What is a Bond? (Bonding Class)

[Sieve]

The smile she directed at him helped to make him feel a little more comfortable in her presence though still he felt small in relation to the Aes Sedai.  He had experienced the same with his father, even though Perivar was larger, not taller, though definately larger his father always seemed the bigger of the two.  Certain people just had a larger than life way about them which could make someone significantly bigger seem small in comparison.

 

Perivar nodded in response as she spoke his name asking if she had got it right.  He was shocked that she remembered his name.  He listened to each answer filing away the information.  While she answered the question there was still a lot that she could not comment on as the variables were numerous.  She could not speak for all the sisters in the White Tower.

 

"Yes you did, thank you." He looked around to see if anyone else was on the verge of speaking though they all seemed to be processing the information.  Taking the initiative he asked "If you don't mind, in regards to my last question about the bond.  I hope I am not asking something that should not be discussed, if so please excuse my ignorance.  If you can speak of it, is there something more to the bond between Warder and Aes Sedai."  He was having trouble forming his question the way he wished.  "I have heard, rumors only of course, that there is a link between the Aes Sedai and her Warder, a link with the one power.  Is that true?"  He was not afraid of the one power though he wanted to know if it was involved in the bonding, he wanted to better understand what it entailed.     

 

 

[_Kynwric_]

Kyn was sitting now, relaxed and leaned against the back of the chair. "I can handle that, yes. There is a bond that is forged with the One Power. It is a weave that connects she and I and allows us a certain level of link. I can tell where she is, not specifically, but in a general direction sense. She could be a mile or a hundred miles away and I could lift my finger and point right at her without thinking about it. Every Warder I have ever spoken with about the bond has this ability. I can also judge her emotions, which is no small benefit let me tell you. The closer I am the more definite picture I have of her well being. From here to the tower I could tell you that she is happy, sad, stressed, etc. From hundred miles or so I could tell you she is sick, well or under high stress. From more than that I can tell if she is hurt or not, dying or not. Range plays a factor in it. There is no mental telepathy, she cannot talk to me in my head because of the bond, nor I hers. She can draw on my strength and fortitude for herself if needs be, and she can give to me of her own if she decides to. However, I cannot just take from her."

[U4ea]

Loraine opened her mouth to respond, but closed it as Kyn started talking. She nodded along with his explanation. "And I can tell when he's hurt, too. On my end, though, I can tell you where he hurts. I credit that with being able to draw on his strength through the bond. I can tell how serious the injury is and how much it's actually bothering him. I can judge how many more steps he can take, even when he's stubbornly refusing to stop moving." She smiled at Kyn, then turned back to the others. "And while I can't read his mind, when you've been together long enough, you can read each other pretty well. I can finish most of his sentences, just based on what I feel from him and reading his body language. I think that's true with any two people who've been together for a while, though."

[Eqwina]

Thera nodded along with Kynwric and again with Loraine Sedai. All that they said was very true.

 

“ I have come to think of Serena as just an extension of myself. She is a constant bundle of feelings and emotions inside my head. Upon first being bonded they seemed almost a foreign entity, something I could not ignore, but now they have become a comfort. Even when she is not in my sight…” Thera’s cheeks colored slightly and she cleared her throat. She had almost managed to forget that all of these people knew of her shame. “I know that she is safe.”

 

“As for the rest, any closeness comes from time and to what degree you will have even that will depend on the sister who holds your bond. “

 

Some of the faces she scanned held a degree of shock. Perhaps they had believed the Warder Bond to be only a very strong oath. While they were already stunned perhaps now was the time to bring up the rest. They had to learn it eventually after all. “As romantic and fantastical as the bond sounds there is a…The reality is this you are your sisters sword which means with every moment you are prepared to give your life for her. She glanced at Loraine. “I will allow Loraine Sedai to explain the effects to the sister, if she wishes. In rare cases it is the Aes Sedai that dies instead of the Warder. “ Silence ruled the room but Thera continued. “I think it is only fair that you know the effects of this. If your Sister dies you will be infected with a kind of rage. Very few men and women have ever been saved from their fate. You will harm anything with in your reach. The only thought in your head will be death, the only “cure” is if another Aes Sedai is willing to accept your bond. But..few Sisters will try.”

