Blue Ajah Class (attn Kronos and Leala)

[Sherper]

The brown haired Accepted rode with the rest of the mounted party, as they made their way north through the city of Tar Valon. People looked up as they passed; ordinary townsfolk that stopped and stared at the fifty women and their Tower Guard escort. A few directed bows or curtsies when they noticed the Aes Sedai wearing her blue shawl, though the majority simply stayed silent and moved only with their eyes.   

 

How long had it been since she last saw the world from the outside? She thought as she rode. Twelve years. That’s how long it had been. Twelve years as the land lived on, slowing forgetting about a girl who once called herself Ellisha Falwein.  She turned her head around and stared back at the White Tower; its pristine ivory walls reflecting off the sunlight that rose from the east. The girl from twelve years ago had been awestruck by the grandeur and power of the White Tower. On first sight, she had thought about the possibilities and adventures that awaited her. In between, thoughts of unjustifiable paranoia and contemplation of escape of course, but that was to be expected.  

 

The… woman that rode in the girl’s place now only saw a prison when she looked up. Everything felt like a prison these days. The White Tower is not in the habit of letting go once it had someone snared in its webs, and Ellisha was as tightly snared as anyone could be. She had chosen to tie herself to the Tower. For better or worse, she was part of the Tower now.

 

The party rode slowly through the northern section of the city, making a turn and crossing one of the eight bridges that connected the island of Tar Valon to the surrounding mainland. A few of the girls held looks of wonder as they stepped off from the expansive bridge, their eyes wide at the sight of green forests and lush grassy fields. It was likely none of them had seen such things for nearly a decade or more.

 

The village that they were headed for could be marked out in the distance by the smoke that rose from its chimneys; pointing the way to where they should ride. The sun was nearing its zenith when the fifty finally made their way around to its perimeter.  The Aes Sedai had kept up a continuous stream of information, which Ellisha didn’t really pay any close attention to.  Something about the Blue Ajah again, she suspected.

 

When they reached a knoll beside the village, the Blue ordered them to dismount, which they did – be it in varying degrees of speed and familiarity. Ellisha swung off her own saddle and heard foliage crackle under foot as she landed in a cluster of pine needles. After brushing herself off and making slight adjustments to her cloak, she walked to the edge of the gathering and observed the village. She was close enough to hear what the Blue was saying, though she really only had half an ear open to the words coming out.

 

When the Aes Sedai finally gave the order for them to disperse, Ellisha stood by herself whilst the rest of the women hurriedly moved off towards the village, seeking something useful to do. She watched them leave, standing with her hands clasped behind her back as their voices grew fainter with the distance. Soon she was one of the few still remaining on the small hilly knoll, and the countryside was once again eerily peaceful. She sensed someone approaching behind her but did not turn or react to the figure that stopped to stand beside her. She could see him out of the corner of her eye, though a part of her already suspected who he was – or more precisely – what he was.

 

~Ellisha Falwein
Accepted of the White Tower

Edited December 22, 2013 by Sherper

[Sherper]

The white tabard imprinted with the flame of Tar Valon was already a dead giveaway, and the casual way his hand rested on the pommel of his belted Long Sword only reinforced the image of a veteran soldier. Pitart O’Connell was a man with a leathery face – be it a well oiled and weathered piece of leather. He had golden hair, though it was nearly indistinguishable in between his waves of silvery white. He turned his head to look down at Ellisha, who saw a pair of deep sapphires eyes above a mouth that didn’t look unkind. He was tall, and though not lean like other men she’s seen in the Tower Guard, Pitart looked solid and had the air of dependability about him. Here was a man who was comfortable with who he was and what he did. Who could not be swayed by rumours, hearsay and unjustified emotions.

 

“Does my lady intend to stay here forever?” Pitart spoke after a while and Ellisha turned slightly to fix him with a blank stare. He had a slight gravelly voice, as if he had once inhaled too much smoke into his lungs. Pitart seemed unshaken by the look she directed him, which was odd. She had been told her stares could freeze boiling water by very reliable sources. She frowned up at him.  

 

“Do Tower Guards usually question the orders of the White Tower?” she drawled imperiously, and with just the right hint of malice to be scornful. That should unhinge him, she thought. Answering questions with a question of her own, most people would’ve been left tight mouthed by the swift rebuttal, after unwillingly associating Ellisha’s authority with that of the Tower’s. Not Pitart though.

