While the Cat's Away... [Attn: Drin Johan Albaer]

[Bella]

"Nice to meet you, Johan," Nat said with a small smile, but it was sincere. She had met so many people since she arrived here herself, but she was pretty good with names and faces. It was something that helped keep away trouble during her thieving years--in knowing who to avoid because they were the law; who had been a mark and knew it, so avoid; and who had been a mark before but didn't know it, so second pass.

The cat was still purring, almost enough to make her shoulder numb. Like it was thanking her for taking care of it. She kept wondering how it had gotten there, and where it had come from.

"I've been in the Tower some years now," she said. "Guess it's my home now, so I think I'm pretty well qualified to help direct you where ever you need to go." She chuckled. "Light knows I never thought I'd be saying that. I didn't exactly come to the Tower willingly, and ran away once, but it's home now and so here I am."

[Cat]

Johan

The response was enough for Johan to tear his gaze away from the killer cat and stare at her, one eyebrow raised. He’d thought everyone came to the Tower willingly. Normally, from the reaction of most, you’d think that they’d come to some kind of heaven; that there was no better place to be. Johan could think of plenty of far better places. It was odd, then, to hear from someone who hadn’t actually wanted to come here. Just like him.

…But if he ever began to think of the Tower as home, he was definitely going to throw himself off a cliff. It wasn’t going to happen. The Tower was as far from being a home as you could get. Ebou Dar was home, and being here was simply a means to an end; it would eventually get him what he wanted, or so he hoped.

“Why…?” He stopped, hesitated, thought for a moment before he rushed on. “Why did you come here if you didn’t want to? That doesn’t exactly make much sense. I could understand for a channeler,” although if he ever discovered he could channel, he would again be heading for that cliff. “But…”

[Bella]

It wasn't a question either unexpected or not understandable. If she wasn't a channeler, then what reason would she have to be brought?

She smiled a little then, still absently petting the cat. "Well...it was because of a channeler, just not in the usual way. No spark was found with me dragged here and stuffed in Novice white, but Morgan..." She paused thoughtfully, debating how much she wanted to tell. "He was my partner, and my lover. We tried to run the wrong game, and he channeled.

"See, I used to be a thief, game player. I could run a great con, and was rarely caught." She smiled with pride, and less shame than maybe some would say she should've had. "However, don't ever run a game on a channeler and a bloody warder. The warder caught us. Morgan channeled to save me, but then got dragged to the Tower for it. I wouldn't leave him but couldn't channel myself, so I signed the Drin book."

Even to her own ears, she knew how ridiculous it seemed now...but it had felt right at the time.

She chuckled. "I wasn't very good at the start. I didn't fit here, and the same said channeler tried to keep Morgan and I apart, so I tried to run away once. But I came back. And here I am."

[Cat]

Johan

It was similar to his own story, but not quite. Johan had come here willingly enough, but only because he’d managed – also - to gain the attention of an Aes Sedai and Warder who had apparently seen potential in him. He didn’t know just what they’d seen, couldn’t see it himself, but it had been enough for him to go along with it, because doing so meant giving his siblings some stability. He was playing his own game, he supposed. He was only doing this for his family. He had absolutely no intention of ever being bonded and becoming a Warder. Any potential he might possibly have was not for the Tower.

His eyes flicked briefly to the cat, but it seemed happy enough to be petted and remain where it was. It didn’t look like it had any plans to launch itself at him anytime soon, so he let himself relax ever so slightly. Not that he was ever completely relaxed. Life had taught him to be on his guard always, and to be as constantly aware of his surroundings as he could possibly be. He wouldn’t have succeeded in life if he hadn’t been. You had no chance of getting away or getting something if you had no idea who might watching.

“I always preferred pick-pocketing myself,” he said, not really knowing why he was admitting it. He’d gone out of his way to hide what he had once been, but maybe it was because she was the first person who had a background like his. “I think I’m too much of an open book for running cons.” He paused yet again, glancing back at her. “So you’re planning on being bonded by Morgan?”

[Bella]

Nat should have seen that question, or something like it, coming...and she somewhat had. Still, it wasn't a question she enjoyed. Even if she was not longer being kept in a stranglehold by grief, well, it was a sorrowful topic. Her eyes tightened slightly, but she forced a smile. It was a small one, but not too much of a grimace.

"That was the plan," she agreed, trying to keep her voice light. The cat seemed to sense her tension and tensed as well. She worked on finding the focus she had when she was training, and made herself calm down. The cat had started to "mrrrr" slightly with her emotion but eased back once she did. She took a quiet, deep breath and started again.

"But it's not to be," she went on. "He died, some while back. I chose to remain at the Tower and continue my training."

[Cat]

Johan

Johan winced, inwardly cursing himself, even as the question of ‘how?’ formed in his mind. It wasn’t his place to ask, though. He didn’t know her, and she didn’t know him. It would probably only makes things worse, and he didn’t want to do that. He had a habit of sticking his foot in things, of saying and doing the wrong thing, but not today, and so he remained silent, wondering how he’d feel in her position. He didn’t think he would be able to stay. At the Tower. The Tower wasn’t worth enough to him.

