Appraisal time (Attn: Rion)

[Covai Seriba]

Covai hung upside down from the branch of the tree as he waited for Rion to arrive for his last class as a Dedicated. Well, if he passed this class it would be his last as a Dedicated. Scanning the surrounding woods as he waited, Covai wondered if the man was lost. Covai shrugged. He had been hunting in these woods since he was Dedicated, and knew most of them like that back of his hand. Not that many people spend all that much time looking at the back of their hands though... Covai thought as he felt one of the wards go off to the left of him.

 

Turning his head to the side, Covai watched as the Dedicated made his way to the pile of rocks Covai had left on the ground as a maker. Calling out and waving to the man ...after emptying his waterskin on top of him ... to get his attention, Covai told him to climb up the tree. Seeing Rion's hesitation, Covai shook his head and called out again. "There's some low branches near the base you can use to pull yourself up with, after that stick to the thicker branches to support your weight, and stick near the trunk of the tree where they're stronger." Covai himself was about three metres up, but had chosen a point where three tree's branches met. The trees branches had intertwined over the years and were actually quite solid, assuming you didnt try jumping up and down.

 

 

Pulling himself up again as Rion finally arrived, Covai sat himself against a fork in the branches that was solid enough to support him and leaned back. He motioned to another sturdy enough fork for the Dedicated to do the same. "Been a while since you've climbed trees?" Covai asked. There had been a few times the soldier had slipped and caught himself, but Covai just liked to give folks a hard time.

 

"Now tell me Rion, why is it I should allow you to be promoted to Asha'man? What makes you think you have earned that right? Why do you deserve it?" Covai seized the source and made a small blade of fire above his hand. "Oh, and I think i should tell you, I REALLY dont like arrogant people, or suck ups for that matter. So think carefully before you answer"

[Kael]

Rion, wet and already tired, tried desperately to haul himself up the tree. He struggled greatly, he had never been the strongest person and he doubted he had ever climbed a tree in his life. The only thing that saved him, and just barely he nearly fell out of the tree twice, was the training Isha and Dashiva had put him through.

 

Rion sat on the offered knot, settling precariously on in the tree. "Been a while since you've climbed trees?" Rion snorted once shaking his head to dislodge some of the last water droplets. Flaming idiot. Push him. Go ahead, see what he does as he screams his way to the ground. And then what, get cut up by whatever this man decides to kill us with. I don't want to die just yet.

 

"Now tell me Rion, why is it I should allow you to be promoted to Asha'man? What makes you think you have earned that right? Why do you deserve it? Oh, and I think i should tell you, I REALLY dont like arrogant people, or suck ups for that matter. So think carefully before you answer"

 

Rion eyed the blade of fire hovering over Covai's hand with a thinly vieled fear. He swallowed slowly, his memories going back to the terrifying expirience with Linten in the Inn. He's even madder than you are boy! Still, if he threatens you than just kill him. It would be easy right now.

 

Rion took his gaze from Covai's blade of fire, gathering his thoughts. "Why do I deserve it? I don't know. Maybe I don't. Dashiva has already told me I am not suited at being a weapon, and I agree with him." Rion bit his lip, unsure of what his honesty would bring. "I show no aptitude at being a healer either. I'm a scholar, not a soldier."

 

 

Rion[/i]

[Covai Seriba]

Covai raised an eyebrow at the soldier's ranting. "Right..." Covai left the blade of fire go and straightened himself up, his tone serious. "You really are an idiot Rion."

 

"Well then...as a 'scholar'" Covai emphasied his use of sarcasm at the word " you should know Dragon Reborn or not, a few thousand years of mistrust doesnt suddenly up and disappear. Saidin is still Saidin, and the taint is the taint. The only difference now is that people would rather embrace the devil they know, than the one they dont"

 

"You claim to be a scholar, and by the way you refuse to get of your lazy arse and do something proves it. I asked you why I should allow you to be promoted. Why you have earned it, why you deserve it. All you've given me is some lame talk about how you're no good for anything and that's all there is to it. You have left me with no reason what so ever to promote you."

 

"Dedicated isnt just a title that brings power. Admittably there is an acknowledgment of your abitily with authority and responsibility to go with it, but that ISNT purly to do with Saidin. Dedicated need to be able to act on their own without the direct guidance of a higher rank. You will be required to teach new members of the tower the basics of Saidin. There are now enough dedicated to the tower, and with the events in the world advancing as they are, the pressure is being spread around the tower to Asha'man can be put where they are needed the most. Being as such, you need to be trusted enough to to teach new people not only about Saidin, but about the Black Tower and what it stands for. "

 

Covai leaned back again against to fork in the branches, continuing to speak. "At a Dedicated level you need to start to think for yourself. Im not saying you should question every order your given, but its a time to start to think about why you were given the order. That way if you can understand why your sent to do something and something goes wrong, you're ina better situation to try and correct things, rather than take a wild guess."