 

“No m’lady, but we often do just that for the Accepted. Besides, I don’t think m’lady gave an order for me to question in the first place.” He said it with a completely straight face, though it was really hard to tell whether that tight lipped mouth of his hid a smile underneath. She did a quick reassessment of him then turned her back and walked towards the village. Pitart was no ordinary man, yet Ellisha was no ordinary woman. Whilst others might have been goaded into making another rebuttal at having lost the verbal edge in the conversation, Ellisha simply chose another option in dealing with this man. Which was to say – she would ignore him.  

 

She said nothing as she walked towards the centre of the village square, and made no comment or raised any objection when she felt Pitart trailing behind her from a respectable distance. He showed no sign of anger at having been ignored and treated like an unwanted guard hound following its master. In fact, she thought she detected faint lines of amusement running across the man’s face at Ellisha’s attempt at giving him the silent treatment. It had been a long time since Ellisha felt any emotion as common as something like annoyance, yet Pitart had somehow prodded that out of her. She was annoyed. She decided she would have to lose him if she was to get any moment of peace. So, taking her time making her way through the dirt pact streets, she carefully looked about for a place she could make the slip.

 

The settlement itself wasn’t particularly big, as it did not see much trade from Cairhien, Andor or Tear. It had an Inn, a blacksmith, a leatherworker and a scattering of other craftspeople which provided the little village with its base of industry. The people here did not look prosperous as none of the locals were decked out in any silks, and the only jewellery she could see were simple affairs like small wedding rings or plain silver ear rings. Yet it was not stricken with poverty either, as she saw very few street urchins running around and the roadway was kept reasonably clean for the traffic to pass through.

 

She spotted a group of men chatting amiably with one another as they strolled along the left side of the street, carrying wood axes over each of their shoulders. Quickly and with practised footwork, she slipped in between the men who all gave her amused looks as she passed. As soon as she was clear of that crowd, she zipped through a side alley and retraced her steps back towards where she had come. Most search patterns assumed people would try and get as much distance as possible from their pursuers, which is why she instead chose to return to the street she had just been on a moment before.

 

The street seemed empty of the silvery haired Tower Guard when she appeared on the other side, though she did see a few women with banded hems walking about looking particularly giddy. She waited for a few more seconds whilst a few more pairs of Accepted and Tower Guards walked past. Then, straightening her back, she walked out on the street. If anyone had been watching, they would’ve thought she had all the right in the world to be where she was. She even walked passed a tall olive faced Accepted with a wiry faced Tower Guard as the two made their way towards the village Inn. The guard didn’t even bat an eye at her as she strode amiably past, though she had been counting on the fact that their assigned escorts were too busy looking out for any signs of danger to be noticing any Accepted that looked out of place.   

 

She carefully made her way towards the forest which laid directly north from the base of the village. The Aes Sedai had given them the entire day to find a ‘causes’ to devote themselves to, which meant she wouldn’t be expected back for another six hours. The movement of the forest helped her find inner peace as she strode underneath its green canopy. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves and with it, carried the faint scent of pollen from a cluster of wild flowers. She breathed, and felt her body relax and her blood cool. She smiled. For the first time in what seemed an eternity, she smiled. The pain and anxiety that had festered inside her; dammed by a wall of cold outward composure, collapsed after seeing the beauty of the scene in front of her.

 

The forest was like any other in the world, there were no defining land marks to distinguish it apart, nor were there any spectacular bodies of water. No artist would willingly choose this spot to create his masterful landscape painting – that was for sure. Yet to Ellisha, this was her part of the world. For that short amount of time the forest, the hills, the sky; they became part of her. The slow majestic sway of the oaks, the shade of green and brown she viewed through unfocussed eyes, the breeze that gently caressed the sides of her cheeks; all helped ease the pain of her tempered mind. For the briefest of moments, she felt like herself again. She laughed – a truthful laugh this time.

 

Something snapped beside her – a twig. She opened her eyes and allowed them to focus. She heard herself screech as something caught on her right foot and she was flung high into the air. Her world was turned upside down and she found herself dangling ten feet above the ground, the folds of her skirt draped over her head, shielding her eyes. She blushed, her face turning bright crimson as her body swayed in rhythm to the wind.  Light, please don’t let anyone see her now. Of course, the pattern wasn’t going to be that kind on her.

 

~Ellisha Falwein
Accepted of the White Tower

Edited December 23, 2013 by Sherper

[Sherper]

Saidar failed her as she tried embracing the source; a river of wondrous warmth that she just couldn’t quite reach. Panic surged painfully inside her chest as she heard voices closing in around her. They were hushed and the sounds were somewhat muffled by the wool of her skirts around her ears. Earlier notions of embarrassment due to modesty fled her as she began hearing what the voices were saying.

