The Grey Tower

Avyra

Avyra tried to bundle up further in what little cloth her dress had, making her way down the grounds alone. She hadn't been out much lately except to fly her birds due to the cold, and when the snow reaches beyond your ankles you really don't want to deal with it. She saw someone else as well, a huge figure bundled up better than she but looking as dreary as ever. "Oh, hello Asha'man Zeen! Or M'Hael now? M'Hael Zeen. Oh well. Hello! Is the weather up there just as bad as it is down here?" The large man looked down at her, then shifted his head up, raising his chest slightly as he did so. "I believe the weather is still cold. Perhaps even colder "up here", since you are lower to the ground and the ground gives off ambient heat. Or rather, it would if it was not frozen." She raised an eyebrow and nodded. "I see. Well, I hear that being up at a high altitude makes things colder. Being a mountain yourself, maybe the same is also true. Are your legs warm but your head not?" Zeen blinked down at her, then laughed. "I assure you, doveling, that my head and ears and shoulders are as warm as the rest of my body. Though my feet are close to being numb. I was told that I cannot simply melt away all the snow and use saidin to carve a path through the grounds where I walk," he finished with a suffering sigh. Avyra raised an eyebrow, looking at the path before them. Why didn't people do something about the snow? "That sounds horrible. I'm up to my ankles in it, see? I don't think I have feet anymore, or toes? Or fingers?" "And why have the Power if one cannot make life easier? What point does it prove to walk around in the Light forsaken snow?" He added with a huff. They walked in silence for a few moments, then he paused to pull his cloak off, draping it over her shoulders. It fit horribly, way too big, but it was warm and cozy. Avyra grinned, but paused for a moment. "But it'll drag the ground!" She worked to gather it up a tad so it wasn't by her feet. Zeen chuckled in response. "It is a cloak. If it drags on the ground, then so be it." Avyra reddened and looked down a bit. "If you insist. Thank you, Asha'man Zeen." She gave him a smile, which he returned. "You are very welcome, doveling. Perhaps you should check one of the pockets." Av gave a frown, then reached in the pocket to pull out... a plant? A mistletoe, it seemed. Oh dear. "Tradition states that when two people meet beneath one... something happens. Do you know what, Avyra?" He gave her an arched brow. She felt a touch numb. "But we aren't beneath it right now. My arm isn't long enough. It won't work." Zeen grinned, taking it from her and gently holding it above them. "Look at that! It would seem mine are." He leaned down to kiss her softly. Avyra pulled back sharply, giving a sputter. "What in the Light's name was that!!!?" She couldn't think. "Is that an acceptable way for an asha'man to act??!? For the m'hael??!?? Shame!!" She stood up on her toes and pointed a finger at him. "That, was a kiss, doveling." He seemed completely unphased. "It is not acceptable for an Asha'man to behave in such a manner. And it is most definitely not acceptable for the M'Hael to." He paused. "As for the shame... I can honestly say that I do not feel any." He flashed a grin. Avyra was livid. "I thought you had respect for someone's personal space but!! I guess not!" She grabbed a pile of cold snow from the ground and flung it at him. He cursed, hopping away with a shout of "Bloody flaming ashes!!" before turning back to her, squaring his huge shoulders at her. She almost backed up. "So that is how it is going to be." He took a handful of snow for himself and threw it at her. She managed to duck out of the way just in time. "Yes it is!! Creep!" She threw another, which prompted him to dance towards a nearby hedge with a shout of "Brat!" as he flung more snowballs back at her. "Sly fox with no self control!" Avyra flung herself after him, slamming her entire weight into his side. It hurt. He barely huffed. "I am the epitome of self-control, thank you very much!" He roared back before flopping down into the snow, taking her with him. Now that Zeen was down, Avyra gave a triumphant sniff. "There. That'll teach you not to kiss me without permission." She gave a smirk, getting up and holding out a hand to him, which he took, standing as well. Then she threw another snowball and ran.

Weland & Kaira “Look Weland! There’s a man! And he’s… he’s kissing someone!”

Weland grimaced and quickly knelt so that the little girl perched on his shoulders could climb off his back. He gripped her hand so that she wouldn’t run off. She tugged impatiently at his hand.

