A New Life (Attn: MoN)

[lt.nolan0347]

Eiren stumbled through the hallway, trying to suppress the fear welling up inside of her. The Tower Guard told me the kitchens were just down this hall, I thought. Should I have turned right, or left back there? Light, what made me think they would even have work here in the White Tower?

 

Eiren's eyes filled with yet-unshed tears. She tried to hold them back. Light, she had cried enough this week already! As she turned another corner hopelessness began to creep up inside her. I'm lost, she thought. This can't be the way to the kitchens.

 

So much had happened, so many things had brought her here, looking to the White Tower for work. She could cook, and even with her crippled foot, she would do whatever they asked of her. Please let there be work here, she asked silently. I can't go home. There's too much pain. There's-

 

Her thoughts ended abruptly as she nearly collided with a woman walking briskly down the hall. "My pardons, lady," she said, her voice wavering. "I didn't see-"

 

"You look lost," said the woman, a kind smile on her face. "Can I help you?"

 

"I was trying to find the kitchens, lady Sedai. I was looking for work," Eiren said. "I didn't mean to come this way."

 

The woman chuckled. "I'm no Aes Sedai. At least, not yet. Looking for work, you say? Not every day we have young girls come in to work the kitchens. Have you been tested?"

 

Tested? For what? Nobody said anything about a test! Light, what have I done? Eiren fought desperation, and her voice cracked when she responded. "I- I was never told about a test. I just-"

 

The woman's face softened and she put a reassuring hand on Eiren's shoulder. "Come with me. We can't have girls wandering the halls, not knowing they have the ability to Learn, now can we? Let's go meet with Pia Sedai, first, and then we'll see about the kitchens, ok?" She turned and began walking back the way she had come.

 

Eiren stood for a moment, speechless. Pia Sedai? The tears again threatened to fall. Eiren shook her head, and began to follow the woman the best she could. Burn this foot! she chided herself. I should have held on to that staff, then I could keep up...

 

Eiren followed the woman for what seemed hours, through hallways twisting this way and that. She was hopelessly lost. Suddenly a doorway loomed in front of the pair. "Ah, here we are," said the woman. "Now, don't you worry. Pia Sedai is nothing to fear. At least, not until you've deserved it!" her eyes twinkled. Before waiting for a response from Eiren, the woman turned and knocked three times on the door.

 

Eiren looked around her. There was nowhere to run. Even if she tried, she couldn't get far...

[Lavinya]

Pia Tovisen comforted the whippet of a novice seated in front of her as best she could. Her position as overseer of the White Tower initiates meant she often handed out correction and punishments, yet there were times when she also offered a shoulder to cry on, for those in need. It was disconcerting at times, Pia herself had never been one prone to tears or 'female' outbursts of emotion, yet to some of these girls, she was the closest thing they now had to a mother.

 

Offering the sniffling girl a handkerchief from her pocket, Pia patted the girl's back lightly, from where she was kneeling in front of her, silver skirts swishing softly as she moved. "There now child, dry your tears." She said softly, soothingly. The girl nodded, dabbing at her moist cheeks. She had been in the office now for some time, crying with homesickness, though now at least it seemed she was feeling better, her sobs subsiding. Pia could hardly recall the words she had spoken to soothe her, but they seemed to work as the girl mustered a shaky smile.

 

"Thankyou, Aes Sedai." The girl managed as Pia stood, awarding her with a smile as a tingling sensation passed over her, a sure sign that one of her wards had been set off. As if on cue a knock sounded on the door. "Off with you now girl." Said Pia gently, leading her to the door. Opening it, the novice dropped a curtsey and scurried past, leaving a bewildered looking girl and an Accepted in her wake. Not clothed as an initiate, the newcomer had the appearance of an outsider, a petitioner perhaps.

 

The girl merely gaped at the impressive Aes Sedai, her mouth slightly agape before she closed it with a click. Pia smiled, and it softened her severe features, giving her a more motherly appearance. She turned her dark eyed gaze onto the Accepted, brows raised in question. "She has come looking for work, Pia Sedai." She said after rising from a neat curtsey, "but has not been tested. I remembered what you said and brought her here to see you." Pia nodded and thanked the girl in her banded dress and dismissed her. Turning to the newcomer, Pia gestured towards the inner sanctum of her office. "Please, come in." She invited, allowing the girl to enter first, closing the door behind her with what must seem an ominous click. Motioning to a straight backed chair in front of the heavy wooden desk, Pia took her own seat behind it. "My name is Pia Tovisen, and I am the mistress of novices. How did you come to be in the Tower today child?"

