Yet Another Promotion(ATTN:Krelsa, Corin, and Christine)

[Asfaloth]

Shawn was sitting in his room just staring at the walls. This would be his last day in this room, his last day as a trainee. Today was the day he'd been waiting for for over four years. He'd arrived at the Tower at sixteen and now he was ready to begin his service as a Tower Guard. Yesterday afternoon Ginae had called him into her office, given him the good news, and explained his part of the ceremony. She'd explained that he needed a Tower Guard and an Aes Sedai to stand for him and he'd spent last night arranging it.

 

His mentor, Corin, would stand on behalf of the Guards and he'd arranged for Christine Sedai, of the Green Ajah, to stand for the Tower. He laughed as he thought of how she must have reacted to the request he'd asked a novice to deliver for him. He'd simply reminded her of a favor he'd done her and asked for the same in return. He wasn't sure if she'd even remember him but the letter she sent back agreeing to come said that she did indeed remember him.

 

It was nearly noon. Shawn dressed in the nicest clothes he had, the blue on blue uniform from his time as Captain of the blue team of trainees. He was no longer a trainee but neither was he yet a Tower Guard, and besides it was the best he had. He was halfway down the hall when he rushed back to his room. He'd forgotten, he was to arrive at the ceremony unarmed. He left his swords on his bed next to his other weapons, his clothes, and the rest of his meager belongings. Dene had offered to come by while he was gone and move his things into the room they'd be sharing.

 

Taking a moment to calm himself again, he girded himself in the Spring and made his way to the ceremony at the Glade of Remembrance.

 

OOC: Please each post your reactions and arrivals. I'll then post the ceremony in one post and then Krelsa can assign me to a squad. Thanks.

[tismeb4u]

Green eyes stared back from a face reflected in the mirror. Time and the stress of finding common ground with her had begun to take its toll on him. He could see the distant hardness that now held his eyes far too often. If she would only see what he saw; the potential they could have. For now he would have to rely on the eyes he had set to watch her; how long had it been now since they returned from the cabin?

 

He brought his hands up to straighten the collar on the tan shirt he wore. Today would be the first time he would return to the Glade of Remembrance since his raising. This time his mentee, his first mentee, was to be raised to the order. Gravity pulled his arms back down as his muscles relaxed. Had so much time truly passed already. The boy had passed all of the levels needed to make the Tower Guard and receive the cloak. But Shawn still seemed so young; had he still been like that on his raising day? It felt almost a life time ago now.

 

Plucking a bit of lint from the collar, he turned and slipped out the door and into the yard once more. Stopping for a moment to survey the activity; pictures and times came back to him in a flood of images. Shawn's arrival and their subsequent walk from that alleyway to the MOT's office. Training sessions and trials; contests and routines. He had tried to instill everything he had been taught into the boy; but had he succeeded without crushing who he was. Shawn was ready, he had stated so to the Commander and MOT himself, but still now that he was about to release him to the Guard questions and second guesses welled up.

 

He was the first boy Corin had trained. Had he remember to teach him the forms correctly? How to administer aid when a Yellow was not around; the skills needed to survive in the heat of battle. He instructed Shawn on all of this, yet his knowledge came from lessons learned not real life; not all. Was it enough to see him through was the nagging issue that still plagued his mind as he continued toward the glade.

 

He spotted Shawn from a distance dressed in blue, the color of the team he would leave behind. So young still but that was the way it was here; the Red cloak on his shoulders taking on a weighted feeling. He paused next to the boy; patting him on the shoulder and offering words of encouragement in warm tones from an easy smile that rested on his face. "Embrace the memories and feelings as they come to you. This will be like nothing you have experienced before. You are ready, enjoy the moment. I look forward to welcoming you to the guard."With one last squeeze of his shoulder Corin stepped forward again and made his way around the stone to stand next to the Commanders position as Rosheen had done for him.

 

Now he just had to wait for the Aes Sedai to show up, who ever that was, and they could begin the ceremony. The question was, when did the Aes Sedai decide she wanted to arrive.

 

Corin Danveer

Tower Guard

Proud mentor of Anwashawn

[Christine]

Ages come and go, and trainees enter the yard, then leave it, and some eventually come to a rank at which they realise Aes Sedai help is needed. Rare it is indeed when that help is, in truth, the payment of a debt. Christine could still remember that day that she had needed Shawn, Corin's young trainee, to run around, finding that note. Light, it Sirayn ever found out how much she had messed up that day... Well, she hadnt, and that was a very good thing. She had even hoped that perhaps the trainee had forgotten her error over a year before, but she was wrong, and he had remembered. Of course, this was in different circumstances- a raising was something she would love to be a part of.

 

This was her second raising, and she knew exactly what would happen. Of course, this didnt mean that she would show up when needed. It was as though she had an internal clock, and that was when she would arrive and leave- on her own time. Of course, she was not very late, knowing the tradition, and arrived just as Corin was taking his place. She wore a green dress, the neckline modest, and the skirts were full. Her Aes Sedai ring was on her finger, and her hair was twisted back, some ringlets falling down, the rest staying firmly in place with pins that were placed perfectly.

