That Same Old Tune (Attn: Astarte)

[Teddy]

At this hour, Kiellan could usually be found in the Tower Library, studying the various uses for Earth Singing, reading through books that looked older than human history, or rarely in the Gardens, practicing what he had learned from the books. Today, he had decided to do something different in his pursuit for knowledge of his new Talent. It had been a while ago, but there was one other person who knew about his Talents. Well, two, now that he had told Mirin, but only one who would be able to help him. He had done enough studying from the books; it was time to share that knowledge and see if he could get some in return.

That's why he had asked around about the Accepted who had first help him realize what he could do. He had only learned her name recently: Betrys. Apparently, she was teaching a class and should pass him in a couple of minutes. The excitement rose inside Kiellan. It would be nice to talk to someone who knew about his Talent, someone with whom he didn't have to hide it. Kiellan didn't like lying, and he considered what he did about as bad as lying, but he didn't have a choice. If he didn't want to get Betrys in trouble, he had to keep his secret. People would want to know how he had discovered his Talent, and they wouldn't appreciate his answer.

Kiellan pulled himself away from his thoughts when he saw the girl he was looking for. Brown hair framing her remarkably unremarkable face, she looked very much the same as she had those months ago. Their first meeting might have been strange, and couldn't really be called friendly, but he thought of her fondly. She had helped him, even after his initial attack, and Kiellan wasn't sure if he would've done the same. He owed her a debt, and he meant to repay her in kind: with knowledge of the Talent they shared, and that both of them were still learning about. With that in mind, he approached the girl.

"Good afternoon, Accepted Betrys," Kiellan said. It never hurt to be polite; if he remembered correctly, this girl would appreciate that. "It's been a while. How is life treating you?" After they had exchanged the obligatory pleasantries, Kiellan got to the point. "I've been reading up on Earth Singing since our last meeting. It's an amazing Talent, isn't it? More versatile than any other I've ever heard of. I've been able to grow plants, crack rocks, move stones and shape the earth. I thought it'd be time for another exchange of knowledge. Would you accompany me for a walk?"

[Astarte]

Settling into the role of teacher for the Novices had been strange, it still felt like only a short while since she had been standing in their position and perhaps that was why Betrys extended more than a passing degree of understanding towards them. Even when thrashing them soundly might have knocked more practical sense into their head.

Still, they were young and Betrys could accept that youth made for excitable actions - there was also the fact that none of her students had yet achieved the same skill level with their pranks as she and Mirin had enjoyed. So, she was definitely ahead of them on that score.

None of them showed any skill with Earth past what would be expected and Betrys wondered if she'd always stand out and a little apart because of that being the case. Perhaps she should have been born a man - then at least she'd have managed to have some company when she was working on her own goals in the skill.

"Kiellan?" she started, not having expected to actually see him again. The interlude that had started...well badly, had suggested to her that things between them were largely ended "It hae been, sorry...my mind was far away" Betrys apologised but still nodded as she started to walk with him "Sounds like you've been haeing a grand time there - did you want me tae share what I've read? Or show you more of what I do?" it wasn't teaching like she enjoyed with the girls, at best it was a 'show me, tell me' deal and both of them would need to work out what other was doing with their own experimentations in place. Betrys supposed it had a degree of creativity to it but it wasn't that satisfying "I's might be able to tae suggest a friend tae help you more. He would be better..." if she could convince Valadin to talk to her for any extended period of time.

Was it a terrible thought to consider tying him up to get a proper conversation out of him?

Probably but it was an idea she was giving some serious weight to if she should resolve things any better or faster or sooner.

[Teddy]

Kiellan was surprised by how hostile Betrys was all of a sudden. True, their first meeting hadn't started well, but he was under the impression that they had left on good terms. In fact, he distinctly recalled her telling him that she would like to talk again about their shared Talent. Kiellan wasn't really sure what to do with this cold reception.

"I... I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Betrys. I thought we agreed to meet again to discuss our Talent a bit more. Yes, I wanted to share my findings with you, and perhaps you had some insights to share as well."

Then, he realized what she had said last. "Wait, what friend? Do you know a male Earth Singer?" That would be amazing! So far, Kiellan had done okay trying to find his own way, discovering the different uses and weaves for Earth Singing in the plethora of books that could be found in the Library, but someone with some actual practical experience to share ideas with would be great. Sharing information with Betrys was great, and it had been very helpful, but channeling was so different for men and women that they couldn't teach each other the weaves. They could of course share their experiences, and most things that could be accomplished by saidar could also be accomplished by saidin, so their talks weren't useless. He had enough natural proficiency in Earth Singing to figure out how the weaves worked on his own, if he took the time.

