A Little Extra Learning (Attn: Bree) COMPLETE

[Jenny]

Mirin sped eagerly down the halls toward the channeling practice yards. She was not quite running, but she hitched up her white novice skirts to avoid tripping as she walked.

This was her first lesson to be held in the channeling practice yards. She had nearly burst with excitement when Makenna told her of their meeting location. Oh, how many times had she enviously watched other, more experienced, novices and the Accepted practicing there! And finally, finally, it was her turn.

She stepped into the practice yard and shivered as a soft tingle traveled over her skin. It was a warded, so that any explosions or other weaves with large effects would not affect the rest of the tower. The wards were invisible, of course, and woven with both saidin and saidar, but Mirin could sense them in the background, vibrating lightly.

She quickly found Makenna and curtsied. Then she stood, ramrod straight, eager and ready for her lesson.

OOC: "Not overly quick"?!? Oooh don't let Mirin hear that, she would definitely lose her cool.

[Bree]

Makenna was just thinking of pulling that book out of her pocket when the tiny slip of a girl came barreling into the yard. Makenna straightened and clasped her hands in front of her waist, dipping her chin and inhaling. Patience. You would be just as eager in her place. At least she hadn't been actually late. Makenna nodded and said, "Good. I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you wish to get started and not waste time."

Makenna removed the Angreal from her pocket and held it out in her open palm. "This is a weak Angreal and it may have a slight Ter'angreal property in that it enhances flows of Fire." She reached through the Angreal and felt her own significant ability with Fire pulsate with the resonant affinity of the Angreal. "It is a safe and known piece and so I thought you might want to experiment with it for a few moments before we dive into anything new." Channeling the flows of Fire and Air into a small metal box on the ground to one side, Makenna Wove slowly so that Mirin could see the entertwining threads that she laced into the box and then pulled suddenly tight.

The small explosion of pure flame was loud and bright but did not give off much heat. Makenna repeated the process four times and then released the Source and held out the Angreal for Mirin to try.

OOC: I will be careful.

[Jenny]

When she heard that the angreal enhanced Fire, Mirin’s heart skipped a beat. Her fingers twitched as she fought the temptation to snatch it out of Makenna’s hand. She watched carefully as Makenna wove the weave. When she saw it a second time, she was certain that she could reproduce it exactly. Her foot tapped impatiently when Makenna cast it thrice more.

The Accepted turned to her, offering her the stone. Mirin took the angreal with trembling hands. Her fingers ran reverently over the polished stone. Then she opened herself to saidar. But instead of drawing in Power directly from the Source, she pulled it through the angreal.

Joy and astonishment filled her. For the first time, she could truly feel the threads of Fire rushing through the pool of saidar that she held. Light, it was wonderful! Turning to the metal box, she channeled, thick flows of Fire and Air spinning in a quick, intertwining weave. She wove smoothly, with no hesitation.

BOOM! The explosion reflected in Mirin’s sparkling eyes. BOOM! BOOM! She released the weaves in quick succession, barely completing one before beginning another. Each was louder than the next, as she tested her limits. BOOM!

A pair of Dedicated working on the other side of the channeling yard looked over, annoyed at the noise. Mirin tossed her long black hair and, turning her face so Makenna would not see, she winked and smiled prettily. The young men flushed bright red.

With a sigh, she released saidar and reluctantly handed the polished stone back to Makenna. “That was wonderful,” she said wistfully. “I’ve never been able to manage so much Fire before. It usually comes out as just a thin trickle. Thank you for allowing me to use the angreal.”

I will own one of those, she thought. One day, I will. One day, when I am Aes Sedai.

[Bree]

The twit snatched the angreal and then threw her Weaves at the target. She was all facade and shimmer on the surface but Makenna was pretty sure that if she caught the girl off guard, there was a coarse as salt merchant's guard wrapped up in there. She grinned. The little light skirt is going to slip up one day but until then, she is entertaining. The blushing boys could only be responding to something Mirin had done when she faced away from Makenna.

