A Failure to Communicate (Attn: Bella)

[Quibby]

With a growl, Mehrin reset his feet and brought his training weapon to bear once again. His opponent, Thad, grinned at him and flourished the replicas of his short sword and dagger. "You're getting slow, old man," he said mockingly as the two began to circle again.

Returning the much younger man's grin, Mehrin replied, "Just trying to think of you. I would hate to think of you having to go home to your wife with a broken jaw." There was no malice in the insults and banter that passed between the two. The spar itself was serious enough; neither man believed it necessary for their attitudes to constantly be serious.

Of course, there was always the dissenting opinion to consider...

Are you seriously talking to this dancing buffoon? Hit him on the head, see how far that gets him!

Shut up.

As always happened when he sparred, Mehrin felt the brush of the Deathwatch at the back of his mind, urging him towards the brutality that had earned him his reputation so many years ago. That reputation had yet to develop in Hama Valon, however. As much as Mehrin wished to test himself against equals- and as much as the Deathwatch wanted to destroy anybody it could- it would serve no purpose.

His thoughts were interrupted by Thad's sudden attack. Mehrin batted the short sword away, then followed after it to avoid the dagger thrust. Both he and the Deathwatch recognized the opening that Thad had given them, an opening that they were already taking advantage of when they spotted it. Mehrin's fist struck Thad squarely in the center of the chest, sending him staggering back with a pained grimace on his face. And that's how it starts...

As the two engaged each other once again, Mehrin watched carefully. Thad was still hurting. It was slowing down his strikes from his dagger hand. Another good blow, and Mehrin would be well on the way to winning his first spar in Hama Valon.

That was when Thad returned the favor. Stepping swiftly inside Mehrin's guard, Thad drove his shoulder into the larger man's chest, sending him staggering. Then, with a pivot on his heel, he brought his training sword around and struck Mehrin at the joint of his neck and shoulder, then drove the point of his dagger into Mehrin's other side.

The edges of Mehrin's vision turned red, accompanied by the enraged screams of the Deathwatch. The urge to throw away his training sword and tackle the other man, to crush him, break him, destroy him, was overwhelming. Instead, Mehrin rubbed his neck where he had been struck. "A simple 'I win' would have sufficed, Thad."

Mehrin could see a touch of anger in Thad's eyes. It was the first time that Mehrin had ever landed a blow in their spars. "Is that how it works for you, then? You hurt them, then you go in to try again?"

He nodded. "Once you get that first blow, the next will be easier, and the next easier still."

Rubbing his chest, Thad said, "That's not going to make you many friends in the sparring circle, Mehrin."

"I know, but it's all I know, and the fact that I'm still alive proves that it works."

Thad had gathered his things. "Good spar," he said as he walked away.

Somehow, Mehrin felt that it would be their last spar. Just as well. If he whines from a single punch, what's the point?

I can't be alone here.

You'll always have me.

And that's why.

Bastard.

Same to you.

[Bella]

Lysira Walker Gaidar Since returning to the Tower, Lysira spent much of her time in the Warder Yards. Although she had a husband returned and a son that took up much of her time as well, she was a Gaidar through and through and this place called to her like its song had been ingrained in her blood; she had also taken to working with the trainees as well, which also required her frequent presence here.

Today, at this moment, she happened to be walking through with Ji'dar Ani. Her eyes, large and glittering like black obsidian, latched onto a spar in process. She recognized Thad right off, but the other opponent took a moment...then she recalled him as having been part of the Border Patrol mission she had attended, something of a catastrophe as it had become.

Holding up a hand, she had Ani stop so she could watch. Then she saw Thad end the spar and walk away, his expression not quite stormy but not looking...particularly enthused either.

On a whim, Lysira approached Mehrin--the Gaidin that she knew very little about, and who being on the patrol with had done very little to illuminate. Making sure they walked up not from a blind spot, her dark eyes glinted as she tilted her head. It brought to mind the images of a curious animal. "It does not look like you may have made much a friend in him after this fight," she commented, her small hands flashing quickly in her economic gestures of communication while Ji'dar Ani spoke them aloud.

