Messy Misunderstandings [Attn: Ravak]

[Sunny]

((Background: A Second Chance at New Beginnings (incomplete), then Watch Me Burn and then What Dreams Reveal.))
Sinead

The morning’s classes and chores dragged interminably. Elia noticed Sinead’s discomfort, but the Aielwoman had insisted she simply did not sleep well before departing for her next class. If she spoke to Elia, the whole story would come out. There were only two people she could speak to about what she knew. I would rather step on hot coals then talk to a Treekiller about honor. So truly, only one. Eventually the bells rang for lunch. The Aielwoman took a roll and some cheese from the dining hall, and slipped away. If Elia saw her depart, she did not follow.

Through her conversations with her roommate, Sinead knew where Ravak Darrow would likely spend his free hour after lunch. She ate her pilfered lunch as she walked in that direction, mind wandering over her experience the night before. Somehow the fact that she could Dreamwalk seemed less important than what she had seen on her first experience with it. And why did it take this long for the ability to show? A question for the Ages.

At last she arrived at the Library and slipped inside. She curtsied her respect to the Brown who tended the counter at the front. “Is Ravak Darrow here, Amelia Sedai?” She asked. She spent more than enough time amidst those stacks to know every Aes Sedai who tended them, and for many of them to know her, as well. The Aes Sedai gave her an odd look, but gestured her toward one of the great doors. With another curtsy -Light, they still felt awkward even after all this time- the Aielwoman followed her direction.

She walked along the rows of shelves, awed again by how much knowledge the Grey Tower had managed to collect. She had no hope of reading all those books, even if she joined the Brown Ajah and made reading her sole reason for existence. As she walked, she peered down each aisle, but found no sign of a Darrow -or anyone else, for that matter.

Finally she reached a space where a collection of comfortable chairs had been arranged to face one another in small groups. The space stood empty, save for a man in Ji’alantin gray, red hair catching and reflecting the lantern light. He sat gracelessly at ease, his nose buried in a leather bound book, one hand absently scratching at his head.

The Aielwoman puased. To disturb him in that moment of obvious joy seemed….wrong. However, even as she hesitated, half turned to leave, he lowered the book for a moment, glanced around- and met her eyes. She flushed, and curtsied. “I see you Ravak Darrow,” she said, crossing the space between them. He looked surprised. “I am a friend of your sister,” she said by way of explanation. “My name is Sinead.” She looked at her hands, for some reason suddenly self-conscious.

[Craig]

Ravak

Rav idly thumbed through pages of a book, reading but not really taking in anything. His thoughts were focused on other things, and slowly he was trying to put things in order. Certainties and truths that he thought he knew were no longer certain or true. The grey uniform seemed oddly constricting, whereas before it had been liberating. He had returned from this survival test with a clear focus in mind. Now that focus seemed to be dribbling away like grease down a drain.

He stirred in his chair, moving to clear the problematic thoughts from his mind. Women. An unfair thought perhaps, but that did have a ring of truth about it. He frowned, and forced himself to read. Forced himself to read, and not to think about his problems.

Some time later, and Rav was starting to get into this tome. The language was a bit pedantic, but then the author was some Ogier from Hawkwing's time. They could be excused for being long winded. He scratched his forehead, and shifted again, turning to glance around. This section of the Library was quiet, but still people passed by.

The flash of white in the corner of his vision made him twist further, and his eyes drew up and up to the tallest woman he had seen. There were tall men in the yard, but this Novice - Light, a Novice? - was easily as tall as the biggest. That was not the only surprising thing about the woman. Her flame red hair was lighter than his own, but red hair of any type was rare. That, her hair, seemed somehow familiar.

"I see you Ravak Darrow." Well that's two more things. The accent was the first, and that odd way of speaking the second. "I am a friend of your sister. My name is Sinead."

Slow realisation dawned on the Shienaran's face. Somewhere in the midst of their argument, Elia had mentioned a roommate called Sinead. Nothing about her height, or where she was from. No accent I recognise, and with Elia's talent that shouldn't have been possible. Elia could mimic any accent from the plains of Toman Head to Cairhein and Tear.

