The Grey Tower

(About time I posted this, eep. This is gonna be the thread that contains all of Avyra's punishment letters for breaking the tree. There will be five.)
Avyra

Avyra returned from her conversation with Mirin Sedai, feeling drained. She had been so foolish. Why did she think climbing that tree was a good idea? And Danos was in trouble, too, because of her stupidity. He hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, in a way he had done his duties to her; he was overlooking her, a Novice's, protection. But that didn't matter. It was done and done, and she had been hit with some punishments. Writing letters, scrubbing pots. She didn't mind the pot scrubbing; she had done that sort of work at home and it wasn't new, no matter how long it took. But the letters and essay... Avyra sighed. She needed no research for the letters, so she started on those. Mirin Sedai had given her the names of five individuals responsible for the upkeep of the Tower gardens. She just hoped she could find them, and that they wouldn't skin her alive. She pulled out a parchment and quill, dipping her quill into ink, and started to write.

[fancy]The First Letter :: An Accepted[/fancy]

Avyra had finished all of the letters themselves fairly quickly; she didn't need to say much. She had been foolish. She had broken branches on the tree. She was sorry for it, because she had realized now she had been wrong to do such a thing for a foolish gain like her own satisfaction. That she realized her mistake and had learned from it. Because, after all, that's what children do. And to most in this Tower, she was still a child. Her first letter was addressed to an Accepted, a young lady who seemed to enjoy plants. A lot. Probably too much, in Avyra's opinion. She had been one of Avyra's teachers in Earth, and probably hated Avyra for her inability to use it. But that was besides the point. "Accepted," Avyra said, finding her in the Gardens, where she figured she would. "I have an apology to make." The woman turned, a look of scorn coming on her face. Oh. "So, you show up. Mirin Sedai told me of your adventure in the tree, child. That was my favorite tree, and you've ruined it. How foolish of you." Avyra swallowed, then nodded. "I'm sorry, Accepted, I didn't mean any harm on the tree. I realize my mistake now." The taller woman regarded her for a moment, then huffed. "Maybe you'd actually be able to use Earth if you didn't spend your life engaged in foolish activities. I'll tell Mirin Sedai I got your letter. And I hope she hasn't given you too many extra chores, because you'll have extra homework until you're an Accepted. If you become an Accepted. Are we clear?" Avyra nodded again. "Yes, Accepted." "Now go, you are disturbing my afternoon." "Yes, Accepted." Avyra turned an all but ran.

[fancy]The Second Letter :: The Veteran[/fancy]

It took Avyra a long time to decide to deliver the next letter. It was to an older Asha'man, an Earthsinger who had lived on the grounds for... ages. There were two ways this could go, she knew. He could either be really kind or not at all. She had wanted to cry during the first delivery, but she held back. Aes Sedai did not cry. She had found the old Asha'man tending to the trees. She paused, then, a little unsure, called his name. He looked up from his work, then smiled at her. "Oh? You must be Avyra." She nodded, and he motioned her forward. "What a tree this is." "Sir?" "Just, what a tree! Do you like the trees here? You must, otherwise you wouldn't be climbing around in them!" He didn't seem mad. "I'm sorry, sir," Avyra said. "I didn't mean any harm on the tree." "I know you didn't. Mirin Sedai is just being harsh on you. Some of us might be mad, but I'm not. Trees sometimes break branches. It doesn't kill the plant." He paused. "And I bet it was happy to have a child clambering around in its branches. I'd imagine it gets lonely up there, sometimes." He smiled at the tree. "I'll take your letter, even though I've already forgiven you." He paused. "Oh, who am I fooling, there's nothing to forgive. Now, I wouldn't go doing it again, because I doubt the Mistress of Novices will be pleased." She nodded with a smile, handing him her note. "Thank you, Asha'man." "It is no problem, child. You have spirit. Do not let them kill that." Avyra didn't quite hear his last comment.

[fancy]The Third Letter :: Fruitcakes[/fancy]

Avyra had decided to deliver the third letter in the same day as the previous one. The next went to another elderly Tower citizen, an old lady who liked tending the flowers. She found her easily enough, and called out her name. The old lady looked up, then smiled. "Oh! Hello child. You must be Avyra. The tree climber? Hm?" She paused, shaking Avyra's hand, much to the novice's surprise. "That must be an adventure. I remember when I could climb trees." "I'm sorry, ma'am. I didn't mean for the tree to get hurt." She laughed. "Oh that's all right, little one. Come, I'll take you to my place. We can talk there." Avyra raised an eyebrow but followed, listening as the little old lady began to chitter about the flowers and birds. It was refreshing to listen to; she didn't have a care in the world. "Okay child, here we are. Do you want some tea?" "No tea, thanks. I just needed to deliver this." She held out the letter. "Oh, Mirin Sedai told me about this. Hm? Would make nice kindling for the stove. Does she actually think we're mad? It is no trouble, child." Avyra blinked, a bit shocked. The old lady busied herself with tea. "How long have you been here?" "Oh, many years. I was gonna train as a Warder, believe it or not. But I liked the flowers better, so I stayed as a gardener." She smiled, sipping her fresh cup of tea. "I've tended the gardens here for sixty years! I love it, though." Avyra smiled. "Wait, your accent. Are you Cairhienin?" She nodded. "Mhm. You are too, aren't you." Avyra nodded in return. "Ah, I miss my home, sometimes. But here is nicer. I bet you are homesick, child." "Yes. I miss my family." "Did your mother bake, Avyra?" "Bake? Yes. I helped her." "Well, if you want to help me, I'm about to start a fruitcake. Once we stick it in the oven, it should be time for you to go to your next class. Then after dinner you can come have a slice. Bring some friends. We'll all talk over tea." Avyra's eyes lit up. "Yes ma'am! What do we need first?"

