Waters of Home (Attn:Elia)

[Damien]

Danos al'Sheen

Danos took a deep breath in the Gardens as he entered the tranquil setting. The last big rain had caused several of the beds to overflow, and Danos had been sent here to sweep out the paths and help reset some of the paving stones. He hadn't cared for the mud and the mess, but seeing the Gardens then had made him realize how beautiful it was.

As such, now that he had a moment of spare time from the combat classes, and the demands of the Grey Tower, he had decided to address his growing homesickness. It had caught him unawares, there was much to fill a Drin'far'ji's day here at the Tower, and he was making amazing friends and learning more than he could have imagined. But as he followed the wide paths, and listened to the murmur of the water as it tumbled over stones, he realized he had missed Jornhill, and the Argent river of home.

Often in the heat of summer, he would sneak off from the cooperage and join the other youths of Jornhill in swimming, or simply soaking feet in the river. He had never thought how much having the Argent flowing near town, its gentle waters unassuming, had meant to him. His frustrations, his joys, all had been shared with the countryside. I've let myself become over extended, like my first day of unarmed. Moving one foot, and keeping the other planted only ends up with you on your backside, thought Danos with a wry grin.

Still he was enjoying his time in the Gardens, and as he saw Dedicated and Novices studying beneath the trees, or enjoying the flowers, he realized that perhaps that was the purpose of such a large beautiful area. He could get used to spending some free time here, and as he saw an Aes Sedai painting the buds and blossoms, he used all the grace he had learned to avoid disturbing her. Perhaps I should take up art or something, like those Shienarans. Many of the borderlanders I have met seem to have a creative outlet, thought Danos as he allowed his mind and feet to wander.

[Craig]

Elia

The red-haired Accepted sat on a bench in the south-west corner of the Gardens, watching water cascade down from the tall outer wall of the Gardens. There was nothing, as far as she could tell, at the top of that waterfall. Certainly there was nothing on the other side of the Gardens' wall. It had to be a ter'angreal, but on a scale and scope beyond what she expected. It was true that the horrific silver archways below the Grey Tower were also large, but that seemed special and malevolent.

Elia moved that thought away. The Arches. She could remember that experience far, far too vividly. Swallowing down the sickness that pushed to overwhelm her, she practiced the breathing technique taught to every novice and soldier. That she had to do it showed the level of her upset.

She forced herself to visualise a golden rose. This was yet another technique taught to every channeller. She was a bud, opening up to a glorious light. Saidar flooded into her, suffused her entire being with a warmth that made the world seem more vibrant and alive than possible. The Shienaran could feel every drop of moisture against her skin, hear every splash of water landing in the lake, smell sweat and lying water and upturned earth.

Elia looked for the source of the scent. She heard the crunch of the gravel beneath the Drin's boots before he came into view. He was tall, and well built for a man in that shade of grey. His head was covered by a mess of brown curls, and even from this distance, saidar allowed her to see his smile. She turned her attentions towards him, watching him approach with a warm smile on her own face. Her red hair hung loosely over her shoulder, plaited in a simple braid. Malachite green eyes twinkled as he approached. "Good afternoon, Drin'far'ji."

[Damien]

Danos

Danos paused when he was greeted by the red haired Accepted. He was unsure of the proper greetings, as his schedules had not yet offered him much in the way of interaction with the channellers of the Grey Tower.
"Good afternoon Accepted. My name is Danos al Sheen, and I confess I'm new to the tower. Did I interrupt you in your studies?" he asked earnestly.

The young woman in front of him had a fetching smile, Danos could feel the warmth and friendliness in it. He found himself thinking of the few women his age he had known, many of them had been newly wed, devoted to home and new children while he secured his trade. His mother had often despaired of him finding someone, but now that seemed for the best. Still he had often enjoyed female company in Jornhill, and hoped to make friends as he built a life in the Grey Tower

[Craig]

Elia

"No, not at all. I have a free hour. Would you like to join me?" Elia gestured to the open space on the bench beside her. She shimmied across to one end of the seat to make room for the sizeable Drin'far'ji. The beautiful Accepted was of average height, but Danos towered over her by a clear two hands. He even had the girth to match his height. Despite herself, the image of a similarly tall man - a soldier as opposed to a Drin - crossed her mind, and she failed to suppress a shudder. Hopefully he'll think it's the breeze.

