykor was doing it, one hand guiding, the other down low to get the power of the sweep. Soon they were raising little flurries of ash.

 

This amused Noy, Air was a wonderous thing, you breath it, your entire life relies on it. Noy wondered if when he learned to channel whether he would be able to control the air itself! With a start he realized that most of the dust was mostly gone. Light the dust had not taken very long. Noy looked up at the sun and realized that it had taken about as long as the big stuff had! He never realized that sweeping was such work. His arms and legs burned, and his back was suffering from stooping down so much.

 

He was pouring sweat, and panting hard. Light this was harder that he had worked in a long time. But all there was left was to clear the rest. Laughing, Noy continued his work. He could say that the rest was all there was left the whole time. The clearing of the ashe revieled the large stuff they had missed. Noy groaned, he thought they had gotten close, but the real work was just begining.

 

ooc: sorry, I just made your gut able to sweep a little, that way we are not completely lost.

 

Kalthandrix

Most of the debris was cleared and all that remained was the stumps. Looking at them, he realized that there was no way the two of them could remove these things without some chains and a team of horses.

 

Vykor sighed and wiped his hands off on the legs of his pants. 'Well, there is no other thing to do bu...' he stopped. The ease with which the huge Asha'man had torn down these trees raced through his mind. 'I... I could do that too, if I knew the way.', he also rememberd what Isha had said before leading them over to this place, “Well now, you two are finally going to learn how to control the Power you can wield. Not that I’m going to teach you too much that’s useful right away, but by the end of today you should be able to seize saidin.â€

 

Taking the chance of looking the fool, he set his tools aside and walked over to the inn, where his black coated mentor was taking his ease at one of the tables and sipping on a mug, ale most likely.

 

"Asha'man Isha, sir! I am ready to begin now. Just tell me what I must do and I will remove those stumps with the One Power."

 

jasonr

ooc: Aww, I was looking foward to Noy's first night, oh well. That is smart though, I honestly didn't think of that, I figured that the cleaning was just physical training, maybe to irritate us enough to acsess the Power. I thought that Isha was at the Inn though?

 

Noy was suprised when he saw that Vykor put down his tools and walked right up to Isha. "Asha'man Isha, sir! I am ready to begin now. Just tell me what I must do and I will remove those stumps with the One Power."

Noy hadn't thought of that. He was just going to hack off the roots, and pull. Like he usually did. It would take days to do that though with all of the stumps here. It was so simple, brilliant really. What better way for Isha to teach them than this. He was testing their wits as well as their physical capabilities, brilliance, sheer brilliance. That is, unless they were both completely mistaken.

 

It could just be sheer physical labor, but it was impossible to do this by the end of today, and Isha had said that by the end of today they would be able to seize Saidin. Noy wanted to have caution, but in the end his curiosity prevaled. "Yes Isha, could that be the answer, or are we just sitting here wasting time, and looking like fools?" Noy winced, he had adress Isha as purely Isha, he should have said Asha'man Isha like Vykor.

 

Light Noy hoped that that was the answer, he didn't like being a fool, not hate, he was not a noble, but it was never very pleasent. He knew he looked like a fool now, just standing there waiting for Isha to answer, a frown was fixed on his face. He waited for Isha to answer, ready to get to work.

 

Estel

 

Isha turned to see the door of the inn emit his two very dirty mentees. He grinned, so they were smart enough to ask for help in something they wouldn't have been able to do by themselves. Good.

 

Nodding, the huge man stood and as he arrived at the place where the stumps were, he used Air to lift them out of the ground and drop them right back where they were. Loose though.

 

"Now I've done the hard work, finish the job." This time he didn't bother to go back to the inn, and merely sat in an invisible chair of Air waiting for the boys to finish.

 

jasonr

 

ooc: uh... Vydor asked you to teach him to channel, not help him I kinda agreed with him, but whatever... here goes the lifting of stumps from the ground.

 

IC: Isha smiled at them when they came into the Inn and asked for help. He came outside and lifted the stumps from the ground with the Power. Amazing, this must be the power of simple air. Noy was looking foward to learning to channel, that way he would be able to control air. In Noy's perspective, he needed air to live, and so air controled his actions. Say, he would not go underwater all day because he knew that air held him from doing so.

 

If Noy gained mastery over Air, then he would be one step closer to controling his own life. Time to get to work. Now it was simple, all they had to do was move the stumps from their places to the side of the new feild. Not that it was easy, just a simple consept. After an hour of grunting and groaning, they had cleared away about a third of the stumps. Noy grinned, just about two more hours to go now, then he would learn to channel.

 

.................

Noy looked at the sun and the feild, as he had expected it had taken them two more hours. Noy was on the point of colapse, but he was so close, just one more stump. He grinned so close, he sommoned all of his reserve energy and lugged the stump using ropes, but this stump was awkward, the ropes would always slip off. So Noy cursed and grabbed it with his hands, so close.

 

Noy let out a weak woop when he had gotten it over to the pile of other stumps. He colapsed in a heap, lying on the ground with his arms spread wide, and a huge grin fixed on his face. He watched the sun, there was a good three hours of sunlight left. (ooc: worked from 7-4) Light, there was still time to learn, happiness welled inside of Noy.

 

He wondered if... there was... time for just.... a little... nap. Almost as soon as Noy finished the thought, he was asleep.

 

ooc: if you are thinking Noy is weak, trust me, if you did nine hours of strait hard, physical, labor, you would be tyred too.

