Duality {Open}

[TaiDashan]

Screams of pain and death, chased Tai from his sleep as he sat bolt upright in bed; the sheet slipping from his torso. It was still night, approaching early morning, faint starlight making it's way through his window. Sighing, he rubbed his face and scrubbed a hand through his hair. He swung his feet over the side of the bed and felt his feet hit the carpet, cool from the cold stone beneath. He stood in his smallclothes for a moment, finally seizing Saidin and feeding life into the small flames in the hearth. Attempting to driev away the last memories of the nightmare, he gave up going back to sleep. Grabbing his uniform, he began to dress in front of the fairly smooth mirror. He paused as he brought his hands up to button his coat. The embroidery on his sleeves, which marked him an Attack Leader, was still not familiar to him.

 

It was a double edged sword that... The promotion he was so proud of, had come at the cost of losing the one thing that had given his life purpose, besides Saidin of course. Chaos wailed in the back of his mind, lamenting Aria's loss and grief threatened to crush him, as it so often did these days. Tai shoved aside the dark thoughts roughly, with a frustration that had only built over the last couple of weeks. Arath had called Tai in for a meeting shortly after his promotion to Attack Leader. He had expressed concern over Tai's mental state. He had let him know that he was assigning him to come oversee the work with the Ter'Angreal, but they both knew he simply wanted him away from the Farm, away from the memories, for a while. Tai's mind drifted to that day not long ago in this very structure.

 

"Under the Light and by my hope of salvation and rebirth... I, Tai'Dashan, Asha'man and Guardian of the Light, do hereby swear my loyalty, my fealty, my very life and anything I have at my disposal to the Lord of the Morning, the Dragon Reborn for as long as he should have need of me or until the forces of the Light reign triumphant. This I swear above all other Oaths I have or ever will make, so long as I have breath."

 

His own words, spoken to the Dragon Reborn himself, echoed in his mind. Strangely they gave him strength. If nothing else, he had his oath to keep him living. Tarmon Gai'don was on their doorstep, and he needed to be ready to fulfill that oath. Chaos muttered darkly in the back of his mind as he finished dressing, the pins that marked his rank as Asha'man completing the outfit. Call it the unsettling echoes of his nightmare, call it plain homesickness as strange as it sounded, but he had been away long enough; he needed to return to the Tower and the work in the Cache was close enough to completion that there was nothing more for him to do here. With a nod, he made up his mind. He was going home.

 

He checked his belt pouch and felt the small item resting comfortably there. It was a bracelet he had found in the cache here. No one knew he had it, but he wanted Arath to look at it. Against his better judgment, he had slipped it into his pocket before it could be cataloged. It was of a very interesting design and Arath might be able to make something from it in the days to come... He let that thought trail off. Chaos taunted him, insinuating that Tai would keep the small treasure for himself. Shoving those thoughts aside he wove a gateway to the Traveling Grounds at the Farm. He had not yet removed the bracelet from the pouch, and would not until he handed it to Arath, he thought firmly. He was surprised at the early light spilling through the gateway. He had not realized it was so close to morning. Snow swirled across the stones and Tai stepped across leagues of land into Andor.

 

OOC: Feel free to jump in, be there when Tai arrives in the traveling grounds, be in a group that is setting up for morning drills, whatever... It is early morning in the BT, lots of activity bound to be happening... good to be home :)

[Clepto]

Gavin was in the middle of some of his exceedingly rare free time. He had spent the morning showing some of his teachers his skills with the Power. By blowing up rocks. The Power of creation at our fingertips, and they have me blowing up rocks. I know I'm still learning, but it seems like such a waste.

 

After classes, he had gone for his daily beating at the hands of his friend Haver. Gavin's skill with his chosen weapon had progressed significantly, but Haver was still the better combatant. He was also twice a large, and three times as strong. Matters were not helped by the fact that the two had started using Arath's blunting weave on their real weapons, instead of sparring weapons. Trips to the Healers were an almost daily occurrence, though the severity of the beatings were on the decrease.

