The Grey Tower

Crisp morning air, and frost on the grass hinted that a change in seasons was around the corner. Tia Tomosan was exploring the Tower Grounds, as was her usual when she was not taking her lessons, and this day's wanderings brought her to the Gardens. Instead of the excitement that often filled the young woman, Tia was deep in contemplation as she wandered along a path. While she scanned the scenery around her, she didn't really 'see' it, as her thoughts were on her mother and father.

Young, and somewhat sheltered as Tia was, she was no stranger to the world of Channelers and Warders. How could she be? She had Sha'hal blood, after all, and knew the stories of her family and the Tower. However, knowing a thing, and seeing a thing were two different beasts. Seeing her mother injured, and seeing her father Heal her brought another level of 'knowing' to Tia. She wasn't sure how close she and Einion came to losing their Warder mother, and she hadn't yet asked her father.

Riahana had been released from the infirmary, and back in the family quarters for a couple of days now. The family spoke of what happened, but not in specifics. What her mother did could be dangerous. . .but Tia'd never seen this side of it, and it scared her. Rather, the idea of losing her parents scared her.

The emotions Tia experienced the day her mother came through the gate and fell into her father's arms were still raw. So caught up in the moment and memory of them, she didn't realize she was about to have company on her walk.

"There is a young woman deep in thought."

The voice of the elder Sha'hal cut through the air, but not with the usual stony intonations that her voice carried. She had seen her kin from a distance and recognized the look, and both for the familial ties and understanding that expression, her tone was gentle. Having spoken and gotten the younger woman's attention, she moved up beside her with a faint smile.

Miahala having been among the fight on the other side of that gateway, she knew what had happened. When she'd come back, splattered with some Trolloc blood and feeling more alive than she had in a long while, she had learned of Riahana's injury but also knew that the woman was married to one of the strongest healers in the Tower and would be well.

Still, she could guess what was on Tia's mind. "Are you well, child?"

Tia gave her Great-Great Grandmother a weak smile as she fell in step with her, sharing in what would appear to be a slow, leisurely walk to any who were watching. Despite being twins, or perhaps because of it, Tia was quite different from her brother. He tended to be thoughtful, and carefully considered his words before he spoke. She tended to be more immediate in response, but not on this particularly chilly, but still morning.

After a moment or two, Tia let go a thoughtful sigh, "Yes and no, Memma. I have felt. . .unsettled since seeing Mother come through the Gateway. I know I likely shouldn't have been in the Traveling Yards, but my curiosity got the better of me. I've never seen her so injured, and while I've seen Father heal others, I've not once seen him heal her." She paused her step and looked to Mia with a perplexed expression, "I know she is fine, but I think it was the first time I've felt we've come close to losing her...and I think it scared me."

The young woman furrowed her brows as she continued her slow pace along the path, "Thinking...remembering it...the memory of Mother toppling from Lex still scares me. It seems silly because of who she is, and what she does. . .she's always been a Warder to me, but I don't think I fully understood what that meant until seeing her hurt." The stillness of the morning seemed to break as a wind rattled through the leaves of nearby trees. "We never really faced such dangers in Duron, yet it seems to be the norm here, and I am not sure how I feel about it."

Miahala listened to her great-great-granddaughter quietly and patiently, and was not in the least surprised by the words of the girl. What she expressed was entirely understandable and was, in fact, expected from what she had witnessed. (When one lived as long as Mia, of course, few reactions or even events were ever trulyunexpected...)

"To understand the concept of mortality, especially in those we love, versus actually coming to see it face to face--as it were--are two entirely different things. There are many things that people understand in the abstract, but when we are confronted with that, it is only natural that it would highly unsettle us."

As she spoke, she began to realize that something felt...different in her young kin. Her blue-green eyes sharpened as she considered, then suspected what she sensed. Her head tilted slightly. "Have you been feeling well otherwise?" she asked gently.

[ooc: I am hopefully remembering my processes right here.]

Are you well, child?

A simple question, but was there such a thing as a simple answer? Tia's eyes were on her feet as the two strolled slowly along the path. She was a healthy girl, overall, and rarely got sick. Those times when she may have been under the weather, she would often act as if she were healthy as an ox because she hated people fussing over her. Her Great Great Grandmother seemed genuinely concerned about her, which was touching, but Tia came from stubborn stock.

Giving a half shrug, the teenager replied with little more than a mumble, "I am fine, Memma." After a couple of steps, though, she found she couldn't help saying more, "I have had a bit of a headache off and on for the last day or two, but nothing out of the ordinary." She finally looked up and towards the waterfall that was part of the gardens. She was fine, wasn't she?

