A Dirty Chore, attn Rasheta

[Visar Falmaien]

Visar briefly paused to wipe the sweat from his brow, and bent back over, pulling a plant out of the ground.  He had been assigned an hour of weeding in the gardens for the next week.  And that was a "light" chore, considering some of the ones that Visar had already been punished with before.

 

A warder had assigned this one to him in order to teach him humility and respect for the earth.  Well, Visar wasn't exactly sure what humility was all about, but he certainly was coming into contact with the earth.  More than he cared for, too.

 

He rose slightly, and crouched back down in the bushes, pulling the plants--careful to get all of the root!--that he had been told were weeds.  He frowned, and grunted as he heaved at a particularly stubborn one that did not want to come up.

 

A little more work with a small iron trowel, and he pulled that one up.  He started on the next patch.  He pulled, but it refused to come out of the ground initially too.  Sighing, he put all his weight behind pulling upward, lifting to a standing position.  The root unexpectedly came up sooner than he had expected, and went flying out of his hands, backwards into the air, filthy soil showering everywhere.  He staggered out of the bushes onto the garden path, waved his arms, trying to regain his balance, and

 

CRASH!

[Rasheta Ardashir]

Rasheta braided her hair with care, she rather liked the look of the three braids in her long black hair. She twisted in the mirror to see them as best she could, when she was satisfied she grabbed her shawl and left her room. She had an intrest in going to the warder yards today. The time had come for her to look over the new recruits and see if she could find one capable of watching her back as her first one had done. She knew the whispers around the tower about her, saying she was as cold as any White sister could be and she rarely was seen in company with anyone but her Ajah sisters or the young child she was mentoring. Maybe this excersion would take care of the whispers.

 

She strolled through the gardens first because she enjoyed them as much as she did anything else these days. As she came to some bushes a young man stumbled backward out of them and crashed into her. Rasheta stumbled backwards and then lost her balance and toppled to the ground. She lay on the ground for a moment stunned and wondering just what had happened. She saw the young man leaning over her, and she waved him away as she sat up. "I'm alright," She then stood up slowly and picked up her shawl. She turned her attention to the young man "Are you alright?"

 

Against her better judgement she was smiling, she knew she shouldn't find the situation funny but she did. What could be more amusing then being knocked over by a young recruit in the tower. She an Aes Sedai who should have at least had the presence of mind to use air to stop them both from falling over.

 

OOC: I hope this is okay...i'm trying to catch up and i'm a bit tired *snuggle*

[Visar Falmaien]

OOC: looks good to me!

 

Visar stumbled right into someone, and it was only their body that kept him from stumbling from the ground too.  His eyes wide in shock, Visar leaned over the woman he had just accidentally knocked down.

 

"Are you..." he began to ask, but she waved him away and sat up.

 

"I'm alright, Are you alright?" she asked as she stood, wrapping a shawl around her shoulders.  Warning signs popped into the back of Visar's head, but at the moment he was oblivious to them.

 

"I'm s-so sorry, ma'am!" Visar began in a stuttering rush.  "I didn't see you and the weed wouldn't come up and I just backed up without knowing and...and I'm sorry!  Please forgive me for bumping into you!" he said, bowing reflexively, as if this woman was a High Lady of Tear.

 

Visar realized with alarm that the dirt had got on the woman's fine dress, and her dark hair, which looked so carefully braided, was also slightly frizzed from the encounter.

 

"Is there anything I can do to apologize with deeds rather than mere words?" he asked suddenly, instantly regretting the words as soon as they came out of his mouth.  Apologize with deeds?  What am I a wannabe poet?

[Rasheta Ardashir]

"I didn't see you and the weed wouldn't come up and I just backed up without knowing and...and I'm sorry!  Please forgive me for bumping into you!"

 

Rasheta burst into laughter at his explination, she remembered well her chores of weeding the walks. She waved away his words and added "Pay it no heed." She could easily get the dirt off her dress or if a Novice needed a chore she could set the girl to washing it till the dirt was out. She said as much in the hopes of calming the young man this did little to calm him however, he asked her if he could show her how sorry he was.

