The Grey Tower

The Creeper Embraces the Oak naturally fed into Forms posing multiple challenges, high to low, left to right to left again. It had nothing to do with leaping to the side and aiming for ankles. Like two hayloft doors swinging open, the Master of Training's blades moved down in symmetrically arcs to parry. Alric's blow was beyond the reach of his shorter sword, and the flat strips of wood smacked loudly off of his soft-soled boots. Pain flared over the surface of the ko'di, and a voice hissed in discomfort. There was a whine from near the door, but Snowflake was well beyond Rav's concern.

Thankfully, Alric stepped back after the attack, leaving the Shienaran time to feel out the extent of his injury. Then he charged at the Mayener, attempting to force him back with Lightning of Three Prongs in spite of the Form's simplicity. Rav's opponent countered with Black Pebbles of Snow, longsword being deflected to the side, leaving an opening for a targeted strike at his chest. Shortsword met long as the soldier tried to maximise his advantage within the Gaidin's guard, too close for the flame-haired man to use his main weapon for attack or defense...

...except for their mutual friend's education. Even in the ko'di, teeth flashed as Rav's right leg swept to unfoot Alric's left. This was not honourable in the least, but Katrie had been right: "Not everyone fights by the same rules."

Eyes locked, and almost nose to nose, the two men threw their weight against each other. Ravak seemed to give slightly. Realization struck Alric moments before the kick did. Planting his feet, and lowering his center, Alric took the kick to his ankle without budging. A blossom of pain traveled up his leg, but toppling a pikeman is never an easy endeavor.

Grunting in pain, Alric cocked his head back and slammed it into Ravak’s nose. Stars flashed in his eyes with the impact and he could feel childhood memories rattling against his fine motor skills. It was a struggle, but he remained standing. Blood and bloody… last time I did that I had a helmet! No time for regret. Blinking tears from his eyes, he forced himself closer. With gritted teeth, he muscled his sword down in Waves Crash Against the Cliff; stepping into a short but aggressive draw cut aimed diagonally at Ravak’s collar. When executed with live steel, the maneuver was designed to cut deep parting bones and opening major arteries. Admittedly, the strike would not have such spectacular results with practice weapons.

Blood and bloody ashes! Rav staggered backwards, short sword discarded as he reached up to touch-- blood and fire! It wasn't the first time his nose had been broken, but by the Creator it was a pain and a half. He was going to have to have words with someone about ensuring they only taught legal moves to the learning ranks from here on out. That was probably his job, but at the moment thoughts of Katrie and Dax and their damned illegal moves ran through his mind. Or at least the parts that weren't smarting from Alric's assault.

Muscle memory pulled the Gaidin's sword back into the guard position even as he still gingerly probed his face. The slick blood between his calloused fingers was wiped into the side of his shirt as--

First he heard the sharp crack of wood on flesh. Then pain blossomed from a new and wonderful location between his neck and shoulder. He took the hit without collapsing to the ground, but that wasn't to say it affect him. He moved back again, this time keeping all of his attention on the flaming Mayener. Pain resonated up towards his temples and down towards his forearm, and that was ignoring the tenderness of his chest. Rav moved his remaining blade to his good hand, and slid into the Leaf Floating on the Breeze. The onus was back to Alric being on the offensive, whilst Rav worked around what would be a beautiful bruise if he didn't see a Healer in quick time.

Still wincing at Ravak’s bloody mess of a nose, Alric did not initially respond as aggressively as he could have. He felt guilty about the whole thing, he hadn’t meant to break the man’s nose, just knock him back. Headbutts don’t have winners, just bigger losers. Alric still felt a bit dazed on his part.

“Sorry, Ravak Gaidin,” Alric said with a cringe before launching into Striking the Sparks. After the brief exchange, Alric dropped back into Creeper Embraces the Oak. “We can really stop if you want to, I really did not mean to mess up your nose.”

At this point, Alric felt as if he was walking a tightrope. He had a clear advantage in the spar, but he would probably lose the social victory. Some men responded to training accidents like this in fits of rage. While Ravak did not seem to be the type, Alric did not want any ill will between himself and the Master of Training. Alric attacked again, sword lancing out in Kissing the Adder, he held his weapon a bit too low, leaving himself open from the chest up. Maybe if he let Ravak land a painful blow of his own, they’d be even.

The lad was apologetic! Well, he had a right to be, but Rav thought it went a little far. If a bit of blood was enough to make Alric back off, he needed to be pressed further into the realms of discomfort. Even in training, you had to be willing to give it your all, otherwise you were doing yourself a disservice. Rav grinned in spite of the blood and pain. A disservice indeed.

Alric moved in for the 'killing blow' with Kissing the Adder. Ravak saw the assault coming, as well as how the Mayener left himself open to counter-attack. Very open, which was beyond coincidence. Well, if the Soldier wanted to save face, Rav wasn't going to let him.

