*gets tangled in apron*

*trips over broom*

*falls down*

*can't get up*

send help

Arinth’s head was filled with doubt and confusion. He didn’t want death and blood. He had always been strong. Fighting and soldiering seemed like the natural things for him to do. How much thought had he ever given into what he was doing?

He shook his head as if trying to dispel the new questions that were overwhelming him. He had done what was right. He had not raped, murdered or pillaged. He had not invaded. He had defended. He would not have done such things. There was a line and he hadn’t crossed it. There was blood on his hands but there was not guilt on his conscience.

“When the way ahead is unclear and surrounded by doubt, trust your heart.” The man said. “Let your heart be your guide.”

Had he been wrong to fight the Seanchan? He hadn’t stopped to think about it, but they had not been raping, pillaging or murdering either. There had been order. If they had not been a foreign invader he would not have even blinked. Yet, he had fought them. He had killed them. In their eyes they were doing nothing wrong and the blood on his hands was innocent blood.

A soldier’s blood is never innocent. That is given up the moment one takes up the sword. Arinth's heart and head argued with each other. He could not see the Seanchan as he had before though. They were not the embodiment of evil that he had previously imagined them to be. It had been a convenient image to create because it had kept his actions just and his conscience clean. Until now. He held his sword in his hand. He looked at the hilt, the blade, the edge. It felt suddenly heavier than it ever had before. All he had to do was set it down. His hand trembled.

He had a responsibility to the others. Leadership and companionship, these were things he owed them and they deserved. He couldn’t just abandon them. Others had come and gone though.

“The obligation you feel to that sword is a distorted image of the truth. The others can set their swords down as well should they choose. It is not for you to protect them if they continue to choose the way of death. You do not speak because you know it to be true.”

The trembling subsided. Yes, he could set the sword down. He could walk away. He had to try. He owed it to himself to at least try to seek peace and life instead of war and death.

He opened his mouth to answer the man and hesitated. There was a single bark in the distance and then the air was filled with barking. The dogs sounded both angry and scared. Arinth looked at the man before him and he saw uncertainly flash in his eyes.

 “Come out to help the wolfkin,” Arinth said he heaved a shovelful of earth over his shoulder.

“Get out of the citadel for a while.” A second shovelful flew over his shoulder.

“Get some air.” The dirt continued to fly.

“Get some sun.” He grunted as his shovel struck rock and he worked to get it loose.

“It will be good for you.” He laughed at his own naïve foolishness as he got under the rock. He had been talked into coming so easily. The rock was bigger than he had originally thought. Squatting down, he secured a firm grip and strained to lift the rock. His muscles tensed and bulged with the effort. He had gotten softer in his time since his promotion. Too much paperwork. He increased his efforts and the rock broke free. With a heave, he lifted it up and set it on the ground outside of the hole. Struggling to regain his breath he climbed out after it and sat down. He dragged his forearm across his forehead to wipe the sweat away.

He saw Ely working nearby. She was working harder than the others around her. Her face was set, and her focus was firmly on the task at hand. His thoughts returned to their earlier encounter. His attempt at a joke had fallen flat. She had not found him as charming as he had hoped. He had never had much luck with women though. After a curt reply she had walked off, shaking her head. He had been too hypnotized by the movement of her body to think of any kind of clever remark.

There had been a moment before that though. She had locked eyes with him, and he had felt a gravitational pull to her that was beyond his power to resist. There was more in those deep, dark brown eyes than he had ever anticipated possible. In an instant, everything else around them disappeared. The other people faded from his awareness. Their voices were engulfed in a muffled silence that was broken only by the loud pounding of his heart.

As quickly as the moment had happened it had ended. She had stepped back and turned her eyes away. There had been a moment though. Hadn’t there?

With a heavy sigh he pushed himself back to his feet. There was work to be done. He threw himself back into the task. There was a certain point, if he exerted himself enough, that all thought fell away. There was only the work, the dirt, the roots and the rocks. Bend, lift, heave. He settled into a steady rhythm. As the sun moved through the sky the work gradually progressed.

Some time later he was interrupted. A fellow bander was standing in front of him. “Take a breath Arinth. Go get a drink. You can’t ignore the heat on a day like this.”

Arinth nodded. The man was right. He climbed out of the hole and went off to find a drink. Before he realized what he was doing he was walking back with two drinks. The water was colder than he had expected, and it was refreshing. The others had all gathered around to take a moment to rest as well. He saw Ely’s gaze move over the other workers as he approached.

