Lesson 4: Elements (Open)

[minisamus]

Saline turned the water glass in her hands, then grudgingly admitted, “I like teaching you lot.”

 

The introduction to saidar lessons had been coming along quite nicely. Once more the novices were ready to move onto the next phase, having worked with saidar long enough that they were able to see the tell-tale glows around each other. This session, however, they would actually be using the one power.

 

“There are five powers, or elements within the Source: air, earth, fire, spirit and water. Your strength in each will vary, as you will find some elements easier to handle than others. Women tend to be stronger in air and water while men are typically more proficient in earth and fire, and spirit seems to be distributed equally, although this is not always the case. As I said, your affinity for each power will vary. I myself am strongest in earth. But first, I want you to take saidar and observe.”

 

“This is a simple weave. Weaves are when you use more than one element, otherwise the term we use is thread.”  When everybody was holding the power, Saline created a single blue flame in the air and let it die. “You see how the two threads I used, air and fire, are dissipating? You must never, no matter what, pick at these threads. If you do the weave will unravel and more than likely kill you and everybody close to you in the process. That would be disastrous, so don’t do it, ok?”

 

Saline pushed the glass of water forward, continuing “first you should know the elements when you see them. Channellers sometimes see the colors differently, but most common is, fire as red, water green, earth brown, air blue, and spirit silver. I want you to look carefully at which thread I am drawing out of the glass.”

 

[Wintrow]

Tilly was eager for more. It was all making more and more sense, a small snowball gathering into a giant—well, still a snowball but much cooler to look at, of understanding. Sartorial upbringing helped. It made sense that weaves would be made up of threads; this validated her earlier education. Take that, vaunted education of Tar Valon! Ninja chop, karate punch, elbow to the groin!

 

Saline’s flame had been pretty; Tilly watched avidly. Each thread corresponded to an element, and elements were woven together to create. Just like sewing. This was getting better and better and Tilly was sitting up much straighter in her chair. Take that, rich and princesses and unscarred teenagers and those who could rub two coppers together without fear of one disappearing.

 

Something would have to be done about the colour scheme. Tilly couldn’t imagine any pretty manifestations using all five elements. Gleemen wore cloaks like that and just no. Ever.  Still, the colour combinations were as plentiful as stars. Oh, the possibilities . . . though Tilly understood aestheticism of weaves wasn’t really the point of them. A pity.

 

And now for the test. Before Saline was a cup, and within that cup was water, allegedly, but who actually knew. Of course, everyone knew aes sedai couldn’t lie, which was funny because they managed to talk a lot without saying anything even without lying. Benefits of their education, surely.

 

The thread being pulled out of the cup was blue. At least it looked blue so ought to have been. Tilly had once seen a man pulling a rabbit out of a hat and this looked just like this . . . only blue and not rabbit-shaped. All right. It looked nothing at all like this but reminded her anyway. So there!

 

The thread was blue!

 

 

 

[Wayward_fool]

Water. And Air, maybe.

 

Ray-ray's fingers itched as she stared at the weave. Part of her was eager to touch the Source again and possibly join in the weaving. She knew the draw was strong, and suppressed it with a hard swallow. Her heart beat with the excitement of the possibility this might be the first time she was allowed to actually channel something, as opposed to merely touching the Source and letting go. Annoying, that was.

 

She could tell the threads of the Aes Sedai apart. A simple weave, nothing exciting, held just so. It looked like a spider web in the morning. With the barest of dew drops ornamenting each strand. She could see it held mostly Water, but she could see the tinge of Air just shadowing each strand. Perhaps she imagined it, but then again perhaps not.

 

She looked around, having lost interest in the demonstration and eyed her classmates. Most of them were staring intently at the weave. One of the Novices, Eduran Trabonairl, noticed her staring and winked at her. Ray-ray winked back. A promise of a good night ahead then. She wondered where her roommate was. She hadn’t seen her for a long time. Devrion seemed a bit dodgy these days. Lots of strange late night meetings and what-not. Ray-ray had no idea what she was up to, being exhausted by that time of the night and just wanting sleep really.

