A Weave like no other

[Jehaine]

Despite having knowledge of Aiel customs drilled into her almost from birth, Jehaine still couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Having been born with a frail build, she had accepted that she probably would never be a good asset to the warrior societies, and had thus naturally leaned towards taking up her mother's profession of seamstress. Craftsmen had a special place in ji'e'toh, and she believed her worth to the White Mountain Sept of the Chareen Aiel to be bigger as a craftswoman rather than as a warrior.

 

When a Wise One had arrived with a message that she was expected in Rhuidean, she almost couldn't believe it herself. Still, given that the Wise Ones weren't known to make jokes about Rhuidean she started preparing for the journey right away, her younger twin deciding to tag along as well for company.

 

She looked to her side, where Jelana was scanning the area. While they had been at most ten minutes apart in terms of age, her sister and herself were nearly polar opposites with regards to combat. She had never developed a liking for combat, yet Jelana had practically dived at the chance to learn, and would occasionally dance with others of her age for fun. It sometimes seemed like she wasn't happy without at least a few bruises on her, bruises which she'd tend to and would be repaid by her watching over her in turn. It still felt a bit odd to her to be protected by her younger sister, but she let it be, knowing Jelana liked to make sure no harm came to her.

 

A small flicker of moveent caught her eye, and she looked down. Jabbing her spear into the sand, she gently lifted the scorpion out with the tip of her spear and put it down again a few feet away before starting to walk again. Jelana rolled her eyes at her behaviour, but she knew her sister well enough not to comment on it.

 

 

Jehaine & Jelana

Two Aiel, one apprentice

[Eqwina]

Covina rolled over in their bed and stretched her arm out expecting to feel Ghaul and was surprised to find only empty space. She knew she had not overslept. Being with child had affected many aspects of her life, sometimes the one power eluded her and other her moods would jump without warning. It sometimes seemed that only part of her life when she was still in full control was in the World of Dreams.  She had set herself a time to wake up well before dawn; the Shade of her Heart already being awake could only mean one thing. Something was troubling his mind.

 

Dressing quietly in her brown skirt she was forced to leave her algode blouse un-tucked. The last month had added much to her weight, she was beginning to feel as if she carried a large boulder where her formerly taut stomach had been.

 

Ducking out of the tent that had been set on the slopes of Rhuidean she saw Ghaul perched on a boulder just at the slopes edge. Every morning since they arrived he’d sat staring off toward the land of the Jenn Aiel. Covina worried that something in him had changed during his captivity. He had always been hard, but now he seemed as if he was trying to rival the Threefold Land itself. Touching a hand to his cheek she smiled down at him. “Soon now Shade of my Heart, and we can be back in our own hold.”

 

Three, three new young woman would be sent into Rhuidean, and there was no way of knowing which would return. For all her talent in walking the dream there were something that even she couldn’t see. The first, Jehaine should arrive today with the falling of the sun. Walking back up the slope Covina started water for her tea and sent a gai’shain running to fetch the other Wise One’s even if they slept. There were many things to do before the new apprentices arrived.

 

[Jehaine]

Jehaine sighed as she walked up one of the sand dunes, attempting to see if she could spot the camp where the Wise One would be waiting on her. It had been a long day, and even though she was not tired she still found her mind wandering off to what Rhuidean would look like. This was her first ever visit to the city, and even though she found it hard to grasp the concept of a 'city' she imagined it as some kind of hold, larger than any she had seen. Yes, that had to be it. Having reached the top of the dune now, she held her hand up to keep the low sun out of her eyes, and looked around. Perking up, she turned around to look at the bottom of the dune.

 

- "Jelana! I think i see it, over there!"

 

Watching her sister run up, she turned back to looking at the campsite, making an estimate of how long it would take them to get there. The sun was close to setting, but with a little luck they would still be able to make it.

 

"Come on, i'll race ya there!"

 

- "Huh? Jel-- Wait for me!"

 

From the tents, the two Chareen Aiel would be easy to spot, one clearly the better runner of the two with another, slightly taller girl struggling to keep up. At the pace they were going, they would easily make it well before sunset, ending up arriving roughly an hour early.