“Looking for a drink?” He asked as he held out the drink. He refrained from offering his earlier grin again.

Before she could react, there was a call from the hole and then a rush of movement. It sounded like something unexpected had been discovered. He stayed where he was. Whatever it was, it held little interest to him compared to the woman that stood in front of him.

I'm here too with Grey my tower guard trainee

Arinth felt his heart pounding in his chest as sweat dripped into his eyes. He blinked it away painfully as he tried to hold his breath. A fly began buzzing around his face. He tried to swat it away quietly with as little movement as possible. The last thing he wanted was to get in trouble with the kitchen staff. It was never a good idea to get on the bad side of those that fed you. They could serve him disgusting food. They could spit in it. They could even poison it.  The fly settled on his nose and his eyes crossed as he looked it and tried to wiggle his nose to get it to move.

He listed as the footsteps continued shuffling forward until they came close to the tree where the fruit had been left. They stopped suddenly. Maybe they wouldn’t notice? A string of angry curses reached his ears. Had they said something about holding the person responsible down and making them drink a warm cup of milk? Would it be possible that he could also get some cookies with the milk? He looked around for the others. They must have all found better hiding spots then himself. He didn’t see them anywhere. If he could just wait a little longer, he would be in the clear.

Suddenly he felt his hamstring tighten up from the way he was crouching. With a painful groan he fell forward, rolling past the rock and out into the open. There was a sudden cry of surprise followed by an angry shout.

“You stole the fruit! You smashed it up and left a terrible mess. You have the maturity of a two-year-old child. How can you call yourself a soldier?”

Arinth held up his hands. “It wasn’t me.” He said as he tried to duck his head and back away at the same time. “I was just walking past and stumbled. I fell on something. It must have been a piece of fruit.”

“Lies! You have fruit all over yourself, your hands, your face, your clothes!”

He felt a thud and an explosion as something his him. He looked down to see a smeared piece of fruit. He looked up just in time to see another piece flying for his face. He ducked and felt is fly just over his head. Another piece followed and he was forced to step lively to the side to dodge it. Another piece came even more quickly, and he twisted to avoid it. A melon came flying towards him and he jumped, lifting his knees up as high as he could to make sure it missed its mark. He heard the sound of it striking the ground behind him and breaking apart. He landed roughly on his feet and dropped down to one knee. He looked up in time to see yet another piece of fruit lying towards him. This one he was unable to avoid. It crashed straight into his forehead and he toppled backwards.

*Pokes head in*

*Mutters that someone should really clear the cobwebs out*

Arinth cringed inwardly as he heard his own words. He had not intended to speak them out loud. If it had been a different bander, he would have smacked them over the head. He couldn’t really do that to himself though, at least not without looking like he was the most unhinged of them all. This was all Arkin’s fault. If the man hadn’t been wandering around meeting new people and making friends, he would have been able to anticipate Arinth’s stupidity and find a way to prevent him from saying something so incredibly rude. Arinth made a note to have a word with him later.

At his words, a presence appeared quickly at his side. He tensed for a moment, not knowing who it was or their intent. He relaxed slightly when he recognized the bander from earlier. She might not like him, but she was infantry. She would have his back. For now, at least.

She answered his question quickly and smoothly. So quickly in fact, that any surprise the men from the Black Tower felt, they were able to quickly conceal.  Arinth slowly released the breath he had not realized he was holding. He did not relax fully though. Her hand was at her dagger. It could just as easily be used to poke him in the side as it could be used against the Asha’man. Women were crazy in the best of times and did things like that without need of a good reason. He had given her a good reason. She could have his back and stab it too. It was best not to relax.

One of the men answered with a chuckle that he was not crazy and that the taint was gone. Arinth smiled back at him. It was just the kind of thing a crazy person would say. How could the taint possibly be gone? Nothing to fear. Arinth joined in the laughing of the others. He was starting to feel crazy himself.

As the conversation shifted and others began talking with each other he felt the woman lean in close.

“What in the seven hells was that? If this goes sideways, Amon will have our guts.”

A shiver went up his back. Had her lips brushed his ear or had that been his over active imagination? He was not used to having anyone so close.

“Easy,” he said slowly. “I was just breaking the ice.” He offered what he hoped was his most reassuring smile. Movement began around them. Arinth looked around and took his last bite of food. The food had been surprisingly good.

“It looks like its time to get to work,” he said as he dusted his hands.

