Rasheta's Midnight Vigil

[Jaydena]

Jaydena walked gracefully toward her rooms, despite the fact that she was dead tired from the constant strain of her duties and teaching Battle Weaves all day long. It would not do for her to show weakness, she had already showed far to much in her years at the Tower, especially the years that involved Seia and Sirayn. She embraced the source as she neared her room and quickly removed the wards that kept her room sealed shut against intruders. The doors opened with a flick of her wrist and she walked inside. Despite the fact that she would like nothing better than to lie down and go to sleep, she had been asked to be with Rasheta during her midnight vigil and that was not an honor she was likely to turn down. It had been many years since a recruit had asked her to be their companion. Normally they picked the younger and friendlier Greens, those they were less intimidated by. It had been years since her own Midnight Vigil and she remember well the pain, heartache, worry, and stress over the coming morning. She would do whatever she could to ease this young woman's mind, but she couldn't stand for the Ajah and say they would accept her, she really had no way of knowing. It was up to the Ajah and she could only hope that her careful training and this woman's hard work would pay off for her.

 

Looking around her room she picked up her journal, a quill, inkstand, sealing wax, her seal, sand, and her writing lap. When she was done she set it all inside the lap and closed it tight, she added something to eat in case she got hungry and left a note for her warders, before heading to Rasheta's room for the long night ahead. Knocking firmly on the recruits door she waited for the young woman to answer. When the answer came she opened the door and spoke, "Tonight we will do whatever you wish, tonight is a night of consideration on why you have chosen the Green, tonight you will think of your reasons you have chosen to honor the creed and motto of the Battle Ajah, these reasons you will present to the ajah tomorrow when you go before them. You need not speak unless you want to, you can ask me any questions you want and I will willingly answer them. Tomorrow we will be Sister and Sitter if luck is with you but tonight we are Sisters, bound by the power within us and the love of one ajah. I will sit outside your door until you are ready to go somewhere. Before we start do you have any questions?"

 

Jaydena Restona Mckanthur

CG and Sitter

[Rasheta Ardashir]

OOC: Am I supossed to go somewhere....the ummmmmm *can't think of it off the top of my head....* the place where the dead greens are remembered? I can't remember I know you've told me though...oh well I will wing it and here we go.

 

IC: Rasheta wasn't as nervous as she had origanally thought she would be. There was no way she was going to be moved to another Ajah she would request to be allowed to work longer if this first time the Ajah did not accept her. She would continue to prove herself if she had to. She was simply to stubborn in her ways to allow herself to fail this. Yes she did have a bit of a temper and her stubbornness was something to be reckoned with but that didn't mean she would make a bad sister for the Greens. The former Captain General was a testament to that. Rasheta smiled, she liked the woman in all her bitterness the woman had served a very long time in the Green ajah and Rasheta only wished to serve as long and as well. Someone knocked at her door and Rasheta took a moment to compose herself and then answered it. As she expected Jaydena was at her door.

 

"Tonight we will do whatever you wish, tonight is a night of consideration on why you have chosen the Green, tonight you will think of your reasons you have chosen to honor the creed and motto of the Battle Ajah, these reasons you will present to the ajah tomorrow when you go before them. You need not speak unless you want to, you can ask me any questions you want and I will willingly answer them. Tomorrow we will be Sister and Sitter if luck is with you but tonight we are Sisters, bound by the power within us and the love of one ajah. I will sit outside your door until you are ready to go somewhere. Before we start do you have any questions?"

 

Rasheta blinked that was a lot to take in all at once and she slowly nodded her head. She was ready and she would just need to write her reasons for being a Green down and memorize them so when she was facing the Ajah she wouldn't forget in her nervousness. No she wouldn't be nervous tomorrow she wouldn't! She was going to be Green and that's all there was to it. She shut her door to get ready for walking around she wanted to visit the room where the Greens were remembered, for some reason she couldn't remember what the Greens called it she would have to ask Jaydena to remind her. She wanted to ask the dead greens for strength. She wasn't sure if that would help her in the long run but it was worth a shot. She opened her door and noticed that Jaydena was indeed sitting by it. She blinked and then said. "Jaydena I would like to go to the room where you remember the dead." She blushed "In my studies I have forgotten the name of the place. I would like to spend some time there if it is allowed."