As the Novice approached in an odd gait, Ravak raised a hand, offering the seat opposite. Instead, she sat on the ground in the middle of the circle of chairs, her head almost equal with his, slouched as he was. Something stopped him from straightening, however. He didn't want it to seem like he was lording over her. Then why not take a chair?

He placed the book down on the side table. "I see you Sinead." It seemed the right thing to say, even if he didn't have the foggiest as to what it meant. "My sister spoke of you, briefly." No point pretending he knew more than he did, which was her name. He did straighten then, if only to see if anything was in her hands. No books, no message... "Did my sister send you? Or, has something happened to Elia?" Concern touched his voice with the last. He adjusted his right sleeve, feeling the weight of the throwing dagger buried within. I'll burn the heart out of anyone that hurt Elia.

Edit: Typos

[Sunny]

Sinead

Sinead’s eyes crinkled at the Shienaran’s obvious discomfort with the traditional greeting, but she appreciated his effort. Few wetlanders had shown her that courtesy, knowing or not, and many had done much worse. That he did not move also struck her as worthy of note. Is he so confident in himself that he feels no need to move, too courteous to raise himself above me, or simply lazy?

She pressed suddenly cold hands against her knees as she sat, thankful for the wool to warm them. It was one thing to walk the truth of a woman's dreams, and quite another to bring that truth to the man who had not featured within them. Especially not when the one in question was this Ravak Darrow. Elia had been effusive in her compliments, and…they did the man little justice. How anyone, even a Treekiller, could choose a dark-haired stranger with a trickster’s eyes over such- she cut herself off.

Oddly amused that a wetland warrior’s shoulders and steady gaze had distracted her from her purpose when a Wise One’s warnings had not, she finally looked up at him. “No, Elia does not know I am here,” she said carefully. “She has spoken of you often, and told me what you like to do, however. From that, I surmised,” she waved a hand to encompass the Library.

“Is she well?” His single-minded concern reminded her of Elia’s, and she allowed herself a brief smile as she nodded her head.

“I came to speak of another matter,” she said hesitantly. What is this? I am no lily-handed wetlander to fear a man’s discontent! She straightened her back and met his eyes. “Your sister tells me you are a man worthy of knowing. That you keep your word and other than this odd issue of running away from your family hold, you live with honor.” She saw pink in his cheeks. “I would not come to any lesser man.”

He looked confused, and she shook her head. “The words don’t come so easily as I thought they would, now I see you,” she said wryly, tucking a lock of fiery hair behind her ear. “I came to tell you to guard your heart more carefully. The woman you love does not -is not what- you think.” She clasped her hands in her lap. “I have seen it.”

[Craig]

Ravak

"I came to speak of another matter." The hesitation in Sinead's strange voice did little to relax Rav, even if Elia was well. Being well wasn't the same as saying nothing was wrong. His fears relating to Elia were unfounded. "I came to speak of another matter. Your sister tells me you are a man worthy of knowing. That you keep your word and other than this odd issue of running away from your family hold-"

Shame, newly resurfaced after his meeting with Elia, turned his cheeks red with mention of his flight from Fal Dara. He had replayed the event so often in his mind, had considered all of the benefits and drawbacks that spun off from that moment, that he was no longer sure if he had run, or if he had left his home. There was a marked difference between the two. Honour. He seemed to recall that he left to become a better soldier, in order to serve Shienar better. Well, he was a better soldier now, had even killed Shadowspawn, but he had not considered returning to the north to serve. Why not? An obligation to the Tower? An obligation to a woman? He still thought it possible - somehow - to fulfil all of his obligations. The question of how remained.

"-you live with honour." The Novice continued. That could have been Sinead, or it could have been Sinead quoting his sister. Either way, it didn't answer the question in his own heart, where the truth was forged. Why had he left, and when could he return?

