The Grey Tower

The sun fascinated Jhanic at the moment. He did not look at it directly, just saw its reflection in a small fountain. It was so much less harsh and powerful in the wetlands, and yet it was the same sun that beat down on the Aiel daily in the Three-Fold Land, the place that the wetlanders called the "Aiel Waste." He had always thought that name offensive. It was a hard land for a hard people, but it was not a "waste." Perhaps they thought it so, because this land had given them so much that they could not understand how hard one needed to be in the homeland of his people. That was his thinking when he had first heard that name used and schooled himself not to react. The same sun that had hardened the Aiel had provided for the people on the other side of the Spine of the World. He wondered what the difference was. He looked away at the green in the gardens of the Grey Tower. He blinked at the brightly colored spots left from the fountain.

He had been given a "free day." All responsibilities could be ignored, as if they did not exist for that day only. It was a new concept, and if his lowered guard was going to be the norm for them, he did not know if he would like them as much as his fellow soldiers and novices. It had been a task to adjust to living here, and it was even more of a task to school his mind to concentrate on his surroundings when he was not in the sprawling deserts of the Three-Fold Land, or at the very least with his spear brothers. He had spent ten years among their number, learning about them and their habits, their strengths and weaknesses. He had left his life behind for an entirely different one, forced to don new clothes and learn new rules, shift his focus.

Turning on his heel, he decided to look away from that spot for the moment and shift his focus. Jhanic began to walk toward the Warders' Yards, his eyes scanning the gardens, when he felt something hit his chest. Or rather, his chest hit something. It was not a tree, so it must have been a person. He stopped immediately before he bowled them over and instinctively shot his arms out on either side of them in case they fell. When he was satisfied that they were still on their feet, he dropped his arms and stepped back.

His blue eyes landed on the figure in front of him. He had run into a novice. She was tall for a woman and had red hair, but her skin had barely been touched by the sun. She was not one of the People. "I apologize, novice. I have toh. I did not see you. I hope that you are not hurt."

Elia

Jhanic studied the novice before him as she so quickly jested with him. He was very used to wetlanders not understanding an Aiel when they met one, but this woman, Elia, seemed to know a bit more than others. He wondered for a moment where she had picked it up. It even seemed as though she spoke like one of the People, if just for a moment. After she had finished speaking, he decided she was rather amusing. He paused blinked before he threw his head back and laughed. "A wetlander who can tell a joke," he commented. "I was beginning to wonder if I could find one." Her question about having toh toward a wetlander was an interesting one.

"Well, I am not an overly proud man," he said. This was especially true with his spears having been taken away. Without his spears, he did not have something to focus on when something troubling came up in his studies. Once he gained the dragon pin and cord, he would take them back, though. "And no longer among my spear-brothers and clan. Those in the Grey Tower take their place. I made a slight against you for not paying attention where I should have. Therefore, it is up to you to decide when my toh has been paid." He thought for a moment what she would think was a good enough punishment would be, since she seemed to know at least a little about ji'e'toh. Whatever it was, he would take it. He decided to respond to her introduction as he had been accustomed to in his short time here. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Elia. I am Jhanic. May you find water and shade." Well, not entirely like a wetlander.

Elia

When Elia took hold of Jhanic's arm to begin walking through the Gardens, he thought to himself that she would at the very least get along with Maidens of the Spear. At least she was not armed with a spear and demanding kisses. He never was a fan of the game Maiden's Kiss. They never exactly liked playing it with him, either. He was far too easily distracted, they claimed. Now a red-haired wetlander novice in a pure white dress was leading him around. Well, at least his toh would be paid after this. He was very aware of her eyes on his face. She was a fair bit younger than he, he assumed. Most novices and soldiers were. He was led to believe that this was because he was a wilder, that his talent for channeling was not discovered until later in life. He was glad for that, for all those years with his spear-brothers, gaining experience in battle and fighting with the spears.

Elia asked after his background, an Jhanic narrowed his eyes. Ah. How he came to the Grey Tower. That territory was a little less treacherous. He wouldn't have to leave out many details from that. "I don't see why it would," he said with a shrug on the question about his honor. "I did not arrive here on foot," he admitted. "After I crossed into the wetlands with my clan, we traveled for a while. I admit I did not think too long on which nation we were in. We were not in Cairhien, though. Perhaps a bit to the north." His clan chief made it a point not to be in the treekillers' territory for longer than was necessary. "Asha'man paid us a visit, and they took an interest in my spears. One of them claimed that I had channeled to make them stronger. My clan does not have a way to train male channelers, after Saidin was cleansed. I did not want to go untrained, so I went with the Asha'man to the Grey Tower by a gateway. That was...perhaps two weeks ago." He paused. He was not used to speaking this much to someone in the Grey Tower. "What of your story, Elia?" It was still strange to call someone by just their first name.

Elia

OOC: I figure this may segue into something Aiel-related. Or we can totally check out the waterfall in the gardens

Jhanic felt as though he had tread into a territory he should not have as Elia awkwardly explained her situation. He did not feel guilt, however. He had just returned the same question that she had posed to him. "You do not owe toh for something like a block," he said, shaking his head. "Because the only person that is hindering is yourself. There is no shame from it, especially since you are working to correct it. I am a wilder as well. I have been told that I was performing a weave that has not been used in ages without realizing that I was even channeling. The Asha'man that discovered this pronounced that I had a block, having to do with distraction. That was something easily overcome, because of my previous training with my spear-brothers, but that should not make you feel as though you are any less for having a block. Everyone trains differently, and at different paces."

He felt like he was talking up a new spear-brother who had just arrived among his ranks, although Elia had been at this longer than he had. But they had led completely different lives, on different parts of the world. He likely knew himself better than she knew herself, simply from his time spent in the world. "Had you been raised among the Aiel, your training with the Wise Ones would not have been as easy on you, I think. I do not know much of it, because it was always something that I never took part in, but the Wise Ones are known for being shrewd and harsh. It is the nature of what they deal in, and how they help the clans." He tried to keep that in mind for his own training here. The Grey Tower had its own forms of discipline and training, but the Wise Ones would have called it coddling.

Elia

Jhanic grinned a bit at the thought of Aes Sedai being called "shrewd and harsh." The Wise Ones would have shown them a new meaning of the words. As far as Elia meeting the Wise Ones was concerned, she was right. She likely won't meet them in the future, but Jhanic had a feeling that they would be helpful, after a fashion. He remembered Wise One apprentices running around performing tasks with little to no meaning, and running errands for the Wise Ones, or whatever else they thought meaningful to their training. He knew that they received harsh punishments too, but those were done in private. Still, their effects seemed to be lasting. He looked at the red-haired novice leading him along the path in the Gardens. She began to speculate about the Maidens of the Spear, mimicking their stances, asking if she would make a good Aiel woman. It made him laugh.

"You certainly have enough spirit, Novice Elia," he said with a smile. "If you passed their training, I'm sure they'd welcome you into the fold. "I am not certain if you would like wearing the cadin'sor or the shoufa, but I miss them. This uniform of the soldier is a bit too stiff for me. And the boots are not as comfortable as the ones that I wore before I came here. I apologize. I wander too far from our conversation." He shook his head. "In any case, I think if you're having frustrations with the One Power, perhaps weapons training may be what you need to keep your mind away from what is causing the problem. It may open a different way to look at it." Perhaps he should look into sparring while he was here as well. If he wanted to move forward, he would need to know many things.