 

"Young man you have no need to worry, I do not hold this against you. If anything I should apologize for not having the presance of mind to use air to at least stop you from running into me or having me hit the ground. I think the other Greens would have been amused if they had seen this. We are supossed to be battle ready." She grabbed the young mans face and delved him quickly to make sure he was unharmed and finding him such she stepped away from him and asked.

 

"How long have you been in the Tower? And what is your name?" She added with a hint of a smile. "Not long enough to know an Aes Sedai when you see one it seems. Or that the proper address to me is Aes Sedai or Rasheta Sedai, as the latter is my name."

[Visar Falmaien]

Visar blinked as the woman laughed at him.  What is so funny? he wondered, and then she waved his concerns away like they were not a big deal.  She mentioned that it was easy to get the dirt off the dress, and he supposed that was so, but he still felt bad about crashing into her.

 

"Young man you have no need to worry, I do not hold this against you. If anything I should apologize for not having the presance of mind to use air to at least stop you from running into me or having me hit the ground. I think the other Greens would have been amused if they had seen this. We are supossed to be battle ready."

 

Visar was relieved that the woman was not angry with him, but he was unsure what she meant with using "air" to stop him.  How could she use air? It was as if she thought she could use magic and thought it was normal.  And he was not sure what "Greens" meant either.  Maybe this was some organization she was a part of? 

 

Visar blinked, shocked as she touched his face.  Some strange inexplicable feeling went through him then.  Something that he had never experienced before.

 

"How long have you been in the Tower? And what is your name?"

 

Visar stammered out his name as best he could.

"It's Vizr...Visar Falmaien, Miss...?"

 

"Not long enough to know an Aes Sedai when you see one it seems. Or that the proper address to me is Aes Sedai or Rasheta Sedai, as the latter is my name."

 

Visar's eyes went wide.  She was an Aes Sedai?!  And he had just crashed into one!

 

He hesitated for a long moment, unsure of what to say, all the Tairen superstitions about Aes Sedai running through his head.  Yet this woman did not appear to be a manipulative witch like the High Lords said they were.  In fact, while a normal woman would most likely try to punish him for his carelessness, this one seemed not to mind in the slightest!

 

He managed a shy smile, and bowed slightly, unsure of what the proper gesture was for an Aes Sedai.

 

"A...a pleasure to meet you, Rasheta...Sedai." he remembered the title just at the last minute.

 

They stood there for a moment.  Visar then realized she was expecting something else from him, and finally remembered she had asked another question.

 

"I have been at the White Tower for a few weeks." he answered.  "I find it...very different.  But I think I'm getting used to it.  Some of it, anyway."

 

Visar felt like a fool for giving more of an answer than needed.  Something about this woman made him want to tell her everything.

 

"How...How about you, Rasheta Sedai?  How long have you been at the White Tower?"  he asked, curious.  Not long after the words were out of his mouth he remembered that some Aes Sedai lived for a long time, longer than normal human beings, and that this question might be considered as rude as asking them their age.

[Rasheta Ardashir]

"It's Vizr...Visar Falmaien, Miss...? A...a pleasure to meet you, Rasheta...Sedai."

 

Rasheta nodded and pulled her shawl closer around herself, she could tell that the young man was not going to calm down now that she had told him she was Aes Sedai. She wasn't really that scary was she? She supposed her lack of any real emotion most of the time could be intimidating but she had smiled and even laughed just now that had to soften her appearance. Visar fumbled his way through a few more words about the tower and his time there and then asked her a question.

 

"How...How about you, Rasheta Sedai?  How long have you been at the White Tower?"