"I would not come to any lesser man." Rav frowned at that, questions of honour barraging his thoughts. I'm not wholly convinced I am not a lesser man, but I strive to be a good one. Goodness and honour were not the same, not by an uncomfortable stretch. Sinead shook her head at his frown, answering... what?

“The words don’t come so easily as I thought they would, now I see you. I came to tell you to guard your heart more carefully. The woman you love does not - is not what - you think. I have seen it.”

The tone couldn't have conveyed a strong meaning if she had tried. "I have seen it." Even with the strange voice, the tone's inference was clear, the meaning unmistakable. But how long had it been since Sinead had acquired this information. Rav already knew that Katrie and... that man had been intimate. That was before he had got her to bond him, and weeks had passed since. If this knowledge was old...

Some rational voice at the back of his head questioned why he continued to protect Katrie. There were strong reasons not to. Was his word a simple enough counter to all of those reasons. His word, before she had gone off and had some torrid affair with him. A slight growl built up in his throat. Thinking of the man set his temper on edge.

Rav was already sitting straight, but he pulled himself more erect, and leaned forward with just the slightest hint of restrained aggression. This Novice would be sorry enough if she was just poking at raw wounds. But what if this is something else? He couldn't force that thought to temper his speech. His voice was steel running across stone. "What did you see? And speak it plain. Light knows what my sister has you doing, but I won't let either of you..." Either of them what? Elia wasn't the sort to conspire against him. She let her fury fly openly when confronting him. So was this Sinead? To what end? There were no answers to that. No answers, aside from whatever she had to say was likely the truth.

[Sunny]

Sinead

He sat up straight, and despite her discomfort, she found herself drawn to him once more. Stop that. “What did you see? And speak it plain.” Sinead stared at him, surprised. How else would she speak? And the comment about Elia… Wetlanders are exceedingly strange. She shook her head.

“Elia knows nothing of this matter,” she said, making a dismissive motion with her hand. “She spoke to me of your care for Aikaterine, and while I trust her intentions and love her dearly...I thought you should hear what I know directly.” Elia would have known that morning had she been Aiel, and Aikaterine Riatin would have paid her toh with her skin. However, that was not the wetlander way.

“Last night I walked in the World of Dreams,” she continued, her voice flat. “I care deeply for the honor of the Darrows, and I wanted to ease the heaviness in my heart." Her lips twitched up on one side. "Unfortunately, I did not find the answer I hoped. At first I saw the bedchamber of a man named Dakson Torellion. Then I saw a tavern called the Blue Falcon.” His expression did not change, but something about him stiffened. He knows something. “After I saw these things, I…” she hesitated. “I entered Aikaterine’s dreams.”

Ravak blinked. “You what?”

“I needed to know the truth of this woman,” Sinead said simply, “and that need pulled me to her dream.” No need for him to know she had not done so intentionally. The Aielwoman looked down at her hands. “She dreamed of a Gaidin with black hair and blue eyes. First-" she changed what she had been about to say. This man did not need to know the details of what the Treekiller had been doing. "-surrounded by light...and then on a great plain, connected by a thread of fire, but being ripped apart by a bottomless pit.” And whispering her sorrow...more pain Sinead could spare the Shienaran.

She met his eyes. "You asked me to speak plainly, Ravak Darrow. I looked into her dreams because I believe she carries a child, and I did not believe it possible to be yours."

[Craig]

Ravak

...whatever she had to say was likely the truth. That understanding weft its way through each and every word the Novice had to say. That knowledge made each damning sentence feel like a fire brand being pushed against his skin. His insides seized up, the pit of his stomach falling away to be replaced by a yawning maw that threatened to draw the rest of his insides in.

Katrie. There were so few parts of his life that he considered certain, for all of the regularity in his daily schedule. He had abandoned everything he knew when he left Fal Dara, and had arrived at the Grey Tower with what he now admitted was a poor sense of himself. He threw himself at that regime of training to order to cover up the loss he had felt. That was one reason he had never written back home; too much like accepting responsibility and admitting what he had done.