 

She did not mean to frighten them, but so many young people came to the yards with romantic fantasies that they were better off knowing the truth.

 

[Sieve]

Perivar's eyes were on Loraine Sedai, her mouth opened to respond though it was Master Kynwric's voice that answered him.  His initial thought upon hearing Master Kynwric's voice was that he had crossed the line and was about to be upbraided.  Perivar's eye swept from the Aes Sedai to her Warder.

 

He gave Master Kynwric his full attention nodding to show that he was listening.  Perivar knew that his facial expressions betrayed his shock as Master Kynwric went in depth.  He thought a simple yes or no would be the response however he got much more than expected.  Perivar tried to control his outward appearance though he did not think he was succeeding.

 

The room seemed smaller and for some odd reason he felt as though he was a specticle.  He tried to study the crumb that was on the table before him.  The answer was more than sufficient though Perivar couldn't help but think the question was improper in some way as he listened to the details regarding the bond.  

 

He formed the flame and pushed his emotions into it feeling bringing on the void.  It seemed to make things worse so he let the void collapse.  Quickly he glanced at Loraine Sedai then Mistress Thera before returning his attention to Master Kynwric.  He was slightly relieved to see that neither of them were glaring at him.  

 

Master Kynwric finished explaining about the bond, light he had no idea that it went past a mere sealing of the agreement between the two.  Something that bound the Warder to his oath.  No sooner had Master Kynwric finished before Loraine Sedia began explaining it from her perspective.  When she finished he had a firm understanding of what the bond entailed or so he thought.

 

To his surprise Mistress Thera began speaking giving her explanation of the bond and what it entailed.  Mistress Thera's voice took on a somber tone as her words touched on a serious topic.  He sat there in silence knowing that he must be wide-eyed as she explained what would happen to the Warder if his Aes Sedai were to die.  Light he always thought it would be the Warder to die.  Growing up along the blight he had always been prepared to die but he couldn't imagine what it was like to have the person you were sworn to protect die.

 

He could understand the rage, understand the will to die.  Many borderlanders galloped into the blight on a death wish, eager to avenge a loss or prove their worth.  Most did not return.  This was definately more than expected though the gravity of what the bond meant fueled his desire to train harder, to learn more so that he would serve faithfully and hopefully protect his Aes Sedai from death.  His face went from a look of shock to a look o determination.  The features of his face that seemed carved from stone now must seemer even harder, more distinct.         

[Quisalas Selene]

"That's amazing." Jasine said softly, and simply.  Listening to Loraine Sedai and Master Kynwric talk had taken him completely out of his previous mood and as he sat there he felt humbled and more than a little in awe of what becoming a warder would mean.  He was just a farmboy who was learning to do more than just play at swords.  How could he ever manage to be competent and wise and --

 

He turned to Thera as she spoke, his ire at her completely forgotten as she spoke with such seriousness.  He'd had no idea of the implications of the bond, that it could reach this deep and be this... this.. big.  Accepting a bond from a sister was likely the most important thing any man could do for the White Tower and for the Light and he felt a little cowed and very unworthy.  He realized that was why he was just a trainee right now.  He was unworthy of it, and would be until he had grown and learned and gained the wisdom that the two Warders in the room had had to earn. 

 

He was one of the young people who had come to the Tower ignorant and filled with romantic fantasies, armed only with the intention of doing something great with his life that would have more meaning than raising horses.  His gaze was still on Thera, but it was unfocused and clouded as he thought through all of this.  He had originally intended to take notes during this class, but he didn't think anymore than he needed to.  He would never forget what was said.

