Contrary to what Daine had expected, he was actually enjoying teaching the novices. When he’d been transferred from the Black Tower to the White, somewhat against his will, he wasn’t sure what to expect. It seemed so passive here, with the women hiding in their Tower waiting for Tarmon Gai’don to happen, whereas the Black Tower was doing something about it. However, since his arrival, he realized the women actually were doing something, they were just much more subtle about it. Come to think of it, it was kind of like how Yasmene Sedai had described Air and Water versus Fire and Earth. Perhaps that’s why women had the Air/Water affinity and men were better with Fire/Earth. Definitely something to think about later, and perhaps discuss with Yasmene, if she could tolerate his presence outside of this lesson.
“Well, now that you’ve had practice pulling water out of the air, now it’s time to actually do something with that water.” Yasmene Sedai said loudly, interrupting Daine’s thoughts. Yarren, Daine noticed, was moving among the novices, passing out empty soup bowls. The few novices out of their seats, where they were depositing their balls of water back into the buckets at the front of the room, hurried back to their desks when Yasmene started talking.
“Each of you has a bowl in front of you, so first you will create a ball of water small enough to fit in the bowl, and if you can’t make a ball that big, that’s fine, you can make two if you want, or work with half the amount, it’s your choice.”
Goosebumps shuddered over Daine’s arms, indication that Yasmene was channelling. She had done the demonstrations for the first part, but for this section, he wanted to contribute as well, so he quickly seized saidin and separated out water, forming a ball at the same time as her.
“You will be using the bowl as a container, so that your hands are free for other things, because many of you will feel the need to use gestures.” Plucking her ball of water out of the air with a net of water, Yasmene deposited it into the bowl Yarren handed her, and placed the bowl on the large desk that dominated the front of the classroom. Frowning momentarily, Yasmene did something, and suddenly the water in her bowl was a cool blue-green.
Since she was obviously waiting for him, Daine quickly dumped his water in the bowl, channelling Spirit into it, giving the water a silvery glow. Obviously Yasmene was satisfied with that, because she turned back to the novices, informing them that they wouldn’t have to colour their water, she and Asha’man Daine were doing it to make the demonstration much easier to see.
“Now this one is a modified version of the ball weave; it’s just a different shape and one that you will be moving around by shortening and lengthening different strands within the weave, like this.” Yasmene, who had been holding saidar the entire time as evidenced by the goosebumps that still populated Daine’s arms under the long sleeves of his uniform, did something again, and suddenly a figure rose up out of her bowl. The vaguely man-shaped figure clambered awkwardly over the side of the bowl, and once standing on the desk, began slowly dancing an awkward jig. The novices all began giggling and clapping, and Daine had to give Yasmene some credit, she did think up some fun lessons. He had no idea what he would teach the novices, which is why he went to the Mistress of Novices for help in the first place.
Not about to be outdone, Daine seized again, channelling into his bowl of water, essentially a net of water in the shape of what he wanted, and out of his bowl rose a shape, definitely female, which also climbed out of the bowl and began dancing. Where Yasmene’s was doing some sort of jig or country dance, Daine’s water figure fluidly slipped into the beginnings of the sa’sara. ‘She’ didn’t get very far though, because Yasmene’s scandalized “Asha’man Daine!” broke his concentration so entirely that his dancer melted into a puddle that ran across the desk and dripped onto the floor. Unable to restrain themselves, the novices roared with laughter, and even Daine and Yasmene succumbed to the hilarity of it.
“Well now,” Yasmene said when everyone had finally calmed down, “you’ve seen the theory behind the weaves, so we’ll divide into groups again, boys with Asha’man Daine and girls with me.”
Daine moved off to the left side of the room again, surrounded by white clad boys and young men, some of whom couldn’t be much younger than him. Surrounded by those eager faces though, Daine felt positively old.
“Right, I’ll show you the weave again, regretfully not the dance or her brother might have my head again, and then you can go off to practice. Don’t worry if you can’t get your figure to do very much, it’s quite difficult to manipulate single strands within weaves; that’s why thicker strands are better, even if the figure is awkward. You don’t even have to make a person, just make some sort of shape and move it around a bit. Whatever you’re comfortable with.
To make the demonstration easier, Daine used much thicker strands of water which had been flattened, much like ribbons, and wrapped them up in the shape of a stylized horse. The horse walked stiff-legged across the desk he was using, then laboriously turned around and jumped into the bowl before turning into a puddle of water again. “Remember, wider, flat strands make it easier to move things, but the movements are much jerkier and less defined. Experiment with whatever you’re comfortable with, and if you lose control of the water, make a net just like the ball weave and lay it flat under the puddle. You can pick up the water like that, put it back in the bowl and start new, like this.”
Forming a tightly woven net flat on the desk, Daine pointed to a random novice. “You, boy, dump the bowl on the desk please.” Gulping, the novice did as he was told, watching in surprise as the water ran to the edge of the desk and stopped, because Daine had raised the edge of his weave into a bowl, effectively containing the water.
