Barking Up the Wrong Tree [attn; Jenny]

[Avyra]

Avyra

"I know, isn't winter nice?" Chitter chitter. "No mom, he says, I'm cold." Chitter! "Don't give me that backtalk young man! I fed you!" The Andoran kestrel ruffled his feathers, fluffing up in the cold. Avyra rolled her eyes. He was a little baby, it seemed. Uninterested in hunting or anything else. She was worried that she had been to soft with him and that he had been ruined. Avyra herself didn't want to be outside either, trudging through snow that whould have been bearable for a normal sized person, treacherous for her. It came up past her ankles, and she was already cold enough. She paused then, hearing a sound above her. She looked up, and she swore she saw a person shape up there. "That would be unwise, and an unfortunate fall." Her voice was flat. Not like whoever was up there would take her seriously anyway, not looking like she did.

cold boi...

[Jenny]

Kaira The eight-year-old girl was bundled up in warm brown woolens and a fur-lined cloak. Her lofty perch afforded her a beautiful view of the Tower gardens. She was in the middle of sketching the winter landscape when she heard the voice calling up at her. Kaira grinned. There was a woman standing at the base of her tree. She could not see the woman's skirts, which were buried in snow, but the rainbow hem peeking through the end of her sleeves identified her as an Accepted.

"Light shine on you," she said. "Thank you for your concern, but I've never fallen before. Besides, there is a nice, soft layer of snow to catch me if I do."

She shaded her eyes and peered down.

"Oh, hey! Is that a bird? A hawk... no, a kestrel?! That means you must be Avyra Moeryr. My father has told me all about you and your obsession with birds. What's his name? Oh, the sweet dear! Look at him! I bet he's wondering what it would be like to be up in the tree like me. Did you know that warm air rises? Well, there is certainly less snow up here. Would you like to join me, Accepted? Come on!"

[Avyra]

Avyra raised an eyebrow at the polite but mischievous little girl up in that tree. It was the same tree, she realized, that she had fallen from when Ravak and her first met. How fitting that she would meet his daughter here. "Oh, hey! Is that a bird? A hawk... no, a kestrel?! That means you must be Avyra Moeryr. My father has told me all about you and your obsession with birds. What's his name? Oh, the sweet dear! Look at him! I bet he's wondering what it would be like to be up in the tree like me. Did you know that warm air rises? Well, there is certainly less snow up here. Would you like to join me, Accepted? Come on!" Avyra sighed. She wasn't supposed to climb trees. She was an Accepted. Theta chittered a bit, bobbing his tail and head, and she sighed, looking at him. Okay fine. Keeping Theta attached, she put the little bird in her pocket gently, much to his dislike, and started up the tree. It was an easy climb, and soon she was right up beside the girl. She perched Theta on a nearby branch, keeping him attached to her glove. He ruffled his feathers and started to preen. "Well, you got me. I am Avyra. This little boy is Theta. He's a falconry bird with no interest in hunting." Theta puffed out again.

[Jenny]

Kaira Kaira's pale eyes sparkled with delight and mischief when the Accepted began to climb the tree. Ha! From the tone of the woman's voice, she had not expected that Avyra would join her. There was melancholy in Avyra's expression, and her voice was flat and cynical. Who would have thought that the Accepted would be so willing to hike up skirts and climb a tree? Well, her father always said that she shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

She stuffed her notebook of drawings back into her bookbag. Then she placed it behind her and rested it against her back as she leaned against the tree. Avyra placed the falcon on a nearby branch. Kaira stared at the bird, fascinated. A falconry bird with no interest in hunting? It was too much like a girl who could channel, but who had no interest in becoming a novice. Her lips thinned as she recognized the parallels.

"I am Kaira," she said. "Say, you won't get me in trouble will you? I'm not a novice, but Aunt Elia is still quite strict. She's determined to mold me into a young lady. Bah! She says that she won't be able to tell if I can channel for a few more years, but that the chances are in my favor. But I don't want to be a novice. I want to be a Gaidin, like Daddy. Oh, can I hold him? Please? What do you feed him?"