 

~Pia Tovisen, MoN

[lt.nolan0347]

Eiren choked down the fear welling up inside of her. Strong, Eiren. You used to be strong.

 

The door opened and a young girl hurried out of the room, nearly colliding with Eiren. Eiren noticed the girl drying her eyes as she scurried past her, which didn't help ease Eiren's fears. Eiren quickly choked back the fear as best she could, and fixed her eyes on the figure that shadowed the doorway. Pia Sedai stood before her, roughly the same height, but she stood in such a way that would make giants seem dwarfed beside her. She is Aes Sedai, make no mistake. The Aes Sedai turned looked at her for just a moment, before turning her gaze upon Eiren's guide.

 

She has come looking for work, Pia Sedai," the accepted said with a curtsey, "but has not been tested. I remembered what you said and brought her here to see you."

 

The imposing Aes Sedai simply nodded and dismissed the girl with a wave of her hand. "Thank you child," she said, with a calming voice. "You may go." As Eiren's guide scurried off, the Aes Sedai returned her gaze to Eiren. "Please, come in."

 

Eiren walked cautiously into the room, and the door clicked shut behind her. The sound seemed to echo forever in the room. The Aes Sedai motioned to a chair in front of her desk before sitting down at her own seat. The chair certainly looked uncomfortable, and Eiren entertained a brief notion that it was likely that way on purpose.

 

"My name is Pia Tovisen, and I am the mistress of novices. How did you come to be in the Tower today child?" Asked the Aes Sedai with a smooth voice.

 

Eiren began to sit, but quickly stood again. Where are my manners!? She is Aes Sedai! she chided herself, before attempting a deep curtsey. She failed, badly. With a soft cry of pain, Eiren nearly collapsed as her foot gave way beneath her. The long difficult journey to Tar Valon, and the long walk through the city and the halls today had been too much. Eiren caught herself just barely quick enough to keep from falling, and quickly sat in the chair. Her face reddened and the tears returned, whether out of fear, or shame, or both...

 

"I came, Madame Sedai, hoping to find work in the kitchens." Eiren took a deep breath, and the words came out in a rush- "I know I don't look like much, and I'm still a bit weak from travelling here, but I can work hard! And my foot, well, it doesn't slow me down too much. I don't know why she brought me here, but I got lost. It won't happen agian, I pro-

 

Eiren's words sputtered to a halt as Pia Sedai held up her hand to stop her, with a slight smile on her face...

[Lavinya]

Pia gestured to one of the chairs in front of her desk, after halting the girl's speech. They were uncomfortable, but that was for a purpose. After all, those who spent too much time in them would deserve the discomfort. Those who did not were merely reminded of the fact that they should not misbehave, in order to avoid the discomfort that came with the chairs. The young woman, who had identified herself as Eiran sat down. Pia folded her hands in front of her on the desk, and studied the girl intently for a moment. Not that she could judge if the girl would be worth anything just yet, but at least she would be able to see how nervous the girl was. Those who were most nervous often were the ones who wanted it most.

 

“Tell me, child…” She started, deliberately using the word child. She would become accustomed to it before she was raised to Aes Sedai, and Pia saw no point in shielding the girl from what would be her reality during the next twenty years of her life, if she turned out to be worthy of staying. “The Accepted had the truth of it, you have not as yet been tested?” The girl shook her head, indicating that she had not been tested, or perhaps that she didn’t even know what the test entailed. Pia smiled reassuringly at the young woman, and opened one of the drawers of her desk. There was only one item in the drawer. A gray, smoky crystal that she had received from the former Mistress of Novices.

 

Slowly she rose from her seat, and walked to the other side of the desk. Though she was by no means the tallest Aes Sedai within the White Tower, she imagined that she must come across as being a giantess to the young woman sitting in the uncomfortable chair. She knelt in front of her, trying to relax the young woman a little. The test would be hard enough as it was without Eiran being terrified of her. “Clear your mind completely, and focus on the stone.” She said. The girl did, staring at the stone intently. Time passed, and Pia worried that her arm would cramp up before the girl showed any sign of potential. Just as she thought there would be nothing, a light flickered within the stone. Pia smiled, and rose again. As she walked back to her side of the desk, she imagined she felt the surprise in the eyes of the girl as they settled on her back.