 

Kalthandrix

 

'Light blasted wool-brained fool!' Vykor thought as he watched Isha lift the tree stumps from the ground. 'You thought you were so cleaver, but you are nothing but a farm boy doomed to go mad from a power you cannot control, dealing with men more worldly and experienced. How could I have been so thick-headed as to think this was a test?'

 

Disappointment was a bitter fruit for him- he had honestly thought that this work was to break them down a bit and then open their minds to the possibilities that the One Power provided for those who could control it.

 

'Oh well! Nothing to do but get it done.' he thought when Isha said "Now I've done the hard work, finish the job."

 

Moving forward with Noy, he threw himself back into the heavy physical labor of moving the huge tree stumps. For the next several hours the two young men sweated, swore, pushed, pulled, and strained to move the shattered remains of the Power-blasted trees. Their whole world was nothing but the next stump, moving it a bit further, pulling harder. When finally the last of the stumps were cleared and the rest of the broken trees and ash were removed from the site and segregated in their separate piles, Vykor looked up and noticed that the sun was on its race to kiss the western horizon. They had worked all day and, as his stomach rumbled and thickened tongue swiped his parched lips, they had missed lunch by several hours.

 

Wearily putting the tools back into the shed they had come from. That finished, he went over and picked up his shirt and coat and drapped them over his arm; he did not want to put them back on until he had some time to clean up, and looped his satchel over his head to hang at his side. Noy was currently stretchd out on the ground and snoring softly ,'Light! Is he asleep already?' Shaking his head in wonderment, and bone-weary himself, he walked over to the Asha'man, who was sitting on nothing but air!- and said "I believe that we are finished sir."

 

Estel

 

After watching the boys for about an hour, Isha had went back to the inn and gotten some food and ale for them after they finished. Upon returning and hour later with the food- he had stopped and had a fewd drinks in the meanwhile- he found Noy asleep and Vykor on the verg of collapse.

 

Setting the food down on a table of Air, he strengthened his Earth weave with Spirit to make two earthen chairs. "Eat Vykor, I'll continue the lesson as you do." With another weave, he used Water and Spirit to draw water from the air and dump it on the sleeping Noy.

 

"Morning, sunshine. Time for a late lunch. Eat up." Once Noy was awake, threads of Air dried him off.

 

"Now, on with the lesson. Why do you think I made you clean up a mess I couldn't have doen in minutes with the Power?"

 

jasonr

 

Noy was dreaming. Funny that was just a simple statement. Noy was dreaming. but it could tell you so much, there is a huge blank that can be filled with anything. Just another way our smallest choises can inpact something huge. Noy knew he was dreaming, that happened sometimes, he couldn't think about what he was dreaming though. That also happened sometimes. It was like floating in nothingness, he was dreaming, but he was dreaming of nothing, amazing what you can acomplish while asleep.

 

His pleasent thoughts were interupted by water being dumped on him. "Morning, sunshine. Time for a late lunch. Eat up." Noy felt like he had been sleeping for hours, but a quick glance at the sun proved that it hadn't been that long. Noy sat down at the table and took one look at the food, then a look at Isha and jumped strait in. Noy felt like he hadn't eaten in days, but he knew that if he ate to fast, then he would get an upset stomach.

 

Then Isha said, "Now, on with the lesson. Why do you think I made you clean up a mess I couldn't have doen in minutes with the Power?" This was an easy answer for Noy, but he hoped that it was the right one. "Well, for the same reason you made the mess. I'm sure you don't go out everyday and for fun just decide to destroy part of the forest." Noy barked a laugh, he wouldn't put it past Isha either.

 

"Perhaps for physical training, you said before, I beleive, that we would have to train our bodies in preperation for the vigors of Saidin. Perhaps also our determination, to see if we would just quit, or perhaps beg you to let us stop. If we wern't determined enough to clean the mess, then we arn't determined enough to handle the Power."

 

Noy was proud of his speach, he had seen pritty deeply into Isha's words. If he was completely wrong, than he still proved that he was worth the effort of teaching. He proved that he could think, and use that brain in his head. The women he knew were convinced that he didn't at all.

 

He looked expectantly at Isha. Patence is a virtue, but not one that he was lucky enough to posses. Noy hated waiting, but it was a neccesity.

 

ooc: the 'dream' thing in the beggining had nothing to do with dreamwalking, I just felt like putting a little something in there.

 

Kalthandrix

 

Waiting until Noy finished, which gave Vykor more time to eat, he put his thoughts into order before replying.

 

"Well sir, my grandfather always said 'Men are like steel; you cannot know the strength of either before you test it.' So I imagine that you wanted to see how we would approach the job at hand. Some might have complained about having to do it or been lazy in the effort they put into their labors. We did neither so you know that we will do what we are told without complaint and with all of our ability. When faced with getting the tree stumps pulled, some might have been too proud in asking for help and tried to get the stumps out themselves. Noy and I came to you when faced with an obstacle we could not overcome ourselves and asked for the help you had offered. This, I believe, shows you that we know the limits of what we can and cannot do, and are not too proud to accept the help that is offered."

 

"So all in all, I believe this was a test designed to show you our temper sir." Taking a long drink from his mug, Vykor kept his eyes on the Asha'man, trying to read his expression and see if he was right or was once again shooting in the dark.

[Kalthandrix]

OOC: *Nudges Estel with elbow*