Dog-paddling

Novice Nero Acacia, Written by Meri
Posted on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 16:15 pm

Unsurprisingly, Nero was nervous. Although he had been one-handedly raised by his mother, it still made him nervous to be surrounded by so much estrogen. The glances askance both the Atha'an Miere Aes Sedai and some of her female students did little to ease Nero's racing heartbeat.

It had not been so long since the dark-haired boy had managed to seize saidin; he had channeled scarcely a lick of the Power since. Perhaps he ought to have visited with Candance Sedai regarding how he should approach his channeling lessons before plunging himself headfirst in what would surely be his weakest element. But in the White Tower, survival was largely sink or swim. Nero's actions were more akin to dog-paddling.

She makes it look so easy. His forearms prickling with proximity to saidar, Nero's eyes widened as he watched Yasmene Sedai manipulate water into a ball in the cup of her hands. Asha'man Daine performed the same task alongside her. While his version of the ball of water was perhaps not as delicately shaped, he seemed to almost demand that it do his bidding by sheer willpower. Then again, that was half of mastering saidin.

Another demonstration, and the novices were sent to test their skills against what Nero still couldn't help but feel a rather useless power. What should one do with Water, pummel one's enemies with it? Certainly, you could drown a person, but it would take more time than, say, burning them to a cinder. And wouldn't they have the opportunity to counter the weave before they drowned? One could manipulate the weather to one's liking, but that would only wreak havoc elsewhere in the world as well as later in the year. Even a channeler couldn't conjure water out of the air in a desert, which seemed the occasion one would need water the most.

All this flashed through the novice's head before he even seized saidin. With a weary sigh, he shook his head and did so… or tried, anyway. His first attempt at saidin left him with a migraine. He really was nervous. He tried again. This time, the Power took him with such a fury that he gasped, gripping his desk with desperation, as if it could save him from the fierce tide of saidin. He still had yet to grow accustomed to the sweet perversion that his ability afforded him.

Water was Nero's wiliest enemy, as he had discovered in the few times he had channeled the different elements. As Yasmene Sedai said, it was possible that he could train himself to some strength with Water, but he wasn't sure that was what he wanted, anyway.

He lifted his hands over one of the few buckets still unoccupied. Saidin surging through him, he cupped his hands into a ball-shape and concentrated on lifting the water from the bucket. Air would have been so much easier, but this was, after all, a Water lesson. Brow creased and lips pursed, beads of sweat developed on his young face before he was finally able to channel a small, measly thread of Water. Condensation began to gather in the palms of his hands – but there it did not stay. He channeled another thread of light blue, weaving it into a loosely-shaped ball, and bit his lip practically until it bled. Finally, water began to gather in his hands, and this time, there it did stay. He looped the ball closed and let it fall with a quiet plop into the waiting bucket. Success, at last!

In reply to Part I: Small Spheres[show]/[hide]

