This is a Revenge Plot [attn; Damien]

[Avyra]

He didn't speak, for a while, and Avyra kinda kept rambling. It was the same thing, over and over, just restated slightly different. It became obvious how insecure she was here, in the Tower, surrounded by people so poised and proper. Surrounded by people who, in her mind, were beautiful, perfect looking. She knew that, in a line of Aes Sedai, no Warder would ever want the likes of her when there were far better options to choose from. She stopped, eventually running out of steam. She wasn't crying. She couldn't cry where others could see her. That would be weakness. She already looked weak enough as is. But she still didn't look any more dignified, snuggled into his side whimpering as she was. "And seems like your Mistress of Novices should be building you up when you feel like this," Danos finished what he was saying. Avyra hadn't caught the first part. "Mirin Sedai... she isn't a friend. She's a teacher. Not anything more. I can't go to her for this," Avyra replied softly. "It just... it feels good to get it all out, in a way. I don't like to, but it feels nice. Just not here where all the Drin can see me. I bet I'll turn into the running joke of this place." She paused, sighing as she pulled away, finally looking back up into those gentle eyes of his. "Thanks. I wish... I wish that hadn't happened." She paused, sighing. "How have you been? I would hope the Yards are treating you well."

[Damien]

"Thanks. I wish... I wish that hadn't happened." She paused, sighing. "How have you been? I would hope the Yards are treating you well." Avyra asked him after looking around the yard.

Danos knew from experience that there was little risk of Drin'far'ji noticing a bout of emotion. Each circle felt like an island when he was there.

Besides, too many of us end up on our backsides to be haughty, thought Danos as he saw an unfamiliar pair tossing each other as they practiced their grapples nearby.

"I'm glad you feel better Avyra, and anytime you need to I'm here. A lot worse has marked up my jacket than tears," he said sincerely as he let Avyra walk where she willed.

As she inquired about the Yard, he found himself looking around, taking time to appreciate the sounds and smells of the clamour.

"It's treated me well, I've learned more than I ever imagined I didn't know before coming here. And each lesson the teachers let me know that many of the skills will be lifelong," Danos said, stopping as a realization hit him suddenly,"
I suppose in many ways it's like a trade. I guess I've found a chance for a new trade."

"Hopefully I will feel thats true when I've earned the Jin greys. The next rank is still unknown to me, all the new demands, that's what worries me sometimes," said Danos as he grabbed a quick drink from the ladle.

[Avyra]

Avyra didn't quite know where to walk when they started walking, so she had no direction to her steps, hoping maybe Danos would start leading. She still held his hand, it basically engulfing her own. But it was comforting, and slowly she stopped shaking so much. "I'm glad you feel better Avyra, and anytime you need to I'm here. A lot worse has marked up my jacket than tears," Danos said as they walked, causing her to smile a bit. He then looked around, admiring the Yard. She couldn't blame him; she actually liked it here more than the classrooms she was mostly confined to. "It's treated me well, I've learned more than I ever imagined I didn't know before coming here. And each lesson the teachers let me know that many of the skills will be lifelong." Something hit him, then, and he paused. Avyra looked up, having to, as usual, crane her head to see his eyes. "I suppose in many ways it's like a trade. I guess I've found a chance for a new trade." She nodded, with a smile, at his concerns for the second rank. "Ah. I, too, am nervous for it. Being an Accepted sounds... I'm not sure how to describe it, but I don't like it. I'm nervous for the test, too. The Arches I've heard... I've heard it changes people." She sighed softly, leaning into his arm, then looked back up at him, a puzzled expression falling onto her face. "I don't think I've ever asked. Why did you come here to become a Warder? That's not something someone decides out of the blue."

[Damien]

Danos

"The Arches.. I've heard it changes people," said Avyra concern in her voice.

As this was truly the first time he had heard much mention of the test, Danos was unsure what to say. He supposed it would be some kind of exam, a demonstration of weaves perhaps.

