Daisy Chain? gah, think of a better title, James! :D

[Christine]

Sighing, Cavana rubbed her eyes slightly as she walked up the stairs, a tight package of books under her arms. She was going to have to put a stop to their books being lent out to novices and accepted. Yet another four books had been borrowed from their herb department, and after being missing for a month, Cavana had gone to the library to find them there. If the girls wanted to use their books, then they had to come to the infirmary and stay there while they worked. Furthermore, how had the Brown Ajah not noticed the Yellow Flame on the spine of every book that belonged to the Yellow Ajah? It was as though the browns had gone a step further than being thoughtless and were completely rude against Cavana and her sisters. She would have to have a word with Shaneevae about the thoughtless behavior of her sisters, even though they were expected by others to be such. Simply not returning a yellow's book would not be stood for.

 

Stepping into the library, Cavana began making her way among the tables, she got to the first shelf and ignored it, knowing these books were all about the history of the yellows, as known by others. The next shelf held antidotes to common illnesses. She got to the third and saw books on battle wounds and the such. It was the fourth shelf she needed- herbs, their uses, their harms, and how to take care of them. Resting the books on the shelves as they belong, she situated them till they sat up properly, all aligned with the other books. Patting them, Cavana turned around and saw a novice bent over at one of the tables. How had she not noticed the girl before? Light, she was becoming a brown, as much as she despised them.

 

Stepping up behind the girl, Cavana looked over her shoulder to see neat, orderly writing as the girl copied, word for word, from one paper to another. It was from the history section, about how the ajah had been formed, and Cavana smiled. Ages before, generations before Cavana had been born, the Yellow Ajah had been formed by a group of sisters that had all had a passion for healing. They had all become wisdoms or healers after the fright, and when ajahs were formed, they all discovered their passion for healing and herbs and the such. Brave women they had been, to still practice Healing when Aes Sedai were dispised. It was through this disguise that sisters were still hidden today in the most hated Aes Sedai places.

 

'The sisters found one common bond between them...' was the sentence the girl was on before the page would be flipped, and Cavana finished it for the girl. "Spirit. Spirit and the use of such bonded these sisters together in their passion, their weapon, their care, and their trade. For through the use of spirit and the ability to Heal others, they found themselves." The girl looked up at her in shock and Cavana smiled, pointing at the book she was copying from. "I am surprised no one has recopied it before, as that you are copying from is one of my first chores for the Yellow Ajah."

 

 

Cavana ~ First Weaver

[Wayfarer]

The founding of the Yellow Ajah was interesting... sort of. That was to say that while the book she was transcribing was easy to read, Lillian was having serious doubts about it's veracity. Everything happened far too neatly, was like something she would have read in her first year or two as a novice. Now, at the end of her novitiate, she was being influenced by other texts that didn't speak of events with glowing details like she'd initially learned.

 

Then again, novices in their first years didn't need to know some of the more sordid details of why things were the way they were. They needed to learn the basics and focus on the one power. By her age, the 'truth' of things was becoming just as important as channeling. Still, Freida Sedai had wanted the book transcribed, so transcribed it would be. Working with a quill was certainly preferable to working brush and scrubbing away at the halls.

 

Starting as someone started speaking behind her. Lillian quickly turned around to find Cavana Sedai speaking. She hadn't spoken to her before, but Cavana Sedai had been pointed out before in the Dining Hall. Quickly scribing the words down that the Aes Sedai gave while they were still in her mind, Lillian spoke as soon as she was done, returning her quill to the inkwell as she did so. "The volume is sizeable, Aes Sedai." Lillian kept her eyes averted, it was never wise to try and match an Aes Sedai's stare.

 

 

Lillian Tremina

Novice of the White Tower

[Christine]

Idly picking up the papers, Cavana glanced through what the girl had written and nodded at the neat penmanship. "Aye it is, which was why I was given it in punishment. Your writing is neat and clear, much better than mine. What do you think of what you have read?"

 

One of the things they were taught as Novices was to emulate Aes Sedai, in particular that they shouldn't lie. On the otherhand, it was also perfectly acceptable to give an answer that was true, yet not the first thing that came to mind. At least, that was what Lillian had learned by example. "It reads well, but its very general." Lillian didn't always follow example.

 

Cavana saw the girl's face almost squinch up as she fought to choose an answer. Then it came, a laugh from Cavana, as she heard almost the exact same words she had told a sister long ago. "You have spirit, novice, and I like that. It is very general, for the secrets are only for those that fight to learn them." Cavana winked at the girl and took the seat beside her. "The secrets are what make being an Aes Sedai so enjoyable, even at the worst of times. If you were told everything now, would you want to keep studying an learning? No, we must keep you guessing till the end."

 

Cavana Sedai seemed alot friendlier than other Aes Sedai, and seemed to be encouraging her to be a bit more forward. Schooling her face as the Aes Sedai spoke, Lillian found she disagreed somewhat. Gamble? "By the same token, if we were told everything now, we would have finished our study quicker, and could study other topics."

 

"Now see, that is where you are wrong. If you were told everything now, then you would expect for all your life to be told everything without learning how to discover and accept and study and analyse things to get your answers. To be a good aes sedai, you must use your brain. to simply tell you everything would mean the less usage of your brain, therefore you will not be used to having to use it. trust me, the secrets are also better after wondering for twenty five or however many years."

 

"But what of this?" Pointing to the open page, Lillian continued calmly. "This is a comfortable description of things. What happens if you like it so much that when you're told more, you're not willing to accept it? If you're given everything at once, its much harder to ignore what isn't desireable. Besides, there would have to be more than enough to the story for people to analyse and never agree on without deliberately obscuring it."