"My name is Elia." There was little aside from the same shade of hair and the Shienaran accents to match the elder Darrow with her younger brother, but she still hadn't worked out which side of the fence to fall on when it came to the initiates of the Warder Yards. She took the cautious route. The Light alone knows what Ravak does when it comes to introducing new recruits. "Are you new to the Tower? I don't believe I've seen you before?"

[Damien]

Danos

Danos found himself nervous as the young woman in front of him moved over for him to sit. He had spent the first couple of weeks with Master Ravak's warning bouncing around in his head, and so had gone out of his way to avoid the many women bustling about the Grey Tower. Still the red haired girl was strikingly beautiful, and when she was warm and friendly, Danos felt it thaw the reserve he had been applying over his normally open nature.

He sat gingerly on the bench, his back muscles protesting from the day's earlier labour and he hoped he managed to cover the discomfort by brushing off the leaves and dirt stuck to his knees.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Elia. I know for certain we have never met, I'm certain I would remember. I am indeed new to the Grey Tower, I arrived about two weeks ago from Andor, and since then have poured myself into the studies and demands. Today was actually the first day I decided to shirk practice, and instead enjoy the waters," Danos said as he gestured to the many water features surrounding them.

He couldn't quite place her accent, the Grey Tower was a dizzying array of accents and nationalities for one who had grown to manhood in rural Andor. Jornhill of course had the occasional traveller, but Danos had never had much of a head for geography and cultures.

[Craig]

Elia

The warming presence of saidar filling the Accepted allowed her to perceive Danos' injuries, from the way he carefully placed himself down on the bench. She knew, only from the telling, that a Drin'far'ji's life was one often filled with pain. Before you learnt how to dodge and block blows, you got hit an awful lot. Still, it was a touch distressing to see that right before you. Flows of coloured light spun out from her, silver and blue and yellow. She had partially formed the weave for Delving before she stopped herself, and let the mesh fade into nothingness.

"I can understand why you would want to rest," Elia said distantly, still watching the flows of the One Power dissolving between them, "what with your injuries." With her attention elsewhere, she didn't see the light of surprise in the Andoran's eyes. "Just don't let your mentors catch you, or you may get assigned to the pigeon coop." Green eyes met hazel. "Take it from one who knows, it is not a pleasant experience. That or the stables. Although you'd likely have to do something disastrously wrong to be assigned either of those chores." The way her nose wrinkled indicated that she had experienced that at least once before. Fortunately only the once.

Elia turned to face the waterfall. She still felt the spray of the water and heard each drop land in the lake. She reckoned that if her eyes were closed, she could visualise it in her mind in perfect detail. "The waters are beautiful," she commented absently. "Not quite like the Erinin though. That river is magnificent." The red braid was pulled over her shoulder as she turned back to Danos. "Are you from a part of Andor near the Erinin? I never actually saw it for years, even though I was born and brought up within a few days' travel of it."

[Damien]

Danos

Danos stiffened in surprise when Elia mentioned his injuries. He wondered if everyone at the Grey Tower learned to notice such details.

Grinning when she described having to muck out stables or work other odious chores, he chuckled "Well I haven't had the pleasure of that myself yet, although I must say rolling armour in barrels of sand, and sharpening blades under the sharp eye of Master Ravak, well that can make you feel like a hen with a hawk nearby."

Waving at his shoulder, he simply said "It's an old injury that I pulled in today's unarmed class, luckily a good soak later will make it right."

As she asked about the river and Andor, Danos had to stop and consider the map he had often seen at the merchants shops. "No Elia, my village Jornhill lies upon the river Cary north of Four Kings. It is a smaller river than the mighty Erinin, but flows strong enough to reach Murandy. My village used the river for barges, our wine and timber sent to Four Kings then beyond," said Danos as he tried to describe where Jornhill lay in Andor.

"I noticed the waters when I was first cleaning the stone paths, and decided to come an enjoy the sounds and cool air. At home we would often swim to cool off and enjoy the Summer's heat. The men's circle had even made a platform and partition for the younger children to enjoy wading in the jetty," said Danos, his voice wistful as he considered home.

[Craig]

Elia

Elia didn't understand the unusual punishment that Ravak had handed out - what good it was to roll armour in barrels? - but she wasn't going to attack him either. Her big brother may skirt some of the rules when it came to her or Sinead, but he would not take kindly to her interfering with how he ran the Drin and Ji. "A hawk, mm?" Ravak's eyes could turn to steel and frighten you where you stood, but she never had thought of him in terms of a predator. Elia wasn't sure if a hawk was the most apt description, but that hadn't been Danos' point.