 

"Do... Do we have the choice of refusing an Aes Sedai who wants to bond us?  If we don't think it'd be a good match?  Or should we trust any Aes Sedai that approaches us, that if they think it's a good idea, they are wiser than we and we should trust in them?"  He had realized abruptly that his actual sister, Selene, would not be able to bond a warder for a long time yet, and in the years between they would undoubtedly grow apart.  The Aes Sedai who came out of those towers might bear no resemblance at all to the little girl who had gone in there.

[U4ea]

“I will allow Loraine Sedai to explain the effects to the sister, if she wishes. In rare cases it is the Aes Sedai that dies instead of the Warder." Loraine nodded, but held her peace while Thera continued, nodding solemnly.

 

"On the Aes Sedai's side," she sighed and dropped her eyes. "It is inevitable that the Aes Sedai will lose her warder before she dies. You were shocked at my age last night and I know you can't believe that Kynwric is as old as he is. He doesn't look a day over thirty, after all. Aes Sedai age slower than normal women, and through the bond, so does her Warder. Average lifespans can range in hundreds of years for Aes Sedai and easily a hundred for her warder. Simple numbers will tell you that, barring any physical confrontation or illness, I will outlive my warder. Your Aes Sedai will outlive you, too. From the day the weave is laid on a warder, the Aes Sedai has to come to deal with the fact that, some day, that other person will be dead."

 

She raised her eyes and took a deep breath. It wasn't something she thought about much, it wasn't something she dwelled on. In truth, it wasn't something she'd dealt with. Even after fifty years of the inevitability, she hadn't dealt with it. "Now, when that happens more suddenly, the results aren't as fatal as the warders, but they are just as devastating. I've watched an Aes Sedai die inside when her Warder was killed. I've also watched them shrug and keep going, as if nothing had happened. The difference is in the bond that was forged. Imagine the healthiest, long running relationship you've ever seen in your lifetimes. What happened when one or the other died before the other did?"

 

 

"Do... Do we have the choice of refusing an Aes Sedai who wants to bond us?  If we don't think it'd be a good match?  Or should we trust any Aes Sedai that approaches us, that if they think it's a good idea, they are wiser than we and we should trust in them?" Jasine looked uncomfortable and Loraine tried to smile, though her thoughts were still haunted with the ghost of knowledge that someday, she'd have to breathe without Kynwric thoughts in her head.

 

"You can always say no," she said, her voice soft as she forced her thoughts down a different road. "Would you marry a woman just because she presented herself and said it was a good idea? Spend your life working for her and be content with your life? Perhaps, but most likely not. A bond and a marriage are very much alike that way, too. If one or the other is unhappy, it makes them both unhappy. You also can't hide that unhappiness from each other, so it just increases the discomfort." She stopped and sent a quick glance towards Thera. "No Aes Sedai in her right mind wants to be bonded to someone who's unhappy and they don't want to bond someone who doesn't make them, well, at least doesn't make them unhappy! It's a prison sentence with no charges, no court. And it's difficult to fix that, nigh on impossible, in fact." She turned back to Jasine. "Never make that decision lightly, I beg you all. Don't trust your hormones, don't trust your heart, don't even trust someone else's judgement of their character. Trust your gut, then take your time and get to know them. When you reach the point where you can't imagine spending the rest of your life with anyone else, that's when you agree to a bond. Not a minute before..."

 

[Jehaine]

Melenis just froze in place as she heard just how big this Bond thing really was. As it fathomed on her that it went way beyond her expectations, the mental backblast was strong enough to drive away most of the hangover she was feeling. It'd return over time sooner or later -- she knew that much -- but for now, shock had been an effective, yet temporary cure.

 

Questions swirled in her mind, all wanting to be asked, but she held them at bay, at least until she could process this new information. Easily over a hundred? Light, most people would be content with half as much. I would have been. Still, there were the rather obvious downsides of sharing the death of whomever she was bonded with, making it quite explainable why most Warders protected them as fiercely as they did. Well... aside from the pride thing, anyway, which she guessed played at least a small part in the whole picture.