“Memories are meant to be a gift, yet you look like yours weigh like a mill stone around your neck.” The main said in response to Arinth’s answer. Arinth gritted his teeth and looked over at the man. The tinker was well into his middle years. There was a fair amount of grey that had crept into his brown beard. Wisdom was supposed to come with age but form the way the man talked Arinth doubted he had any.

“A gift?”  He snorted. He had never seen them as such and the memories that were his most frequent visitors were not kind. They carried guilt, regret, pain and anger.

“Memories keep us from forgetting those who have been part of our lives. A rose bush that blooms even in the coldest winters of our life.” The man said. He spoke as though he really believed what he said.

“You have been favored with good memories then I would say.” Arinth replied.

The man glanced down to the sword Arinth wore at his side. “There is a reason my memories are of a better quality than yours. The way of life we choose is like a garden. When you plant violence, your harvest comes in blood.”

Arinth snorted. The man had a way of talking. He would give him that. That didn’t mean he was right though. Did it?

“You see that I wear no weapon?” The man asked. “There is a correlation between that and my memories. I have been favored with good memories, but it is because of the path I have chosen to take. I have embraced life and so it is what I am surrounded with. You have embraced death and so you find yourself surrounded with ghosts of the dead.”

Arinth unbuckled his sword and looked at it as he held it in his hand. Was it as simple as that? His path would only lead to more violence, blood and death. Even he knew that. Who would be next, Arkin, himself, a new recruit? His mind reeled at possibilities he had never considered.

“You can set it down.” The man said gently.

Arinth’s grip on the sword tightened. “I do not draw my sword to do evil. I fight to save the innocent, to protect my brothers.”

“Few men believe that what they do is wrong, but the world suffers all the same. Break the cycle. It is not weakness, it is strength to have the courage to embrace a better life.”

Arinth shook his head. It wasn’t that simple. All his justifications and reasoning struggled to find purchase against the onslaught of the man’s reasoning. He fought because the fight needed to be fought. Someone had to stand for those that were weaker.

The man looked at Arinth’s scars. “How much of yourself have you given? How much have you sacrificed? I see your scars, they are beyond what I can fathom, yet I know they are only a portion of the pain you bear. Your soul is weary. It deserves to know what peace is. Stay with us and lay your sword down. Should you find our ways cannot also be yours then you are free to leave. You owe it to yourself to try, to find out, to know."

Arinth looked at his sword. Could he do it?

Thanks for the welcome back. I would love to see BB come back too.

King Rodel, I saw your intro post. I'm not sure that any of my characters would fit the stranger but I could make a temporary character for the RP. If you would like me to let me know. I'd be able to get a post up this weekend. I don't want your RP to get stalled before it ever gets going.

Progress to Lieutenant

-RP of Choice:  Eb's Return 7 Posts (Completed)

-RP of Choice: A Mark of Memory-7 posts (Completed)

-RP of Choice:  The Blade or the Leaf-4 posts (Working on 5th post)

-RP with Band Ally:  Strengthening Ties and Making Stuff Go Boom-3 Posts (Ongoing)

Where had all this fruit come from? Arinth wondered as he stumbled around. The ground was littered with the decimated fruit. His clothes were covered in the remains. His hair and his beard were drenched in the warm, sticky, fruit juice. He looked around at his companions. Their appearances were all similar to his own.

The day was beginning to turn from warm to hot and he found that the juice combined with his pouring sweat made for a very pungent smell. The fruit pile was vastly diminished. He assumed someone in the kitchens would be very upset when they didn’t have the fruit they had planned on using. The thought that the fruit was part of dinner made him scratch his head. He couldn’t ever remember it being featured in the meals that were served. Though if other soldiers had the same inclinations to destroy stocks of fruit he could see why.

He laughed as he remembered catching Yriel with a particularly ripe mango in the back of head. The explosion had been a thing of beauty. He sat down on a rock breathlessly. The others recognized the momentary truce and took their seats as well.

Before anyone could speak, they heard someone coming. Arinth, assuming it was whoever owned the fruit, dove behind the boulder and held his breath. I hoped the others had been as quick as he was or it was likely that there would be consequences for their actions.

I'lll edit this with updated progress soon.

Corik stood with his feet planted solidly on the ground. He was not a big man, but he felt unmovable. He felt the resolution of his convictions harden inside. The doubts he had secretly carried before vanishing like mist in the sunlight. He had believed that the Children were right of course. That had never been in doubt but had not been completely convinced of others in the world who sought to do good jut not with the same method the Children of the Light employed.