[Avyra]

Avyra snorted, rolling her eyes. "Don't listen to Elia. She just likes to hear the sound of her own voice." Almost as bad as bloody Mirin. She thought it wise to leave that part out. Frankly, she wondered how Ravak even managed to do it with that witch. And that she had wanted to have a child. The whole think was a confusing mess for Avyra, but she wasn't in the business of poking around in hot coals to find what she needed. Avyra moved her glove to Theta, offering a perch with a stern "Step up." The bird did as he was told, bobbing his head as Avyra brought him over to the little girl. "He'll probably like your lap. I don't advise trying to pet him; that beak is sharp." She put him on Kaira's lap. The little kestrel looked at her with a confused expression, but stayed where he was, snuggling into the cloth of her clothes.

[Jenny]

Kaira shot Avyra a strange look. "Elia Sedai," she corrected. She may have complained about it, but her aunt's lessons hadn't fallen on deaf ears. Her lower lip stuck out in a pout. "And I have to listen to her even if I don't want to. Or she'll tell Daddy and... oh!"

Avyra placed the bird on her lap. Kaira looked down and restrained the urge to pet it. The bird settled comfortably into the folds of her cloak. Kaira smiled.

"Theta! What a cute name. He's adorable," she said, fondly. "I never thought that I would be able to get so close to a kestrel. How did you get involved in falconry? And what does he eat?"

[Avyra]

"Oh, he'll eat a lot of things." Avyra shrugged. "He likes small mice, reptiles, and bugs. Sometimes small birds, if he's fast enough, but he tends to eat prey from the ground rather than the sky." Said kestrel bobbed his head, watching Avyra. He seemed to want to go back to her but was torn between her glove and the comfy fabric he was nestled in. "So," Avyra said, changing the subject. "You're Mirin's daughter?" "Yes. Did you know her?" asked Kaira. "Unfortunately." Kaira tilted her head and frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked. "What has Ravak told you about her?" The little girl looked away. "Daddy doesn't like to talk about her," she said, softly. "Let me just tell you that there's a reason for that" Kaira exploded. "Why won't anyone tell me anything?" she said. Her pale eyes flashed with fury and defiance. "What is everyone hiding? I know that she was a murderer. I've seen the statue in the gardens. But no one will tell me about her! And I can see it in their eyes that they think I look too much like her. That they think I will become like her. But I am not her. So what's so wrong with learning about her?" "She was a murderer and Darkfriend," said Avyra. "But before I knew of that, I couldn't shake a bad feeling about her from my skin. She was cold, horribly cold. She let novices die under her watch and then would get angry when you tried to be proactive when she wasn't there. She tortured me and then acted like she was my friend."

[Jenny]

Kaira could not believe what she was hearing. She knew that her mother was hated for the crimes she had committed against the Tower. But the little girl had held onto some small drops of hope. Perhaps her mother had simply made a terrible mistake. Perhaps her mother hadn't really meant to kill all those people.

But surely, if she had lived, Mirin Ronaile would have been gentle and kind. She would have loved her father - surely she did! And they would have been a small and happy family. Kaira wanted so badly for her silly fantasies to be true. There had to be some falsehood to the story that she was hearing now. There must be!

She could bear it no longer. The blood drained from her face. Her hands clenched into fists.

"You're lying," she said. "You're LYING! Let novices die? Torture? That's insane! How can you make up stories about my mother like that? Take it back. And never say it again! Light, I swear that if I ever hear you saying such lies again, I will tell Elia Sedai and she'll knock some sense into you! I never want to speak to you again, Avyra Moeryr!"

Kaira leapt up and grabbed her bookbag. Little Theta fluttered off of her lap, clicking his beak with a rather disgruntled air. She began to climb quickly down the tree. Her descent was so rapid that she did not fully secure her foothold before releasing the branches above. A small heap of snow that had gathered on a branch shifted under her foot. With a cry, she clutched for a hold to steady herself, but instead her hand tangled in the straps of her bookbag.

She screamed as she fell.

THUMP!

She landed in the snow and did not move.

[Avyra]

Avyra's blood had run cold. She had taken the girl to the infirmary, using weaves of Air to carry her. Theta was back on her glove, shaken but unhurt.

She sat by the bed, holding Kaira's hand, trying to not think about it. A Yellow had come and healed her, so she should be back awake shortly, but she knew that it was her fault.