 

Rasheta thought about that she hadn't really kept track of how long she'd been in the White Tower. "I have been in the tower since I was 13 or 14 if I remember right and I am now much older then I look." She wasn't going to scare him more by explaining that she was in her seventies but looked as though she was still a young girl of twenty. She added

 

"Don't worry you will get used to the White Tower, it does not take long, although try and remember if you see a shawl that the woman wearing it is an Aes Sedai and if you don't know her name simply Aes Sedai will be a proper address to her." She paused and added seriously. "If you see a woman wearing a Red shawl I would suggest walking the other way." Rasheta's dislike of the Red Ajah was well known even though the women were now able to bond men who could channel. She supposed that the old prejudice would be forever a flaw of hers. She pulled herself out of her thoughts and addressed Visar again.

 

"One last thing Visar, what do you hope to achieve here in the tower?" She was curious if he just wanted to protect the tower in the guard or become a warder or simply to get better with his fighting skill.

 

 

[Visar Falmaien]

"I have been in the tower since I was 13 or 14 if I remember right and I am now much older then I look."

 

Visar was amazed.  Rasheta had been here since she was a teenager?  He wondered how she felt about that, being compelled to stay here for most of her life because of...of whatever Aes Sedai could do.  Visar had heard plenty of stories, but he wasn't exactly sure what it was.  Most called it channeling or the Power, so he knew that much.  He didn't want to think too hard about how old exactly Rasheta looked.  Somehow he didn't think he'd get away with asking her that.

 

"Don't worry you will get used to the White Tower, it does not take long, although try and remember if you see a shawl that the woman wearing it is an Aes Sedai and if you don't know her name simply Aes Sedai will be a proper address to her."

 

Visar nodded, wishing that he had taken a class about this kind of knowledge.  Might be more useful so that he could stay out of trouble.  Still, this Aes Sedai seemed friendly enough.  He doubted they were all like that, but maybe Rasheta Sedai would be willing to explain some things about Aes Sedai to him.

 

"If you see a woman wearing a Red shawl I would suggest walking the other way."

 

Visar nodded, but was confused.  What did these color shawls mean anyway?  He had thought that Aes Sedai were simply that.  Maybe there were some sort of factions within the Aes Sedai?  She didn't seem like she wanted to talk about "red shawls", so he didn't summon the courage to ask about it.  Instead, she asked him a question he wasn't ready for.

 

"One last thing Visar, what do you hope to achieve here in the tower?"

 

"I.." then Visar stopped, knowing whatever might come out would be a lie.  And it was said that Aes Sedai, who never told lies, could tell when you were lying straight away.

 

He thought about it for a while, unsure exactly what to say.

 

"I came here to start over." he said finally.  "To become a better person, and to be far away from the things I did in the past."

 

He didn't want to explain exactly what were those things, but he had finally been able to say this much truthfully.  He sighed, and looked at the patch of garden he was supposed to be weeding.  Part of him felt relief that he had been able to get that off his chest, but another part whispered that it wasn't over yet.

[Rasheta Ardashir]

Visar started to speak and then stopped seemingly trying to decide what best to say. Rasheta waited, she had more patience with men then she did with the Novices, Accepted or other Ajahs most of the time. When he seemed to find the proper words he started again.

 

"I came here to start over." he said finally.  "To become a better person, and to be far away from the things I did in the past."

 

 

Rasheta suddenly felt a connection to the young man, she could understand the need to be away from the past. She herself refused to return to the borderlands. She nodded slowly and said in a soft voice. "I understand that need Visar, I wish you well in your endeavors." She paused and added still in the soft voice. "however, I don't know that you can run from your past forever." She shivered and then turned the topic.

 

"Before I go I should ask if you have a need for any questions about the tower answered. It wouldn't do for you to be in trouble with the rest of the Tower some are not as forgiving as me." She tried to smile again but she was sure it looked a little sad. 

[Visar Falmaien]

"I understand that need Visar, I wish you well in your endeavors."

 

Visar smiled, and nodded his thanks, though she continued, and he barely understood her words.

 

"however, I don't know that you can run from your past forever."

 

Visar blinked, and wondered how much this woman could tell just by looking at him.  He feared the same thing, however, and did not want to talk further about it.

 

"Before I go I should ask if you have a need for any questions about the tower answered. It wouldn't do for you to be in trouble with the rest of the Tower some are not as forgiving as me."