The Master of Training dropped to the floor as the stabbing shock of blows across his chest made his legs buckle. Without the ko'di, the attack hurt like hellfire, but he took it as best as he could through gritted teeth. He hardly felt the sword fall from his grip or the impact of the wall behind him as he coughed, sending further ripples of intense pain through his frame.

"Peace and blood," Rav muttered angrily. Anger at himself for thinking too late how stupid an idea it was to take on such an attack without even the pretence of defending himself. His vision was blurred, but he saw the unease in the Soldier's stance. "Stop. You've got me." Rav coughed again and winced at the pain. "Well done, but fetch a bloody Healer would you?"

“Hold still,” Alric said, dropping the practice sword and walking over to Ravak. Prodding at the Gaidin’s nose, he could just feel the broken bone beneath the swelling. “Why did you let me hit you that last time? I know you could have dodged that with no problem?” he asked, trying to hold the man’s attention. With a practiced twist and a sickening pop, he pushed the bone back into place. “Keep your head tilted back,” he said absently as he inspected his handy work. Ravak would still need to see a Yellow, but the bone needed to be set either way.

Wiping blood off his hands onto a handkerchief, Alric said, “There, shouldn’t be a problem once we get a Yellow.” He inspected his handiwork before turning to leave. He’d learned a lot in his time in the army, about both breaking noses and fixing them. Stepping out into the hall, Alric took off in a trot. Ravak didn’t seem too upset about his nose, but it was still probably wise not to keep him waiting.


Along the way to the Infirmary, Alric could see servants rolling out thicker hall carpets and stoking fireplaces. Some of the younger staff looked frantic, but the older servants carried on efficiently as if nothing had changed. Freak weather events probably weren’t that uncommon around channelers. Idly wondering what some of the weirdest messes the servants had had to deal with, Alric pushed open the Infirmary doors. He’d been in this part of the Tower more often than he would have preferred. Thankfully most of the Yellows were the friendly sorts. Something that probably came with the territory as a healer.

Thankfully, unlike some other visits he’d had, the infirmary was quiet. There were a few patients with routine maladies and injuries. A world different than the carnage that followed the destruction of the Great Serpent.

“Howdy, did you light yourself on fire again?” a cheerful voice said as Alric began walking towards the office. His face brightened as he turned to see youthful Arafellen woman stepping out from behind a partition.

“Leona Sedai, good to see you,” Alric said with a grin. “And, no ma’am, I broke Ravak Gaidin’s nose.”

The Aes Sedai doubled over laughing. Gasping for breath, she went to wash her hands, body still shaking with small laughs.

“I mean, we did bruise each other up quite nicely, but the nose is the worst of it,” Alric said with a wince and a self deprecating grin. The adrenaline from their bout and his subsequent jog were wearing down and his ankle was beginning to throb. At least the rooms hearth was crackling merrily.
“You should be ashamed, messing up such a pretty face, stick to body blows next time. Take me to him, I’ll see what I can do,” the Arafellen said with a wink. “But first, you hold still. I can see you limping.”

Alric settled onto a hospital bed in front of her. For some reason, his first instinct had been to play it off and act like he wasn’t hurt as badly as he was. Old army habits told him to tough things out and not show pain. However, here, where healing was instantaneous and readily available, what was the point? Wouldn’t it be better to shelve his pride so he could be back to training quicker? Goose bumps broke out along his arms as Lenora embraced Saidar. The sensation was quickly followed by a wave of icy cold as she wove a healing around him.


Walking on a freshly heeled ankle, Alric lead the way back to the training room. As Lenora Sedai chatted about this and that, mostly Tower gossip, Alric was left to wonder if Aes Sedai serenity was anything more than a myth.

After Alric had left, Rav settled down against one of the walls. With classes cancelled, there was no rush to be anywhere in particular, and he wasn't in a presentable form for certain duties. Snowflake approached, claws catching against the padded floor. Rav used one hand to scratch and rub at the husky, whilst protectively hovering his other hand in front of his face. As he waited with his faithful pet, he rather wished he'd had the foresight to bring a book in with him.

The Gaidin's mind wandered off into deep thought in the time the soldier was away. When Alric at last returned, Rav was staring off into the distance with a familiar grimace on his face. His bluish-grey gaze seemed wistful as it focused upon the newcomers. With a grunt stemming from stiff muscles, Ravak pushed himself up onto his feet.

"Lenora Sedai." He made the barest of bows, which was returned in the form of a slight nod of the Arafellin's head. His lips twitched slightly at the sound of bells chiming within the Yellow sister's hair. And he wasn't the only one amused. Her dark hazel eyes twinkled gleefully as she approached, and Rav braced himself for the sudden rush of molten frost and frozen fire that accompanied Healing.

Snowflake's whining cry covered her master's breathy gasp as the One Power took hold.

Rav leaned against the wall whilst the last of the chills vanished. "My thanks, sister." Lenora still bore an amused smile, but she nodded in acceptance.

At last, Ravak turned his attention back to the source of his injuries. "I think we're done here for just now. My nose has had enough abuse for the day."