The sweetness of saidar seemed to sing out a clarion call for her to see how true Danos' claim about an old injury was. Now that she was aware of herself, she could form a Delving weave and understand how bad the damage was. Oh, the temptation. Her fingers fidgeted on her lap as she wrestled with herself. With a reluctance, she let the One Power go. A drabness blanketed the world as the Creator's warmth left her. The cool air that fanned out from the waterfall seemed cold, and she clutched onto herself, hands gripping her upper arms as a shiver ran through her. Composure did not come back to her immediately, but she listened to Danos, trying to force her flirtation with saidar aside. What had taken possession of her?

"That sounds lovely," she replied with a minor quiver to her voice. "I've never actually swam before." That was not too surprising a statement for a Shienaran, where bodies of water that weren't frozen would still be ice-cold outside of summer. "But we have bathhouses in Shienar. I presume it's similar. A good way to unwind after a day's struggles."

Elia pushed back into the bench, stretching her legs out. She forced herself to smile, ridding her external appearance from any of her internal worry. "So what takes a man from Jornhill hundreds of miles from home to join the Warder Yards? There must be easier ways to meet women, Danos al'Sheen."

[Damien]

Danos

Danos noticed Elia shiver in the wind off the water and almost without thinking, shrugged off his coat and lay it across her shoulders. The air was chilly with only his tunic, but still he knew it would warm once the sun settled.

"I must confess I find it hard to imagine the luxury of a bathhouse. That would be amazing after a long day, or during the chill of winter. But yes I would imagine they are very similar. Although, in the wrong time of year the currents could be strong and only a fool fought the river then," said Danos as he relaxed and enjoyed the conversation.

When Elia asked about women he laughed, the sound rich and merry. "I can assure you, as a man almost done his trade and with a good source of work I did not lack for daughters and widows with picnic lunches," said Danos wiping his eyes from the laughter , "But Marzell Sedia had witnessed me doing something foolhardy and brave. So after she healed me, we talked of the Shadow, the Pattern and everything she believed was coming as a Green. She told me I could marry, raise children and none would think less of me. But she had seen in me the spirit of the mountain as she put it, and as I considered her words, I chose duty," said Danos as he recalled the long evenings spent in his bed recovering, the talks with Marzell.

"Plus, this gives me a chance to see more of the world than my village and river, already the Grey Tower is a sight straight out of the gleeman tales, so I am content. How did you come to Grey Tower, it seems far from where your home must lie, if I recall the maps at all," asked Danos, curious to the woman's story.

[Craig]

Elia

Danos would have made for a very fine Shienaran, choosing duty over the ideal pleasantries of a normal life. The Accepted had set aside everything to become an Aes Sedai, but she had never given any true thought about marriage or children. Was that even a choice for Aes Sedai? Her nails ran counter to the scales of the coiled Great Serpent on her finger, as if trying to peel them away to expose something hidden or lurking beneath. She hadn't truly thought this through. Now is not the time.

Elia wrapped Danos' jacket around her. It was gargantuan compared to her narrow frame, more like a towelling robe than a piece of outerwear. The heat from his body still resided in the woollen fabric, as did the scent of mildew from the old rain water, mingled with his sweat. She wrinkled her nose, although not unkindly. The gesture from the Drin was very warmly received, and she gave him an appreciative look, slight spots of colour reddening her cheeks.

The Shienaran bit down on her lower lip before answering his question. "I was discovered by an Aes Sedai from the White Tower. Once a woman is trained in the One Power, she can sense the gift in others." Elia spreads her hands over her knees, although that act was concealed by the grey woollen coat. "She took me from Fal Dara to Tar Valon, where I trained as a novice for ten or so months. The White Tower is quite unlike the Grey. More so than they are alike, in my opinion. If you think Ravak works you hard, it was nothing compared to how even the Accepted treated novices in the White Tower. How some novices treated their peers." She pursed her lips. "Sufficed to say, I came to the Grey Tower when I could, a year and a half or so ago. And things have been a lot better since then."

Elia tilted her head to the side, considering the tall Andoran. "Maybe one day, when I am Aes Sedai and you are a Gaidin, you can show me your Jornhill? Teach me how to swim, perhaps?" She giggled a little in amusement. "And I can introduce you to the Shienaran bathhouses in Fal Dara. They are... quite a memorable experience for outsiders." Her smile was filled with mirth.