Wake up child, your dream is coming true (attn: Tirzah)

[Arette]

The morning was still dusky and only just brightening when a plain looking woman dressed in well cut green woollen dress walked the corridors of the Tower toward the novice quarters. She carried a bundle of clothes, black pants and white shirt, and pondered on the reaction she would get when she woke up Tirzah and told her the news. Likely she would be excited like a puppy and maybe even hug her. Not that Arette minded since she liked the girl. She would just have to hold her fingers crossed that Tower Guard training would weed her illusions and dreams away and have faith in Mac. She would have prefered to handle things by herself but since it just wasn't possible, she was forced to delegate.

 

She didn't bother to knock as both sisters sharing the room would be still asleep. She was an early bird herself but novice wake up call hadn't been rung yet and they worked hard enough that getting sleep was not a problem. And as Tirzah would soon find out, Trainees worked even harder. She shook the Saldaean girl's shoulder gently. "Rise and shine, Tirzah. It is time to wake up." She gave her a little moment to rub her eyes and yawn before sitting up. Arette placed the clothes on her lap.

 

"You will be wearing these today and from now on until otherwise is decided. Hurry up then, your mentor is waiting for you in the Yards already."

 

Arette Nenatiar

Feeling like her baby is flying off the nest

[ashara]

She was dreaming. Silver stars patterning the sky, shedding light on the clumps of grass and root as she stepped through. Softly, she must go softly. Wincing as at the very moment she splashed into a puddle, she stopped and pulled back the black breeches to prevent another such occurrence. Trees guided her, familiar bark cutting through her shirt, letting out the slightest dream. She touched one, pressing the coarse wood onto her palm, as if in hope it would bring back memory. Memory of how and where, the answer to her puzzle: how to get back?

 

How to slip past the barriers once more, and fall neatly in line with the other Trainees? Ever since the Green Aes Sedai had caught her, it had kept her intrigued. Tirzah had found herself more intrigued in this one dilemma than all the other mysteries of the universe, mysteries of which there would be no better place to figure out, than the White Tower of Tar Valon. Well, Light burn her for symptoms of obsession, but as long as she could do away with ranting about her stolen dreams, Tirzah reckoned she’d be fine.

 

She’d known of course that it was temporary. Always nodded and smiled when Lucrecia had warned her, and now that it was taken, it was wanted. It was wanted even more than it had initially been, and that had been quite a lot of wanting in itself. Dammit, she’d never imagined she’d be one of those people who’d find themselves envying the other side and its greener grass. And dammit, the fervent nature of her dream was stirring her awake. Reluctantly she opened her eyes by the smallest crack and winced as light flooded in. Closing them again, she turned on her side and covered her face with her arms. Whether or not Arette Sedai was an apparition of some sort, was yet to be determined in Tirzah’s sleepy mind, but she’d definitely seen the Brown Sister’s face. “Sleep.” She mumbled as if explaining to the possibly fabricated Arette Sedai all the reasons why she simply could not turn and look at her just right then. Snuggling deeper into her thin blanket, she waited for the Sister to grow exasperated enough to leave. Till then, on with the dreaming…

 

"You will be wearing these today and from now on until otherwise is decided. Hurry up then, your mentor is waiting for you in the Yards already."

 

Tirzah boggled at herself in amazement. She could take real people and weave them into her dreams, and make them say things she wanted them to? No way! That…that was just beautiful. Her mother had always told her she had an imaginative mind, but these were heights Tirzah was pretty sure neither she, or her mother had fathomed. When the next shaking came, she opened her eyes willingly and looked up at the Brown, readying her speech in mind about the fantastic skills she had while she was asleep, due to which Arette Sedai really should just leave her al-

 

The Sister was holding the Trainee uniform.

 

The dream was true. Er. The dream wasn’t a dream?

 

Arette Sedai had just told her to put on the black and white outfit, Hmm. Was it a dream? She didn’t know. Was she about to argue? Heck no! Rising(and shining, oh yes), she greeted the Aes Sedai politely, and told her something about the fact that she had the tendency to appear in all of Tirzah’s best dreams. Then, she proceeded to change. It was only after she had donned the uniform, that reality struck and promptly confused. Turning to the Sister, she frowned as she spoke. “Wait. So this is real?” As the nod came, she tried not to gape. “And you’re sure you’ve not been convinced by the inciting chance to prank me into believing this? Begging your pardon and everything, Arette Sedai, but..ah...what’s going on?” Had it something to do with her classes? They were supposed to have their second lesson this afternoon, and Tirzah had prepared herself for yet another period in the Brown’s quarters. So what pray, was this?

 

 

 

[Arette]

Tirzah's sleepiness seemed to be wiped away by the sight of the black and white Trainee's outfit. Arette scolded herself for the naughty thought. Surely the child didn't have that kind of dreams as she was so very young and certainly not of her even if she happened to know what a term pillow friend meant. She turned her back politely as Tirzah stripped off her night gown and donned the clothes she had brought to her. She was not one of those who liked women, in fact, she wasn't interested in such things at all so why this sudden thought? Had she been having some strange kind of dreams lately? Surely not and she was not going to pay the matter any heed.