[Quibby]

Mehrin nodded at the two women approaching him, acknowledging their presence while he set about gathering his gear. Courtesy in the Yard was nearly the same here has it had been in Tar Valon: never approach unannounced from behind. Men and women trained to fight never took that well. He hoped that his nod to the women would be taken for the sign of attention that it was meant to be. "It does not look like you may have made much a friend in him after this fight," one of the two women said.

Oh, it's them.

Who?

You're getting old. The mute girl and her mouth? From the Blight?

Mehrin did not respond to the derisive tone of the Deathwatch. Instead, he brought his attention to the two women- Lysira and... damn.- and again nodded to them. "More like losing an acquaintance, really," he replied, looking in the direction that Thad had gone as he pulled a black vest over his sweat-soaked shirt. "I doubt we'll spar again. His wife worries that he will be hurt in the Yard, and he probably thinks that I will end up doing just that, eventually."

Once again, Mehrin's gaze returned to the two women- ... was it Adri? Ami? Damn.- and he offered a smile. "Sorry, I sometimes tend to get caught up in things. How are you two doing? Been keeping out of trouble since the Blight?"

[Bella]

Lysira listened with her peculiar stillness and silence, her head keeping that slight tilt that could (coupled with her dark eyes) give her the appearance of a curious animal. (She had not been named "Mouse" as a youth for nothing, after all, though she was not unhappy to have left that nickname behind her.)

"Wives are often not pleased with those who send their husbands home bloody," Lysira-via-Ani said. "As for keeping out of trouble, well, I would not be a very good warder if that had been the case, now would I?" Her eyes glinted as she smirked slightly. Inwardly, she thought back to the Haddon Mirk. To the...darkness that had encased her.

"I would ask the same of you, but I don't wonder if I have the answer." She nodded in the direction of Thad's departure.

[Quibby]

"To be honest, there is only so much trouble I can get in to," Mehrin replied with a smirk. "I don't have any sort of bondmate dragging me along on some sort of mad quest for glory or knowledge or whatnot." No, we have our own little quests, don't we? Any leads on that yet?

Shut up.

Nodding in the direction that Thad had taken, he added, "Training is what I have, for now. Maybe it will have a target in the future, but for now?" Mehrin shrugged. "I'm just an old man swinging a big sword in a yard full of young people seeking recognition." A rueful smile crossed his face at the simple statement. "Who knows what could have been." Are you trying to sound wise, idiot? You made your choices. We have debts to settle! Ignoring some of the Deathwatch's outbursts was usually simple, but any mention of the debt he owed his daughter... "You are right, though; a good Warder never keeps out of trouble." Mehrin smiled again. "Good thing that I'm no longer a Warder."

[Bella]

Lysira was an observant woman, and that nature found Mehrin...curious. She could not fully comprehend just what it was that she sensed that made her so curious, but she could tell that there at least was something there; like an enigma floating in the air that she wanted to reach out and bat at like a cat. Never that far from the beast, Lysira. Just more predator than prey now.

"If you are no longer a warder," Lysira said-via-Ani, her lips curving in that quirky little smile again as her eyes and hands flashed in tandem, "then you have chosen a very odd place to be." Her eyes gestured around them. "This is the place for warders, whether bonded or not."

[Quibby]

He was being studied. Mehrin was used to that. For a time, he had been quietly passed around the Yellow Ajah in Tar Valon. One of them had even tried gentling him. Lysira's tendency to tilt her head reminded Mehrin of a curious animal studying something new, and she made no secret of it. That was fine.

He was studying her, too.

As she 'spoke', Mehrin watched the Gaidar''s hands as her fingers flickered through the rapid motions that made up her speech. It was fascinating. Fascinating and absolutely baffling.

You, too?

What would happen if we broke her fingers?

Shut up.

