Solving Problems (Ravak)

[Sunny]

Sinead

Tiena had Sinead pinned to a rock somehow, spread eagled with her head to the ground and her feet to the sky, sky clad and sweating as she struggled to escape whatever it was the Wise One used to imprison her. Heat beat down on the Accepted like a merciless blacksmith’s hammer. It had no visible source -as with everywhere in tel’aran’rhiod, light came from everywhere and nowhere at once- and yet it did a fine job of emulating the blistering sun of the Three-fold Land.

Three weeks. Thirty days spent studying, thirty nights spent in varying degrees of discomfort. Sometimes the Wise Ones were present, sometimes not, but Sinead always knew when they pulled her from her dreams and into tel’aran’rhiod, could feel the difference as distinctly as she could feel the stone on her back. Sometimes she thought she could feel what they were doing, the sheer strength of will they exerted on their surroundings to maintain whatever it was they wanted her to see. This was not one of those nights.

Tonight she thought desperately of opening her eyes and feeling Ravak’s body pressed against hers in her narrow bed, of being free of the nightmare Tiena had concocted, of sleeping without dreams for once. She closed her eyes, imagining herself free, then opened them again, only to find herself staring into amused blue eyes.

“I am running out of patience,” Tiena commented. “The next time you sleep, I may put you in black and set you to counting sand.”

The Aielwoman’s thoughts tumbled to a stop, locking in place. The woman’s words conjured recent memories, memories too painful to contemplate, memories that stoked her frustration to a tempest of rage. Every ounce of concentration poured into her study of the older woman’s face as her anger and grief grew. She could not channel -Tiena had made certain of that- and yet….something else was there. If they could control this place, then surely so could she.

Get out of my face, she thought. The words were calm, and yet the force of her desire smashed into Tiena like a stormy sea against a cliff. The Wise One stumbled back, eyes widening, until at last her foot hit a rock sticking out of the ground and she fell. Sinead pushed back with her feet and tucked her arms around her face as she slid down the rock face, rolling to her hands and knees in the sand. Free….for the moment.

When the redhead looked up, Tiena stood over her. Irritated, Sinead scrambled to her feet, ignoring her nudity and the scrapes on her back as she met the Wise One’s gaze with cold green eyes. “Had you allowed me two seconds to speak before you began your ‘lesson,’” she said in a tone heavy with sarcasm, “you would know that I am departing for the Three-fold Land tomorrow. I will be bringing a guardian with me- the Tower does not allow its trainees to wander so far alone.”

“An Aes Sedai?” Tiena’s eyes sharpened.

“No, a Gaidin. His name is Ravak.” Sinead smiled slightly. “He is bonded to another, so save yourself a trip to that place where dreams are,” she added, her tone flippant. It seemed doubtful they would take her at her word, but it couldn't hurt to try.

“Why would the Tower send a bonded Gaidin with an “Accepted”? Why not one who is not bonded?”

The assumed idle curiosity in Tiena’s tone set the former Maiden on edge. “I am coming to the Three-fold Land to learn how to Dreamwalk, not to become a Wise One,” she said through gritted teeth. “What the Tower chooses to do to protect its initiates is none of your affair.” The Wise One’s eyes flashed, and Sinead felt an invisible blow that dropped her to her knees, biting her lip hard against an involuntary exclamation of pain. And so it begins again…

----

Sinead opened her eyes, groggy and disoriented, thrashing for purchase in a world that suddenly felt far too precarious. There was no light, and she was trapped, she couldn’t move, she couldn't breath. Panicked, she rolled to the side, fingers scrambling over the figure she felt there. What had the Wise Ones done to her this time? What nightmare were they-? Abruptly a brawny arm circled her waist, and a callused, but gentle, hand smoothed her hair away from her face. A familiar voice whispered urgently, “Sinead. It’s a dream. Wake up, Sinead.”

Gasping for breath, she threw back her head, her hands curling into hard muscle as she tried to get away from her captor. Only when her hands rose and her fingers felt coarse beard and curly hair did she realize who was there. “Ravak.” The name escaped from her lips in a rush and all the strength left her body; she curled against him, her head resting against his chest. Safe. Until she fell asleep again, anyway, and then.... The shame of her fear gnawed at her gut, and she closed her eyes against even more shameful tears.