 

 

Jehaine & Jelana

Twins, but far from identical

[Eqwina]

The tent flaps were down and had been tied, a sign that complete privacy was desired, but that did not stop one of the gai’shan from trying to enter.  Sighing Covina waved the others to silence and opened a single flap. “Marina this had better be important.” With as much meekness as a former Maiden could attain she told of the two girls who’d been spotted.

 

“Very good, we will see to them when they arrive. Now Marina, by my husband’s tent you will find several large rugs. You will clean those and when you’ve completed that you will see to these as well.”

 

She announced the arrival of their first new apprentice and took her fellow Wise One’s to the slopes to meet her. She could see both Jehaine and Jelana, one stumbling up the slope, the other eating ground at a quick pace. Since Jelana was the first to arrive Covina sent her to wait off to the side, leaving the other twin to face her fate alone.

 

[Jehaine]

Though she was a bit reluctant to leave, Jelana was still respectful to the Wise One, biting her lip as she glanced at the woman's bulging stomach. With one last look over her shoulder to see how her sister was doing, she walked in the direction she was sent into, mumbling something about trying to find someone to keep her busy. She was gone by the time Jehaine arrived.

 

- "Eh, sorry about that, Wise One. My sister, she tends to... I hope she did not offend?"

 

Jehaine glanced in the direction her sister went off to, trying to make out something beyond the people walking through the camp. When the sound of spears being beaten on bucklers reached her ears, she sighed audibly, shaking her head. Jelana's love for sparring matches was something she'd likely never understand...

 

 

Jelana & Jehaine

Two sides of the same coin

[Eqwina]

Covina waved her hand as if to say that Jelana was of no consequence. “Worry about your Sister is for another time, now your only worry should be you.”

 

With a look she ushered Jehaine farther up the slope and almost down its other edge. Standing at the large boulder where her husband had watched the land of the Jenn Aiel, she waited for the child to remember her part. Several moments passed before the child came to herself enough to remember to strip off her clothes and toss them into a pile.

 

“Your new life with await your return Jehaine. Now listen and heed. “In Rhuidean you will find three rings, arranged so.” Covina used Saidar to draw the rings as they would be seen. “Step through any one. You will see your future laid before you, again and again, in variation. They will not guide you wholly, as is best, for they will fade together as stories heard long ago, yet you will remember enough to know that some things must be for you, despised as they may be, and some that must not, cherished hopes that they are. This is the beginning of being called wise. Some women never return from the rings; perhaps they could not face the future. Some who survive the rings do not survive their second trip to Rhuidean, to the heart.”

 

Silence reined for a full minute and then one by one the Wise One’s kissed her cheeks and uttered the words of hope. “Come back to us” Covina added her own kiss that sent the child on her way.

 

[Jehaine]

As Jehaine stood in front of the arch, she tried to think about how far reality had seemed to jump through a hoop ever since arriving here. First she had stepped through a wall of... Well, it felt like a sweat tent, only the vapor was cold that time. Then she had found herself in the last thing she had expected to see in the Waste -- a city! And now, she found herself standing in front of the set of three rings that was described to her, feeling a little reluctant to enter and see where she'd end up at. Steeling herself, she stepped through.

 

=====

 

Jehaine stepped out again, her mind trying to fathom just exactly what she had seen. Water falling from the sky, an older version of herself standing on sand and looking over a body of water so large she could not even see the other shore of it. She recalled seeing her sister in Wise One garb, dressed in clothing she could not recognise. Herself, wielding the One Power against an unseen enemy in a land with more plants in the immediate area than she could see in a week in the Waste.

 

She rubbed her head, trying to stave off the beginnings of a headache forming. There was too much to keep track of, and she couldn't even begin to understand what half of them were about. She was a seamstress of the Chareen Aiel in the Waste, how was she supposed to know these things! She stood still in the barrier surrounding Rhuidean for a moment, allowing the coolness to work its magic on her now throbbing headache. It worked for the moment, and she walked back to the campsite with the Aiel equivalent of dragging her feet.

 

She arrived at Covina's tent looking mostly disappointed, believing she had failed some kind of test and only getting a headache for her trouble. Calling out to the Wise One to be allowed entry, she noticed to her irritation that her headache was increasing, and hoped she would happen to have a cure on hand. Hard to think...

 

 

Jehaine

Wondering what she had just been looking at