“Now then, if there aren’t any questions, you can get to work.” Daine glanced over at Yasmene Sedai who was huddled with the girls, where it looked like a cat was walking around the desk. Then the female novices scattered, and Yasmene went back to the front of the room to join her brother. Daine elected to move around among the novices. Noticing one young man with a raised hand, Daine hurried over, just as Yasmene did the same for one of the girls.
OOC: I’m sure you guys know the drill by now, 500 words please, nothing too good or dramatic, you’re all new novices : ) If you’re having trouble finding ideas for what to make with your water, email me and we’ll concoct something. This lesson is now closed unless you have a really good reason or prior permission.
In reply to Novice Channeling Lesson: Water[show]/[hide]
Yasmene din Loran was curled up in an overstuffed armchair so old that the stuffing was starting to leak through the seams and the upholstery on the arms had been rubbed almost bare. With a mug of strong tea on the table next to her chair and a book on her lap, she was taking what she felt to be a well deserved rest. She usually spent her mornings supervising novices in the libraries and then after a hurried lunch, teaching Accepted about the Brown Ajah, the Sea Folk culture, her research into Elemental Strengths and other general knowledge the Brown sisters were expected to dole out at the drop of a hat. Being exceptionally weak in the Source didn’t help Yasmene, as she was near the bottom, if not the bottom of the Brown Ajah, and so any task the Browns felt necessary to be carried out yet wouldn’t do on their own were quite often assigned to Yasmene. And recently, to add even more to Yasmene’s work load, an Atha’an Miere novice had arrived and was terribly homesick. Yasmene’s evenings were consumed with helping the girl adjust to her new life and setting the precedence for choosing the Brown Ajah, because the majority of the Atha’an Miere were of the Brown Ajah which wasn’t surprising since they were all encouraged to choose the Brown. Hence Yasmene’s assignment: she had to make sure the new girl conformed to the rules and fit in like a good Atha’an Miere girl who was exiled from the ships and the life she knew.
But today, oh yes, today Yasmene finally got a break. Her usual Accepted were on some sort of day long field trip with a pair of Browns that took them into the city or something, and the young novice had lessons all afternoon and then chores before dinner; this meant Yasmene had the entire afternoon free to do whatever she wished. Smiling to herself, the Brown took a sip of tea and settled more comfortably into her chair, deeply engrossed in her book. Most people wouldn’t have found it particularly interesting, being a history of the Atha’an Miere in the White Tower – a biography of each woman who had held the shawl, but to Yasmene it was fascinating. Unfortunately, as was Yasmene’s luck, she hadn’t been reading but five minutes when there was a knock on her door. Growling under her breath, she put her book aside and rose to answer the door, hoping that whatever it was, it would be fast.
Wishing she had the strength to fling open the door and demand what it was that whoever was on the other side wanted, instead she opened the door and meekly waited for the Aes Sedai to say her piece. She was expecting a fellow Brown sister with a task, or wanting to come in to discuss this or that, or something of the like. As weak as she was, she had no say in the matter, and would have to do whatever was asked of her whether or not she wanted to. What Yasmene was not expecting to see on the other side of the door was a very pale, diminutive man dressed entirely in black. Gleaming in the lamplight was a silver sword and a red enamelled dragon pinned to his collar.
Light! Heart stuttering, Yasmene stumbled back a few steps, eyes fixed on the Asha’man as if he were a poisonous snake. Gasping for breath, Yasmene didn’t hear what the man said though she knew he said something. Feeling dizzy, she closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them he would be gone, but then realized that she couldn’t see the dangerous male channeler, so she had to open them again to watch him and make sure he didn’t do anything crazy. Leaning on the door – it was the only thing holding her up – Yasmene watched the Asha’man unblinking, though to be fair to him, he hadn’t moved since she opened the door.
“Yasmene Aes Sedai?” He said slowly once he was sure she wasn’t going to pass out.
She wasn’t so sure of that herself, but she could pretend for as long as possible. Not trusting her voice, she nodded, still watching the Asha’man warily. So focused she was on the Asha’man that she failed to sense her Warder approaching, though anyone else in the Brown wing and most of the public places in the Tower failed to miss the passage of a very large man with a colour shifting cloak running at a breakneck speed through the halls with his sword unsheathed and held high above his head.
“I’m Asha’man Daine, I’m supposed to help you – LIGHT!” The Asha’man ducked in mid-sentence as a sword sliced through the air where his neck had been only seconds before. Flat on the floor, the Asha’man rolled over and extended his hand towards the swordsman, who froze mid-swing. Blinking, Yasmene realized that the swordsman was her twin brother Yarren, and through the Warder bond, he was furious.
For a long moment the three were frozen like that: Yasmene leaning on the door, staring bug-eyed at her brother, who in turn was staring at the Asha’man lying on the floor, sword held high in the air, held in place, seemingly, by the Air itself. The Asha’man was watching Yarren, though there was no fear on his face.
Finally shaking off the shock, Yasmene turned to her brother, “Yarren, no, it isn’t what you think! This Asha’man knocked on the door and I was so surprised at seeing him...” She couldn’t finish her sentence, unable to utter aloud her one weakness to the source of the weakness, lying on the floor before her. Her friends knew how she felt about male channelers, and many of the other Browns suspected, but only Yarren knew how truly terrified she was of them.