[fancy]The Fourth and Fifth Letter :: Siblings[/fancy]

The last two letters went to two siblings, two Aes Sedai. Avyra had seen them about before; they had taught a few classes together, usually histories. They were both Browns, imagine. She delivered the two letters together, when she found the two sisters inspecting the broken tree. Her heart sank. "Oh. There she is. We've been waiting for you to show up for three days, child," the older, taller sister said, voice full of scorn. The other one didn't talk; she only watched. Avyra had never liked the pair. "I'm sorry for the damage I caused to your tree. I didn't mean any harm." "Hm. Yeah right." The older sibling took the letters, crumbling them up in her hand and setting them ablaze with the Power. Avyra shook softly, watching them. She did not think this was going to end well. "Just go, child. And stop shaking; straighten your shoulders like a proper lady. Aes Sedai don't slouch." Aes Sedai didn't do a lot of what Avyra was. She quickly scampered off before they could offer anymore cruel advice her way.

[fancy]Personal Punishment :: Journal[/fancy]

Mirin had, as a part of her punishment, asked her to write her feelings in a journal and give them to her every week. Or, not feelings, but her mistakes and their consequences. She had been told, a long time ago, that one failed at something every day, but she still struggled to find a subject for writing, especially filling up a page a day. She only averaged half a page on most of her assignments, seeing as she had made an effort to not get into trouble since the tree incident. But still, she wrote, sometimes struggling to come up with a mistake to write about. And she couldn't lie. She knew that Mirin would know if she had lied at all about her consequences. She wrote about her experiences everyday, whether it be about a class she wasn't doing well in or a paper she had procrastinated on for too long. She even wrote about the spar she had with Danos, ending in her broken ribs. For her, that was a lesson in limitations; if she had known her limitations, the accident would not have happened. She wrote about how she had continued to fail in Earth channeling, making mistakes over and over again. She told Mirin, in writing, that those mistakes coincidentally made her want to work harder to prove her worth. She had an idea for the second round of entries, however. She took her journal down to the library, borrowing the mass of colored ink they had there, and began to decorate the pages with borders and designs. She wasn't an artist, but the different colors added a certain pleasantness to the white pages. She was proud of her work when she knocked on the office door the next day. In fact, this project had been fun. It wasn't a bad idea to keep her thoughts recorded.

[fancy]Personal Punishment :: The Essay[/fancy]

Three Days before Avyra... knew she had to do this. So she sat in the library, staring at the window. Yeah. She had an essay. But why do it today when you could do it tomorrow? It was due in three days. That was three entire days! Three! She sighed, finally going off to look for books. The library was huge and she really hadn't used it before, so she read the signs and attempted to find the books on Tower law. Light. This was so boring. But she was going to make it fun. She found her books after an hour of looking. Or rather, a ten minutes of looking cut into segments seperated by getting distracted. She really didn't want to do this, so what better way of spending her time than messing around! Two Days before Books open, Avyra was face first in them. Groaning. She wanted to scream. This was so boring. She was dying, slowly. Couldn't Mirin have killed her? Like? It would have totally been worth it. But no, wasn't torture considered inhumane? This seemed like torture. She couldn't read the pages; they were so confusing and honestly made no sense. If this was the Blue Ajah, she was out. This was crazy. She picked her head up for a moment, reading some more. The Tower decreed in the year- She slammed her head down again, groaning. Light. There was no way to make this fun. She was going to die. One Day before She scribbled frantically on the page. It was the night before, and she was ecstatic. She could run for miles. Climb the tallest trees. Write the best essay Mirin Sedai would have ever layed those eyes of hers on. The book had made some sense to her, and she had picked a law over clothing the novices and other learning ranks had to wear. It wasn't a hard subject to research. She began by discussing the rule, how to get around it by training with Drin and Warders, and why it was needed. Because everyone needed to be uniform, and it helped to identify who was a learning rank and who wasn't. She finished a few hours later, proof reading her work. Not bad for the night before. She nodded, letting the paper dry overnight before handing it in in the morning.