Then Avyra was asking him about his reasons for joining the Grey Tower, signing up to be a Warder eventually.

"Well I suppose it was for a couple of reasons truly. One was an Aes Sedai saving my life, so I felt I owed her and she spent much of the time in Jornhill speaking with me, and the second was seeing her own Warder and the sense of duty she managed to instill in me," Danos said as he sat at a bench, collecting his thoughts

"There had been a fire, the stables had caught ablaze from a lantern. As we awoke at my Uncle's cooperage it was flames and chaos. The men were trying in vain to stop the fire, and as I was aiding the buckets I thought I heard the cry of people as well as the horses trapped. So I dashed in, hoisting a beam with my shoulders until the other men could clear the animals out. Luckily no people were trapped, which I found out later," said Danos, remembering how grateful he had felt that no one had been at risk.

"With the heat and smoke and burns, I succumbed and awoke in my Uncle's bed with an Aes Sedai having healed me. She was exhausted, worn out from using her power to stop the flames from spreading. As I watched her sleep in the room on a cot, for she was worried about my burns, I saw her Warder standing guard. Protecting this powerful woman when she was weakest. I would later learn in conversations with her over tea, that she considered that the benefit of a Warder for all Aes Sedai. She also spoke to me if Tarmon Gai'don, her fears and the need for stout men to aide those who oppose the shadow. She told me several times that anyone could learn to wield a blade, bow or axe, especially with the instructors the Grey Tower could offer. But the spirit of charging the fire, putting your flesh between harm and another, that could not be taught," Danos finished, his mind and voice lost in remembrance.

After a moment, he turned and gestured around the space before them, "I'm glad I've gotten to know the people here, glad that unlike the Tower she served the Grey Tower does not treat the Gaidin like meat.

[Avyra]

Avyra could tell he needed some time to collect his thoughts as he sat on a nearby bench, and she joined him, sitting close, almost leaning against his arm. As he told his story she felt her heart flutter, and she mentally scolded herself. Bloody ashes, Avyra. You're pathetic. You haven't been here for a month and you've already fallen head over heels for someone who won't be yours. She just watched him, listening to how he had charged the fire and was healed by a passing Aes Sedai. She told me several times that anyone could learn to wield a blade, bow or axe, especially with the instructors the Grey Tower could offer. But the spirit of charging the fire, putting your flesh between harm and another, that could not be taught," he finished, his voice trailing off into silence. "I'm glad I've gotten to know the people here, glad that unlike the Tower she served the Grey Tower does not treat the Gaidin like meat." Avyra nodded. "My mother was a Novice at the White Tower." She paused. "She told me to come here, instead. Said it was nicer, kinder. I believe her." She paused. "But she left, for love. For a love who never really loved her. I told myself that I'd never make such a foolish mistake." She sighed.

[Damien]

Danos

Danos listened as he heard Avyra speak on her mother. He could not imagine what having something like the One Power running in a family would be like.

“So did that make her a runaway then? I’m not sure how the White Tower works, but it seems surprising they would have allowed her to remain away. And I thought once you began to learn you could not stop until the ring was granted?” Danos asked Avyra as he stretched out his legs, massaging his calf where a particularly stubborn cramp had remained all day.

“And that is a bold decision, choosing to leave something like the White Tower for love? Although you did say she was not loved back in return, was it not your father that she left the White Tower for?” Danos asked, trying to piece together the story. It was clearly on Avyra’s mind and Danos wondered if in some ways she was weighed down by the way her mother had never acheieved the shawl.

He knew, many goodwives who lived with grand hopes for their children, his own mother had often suggested to Danos that once he had achieved his trade it was time to work hard, marry well and return to the family land with his own brood. How you’d hate the bruises and the weapon in my hand Mother, Danos thought to himself as he stared down at his rough hands.

