Behold! Thaes had come. (Arrival post - open for all!)

[Almain]

The journey from Kandor to Tar Valon was an uneventful one. Despite the fact that it was the first time Thaes has been so far away from home did not dampen his mood. He traveled atop Car'Caban, his crimson stallion, feeling as if he was a king on a journey of a great destiny. In his last letter, Thaes' great uncle had warned him on the world outside his village, on how times were dangerous for a lone traveler. However, his arrogant disposition and the swords strapped on his back sent most road bandits looking for an easier picking. All in all, Thaes felt good leaving his flyspeck of village behind thinking, That place wasn't for a man of my talents and destiny. He then laughed, thinking how a village like that could hope to contain the greatness of Thaes.

 

When not resting and conditioning his body, Thaes spent his travels imagining how his abilities would shock the people at the Warders Yard, and how he was going to one day set a new standard of blade mastery. Smiling foolishly while thinking those things, Thaes' eyes spotted something that at least for quite some time, managed to quell his arrogance. The Dragonmount. For all of his great ambition and imagination, Thaes had never in his life imagined that something could be so majestic. Involuntarily, and to his irritation, Thaes' had goosebumps looking at the Dragon's gigantic tombstone. He did not allow himself to stand in awe for too long, and a smile appeared in his face. The Dragonmount... The Dragon's grave, now that's worthy of my destiny... Thus once again, Thaes sunk himself in his imagination, Maybe I'll make a natural fortress out of Dragonmount, just like the Stone in Tear...

 

Thaes let his imagination run wild, exploring the greatest of ambitions and the most impossible of goals, and Thaes believes that all that can be realized by being the strongest in the land. He went on with his head above the clouds until finally another great scene appeared before him. The White Tower. Thaes gaped before he could stopped himself, the Dragonmount was one thing, at least it was nature, but Thaes couldn't believe that something like The White Tower was built by humans. They probably built it with the One Power though... The thought did nothing to diminish the awesomeness of the skyscraper. The closer he got to The White Tower, to Tar Valon, the more difficult it became to hide the overwhelming awe that he was feeling. For a man who spent his whole life in a small isolated village, something like Tar Valon was beyond his imagination. Finally, when he arrived at the bridge, Thaes forced himself to act like he was experiencing nothing unusual. However, he could not stop himself from looking left and right at the bridge he was on, and revel at its magnificence. Now, in front of the Shining Walls of Tar Valon, Thaes wondered if he was ready for what awaits.

 

Even from the outside Thaes could already see the greatness of Tar Valon, with its white palaces like buildings seemingly made of stone laces and the wonderfully paved roads, to the amount of people that busied its street. Once again, Thaes had to force himself to move on. Half-disgusted at himself, he thought, How would you be able to be on top of this world if you can't even face a lifeless set of stones!But even that did not stop him from gawking at every little thing in Tar Valon.

 

Being it's his first time in a city, Thaes was at lost of what to do with his horse. He was well aware of his lack of height, and if he was sitting on a horse Thaes could pretend that he was as tall as any others. However, whether it was true or not, Thaes felt like everybody was watching him, and decided to dismount and lead his horse by the nose. Looking at what the citizens were wearing, Thaes could not but worry if he looked okay in his attires. Back at his village, the things he were wearing usually would only be worn on feast days, but even that didn't match what the citizens had on.

 

Thaes wore a sleeveless blue buttoned shirt never buttoning the uppermost button. Staying true to his homeland, he wore a pair of black breeches with blue embroidery along the side. On his left ear Thaes wore a jeweled earring in style of the Kandori and on his back two swords, one notably shorter than the other, both sheathed on beautifully ornate sheaths. His blond hair were combed neatly to the back, his forked beard marked him a Kandori.

 

Thaes knew that he was a good looking fellow, but for some reason then, he could not meet any of the women eyes or show them his winning smile like he usually does back at his village. Looking at the women in Tar Valon, Thaes could not help but smile and looked pleased, City girls are indeed a whole different class from those homely ones back at that sorry excuse for a village...Thaes made note to visit the city later and try his luck on some of the women there.