 

- "Loraine Sedai? What happens when the death is a natural one? I mean... not as sudden, like dying in your sleep?"

 

Feeling somewhat anxious, she hoped the idea would come across that she was talking about what would happen if both Warder and Aes Sedai were asleep when it happened, and the Warder would only notice after waking. There were some problems with being enraged when there was nothing in the area they could get enraged on, like in the Tower for example. Some of those Aes Sedai looked really old.

 

 

Melenis

Suddenly wide awake

[U4ea]

Loraine watched the shock settle in Melenis' eyes and waited. There would be questions as soon as the shock receeded a bit; questions that no amount of the previous night's alcohol would stop.  She wasn't disappointed.

 

"Loraine Sedai? What happens when the death is a natural one? I mean... not as sudden, like dying in your sleep?" Loraine watched her a breath longer and decided it wasn't the Aes Sedai she was worried about waking up to the horror of a dead partner. She took a deep breath.

 

"When we were fighting along the Blight, we took turns at watch. Aes Sedai and their warders would patrol the lines between posts and, when our patrol was finished, we usually slept. They were long watches and there's not much else to do along the border, after all." She waved her hand, knowing she was babbling. "One of our sleep shifts was broken when Kyn seized my shoulders and started shaking me rather violently. When I came to, and I can tell you I don't wake up in the best of moods when shaken out of sleep in such a manner, I demanded to know why. There was no alarm, there was no sound outside our tent. His answer?"

 

She paused and flicked her gaze to Kyn, feeling as well as seeing the memory of that event running through his mind behind his eyes. "I stopped breathing." She let that settle in for a moment. "I didn't know it at the time, but I'd been bitten by some dark-infested bug and the venom it shared had simply waited on my heart to slow to sleep rhythms before trying to force it to halt. Kyn shocking me pulled me out of the worst of it, but I was stretched out in the nearest sick tent for the next three weeks recovering from it. I will go to the grave with the half-crazed look in Kynwric's eyes haunting my dreams." She shook her head slowly and raised her eyes to meet Melenis's again. "To answer your question, to the best of my knowledge, it won't matter how the Aes Sedai dies. Her death will mean the same to you, no matter whether death takes her peacefully or violently in battle. Just as it will for me."

[_Kynwric_]

Kyn nodded, thinking back to that time and knowing his eyes and face darkened. "Believe me, you will know the moment her heart stops, the moment she is choking... the slightest thing wrong with her and you will know it with all your heart and soul. The feeling of absolute helplessness..." he shook his head to clear the thoughts. "I wouldn't let her more than an arms reach from me for the next two weeks." He said lightly, trying to mask the depth of disturbed he was at having that memory dredged back up.

[Sieve]

Perivar nodded trying to absord the wealth of information that they were receiving.  He could have never guessed the bond was so in depth, it was good that they were sharing their experiences.  It would only make the Warders to be more prepared for what they faced.

 

Perivar was happy to hear Loraine Sedai's response to Jasine's question.  From how she explained it the last thing either person in the bond would want was one that was not made with a mutual agreement.  Who wanted to spend their life completely unhappy.  Duty was one thing, but being completely miserable for the rest of your life was more than anyone could endure.  One thing for sure, it was nothing something to enter into lightly.

 

When Melenis asked her question he had hope there was a chance.  Loraine Sedai's answer crushed all hope.  He had never thought of his own death as causing anyone pain.  Sure his family would be upset but the effect that it would have on his Aes Sedai went far beyond that.  Borderlanders were prepared for death, it was too often that it was reinforced, an all too common reality.  The best case scenario for Aes Sedai and Warder would be if they died together, hopefully after a long life. 

 

Perivar nodded as Loraine Sedai explained life along the blight border.  He disagreed slightly though he would never put voice to it, not in public.  It was a minor thing anyway and clearly she meant no harm by it, it was a fact.  There was plenty to do in the borderlands the fact of the matter was that there just wasn't much free time, they had to remain ever vigilant.  Something you learned as a child, the watch was constantly kept. 