Appearances were deceiving though. There was good in the world. There was also evil. Some evil was obvious, so obvious that anyone could recognize it. Murder, robbery, and corruption were all things men condemned in the open. Evil was deceitful though. Some evil wore the appearance of good. Its words twisted the truth and confused those with good intentions. Aes Sedai were the masters. Their “oaths” bound them to not lie. It did not stop them from deceiving. That was evil. They sought power. They sought to control the world.

He had known before that he stood against the darkness. He had always been committed to fighting the dark one. He now knew that the less obvious forms of evil were no less evil. In some ways they were even more evil for the way in which they deceived those who sought no evil. He would fight the dark one and his evil in all its forms. He would fight the Aes Sedai.

Any CotL characters around? I am interested in doing some RP'ing with Corik.

"We can go into the Stedding? Are you two going?"

Arinth shrugged. “It makes no difference to me,” he said, trying to sound casual. It came out gruff. He shifted his focus to the woman speaking. He had seen her drinking with Arkin the evening before. Anyone that could keep up with the scout was worthy of his respect. He took in her hard features, the scar going up from her eyebrow to her hairline and her gold hoop earrings. For a moment he caught a fleeting impression of who she really was, and he felt something stir. He shifted his gaze, reeling internally, and cleared his throat.

"Let's go then. Better not hold proceedings up or the Sergeant will be on our backs...again."

Arinth glanced back at the man she was referring to. He knew the man. He was of equal rank himself but there was no point in mentioning it. He wasn’t running this show. He didn’t want to be the one in charge. The less he had to manage the better. That is not why he had come. He nodded his agreement and caught a curious glance from Arkin.

"So, we're not staying inside the Stedding,"

Arinth grimaced before he could regain control of his face. The Black Tower was good. They were on the same side. But how much would that count for when they went insane. There were three of them. It didn’t seem like it would be that much of a stretch for at least one of them to go crazy today. If that were to happen, he would be as helpless as a big hairy baby. Best not to dwell on it he tried to convince himself.

He knew the stedding was up ahead but did not know where. He could see no visual difference. He was strolling along casually one moment and the next he stumbled. A strange feeling swept over him. He glanced around and noticed the others had sensed it too. It felt as though he tumbled back in time to his childhood, wrestling with his friends and pilfering delicious snacks. A time of innocence and security. He noticed Ely stumble and almost took a step towards her before he stopped. What could he offer? Why would she welcome his presence? He saw the wolfkin step to her and shifted his gaze away.

“That was a bloody strange feeling,” he muttered as he reached Arkin.

The lodging was further away than he had anticipated. What was the point of making a gateway miles away from their destination? He wondered grumiply He pushed those negative thoughts away. Those that had made the decision had made it for a reason. He would have to place his faith in that. He fell into a steady pace. Arkin moved easily at his side like a breeze through the trees. Arinth glanced at the other banders around him and took notice of those who held their own and those who struggled. He helped with the training of several of them and it was important to know which ones needed to work a little harder. They would take it as punishment, but it wasn’t. His job was to prepare them as well as he could and to protect them. Sometimes that meant tough love. If that is what it took to keep them alive, he would accept their grumbling and dislike.

After a time they finally reached the work area. Arinth took a moment to regain his breath as he drew in deep breaths. He needed to dedicate himself a little more to his own conditioning it seemed. Instructions were handed out and Arinth stepped forward to help with clearing the debris. The Black Tower men were there too. Don’t say anything, his mind thought. He found himself speaking none the less.

“So which one of you is the craziest?” He asked.

I'll go check out the RP. I can also make an appearance as an NPC.  I've also got a Bander, CoL, Tower Guard and Menagerie owner around.

That does sound pretty awesome. The cool thing about having a world that developed is you can stand back and pick any number of characters to write your story about. Because I had already built the world in my story I was able to just step back in time and pick a character and create their origin story.

4 hours ago, The Bard Babe said:

Woooow no wonder we like writing together Arinth, we sound like we have very similar processes. 

I always get bogged down by worldbuilding. I adore it, but it takes me too long and I get stuck and want to include all of it in my story at once and then I lose interest in the story because I already know what's happening haha. 

 

I also do exactly that with moving backwards, finding what happened to my characters before the main story to be super interesting, often moreso than the story. I like being avle to sort of flit to wherever without the constraints of ya know, a plot XD Unfortunately, that means I run out of plot very quickly, hence never finishing stories. 

