Old habits die hard [Attn: Jaydena]

[Kaylan]

The weave was still an amazement to her, and Kaylan embraced the Source one more time to make a gateway, letting it close rather than stepping through it. That they had rediscovered such an important weave - well, it spoke well for the White Tower's future, especially if they could keep it up.

 

As much as she wanted to, though, Kaylan knew that she could never keep it to herself. Not only would it be being spread around other Sisters by now, the Greens would lose face if they were the only ones not to know, and as much as Kaylan didn't care for the political activities within the Tower, she knew that it was important to some of her Sisters to keep a clean reputation. Too many years of scandal and gossip had made Kaylan immune to them, but not everyone possessed such a thick skin. Realising that she was stalling, she rose from her seat with a sigh and straightened her skirts. The logical place to begin was with Jaydena, but Kaylan still wasn't used to her old mentee, many years her junior, heading the Ajah. Their relationship was... complex. At least this wouldn't be in public, though, so if Kaylan succumbed to her highly volatile foot-in-mouth syndrome, no-one but her old student would know. With a sudden thought, Kaylan reached into her jewellery box and hung a necklace around her neck, nestled on her bosom with the moonstone she could not take off. A small, green lacquered flame of Tar Valon. She had given one the same to Jaydena back when she was still in white skirts, and the old Green smiled at the memory.

 

Leaving her rooms and setting her wards in place, she strode a short way up the hall to the Captain-General's office. Rapping on the door, Kaylan waited for a response before opening it a crack, poking her head in to view her mentee - her Captain General.

"I was wondering if I might have a word, Sister. I have news that I very much wish to share with you."

 

~Kaylan

Old biddy Battle Sister

[Jaydena]

The words blurred in front of her eyes as she regarded the missive once more. Things weren't getting better in this world, in fact things were getting much, much worse. She shoved the words away, they wouldn't change the longer she looked at them. Jade pulled out her journal and began to write,

 

I can't help but remember those unpleasant dreams, with the floating white fabric and the singer. Seia and Sirayn kissing and telling me how worthless I am. I sit here in the highest position within my ajah, but a part of me realizes how much I lost to get here. I almost lost my sanity, I lost my loves, my best friend,my beauty. I am now nothing but a shell of what I once was. Harder than I ever was and scared beyond recognition. I know much how Sirayn felt when she lost her hand, though losing a hand dosen't equal to a disfigured face. I don't know why I thought being ajah head would make all my problem go away, in fact it has made life much harder.

 

She sprinkled sand on the journal and slipped it into the box in which she kept her journals. A cheerywood box with her name and the Aes Sedai symbol carved into it. Setting a ward around the box she turned and walked out into the hallway. Locating a Accepted she said, "My child, I need you to go to the kitchens and tell them that Jaydena Sedai would like a tea tray, they will know what I like. Hurry will you?" Nodding at the future Aes Sedai who she was fairly certain would choose the green, she turned back to her room and set about plumping the pillows and cushions. The room was clean, she had several servants and her gaidin were not unclean. When she was done she sat down on the couch with her writing tablet and began working on the her reports for the day, they would go to the Amyrlin, now Sirayn Sedai. A knock sounded at her door and she called out entrance, she looked up as a head moved around the corner of the door. "I was wondering if I might have a word, Sister. I have news that I very much wish to share with you." Jade smiled at Kaylan and spoke, "Come in Kaylan, I just ordered a tea tray if your interested??"

 

Jaydena

Head Green

[Kaylan]

"That would be lovely, Jaydena. May I sit?" Kaylan spread her skirts as she took a seat, fidgeting a little with an embroidered detail in the fabric. She didn't know the best way to approach the subject. Before she could decide, the door opened and a girl with a tea tray entered, setting it down with a curtsey and looking at the two of them with thinly veiled curiosity before leaving again. The older Green poured the tea, making it as she always had back when she and Jaydena had shared tea often.

 

"I'm sorry, do you still take it...?" She put the teapot down and stopped fiddling. "I have to apologise, I know that I'm acting... I'd like to teach you a weave." There, she'd come out and said it, like the adult she'd been for almost three centuries now. Rather than embrace the Source, though, she waited for her Captain-General's leave. There were some traditions best followed, even if this was an extraordinary case.