 

Nodding to the Commander, and then to Corin, she assumed her position beside the stone, waiting for it to begin.

[Urais]

- - - - - Krelsa tossed his topknot, and stepped out into the sun. It reflected brightly off his armor, enough to make him squint for a moment. It seemed that every day that there was a ceremony, it had to be so unbearably hot. And he had to war all this armor too... He thought half musingly of running off to cool himself off in a river or some such instead of bothering. But no. Today was a special day. Another Guard to join the ranks, another to protect and serve. He sighed and headed for the Grove. Another Green to deal with this day as well. He had enough trouble with them taking some of the better Guards he had. Oh, they still served the Tower, but it just wasn't the same. Forces dwindled, and the hour grew late. He could feel the weight of the sword upon his back.

- - - - - He entered the grove first, watching as the participants filed in, him greeting each with a respectful bow. Corin of the Guard. A good man, steady with a sword, if not quite having the dedication Krelsa would like. The Guard was supposed to be dedicated whole-heartedly to the protection of the Tower, not to be distracted by politics... or women. But alas, there were few who could be like that. Corin might be leaving their ranks. Or perhaps not. And Christine Sedai, raised into the Green. One of the younger sisters, although what that meant in the ages of Aes Sedai, he wasn't entirely sure. He served them, not questioned them. Anawashawn. Trainee of the Tower, raised, and ready. They were all there. He nodded to Corin and Christine, and took his place.

[Asfaloth]

OOC: So, I thought I was still waiting for Krelsa's post and, thinking that it hadn't been written yet, was going to go on without. So I open it up and there it is, written over a week ago and who knows why I never saw it. Oh well, it's about time we finish this up so here goes.

 

IC: After Corin passed him on Shawn waited a little longer to insure they were ready for him. Wrapped still within the enhanced senses and perspective the Spring provided he walked into the Glade. There, standing on three sides of a stone slab, the others waited. He made eye contact with each of them. First Corin, his mentor, the one he owed so much to over the past four years. Christine Sedai, a strange woman he barely knew, and the Commander himself, the man he would follow from this moment forward unless and until he was bonded at some point.

 

They waited patiently as he took his place, kneeling on the fourth side of the slab. "I come here unarmed, offering to give myself to the defence of those that serve all."

 

The Commander's voice came out deep and strong, "Who would speak for you?"

 

"I would speak for him, he is fit." Yes, he was certainly fit, Corin had seen to that himself, ensuring he both knew the forms and was physically able to serve.

 

"Who would trust you?"

 

"I would trust him." Of course she could trust him, she already had, and he was quite sure there was more to their first meeting than he'd known at the time.

 

"Who would accept you?"

 

"I would."

 

"Who would witness your oath whose word is beyond question?"

 

"I will."

 

"Do you understand that once pledged you are forever bound to a rule of defence? Defence of all Aes Sedai, the defemce of the White Tower?"

 

Shawn wanted to exlaim just how ready and willing he was for that but there were forms that had to be followed. this was a ceremony that had been executed by every new guard for decades and he would not be the one to break its tradition by speaking out of line. A simple answer would have to suffice, "Yes."

 

"Do you understand that once pledged you are forever bound to a rule of obedience? Obedience to your officers, obedience to all Aes Sedai?"

 

Simple again, "Yes."

 

"Do you understand that once pledged you are forever bound to a rule of commitment? Commitment to serving faithfully, commitment despite any adversity?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Then give your oath now."

 

Here it was, the culminating moment, the reason they were all here. "I swear by the light and my hope of salvation and rebirth, as a Tower Guard to defend the White Tower and all who call it home. I swear by the light and my hope of salvation and rebirth, as a Tower Guard to serve faithfully for as long as the White Tower requires me. I swear by the light and my hope of salvation and rebirth, as a Tower Guard to fight the shadow and uphold the light until my dying day."

 

"We welcome you to the Tower Guard, you that were known as Anwashawn Ellasser of..." There it was, the pause in the ceremony that he had been dreading. He had no homeland that he knew of, and he'd made no secret of the mystery surrounding his past. "You that were known simply as Anwashawn Ellasser, a man without a country."

 

As he spoke, Christine Sedai stepped forward and placed the new red cloak, the symbol of a Tower Guard, around his shoulders and clasped it around his throat. "We welcome you as Anwashawn Ellasser of the Tower Guard, our brother in arms. Rise and stand as one among many."

 

There it was, he was now a Tower Guard. He rose to his feet and Corin handed him a dagger. The dagger was as much a symbol of his new position as the cloak. "You came to us unarmed, and as our mark of trust we place this steel in your hand. May you keep it as a symbol of the trust that has been placed in you, and may it serve you well."

 

"Spare a moment for those who have come before you and to who you have

become, as shall those who follow you."

Shawn knelt his head in contemplation of his new position, and all he'd done to get there. More though, he thought about what his life would now be like. What would it feel like to finally be a part of the famous Tower Guard? He wondered also who his squadmates would be and who he would report to.