 

With his free time, Gavin preferred juggling. Sometimes he would practice throwing knives and other objects, but he'd been working that into his combat routine, so he was getting practice at that too. No, juggling was his favorite pastime. It worked out the mind to a small extent, and kept his hands quick and nimble. Most of the time he would juggle knives, as he was now, but sometimes other things. On rare occasions, he'd go stand on the table in front of The Inn and juggle, as other Soldiers and Dedicated, and a few Asha'man, would toss things at him to work into the routine. Gavin smiled to himself thinking about the last time he had done that. He had started with three knives, and others had started tossing objects at him, so he worked his way up to the knives, one fork, an empty ale mug, and a shoe. It ended when someone threw an entire cooked chicken at him. One trip to the Healers, two days stitching up his coat, a week to get the grease stains out. Gavin had kept the chicken as payment.

 

Still grinning over the incident, a flash of movement in the corner of his eye caused Gavin to turn. At the nearby Traveling Grounds, a gateway was opening. He couldn't tell where it was from, as it was somewhere indoors. Through the gateway strode a figure that Gavin couldn't quite make out. Stashing his knives, Gavin casually walked towards the Traveling Grounds to get a better look. Gavin finally saw who it was, though he didn't recognize the man. He did recognize the embroidery on the cuffs of the black coat that signified an Attack Leader. I thought he was in Tear?, Gavin thought to himself. I wonder what brought him back? Overwhelmed by curiosity, Gavin strode along the same path as Tai, towards the inner workings of the Black Tower.

[TaiDashan]

Tai strode purposefully through the ankle deep snow, lost in thought. So lost in thought, that he almost missed the man tailing him. Oh, he wasn't being obvious. Any onlooker would have just thought that the man simply shared the same general destination, in truth a few men were walking along the same frozen path. Tai could tell the man was following him, if absently. Stopping, he paused for a moment. He had business with Arath, a report among other things, but something cautioned him to wait. He felt the cold, icy breeze play with his brown hair like a fond lovers hand. He smiled to himself slightly. He knew that the man would be forced to either walk past him or come up with some reason to stop. Confident that the man was nearly halfway through his choice, he turned, wiping the small smile from his lips and catching the flash of silver at the other man's throat.

 

"Can I help you Dedicated?"

[Clepto]

"Can I help you, Dedicated?"

 

Gavin was caught off guard by the suddenness of the question. "No sir," Gavin stated, saluting the Asha'man. Thinking a moment, Gavin changed his mind. "Yes sir. I saw you arrive at the Traveling grounds, and was wondering what brought you back. Forgive me, but noone here has seen you in some time, though rumor was you were sent to Tear on some errand. If you are back, it must be important."

[TaiDashan]

Tai sat for a moment, staring thoughtfully at the Dedicated. He recognized the man by sight but could in no way put a name to his face. The man was straightforward,which was good in Tai's estimation. Had the two weeks he had been gone truly been that noticeable? He supposed that now he was an Attack Leader, visibility should increase, he just was not used to it... He nodded to himself, then spoke.

 

"True, I was in Tear for the last while. Unfortunately nothing too terribly exciting. You know of the Cache there?" He waited for the other man's nod. "I was sent to oversee the cataloging of items, preparing them to be of some use should the time arise."

 

Tai swore he noted a glint of disappointment in the other man's eyes. Chaos grumbled something in the back of his head and Tai continued.

 

"My work there is done, so I came back." He shrugged. The plain truth of it sounded dull even to his ears. It did not help that he was obviously still dealing with Aria's death. Something the men had not pressed him about on too many occasions. He glanced at the sky noting that morning had begun, and the Farm was beginning to buzz with its normal activity. By this, 'buzzing' meant things exploding and gouts of flame...

 

Tai was briefly reminded about the item in his belt pouch. He purposefully dropped that line of thought. "Is there anything else I can do for you Dedicated? I have a little time before my meeting with Arath, seeing as how he doesn't even know it is going to happen." He grinned a little, a smile that never touched his eyes no matter how hard he tried lately. He could spend some time helping the man, training if he liked. "I would be up for a nice hot meal if you have the time."

[Clepto]

"Is there anything else I can do for you Dedicated? I have a little time before my meeting with Arath, seeing as how he doesn't even know it is going to happen." Tai paused, adding, "I would be up for a nice hot meal if you have the time."

 

Gavin thought for a moment. He didn't have another class for a couple of hours. He did have his regular sparring practice with Haver, but the large man would forgive him for missing one. After all, they had been sparring every day for months now without missing a beat. That decided things for Gavin. He quickly double-checked that the knives he had been juggling were secure in their sheaths, and nodded at the Asha'man.

 

"I would be honored to share a meal with you, sir."