“Woah there,” he said. “Slow down! Don’t walk me into a tree. And cover your eyes.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Weland. If I covered my eyes, then who would lead you around? Don’t worry. It isn’t the first time I’ve seen someone k-i-s-s-i-n-g before. Daddy thinks that he is sneaky, but he really isn’t.”

Weland tried to disguise his laughter as a cough. Kaira giggled and squeezed his hand. Then she took a deep breath and screamed.

“HEY THERE! GET A ROOM!”

Weland groaned, though he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“I think it’s Zeen,” said Kaira. “I mean, the M’Hael. And some novice. Wait, it’s an Accepted, I didn’t see the bands… Oh, it’s Accepted Avyra! And they’re throwing snow at each other. It’s a snowball fight! Come ON, Weland!”

“Hey, wait! Did you say the M’Hael?”

“Yes! It will be fun!”

“Your father…”

“Who cares?! Let’s go! Make me a snowball, Weland.”

“You can’t just order me around like that! Here.”

He pressed the snow into her mittened hand.

“Yeah, yeah. Ooh it’s cold. Let’s hide behind this tree,” she said. He heard a shift in movement, and then Kaira burst out laughing.

“Haha! Got her right in the back! That’s what you get for pushing me out of a tree. Quick, Weland, make me another!”

Terric

Setting an easy pace through the garden, Janine allowed herself to completely ignore the responsibilities of being a novice. Instead, she simply marveled at the winter beauty that had transformed her favorite place in the city into something new and breathtaking. Winter had once been her favorite season of the year, and she could never come to hate the scenery. However, things could always change.

As the cooler nights of autumn had begun to settle onto the city, Janine's hand had begun to throb, and as the days had grown colder, the throbbing had only grown worse. For a time, embracing saidar had become impossible due to the pain that sometimes seemed to shoot up her arm. The Yellow Asha'man to whom Janine had spoken had looked at her with some sorrow. "We Healed you as best we could, child, but no amount of Healing can grow back fingers. After a bone injury, the bone may become sensitive to temperature changes, and there is nothing except for skin between the ends of your bones and the outside world, making it even more sensitive. That is something that I can't fix." Janine could almost feel where the Asha'man had squeezed her shoulder as a gesture of comfort. It was scant comfort, true, but the sign of concern and sorrow had stuck with Janine. It was nice to be reminded that many of the men and women above her cared about the well-being of the younger ranks.

Armed with the information given to her by the Yellow, Janine had done the only thing that there was to do: adapt. It had taken no convincing on her part to have a special pair of gloves made for the winter. The three-fingered glove for her left hand was especially thick with a heavy fur lining that trapped enough heat to tame the cold, which in turn tamed the piercing pain. True, it made her left hand even more awkward to use, but it was a small price to pay for a mind unclouded by pain. The drastic improvement in her studies that had resulted was the reason that she was free to wander the gardens today.

Feeling refreshed after her meandering walk in the brisk air, Janine turned her path back towards the Tower, what sounded like a conversation, and a hot cup of tea. Tea first, studies after, let the talkers talk whatever talk they wish to talk, she thought with a small smirk. Even with her disinterest in the goings-on, Janine still found herself walking towards the conversation; since it seemed to be occurring between her and the Tower, she had no choice in the matter. She came around a hedge just in time to see Terric, the tall Aielman who had first met her at the Tower, asking somebody about mistletoe. Terric dwarfed the Accepted standing next to him- Avyra, Janine was certain. The diminutive Accepted was easy to identify, as long as she was not standing behind anything higher than a table. Janine only managed to identify the other man when Terric did something completely unexpected. Reaching out, he seized hold of the other man and pulled him in for a kiss.

Janine's eyes widened, blue and green sparkling as she grinned widely. She doubted that the M'hael had ever been kissed quite so thoroughly by anybody as tall as Terric. The kiss broke quickly, and just as quickly Terric was ducking behind his shield to avoid a snowball thrown by Accepted Avyra. "So, it's snowballs, is it?" Janine said to herself, smirking. Stepping back into the garden and out of the open, she armed herself. In short order, Janine had a small pile of snowballs ready to throw. Peeking back towards the group, Janine fixed everybody's place in her mind, then ducked back. She chose a snowball, its form perfect, its consistency properly packed, yet slushy, and threw it up and over the hedge, then peeked back out. "Missed," she muttered as the first ball landed past its target. Still grinning, she armed herself again, then threw again.

She'd get it right eventually.

Zarius "Hot Lips" Iiro