Silence stretched as he held her. Eventually she shifted, looking up to find him watching her in the darkness. “I told them. Tiena did not like my attitude,” amusement colored her voice, “but they know we will both sleep in the tents tonight.” She smiled, a flash of white teeth in the gloom. “They will not care over much whether we sleep in two tents or one, nor what we do within.”

The Gaidin reacted to that information exactly the way she thought he might; she turned her attention to lips and hands that caressed hers with increasing urgency, and chose to set aside the memory of what Tiena had done.

---

Later that morning she sat cross-legged on the ground near the gate to the Channeling Yard. She wore her cadin’sor; after so many years in white wool skirts, the brown algode and breeches felt alien, and yet...she knew she would grow used to them again. She had chosen it for both utility and to make a statement to the Wise Ones: I am my own person, not your bloody Apprentice. She had pulled her hair back in a braid and wrapped it several times against the back of her head before pinning it in place, but tendrils had already worked free and floated around her face beneath her shoufa. Save for the dagger at her belt she bore no weapons, and the only other things she carried with her were a filled waterskin and a small sack of essential possessions.

Ravak approached shortly after, and with him his bondmate. Sinead exchanged a glance with him, then rose smoothly and bowed her respect to them both, acutely aware of how much she towered over the diminutive Keeper.

“Tell me about this place you wish to go,” Kaia said. Sinead described the place she had spent time as a child, the place she had gone on her very first foray into the World of Dreams. The Aes Sedai nodded, then embraced saidar. The Aielwoman watched, fascinated, as flows of all five Powers wove together in front of Kaia, forming….something….that Sinead floundered to understand. Before her eyes could even finish tracing the weave, a gateway snapped open into a place Sinead had thought she might never see again.

She swallowed hard, and looked at Ravak. “Shall we, Ravak Gaidin?” She said, in a voice far less confident than she had hoped for.

[Craig]

Ravak

Once Sinead fell asleep again, her breathing softly stirring the hairs on his chest, Rav remained awake. With eyes now adjusted for the darkness, he watched the woman sleeping next to him for any signs of distress. Tel'aran'rhiod. He hated it, this World of Dreams. Tiena, this so-called Wise One was maybe the person to blame, but if Tel'aran'rhiod didn't exist, this strong woman beside him would sleep easy. Instead she had been bullied - no, tortured - tortured to return to the Waste. His fingers twitched reflexively for the swords he normally carried. Violence was not always the answer, but if it came to it...

He sighed softly. One of the benefits of being a Warder was needing less sleep than the average person. Not for the first time, in the small hours late at night, he was alone with his thoughts. Not entirely alone. Sinead's lithe form was pressed against his on the narrow bed, and Kaia's presence seemed to murmur in his mind. She was asleep, in the Red Ajah's quarters, but he still felt her as if she too was next to him. A bed for one, and a man caught between two women.

Rav moved his arm, careful not to disturb the blankets, and scratched at his beard. When had life become so complicated? And why, under the Light, was he not more concerned about... this. If anyone, Mirin or Riahana, found out that he was in a relationship with Sinead... well, the consequences would not be pleasant for either of them. If they knew he was sleeping with an Accepted... At least I won't have to worry about my office, he thought ruefully. He had no idea what the punishment for that would be. Could they strip a Gaidin of their fancloak, once it had been earned? And what of the bond between himself and Kaia? What of Kaia? He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing his head into the pillow. Light, why was he risking it all?

He wrestled away the anxiety. Kaia's presence was firmer now; even in her dreams, she would have some awareness of his mental state, and it could wake her. He breathed in deeply, and back out through his nose; an exercise to make himself calm. Opening his eyes, Rav turned back to Sinead. A finger gently traced the outline of her jaw. This is why you risk everything. A faint smile seemed to form on the Aielwoman's face, as if she sensed him in her dreams. He pressed his lips against her cheek gently. "Sleep well, my love."
----- Kaia tugged at his laces at his top of her Warder's shirt, for once covering up his chest. Rav raised a questioning eyebrow, leaving his feeling of amusement to relay his message across to the short Domani. "You'll burn in the sun, dear boy, if you don't cover up." She patted his on the cheek, as a mother may do to a small child. It still irked him, the 'dear boy', but nothing was going to stop the First Inquisitor from saying it. Jaryd had laughed openly when he asked what could be done about it. "That's between you and Kaia, dear boy," he grinned, playing with his dagger. At least she didn't call him it in public, that was something.