He had freed up his time for now, however, and he had even taken the time to gather the information that could be useful for Betrys. "Do you have time for a talk now? I really think it would be helpful for me, and probably for you as well." Another idea suddenly came to him. "Or... Perhaps we could just go and do it? I wonder what we could do, together. What do you say? You don't have to, of course."

[Astarte]

She hadn't thought she was being harsh or rude, but then again Betrys didn't know the direction of his thinking or the way it affected him and instead focused only on what she could see and hear "It be my own fault, dinnae worry. I aways git distracted wiv all my lessons and such. Not that I..." she chuckled "Yer not wanting to spend hours listen to ma bemoaning and such" Betrys added brightly, waving her hand up in front of herself and shrugged, dismissing the whole matter from her thinking and this conversation.

"Aye, I know one. Well my friend Valadin has helped me wiv the showing and like. He was the one who gave me the basic ideas for how to get things started..." she admitted, not ashamed that had been the case as Betrys had been much more interested in the learning opportunity. So, it was probably why Betrys was happy to spend time with anyone else - male or female - to assist in their learning experience.

It was only fair that she share what she had learned "I'd love that! It would be rather nice tae spend time - though I was planning on checking on some projects of my own - wanna come and see?" Betrys offered, she wasn't about to force anything on him "They relate more to my own saidar using but.." she paused as his words registered "I suppose if we are careful we could try working on something together" the idea was an exciting one and Betrys grinned very wide - the greatest achievements of One Power had been made by mingling the two halves of the One Power together. It wasn't something she'd done before and it was an exciting idea to consider as an option, even if she hadn't been the one to suggest it.

[Teddy]

Kiellan immediately felt bad for his sulking tone. He had been overreacting and he knew it. He had just been very excited about this moment, about the further exploration that they could do together, but he had been nervous about meeting Betrys again. Their first encounter had been a good while ago, and that had been lukewarm at best.

He was surprised by the name she gave him. Val was an Earth Singer? His former teacher, the first friend he had made in the Tower? Strange, he had never noticed that. They would have to talk about that, later. Kiellan almost laughed at how fitting the whole thing was. Val had trained him in the basics of the One Power, and in Battle Weaves, and it only seemed right that he would be able to teach Kiellan in this. Perhaps he would be able to help Val in this, as well. It would be good to do something for him for a change.


Kiellan smiled at Betrys' enthousiasm. Thank the Light, at least she was excited about this as well. And her offer was very interesting. "That sounds great! I'd love to see what you've done with your Talent." He had only managed the simpler things, himself, but even that had come faster than he had expected. Kiellan had heard about that, people learning some Talents much faster than they were supposed to, and he suspected that was what was going on here as well. Betrys probably had the same thing. It was exciting; from what he had read about it, that level of aptitude was very rare, and many channelers never discovered one. Kiellan couldn't wait to learn what one could do with it.

[Astarte]

"I cannae promise that Valadin will help yer out, it would be his own business" she added, adopting a thoughtful tone before smiling with him. Betrys supposed it was rather odd to spend so much time with male channelers - at least Mirin hadn't teased her about that fact which doubtless meant that it wasn't completely common knowledge.

She really didn't think she could cope well with that brand of teasing. Light knew she wasn't exactly capable of handling some of emotions and thoughts that happened. Still, she usually managed. Mostly.

"I wouldnae git that excited yet but I also dinnae mind sharing none either. I mostly work in the garden if you've nowt else tae do right now?" she added and smiled heading off to her usual location amidst the still and silent garden. The season had turned now and Betrys had noticed that it seemed so much quieter when she spent time in the One Power "Do ya hear a song when yer working?" she asked lightly. Adopting as casual an approach as possible. Betrys wasn't completely sure if it was her own foible or if there might be more to it that had first appeared to be the case but none of the books had outright mentioned it and this was the first time she had felt prepared to ask the question of anyone else.

Betrys rounded a corner "Which books yer been reading?" she asked.

[Teddy]

"Of course, I'll talk to him about that." Already, he was glad he had decided to have this conversation. He had never expected it to reveal another male using the One Power, especially not Val. That was probably some of the best news Kiellan could've hoped for.

Kiellan nodded, indicating his free time, and followed Betrys to the gardens. Kiellan was not surprised to find that Betrys had chosen the same place to practice her Earth Singing. What place was better to practice weaves that focused primarily on Earth than one of the most beautiful, most exquisite gardens west of the Spine of the World? The many different plants and flowers offered the chance to practice growing and moving, but also other types of manipulations like splitting rocks or shaping the earth itself. It had been in the gardens that Kiellan and Betrys had first met, and from then on, it had been Kiellan's usual practice spot as well. Whenever he got sick of the books and felt the need to actually practice the weaves, he went there, for its tranquility as much as for its variety of plants.