 

Another thing about being that close to the blight was that you had to take every day as if it could be your last.  Outsiders thought borderlanders were hard and jaded but you had to be if you wanted to survive.  It still made him shake his head whenever he met someone who thought trollocs and myrdraal were just tales.  Everyone along the border knew it for fact, they were as real the sun in the sky.  He wished he could take the non-believers to the blight and show them, watch their eyes go wide at the sights they would behold.  Imagine seeing a trolloc or even worse, one of the eyeless if you didn't believe they existed.

 

Perivar nodded as Loraine Sedai mentioned the poisonous bug that had bitten her.  In the blight, something as simple as touching the wrong type of leaf could kill you, allowing you to live only long enough to know that you were dying.  You dare not eat or drink anything found there.  In and along the blight there were more ways to die than most could imagine.  That is why most of them had an edge, you had to be hard, there was no choice.  It was why so many borderlander were sought after to serve the Tower.  Their experience set the foundation, training at the Tower prepared them to fight the shadow, to endure when all seemed lost, taught to expect danger at evey turn, something that was already ingrained in borderlanders.  They all had to be hard, there was so much that one would have to endure in service to the Tower.  Not just endure, they had to do more, they had a duty to protect and serve their Aes Sedai and the Tower. 

 

The same hardness that was present in borderlanders was also clearly visible with Loraine Sedai the Warders, Master Kynwric and Mistress Thera.  Even though they held compassion for others none would ever call them soft.  He looked around the room at the others, the trainees.  Though none that he knew had come from the borderlands they were all hard in their own way.  Even the ever smiling Jasine, he had a heart that was at least thrice the size of a normal man, no doubt he would find a way around any obstacle, he would handle any task thrown his way.  There was no doubt that Jasine would endure until his last breath.  Melenis had a drive and a will that seemed unrivalled.  She had endured the fact that her father had been a darkfriend.  No matter how much the others told her that she was not responsible for the actions of her father, there was no mistake that it fueled her.

 

Even though their subject had turned morbid, Perivar smiled as he looked around the room at the others.  He was fortunate to be in such fine company.

[Jehaine]

Melenis leaned back, trying to process the information. While longevity was certainly a good thing to have for a bodyguard -- which Warders essentially were -- since it'd enable them to gain a level of combat experience no human could hope to achieve in their lifetime, the downsides were equally severe. To be linked in death was a frightening notion, and suddenly it became all too clear to her just why the Warders emphasized weapon training as much as they did.

 

Oh, armies would have their recruits train in weaponry, but the Warders were -- to her knowledge -- the only ones that had made an entire way of life out of it. Several in fact, Me'Arearth being one of them. Which brought up the interesting thought just how her grandfather had known not one, but two of these Paths: The Mo'Kai'La he used, and the Me'Arearth he had trained her in. With her grandfather gone, it would probably be impossible for her to find out just how he knew, but she did make a mental note to reread his diary again later tonight.

 

Though Perivar smiled in her direction, this recent thought that hit her took up too much of her attention to notice it. Her face would be frowning as she searched her memories for an answer, though given the current topic it could easily be misunderstood for worrying about the Bond like Perivar was, or feeling disturbed about the Blight.

 

 

Melenis

Lost in Thought

[Quisalas Selene]

Jasine tried to think of the horror Kynwric must have felt in that moment.  He knew that Kynwric and Loraine were lovers and that they had been together for better than 50 years.  They must have such an astonishing relationship, such closeness and open, mutual affection.  His unfocused gaze stared at the pair of them and wrapped in the Void, he felt the swirl of emotions: envy, admiration, respect, and a wistful longing, throbbing against the flames trying to be free.  He forced his attention, and he had to force it, away from thinking of how deeply it must have hurt and scared Kynwric to know with such simple certainty that his love was dying and not having any idea of stopping it.