His amusement was tempered by curiosity. Kaia had to be aware that one of her Warders did not always sleep near her, in the basement of the Tower. More than that, she knew how he felt, thus what his feelings were when Sinead was around. But she didn't ask. Actually, she so very pointedly did not ask, it seemed clear to the Shienaran that she had to know everything. That neither he nor Sinead had been hauled off was a wonder, but so long as Kaia didn't ask, he was... well, not happy, but content to let it slide.

Rav pulled his shirt up, concealing as much bare skin as possible. He draped his fancloak over his arms, hands resting on his swords. The Aiel would not like his swords, but he wasn't going to comprise his or Sinead's safety by bringing weapons he was less experienced in. Light, I've had the misfortune of fighting Shadowspawn. They have to be worse than the Aiel, for all of the stories. His clothes were a mix of light and darker browns, to better blend into the sands and rocks of the Three-fold Land. Apparently he'd still stick out to Aiel eyes, but it was better than going in the near-black uniform of a Gaidar of the Grey Tower. He would look like da'tsang, although he didn't understand the meaning of the term.

"Don't think of dying out there," Kaia chided softly. She looked up at him fondly. Through the bond, he sensed her mild concern, her curiosity, and her annoyance. The latter, he hoped, was simply for her duties as Keeper.

"Of course not, Kaia Sedai. I don't intend on starting a new Aiel War." The joke fell flat, Kaia giving him a thoughtful look above pursed lips.

"See that you don't. Shall we?"
----- Rav wrapped a ragged piece of black wool around his neck as additional protection against the sun. It had been years since he had put on the scarf last. Damaged from thorns and bushes, stained with mud, and smelling of mildew, any sane person would have thrown it away. But for the Shienaran, it was a little piece of home he could take to the Wastes. Plus, it did have it's practical use.

Rav's heart jumped when he saw the cross-legged form waiting from them. Sinead, clad in what Rav recognised from her descriptions as a cadin'sor, looked... well, Aiel. He'd only seen Aiel warriors in tapestries, but she seemed to fit the bill, short of the spears. More so than when she was in her Accepted dress, she seemed to tower over the Shienaran and Domani. She rose from the ground, bowing respectfully as befitting the Keeper of the Chronicles. It seemed humorous, seeing the two women in his life being so... formal to one another. His cheeks began to colour as the awkwardness of the situation dawned on him. Kaia Sedai, First Inquisitor and Keeper, happy to ignore whatever was happening between him and Sinead. Sinead of the Taardad Aiel, likely fearful of being discovered, especially by the Keeper of the Chronicles. The Pattern seemed to be playing a cruel joke, entwining the three threads of their lives together like this.

After Sinead explained the place they were heading to, and Kaia's Gateway opened, Sinead looked down at Rav with concern clearly showing in her voice. "Shall we, Ravak Gaidin?" He simply nodded, glanced through the Gateway to the other side of the world, and stepped through.

A wall of heat crashed into him, and he coughed as he tried to adjust for the sudden change. The sun was rising at the Grey Tower, but it stood just beyond its zenith now. The Gaidin didn't understand that, but he didn't need to. He surveyed the surrounding area quickly, before Sinead followed through after him. They were standing on a plateau overlooking barren land. A cluster of desiccated trees stood near the foot of the plateau, and a couple of birds flew in the distance, but beyond that there was no sign of life. They could move in two directions, with a steep cliff face on one side, and a long drop on the other. There was no indication on which way to go, if he even knew anything of where they were. The Aiel Waste covered a huge area.

Sinead followed, and the Gateway rotated and slid shut. A second wall hit the Gaidin as it disappeared. Kaia. Something wrenched at his heart, although the absence was in his head. She had been ever present since they had bonded... over a year ago? Now all he knew was that she was alive, and back at the Grey Tower. He could point the way straight to her, although he didn't know how far away that was. Kaia. Shame grasped at him. I should be by her side; I'm her Warder.

But it was too late for that. Rav made his face smooth, and turned to look at Sinead. Her eyes scanned around as his had, although she seemed to spot something he did not. She turned right, towards one of the paths, before glancing back at him. "The Wise Ones will not be far." Numbly, Rav nodded. His hands flexed around his sword hilts, and the red on his face was not from the sun. Kaia...