 

Remembering what he had set out here to do, Thaes went to find information on the whereabouts of the Warders Yard. He saw an old man seemingly taking his time walking on the road and decided to ask him, "Old man, where can I find the Warders Yard?" The old man looked up and Thaes was surprised that the old man was indeed an old woman. Noting the rude tone in Thaes' voice, the old woman sniffed and walked away, muttering something about "young people these days" and "foreigners". Irritated and more than a little surprised -nobody ever dares to ignore him back in his village- Thaes looked for another source of information. He saw a little kid drawing at the side of the road with a stick and approached him, "Hey brat! I need the directions to the Warders Yard!"The little boy looked at Thaen, stood up, kicked the bigger guy in the shin hard, and ran away laughing. Holding his shin, Thaes cursed loudly, "Blood and ashes!"Suddenly, Thaes felt a lash on his bottom and let out a yelp.

 

Thaes turned around furious and ready to beat up the life of the person who did that to him but to his surprise nobody was behind him but a regal looking woman looking at him from several paces away. Thaes looked in puzzlement at the woman. He was used to women looking at him, but something about this one seemed really different. The woman were pretty, just a little short of beautiful. At first Thaes thought that the woman were as young as himself, but another look made her seem much much older. Thaes just seemed to can't put an age on the woman. Still confused, Thaes could only watch as the woman glided at him, a penetrating look on her eyes, "The Warders Yard?" She said in an unfamiliar accent. Thaes could only nod. The woman gave him an appraising look and proceeded to give him direction. When she was done, the woman smiled mysteriously and said, "Hmm... You're a promising one it seemed. I already have one, but one more couldn't hurt." She chuckled quietly and added, "Once I take care of that attitude of yours and the foul languague that is." Once again she laughed mysteriously and left with a, "We'll meet again."

 

Thaes stood there gaping at the woman's back and he could not help but thought how crazy a city he had entered. Realizing how stupid he must look, Thaes grumbled and proceeded to the directions that was given. Bloody old man, bloody kid, and bloody bloody woman!

 

Navigating once again through the light-forsaken city, Thaes finally arrived at his destination, the Warders Yard.

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric had been following the young man in from the gate and had a good idea of what he was about. It was both amusing and aggravating to see how he behaved, he did note how the youth became less and less sure of himself as he approached the Tower and that gave Kyn a bit of a smile, he murmured to himself. "Tar Valon will do that to you."

 

Kyn stopped and listened in as the Aes Sedai spoke to him and he could see the temper building in the young man's stance and posture. With a shake of his head he waited and nodded to the Aes Sedai and her Warders as he passed them, still trailing the newcomer.

 

When they both arrived at the Warders Yard gate Kyn walked up beside the young man and looked him up and down before shaking his head and starting off through the gate. There was no doubt in his mind that would set the young man's back to bristling, hopefully enough to teach him a lesson.

[Almain]

The sight of the Warders Yard calmed him if but a little bit. Here, in this place, Thaes can practice what he does best, combat. However, just as it seemed like Thaes was going to forget all about the old woman, little kid, and the mysterious woman, a man much much taller than him walked up to his side from behind.

 

A little bit taken off guard, Thaes gave the man a quick scan. Black haired and at the least 8 inches taller than Thaes himself, he could see that it was no ordinary man. If that wasn't enough, his gray eyes made it clear. That same gray eyes looked Thaes from head to toe, and shook his head before he left as if looking down on Thaes.

 

Thaes could feel his anger rising once more, close to the boiling point. After the treatments from the old woman, the little kid and the woman, Thaes could take it no more. I held back with the old woman, stayed my hand with the brat, and kept my cool with the mysterious woman... I'm not going to take it anymore from this man, especially this man! Thinking he can look down on me just because of my height... Being awfully sensitive of his short stature, Thaes always presume that when people looks down on him, his height is the cause.