 

"Dear child, if you are not going to accept a situation when it is brought lightly, what makes you think that bringing it all at once will better the outcome? A rose is still a rose, and the thorns still hurt." Cavana felt a headache coming on, as if this was turning into a debate.

 

"Thats not what I mean." Lillian folded her hands in her lap as she continued. "What I mean is if you give someone a rose, but you don't tell them about the thorns. Then when you tell them about the thorns, they refuse to believe they are there, prefering to think only of the flower."

 

"But you see, that is the beauty of knowledge and learning. You see the outside first, then come to see the inside. One must accept it as a whole. A person may not believe that a rose has thorns, but when they are stuck with one, they shall then realise."

 

Lillian disagreed with that as well, but she didn't think that the conversation was going to get much further that way. Some people found it easier to ignore the thorns when they were pricked. Instead she conceded the point, bowing her head as she waited for Cavana Sedai to speak again. There was little else for her to do, and Cavana Sedai most likely had another reason to approach her.

 

The girl simply bowed her head in defeat and Cavana began wishing the girl would have had some retort. It was nice to have to think again with a scholar challenging her, because so often novices wouldnt speak their mind. "What else do you think of the book?"

 

What else was there about the book? That was mainly what she'd thought about it, she hadn't really given it much thought because she was copying, not analysing. "It doesn't just give information about the Yellow Ajah, it also...." Dangerous ground. "focuses on their good points in particular. There isn't really any criticism to be found in it."

 

Cavana laughed as she mentioned the lack of criticism. "The book was written by the victors and the heros, not by the losers. Of course there is no criticism. Now, if you asked a brown or a red for how the Yellow Ajah was formed, you would hear all the things they did wrong. Or better yet, ask the Children of the Light or anyone else that hates Aes Sedai. Why would a woman criticise herself?"

 

Self doubt would be a perfectly good reason to criticise oneself, but Lillian found herself feeling that wouldn't be received well. Instead she decided to answer in a different way. "Why not? What would be wrong with being self effacing? Surely it would be better to be the one to speak about one's faults then leaving it to someone rabid, like the Children of the Light."

 

"Of course not, but would a rabble of villagers trust someone that had self doubt? No. They would want someone confident and learned. And anyways, the real story is far more boring and dull for the Yellows than what we place in that book."

 

"Wouldn't being able to admit ones faults be a greater sign of confidence than hiding it? And why is the real story boring?" If one didn't ask, one couldn't find out.

 

"The real story is dull and nonexciting because after all the wonder on the truth, the truth is not as good as what you expect. But of course, that is how it is with most things."

 

"Why create wonder then? Why not just reveal it all to begin with?" There was a slight smile at the last, it seemed that they had returned to their original point of discussion.

 

Cavana laughed at this. "Would you have studied as hard if you were already told it all?"

 

That was something Lillian could answer. "I think I would be studying different topics, ones which people didn't already have the answers to."

 

"But how would you ever find accomplishment in yourself if no one else has done it. It would be rare that an novice could discover somethign an aes sedai cannot."

 

Lillian frowned, wasn't the accomplishment then in being the first to do so and to lead the way? "It is rare because novices aren't given all the information to begin with, they have to keep rediscovering information. If they had everything available to them like scholars outside the White Tower, perhaps novices would be quicker to discover new things."

 

"And here we are, back to analysing. The information that is needed is in the library, you just need to go read and find it. The library is open to you, after all."

 

"It is also a matter of time." Smiling slightly, Lillian continued. "If we are spending all our time rediscovering existing knowledge because it is obscured, then we have no time to try and find the undiscovered."

 

"Child, you are a novice. There is not much to do with your time other than learn and study. It would not harm you to study more! Sisters are often busy, yet they still teach novices and accepted. Save someone the time and learn yourself. We were certainly not told as much as you are told when I was a novice."

 

Bowing her head in acquiescence, Lillian decided now was the time to stop before Cavanna Sedai became irate with her. There were times to argue and there were times to be quiet, and it was now a time to still her tongue. The last thing she needed was for Cavanna Sedai to make a complaint which would then get back to her mentor. After all, she didn't know Cavanna Sedai.

 

The girl bowed her head, as if in defeat, and Cavana knew the girl had realised her place again. Light... "What is your name, child? And who is your mentor? I have not seen you before."

 

Exactly the question she didn't want asked. Was she going to speak to her mentor? "Lillian Tremina, my mentor is Halvie Sedai of the Green Ajah."

 

Cavana smiled as the girl cringed. If anyone had asked who her mentor was when she had been a novice, Cavana just ran away as fast as she could before she got caught. "Well, tell your mentor that I send my greetings. It has been a long time since I have spoken with Halvie." Or any of the green ajah... perhaps she should speak with Jaydena and Sirayn. An alliance, which was always in her mind, needed to be set in place. Coming back to her thoughts, she smiled at the girl and rose from her chair. "And were you sent here for punishment or fun?"

 

Lillian shook her head lightly. "Neither, Cavanna Sedai. A Brown Sister I didn't recognise said I was needed to help with the transcribing of books." Why she didn't know, but novices rarely had reasons explained to them

 

Cavana stood still for a moment, ready to go yell at the Brown sisters now. They were having a novice copy her books? HER BOOKS? How dare they? Clearing her face, she said "Sounds like a punishment to me, but that is perfectly alright, however you lable it."

 

While Cavana Sedai's face didn't betray anything, but the stillness before she spoke was a warning. "Perhaps."

 

Cavana nodded her head, set on visiting the browns. "Then have a good day child," and turned away, leaving the girl to her writing.