[Jaydena]

Jade waited for Rasheta to speak and finally the woman did, "Jaydena I would like to go to the room where you remember the dead. In my studies I have forgotten the name of the place. I would like to spend some time there if it is allowed." She nodded, ignoring the other woman's blush and led the way to the Vault. From around her neck she pulled the key that opened the door, a key that each Green received upon her raising, and unlocked the door. She led the way down into the room, she walked down the steps and took a seat upon one of the couches inside the round room. She gazed around the walls at the glass, the many cubbys full of momentos and paintings, etc. Each Green Sister had a cubby here and Rasheta would set hers up once she was raised. She had one and inside of it she had a small section for each of her dead or missing warders as well. This was not an easy life and it took a toll on everyone. More than once she had come into this room and cried her eyes out as she looked at these cubbys.

 

Motioning to Rasheta she watched as the young woman began to walk around the room. "I remember the first time I saw this room, I remember thinking about all the women that came before me, wondering how they lived, loved, fought and so much more. They were Battle Sisters and lived a life full of Battle Weaves, Battle with Shadow spawn, just as I have. Perhaps they lived and loved as passionately for when you know you could die at any moment, you don't do anything in half measurements. Be free and imagine their lives Rasheta." Jade sat with her legs tucked underneath her inside her dress, a liberty she normally wouldn't take, but the door was locked, and no one but Rasheta could see her. She pulled out her writing desk and began to write as Rasheta continued to walk around the room, if the woman had any questions or wanted to speak she would do so. You didn't get to the Greens by being timid or a wallflower. They didn't shy away from challenges and they weren't afraid to speak their minds...

 

Jaydena Mckanthur

 

ooc- We will be going to the garden next, whenever you are ready. *G*

[Rasheta Ardashir]

OOC: The VAULT!!!! That's what its called. Sehsh i'm a dork. Okay here we go and sorry this took so freakishly long to get back to.

 

IC: Rasheta followed silently after Jaydena as they went to the Vault, the room where those who had gone before were buried or remembered or both. Jaydena let her in and Rasheta looked around the room in awe she remembered that her first visit on her tour had been much the same. She felt the many years in the room, the Greens who had fought and died for what they believed in as they stood ready to assist the Dragon Reborn in the last battle, and assist they would. It was a well known fact that the Greens would be at the Dragon's side when the Last Battle started and no Green would miss that for the world. Jaydena spoke as Rasheta walked a little into the room.

 

"I remember the first time I saw this room, I remember thinking about all the women that came before me, wondering how they lived, loved, fought and so much more. They were Battle Sisters and lived a life full of Battle Weaves, Battle with Shadow spawn, just as I have. Perhaps they lived and loved as passionately for when you know you could die at any moment, you don't do anything in half measurements. Be free and imagine their lives Rasheta."

 

Rasheta nodded her head and if she had allowed herself she may have cried if only a little for them. Not out of sadness but happiness that they died doing what they thought was right. Not old and toothless in there beds not fullfilling there job as Greens. She throught of Brid the old Captain General of the Greens and how bitter the woman was now. She wondered why the woman hadn't asked to be sent out again just once more to die as she saw fit. Wasn't that what a Green wished for? She shook her head and began to walk around the room. Some of the sisters were from times long gone and some were newer. She stopped at one of the older sisters and read the name Selame Necoine, the woman had been Amrylin of the tower a very long time ago. She had been raised from the Green and apparently when she died she had returned to them. Rasheta knelt down and touched the little cubby briefly before saying almost under her breath. "lend me your strength to get through the next day. May you shelter in the palm of the creators hand." She added at the end just because she felt it polite. She stood and went to the next cubby and the next both old and new she thanked for there service and then asked them to watch over her the next day all in a soft voice that she hoped didn't carry too far back to Jaydena. She didn't want the woman to think she was being rude to the dead. She finally made it back to where Jaydena was writting and said.

