Reflections of a different kind [Aran, Cairma, Rosheen]

[silhouette]

The little fire that they had stoked up was merrily crackling away. They had been in the Braem woods for a little under half a day now, and Rosheen could already feel herself relax. The last few weeks had been pretty stressful. Light, the past few years had been pretty stressful. Between handling trainees, and taking on more students who wished to know more about Misdirection and Balance, she had scarcely had a moment to herself. That was where Aran came in of course. Ever the helpful friend, he had taken notice to her troubles with focussing, and had suggested a short break from things.

 

Under the guise of a mission to Caemlyn, they now found themselves in the Braem woods. It was still warm out, as Andor had a warm summer this year. The sun had only just settled underneath the horizon. It was peaceful. Though Rosheen had first felt a little guilty about leaving all behind for her own leisure, she found she could get used to it now. Listening to Aran and Cairma bicker was entertaining enough. It reminded her of her parents, in a way. Roshana had a way with words, but Urseen was never phased by it. That was what went on between Aran and Cairma as well. Cairma tried to get a stab or two in, but it all slid off Aran’s skin.

 

Rosheen yawned and stretched, and stared into the fire some more. She should have done this ages ago. “This is nice.†She muttered, emptying her mind of all things even distantly related to her training and teaching. That still left her with a lot of things to think about. Like the event with the dreadlord, the one Aran had taken to. That had been odd, but Rosheen was fairly sure she was used to the idea by now. Aran still seemed interested enough in women, if the way he treated Cairma was anything to go by. The more Rosheen thought if it, the prouder she was of her decisions. It hadn’t been easy to hand over the control of the situation to Aran, and yet it had turned out rather well.

 

There were all these little changes that she still had to get used to. Of course there was the arrival of Ursana. He was doing rather well now, with Aran as his mentor. There was Vasya, which still confused her every now and then. Most of the time he was keen enough to spend time with her, but there were still moments when he was overcome by a sense of duty. Apparently spending time with Rosheen hampered him in doing that duty. She’d have to change his mind on this eventually. “I wonder when I became this determined.†She said out of the blue. “I used to care a lot less about… things.â€

 

~Rosheen Tahn Sakhr

[Guest Arie Ronshor]

The ride 'to Caemlyn' had not started the way that it had been proposed to her. Not that Cairma could say that she was disapointed. Not completely. It had started off with a tempting offer of path training, convincing her that the trees were a far better and studier target then the measly dummies set up around the yard. Each of which were broken far too easily by Beast.

 

Of course, as soon as they were riding out of the yard... "So, where are we going?" "not to Caemlyn".. "What? But what about..." "Lied. It's a vacation." "So no training." "Nope."

 

And that was the end of it. And the days got increasingly better, except for the constent heckling from Aran. Cairma was always picked on as a child and tended to stay silent. The Challenge with verbal sparing with Aran was always out of her reach, and she tended to resort to simple and cheap shots that only got her laughed at. The surprise of the trip was her immediate liking of Rosheen, who also, took many shots are Aran. Anyone that insults Aran with flare was alright in Cairma's books.

 

But after the first few days of heckling, Cairma settled in to a deeper thought that was randomly interrupted but didn't pull her away from her the trail that her mind was set on.

 

Why did she bother to fight?

 

Climbing into a nearby tree and hangng her arms and legs down from the branches, she took a deep sigh as she overheared Rosheen.

 

"Light only knows." She said with a bit of a far off deeper tone that she tended to adopt when deep in thought. "I didn't expect everything to get easier to ignore, but I also had not expected to care so much in the first place." She thought to the times where it was just her and basic survival. "Or even what I cared about. An odd path he wheel weaves."

 

 

 

Cairma

TG

[Wayfarer]

Rosheen was being a gimp.

 

That was to say Rosheen had been limping around as if she were some old woman as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She couldn't even really focus on her drinking in the commonroom and when a person couldn't even be one with the mug then there was something seriously wrong in Aran's mind. Aran had disapproved greatly, in fact he had gone so far as to suggest they take a trip out of Tar Valon for awhile. And of all things, he'd suggested they stay somewhere such as the Braem Woods. While Aran disliked staying outdoors for a time, he knew Rosheen loved it well enough so that was what they would do.

 

Of course, Aran had wanted some extra company in case Rosheen decided to brood in silence for the most part, so he had needed someone to come with them. Cairma had been an excellent choice because not only was she a friend she also jumped at the idea of training in something new. Which was what Aran intended, even if the words didn't quite come out the way they could have. He might have suggested they would be training quite heavily out in the Wood, and then after they had cleared the yards and were on their way mentioned that their training might be more along the lines of rediscovering how to waste some days away. Cairma hadn't been quite so thrilled then and had had some choice words to say on the matter.