 

Thaes smiled at the man's back, A perfect chance to vent my frustration, he thought. "You there!" Thaes shouted at the man and started walking towards him. "I didn't like the way you look at me earlier. At other times I would've forgiven you and think little of it." A lie, but Thaes didn't care. "But this time..." Thaes chuckled, "Blame your luck that you caught me in a bad mood." Thaes stopped when he was only a few paces behind the man. Thaes would not strike a man from behind, or even brandish his weapon before the other does so. However, all this is not because of honor, which Thaes did not have, but as part of his arrogance in his fighting skills.

 

With a smile he continued, "Turn around and wield your weapon. Let us see if you soft city folks can show me a decent fight." With that, Thaes put his hand on the hilt of his katana, ready to unsheathe it any second.

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric stopped, listened and turned to face Thaes hand on the hilt of his sword. He never stopped smirking the whole time the blowhard kept digging his grave. He also noticed the pair of Tower Guards on duty step out into the gate and noticed their amused smiles as they realized what was going on. "Seems my luck is holding out as it usully does, attracting the blowhards and idiots. If it is a duel you want then set the terms, First Blood? Second? Death?" Kynwric slid the first three inches of his sword from its scabbard and settled into Lion on a Hill in preperation to meet this challenger.

[Almain]

Thaes' mouth tightened when the man turned around to face him. A part of him had hoped that the man standing before him would ignore Thaes and move on. Still with his hand on the hilt of his unsheathed sword, Thaes watched the taller man with fury in his eyes but also a growing uncertainty. His anger heightened when the man called Thaes a blowhard and an idiot and Thaes started to slid his katana out of its sheath.

 

However, Thaes abruptly stopped his hand when he heard the word death from the man's mouth. Instantly his expression turned to be one of fear. Death? Despite Thaes' arrogance and his likeness to beat down people weaker than him, not once in his life have he ever taken a life. Even the thought of it never crossed the young man's mind. More than the fear of taking somebody else's life however, was the sudden fear of losing his own. Looking at the man's eyes and his readied form Thaes could not but think that the man was serious. Frozen in place, cold sweat started to bead Thaes' bare forehead.

 

Nobody had even stood up at Thaes before. Nobody had ever dared to. Thaes was in a situation that he had no idea how to get out of, or what to expect. Gritting his teeth, Thaes repulsed himself, You idiot! What are you so afraid of?! Getting more irritated at himself by the second he tried to rationalize his fear, It's this damn place, that's what unnerving me... However, glancing at the man's eyes, Thaes knew that it was a pathetic lie. The man scared him; the prospect of death scared him.

 

I brought this upon myself, and now I have to take the consequences. The blade slid out more, but ever so slowly and with uncertainty. This is the first obstacle to be the strongest man in the land, I can't back down... The blade was halfway drawn. Then Thaes remembered the way the man was looking at him and he could felt a tiny bit of anger pushing down at his fear, Nobody can look down on me and get away with it! His katana was out, held in his right hand in a stance that he had practiced so much before.

 

Thaes forced himself to look at his opponent, and thought about the answer to his question. Thaes definitely did not want it to be to the death, but he couldn't say that in fear of being seen as cowardice. So he forced a smirk and said to the man, "Your call." and hoped for the best. With his free hand, Thaes wiped the sweat off of his face, but they did not stop pouring. The fear was there in Thaes' eyes, and only his pride prevented him from turning away from the man's dangerous gaze. Finally, a thought that never occurred to Thaes before appeared in his head, I am going to die. And his hand trembled.

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric smiled a dark, malevolent smile and nodded. "Very well then, to submission." He Unfolded the Fan and stood there on guard, his sword held at the ready as he slowly circled with the arrogant fop in front of him. He was certain that Thaes would be saying to himself that he would never submit after the insults that Kyn had flung his way, but Kyn was also certain that this youth was a blowhard and had picked a fight far out of his league. After a moment Kyn took a step back, tilted the sword back against his shoulder, apparently nonchalantly and spoke to one of the guards.