 

"But most importantly though, you need to have an idea why it is you are here. If all you're here for is to get by, then we have no use for you, and we may as well end your life now. Some are here for revenge, to destory the shadow that is trying to destroy them. Others, are here because they have something, or someone to protect. Whether they are here for themselves, or for another, they have something worth fighting for."

 

"Now I'll ask you one last time. And I suggest you think VERY carefully before you answer. Why are you here?"

[Kael]

It always took a lot to make Rion angry, the emotion so foreign to him that he didn't realize that he was feeling it as Covai with a lot of words told him he was useless as was. Telling him that as a scholar that he was useless and his inability to think on his own or function without someone holding his hand. He was not a boy any longer and he knew enough of the power to use it without fear of hurting himself.

 

"Now I'll ask you one last time. And I suggest you think VERY carefully before you answer. Why are you here?" Rion's jaw set and he tried to calm himself down, anger was useless in the end and only led to more problems. Use your anger boy. Harness the power it gives you. Strike out before he can react. He waits relaxed and unafraid and that will be his downfall. I won't strike him, I can't. Even now you sit and listen to him insult you. Boy. Useless. I wouldn't be suprised if your beloved Jocelyn leaves you because you are so weak.

 

Rion's self control couldn't stand up to both voices trying to insult him. Rion's voice was edged with anger as he spoke. "I'm here because I don't have a choice. I was born with this curse, I couldn't stop myself from channeling and I came here to survive because I thought that if I could control Saidin I could fight against the madness."

 

"And now that I am here I can't leave. I don't want to be able to channel, I don't want to be here. I hate this place where violence is central and hate the most prevelant emotion. The only reasons I am still here is because you will kill me if I leave and I can't leave Jocelyn behind."

 

"So that's what I'm here for, Jocelyn. And if you want to send me away, please. You'd be doing me a favor. All I'm here for is to survive and to protect the woman I love. And I would rather do that someplace of my choosing instead of this place."

 

 

Rion

[Covai Seriba]

Covai shook his head. "Climb down the tree." Was all he said before leaning his weight to the side. Gribbing the branch as he swung down, Covai landed his feet on a lower branch and proceeded to monkeygrip his way down the tree. It looked like he'd have to bash the message into Rion's head with force.

 

Covai tilted his head to the side, studying Rion as the two of them faced each other. "You're an idiot, selfish, and have no right to Jocelyn's love." Covai's words cut through the air between them like a blade. "No woman in their right mind would love a coward like you. The Tower makes you uncomfortable because you don't have the balls it takes to be a man and face a threat head on. You can't leave because you don't have to balls to do that either."

 

Closed his eyes and embraced the source as he left the words ringing in Rion's ears. The pain and ecstasy Saidin brought with it only served to forge Covai's concentration as he wove fire around his right fist. There was no doubt Rion knew just how much of the source he was holding, but just holding Saidin ready was different from actively weilding it.

 

"The only real reason you're here is you're afraid if you make a decision it'll be wrong. You're too afraid of losing what little you have to put anything on the line." Covai raised his hand and shot a relatively weak arrow of fire just past Rion's head. The Dedicated threw up and shield in time and stopped the shot before it had a chance to travel past. Covai's threat was clear. "And because of you're fear, you've lost it all anyways."

 

OOC: Fight time ;)

[Kael]

Will you sit there and let him kill you, defending and defending until finally he breaks through and kills you. To fight in this situation is noble. He wished to take you from Jocelyn, what would happen to her if you were no longer around. Strike boy. Kill him as you should have done before in the tree. STRIKE!

 

Rion stood enveloped in the void and filled to the brim with Saidin. His head pulsed as anger pushed him foreward. The fire of arrow sizzling into nothingness behind him. "I have fought for Jocelyn and gone through more than you could imagine. I will not lose her and no one will ever take her from me!" Rion wove a ball of fire and threw it straight at Covai's chest.

 

Rion's vision blurred as the Darkness inside of him raged and his anger took over. He threw another fireball. Embrace the hate as it courses through your viens, relish in its feeling. The normal peaceloving and timid Rion was gone, pushed into the chaos of his rage by the voice raging inside of his head.

 

 

Rion