 

Something which had begun a constant banter that occured daily. Cairma tried to needle him, Aran then successfully needled her. She hit him and Aran needled her some more after putting himself out of distance. Rosheen had more often than not settled for being a spectator, though she weighed in every now and then, not that it evened the odds at all as Aran was quite confident he trounced them quite thoroughly. They didn't always agree on that, but Aran didn't mind the slightest.

 

During their journey even Cairma had become quieter. Becoming just as introspective as Rosheen, which to a degree annoyed Aran but he supposed that Cairma needed the break as much as Rosheen did. He, on the otherhand, knew he was perfectly well adjusted and had no need of such. People like him were few and far between, and he'd gone through a great deal of his thinking alot earlier in life.

 

But then, when both your traveling companions become mute you tend to have little choice in the matter. He wondered if he had made the right decision when it came to staying in Tar Valon and continuing to wear the Crimson cloak. That cloak was a prison in many ways, it required him to take orders and he had never really taken any before except from his father or brother. Even then, they hadn't even had to order, they just had to ask and he would do what he could if he would. He had once been without limits, there was nothing he couldn't do and whatever he wanted he could have.

 

Something new had come to him when he had donned the crimson cloak, the feeling that he was needed. Ever since he had been taken underwing by his father and others, he had only experienced that feeling vaguely and hadn't given it much thought. But here on this very trip were women that needed him. Rosheen had needed to learn that there was more to the world than black and white, or needed his experience when it had come to their time in Murandy. Cairma in turn had needed his help to come out of her shell, she had hidden away for so long that it had taken alot of patience to win her trust and lure her out.

 

It was a hard thing for him to embrace the idea that while they needed him, some part of him needed to be, well, needed. With his skills and his experience he'd been able to win wealth all too easily and spend it on all sorts of amusements. Yet now, one of the things that had warmed him most was the first time he'd managed to make Cairma smile, or shown Rosheen that there was more to life than what she had known. The revelation was depressing, it also made him think about his students that he'd actually come to like. He liked making them realise there was more than what they knew, and more importantly putting them on the right path to figuring it out. Admitting that would mean admitting that Ginae had done him a favour and the day he said that to her was the day he was wearing a cairn.

 

The others were struggling with problems of their own and it was during a day spent lazing about that the pair decided to begin talking. Caring less about things for Rosheen and how life had changed for her, Cairma's ramblings were all over the shop in turn but somewhere along the same lines. For Aran, lying on the grass beneath where Cairma sat, he had his own two coppers to throw as he sounded as if he was pondering some deep truth. "I never really cared about things when I was younger, I was so young and reckless and intemperate..." Trailing off, Aran then grinned and added in a much lighter tone. "Can't say much has changed."

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

[silhouette]

Rosheen barely listened to Aran and Cairma. They were there, but they might as well not be. So much to think of… and Rosheen wasn’t a big thinker. Some people pondered on things for ages, others… they just did. Rosheen was one of those. She was a do-er. But that wasn’t a bad thing, right? Certainly it wasn’t. then again, it had gotten her into a lot of trouble in the past. But it had also brought her a lot of good things. She’d always considered coming to the yards a good thing, and that was one of the things she just did. Her head shot up when she recognised Aran’s tone of voice. Was he making fun of her? Of them? “Think, not do.†She reminded herself.

 

Because if she’d just done, she would have leapt up and kicked Aran, just because she thought he was making fun of her. But what if she’d been wrong? What if he wasn’t making fun? See, she had to take that sort of stuff into consideration now that she was rising up in rank. Whenever Vasya decided to give her some command, she had to start thinking through her actions. Light, but she hated it. “Sometimes when you think of things too much, you get scared of them. So in a way it’s better just to do stuff. But on the other hand, just doing something can be wrong. It landed me in the brig once. Not that that was actually my fault…â€

 

She pondered on it some more. “I wonder if Malvolio would have lived if I’d thought before I acted.†And not just Malvolio. Perhaps other too. Maybe Ursana wouldn’t have been in the yards if she’d thought before running away from the caravan. Maybe he would have been. “I can’t feel responsible for every single thing that happens to people though. I mean, surely Ursana would have done something useful with his life if I had stayed around. And surely you would’ve grown a conscience without my influence.†She grinned at Aran. “Maybe you would’ve ended up in the Braem wood at this time of year anyway if I hadn’t been at the yards.†She said, glancing at Cairma.

 

Sighing dramatically, she reached over to one of Aran’s saddlebags and pulled a bottle of heavy liquor out of it. She took a swig from it, before tossing it over to Cairma. “Then again, I need to take some responsibility. If I do stupid things because I get drunk now, it’s not the alcohol’s fault, or your fault for bringing it. It would be my fault because I’d gotten drunk. Not that I do stupid things when drunk…†she thought back on her drunken wrestling match with Vasya, which had then lead to more interesting things. “I mean… err… sometimes things are just out of your hands.â€

 

~Rosheen Tahn Sakhr

TG

[Guest Arie Ronshor]

Ooc:

 

Missing post, Cairma dwelling.. realizing she doesn't have to listen to Aran.