Tia was not used to self-doubt, and if she were able to identify the confusion and feelings she was experiencing, she'd say she didn't like it at all. Being so young, though, and naive in her way, this was a new feeling for her...one she hoped would pass quickly.

Mia eyed her keenly, having raised five children who all had stubborn blood flowing in their veins from two sides. Mia never made a man a husband who was not as strong and stubborn as she was, after all. She knew that the girl standing before her had the blood of the Sha'hal line and the Jolstraer line: Saldea and Shienar bled down a Blight Border family tree.

Riahana was of that strain, and Mia knew that Gareth was no slouch in the matter. He would never have married by her kin otherwise!

And thus she knew better than to take this answer at face value. The Green knew what she felt and so she knew what she was after, but didn't want to just drop a load of boulders on the girl's shoulders. "You have been having this headache for a couple of days? Since your mother was hurt?" she asked kindly, wondering what had happened that day. She didn't know enough of the happenings on the other side of the gateway.

The girl gave another half-shrug, "I think I first noticed it the day after Mother returned to the Tower." She wondered why her Memma was asking, and really didn't want any fuss over something as bothersome as a headache. It would go away, after all. What did it have to do with anything?

The pair left footsteps in the frosty grass as they came to a bench that afforded an excellent view of the waterfall. "I figure the headache is because I'm worrying for nothing. Mother is, after all, one of the strongest people I know. She's already back on her feet, and restless since she's restricted to our family quarters for now."

Tia wasn't planning on sitting down, but she felt a wave of dizziness come over her. Thinking it better to sit than to stumble if they continued their walk, slow as it was, the young girl took a seat on the bench. She closed her eyes for a moment as the world spun, and took a deep breath, hoping things would right themselves as she slowly exhaled. Partly to deflect attention from herself, and partly because the thought amused her, she smirked as she added, "I suspect she will drive Einion a bit mad, as she has never sat still very well. He is likely planning an escape to the library, if I had to guess."

Moving with her usual grace and economy, she sat down beside her kin. Her eyes still held onto the other's face, seeing the way she closed her eyes and held herself slightly against the bench. A little light-headed, if Mia had to guess. She tried to play it off, but the ploy was remarkably obvious to one of Miahala's (many) years. She smiled slightly, the sort of expression that said she knew what she tried to do.

"I am sure he is," she said simply. "Tia... I do not wish to alarm you, child, but I know there was some debate among your parents as to whether or not you should be tested for the spark." She paused. "I don't think it necessary now, because I feel it in you. You've channeled without realizing it somewhere in the past few days and that's why you're feeling poorly."

You've channeled within the last few days. . .

Her Memma's words seemed to reverberate endlessly within the young girl's head. Confused, she looked up to Mia, "I channeled? I can't have. . .I would have known, wouldn't I?" A storm of thoughts rolled unimpeded as the implications started to sink in. Tia frowned and shook her head, "No...see I was going to sign the books to the Yards. . .become a Warder, like Mom. Get better with my daggers and bow."

Another realization seemed to sink in as she looked a tad horrified. After a moment or two of silence, she continued, "I certainly had no intentions of wearing a dress, and a white one at that! I do not wear dresses! Dresses are for..." Tia nearly huffed and puffed as she hesitated once more, "Dresses are for girls, and yes I am a girl, but I'm not. . .I'm not a girly girl!" The youngest Sha'hal was seemingly more bothered by the dress than she was the concept she could channel.

Sitting before her was perhaps one of the more powerful Aes Sedai in the Tower, a former Captain General of the Green, and her Memma. She'd heard stories of how the Green Aes Sedai was just as deadly with her daggers as perhaps anyone in the Yards. She had, perhaps, one of the best role models she could have sitting just next to her, and it was her Memma who discovered she had the spark. An idea that Tia still wasn't sure she was quite settled with. Tentatively, she asked, "What....what now?"

Mia smiled gently and gave Tia her chance to speak her thoughts, Sha'hal passion spilling through. She saw much of herself in her youth in the girl now, and it warmed her spirit that was too often too cool. "You do not have to wear dresses forever," she assured her, "just for a little while during your training. It is simply tradition. And you can still learn all the weaponry you like, just including one more.

"You'll need to see the Mistress of Novices and join the ranks. If you hold true to your bloodline, you will not be a weak channeler and you will need to learn how to wield it properly. You know I am strong in the Power and your great-great grandfather was also powerful, as is your Uncle Derren and Sadira is not without her gift. But you are in just the right place to learn how to use it well, and I am sure you will.

"It is a big change, I know." Her smile was sympathetic. "But you are a Sha'hal, a Jolstraer, a Ferria, a Tomason... You will do well. Your ancestors are strong with you."