 

"Thank you Jaydena, I think I have gotten all I can from this room, all who are here knew what it meant to be Green and what they were sacrificing. I think I understand a little bit more about the Ajah." She smiled and said 'I am ready to head to the gardens now." She waited respectfully as Jaydena stood up and she asked "What do I call you after I am raised? Sister, Captain General, just your name?" She was curious about the Ajah terms.

[Jaydena]

OOC- OMG so sorry I missed this.

 

IC- "Thank you Jaydena, I think I have gotten all I can from this room, all who are here knew what it meant to be Green and what they were sacrificing. I think I understand a little bit more about the Ajah. I am ready to head to the gardens now." Jade nodded and watched the young woman, she had seen Rasheta stop next to one of the Sisters that had become an Amyrlin and rub her hands over the plaque. She didn't ask what the woman had said or thought, for this room was meant to honor their Sisters and that was what they were doing. Standing up she waited for the other woman to continue, after all this was her journey and her's alone. Though she was her with Rasheta she was there as a companion and not to guide her this time. "What do I call you after I am raised? Sister, Captain General, just your name?" In the Halls of course you may call me Sister or Jaydena. In private you can call me Jaydena or Jade. If no one is around but Greens most will call me Captain of Captain General. It's a closely guarded secret my position and so we are very careful to make sure that no one knows who I am or that we don't speak of it when non Greens are around." She nodded and walked from the room with a motion for Rasheta to follow her. She began to walk through the Hallways of the Tower and down into teh Gardens. "When I was raised to Aes Sedai my Captain General was Mandi Sedai and she was and still is a rough and tumble sort of green. Always ready to defend another Green but ready to knock them down if they endanger the ajah or the gaidin in any way. I did my battle weaves with her and learned not only the art of the weave but also how to control and temper your gaidin and how to flirt with the best of them to gain your objective. Mandi believed that you can use your body if you have to for the better of the ajah. When I was a younger Sedai I agreed with her and followed her teachings. These days the way I deal with anyone is far different than when I was a young Sedai such as yourself."

 

Her mouth twisted and she walked forward to what looked like a wall covered in vines. Reaching into the vines she pushed them aside to reveal a wrought iron gate constructed to look to flowers growing rampant. Pulling a key that looked like the door from her bodice she unlocked the gate and walked inside. Once Rasheta had followed her she shut the gate, locking it behind her, before leading the way into a garden of amazing beauty. Flowers grew up the walls, and fountains splashed away in many places. The coubblestones were many colors and formed a Aes Sedai shawl of color. Benches sat beside many of the paths and the colors shocked the eyes. A small shed sat in the corner of the garden, and inside were tools of the trade. She smiled at Rasheta and took a seat at one of the benches, motioning for the woman to take a seat at the bench across from her own.

 

"This is Rashima's garden, I am sure you will have heard of the great green warrior named Rashima. This walled garden is known to only the greens and only a woman about to go before her ajah can learn the secret. The greens all consider it an honor to work the soil and protect the garden and when you become a green you will receive a key to the garden." Picking a deadhead off the rosebush next to her she returned to her story, "I broke many hearts as a young Aes Sedai and then I did the unthinkable, I fell in love with my own gaidin and then someone's elses gaidin. I don't recommend it." She sighed and continued, "It went on battles and I almost lost my life more times that I care to think about. Eventually my gaidin was killed and I had to endure the pain of that loss. There will always be a gap in my heart and in my head where his bond lay. Being a Green is never easy but there is nothing more rewarding that belong to this ajah either." She twirled the deadhead and waited to see what Rasheta would say...

 

Jaydena Sedai

 

[Rasheta Ardashir]

OOC: Okay i'm getting to this when I have time, which lets face it isn't much these days. I'm sorry this took sooooo long and hopefully before the new year we can finish this up. *winces*

 

IC:

 

In the Halls of course you may call me Sister or Jaydena. In private you can call me Jaydena or Jade. If no one is around but Greens most will call me Captain of Captain General. It's a closely guarded secret my position and so we are very careful to make sure that no one knows who I am or that we don't speak of it when non Greens are around."