 

It was almost unbearable, though, the anticipation of showing it to others, of teaching them once more. She did worry about what they thought of her sometimes, because she knew what they'd said about other old Greens near the end of their days. They wouldn't be able to force her into retirement, though - Kaylan Morin intended on fighting to the last breath, standing against the Shadow until she was no more. Younger sisters did not always understand the concept, they were more worried about political machinations and their own standing than fighting the Shadow. But if there was one Sister that she thought shared her own feelings, it was her mentee, and she hoped that this new weave would help them in their cause. The exact use of skimming to their fight was yet to be determined, but Kaylan was sure that would work it out.

 

~Kaylan Morin Aes Sedai

Sister of the Green Ajah

Thrice Bonded

[Jaydena]

"That would be lovely, Jaydena. May I sit?" Jaydena motioned to the chair next to her and Kaylan spread her skirts wide before taking a seat. Jaydena waited for Kaylan to speak and wondered what her old mentor was up to. These days Kaylan didn't frequent her room often and Jaydena regretted that many things had drawn them apart. She pondered the reasons they had grown apart and her thoughts were interupted but a knock at her door. Calling out for entrance she watched as the young woman she had spoken to early, laid the tea things on the table before curtsing quickly and making her way from the room. Kaylan Sedai reached forward and began to pour the tea, Jade watched with amusement as Kaylan added honey and two scoops of sugar to her tea. Suddenly the older green realized what she was doing and turned to her to speak, "I'm sorry, do you still take it...?"

 

Kaylan put the teapot down and spoke again, "I have to apologise, I know that I'm acting... I'd like to teach you a weave." Jaydena's eyebrow raised and she regarded Kaylan, she for sure hadn't expected this as the reason Kaylan had come. Smiling at the sister she spoke, "I still take my tea the same way Sister, once one finds a way they like something they typically don't change. Relax and by all means show me this weave, I am very interested in what you have to show me." Leaning back into her chair she picked up her cup and stirring it lightly she watched Kaylan closely. The woman waited for some time before embracing the Source and while she did, Jade picked up a iced cake and bite into it...

 

Jaydena Sedai

[Kaylan]

Noticing Jaydena take a bite of a small cake, Kaylan thought that perhaps she should tell the younger woman it would be best to put it down. Then again, if the surprise of seeing the weave was so great that Jaydena started to choke, Kaylan would be ready. She smiled in anticipation.

 

Thinking of a good place for the demonstration to begin, she selected a spot that she was quite familiar with - a waygate that she often passed when she was going into the Blight. It was very close to the border, not so far in that there would be danger - unless they were extremely unlucky - but far enough away from any settlements that they wouldn't be spotted and attacked by people. The weave wasn't common knowledge, after all.

 

Threads of the Power wove together like an intricate tapestry, an ability that Kaylan had held for so long that she took it for granted. What she was doing with it now, though... This was entirely new. The threads snapped together into a silver gash, rotating to open to reveal a blackness, empty but for the tiled floor and comfortable chairs that floated in the middle of it. Lamps surrounded the little platform, and Kaylan looked back to Jaydena, watching her reaction with a smile.

[Jaydena]

Jaydena watched carefully as she chewed on her cake, Kaylan stood and began weaving a delicate tapestry of threads. Something she had never seen before, her interest perked and she sat up, setting the rest of her cake down on the plate next to her. A silver gash opened in midair, inside was complete darkness, except for a tiled floor and what looked like nice chairs with green cushions on them. Lamps hung in midair around the chairs and the tiles and lit part way into the her quarters. Jade's eyes about popped out of her head and she had to snap her mouth shut. What in the Light was this weave and where had Kaylan learned it, she wondered. Turning to Kaylan she said, "Kaylan, I don't believe I have ever seen anything of the like before today, what exactly is that weave, I see it in front of me but I don't know what it is. Did you discover a new weave or a lost weave?" Her mind began to whirl as she considered what this could be. Was it a gateway of some kind, had that finally after all these years been rediscovered? The advantages to the green ajah would be huge if that was what it was. She gained her feet and stood next to Kaylan waiting for an answer...