 

“Light, Joe. What the flaming crap did we catch this time?” a voice croaked, somewhere to Ellisha’s left. “Bloody fool, I told you that trap was more trouble than what it was worth.” A second man commented.
“Wonder if she’s got anything worth taking.” The third, smaller voice mused quietly. Ellisha couldn’t see any of them due to her limitations in sight, but she was beginning to guess what kind of men she had found herself entangled into.
“Probably nothing, I doubt she’s carryin’ anything worth taking.”
Ellisha affirmed her hypothesis and tried willing her body to stay very still. She decided her best course of action was to stay put, and perhaps the men would just let her be so she could just –

 

“Mother’s milk in a cup,” one of the men swore loudly. Something creaked ominously, as it was drawn back. A bow string.
“Light, Dorm. You know what we’ve caught?”
Ellisha groaned inwardly to herself. After a moment of silence, to which she could only assume the other men gave the first blank expressions, the first man spoke again.
“We’ve caught one of those bloody witches from the Tower.”

 

A round of none too silent gasps echoed around her as realisation must have dawned on a few of her kidnappers. This was just – not – fair.
More bow strings were drawn back and Ellisha could almost picture the sharp pointy arrow heads pointed straight at her exposed chest, followed by an even more chilling image of her tangling corpse, pin-cushioning half a dozen arrows. Fear rose in her in alarming spikes as she couldn’t help by try claw for Saidar again.

 

She of course – failed, horribly. She was too afraid; too scared to allow the calmness that was required to embrace the source. This is it, she thought as she closed her eyes, finally realising there was nothing she could do.

 

~Ellisha Falwein
Accepted of the White Tower

[Sherper]

She closed her eyes, though it really wasn’t necessary as she could see nothing anyway, and waited for the painful jolts to her body that would signal the end of her life. Something made a loud thump as it collided into its target. Ellisha had expected to feel the impact of sharp arrow heads and was surprised to realise she felt nothing. A cacophony of noise exploded around her as shouts and footsteps echoed from all directions. She frowned and was more than a little surprised when the tension on the rope that held her foot, suddenly gave way, allowing her to crash head first to the ground below.

 

She hurriedly rose, quickly settling the folds of her Accepted dress down below her knees, so she could observe what was happening. She could see her captors now. Six roughly dressed men holding thin longbows and carrying spiked cudgels around their belts. They all wore woollen shirts that had the dull texture of green and brown, explaining why she had not noticed them at first. She blinked in surprise when she noticed they were all not staring at her like she had expected, until of course she noticed the seventh figure in group; an arrow protruding from between his lifeless eyes.

 

The remaining half dozen were shouting and pointing at something, a few beginning to raise their thinly cut longbows as something zipped from tree to tree. Through gaps in the foliage she could make out the form of a man as he jumped from branch to branch, the white tabard surcoat, like a single snow drop in an otherwise pristine canopy of green. Pitart.

 

Without wasting another moment, she embraced the source.  The three oaths of an Aes Sedai forbad the use of the One Power as a weapon. Unless, as the monotone voice of Olivia Sedai somehow drawled in the back of her mind, as a last defence of her life, or the life of her warder. Well one, she was no Aes Sedai, and Pitart not her warder. But it was a life threatening situation neither-less, and if she didn’t do something quickly, then her safety could still very much be forfeit.

 

She allowed the source to sweep over her; fill her until the flows pulsed quickly inside her very sense of being. Then she channelled.
She was never very good at controlling earth. After some extensive testing and a few helpful guides on the subject, she had determined water, air and spirit were her strongest elements, with fire coming in a close second, and earth falling in at last. Yet despite her limitations, she was still able to perform the relatively straight forward weaves. The ground heaves at her call as rocks, metal and even some buried roots all shot up to the dismay of the surrounding outlaws. Cries of pain rang out from a few of their throats, but most sounds were lost to the gigantic wave of earth that rose and eventually – fell, around her.

 

When all was eventually allowed to grow quiet, no trace could be seen of the six men that had stood there a moment earlier. She stood erect in a smooth ring of disturbed earth, her heated gaze eyeing the aftermath of her full unleashed wrath. She felt no pity for the men she had just helped end. She thought they deserved it. Perhaps she had even let them off too easily, allowing them a burial they probably don’t even deserve.

 

A figure peaked hesitantly from the side of one of the tree trunks and Ellisha only just caught herself from releasing a ball of fire, when she recognised the form of Pitart walking towards her. The old man eyed the disturbed ground around them then shook his head.
‘Lady, you have some serious explaining to do.’
Ellisha let out a sigh. Suddenly feeling tired to the bone.  
‘I guess I do that, Master Pitart.’