He jumped slightly at the noise coming from the cat. For a moment, he had forgotten all about it, and he flushed ever so slightly, embarrassed, his eyes moving back to it. If he took a few steps back-? Well, he wasn’t going to comment. The cat wasn’t the most important thing right now. He could ignore in for a few minutes. It already seemed to have calmed down a little.

“I’m sorry,” was all he finally said. He grimaced, his embarrassment growing. ‘Sorry’ was the worst thing to say, because it didn’t change anything, but he didn’t know what else to say, and so ‘sorry’ was going to have to do.

[Bella]

Enough time had passed that she was able to smile a little at him, even after it was brought up. It still caused a pang, deep within, but she was pretty sure that it always would. Death had that way of things, didn't it? So she wasn't going to fight that pang, but was learning how to accept it without it taking out her knees.

"It's fine, Johan," she reassured him. "Like I said, it was a while ago now. Time heals, and all that. Don't feel bad."

She paused for a moment to make sure the cat was once more at ease. She knew they were close to the infirmary, because the wisdom of the Tower's builders had said that the warder yards needed to be near the infirmary. That theory had proven itself out as sound over and over, and over, again. She just hoped that one of the Yellows who tended the stables and such would be there.

"And what of yourself?" she asked, deciding that they had talked about her enough. "How'd you end up here?"

[Cat]

Johan

He knew that he should really ask how long she had been at the Tower, but a part of him didn’t want to know. ‘Years’ was probably the answer, and that was just a fair few years too long for him. He couldn’t imagine himself being here for that long. Staying in one place for any length of time was still a relatively new idea for him. You kept moving so you didn’t get caught.

With one last glance at the cat (and some hope that they’d be arriving at the infirmary soon), he shrugged his shoulders.

“I was caught fighting. They saw potential.” He could have been reading from a list, his voice slipping into a monotone, and there was no mention of the fact that the fight had involved him killing his opponent. “Suggested that I come here. With three square meals a day, how could I refuse? Even if it means getting my arse kicked on a daily basis.”

[Bella]

"Builds character," Nat replied with a wry smile. "Or so they kept telling me. I was very much not suited, in a physical sense, for such work but I adapted."

Before she could say any more, they reached the door to the infirmary. It was open with no knob to turn, so she just walked in. It seemed there wasn't some kind of plague or catastrophe of injuries set upon the Tower as the room was calm with just the usual quiet thrum of activity. The first person to see them was a rather large fellow--not just tall but broad, with the look of a blacksmith.

She did not know from his experience what rank he was because he wore simply black pants and a shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, but judging from his face, she gathered a channeler. Since there wasn't a uniform, he had to be Asha'man.

"What can I do for you?" he asked. His voice was like mountain moving against each other, but his look was impassive verging on pleasant. His grey eyes surveyed them each, undoubtedly looking for injuries, but finally settled on the cat still clinging to her shoulder. "Does this have something to do with that fellow?"

"Yes, it does," Nat replied with a polite smile. "We found him trapped in a window and he looks like he's not feeling great. Can you look at him?"

Gareth nodded. "Of course," he said, holding his hands out. The cat did not seem to want to move. "Or I can do this here," he went on with a soft chuckle. "I don't suppose I need to ask the cat's permission to Delve." He gently ran his hand along the cat's back. It tensed slightly, but did not flee.

[Cat]

Johan

The very thing he didn’t want to do was the very thing he did as he immediately hesitated at the door to the infirmary. He forced himself to take a step forward and into the room, but, in his mind, the damage was already done. The only thing to do was pray that she hadn’t seen, because he was so desperate not to come across as some coward. He wasn’t one. It was just that the infirmary meant channelers, and channelers made him nervous, and so far he had managed to avoid having to come here.

Johan’s eyes darted about, scanning the place for both threats and escape routes, his footsteps just as hesitant as they had been upon entering the room. He’d voluntarily nhold the cat, carry it to Altara and back, rather than be in a room full of fully-trained channelers. The One Power was a dangerous thing, something that he’d have no chance of fighting against, so how could he not be nervous? It was something he couldn’t see or ever hope to understand. They could all be wielding the power now, getting ready to do something, and he wouldn’t have a bloody clue, and that scared him. He liked to be in control as much as he could; it made him feel safe.

His eyes widened ever so slightly as they fell upon the man. No, not man: Asha’man. A man who could wield Saidin. Johan couldn’t say that he’d run into any Asha’man so far, most of those he met being fellow Drin or Ji’val. This man could make the very ground beneath them explode in less than a breath. Thinking that only made things worse.

Johan tried as best as he could to blend into the background, to remain unnoticeable, as the Asha’man proceeded to look over the cat and Delve it.

“Delve?” the Drin asked before he could stop himself, cursing even as the words left his mouth. Way to not bring attention to himself! “You have to… to look at all the different things? You’d can’t just Heal it altogether?”

He’d thought that Healing just meant waving your hand over something and, voila, it’d be done.

Apparently not.