A Walking Tour (Attn: Percy)

[Cal]

Zuin walked to the kitchens where the Soldiers ate. He had already eaten but had been sent back by an Asha'man to find a new Soldier whom he was supposed to show around the Tower. The thought that he would be selected to show a new person around shocked him. He wasn't the most confident or knowledgeable Soldier, at least in matters of the Tower, but the fact that they had chosen him pleased him. it wasn't anything important but it was a step forwards for him.

Another step forward occurred when he walk talking to the Asha'man this morning. It was the first time he could recall not being terrified when talking to an Asha'man. The feeling of fear hadn't always been their but at those times he had usually been distracted or excited. That was the first time he hadn't been excited an not afraid. Of course the feeling had gradually decreased over time and now it was gone. He supposed it was the fact that he had realised that the Asha'men wouldn't kill him for talking to them. He had know it all along but this was the first time he had truly accepted it in his mind.

He walked into the kitchens and saw a boy he didn't recognise standing to one side. He walked over and put out his hand to shake. "I'm Zuin, I've been asked to give you a tour of the Tower. What's your name?" The confidence in his voice surprised him but he guessed it was just because of his good mood. He felt like nothing could possibly go wrong.

[Percy]

The morning found Asan well- he was still in the habit of waking before dawn, his penance had him scrubbing pots and preparing meals and yet even after that horrid time had passed, and bygones were bygones residual habits remained. Asan found himself in the kitchen, itching to help scrub. He found it strangely satisfying, a bit of normalcy amidst the violence he was trained to commit. He also found punishing himself this way really did feel exonerating. So it was no wonder he was in the kitchens instead of the dining areas when approached.

"Greetings to you, Zuin. I am Asan Grey." He started to explain that he'd been through the tower before, that he'd lived on the grounds, but he stopped himself short. There was a reason for this, and the Tuatha'an thought it out carefully. We are watching you, this time it said to him casually, this time we will show you our eyes. Maybe that logic was sound, maybe it was born of paranoia, but it was enough to entertain the thought. Asan held his hand out with a broad smile on his face. "Give me the tour, that I will know where to seek solace in the storm." A quick nod punctuated his willingness to comply, or at least he thought it did.

[Cal]

Zuin nodded to the boy. "I'll show you around the grounds and the living accommodations. The old ones were destroyed before I arrived so we are in different building for old. After that I'll show you to the teaching and classrooms as that will be where you go to the most and are most likely to get lost trying to fine." Zuin said calmly. He didn't have a clue where he was getting all of this from, he hadn't planned what he was going to do or say for this tour, he hadn't had the time to make any plans. All he could do was think as quickly as he could and hope that it didn't show to badly. So far he seemed to be doing fine at this though.

He had thought that the boy had been about to say something after he had introduced himself but he didn't push it. This boy was hiding something he didn't know about and Zuin wasn't going to push him to find it out. There was no point in pushing him, he would find out one way or another given long enough. In this place you only had to tell one person a secret and the whole Tower knew it within a day. The only way to truly keep secrets was not to speak them allow except inside warded rooms and even doing that gave away the fact that you were talking about secrets. The other thing the boy had said tugged at him, that I will know where to seek solace in the storm. That was it.

It didn't tell him much, only that this boy had secrets in his past, that or tragedy. One way or another it didn't matter. Once you came to the Tower your past was your past and the Tower was your future. You put aside everything you had been before when you joined the Tower. All that mattered was what you would become and how you could be of use to the Tower. Zuin forced those thoughts away and focused on the task at hand.

[Percy]

"Tell me more about the history here." He schooled his face to calmness. He hadn't thought any of the rumors (as sparse as they were) could have been true. How casually he spoke of deadly attacks! Asan prepared himself to soak up information- surely he'd need to know all of these things if he were to acclimate to this new tower.

Then, it hit him. Perhaps this wasn't a means of keeping any eye on the runaway, but a means of preparing him. If things were different, the Tower wouldn't go ahead and say that outright, changing traditions showed weakness- and perhaps the Tower couldn't afford such things. Maybe this "history" was intended to clue him in to how things are now without the formality, or, more importantly, an admittance of defeat of injury by the tower.

Asan's mind churned and he wondered what the Blue Ajah would tell him, had they been charged with this task. The mire got deeper and deeper by the moment.