"It's a long story," Mehrin answered. "I was a bonded to a Yellow from the White Tower until the end of the Aiel War. I adopted a little girl orphaned by the war-" By us, remember? "-and found myself a small village. We lived there for twenty years. Men came and killed everybody trying to find somebody. I got a name. I came here for answers." Shrugging, he added, "I made a deal: my service here for the information I need to get justice." You don't want justice, Mehrin. You want vengeance. Just say it.

Mehrin gestured at Lysira's resting hands. "My turn for questions. Your friend..." Ani! That was it! the Deathwatch shouted. "... Ani. How did you teach her? Signs and writing?"

[Bella]

She listened, because she was good at listening, not moving her body or head, only her brows shifted slightly upward at his story and her eyes shifted occasionally. Interesting... was the main word that came to mind, and it was. A variety of questions sprung up, but none of them were appropriate to ask and so she did not. While she was insatiably curious, she was also judicious in letting it escape.

There was just something about him...yet she could not define it. That was equally curious, but there was an edge to that which she didn't understand that told her it was not something to blindly investigate.

"How did you teach her?"

Now Lysira straightened out of her curious bird pose and her brows both lifted along with a faint smile. Then she gestured at Ani to answer the question for herself, because she (ironically?) was not one to speak for others. Ani smiled and since Lysira was not signing, it was clear that these were her words.

"She did not have to teach me," Ani said. "I somewhat knew already. The signs she uses are fairly close to those used by the Aiel maidens, so I had a good foundation to work from and just needed to understand some small differences. That was done by writing, as necessary, yes."

[Quibby]

Mehrin couldn't help but chuckle. I don't see what's so- aah, that's right! "Pardon, I never connected the two." Drawing from an unusually sharp memory, Mehrin's fingers danced in a quick pattern. "I saw that one while we were camped about halfway between Cairhien and Tar Valon during the war. It was night, and while we were on guard, nobody expected us to come under attack. To be fair, it wasn't exactly an attack." A small smile touched his lips again. "Nobody saw the Maidens enter the camp. They worked their way from one end towards the other, killing anybody who was alone. I was walking through the camp, and I noticed a hand at ground level making that gesture. We all knew that the Aiel often used hand signals to communicate silently. I managed to turn around in time to stop the Maiden from gutting me, and the racket we made drew enough people to end the skirmish quickly.

"The one who attacked me was still alive, but only just. And she was laughing, even as she was choking on her own blood. 'Well-done, wetlander,' she told me. 'Killed by a silent conversation.'" Mehrin made the gesture again, slower this time. "I asked her what it meant, knowing that she would never tell me. 'It means, "Kill the big wetlander,"' she said."

He chuckled again, remembering the amusement in the eyes above the woman's veil, even through the pain that had been there. They really are interesting people, aren't they?

Yes, they are.

Still, that does bring up one question, doesn't it? Ask her.

"A thought occurs to me," Mehrin said, his eyes focusing on the two women. "The Aiel are protective of those hand signals; none of the societies have the same ones, and as you seem to know, the Maidens have an entire language. How did you manage to convince them to teach you?"

[Bella]

To this, Lysira's mouth curved faintly. If he hoped to ferret out some secret or intrigue, she hated to disappoint him, but the truth was the truth... "I don't know," Lysira-Ani said. "I was born without the ability to speak so have never known words of my own mouth. My parents, a Blue of this very Tower and her warder, taught me the language of signs as I got older."

This brought back a momentary flood of memories, of living in isolation and in hiding; of thinking her parents dead and spending those many years alone in the woods; then to their reunion; then to now... So much had changed in the span of Lysira's life, and yet it could be so easy to fall back so far into those first memories, for they were...colorful ones, to be sure.

"I fear," she-they continued, "that they never told me where they learned and frankly, I did not care enough to ask. I could use them to communicate, and that was as much as I needed to know. They also taught me to read and write, of course..." She paused briefly, for they had only been able to teach her the rudimentary skills before they seemed to have died and she was on the run.

Much of the rest of her finesse with the skills came after she reached the Tower. "Which has also been of use, for many do not know any signs at all."