 

"He growls like a tiger, but do you think he's grown big enough for claws?"

 

Kyn knew he was bating the boy and it was unseemly, but he had seen his type too much through his life. The man who was good with a sword in his farm village, but when faced with a real swordsman was as unprepared as a Lion Cub facing a Mother Bear. He hated the bravado, the sense of entitlement and arrogance. And this poor boy was going to take the brunt of the disgruntlement Kyn felt towards those of his ilk. He had no intention of ending this fight quickly, nor easily. He fully intended to shame this boy to his bones.

[U4ea]

Loraine tucked her book under her arm as a feeling she'd only ever connected with trouble erupted in her head. Light, who's pushing his buttons, now? she thought as she moved towards the archway leading into the Warder's Yard. She paused just outside, the warmth of the sun falling on her cheeks. She scanned the Yard and found them, Kynwric and a boy just inside the Yards. What had...?

 

She groaned inwardly and moved towards the pair, hoping Kynwric felt her caution through the bond. She arrived just in time for his comment, "He growls like a tiger, but do you think he's grown big enough for claws?" and had to pause to look at his opponent again. Arrogance was etched in the boy's face and expression, and Lor closed her eyes a minute before searching for a place to sit. This was not going to be pretty...

[Almain]

Thaes sighed quietly in relief before he could stop himself upon hearing that the fight wasn't to the death. At once, he revoked himself of the sigh and as if that was also the man's fault, Thaes' fury grew. But still, he did not move. It did not occur to him that submission would be harder for a man of Thaes' arrogance then maybe even death.

 

With his hands still trembling in fear and anticipation, Thaes kept his eyes on his opponent, now with his sword out, circling himself. However, Thaes could not take the first move, even if he had wanted to, his feet would not take the step forward. Then his opponent shouldered his sword and taunted Thaes even more in front of the guards.

 

A growl escaped Thaes' lips. The gesture itself, paired with the words that came out of the man's mouth flamed Thaes' fury to the point of momentarily overriding his fear. But still, his hands trembled and his legs refused to move. Raising his left hand high, Thaes shouted, "RAAAH!! Move damn you!!" and hit both of his legs hard until his palm hurt. Then with another roar, Thaes charged at his opponent, starting his slash from below and continued it towards his opponents neck. In his fury, Thaes had forgotten that the fight was to submission, and performed what is meant to be a killing blow.

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric smirked as he waited, sensing the younger man's recklessness and impatience. Continued to berate him, even as he began the charge. The uppercut was easily side stepped and as Thaes momentum carried him past Kyn slapped the back of his head with the flat of his sword. He stepped a couple of steps back waiting for Thaes to realize what had happened and the Kyn hadn't been disembowled by his clumsy charge. He spared a brief glance up to Loraine, having felt her arrive and also feeling her caution. But being a breif glance he quickly returned his eyes to the youngster in front of him. "I think this cub may need to be taught that borrowing another man's claws does not make one a tiger."

[Almain]

Thaes stumbled forwards as his charge missed its target and felt pain in the back of his head as his opponent hit him with the flat of his sword. He lumbered forward a few more steps and unable to keep his balance, fell down on one knee. Thaes could feel his cheek heating up, from anger but also embarrassment. Wasting no time, Thaes stood up and once again faced his opponent.

 

This time, Thaes did not charge right away, realizing how easy it was for his opponent to dodge his latest attack. However, while he was still thinking of what to do, his opponent taunted him some more. Thaes' expression darkened and his fury was relighted, so once again, he charged at his opponent with a roar.

 

He started his slash the same way from below. But instead of bringing it to the person's face, Thaes changed it to a side slash at the man's thigh, hoping to catch the man off guard.