Putting it all aside she said, "Good. So now you can see that linking and using Angreal are similar in their mechanisms. Now I am going to teach you something that you will not enjoy. Being Shielded." Quick as thought, Makenna embraced the Source and snapped out a Shield and slammed it home hard enough to stagger Mirin. "Try not to struggle too hard. I will let you go but there are things... Stop that!" Makenna swatted the novice on the rump with a thin flow of Air. It was the barest of taps but it served to focus the girl. "I understand it is unpleasant. I once had to wear a Shield for six months as a penance for improper behavior as a novice. It can be managed."

Makenna tightened the Weave and watched the novice's eyes widen. "A Shield is a simple Spirit Weave, designed to cut off your access to the Source but you can still feel it there. This is what it is like to be Stilled or Burned Out. Only that is worse as you do not know that someone will remove the Shield. Tightening the Shield makes no real effect but it seems to cause a recognizable sensation." Makenna pursed her lips in her very Brown way and nodded, muttering and making a mental note to herself. Then she blinked a couple of times rapidly and lifted her eyebrows saying, "Any questions?"

[Jenny]

Mirin was still daydreaming about owning an angreal when Makenna suddenly spun an intricate weave of Spirit. Mirin barely had time to observe the weave before it hit her. It wasn’t a physical strike, but it made her mind reel. She staggered, and reflexively reached for saidar.

It did not fill her. She could still sense the Source, but there was an invisible wall blocking her.

She growled under her breath and glared at Makenna. This was not Mirin’s first time being shielded. When she first began embracing the One Power, she had been shielded many times for her protection when she accidentally reached past her limits. But the shield was distracting, and very unpleasant. Channeling was quickly becoming second nature to her; and being without it felt as though someone had tied her hands behind her back. She fidgeted, not really paying attention, and then jumped when the Accepted swatted her with a flow of Air.

After that, she tried to listen attentively, but it was still a struggle to stop herself from beating helplessly at the shield.

Makenna’s expression, somewhat gleeful as she watched the novice struggle, did not inspire confidence. The woman drew the shield tighter – Light, it hurts! – and Mirin hissed at her teacher. When Makenna asked if she had any questions, Mirin shook her head.

She just wanted to get the shield off of her. A promise of payback lurked in her eyes.

[Bree]

Makenna saw the frustration and sympathized. It was an important lesson, however unpleasant and Makenna intended to make sure that anyone in her charge would learn it. "When you are shielded, and it will happen if you intend to ever leave the Tower and perhaps even within its walls, you must be able to remain calm and find an alternative means of defending or rescuing yourself." Makenna loosened the shield but left it in place. The look of rage in Mirin's eyes did not bode well for the girl's ability to find gratitude for the lesson. "Well I did tell you that you were not going to like it. I am not going to remove the thing while you have that look of murder barely contained."

Sighing heavily, Makenna backed slowly three steps to gesture toward the next item she had set up to instruct Mirin today. "I am going to show you one last thing for today and then you may leave or you may ask me any questions you have and I will answer them thoroughly. I believe you had questions about Tel'aran'rhiod as well as other Talents? Did you also still want to ask about forbidden Weaves?" She tied off the Shield and then focused on a new Weave. Creating a net of Fire and lacing it with thin tendrils of Air, Makenna laid it over the little wooden box she had placed there. The box seemed to disappear. "This Weave can be used to make something invisible and altered slightly," Makenna lay a net of Spirit over the original Weave and let it sink in. The box came back into view and then suddenly became a very small replica of Mirin, "it can be used as a disguise."

Makenna smiled delightedly as she caused the tiny figure to wave and flip her hair. "If you can relax and remain in control of yourself, I will teach you to use it on your own face and body to be invisible or to look like someone else."

[Jenny]

Mirin blinked and tried to look as though she did not want to scratch Makenna’s eyes out. She did not succeed and instead looked slightly constipated. But she continued to listen with interest, especially as Makenna spoke of Tel’aran’rhiod, other Talents, and forbidden weaves.

“Some books say Tel’aran’rhiod is real; others say it is all just a dream. It is all quite confusing, really. And – well –,” Mirin blushed, “- I did try to move about in my dreams, but I’m quite certain I am not a Dreamer. I am merely curious,” she admitted.

“I also don’t think that I have a Talent, although it would be quite amazing to discover one. And I only asked about forbidden weaves because, uh, I wanted to know what they were. And why they are forbidden.”