In those early days, Aikaterine Riatin had been a rock which he could direct himself by. She had offered her trust into his hands, and he had gripped on for survival. If he could reestablish himself as a person of honour in one person's mind, then he had a chance of making others believe, and eventually himself too. For a time, he had believed that. For the longest time. Katrie had even accompanied him into the wilderness on his survival test, at least in his dreams.

Dreams. His mind snapped back to the present. Teeth bared, growling furiously, he was glowering at the Novice with all of the hatred he wanted to direct at Dax. Where had things gone so wrong with the then-Ji'alantin? They knew each other from an excursion into the Blight that saw a Gaidar die, and almost claimed both of them too. That shared experience should have afforded him a modicum of loyalty, but instead Dax had snapped up the Accepted exiting his room. It didn't faze him one bit what Rav thought. Those mischievous blue eyes of the Tairen drew Katrie in and-

He was no longer growling, but spittle was inelegantly hanging from his lips. Nails dug into the arms of the chair, and his baleful glaze was directed inwards. The cerebral side of the Ji'alantin's mind had recognised something of what Sinead had said around the World of Dreams. He only had the faintest appreciation for what could be done or seen in this dream world, and at another time he would have had an assortment of questions to ask. He may even have been concerned about people entering his own dreams, and would have asked about it had the thought occurred to him.

...whatever she had to say was likely the truth. Questions bubbled up. How real was the World of Dreams? How telling were Katrie's dreams? He had certainly had dreams that bore no relation to the truth. But even if the dreams weren't true, Katrie's betrayal had been. He tried to shake that thought loose. Like all of your other thoughts shirking responsibility.

"Tell me," the Shienaran started, his voice wavering between outrage and dismay, "how true is your world of dreams? How sure are you about..." He couldn't finish. It was all Rav could do not to break down in tears of frustration, or storm out hunting for Dax.

[Sunny]

Sinead

Some women found pleasure in the spread of gossip. Sinead could see it in their faces when they gathered in the halls, speaking in hushed voices about this person or that, or tittering with fingers to lips as the object of their machinations walked by. She had been that object on more than one occasion, until they had finally grown bored. They found other targets for their games, however, and when one woman gained the serpent or left the Tower, another filled her place.

Sinead had never found joy in such pursuits, and she certainly found none in that moment, waiting for Ravak to speak. She had only just met the man, and yet thanks to Elia, she felt she knew him already. At least, the version of him that his sister sees, she corrected herself. She had come to him not out of any desire to sow chaos, but simply because she knew that while her news would hurt...it would hurt less than the Accepted's lies or Tower gossip. Those were not concepts she could explain to him, however, and therefore she simply waited.

Finally he seemed to return to himself and spoke, his voice an odd combination of grief and anger. "Tell me, how true is your world of dreams? How sure are you about..." He did not seem able to finish.

"Very sure," she said softly, eyes dropping. "What happens in the waking world happens in Tel'aran'rhiod, and vice versa." Her hips throbbed a reminder of the beating she had received for her explorations, and her cheeks darkened ever so slightly. "I went there with a need, and it took me to places that bore significant relation to my question." She thought that's what Tiena had been saying, anyway.

"Those with the ability can also access specific dreams, and that is what I did with the Treekiller." Accidentally. "I am sure you are aware that humans build walls around our deepest feelings?" She glanced at him, but did not wait for a response. "Sometimes those walls are built so high that we can't even see over them ourselves- at least, not while awake. However, those barries fall when we sleep. In our dreams we live our own truth, no matter what that may be."

She peered up at him, head still lowered. "I....am sorry."

[Craig]

Ravak

"Very sure." That was a verbal dagger to the heart that he couldn't pry loose with denial. He felt anguish and agony, mixed in with a sense of loss he hadn't felt in years. He had been betrayed, by the person he loved - thought he loved. Rav crumpled within and without, leaning forward in the chair so he was staring at his feet. He forced himself erect, but that gaping hole in his stomach doubled him over again. He may have acknowledged shame for presenting himself in front of a stranger so, had he any mind for her. He needed to scream. He needed to writhe. He needed to breathe.

