The Foxtail Inn - Finding Myra (Attn: Nyn/Winifred)

[Desiree]

Myra Gailene froze as soon as she entered The Foxtail Inn where she had began her journey a couple of years ago. Something wasn't right. While the small inn looked the same, there was an overwhelming abundance of new scents that her nose had never processed before. New dishes, maybe? Master Milstead might be thinking of an exapansion if he's trying out new recipes in the kitchens she thought at she started to slowly walk into the inn. The smell started to thicken, threatening to suffocate her if she didn't step out for a breath of fresh air. What in the name of the Light was he cooking? There was a spicy aroma that came from a table to her left, a sweet smell from a table of giggling maids that looked to be on their break, and a sour smell from a table filled with half eaten food by a couple of angry old merchants.

 

Walking up to the bar and sitting on one of the stools, Myra intended to find Master Milstead to ask what was new on the menu and if her friend Jessie was working today. However, he seemed preoccupied elsewhere and couldn't be found. It gave her some time to try to analyze the new smells. The more she tried to concentrate on one of them, the more it seemed like it came from the people than the food. Myra shook her head to rid herself of the thought. That's just absurd! Why would people smell... sour? Then she giggled. Maybe they just need a shower. The spicy aroma came from a woman trying to flirt with this man and she passed it off as perfume. No wonder the poor guy looks uncomfortable. I can smell that perfume all the way over here! Then again that person in the hat that had stared at her smelled of the forest and freedom. Freedom? How do I know what freedom smells like?

 

A bolt of movement besides her made her give a little start. The drunken man in the stool next to her had just leaned away from her, nearly falling out of his stool, and had wide eyes in shock. No wonder those children ran away when I smiled at them. I must have more dirt on me than I thought. Then again when she had looked at her clothing, she hardly saw any dust at all. For a moment there, she had had to blink her eyes a few times as she thought she had seen each individual thread in her multitude of brightly colored skirts and scarves. She checked herself over again, and that's when she had to lean back because the man was peering intently at her face. Maybe he's just not used to seeing Tuatha'an in town. Or at all. It's a bit unnerving, though.

 

The man then stood up and left, leaving a tip on the bar. "I musht be drunker than I thoughts," he hiccuped and mumbled almost inaudibly.

 

Myra turned her head to look back after him. He was just turning out of sight right outside the door. "What did he mean by that, I wonder?" she said in a low tone so the person on the other side of her wouldn't hear. That's when she noticed that glint of gold coming from that person by the window again that wore a cloak with the collar turned up and a hat pulled down low. It wasn't her imagination this time. That had come from under the brim of that hat. The cloaked man was now looking at her again, as if weighing her up, and it made Myra a tad bit uncomfortable. She turned her head back, hoping that by ignoring him, he would turn away.

 

After a couple of minutes, she ordered a glass of water from a new employee since the last time she had been here and laid a few coppers on the table to pay for it. The hairs on the back of her neck felt like they were standing up. That man was still staring at her. Turning her head to look back at him, the man casually turned his head to look out the window - and a small lock of red hair fell free from the hat. He's a... she? Curiosity took over her and she studied the woman while she wasn't looking. She wore dark green trousers that were nearly black tucked into turned-down leather boots. Under her black cloak she wore a matching dark green vest over a white linen shirt that tied up with a bit of leather string. The smoothness of her skin, the color of her hair, and her build had Myra confused. Why would she want to hide herself? If she had a body like that, she'd flaunt it at every chance she had.

 

The woman turned her head once more and Myra quickly buried her face in her glass of water. A slight blush crept up on her face. I hope she didn't think I was just oggling her... Wait, then why does she keep staring at me? Oh Light!

[Nynaeve]

Winifred sat in the far corner of the common room, sipping some wine, her cap casually pulled down. She enjoyed the anonymousness of her presence, the fact that she was sir'd by the maid and the usual relief that came with no one interrupting her or trying to find a way to join her table. She found herself on some rare occasions enjoying being confused for a man, yet she also knew the advantages in having a uterus.

 

She smiled at every wary look in her direction, most likely making those people more wary. Good. They should be. But she was no threat to them. She was there for one reason alone. Sipping more of the mediocre wine, Winifred eyed the girl she was following, waiting to be noticed.

 

~ Perhaps it would be wise to drink less wine, dawn. We both know it goes to your head ~

 

Winifred flushed slightly, relieved no one could tell.

 

~ Midnight, taunting for later. Let me do my job and keep silence ~

 

~ Alright, but if I have to drag you all the way to the Stedding, it's going to cost you ~

 

Winifred ignored the wolf. He could be daunting at occasions. Focusing her eyes back on the girl, she smiled as she finally noticed her gaze. She tilted her head and gestured the girl to join her. There was hesitation to be sure, but Winifred hoped the girl's curiosity would overcome her fear of a stranger.

 

Winifred didn't pull up her cap when the girl joined her, however she managed to peer into her eyes. It started. The girl's eyes were already in the shade of gold. Winifred was convinced the girl was unaware as of yet, because the first reaction to that would be trying to hide it. Everyone went through that. One could call it a human reaction.

 

The head tracker pulled out a small mirror she used for signaling. "You don't know me, but rest assured I am not here to harm you, child. Only to reveal a truth about yourself that you need to learn." Handing her the mirror, Winifred waited for her to examine her face before she pulled her cap higher for the girl's eyes alone.

 

 

 

Winifred

Head Tracker

[Desiree]

Myra dared to chance a glance back at the woman in the cloak and the wide-brimmed hat. The woman was smiling at her! So I've been seen looking at a stranger, so what? Calm down Myra she tried to coax herself. However, her nerves where shot at being noticed by such a strange character. What kind of a woman wore breeches? The last one she had met in Mayene had tried to kiss her while she was drunk. Myra wasn't all too sure that it was just because the other woman was drunk, either.