[Avyra]

“And that is a bold decision, choosing to leave something like the White Tower for love? Although you did say she was not loved back in return, was it not your father that she left the White Tower for?” Avyra shook her head. "I have the option to leave if I want, because I don't have a Serpent Ring yet. All novices do. My mother took the chance." She paused. "She never told my father that she was a channeler. Because. He was afraid of channelers. But they married, had four kids. I have two brothers and a little sister." She paused again. "I'm the only one who showed the Spark. And when that happened, my father left. He told my mother..." Her voice broke. "He told her that she had lied to him, and that he couldn't believe he had been sleeping with a witch like herself." She closed her eyes, pausing for a good minute. Then she looked back at Danos. "Had he actually loved her, he would not have left never to be seen again." She fell silent again, tearing her eyes away from Danos to a small imperfection in the fabric of her white dress. "I still don't know if I'm glad I came here. I don't know if I'll ever see my family again."

[Damien]

Danos

Danos couldn't fathom how anyone would continue to see female channelers as witches. But he had known a few men in Jornhill who would gladly have spit in the direction of any woman or man from the Grey Tower.

"Light, I can't believe that a man who lived long enough with someone for four kids would just walk out like that. And I can't imagine what hearing him describe your mom as a witch must have felt like," Danos said as he watched Avyra stare at her dress, fidgeting with the fabric.

"I didn't know one could walk away before the ring, I suppose it's not something they would shout from the square though. And if I remember right once a person reaches Accepted or Ji'alatin you can travel. Is your family far from here? Perhaps a gateway could be bought from a sister," Danos said as he thought of a possibility. He had been used to seeing his family, but his mother had often commented that he shared his father's wind like spirit. He knew he would need to make time to return to Jornhill, but for now the letters he sent would let his family know he was building something here.

"Were you and your mother close? And is she hoping to see the ring grace your hand, or was it more learning to be safe for you?" He asked Avyra curious.

[Avyra]

"Light, I can't believe that a man who lived long enough with someone for four kids would just walk out like that. And I can't imagine what hearing him describe your mom as a witch must have felt like." You have no idea... "Were you and your mother close? And is she hoping to see the ring grace your hand, or was it more learning to be safe for you?" Avyra sighed. "We were pretty close. As for the ring... I don't know. But she did want me to come here to learn to channel... so I could be safe." She paused. "I don't want to hurt anyone. So that's why I'm here. I need to at least learn to control my abilities." She paused, looking back up to him as he stared back into her. This was really, really dangerous, she knew. She hadn't realized that she was resting against his side, her head on his arm, her small, smooth hand atop his huge, callused one. But she didn't pull away. In fact, she paused, then decided to wrap him up the best she could in a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck as she buried her head in his shoulder. "Thank you. For listening." She couldn't help it. She felt safe with him. Nothing would hurt her while she was with him.

[Damien]

Danos

Light this is a fix, thought Danos to himself as he consoled Avyra. He knew the rules were definitely in a grey area when it came to friendships between the Drin'far'ji and the female Novices who were their peers. Still, he knew Avyra and had rarely seen her with spirits so low. And so as she rested against him, and thanked him for listening he stayed put, letting her draw what comfort she could from his presence.

"In some ways it would be a lot easier, to be like those men over there," said Danos as he waved at a group of Tower Guards talking with their comrades before departing as their watch ended. He knew many of them would be headed into Hama Valon, to wives and families, or at least a bar stool and a sweetheart. "They live, they work and are content, but I wonder sometimes if that life would have fit as well as it once seemed had I stayed. I think we can both admit to a small streak within us that loves the contest, loves the thrill, or I doubt you would have tried that tree so many times," Danos said as he thought on what Avyra had said.

"It seems harsh to demand that someone so young spends as much time away from their family, I was fortunate that my apprenticeship was for family. But there must be part of the lessons here you enjoy. I don't know much of the One Power beyond that some seem to have the knack for healing, or battle. But the garden here shows that some of it must be useful for creation. Maybe that would help, you don't have to look regal and ice cold like the Sisters if you're a smith or make the crops grow strong with the Power," suggested Danos, hoping to get Avyra to look at the problem from another angle.