 

The sun was on course to its resting place on the distant horizon when the two figures finally emerged from the forest. It had felt weird at first; opening herself to this man she had known for all of two hours. Yet the more she pushed on, the more she felt she wanted to let it all out. It had been a wonder how much she had forced herself to dam up; the emotions and the pain from her own sense of self denial. Pitart had saved her life, yet perhaps the creator had brought her to him for another purpose.

 

They strode purposefully towards the grassy knoll where the Aes Sedai and the other Accepted were waiting to depart, not wishing to be left behind or cause any more delay. Ellisha walked a step or two ahead, with the old Pitart keeping up beside her and to her right. Kind of like a Warder.
‘I don’t know if I’ve said this.’ She began, feeling a slight blush creeping to the side of her cheeks at the unfamiliarity of the statement she was about to produce. ‘But thank you.’

 

‘For what?’ Pitart asked, puzzled and looking down at the side of Ellisha’s head.
‘For…’ she paused, then continued. ‘For rescuing me.’

Pitart smiled. They both knew what the double entendre in there meant. She wasn’t just referring to the outlaws.
‘No need to thank me for doing my duties, m’lady.’ 
‘and stop calling me your lady!’ she barked up at him.
Pitart’s smile broadened.
‘Of course, m’lady.’
Ellisha shook her head, and couldn’t help but smile along with him.

 

~Ellisha Falwein
Accepted of the White Tower

Edited December 25, 2013 by Sherper

[Sherper]

Aril had smiled at her when she finally gathered up enough courage for the apology. The girl’s ready acceptance was astounding, and it made Ellisha feel a bit guilty inside, knowing all the horrible things she had done to the poor woman over the past year. If there was one thing her experience in the forest taught, it is to cherish what little you already have, instead of being overwhelmed with what you do not. It was a simple fact. Yet it was an important lesson for her to learn.

 

The pain was still there, yet somehow, even though there had been no physical antidote, her troubles sudden felt a whole lot more insignificant compared with the rest of the things in her head. Somehow, as miraculous as it was, she could smile again. She did so now as she settled herself down on a once familiar spot in the gardens. It was situated in the East wing, and once – perhaps long ago, it had been her favourite place to spend an afternoon with a book. Her violent temperament cause by the residue from her testing, had made her distrustful, and blinded her eyes to the more important things in life.

 

Her hands closed around the straps to her leather satchel and she rummaged around until she had gathered the items she had been looking for. She laid the leather bound book down on her lap and used it as a hard surface for the parchment. Then, when her quilt had been wetted with ink and the clean vanilla parchment spread across the book’s surface – she began work on her essay. This time, writing it herself.

 

Justification for a cause
by Ellisha Falwein

 

A ‘cause’ can be described as one’s goal in life. As such, to talk about one’s cause is like talking about what makes you; you. It is a question that few bothers answer, and of those few, often only until their later years. There are many causes which one could chose to devote oneself to, and none of them should take moral superiority over another, as they are all equally important.

 

Most people of this world have a very limited time to live, as such I’d imagine most of their causes and life’s strife would be devoted to fulfilling the essentials to living. I on the other hand have been given a unique opportunity to be truly different from the limitations of the common masses. Aes Sedai are known for their long life spans. And thus, they should not worry about food, shelter, or other worldly gain.  

 

I cannot think of what I should really do with this piece of knowledge, or the opportunities to which this entails. What I do know however, is I will strive to do some good with it. To help improve the lives of those around, and those who needed it. To bring ‘justice’ as many Blues describe. To bring dignity and protection to those that cannot do it on their own.

 

I don’t think it’s necessary yet to limit myself with the goals of a specific Ajah yet. To me, they are all equally important in their own way. Yet perhaps, in the few years I have remaining before I must choose, I will have found a cause that I could see my set of skills be used to the full.

 

She returned the cork back on top of the ink bottle then cleaned the nib of her pen before settling the parchment out to dry. Eyeing the words written on the page, she smiled as she check one last time the meaning behind those letters. Justification for a cause, yes, she had found a reason to continue on. Once again, her life had a purpose. And a purpose meant there was a reason to live.  

 

She grinned and set the essay inside her bag, to be handed in to the Aes Sedai tomorrow. She stood and pushed open the door to her bedroom, eyeing the sorry state of some of the neglected furniture inside. She realised how much she had let herself go in the past year, and vowed there to herself on the spot, to be making few changes.

 

~Ellisha Falwein
Accepted of the White Tower.

Edited December 25, 2013 by Sherper