 

Focusing on the novice in front of her and her questions, she merely nodded in confirmation that all of this was very real. The next question made her arch her eyebrows wryly. Aes Sedai did not carry out jests like this, that was for Tower Guards and some of the more unruly novices, and the Three Oaths limited their ability to tell false tales anyway. She would have to be very careful with her words though or Tirzah would think that this was just a new way to push her to the direction where the White Tower wanted her to go. Admittedly, it was exactly that but this time it was for the child's own good as much as for the Tower's good. She just resisted it because she had made up these plans about her future and wanted to be the one in charge of her own life. But the Wheel weaved as the Weave willed and Tirzah's thread had be.

 

"You are not making much progress in your classes currently. The Saidar classes are inhibited by your block and everything else by your attitude. I had a discussion with Mac about this and I agree with him that training you in the White Tower is a waste of time." At this very moment at least. "He suggested that I let you to see what it really is like in the Yards and volunteered to take you under his wing. I have accepted this."

 

"Now if you rather would change back into the novice whites and go about with your morning chores and normal routine, that can be arranged too. How is it going to be?"

 

Arette Nenatiar

Brown sister

 

OOC: Feel free to take them to the Yards in your next post unless you particularly want to do more dialogue :)

[ashara]

“It is going to be very very fast, Arette Sedai. Let me demonstrate. Like this!” she had said, beaming at the Sister as she had marched off, pushing open the door to her room and greeting anyone who she met on the way. The fact that she met her share of befuddled stares did nothing to her cheerful state, and since the clouds were well out of the skies this morning, Tirzah was not going to let anything dampen her mood. She was going to train, amongst the Warders, like a Trainee, wearing black and white while others, including her own twin remained locked in the lacklustre Novice life, learnt the last date of the last Tower initiate who had burnt herself out. Tirzah reckoned that for once, she held the aces, or rather one very unpredictable Brown Sister did. She would have to thank Arette Sedai for the whirlwind of surprises later, but now that the opening joy had settled down, more important issues haunted her steps. Foremost in these was the question of why.

 

As such, she was not a suspicious person. She liked to accept things based on the surface she was provided with, because Tirzah had begun to believe that digging too deep almost always ended in a nasty surprise, her lifestyle-until ten minutes ago-being valid proof for this point. However, things were different now. She was supposed to be training to be Aes Sedai. She lived with, and if not with, around hordes of said Sisters and trust was being ripped away from her shred by shred, no matter how much she clung, or how much she resisted.

 

In a way, Tirzah did not fight such teachings. She had learnt early on when listening half-heartedly that amongst the Aes Sedai’s fingers were tricks and twists gleemen spun tales about. She might as well have the delight of refining the little that she enjoyed while rejecting all else. So now, when such an unthinkable possibility had come swinging her way and was not a dream, she felt mingled worry and delight in layers. Lucrecia would say it’s a good something, something sharp and funny all at once as she explained that trust was an evil evil thing, only to be practiced by the two of them, for each other. Lucrecia however, made the ideal Novice. And would make the ideal Aes Sedai.

 

Glancing at Arette Sedai as she breezed through the lands as she did her saunter, she was momentarily frustrated at the sight of the smooth enigmatic face. It told her nothing. What if there was a surprise planned? One of those nasty twists in the tale that made everything she had just scampered away from seem a whole lot better? As the impulse to ask raced to her mind and mouth at once, she let it bloom out. “Arette Sedai, why are you doing this? This cannot be permanent, surely. I can’t see the White Tower just… letting me go, so what is this? I’m not the sort to be beaten down, just because it’s hard, if this is an attempt of such an idea. And, now that I’ve dwelled enough on the serious issues, let’s tackle the more important things. Do I get to have roommates? Does that mean Mac’s my Mentor? I won’t apologise for so many questions. You couldn’t have expected any less!”

~Tirzah

 

OOC: Slightly jumbled up post, with the thoughts contradicting each other. Sorry about that, trying to stick to a time limit of 20-25 minutes per post. Next one will be better!

[Arette]

Tirzah was a clever girl and she didn't let even her excitement to cloud her from the fact that this was a suspicious change of heart from the part of the Aes Sedai. While Arette pondered the various possibilities, she quoted wryly a few appropriate quotes. "I see that you have heard the saying 'Every gift an Aes Sedai gives has a hook in it' and maybe also 'The truth an Aes Sedai tells you is not always the truth you think it is'." Honesty, at least partially would likely work the best in this case.

 

"You know that we hope that this is not permanent. The only reason we are allowing this is because we think that it might lead into a change of heart." She lifted her hand quelling Tirzah's protests. "Not a word more, child. If you desire to prove us wrong... well, do your best. The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills so we shall see what happens."

 

"And questions are good, Tirzah. A Brown sister isn't someone who would quench curiousity in people. Now. Mac will be your mentor in the Yards, yes, and he is indeed waiting for you there already. You will likely be getting room mates like most other Trainees. You will live by the rules the Tower Guards have set for training and receive instruction just like any other student in the Yards. If you have any more questions, spare them for Mac because he is wiser than I to what exactly entails to being a Trainee."

 

With those words she begun to make her way toward the Warder's Yard expecting Tirzah to follow her. Maybe she should find out more about Tower Guard regimen because it pertained to the White Tower if not directly. Such information just wouldn't likely be useful very often. She should at least familiarize herself with the current Tower Guards to avoid mistakes like the one she had initially made with Mac. She did not deal with the protectors of the White Tower practically at all but maybe she could make them a brief subject of study. If she wanted to be able to help Tirzah, she would likely have to think more on the topic of what exactly it meant to be a woman and why the girl had such issues with it.

 

Arette Nenatiar

Brown sister