 

Sighing, she turned her attention back to the class and tried her best to focus on what the Aes Sedai was saying. But Enduran’s wink made her smile. Something to look forward to then.

 

[Amadine]

Amadine studied what the Aes Sedai was doing. Within the flame she had seen the red threads of fire and the blue thread of air that made up the weave the Aes Sedai made to create the tongue of blue flame above her hand. Saline Sedai let the flame die, she watched as the threads of fire and air dissipated into nothing.

 

You must never, no matter what, pick at these threads. If you do the weave will unravel and more than likely kill you and everybody close to you in the process. That would be disastrous, so don’t do it, ok?”

 

Amadine nodded, carefully making a mental note to never draw threads back to her or pick weaves apart. The Aes Sedai moved back to the desk at the front of the classroom. Upon the desk was a clear glass of water. As she watched the Aes Sedai deftly created a thread of water to draw a small column of water up out of the glass into the air.

 

Amadine could clearly see the way the green threads of water drew the clear liquid up out of the glass. She thought that she would even be able to duplicate the simple thread.

 

Amadine couldn't help but look around the room, all her friends were here, grown closer over all the time they had spent in classes, working at chores and sneaking around together on their odd free day. She could see Ray-ray making eyes at another girl, Knytiri was to her right in her usual seat and then towards the front of the room was Maryam. Oh the mischief they had gotten up to together!

 

Giving herself a small shake Amadine eagerly turned her eyes back to the front of the room, hoping that Saline Sedai would let them have a go at pulling threads soon.

[craftyreader]

Saline Sedai was at the front of the class waiting for them today.  She seemed to be pleased, but with an Aes Sedai, you never truly knew what they were thinking.  Without any real preamble, the lesson was started.  As she told them of the five powers – air, water, earth, fire and spirit, a bright blue flame winked into being, hovered above her palm and was gone.

 

“You see how the two threads I used, air and fire, are dissipating? You must never, no matter what, pick at these threads. If you do the weave will unravel and more than likely kill you and everybody close to you in the process. That would be disastrous, so don’t do it, ok?”

 

They were then directed to focus their attention on the glass of water on the table.  As she continued speaking, a small column of water rose above the rim of the glass.  Normally water would just be clear, but holding the source, Elody saw what looked like a faint tint of blue, and maybe silver as well. It was obvious that water was one of the threads, but that wouldn’t hold it in a column.  Maybe the other was air?  Lots of things needed air to move around…leaves blowing in the fall, clouds moving across the sky.  The two threads were wound around each other, like a simple plait in a horse's mane would be.  They in turn seemed to be surrounding the water, supporting it, holding it in place.

 

[Kathleen]

Kathleen had made it to class on time every day after the first. Her mother had told her Reds were harsh, but Saline Sedia had never come across as harsh. She was straight forward and honest. Of course all Aes Sedia were known to never lie, but that didn't mean they were straight forward or honest. Kathleen had found a lot of respect for Saline Sedai. She reminded herself that the woman was her teacher, and that on a personal level should could be completely different, but as a teacher she had gained Kathleen's affection and respect.

 

It had been weeks since she first learned to touch the Source, but sadly she had still not been allowed to do anything with it. Even though the progress to working with the One Power, which is what she had been looking forward to in the class from the first day, was slow she had seen a lot of progress. She had learned how to reach for the power, that was a major advance in itself, and she had learned to draw it in, push it away, how to control the flow.

 

The most recent advancement had come as a surprise, she could actually see someone else channel. She had thought she was seeing things the first time the other girls in the class had started to glow, but she had been told that you can tell they are channeling because of that glow. When she had seen them all glow and realized she was not she felt so disappointed. She had thought that she must not be channeling because she was not glowing. She was so confused, because she thought she could feel the power flowing into her, was it all in her head? She was relieved when she was finally informed that a girl cannot see the glow around herself when she channels but others can. Why was she still doubting her abilities? Maybe when she finally used it to do something she would be able to believe she could do it.