 

“Congratulations, dear. You can learn to channel.”

 

Pia Tovisen, MoN

 

[lt.nolan0347]

“Congratulations, dear. You can learn to channel.”

 

Eiren nearly fell from her chair, her mouth slack with shock. She watched as Pia Sedai turned back to sit at her desk. Channel? But that means... The tears were coming back again, but this time she didn't stop them. For the first time in months Eiren Saga wasn't terrified, or hurt, or grieving, or anything. For the first time since she had left home Eiren felt... peace.

 

She had a purpose now, and it wasn't just cleaning dirty pots, or scrubbing floors either! This was better than any job she could find in Tar Valon. This was the beginning of a brand new life for her. Eiren let the tears fall freely in floods. Pia Sedai eyed Eiren as she cried, an unreadable expression on her face. She said nothing, letting Eiren release the emotions that had been pent up behind a wall in the name of survival.

 

The tears seemed to fall for hours, but they finally dried, and Eiren looked up to see Pia Sedai watching her with a soft, yet expressionless, face. "Madame Sedai," she sputtered, flustered again. "Please, excuse me. It's been... well, it's been a long past few months. I'm just... overwhelmed by everything. Wha- What happens next?"

[lt.nolan0347]

Silence filled the room, and Eiren wondered if perhaps she had said something wrong. Pia Sedai appeared lost in thought for a moment, her eyes staring through Eiren. The silence was unbearably uncomfortable, but Eiren sat there, resting her feet (Light her foot throbbed!), waiting for an answer...

[Lavinya]

There were always different reactions from those girls who discovered they could channel. Most were shocked, despite having dreamed of the discovery for years. Some were angry, some awestruck, some thrilled. But many of them, especially those that truly wished for the gift, cried. Pia let the girl loose her emotions unhindered, gazing upon her with Aes Sedai serenity and an endless patience. She was almost certain that life for this girl had just made a rapid turn for the better.

 

"Do not be ashamed of your tears, child." Pia spoke softly, handing over a neat linen handkerchief with a compassionate smile. "It can be an overwhelming discovery. You are not the first to succumb to tears." Pia's dark eyes were kind as she surveyed her newest novice. "What happens next? We make it official." There was a large tome which she withdrew reverently from a drawer. It was old, far older than she (and she was by no means a young woman), but lovingly preserved and tended by herself and all the other Mistresses of Novices before her. "This is the book of novices," she explained, as she carefully turned the ancient pages and found the most recent entry. "Every girl who comes to us with the ability is signed into this book, as a novice of the White Tower. Ahh, here we are." Dipping a pen in ink and carefully tapping it lest it drip, Pia poised to write. "Please state for me your full name, date of birth, and age." Pia's hand was neat and precise as it flowed across the page, sealing the young girl to the tower for better or worse. A final flourish was her signature, before drying the ink with a weave of air and renewing the intricate ward that preserved the book.

 

"Be welcome to the tower, Novice Eiren."

 

OOC: RP your reaction on being made a novice, the next post from me will be the last :). And sorry again for the wait!

[lt.nolan0347]

Eiren took the linen from the Aes Sedai with a sniffle, and wiped dry her eyes. So many changes, so fast! She watched wide-eyed as the Mistress of Novices wrote her name in the book, making it official.

 

"Be welcome to the tower, Novice Eiren."

 

Tower. Novice. Eiren's heart fluttered as she strained to dry her tears and hold back the budding excitement. This was something little girls dreamed of. Stuff of legend and folk tales, and now she was a part of it! Eiren stood, and bent to curtsy. This time, not so deep. She knew her physical limits. "Thank you, Madame Sedai. For everything. I feel so... overwhelmed. So excited! I will be the hardest working novice you have ever had, I promise! This is my life now!"

 

Eiren straightened and listened as the Mistress of Novices spoke, instructing her on how to begin accommodating to life in the tower, and how to begin her lessons. All the while, a faint smile, and slightly still-wet eyes lit her face.

 

OOC: Sorry it's been so long, and here I was asking you to hurry! Goodness, how rude of me. Nonetheless, I am ready to begin. So... that being said, I have no idea where to begin... lol.

[Amadine]

*bump*