[_Kynwric_]

Kyn was again leaning the sword against his shoulder as Thaes began his charge, Kyn noted the same intensity and anger in the boys face as before and also a glimmer of deceit. As the charge came and the sword began its upwards arc Kyn took two quick steps towards Thaes and spun, grabbing his opponents wrist as the sword came in and redirecting Thaes' momentum again this time sent him sprawling head first into the street. He watched again as he pulled himself to his feet. "Even now he is more roar than bite and he isn't saying a thing!" Kyn was still egging he youth on, knowing he was fully into his rage now and not wanting to do anything less than fully humiliate him, better now than have a Sister, or worse yet an Accepted do it later.

[Almain]

Before Thaes could do anything, his opponent had grabbed his wrist and threw him sprawling onto the street. The fall was not particularly hard, but Thaes had hit his head on the fall and is now bleeding lightly. Furthermore, he could feel stinging pain on his elbow and knees. However, none of this pale beside the hurt in Thaes' pride. With something close to a growl, Thaes stood up.

 

By now, even Thaes had realized the difference between their strength, but his wounded pride and full on rage prevented him on giving up. Ignoring his opponents taunt--there was no way Thaes could get angrier then he already was-- Thaes unsheathed his short sword with his left hands.

 

Thaes was born ambidextrous, and he is working on a two bladed style. However, it's not an easy thing wielding two swords at once. Even though Thaes with his muscles was physically able to wield two swords at once, his lack of coordination and skill prevented him from using them effectively. His teacher back in the village told him to work on the long sword first, and then on the short one. Only then could he train on using both of them at once.

 

This time however, Thaes ignored the advice, thinking that this was the only way that he could beat the opponent in front of him. Thus, he charged forward, in silence this time, as if he was focusing on this one attack. With his long sword he slashed down at the opponent's sword, hoping to hold him there while he slashed at his opponents left side with his short sword. Thaes was putting everything he had into this last attack.

[U4ea]

Loraine watched, her eyes narrowing at Kyn's glance. She felt his anger, even saw the tight lines around the corners of his lips and eyes. She wished he wasn't doing this so publicly. She flinched as she saw the new recruits double bladed attack, the direction of his swords and her hand lifted before she thought it through. A twisted rope of Air coiled around each blade and pulled it up short, stopping them before they'd so much as connected with the opponent's blade. If she let the blade slip a bit to nick Kyn's side, she'd never admit it. Any pain that accompanied it could be ignored. I hope... she thought as she approached the pair again.

 

"Fighting with such rage is rarely ever a good thing," she said softly as she drew within hearing. She paused and turned to the younger of the two. "You show promise, but I must caution you. I can tell from your expression that you're battling your instincts. Why do you not listen when your mind tells you to hold your blade? Have you a death wish?" She stopped and turned to Kyn, her eyebrow arching. "And you, Gaidin? Aside from his obvious pride and the wealth of youthfulness his visage fairly shouts from the top of the Tower, what has he done to deserve such humiliation?"

 

She looked from one to the other, not really giving them the chance to answer. "I should think two men, one sworn to the protection of another and one who apparently wishes to be so sworn, would follow a line of caution and extend something other than hostilities towards each other..."

[_Kynwric_]

Kyn's eyes narrowed when the second sword was prodcued and he moved from the more lackadaisical style he had been using to a sword forward stance. He waited for Thaes to attack again, he was far to enraged to do otherwise at this point. He waited preparing to end this fight when he noticed both of Thaes swords stuck in the air. He glanced up at Loriane who was speaking now, he listened and nodded to the boy. "He challenged me, publicly. Something about being 'soft city folk.' Aes Sedai." He paused a moment before adding "Added to that he simply has the manners of a Trolloc."

[Almain]

((OOC: I'm assuming that my blade is still constrained with the flows of Air since you never really said that you released the flow. If that's not ok then PM me and I'll edit the post :) ))

 

IC: One second his blades were flying toward his opponent and the next it suddenly stopped. They did not hist the opponent's sword or his body or anything else, My swords...just...stopped. Gaping, Thaes tried to move his swords once again, and they did not even budge. "What in the name of the Light...?" Thaes asked nobody in particular. Slowly, Thaes started to remove his hands from his swords, and what he feared happened. The swords stayed levitated in the air with nobody holding them. That was when Thaes noticed a third party approaching.