 

He was suddenly very sure that if Kynwric had lost Loraine that night the man would not have been able to overcome the rage of losing an Aes Sedai, that he would not have bonded another sister, and could not have found fulfillment in teaching trainees like himself.  And Jasine saw in that moment the beauty of the bond and its terrifying commitment at the same time.  Until death, and then some. He wished there were words that could express his sentiment of being glad that Kynwric had revived Loraine, but glad certainly didn't cut it. Whatever gratitude Jasine felt for that small merciful act of the Creator that Kyn was able to wake her couldn't possibly even approach what Kynwric himself felt about it.

 

He was at a loss for words again, not knowing what to say or what to ask.

[U4ea]

The silence was hanging and Loraine watched their expressions shift through a hundred different emotions. Shock, horror, envy, wonder, joy... It was heartening to see most of them were happy emotions and she hoped the less happy ones would be enough to remind them that this was hardly an arrangement to be taken lightly. She knew some looked at the bond she shared with Kynwric as something other than what it should be. She hoped they made it look easy, though she knew many that were far from it. She was lucky and she knew it.

 

"Light, Gaidin, look what you've done! You've scared them! I'm afraid Mistress Thera will have a guard house full of Tower Guards and not a single Warder in the bunch!" She smiled at Kyn and winked at the rest. "You'll have to tell them something wonderful, now that we've told them they'll outlive their entire family and their Aes Sedai being bitten by a bug will scare them close to murder. I'm all out, what do you have?"

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric shrugged. "Hmmm... well, if you're bonded to one with the talent then you can have your hangovers cured in an instant... if she's willing. But I am pretty sure that is overshadowed by the near constant politics involved with being near Aes Sedai. Ummm... how about that, no that was just a bad meal... hmmm...  Well, there's always the fact that you will almost always be able to kill whatever is in front of you in a fair fight. Of course, next to nothing fights fair and knowing which ones to run away from is still a useful skill."  He glanced at Loraine and smirked before looking back at all the trainees. "No, I suppose that I am all out as well... unless there are more questions. One really good piece of advice though, learn to cook."

[Sieve]

Perivar was soaking in the informationa and processing it.  Loraine Sedai had finished then turned it over to Master Kynwric who spoke briefly. He spoke until he was out though he added one final comment.

 

"Learn to cook?...What in the light does that have to do.." Perivar was shocked to realize he had said it aloud.  He noticed the others looking at him and could feel his face flushing.  Well the meaning of it went over his head.  "Im sorry but what does learning to cook have to do with being a Warder?"  Cooking was not a skill that Perivar possessed.

[Quisalas Selene]

Kynwric's advice and then Perivar's question made Jasine snicker, his usual good cheer showing in his quick smile as he leaned closer to Perivar and spoke lightly. "I think the good Master Kynwric was making a comment about his lovely Aes Sedai."

 

He wondered if they had been together long enough to accept their own faults and each other's without it causing conflict.  He straightened back up and refilled his tea so he would be able to hide his smile behind something and not have to look at Lor and Kyn. 

 

[_Kynwric_]

Kyn grinned at Perivar's blurted question and turned his eyes on Jasine at his comment, with a shakes of his head and still smiling. "I'll eat her cooking any day of the week, just to be clear on that." He intentionally left off the now in that sentence. "However, what do you think these women have been doing for the last 20 or 30 years? How many times have they cooked over an open campfire? Had to make stew out of what they could find? One of the most important things in surviving a trip or campaign is being well nourished. You can't fight if you've been living off twigs for a day and half, not effectively. It is a matter of self preservation and a skill that any good man should have. It helps with the wooing of women as well..."

[Sieve]

After Master Kynwric explained himself it made perfect sense.  Perivar had quite an appetite, he hated missing a meal, it made him grumpy.  He had lived off the land often enough though he couldn't imagine eating twigs, he needed meat of some sort. 