Turning back to the Asha’man and summoning a calm she didn’t feel, Yasmene extended a hand to Daine, pulling him to his feet. “If you let him go, I promise he won’t hurt you. You startled me, is all.”
Daine eyed her suspiciously, obviously doubting the truth in her words, or worse, her sanity, but he finally nodded and released the weaves. Yasmene had already reinforced that promise with pressure on the Warder bond, so when Yarren was able to move again, he merely sheathed his sword, and moved into the room, firmly closing the door behind him and effectively shutting out the questioning eyes that had gathered since Yarren made his appearance.
Removing his fancloth and hanging it on a peg beside the door, Yarren gestured for the Asha’man to take a seat and then grasped his sister by the elbow, steering her towards her seat and pressing the mug of tea into her hands.
“Now Asha’man, what is it you came to talk to my sister about?” To Yarren’s credit, his voice was calm, though Yasmene felt through the bond he was a roiling bundle of emotions, worry and pain for his sister mixed with anger and frustration at the Asha’man, and embarrassment piled on top of that. Yasmene made a mental note to ask her brother what that was about, because she didn’t sense it was embarrassment for her and her fear.
“I merely came to tell her that the Mistress of Novices has requested we combine our channelling classes on Water since both are quite small. We’re to be teaching tomorrow and so we should discuss how we want to teach, and discuss ideas.”
“I see,” Yarren said slowly. As though coming to a decision, he rose abruptly and moved into the small kitchen area, reappearing moments later with a tray containing a teapot, honey, cream and two cups and sauces. Handing one cup to Daine and keeping one to himself, he held the teapot out to his sister, who channelled to heat it without thinking. Finally, once the tea had been served, Yarren looked from Daine to his sister and back again. “Very well, discuss.”
~*~
Yasmene arrived to the classroom where the lesson was to take place rather early. She was dressed in full Atha’an Miere garb, as she felt appropriate, complete with chain linking hoops in both nostril and ear. She hadn’t risen very high in rank, only two medallions, but she was still proud of them. Her silk blouse was a vibrant blue and her linen pants a deep brown. She was barefoot, as she chose to be wherever possible.
“Yasmene?”
The Aes Sedai whirled around, relaxing when she saw it was her brother in the doorway and not Daine.
“I thought you might feel better if I were here. I might help keep some novices in check as well,” he told his sister with a grin.
“Thank you,” Yasmene replied, hugging Yarren. She didn’t know what she would have done if she had come to the Tower without him.
This time when the door opened, Yasmene tensed, but didn’t go into a full blown panic when Daine entered the room. For the first time, Yasmene looked at him as a man, not an Asha’man, and was hard pressed not to giggle at the thought of the pair of them teaching. Yasmene was tall, very tall for a woman – as tall as her tall brother, in fact – and slender. Her skin was very dark, her straight black hair cut very short so that it stood up in spikes. Her square face was rather masculine, and when seen standing beside her brother, who looked almost identical to her, they could pass for brothers. She had brought her brown fringed shawl with her today though, so even from behind she wouldn’t be mistaken for a man.
Daine, on the other hand, was short, a head shorter than Yasmene and Yarren, and very fair. His shoulder length hair was almost white, his eyes a washed out blue, and his skin very pale. His features were very delicate. Standing side by side, the Asha’man and Aes Sedai would provide a very amusing picture.
Maybe Yarren is right, and this will help me get over my fear, she thought as she greeted Daine. He smiled in return and moved to stand beside her while they waited for the novices to arrive. Yarren moved to stand behind Yasmene, fancloth swirling around him. Yasmene fought to keep her face smooth and not laugh at her brother, who would do his best to intimidate the novices but probably not succeed. He just didn’t have an intimidating air about him. Unless he was almost slicing off Asha’man heads.
“Welcome,” Yasmene said to the gaggle of novices grouped at the desks in front of her. Tattooed hands clasped in front of her, she continued, striving for the Aes Sedai calm she rarely lost. “My name is Yasmene din Loran and I am an Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah. This is Asha’man Daine, who will be helping me today, and the intimidating looking man lurking around behind me is my brother and Warder, Yarren. Though I am not very strong in the One Power, Water is my strongest element and tied to my Talents, Cloud Dancing and Wave Dancing. Now we would like you to introduce yourselves giving your name, where you are from, and what experience, if any, you have with Water. If you are a Wilder, let us know what you’ve done with Water, if anything, before you came to the White Tower. Lastly, if you have any questions, now is the time to ask.” Yasmene let her eyes rove across the group of novices, finally pointing to a young man on the far right side of the classroom. “Let’s start with you.”
OOC: welcome everyone to Water! You know the drill, 500 word minimum, lesson is open to anyone who has completed embracing/seizing and please don’t mind Yasmene, she’s a little high strung. Try to fit a physical description into the post please so that a) I don’t have to scurry around finding bios, and b) it’s good practice. Email me if you have any questions.