I love world building too! With my current story there is the King and then there are like 29 other Lords/Houses that make up the country. Without those 29 there are powerful ones which rule their own regions pretty strongly and have the loyalty of the Houses around them. For each of the 30 Houses I've had fun determining who is married to who, who the brothers/sisters and children are. Fleshing out the houses has quickly given me hundreds of characters I would say. I've also got a list of who the most renown warriors are. I've got the map of the country but haven't created maps of the individual cities. I think that may be one of the projects I work on next. The tricky thing for me is to not get so wrapped up in the world building that I forget to write, lol

I am happy to share with you too Cass. I've been developing in my head a main story for a long time and I've put some effort into building the world. I found I was having a hard time picking up where I left off in the story though so for my Nano project its a prequel of sorts about a character in the world. Its kind of like an origin story.

I also don't edit until I finish writing. I find it really slows down my progress. I am able to write more if I just get it out. Even if it needs editing its still better than being stuck and having little or no progress.

22 hours ago, Cass said:

Wow!! Congrats and thanks for the inspiration!

 

I've been super hectic with uni/ work/family too and missing the joy of writing <3

 

I think my biggest issue at the moment/for a long time is I'm so tired I feel all blocked and out of ideas >.<

 

You give me hope!!

Hang in there Cass! Being exhausted and having no time has been on of the things that has really held me back too so I completely understand. The only way I'm getting any done now is that I just had to resolve to make the time to do it. I would just suggest writing something fun. Don't take it too seriously. If you are enjoying the story that you are writing it is easy to get started, and to keep going. :-)

*dusts hands*

Another 1100 words. Not too shabby. Things are about to get interesting

That could be fun BB! Glad to hear you are writing too. Well I'm off to get my goal in for the day before bed.

Anyone else here working on a writing project of their own outside of the WoT world? I'd love to hear about it. I've worked on my own stories for years now but haven't written much in awhile because of school and work and family. However, I sat down tonight and hammered out 1k words for a new story. It felt good to write my own stuff after being so long away from it. I just wanted to say that and celebrate it along with the work anyone else may be doing too.

Arinth couldn't help but giggle when he saw Arkin tuck his flask back into a hidden pocket. The words still echoed in his head of how he had just said that Arkin wasn't drunk. Somehow the contradiction just got funnier and funnier and he laughed and laughed, barely able to breath.

The man frowned at them. He was used to drunk soldiers coming to him of course, but that didn't mean he had to like him. "If you are wasting my time get out now. If you are serious, tell me what you want and we can get down to business."

Arinth swallowed back a final giggle and tried to look at the man seriously. He found it to be a difficult task as the man seemed to swim back and forth across his vision. "Um, can you do a sword and shield? A fist? A, um wolf, or bull?" Arinth had never really thought about what he would get. It was suppose to mean something right? It was suppose to honor those he had lost? It also had to be awesome though right? He couldn't have like a prancing pony after all.

"I can do any of those if that is what you want." The man answered. "You'll have to decide on which one though.

Arinth scratched his beard and looked over at his friend. Arkin looked back him but otherwise no help. Why don't you start with the dragon fang on his arse and come back to me?" Arinth suggested. The man did not look amused. "Alright, alright." Arinth held up his hands. "What about a fierce bear rearing up? That would be pretty impressive and fierce right?" The Bears had been one of the nicknames assigned to his unit at some point in the past and he had also connected it to the infantry. Arinth grinned. He was going to get a tattoo.

Arinth laughed at his friend's question. He straightened up and tried to take a step. He found it more difficult than he had imagined. He was tilting to the side despite his best efforts to correct himself. He found that he was leaning against Arkin and relaxed. Arkin would help. It was already too late when Arinth realized the error of his judgement. The ground rushed up to greet him and he met it with a painful thud.

He sat up. "I know a man. I don't know how he does it but a few of the men have mentioned him." Arinth said. It wasn't necessarily common for the soldiers to have tattoos but there were a few. Arkin offered a hand and Arinth made it back to his feet on the third attempt. He slapped Arkin's back with a laugh.

"And this time of night is the best time to find him. Its when he does the majority of his business. Drink and tattoos seem to go together."

The two began walking. Arinth took the lead because he was suppose to know where they were going. Even if he had been sober he wouldn't have been completely positive where it was. Luck was on his side though and they found the man they were looking for. He was a grizzled veteran that had a hard look to him. The room was surprisingly well lit. It looked like a system of candles and mirrors but Arinth wasn't positive.

"What do you want?" The man asked.

"A tattoo." Arinth answered.

"You are drunk." The man observed with a frown.

"A little. But he isn't." Arinth said turning to Arkin. "That much." He added with a laugh after looking at Arkin.