 

Rasheta nodded she had almost been expecting that answer, she knew that the Ajah heads were always closely guarded and so she had been a little surprised with herself for even asking if she should call Jaydena Captain in public. Sillyness on her part, she felt like a Novice who had asked an ovious question and been spoken down too about it. She smiled though and continued to follow Jaydena.

 

They came to a wall that looked to be overgrown with Vines she wondered why they were stopping here. She didn't wonder long Jaydena pulled some away to reveal a wrought iron gate. Clever Rasheta thought [/i] a hidden Green Ajah only garden.[/i] Rasheta waited till Jaydena went through the gate and then followed her and looked around the garden it was beautiful and while Rasheta didn't really like flowers as much as she once had she could still feel a kind of peace about the place. Jaydena had her sit on a bench and then the Captain General sat across from her. Rasheta wondered what she would say now.

 

There was a short history lesson on the Garden and why it was named as it was, after a legendary Green sister from time long past. Rasheta listened and smiled where she thought she should and then Jaydena told her something she was a little surprised about.

 

 

"I broke many hearts as a young Aes Sedai and then I did the unthinkable, I fell in love with my own gaidin and then someone's elses gaidin. I don't recommend it." She sighed and continued, "It went on battles and I almost lost my life more times that I care to think about. Eventually my gaidin was killed and I had to endure the pain of that loss. There will always be a gap in my heart and in my head where his bond lay. Being a Green is never easy but there is nothing more rewarding that belong to this ajah either."

 

Rasheta stared at her Ajah head for a long while before answering. "It is a very sad story you tell Captain." She paused and picked a small flower that had been growing at the foot of the bench. She twirled it around in her hand for a moment considering her words. "Death comes for us all generally at a time not of our own choosing." She smiled sadly "My mother used to say that. I don't know why I said it now other then because your Gaidin gave his life to protect you it wasn't a time he would have choosen i'm sure but he did what he had too. In the end it would do no one any good for you to dwell on it." She shook her head and added "However, I am newly raised and you have been a sister for many years. My words are only those of someone who probably does not as of yet understand." She twirled the flower again and asked. "How many years have you been doing this to new Greens? I can't imagine i'm the first." She laughed at the thought. 

[Jaydena]

"It is a very sad story you tell Captain. Death comes for us all generally at a time not of our own choosing. My mother used to say that. I don't know why I said it now other then because your Gaidin gave his life to protect you it wasn't a time he would have choosen I'm sure but he did what he had too. In the end it would do no one any good for you to dwell on it. However, I am newly raised and you have been a sister for many years. My words are only those of someone who probably does not as of yet understand. How many years have you been doing this to new Greens? I can't imagine I'm the first." Jaydena nodded and spoke again, "Yes your Mother was a wise woman, but I am afraid that it's often hard to remember those things when you watch your warder bleed to death when you can't heal him, or when his heart stops instantly when a trollocs spear pierces him from behind. Trollocs to have honor, they kill from behind, they kill any way they can and than they do horrible things to the bodies." She shook her head to clear those thoughts and than continued, "As for your question, I have done this so many times I can't count them, it was done to me when I picked the Green and to my Ajah Head when she picked it."

 

She laughed softly and shook her head, "It's never easy to do this, to have to tell some amazing woman that she's not amazing enough. That she must get harder and more honed until she becomes what I am. A woman who is dedicated to the Tower, has no children, no life other than said Tower, and sometimes has horrible nightmares of her gaidins deaths or their abandonment. She smiled at Rasheta and picked up a flower herself, "Life is so delicate, much like this flower, so easily broken, and so easily ended. Rasheta make sure you take advantage of every moment you have, every moment with those gaidin you plan on having. Enjoy every moment and never take their life or yours for granted. Live deeply, passionately, joyfully, and proudly. Sure that you know that you made the right choice, and that you are proud of being a Green in every way." Setting the flower down at the feet of Rashima's statue where a journal had once lain that had taken the life of her warder in many ways, she spoke again, "Where else would you like to go my dear, or would you like to stay here?" She sat down on a bench and just waited for Rasheta to make a decision...

 

Jaydena Mckanthur

[Amadine]

*bump*