He pushed himself straight, pressing his spine into the back of the chair. He wasn't some child with a broken heart, yet that only made it worse. Feverish dreams aside, he had still thought he and Katrie were destined to be together, but that dream alone that shown him a path towards his hopes for salvation.

"I swear by the Light and by my hope of salvation and rebirth that I do not love Dakson Torellion..." She hadn't just betrayed him; she had betrayed herself. "...or may the Creator's face turn from me forever, and darkness consume my soul."

And there it was, the truth. She, Katrie, had never intended on keeping that promise for all of her words and her actions. She had been dreaming of Dax, surrounded by a glorious light. They had been linked by a cord of fire, Sinead had said. The fiery passion of something entirely untoward.

Rav schooled his features into something resembling composure, although rivulets of wetness ran from his eyes into his beard. Sinead, for all of her part in this, had her head tilted towards the floor, even if she met his gaze with those emerald eyes. "I am sorry."

Had he the energy, Rav would have returned a puzzled look. Instead he leaned forward, and lifted her chin with his index finger. "Do not apologise," he said with as level a tone as he could muster. "You have done me a great honour, and lifted a burden from my shoulders."

[Sunny]

Sinead

Sinead’s fingers twisted into her skirts. Were Ravak Aiel, she would avert her eyes from his pain, granting him relief from the shame it brought him to display his feelings so openly. Neither he nor she were in the Three-fold Land, however, and the wetlanders had a different attitude about emotions. They wore their hearts out where everyone could see them, and no one thought less of them for it. For the first time in seven years, Sinead thought of ji’e’toh- and set it aside in the face of something more important. His tears bring him no shame, she thought. Especially given the care he took to keep his face still despite the obvious misery in his eyes.

Suddenly he leaned forward, putting one rough finger under her chin and tilting her head up to face him. She froze, staring at him with wide green eyes, a million thoughts flying through her head at once and then scrambling together into nonsense. He loved Katrie, and she had just brought him terrible news, she had no right to react this way! And yet...fiery hair and grey eyes could not be denied. She had not expected to see such anywhere west of the Spine of the World, and now they faced her with quiet intensity, mere inches between. “Do not apologize,” the Ji’alantin told her. “You have done me a great honour, and lifted a burden from my shoulders.”

His hand dropped, but the place where his skin had met hers glowed. That heat spread as Sinead realized what he had said, and her hands flew to cover cheeks that burned to the touch. She scrambled to her feet, the confusion in her heart ruling over the logic in her head as she fussed with her dress, looking anywhere but at him. She pushed her hair back, realized that exposed her treacherous face even further, and spread her white skirts in a far deeper curtsy than required. “I- I hope-“ her hand flew to her mouth and she stared at him in wide-eyed consternation for several long moments. “May you find water and shade, Ravak Darrow.”

With one deep breath Sinead abandoned her honor and fled as quickly as her white-clad legs could carry her.

((This then leads to Punch First, Punch Hard, but it is not quite done.))

[Craig]

Ravak

Rav watched the novice depart behind watery eyes. Of that, he had little idea what to think. Maybe Aiel don't like to be touched. That logic seemed hollow, but he didn't have any energy to think through it further. Now alone, all of those emotions of rage and fury washed over him, submerged him, filled him. The point of one dagger was absently grinding into the arm of the chair. The urge to destroy something in frustration was strong.

Stiffly he rose from the chair. Ignoring the books he had pulled from the shelves, he stalked towards the exit of the Library. "Katrie may be an oathbreaker," he growled under his breath, "but none of this would have started without Dakson flaming Torellion." A plan was already forming, involving his two swords, and finding Dax in Hama Valon. It couldn't be too hard, not with the name "Blue Falcon" as a guide post. Sinead had done him a great service, but it wouldn't be over until Dax and Katrie both felt the force of his vengeance.

OOC: There, properly capped it off