 

She had accepted that all of this was real, but only when she saw it. The White Tower was real. The Aes Sedia were real. The Aes Sedai could really use the One Power. She had the white dress, but she still had troubling believing all that came with it without experiencing it with results. Sure she had felt the power and seen the glow around the girls, but maybe it was all in her head. She was told she was supposed to be able to, so maybe she was just being fooled into believing it.   

 

Saline Sedai's words cut into Kathleen's thoughts and she wrote down the elements and their respective colours. Kathleen embraced the Source as she was instructed and was surprised to see the glow already around Saline Sedai. Kathleen looked at each girl as the glow came up around them and when she looked back at the front of the class Saline Sedai had a floating blue flame in front of her. Great, my first chance to really see this power in action and I was distracted by glowing... Then, just as quickly as the flame was there it was going away. Kathleen watched as the red and blue threads began to dissipate and was surprised that she could see them.

 

Kathleen smiled as Saline Sedai said “You see how the two threads I used, air and fire, are dissipating? You must never, no matter what, pick at these threads. If you do the weave will unravel and more than likely kill you and everybody close to you in the process. That would be disastrous, so don’t do it, ok?” It was straight forward, no nonsense, statements like this that had won over the novice weeks ago, and it appeared Saline Sedai was still full of them. Kathleen took in the words and jotted down a note. She didn't see others taking notes, but she always thought notes where a valuable thing to have. You never know when a small statement in your early learning could prove very resourceful many years later when your memory starts to go. Do Aes Sedia's memories fade?She wondered.

 

Just then her teacher pushed a glass with water in it forward and instructed the class to watch carefully at which thread she was drawing out of the glass. Kathleen was watched with interest and a little bit of surprise. She was annoyed that the surprise came. I am in a class with an Aes Sedai, my grandmother was an Aes Sedai. I can see the girls glowing, I can feel the one power, its no bloody wonder I can see the threads! I am a Novice of the White Tower, that should be proof enough I can do this! Why is it still so hard for me to believe? I'm not just the bloody blacksmith's daughter anymore! Kathleen's face turned red, Though I do have the vocabulary of one. Kathleen tried to pull herself together and focus back on her lessons, but it took a while for the red in her cheeks to vanish as looked around the class to see if anyone noticed.

 

 

[minisamus]

Saline flicked the thread of water at novice Enduran, since she was making eyes at another. As the novice stared at the growing wetness on her whites, Saline told her. “Pay attention, you. Water is all around us, in the air. Learning to pull threads of water from the air needs a certain knack, but with effort you can do it. Now everybody, I want you all to pair up and toss water on each other. No shrieking, please.”

 

When the novices worked on getting themselves some water, Saline said “sweet, now watch closely, because if you don’t succeed in this you’ll be going around in your wet clothes. I know you are all tired, but that’s no reason to remain wet. This is called dry. Though it is one of the easiest weaves, you will have to handle multiple threads of water to form a drain, and then tighten the weave until the water drains from your dresses.”

[Kathleen]

Kathleen was watching the demonstration and when Saline Sedai told them they would be working in pairs, Kathleen started to look around at her class mates. She was new to the tower and had not had a room mate. The daily chores kept her busy and her own thoughts had kept her preoccupied.

 

As she looked around and the other girls she realized that in the time she was at the Tower she hadn't made any friends. She had never said more than a passing 'hello' in the halls, even to the girls in her class. What was getting into her? This was not like her at all. She had been friends with everyone in her home village, and she had easily made friends with the people she stayed with on her travel to Tar Valon.