[Kaylan]

"If you would accompany me, Captain-General?" The old Green's grin was wide as she stepped into the gateway, offering her hand to her one-time mentor.

 

"I will have us back quickly enough." As they sat down, Kaylan started to explain, and they felt a sensation of movement that did not match with the view. The blackness around them never seemed to shift, and there was no wind on their faces, just a ... feeling.

 

"It is not my discovery, this was taught to me by the Gray Ajah. They are calling it Skimming, Sister." A lost weave, rediscovered after so long... They were living in exciting times.

 

Finally, they reached their destination and the platform came to a halt. A second slash opened in front of them, leading out into a very familiar part of the Blight, near to the edge. Holding the Source, Kaylan waited for Jaydena to leave. "Be careful." Her chosen destination was an important part of her thoughts about the rediscovery. The Green Ajah could fight at the Blightborder, help keep the Shadow back, and only take moments for the journey rather than weeks. Yes, this would certainly be an important part of the Green Ajah's strategy.

[Jaydena]

"If you would accompany me, Captain-General?" Kaylan's grin was about a mile wide, Jade eyed the doorway warily and stepped back, glancing back at all the things undone in her room. As though Kaylan sensed her thoughts she spoke again, "I will have us back quickly enough." Jade nodded and stepped into the doorway, taking a seat on one of the chairs, Kaylan joined her and Jade could tell they were moving thought they didn't appear to be and there was no wind moving her hair. It was truly a pleasant way to travel, no dirt of mussed hair. "It is not my discovery, this was taught to me by the Gray Ajah. They are calling it Skimming, Sister." Jade nodded and was glad that such a thing had been rediscovered. They must have arrived at their destination for another slash opened in front of them, Kaylan motioned for her to go first and then said, "Be careful." Jaydena embraced the source and stepped from the gateway, she looked around in case of attack and prepared several weaves just in case.

 

She recognized this place as one where they had fought many battles against shadowspawn. Kaylan stepped from the platform and looked at her. "Yes I can see why you picked this spot, we will be able to keep an eye on the borderlands, be able to save them before it's to late. Before a half dead rider shows up to tell us it may be to late. What an advantage this gives us, I can't even began to formulate all of it. Thank you so much for showing this to my Kaylan, how shall we present this to the ajah?" She kept her eyes open for any attacks and waited for Kaylan to continue...

 

Jaydena Sedai

[Kaylan]

Jaydena had immediately understood what Kaylan was demonstrating, and the old Aes Sedai couldn't help but feel a swell of pride similar to when she had been the Captain-General's mentor.

 

Thankfully, the Blight was quiet today, though Kaylan embraced the Source to weave another Gateway - one that led back to her room. She wasn't worried about anything being destroyed, because now that she had learnt this the only things that had been difficult to replace would now be a simple matter. As they stepped back in and took their seats, Kaylan wondered if anyone would do a double take seeing the Captain-General leaving a room that she had clearly not been in.

 

"Perhaps we - you - should gather the Sisters somewhere and demonstrate the weave. It can only be used to travel to places that you are familiar with," she'd already figured that out when she'd tried to skim to the spine of the world and hadn't been able to make the weave, "But I think that this will be very useful anyway. Perhaps gather some angreal, there is a certain strength required to make the weave." She frowned to herself for a moment. "Though I do not think that many of our Sisters will have trouble."

 

The gateway appeared again, this time opening out into Kaylan's room. "Perhaps Rashima's Garden would be a good place to practice this?" She motioned to Jaydena to step outside.

[Jaydena]

Kaylan wove another gateway and Jaydena followed her back into it, taking a seat on the chair she waited for Kaylan to continue. "Perhaps we - you - should gather the Sisters somewhere and demonstrate the weave. It can only be used to travel to places that you are familiar with." Jade nodded and thought about that, so they couldn't go to a place they had never been before. That would make it a bit more difficult but they would work with it. "But I think that this will be very useful anyway. Perhaps gather some angreal, there is a certain strength required to make the weave." Jade thought about that for moment and realized she would have to go to Sirayn with this information and for permission to borrow that many angreal. She shuddered as they were not on the best of terms and looked back to see a frown on Kaylan's face. "Though I do not think that many of our Sisters will have trouble."