[Sunny]

Sinead

Sinead strode through the gateway without looking back, the familiar heat of the Three-fold Land wrapping around her and drawing her forward as assuredly as if she had been bound to its back. Ravak had insisted on going through first, which she had allowed with a soft chuckle and dancing green eyes. I may have my problems with my people, but I know my land better than you ever will, she thought with kind amusement.

The Shienaran faced away, his shoulders taut. She watched him quietly until he turned back to her, his pale face chiseled from stone. Sinead carefully looked away, eyes scanning the path they stood on. The Accepted could have found her way to her family’s Hold blindfolded and bound, but she wanted to grant Rav a moment to collect himself. She turned in the direction they would go, then glanced back at him. “The Wise Ones will not be far,” she said softly, her voice flattened by the vast expanse of desert. The Warder nodded silently. After a moment of hesitation, Sinead nodded in return, then led the way up the path and away.

They gained watchers a few minutes later, two men in cadin’sor who silently watched as they passed over the golden sand. She knew they wanted to be seen, or she would not have been aware of them until their spears flashed in her face. As it was, she was fairly certain the Warder had not noticed them yet- not visually, anyway. Perhaps he can smell them. She said nothing, however, and continue to move with confidence.

They rounded a pile of oddly-shaped stones nearly as tall as the Grey Tower itself, and abruptly another figure in brown and tan materialized before them, standing a hand taller than Sinead herself, head shrouded in a shoufa similar to Sinead’s. She and Ravak drew to a stop a span away, and the woman peered at the Aielman thoughtfully. He was quite young- still adolescent, if only by a technicality, with red-gold hair and green eyes framed by lashes the envy of any wetlander woman. “I see you,” she greeted him. “I am Sinead of the Chumai Taardad Aiel,” she said. “This is Ravak Darrow of the Grey Tower.”

“I see you Sinead,” the man said. “I am Liam...also of the Chumai Taardad Aiel.” He did not move, his face did not change, and yet his obvious curiosity was palpable.

“I see you, Liam,” Sinead said, her lips twitching upward in delight at confirmation of his identity. “You may have no memory of me, but I remember you, first-brother.” The last time she had seen the lanky young man who stood before her he had been rolling on the ground with their younger cousins. It was good to know he still lived….and also bittersweet, a reminder of how long she had been away.

----

Four Wise Ones stood in a row, arms folded across their chests. Two had iron gray hair, one auburn, and the third sun-kissed gold. Their disapproval radiated like the sun itself, each oddly youthful face stern and uncompromising as they stared at the object of their ire.

Sinead stood before them, shoulders back and chin up. “I am not here to become a Wise One, and do not wish to dress as one,“ she said firmly. “I am an Accepted of the Grey Tower and must return. I would have studied my Talent there, if you had allowed it. There are many powerful Dreamwalkers in Hama Valon.”

“The wetlands have made you soft, Sinead,” Tiena commented, her hands dropping to brace against her hips. “This will not do. Either you dress as an apprentice, or you wear nothing at all...your training will commence regardless.”

Sinead’s lips thinned as her gaze flicked from Wise One to Wise One. In a time past, she would have believed she owed them toh, and the shame would have smarted Now, however, she felt only irritation, and the overwhelming desire to simply walk away. One glance back at Ravak reminded her of the nights he had comforted her after the Wise Ones dragged her into a teaching nightmare. She could not ask him to continue to do that indefinitely.

Envisioning a rose in bloom, Sinead slowly calmed her mind, until at last she could look up at the women with a face empty of emotion. “As you say, Wise Ones.”

----

“They will have me pour their tea, serve their food, clear away after their meals,” Sinead told Ravak later that night, striding back and forth in their tent, hands gesticulating wildly. She wore a loose white algode blouse, a long brown skirt, and sturdy boots. Apprentice clothing. “I will tend to the sweat tents, do their laundry, clean their tents, carry their messages. When I am not engaged in such labor, they will teach me about Dreamwalking. I should have known!”

She spun to face him. “What will you do while I am occupied, shade of my heart?” She asked, walking over to run her fingers through his hair. “Will you learn to dance the spears? Explore the Three-fold Land? I’m afraid books are not so common here as at the Tower, and we could be here for some time.”