She watched closely as Makenna demonstrated a new weave. It used a good amount of Fire and Air. She bit her lip worriedly – the amount of Fire used in the weave was not extensive, but it would probably exhaust her without the angreal. Light burn her weakness in Fire! And then, despite herself, Mirin gasped in delight at the little figure waving at her.

When Makenna offered to teach her the weave for disguise and invisibility, Mirin barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes at Makenna. She was not a child, to be baited with a shiny toy! But still, she did want to learn. She nearly burned with the desire.

“I can control myself,” she said sullenly. Her pride did not allow her to beg. But her eyes pleaded with Makenna. “I promise I will behave,” she added.

[Bree]

Makenna was uncertain she believed the girl's promise but she released the Shield anyway. She held tight to Saidar and watched her, remembering her own desire to batter the, then pregnant, Mistress of Novices over the head with blows of Air when she had endured her own Shielding. The girl seemed stable however and Makenna said, "Why don't you give the Weave for Bending Light a try?" Makenna recreated the Weave just so that the novice could see it once more. "Some Weaves are going to be easy and others are going to be much much harder for you. You will not excel at everything. But you have the potential to gain mastery of a great deal."

While the girl worked at the Weave, Makenna gave her what she knew of Tel'aran'rhiod. "The World of Dreams is a real thing. I am a Dreamer and a Dreamwalker. I do not know if I will ever be able to step into Tel'aran'rhiod at will but I have been there and I have some facility there. Any books you read that claim it is not real were written by those who are either terribly ignorant or terribly foolish. The World of Dreams is a marvelous and dangerous place. Anything you imagine there can become as real as you are. Likewise, anything you unimagine can be held insubstantial and unreal. If you are competing with another person there, it is a matter of your strength of Will and concentration and which of you is more disciplined.

"There are Ter'angreal, objects made with the Power for a specific purpose, that can allow you to step into Tel'aran'rhiod. Many of them do not require you to channel to use them or even to be able to channel. Those that doe, almost always only require the use of a single thread of Spirit. Because I am a Dreamer, I may borrow those Ter'angreal now and then with the permission of the Indigos. If you are interested, I may be allowed to arrange to take you as well at some point."

Makenna had been watching the novice in her efforts to create the Weave and was waiting to see if she needed any help. Makenna had not failed to notice the novice's disposition toward the use of Fire.

[Jenny]

Mirin finally relaxed when the shield was released. Saidar rushed into her, like liquid fire. Her senses sharpened. She could hear Makenna’s breath, slow and calm; she could smell the earthy scent of the crushed dirt of the Channeling Yard.

She channeled, starting with a thin trickle of Fire. The weave was a struggle. She failed twice before finally setting it correctly, and it left her noticeably tired. But it had succeeded; the box vanished. She tied off the weave and knelt by the box to examine it. Her hand brushed the top, feeling grainy wood. Her eyes could not see it at all.

However, she could still feel the faint hum of saidar, although the weave had melted into the box.

Is there a way to hide the presence of the weave? she wondered. She would have to read more about it. She stood, slowly, taking care to not sway or stumble despite her exhaustion.

When Makenna told her of ter’angreal that could be used to enter the World of Dreams, Mirin’s heart beat faster in excitement. “I’d be honored to be taken into Tel’aran’rhoid,” she said. “Even if I’m not a Dreamer, it would be an incredible experience.”

Although Mirin still did not like the Accepted and resented the other woman’s power over her, she grudgingly felt some gratitude for the offer. She looked at Makenna hopefully.

[Bree]

Makenna nodded and offered a half smile. "It is a dangerous and deadly place but i will see what can be done. Your skill is growing quickly and should be nurtured in every area that you find interest. Let's stop for the day. Meet me in the Library for afternoon studies in four days and I will be prepared to tell you anything you might want to know, or how to find out, about forbidden Weaves."

Makenna wondered if the child would admit to being tired or if she would push herself until she collapsed. She also wondered about the girl's limitation with Fire. It seemed too extreme given her over-all capability but that was a conundrum for another day.

OOC:
Sorry, Life clobbered me. If you want to start a thread in the Library for Forbidden Weaves, I will hop in tomorrow night.