 

Perivar had sufficient skill with a bow, skill enough to find game to cook over a fire.  Well hopefully in his training he would learn to cook other types of food, meat might not always be available and he didn't like the thought of skipping a meal.  He had not traveled outside the borderlands except to come here, perhaps there were areas in the southlands where game was not abundant.  He would have to pay attention when he took his wilderness survival class. 

 

Wooing women was a different matter, he had no skill with that and did not see how cooking could help him there.  Either a woman liked you or she did not.  Perivar kept to himself which didn't help, back home the girls would approach him.  Ooh he liked them well enough though he was not good at starting conversations or meeting people, he was nothing like Jasine in that regard.  Jasine seemed a natural conversationalist, people always enjoyed talking with him, he was always at the center of things. 

[Jehaine]

At the mention of cooking, Melenis burst out laughing. After about a full minute, she wiped the tears from her face as she tried to catch her breath again, trying to ignore the weird looks she knew she was getting.

 

- "Heh, don't mind me... Y'know, when i moved in with the neighbours after my dad died, they tried to teach me some household skills that 'would make me a good wife' or some such rot. Who'd have guessed that... as a Warder... i'd still get to learn them!" ;D

 

Another burst of laughter followed, this time accompanied by mental images of Kynwric wearing an apron and washing dishes, or wielding a broom. Bad thoughts, BAD! She wouldn't be able to look Kynwric in the face without being in the Void if this kept up. Still chuckling, she set about wrapping herself in the Void again to regain some of her composure -- and hopefully drive away some of the alcohol's effects.

 

 

Melenis

Not a housewife

[U4ea]

Loraine let her jaw drop and eyed her Warder. She waited for him to explain himself, crossing her arms and arching her eyebrow. When he was finished, she shook her head. "He also means that, since we've been doing other things for twenty years, that we can scrub pots with the best of them, but making something that's edible and actually tastes good isn't always as easy as it sounds. Especially, when your Aes Sedai has never seen the inside of a kitchen!" She eyed him a moment again and turned a smile on the class. "The good news is that if the warder cooks well enough, it grants the poor Aes Sedai a few decades to get passable at it. He hardly looks starved, now does he?"

[_Kynwric_]

Kyn just grinned broadly and threw out there. "See, she agrees with me."  He patted his stomach. "And no I am hardly starved, nor have I been for the last... 20 years? Ever since..." He let that trail off, realizing he did not need to comment on  what they had been doing the last two decades. "Either way, if for no other benefit than your own, learn to cook."

[Quisalas Selene]

He had thought he had himself finely composed, but when Melenis started laughing it set off a giggle in Jasine as well.  He quickly tried to cover it and chuckled more deeply, blush warming his cheeks as he realized he must have sounded like some childish girl laughing like that.  He quieted as Kynwric started to speak and he got the distinct impression that the man had heard what he'd meant for Perivar's ears only, but Light, at least his Master didn't look ready to eviscerate Jase for it.

 

"I'm a fair hand at finding berries to eat, we used to sneak over to Master Lusal's orchard and snitch them off the bushes and trees, so I know what a few of them look like, but I've never done any cooking."  He thought about voicing the thought of getting some of the girls in the kitchens to teach him, but as his eyes flicked to Thera he decided to keep that little idea to himself.  She was mad enough at him as it was, no reason to rub salt in the wound.

 

"Ever since what, Master Kynwric?" Jasine tipped his head slightly to one side, focusing on the man again.  "It must be terribly hard to find anything at all to cook while patrolling the borderlands.  If it's as bad as it seems, the game must stay away from it as well."

[_Kynwric_]

"Since we left the Tower the last time, its been 20 years since we've been back." Kyn replied, he had learned quite a bit about avoiding questions over the last 50 years, and part of that was redirecting. " As for the Borderlands, there's plenty to eat there, you just have to watch for eating anything that wandered out of the blight. Mostly in the Borderlands I'd try and eat fresh game, or carry enough for the patrol your on with you, that is actually the best way. I am sure Perivar has some insights there as well."