Yasmene let her eyes drift across the group of novices, hiding her dismay at how many boys there were in the group. However, she was relaxing a bit and not jumping every time Daine moved, so Yarren was probably right and prolonged exposure would help her adjust to the idea that male channelers weren’t evil and insane, though she still held secret doubts that saidin was truly cleansed. “Many of you were in Cassandra Sedai’s lesson on Fire not long ago, right?” Yasmene waited for some confirming nods before going on, “Can anyone think of some of the differences between Fire and Water? We know that they are opposites, but what are some of the subtler differences?” There was a long silence before a novice finally raised a hand. “Men are stronger in Fire and women are stronger in Water?” Yasmene smiled – a girl after her own heart! – and nodded. “Though not always true, that is the general rule. Men tend to be stronger with Earth and Fire and women with Air and Water. What else? And we can think in the broader terms of Fire and Earth versus Water and Air.” A few novices raised their hands this time, so Yasmene called on a boy in the back. “Different Elements mean different Talents, and Air and Water are usually paired and Fire and Earth are usually paired.” “Again, not necessarily the rule, but definitely a trend. My Talents are both linked to Air and Water strengths.” “Whereas my talents,” Daine broke in, “are Delving, which is Earth only, and Spinning Earthfire, which is Earth and Fire, funny enough,” he winked at the novices, prompting a flood of giggles. Smiling, Yasmene called on a female novice who had her hand up earlier. “Fire and Earth are stronger than Air and Water, so men are stronger channelers than women,” she stated knowingly. Before Yasmene could correct the girl, however, another novice interrupted. “Not true! One of my teachers said that Air and Water are just as strong, they just work more subtly. She said that there isn’t a single rock that won’t be worn down by wind and water over time, or a single fire that won’t be quenched by enough water.” “He’s right,” Yasmene interjected before the girl could retaliate. Yasmene could see a rebellious flash in her eyes, but thankfully she subsided. “And yes, men are generally stronger channelers than women, but that doesn’t really mean much. They can channel more, but if they can’t manipulate the weaves they can’t do anything all that power. Even the weakest Aes Sedai or Asha’man knows how to manipulate weaves properly, and can do anything a stronger counterpart can do. They might not be able to do it as big or bright, but they can create the weaves just as well, and in some cases better, than a stronger channeler. That is something you all must keep in mind: it isn’t how strong in the One Power that you eventually become, but how well learn the weaves and how well you manipulate them. Don’t let your strength make you complacent; many Aes Sedai have been burned out because of overconfidence in their strength and lack of ability with the weaves they used.” Yasmene could feel her brother’s eyes on her back, but she ignored him. She knew he was wondering if she believed her speech, but she had to or she wouldn’t have been able to say it, constrained as she was by the Three Oaths. And it was true; as weak as she was, she had become a master of her weaves to compensate and she had one of the most delicate touches in the Brown Ajah. It had taken a long time, but she knew that strength wasn’t everything. “Now, anything else?” No more hands were raised, so Yasmene brought up the one point she was aiming for, and the one that the basis of this part of the lesson was focused on. “Look around you. Do you see any earth? Dirt or anything? Just a stone floor, right? What about fire? The room is lit by sunlight. There’s no fire here. Air? You’re breathing, so I should hope there’s some air in here. Now what about Water?” Head, which had been shaking or nodding as appropriate, were mixed this time. Some nodded and some shook in disagreement. Closing her eyes for a moment, Yasmene opened herself to the source, smiling as she did so, reveling in the rush. Deftly spinning a web that spanned the length of the ceiling, Yasmene’s smile widened into a grin at the first exclamations as rain pelted the white clad youths. She held the weave for a moment to make her point, and then released it. Almost immediately, as planned, Daine channeled, drying each novice in a heartbeat. The room remained humid though, which was a good thing, being necessary for the lesson. “As you can see, Water is everywhere, like Air. That was a very small, localized example of Cloud Dancing, which you’ll learn more about once you test for Accepted. However, anyone can pull Water out of the air, providing there’s enough.” Yarren chose that particular moment to re-enter the room, which he had slipped out of when his sister had started channelling. “To make it easier for you, Yarren has thoughtfully obtained some buckets of water, which will give enough for you to work with.” The Warder held up the buckets with a grin, whispering to the novices something about slave labour. A few of them giggled, but the rest continued to watch him warily. Cupping her hands in front of her, about chest level, Yasmene embraced saidar again, weaving together strands of Water into a bowl shape. The novices oohed and ahhed as her hands slowly filled with water. Adding to the weave, she turned it from a bowl to a ball, and to anyone who couldn’t see the weaves, it would appear that she was holding a ball of water in her bare hands. “This is what I want you to do. Create the bowl first – I’ll repeat the weave slowly in a moment – and then when it’s almost full, finish off the ball.” Dropping her ball of water into one of the buckets, Yasmene divided the group into two, sending the boys to Daine and calling the girls over to herself. She created the weave again, without using her hands to cup it, so that all the girls could see how it worked. Once she’d run through it three times, she sent them back to their seats to practice, admonishing them not to throw the balls of water at each other and when finished to deposit the water in one of the buckets at the front of the room. Daine had sent the boys back to their seats with the same warnings, and they too were quietly practicing. Satisfied that everything was going well, she moved back to the front of the class and stood beside her brother. “Okay, you were right. Happy?” she said under her breath, before rushing forward to try to prevent a novice from drenching herself.
OOC: 500 words again please, and this lesson is still open to newcomers! Also, feel free to be one of the questioning novices if you’d like. For this, make sure you work with your strengths/weaknesses; everyone will be able to do this, but you might only get a small ball, or like the aforementioned novice, get too much all at once. If you have a block, now is the time to let Yasmene or Daine know so that they can get Yarren to beat you senseless. Just kidding, of course, but definitely let one of them know, and if possible, please email me with your intentions for the lesson so we can work something out. Also, email me if you’re not sure where to go on this lesson and I’m sure we can come up with some ideas!

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