 

Visar took this opportunity to ask his question.

 

"What is the meaning behind your shawl, if I may ask, Rasheta Sedai?  And why should I avoid a red-fringed shawl?  What do the different colors mean, and what should I know about them?"

[Rasheta Ardashir]

"What is the meaning behind your shawl, if I may ask, Rasheta Sedai?  And why should I avoid a red-fringed shawl?  What do the different colors mean, and what should I know about them?"

 

Rasheta smiled, usually the first question asked was about the shawls she was prepared to answer. "My shawl proclaims to everyone that I am an Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah. The Green Ajah is the battle Ajah and we are ready to fight shadowspawn as well as standing ready for the last battle. We also have an appriciation for men and usually the Greens have the most warders." She winked at Visar and then continued.

 

"There are six other Ajahs with different purposes that you can denote by shawls. Yellow means that the lady wearing it is a healer and if you have hurt yourself in pratice she would be the first sister you would want to find. Brown are the knowledge seekers of the tower and they tend to not pay attention to this world to much. Grey's are the mediators of the tower and can negoiate almost anything. Whites seek logic and truth and tend to be cool and emotionless." She paused and added "Although within every Ajah you can find some who are also cool and emotionless. I have heard the rumors saying that of me." She shook herself and continued before Visar had a chance to say anything.

 

"The Red Ajah are just now changing there purpose they origanally were devoted to tracking down all the men who could channel and stilling them. Now they are allowed to bond the men who can channel." She added with just a touch of venom "After all who better then a Red could handle a man who can channel." She realized she was being unkind and once again shook herself and tried to focus on what she was supossed to be talking about. "Simply because they are allowed to bond men now really doesn't mean most of them like men much. I told you to walk the other way because most Reds are not very nice to those who break the rules and even less so to men who break rules." She paused and said as though to herself. "now who have I forgotten.." She smiled "Oh yes the Blues. The blues seek justice and worthy causes for the White Tower. They are also able administrators and tend to be very good at the Game of houses." She realized she probably had said more then the poor young man could take in and so she asked with a small smile.

 

"Did that help or are you still confused."

[Visar Falmaien]

Visar listened closely.  Ajahs, so that was it.  Different factions within the Aes Sedai that all had their function and philosophies.  It was all a lot of information to process, but Visar was glad that it was Rasheta explaining it to him.  Other Aes Sedai might not be as kindly or patient, he guessed.

 

"Did that help or are you still confused."

 

Visar nodded and said "Yes, thank you, Rasheta Sedai."

 

Visar glanced to the ground, and remembered his task.  He would have to clean the sidewalk up from the soil as well, hopefully before a supervisor came along to scold him for it.  He turned back to Rasheta, an apologetic look on his face.

 

"Well, I'll learn as much as I can from Aes Sedai before I try for a position in the Tower Guard.  Thank you for that information, and thank you for being understanding with our accident.  I had better get back to my chores now, but it was good to meet you, Rasheta Sedai."  Visar made a slight bow, though he guessed it was probably not at the right degree of respect for an Aes Sedai.  Or was there a correct bow angle? He certainly did not know much about noble etiquette.

 

"...Unless you had any more questions for me, Rasheta Sedai?" he added, hoping he had not come off as somewhat rude for trying to end their conversation.

[Rasheta Ardashir]

"Well, I'll learn as much as I can from Aes Sedai before I try for a position in the Tower Guard.  Thank you for that information, and thank you for being understanding with our accident.  I had better get back to my chores now, but it was good to meet you, Rasheta Sedai."

 

Rasheta nodded she could be understanding when the situation called for it. In this case the young man had not been at fault. She may be mostly emotionless but she wasn't totally heartless as some of her sisters thought. She wasn't surprised when he asked to end there conversation and return to his chores. She remembered her time as a Novice and all the chores she was forced to do then and she nodded to him.

 

"Continue with your chores young man. I am sorry that I disturbed you for so long." She gave him another small smile then walked on down the garden path deciding she would rather not visit the warder yards today the garden and then her rooms seemed enough.