 

Jade smiled in agreement and the gateway opened before her, instead of her room it was Kaylan room, ones that she remembered well from her days as a novice and accepted. "Perhaps Rashima's Garden would be a good place to practice this?" Looking around she spoke, "Yes I think that or the area we practice Battle Weaves would be great places to work on this. So you said we can't go to places we haven't been. How much have you worked with this, can you make the platform bigger and take horses through it? What about men in full armor, is there some kind of weight limit on that platform. I don't suppose we want to know what happens if someone falls off of the platform." She shuddered at the thought and continued, "Kaylan do you know if anyone has brought this before Mother?"

 

Jaydena Sedai

[Kaylan]

"I only learned the weave today, I have not had time to test it properly." Compounding the problem of time was the fact that Kaylan had no great armies at her disposal to test the platform out until it broke. Which would be absolutely horrid, anyway. Whether there was some end to the darkness or not, the old Green would not wish that fate on anyone.

 

"I'm unaware of whether this has been shared with Mother or not. I do know that each of the Ajahs has seen it, or at least one Sister from each - and of course, several of the Grays know." She couldn't help but wonder if it would develop into some kind of competition, which Ajah would master the weave first and the like. For all their professed maturity, the White Tower could bicker like serving girls at times.

 

"Do you think that we should go to see her?" Though Sirayn had led the Green Ajah for a time, Kaylan could still remember her as a new recruit as if it was yesterday. Could well remember her behaviour, too. It was no secret that Kaylan had little patience for politics, and only observed the proper ways of behaving when she thought it necessary. Still, while the idea that their Amyrlin might be the last to know this new trick had a certain appeal, Kaylan also knew that it could reflect badly on the Green Ajah. Sirayn may be of all ajahs and none, now, but she had still started as a Green, and long lives made for long memories.

[Jaydena]

Jade turned to look at her mentor and Kaylan spoke quickly, "I only learned the weave today, I have not had time to test it properly." Jaydena almost winced, Of course she came to me as soon as she learned, she's enough of a team player not to keep it to herself and she wouldn't test it to much for fear of angering her Captain General. She smiled at Kaylan quickly and nodded. She hoped that she hadn't just upset Kaylan but she figured the older battle sister was made of sterner stuff than that. She turned her attention back to Kaylan Sedai, "I'm unaware of whether this has been shared with Mother or not. I do know that each of the Ajahs has seen it, or at least one Sister from each - and of course, several of the Grays know."

 

Jade pondered that for a moment, the implications of the Grays rediscovering this weave were not lost on her and the impact it would have on the Hall and politics between the Greens and Grays. They were on shaky feet them as it was these days, politics in the White Tower was like shifting quicksand. "Do you think that we should go to see her?" She thought about that for a moment and held up a finger while she considered that. She rarely saw Sirayn these days and of course Kaylan would be there, but odds are some other ajah would have shown it to her already. Of course if they didn't go at least try and see her than it would seem that the Greens were unwilling to share something like this with their Amyrlin, and even worse than that it would seem that Jade was chaffing at her Order of the Rose bit. She nodded having made up her mind and spoke, "Yes I think the best course of action is to speak with her even if someone else has. Shall we go?" She motioned at the door and waited for Kaylan...

[Kaylan]

"Certainly."

 

Kaylan didn't often see the Amyrlin, since she did her very best to avoid anything even remotely political. That had been her way ever since gaining the shawl - and in fact, the old Green spent as much time out of the Tower as she could.

 

That was becoming more difficult these days, though - with her 'advanced' age, people tended to look down on it. This new weave was going to change all of that, though. She could take off from her bedroom and no-one would ever know she was gone.

 

She wondered if anyone would have seen Sirayn about the weave yet. There were far too many scheming plots around the place for her to be sure, but at least this way they'd be able to say that they had helped. Or Jaydena would be able to say it, Kaylan didn't care either way.

 

With a hint of a shrug, Kaylan pushed open the door and started toward the Amyrlin's office.

 

[OOC: Rawr! Fear my suckiness! Seems like a good place to end, once Sira gives us a poke we can start a new thread, you reckon?]

[Jaydena]

ooc- Yup lets wait till Sira is ready!!