 

Tearing his eyes off from his flying swords was hard, and when he did, he turned to the woman that was now approaching them. Thaes was sure that she never saw the woman before, but something about her looked familiar. Thaes listened as the woman started to lecture him and his opponent who was apparently named Gaidin? Normally, Thaes would laugh at the woman for lecturing him and give her his choice of words. However, at this moment Thaes' mind was still confused and preoccupied with his levitating swords.

 

Everything became clear when the man named Gaidin called her Aes Sedai. Thaes haven't recovered from his initial surprise with the swords before he once again was forced to gape at the new development. Thaes could feel all his fury draining away, replaced with a mix of awe, fear, and expectation.

 

Finally, Thaes worked up his courage enough to speak, but his voice was lacking its usual power, "Ah... Aes Sedai... You see..." Thaes forced himself to continue, "This man, he was looking down on me..."Thaes glared at the man, "I just couldn't let it be..." Then Thaes chuckled, "Of course, if I knew he was your acquaintance then I wouldn't have done what I did." Even to himself, Thaes sounded ridiculous. So different from his usual arrogant and confident self. He had heard too many Aes Sedai stories, and not the good ones.

 

"I did come here to train under the Warders." He added uncertainly.

 

((OOC: Just to clarify, I know that Gaidin means Warder, but Thaes doesn't :P ))

[U4ea]

OOC: ;) I left 'em in the air on purpose. Can't have you taking my head off in protest, after all! :)

 

IC:

Loraine felt her eyebrow arch higher at Kyn's answer, biting the inside of her lip not to tell him how very much like his sons he sounded. "I believe, as a Warder beholden to this Tower, it would be your job to perfect his manners, would it not?" If he didn't take the hint that there would be plenty of time to torture the kid when no one was around to witness it, there wasn't anything she could do about it. As it was, she was pretty sure she'd hear about this later.

 

She turned her attention over her shoulder, slowly moving her body back to face the brazen young man. She allowed a faint twitch of her lips as the smooth phrasing of his reply slid off his lips. "Of course, if I knew he was your acquaintance then I wouldn't have done what I did."

 

"Dear boy, whether my aquaintance or anyone else's, once you're within these walls, it's best to assume that everyone you meet is bonded to the meanest Aes Sedai this Tower can boast. You'll see your skin stays in one piece longer that way." She let her lips slip into a smile, dropping her eyelids and shifting her shoulders back as she stepped closer to him. Her voice dropped to a sultry tone, low and hungry. "And I have shoes older than you, darling. While there are some women in this Tower who have time to train a new puppy, I'm afraid I'm not one of them. If you'd like me to show you what to do with these, however..." she reached out and plucked a sword from the air, laying the other on the ground softly. "...I could probably be talked into it."

[_Kynwric_]

Kyn bit his tongue and let her comment go, he already knew she disapproved of the duel as it were. he gave a short bow and a "As you say Aes Sedai" and let her turn her gaze on Thaes. he fought every urge to roll his eyes as she merely went and challenged him right here on the spot where she had just dressed Kyn himself down for the very same thing. Light Lor, you want to embarass him even further...

[Almain]

Thaes listened at the Aes Sedai, his puzzlement only grew. Assume everyone is bonded to an Aes Sedai? There's no flaming way that's even close to the truth, there can't be that many Aes Sedai... And the words following that did even more havoc to the confusion that he was experiencing, and the torrent of different emotions was now running around Thaes' heart.

 

As the Aes Sedai stepped closer, Thaes stepped back, an incredulous expression on his face. What in the name of the light is wrong with this woman?! Thaes could not decide whether to get angry, scared, or laugh at what she had said. It was like the world as he knew it had ended when he entered the city, and Thaes was thrown into a world of insanity.