[Craig]

Ravak

Ravak crouched in the shade beside some tents, watching the flap of fabric that Sinead had vanished into to meet with the Wise Ones. One hand rested on the hilt on his sword-breaker, the other on the neck of a waterskin. The Three-fold Land was easily as much a test of endurance as the Blight had been, with the perennial heat throughout the day, and the freezing cold during the nights. He could handle the cold far better than the scorching rays of the sun, being a Shienaran used to long, cold winters. If not for the trick that kept sweat from touching his skin, the Gaidin would have been drenched.

He straightened up to stretch out, and at least four nearby figures rose in tandem. Aiel with their cadin'sors, spears and buckles in hand, ready to attack at a moment's notice. Ready to attack him. Rav knew that Aiel were not friendly towards outsiders, but he had given them no reason to mistrust him. He was showing the utmost restraint in almost all regards since coming to the Waste, and he never had to be reminded twice about a lesson taught. The wetlander could not follow Sinead into the Wise Ones' tents - it was Wise Ones' business, which sounded a lot like it was Aes Sedai's business. Speaking to the gai'shain like they were free-thinking individuals was a no-go, although they were pointedly not servants. And apparently gai'shain could be trusted not to say a word about anything. Some rules made sense, but others...

His fancloak draped over his sword arm intentionally. The Aiel abhorred swords, and would not touch one for any reason. Rav never wished to cause any disrespect, but he also wouldn't go unarmed around these people. If there was a fight, the outcome was clear, but the Shienaran intended to give a good account for himself, and give Sinead any opening he could provide her. His thumb rubbed against the top of the pommel, as he considered just how serious that thought was. As a Shienaran, he always thought he would die in the Blight. It was within the realms of possibility that he would never see home again.

"I see you, Ravak Darrow." The voice that came from behind him was familiar, and the Gaidin turned to face Liam, Sinead's brother. Something brother at least. Aiel terms for family members were very peculiar.

"I see you, Liam," Rav replied. He was used to this odd greeting, and some others the Aiel shared. "May you find shade and water this day." Out of all of the Aiel he had met, Liam was the only one that treated him with something other than weariness. Or if he did, it was well hidden compared to the rest of them. Rav didn't have the silver tongue of his sister, but he wanted at least one other ally beyond Sinead, if that could be achieved.

The Shienaran allowed himself to be led away by Liam, for yet another serving of what the Aiel considered food. Rav was becoming accustomed to goat, and of bread made of zemai. Zemai was some plant the Aiel grew, and it was good for an alcohol called oosquai, apparently. He doubted he would ever feel comfortable enough around these people to get drunk.

Liam said something of interest at the end of the meal. "You carry knives on you, Ravak Darrow." The tone sounded a bit like a question, but it wasn't quite a statement either.

"I do," he replied slowly. Light knows what that means to the Aiel. Rav knew enough about daggers to throw them fairly straight, but he mostly used them for show. "If that offends you, I can remove them." Just so long as you don't ask me to remove my sword.
----- Rav flexed his hands into fists as Sinead stormed around the tent, but that was for his own masculinity. There was little to nothing he could do to help her, or at least it seemed that way. They tortured you to travel halfway around the world at their behest, and now they treat you worse than a novice? But he couldn't voice his thoughts, adding his frustrations onto her. She was the one who was suffering, and he was incapable of affecting that.

He was still feeling powerless when her fingers moved through his hair, the physical connection breaking him from his reverie. "What will you do while I am occupied, shade of my heart? Will you learn to dance the spears? Explore the Three-fold Land?" Her expression was so compassionate. Light my love, how can you worry about me when you're being put through this absurdity!

Pulling her close, Ravak encircled Sinead's waist with one arm, whilst guiding her head down for a long, affectionate kiss. When their lips parted, he rested his forehead against hers. "Worry not about me, my love. I am here for you, to keep you safe-" the Light knows how "-and to make sure you return back to the Tower-" Not trapped with these vultures "Your fellow Aiel do not consider me anything but a wetlander, although your brother has been welcoming. He taught me something of 'flip'." Rav grinned in spite of himself. It was a foolish thing, being taught a game, but it was something. "Maybe I can learn the spears from him, come time. But regardless, I shall wait for you whether I have books or not. 'Til shade is gone, 'til water is gone, I shall wait for you, Sinead."