The Grey Tower

He smiled half-heartedly at the girl's attempt at humor, if that was what it had been. Maybe she was serious. At least she was smiling. It seemed to defuse the whole situation a bit more. Neither of them really seemed angry at the other person, which was all the better, as it would make figuring out what had happened a lot easier. He desperately hoped she had answers, because the more he thought about the whole thing, the more confused he seemed to get, and he could hardly go to a more experienced channeler and tell them that he had used the Power to assault an Accepted. She was his only hope.

He thought about her question. Of course there were some elements he felt more comfortable using than others. All channelers had their strengths and weaknesses, and he was no exception. The girl knew that, of course, but he could see why she asked such simple questions. She didn't know him, and didn't know what he knew and what not. "I have always felt most comfortable with Earth, and, to some extent, Fire. I think... No, I know I used Earth just then. I don't remember the exact weave, but it was Earth. I think I grasped for it intuitively, because it comes so easily to me." He thought of something. "Do you... Is it the same for you? Do you prefer Earth as well?" It would explain, to some extent, why they had apparently used the same weapon.

He had to think for a bit about her other question. What had been his first weave to learn? "I think my first weave was a forming a flame. It seems to be the first thing they teach all Soldiers. But I've also learnt to grow things. The Dedicated who taught me my first weaves seemed to prefer the more destructive weaves, though." It was true. The Dedicated had quickly gone over using Earth to grow seeds and plants, but he had done that so quickly that, with his affinity for Earth, Kiellan had been one of the few of his class who had gotten the hang of it before the Dedicated had moved on to flames again.

Earthsinging. Kiellan formed the word with his lips. It sounded right, for what he had done. The word didn't sound familiar, but that was no surprise. His reading still wasn't good enough for the more difficult books, so his primary sources had been the lessons and his talks with Aes Sedai and Asha'man. This had limited his search for knowledge, but he had made do.

He nodded at the Accepted. She was certainly the more experienced of them, especially in this. "I think I can do it." With that, he rid himself of his feelings until the familiar peacefulness of the Void came over him. Just outside, saidin gleamed seductively, its alluring glow illuminating the Void. As always, the struggle for control began as soon as he seized saidin. The fighting was tough, and Kiellan knew that if he lost control for only a second, he would never be able to recover, but he reveled in it anyway. The fighting made him feel alive, more alive than anything else could. It made him forget about the troubles of today for awhile.

Only for a short moment, though. Kiellan didn't allow himself to get distracted for long, and forced himself on the task at hand. He grabbed a single flow of Earth, which came to him as naturally as always, bringing with it a sense of familiarity, of home. He tried to shape the flow as he had done earlier, but it was hard to remember what exactly he had done so instinctively. He tried a weave that seemed familiar, but it must've been one of those the Dedicated had taught him, as suddenly, a single blade of grass started growing. He quickly made the weave disappear, and tried again. He tried molding and reshaping the weave, until eventually, he managed to form something that reminded him somewhat of what he had done earlier. It probably wasn't exactly the same, but it would have to suffice. As he wove it into the ground, he knew he was doing it too wildly. He flinched as an entire patch of ground suddenly flew away, missing the Accepted by mere inches.

"I... that was it, I think? Sorry for almost hittting you. Again. Did that seem familiar to you?"

Kiellan's cheeks were still red, embarrassed at having attacked this girl twice now, albeit accidentally. "Sorry for that, again. I wasn't trying to hit you, if that was what you were thinking. Wasn't really trying anything, really, except for replicating that weave." The girl had been surprisingly agile, managing to dodge his loose projectile by rolling away from it with a great reaction that he hadn't expected from her. Perhaps he had judged her too quickly, there might be more to her.

He was intrigued by what she said next. According to her, this thing could be used for more than just throwing stuff at people. It was a relief, he thought he had discovered something that could much easier be done by using Air. He was growing excited by the array of possibilities his new ability might have. He wasn't sure if it was even allowed to experiment with the One Power the way he was doing now, but even that thought couldn't scare him away from it. He knew he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of learning everything he could about this, and thank the Light he had this Accepted to guide him with that. The difference between saidin and saidar would prevent her from actually teaching him, but perhaps she could tell him of the different uses, which would probably help a lot in discovering it himself.

"So, you've used it for other things? Like what?" He thought for a second. The weave had connected him to the earth, more closely than any other weave had ever done. Perhaps that could be one of its uses. "I was quite... wild with my channeling just now. Perhaps that is the key. Have you ever tried channeling it straight into the earth? It seems natural."

Kiellan pondered on the Accepted's words. He hadn't even considered the possibility of letting things grow. There wasn't a lot of green in Ebou Dar, that was one of the reasons why he loved these gardens so much, but it also meant he didn't have any experience working with nature. He had heard stories from the merchants at Mol Hara square of people, or well, something resembling people, who used some form of magic to grow the most magnificent trees, but that had always seemed a myth to him. Large humanoids with broad noses and enormous eyes, who could believe that? Yet this might be something similar.

He liked what she said about the reading, too. He had been thinking the same. He was completely unfamiliar with his newfound talent, but it couldn't be entirely new. There must've been countless others before Kiellan, as confused as him, and at least some of them must have eventually found out how it works. And he had a name, probably. Earthsinging, the girl had called it. As soon as he had the time, he would look into it, search for possible uses. He might even try them out, if he could find the courage. If someone would catch him experiment with the One Power, he would be scolded until his ears fell off. But that was a matter for later.

"Thank you, Accepted. As horrid as this meeting began, it has been a great pleasure and an unexpected help talking to you. You've given me much to think about. I suggest we will continue to discuss the different uses we may find."


OOC: Thanks, this thread has been great! I think that Kiellan needs to work a little more on this new talent before he can really do anything more with it, so it seemed like a good stopping point to me. You can close it up, or if there are unresolved issues to you than you can add them, or write a last post and I can close it up!