 

He watched carefully as he saw one of his sword laid on the ground, while the other stayed levitated. Then Thaes understood, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Light... You want to fight me?!" Thaes asked with an expression of unbelief. Thaes didn't say anything more, instead he looked with an unbelieving face back and forth between the Aes Sedai and the Warder.

 

Finally he threw up his hands in an obvious gesture of frustration, and he started to speak, very loudly, "No, NO!" He looked back at forth between the two as he continued, "You know what? I came here to be trained under the Warders, nothing else. And you know what had happened to me in the very little time I came here? Utter madness." Thaes lifted a finger as he continued, and while a part of him felt horrified at he was doing, the other felt nothing but relief. "I am a simple man, who came from a simple village." The fact that he was willing to admit that he was a simple man proved how confused and lost Thaes was feeling then.

 

He gestured his hands to include the city of Tar Valon, "A simple village man, thrown into this...city where everything is a palace!" His face red, either from anger or excitement, he continued, "I came here just to get ignored by people who won't even spare me a second glance. That was enough to put a burr in my shirt." Thaes turned to the Warder raising a finger, "Then you! You, a Warder, who are known for their fierceness in battle and the patience of a rock taunted and goaded me!" A baseless accusation, but Thaes did not care at this point, "Then you proceed to humiliate me, and all for what? To show that you're better than me?!"

 

Barely pausing, Thaes turned toward the Aes Sedai, "You were no better. At first you stopped the fight, something that I would never thank you for, but fit for your cool Aes Sedai upbringing. Then even you proceeded in dressing me down and taunting me?" Almost screaming on top of his lungs, Thaes was not done, "You said you don't have time to train a puppy-" Thaes' teeth gritted at being called that, "Yet you have time to play with my emotions and my mind. You said you had shoes older than me, but you didn't show a behavior worthy of somebody who has lived so long in this life and instead tried to goad me as well, and perhaps humiliate me one more time."

 

Adressing both now, Thaes continued, "I don't know, perhaps that's how you handle your Trainees in here. Humiliate them and toss their feelings around like a toy. Regardless, training under the Warder here seems to not worth the emotional trauma that I will experience. And I genuinely can't understand how anybody could stand it here. Thaes was calming down, his emotions all spent. With that he realized what a horrible mistake he had made. Speaking like that to a Warder and Aes Sedai can't be good, and he'd be lucky to escape with his life.

 

Looking down and hiding his face, he finished weakly, "Now please, I need my sword back, it was given by someone really important to me." Please. The word seemed alien in his tongue. Still looking down, Thaes trembled. Whether from fear, anger, or both, only Thaes knew.

[U4ea]

Loraine fought the urge to laugh, she truly did. Was it possible that he truly didn't see that his body language spoke louder than any of the haughty things spilling from his lips? She shook her head, slowly and turned the sword over in her hand. It was well made, as the other on the ground seemed to be. The cut of his clothes, the indignant redness in his cheeks and the ease with which he freed the blades said that he was very far from a "simple man." Did he fail to see that, too?

 

"Alas, I would not fight a warder," she bent and picked the sword off the ground, turning them both to hand them back, hilt first. "And if I would not fight a warder, I would night fight a trainee, either. Especially not in this skirt." She offered the swords, her eyebrow arching. "If you've taken your welcome as humiliation, perhaps you should look at how you've entered? You claim simplicity, however your visage, your bearing, and your ease at offense speak less of a simple life and more of a pampered lordling. Whether it's true or not, you'll find that not many within these yards have the time to teach a recruit about his manners. At least, not in a formal setting."

 

She smiled, her expression easing. "I am Loraine, Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah. You'll learn soon enough that the Green Ajah is composed of Aes Sedai who know their way around a sword; among other things." She looked over her shoulder. "This is Kynwric, my warder. I'm sure if you ask nicely, he'll tell you why his initial reaction was less than the open armed welcome you were expecting..."