As they walked, Betrys asked him about the books he had been reading since their first meeting. He thought about it for a second before he answered. "Well, there's the general works, of course. I started out with the Compendium of Weaves, you probably know that one. That gave me some idea of what to search for. The Power beneath our feet by Joele Irame, Asha'man of the Brown Ajah, listed some of the uses as well. The book is more generally about the Element Earth, but that naturally includes Earth Singing, to a point. Those names led me to other books, like Songs of Old, by an anonymous Asha'man from the Grey Tower, and Sticks and Stones, by a Green Asha'man, which mostly focuses on the more destructive side of the Talent. Most of those were written by saidin users, though. I'm not sure if they would be of use to you. The Talent seems much more common among men. I've found one book for you, however. It's called Earth Singing with saidar -I found the title somewhat anticlimactic. It's written by Tayana Sedai, of the White Ajah of course. I haven't read it, but it may be helpful to you. What about you? Where did you learn your new tricks?"

[Astarte]

She had to admit that part of her hoped it would help Valadin. The last time they'd worked together it had been awkward - perhaps he'd just needed to have someone of his own gender around. Which was daft but entirely in keeping with what Betrys expected from men in general, a viewpoint that had been reached given her experiences with her siblings rather than those who were not related to her so directly but it still stood her in reasonably good stead, or it had.

"Do yer know him already?" she asked, as vast as the Grey Tower could seem at times, Betrys had realised that it was actually a rather small community when all was said and done. In fact, there were times it seemed very small. Besides it seemed the right thing to ask, she wasn't sure but she'd had the impression that it was the case "Earth Singing with saidar - I'll hae tae look it up" she murmured aware that her own efforts in locating books was still largely hit and miss when it come to her success "I'm nae much good at working the library" Betrys admitted and shrugged, it was one of her failings and she wasn't worried about being condemned for that lack.

As they reached the section of the garden "I hae been practising in my room actually and some of my work out here. It's been hit and miss" she admitted, perhaps this book he'd mentioned would help.

[Teddy]

Kiellan nodded, smiling. "Yes, I do. He was the one to teach me the basics of the One Power, as well as everything I know about Battle Weaves. He's been the most helpful and kind to me out of everyone here. It would be amazing if he could help me with this as well." His books had been helpful, and they had revealed a lot about Earth Singing that he would never have guessed or figured out on his own, but having another man who had the ability to show him how the weaves actually worked, that would be incredible. All the weaves he had learned so far he had had to figure out by himself, through trial and error, and that had gone surprisingly well, but it would all have been much easier if someone else had just shown him the weaves. A book couldn't do that, unfortunately.

He smiled at Betrys' comment about the whole thing being hit and miss. That was how it had been for him, as well. He had been able to figure out most of the weaves, although most of them took him hours to figure it out, but some of them had exploded in his face, sometimes even literally. He had managed to avoid any serious damage, but that was a miracle in itself. One plant had turned to ashed when he had been trying to turn it purple, one rock had exploded when he had tried to split it, and those were only some examples of what had gone wrong. Kiellan didn't mind, though. Some things were bound to go wrong in an endeavor like this.

As they talked, Kiellan realized they had almost reached the gardens. The smell of different types of flowers penetrated his nose. Some of the scents he recognized, but some seemed new. As impossible as that sounded, Kiellan sometimes thought the plants changed every night. No matter what they were, however, they smelled amazing.

With a smile, Kiellan turned to Betrys. "So, we're almost there. Are you ready to tell me what your creation is?"

[Astarte]

She wasn't completely surprised, Valadin had after all been one of the first people she'd met and he had shown her nothing by kindness and respect. At least he had done at first.

"Do yer know him well?" she asked, not wishing to seem like she was digging for information but curious about him and just what someone else might be able to tell her about him. Perhaps a change in perspective would be a good thing, Betrys might have asked Mirin but as far as she knew the two had never actually met one another "He should be more help with the Weaves and the like..." she added and smiled brightly in his direction.

This was going to be a good thing - at least for him.

Betrys wanted to believe that, she only hoped that Valadin didn't treat him as unkindly as she had been in recent times and without any justified reason - perhaps she would never know, that would be rather cruel to bear though "What do ya find easiest? The plants and the earth...or explosions?" she had started to do some reading. Not that it was all that productive.

"This..." she added and knelt down, patting the ground with her hand and turning to grin at him. It was an apparently bare patch of earth but it was something that would be revealed with some effort or the approach of spring.