 

Snapped out of her memories by movement from the other woman, Myra focused her attention on the other woman. She was motioning for Myra to go over there. Oh Light! What do I do? I don't know her but I don't want to be rude she tried to battle in her mind over what to do. Finally she got up after a quick look to see if Master Milstead had come back, hoping for an excuse not to go see the woman. No such luck it seemed. Just please don't be drunk, please don't be drunk... she whispered over and over again as she made her way back to the table by the door.

 

Myra sat down, pulling her bright and patchy Tinker skirts out of the way, and the other woman just peered at her from underneath her hat. No hello? Myra thought to herself, wondering if this was such a good idea. Her Tuatha'an instinct told her to run, but another one told her she was safe. She didn't know what to do, so she just sat there, reminding herself that everything is woven into the Pattern for a reason.

 

"You don't know me, but rest assured I am not here to harm you, child. Only to reveal a truth about yourself that you need to learn." the other girl said as she pulled out a small mirror and held it up to Myra's eye level.

 

What did that mean? Was she actually that filthy? Was there dirt smudges all over her face? No, her face was clean. A glint in the mirror when her face turned towards the sunlight caught her attention. What was that? She leaned in closer - and found that her hazel eyes were a bright amber that could nearly be called dark golden. "Eek!" she squeaked as she pulled herself away from the mirror and further back into the seat, nearly knocking herself backwards. The commotion caused heads to turn in her direction, but Myra ignored them. Daring to look again, she even pulled her eyelids up and down and looked in different directions to see if it was just a trick of the light. It wasn't. The color had long since left her face.

 

Looking up to the stranger with chills running up and down her back, she asked, "What's wrong with me? Am I sick? I'm going to die, aren't I?" That's when she noticed the other woman had finally lifted up her hat - and she had the same golden eyes as her, but brighter. Myra gasped, but managed to suppress the urge to run away from the insanity.

[Nynaeve]

"What's wrong with me? Am I sick? I'm going to die, aren't I?" Winifred couldn't help but burst into laughs. It earned a few looks in their direction but none that lingered too long. Usually, the head tracker tried to maintain a certain amount of seriousness in her encounters with the wanderers, if only so she wouldn't add to the stress they were already experiencing. This time, however, proved to be too difficult.

 

Clearing her throat, Winifred regained her composure and leaned forward, a smile still decorating her face. "Don't be silly. There is nothing wrong with you, excluding your mild paranoia episode, of course. You're as healthy as a bull. If anything else, your senses will be more refined as time passes and you will get a better grasp on how to control them." The girl looked at her quizzically. Winifred could sense a touch of disbelief, but it was not solid.

It wavered.

 

"This isn't a disease. This is a part of what we are. The eyes. It was always a part of you, honey. It only chose to manifest now." Winifred lowered her voice further; Close to a whisper, but still audible enough for the girl to make out the words. "Right now I think it's best if you pick up your belongings and let me lead you out of the village. Some people get... judgmental."

 

It was sad, but some people's ignorance was the very reason why the wolfkin were persecuted and marked as Darkfriends by so many. "I don't mean you any harm. It is in your best interest to leave with me, though. Fear easily transforms into hate, which is key ingredient to doing something foolish. It can spread quicker than a fire in a grain field." Winifred got up and dropped a few coins on the table. "I will be outside, if you make the choice of coming with me. Make haste in deciding, though. I don't plan to linger much." With that, Winifred was off.

 

 

 

Winifred

Head Tracker

[Desiree]

The other woman's laugh made her blush a deep and furious red and sink further into her seat that she had nearly knocked over with her outburst. She could feel the other's eyes upon her and the other woman. As bubbly and talkative as she usually was, she just wanted to avoid attention now at all costs. She was determined that she was diseased, contagious, and on her death bed. She might as well go borrow a shovel and start digging her gave now before anyone else got infected.

 

"Don't be silly. There is nothing wrong with you, excluding your mild paranoia episode, of course. You're as healthy as a bull. If anything else, your senses will be more refined as time passes and you will get a better grasp on how to control them." Yep, she was condemned to death. She was doomed to rot until-- wait, what? Myra wasn't sick? She was as healthy as could be? Just as she was about too ask how that could be possible, the woman answered her questions. "This isn't a disease. This is a part of what we are. The eyes. It was always a part of you, honey. It only chose to manifest now." So Myra was all right after all! A smile began to creep up on her face, but when her face took on a grim tone and she lowered her voice, it faded away. "Right now I think it's best if you pick up your belongings and let me lead you out of the village. Some people get... judgmental. I don't mean you any harm. It is in your best interest to leave with me, though. Fear easily transforms into hate, which is key ingredient to doing something foolish. It can spread quicker than a fire in a grain field. I will be outside, if you make the choice of coming with me. Make haste in deciding, though. I don't plan to linger much."

 

And on that note, the woman left Myra sitting at the table with her mouth hanging open in confusion. and a very big dillemma, too. Did she try and go on like she had before, traveling months on ends through woods and forests in search of the Song and only stopping in town when she was low on supplies - or did she go with the woman and start a brand new adventure? Oh blood and ashes, I always was the daring one she thought. And like that, she grabbed her bag she had dropped with her spices, needles, thread, and bits of cloth that she had recently bought along with a tough chunk of bread and some salted meat and threw it over her shoulder as she went out the door to meet with the woman whose name she didn't even know.

 

Stepping out the door, she held out her hand to the woman. "Name's Myra Gailene, Tuatha'an," she smiled. Then she dropped her voice and in a worried tone, asked, "And are you sure I'm not going to die?"