 

She had to work with someone else..but who? She didn't want to pull anyone away from someone they already made a bond with, so when it was time to pick partners, Kathleen smiled and tried to look as approachable as she could. Hopefully someone would want to get to know her.

[Pookie]

Yovela was spiritually downtrodden.  She knew the glow surrounded her just as it did all the others in the room and she knew what it meant.  She was letting them teach her to be a witch.  She was lost to her family, lost to her home, lost to her beliefs.  All she had now were the other witches and this place she had never wanted.  Them and the Source with its sweet, seductive joy that filled her so completely that she almost forgot her shame.  If only she could hold Saidar every waking moment of every day.  Then perhaps she wouldn't feel so broken.

 

Saline Sedai (Yovela was shocked to discover she no longer thought of her teacher only as "the witch") was admitting she enjoyed teaching them almost reluctantly.  She then went on to describe the that Power was split into different elements, an idea that had never occurred to Yovela, but that made sense when she considered all the different ways she had seen the Source used since she came to the White Tower.  She took Saidar when directed to and watched Saline Sedai create her blue flame of air and fire.  For a split second she felt an urge to do just what the Aes Sedai said not to -- to try and unravel a weave and blow them all to smithereens.  But the moment passed quickly and she reminded herself that killing herself and others would only make her more of a witch and not less of one.  Instead she followed Saline Sedai's next instruction and observed her draw an element out of a glass of water.  Yovela was pretty sure the thread had the green tint her teacher said was associated with water, but she wasn't entirely sure.  Then the Aes Sedai flicked the water across the room at another Novice.  The Novice jumped and then stared at the liquid on her dress.

 

"Water is all around us, in the air.  Learning to pull threads of water from the air needs a certain knack, but with effort you can do it.  Now everybody, I want you all to pair up and toss water at each other.  No shrieking, please."

 

Yovela drew a deep breath in.  Pair up.  Not words she wanted to hear.  She didn't know any of the other Novices, having avoided joining in on any aspects of life she could avoid since she joined the White Tower.  There was a friendly looking girl across the room, but before Yovela could move towards her, a big girl nearly as wide as she was tall stepped in front of her, a malicious gleam in her eyes.  "I hear you don't want to be here," she said in a low voice.  "You're too good to learn, too foolish to understand.  Least I can do is make your time a bit more interesting."  And with that a flow of water caught Yovela straight in the face.  The girl certainly seemed to have a grasp of how to pull water from the air to the point where Yovela wondered if she was getting a little assistance from some friends sending their own weaves towards Yovela.  But certainly the teacher or her assistant would have seen that and put a stop to it?  Nevermind.  The important thing was focusing on the rosebud, finding the source, and getting the girl wet.

 

Yovela was able to open herself to the source quickly and when the serenity of it filled her, she suddenly didn't care if she was wet.  It really wasn't as much water as it seemed, or maybe the girl was just slowing in her use of it.  Yovela went to pull some water of her own out of the air, but was only able to produce a trickle.  There was quite a bit of water on the floor now though, since there were girls dripping everywhere, so Yovela started pulling water from there.  The thread that caught her opponenet between the eyes was particularly satisfying.  Then Saline Sedai called a stop to the water fight and showed them how to funnel the water out of their dresses.  There were quite a few threads of water needed to form the weave and it took Yovela a couple of tries, but eventually she was on the drier side of damp rather than dripping.

 

She left the class with the rest of her classmates, many of them chatting and laughing about the lesson.  The big girl, Yovela still didn't know her name, was glaring at her and she was pretty sure that if they had been allowed to use the Source, she'd be considerably less dry right now.  It was this thought that triggered the guilt again.  She had used the Power to fight with someone, even if it had just been throwing water on her.  They had already taught her to use the Power aggressively and she was relatively new here.  How long before they sent her into battle?  How long before they threatened towns with her abilities?  How long before they ordered her to destroy villages with what they had yet to teach her?  How long before she would become a monster, a true witch?

[Amadine]

*bump*