Thoughts with Impact (Brileia)

Tomorrow would be Sunday, and they had announced during his classes that it would be a free day, they would have no chores and no classes, and were encouraged to attend the festivities. Sadrok was a little apprehensive about meeting any of the members of the Black Tower. To him, it seemed that they would probably think that the male novices were traitors, or in some other way inferior. He knew he had no basis in reason for that thought, but it nagged at him regardless. Heading back to his room after the evening meal, Sadrok shook his head when he realized that that Domani novice, Rahime Najat, was following him again, casting moon-eyes at his back since he refused to acknowledge her presence.

The girl had proven to be highly annoying over the last few weeks, ever since she’d met him. Of all the girls that seemed taken by his good looks, she was certainly the most persistent in stalking him. No few times had he told her to leave him alone, and complaining to the Mistress of Novices had not done any good. Sure, she was good looking. She was from Arad Doman after all, it was almost to be expected. His problem with her was her attitude, and the fact that she apparently couldn’t see past his face.

She thought he should bow down and worship the floor tiles she walked on, and he ignored her. It had infuriated her at first, but she’d apparently decided that she was determined to get him to pay attention to her. Instead, Sadrok made his way back to his room quickly, stopping to bow to Aes Sedai and Accepted alike only just barely enough to show the proper respect before he was moving off again. When he finally got back to the males’ novice well, he heaved a heavy sigh of releif that she wouldn’t follow him any further and set about getting ready for the next day.

As he scrubbed his room one more time before calling it a night, he prepared himself to sleep while planning what he as going to do the next day. With the whole day off, he intended to take that much extra time on his morning routine, to really enjoy a good workout and a long bath. What he would do from there depended on a number of things, but he thought he’d find someplace where he could work on the newer weaves he was learning; hopefully away from any dark, saucer-shaped eyes.

---

Sadrok started his Sunday the same as he would any other day. He set out to the Training Yards early, well before the sun was up, and began with a brisk jog around the Yards. Most of the Trainees he passed shook their heads at him, but exercise like this was required of them – it was not required of him. He chose to come out here every morning, and take time from his studies to keep in shape. More than once he’d been scolded by an Aes Sedai for what she felt was a waste of his time, but his polite reply was usually to say that he wanted to keep fit in case he ever needed to defend himself when the Power wasn’t an option. After all, he’d grown up in Far Madding.

Even on this Sunday morning, a few of the more advanced Trainees joined him for a while, but most of them cut their exercises short while he continued on with his full routine. After his warm-up jog – while the trainees that had stayed with him went either to practice with their weapons or get cleaned up for the festivities – he found his usual place out in the Ogier grove to work through his morning routine of push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups.

He’d now been out of the Tower itself for almost an hour, and given that it was a free day, a gaggle of female novices had followed him into the grove and were hiding in the bushes, giggling among themselves as they watched him sweat. Why they seemed to enjoy watching him work out so much would never make sense to him. They could have been fawning over any number of the Trainees. He’d been coming to this particular clearing in the grove for a few days now, and every time the girls found him he went on with his routine that day, and then found a new place to work out the next morning.

Looking around as he counted into the fifties of his push-ups, Sadrok took stock of the clearing he’d been using until today. That log there had provided the perfect place for him to brace his feet while working his abdomen, and the thick tree branch over there was just the right height and thickness to hold his weight while he worked his arms. Next to it was another that he used some mornings, hanging upside down by his knees to work his abdomen. It was more tiring than using the log, but it was a better workout at the same time, since he had farther to go and was fighting his own weight the whole time.

He wasn’t allowed on the Trainee’s obstacle course, or he would have spent some time there as well to work on his agility. Instead he settled for running around within the Ogier grove for a few minutes, all the while going over in his mind the different sword forms he’d learned in the nearly 6 years he’d been studying sword-fighting. Of course, now that he was moving around the grove, he had some freedom from the annoying girls that had been watching him. Every few weeks they managed to find his new hiding spot, or an Aes Sedai did, and he had to find a new one. He was more annoyed today than usual because he’d only been using that last one for a few days before it had been found, and if it was a bit smaller than he would have liked, it otherwise suited his needs perfectly.

When he was finally done with his work out and the sun was beginning to rise, he returned to his rooms to gather a fresh pair of small-clothes and a towel, then went off to the baths. Most of his peers seemed to be sleeping in this morning, since they were being given the chance. Honestly, he couldn’t blame them. However, he’d set it in his mind while he was a Guard back home to follow any morning routine he set for himself every morning – without fail. It had served him well then, and it had served him very well in his months since he came to the White Tower.

Seeing that he had the baths almost to himself this morning, Sadrok took his time getting clean and shaving the stubble that had started to grow on his chin the last few days. Most Kandori grew a forked beard, but Sadrok hadn’t been raised in his father’s homeland, and he didn’t really follow any of their customs. His hair was beginning to grow longer though; he’d have to see about cutting it again, and soon. He liked to keep it shorter because it was easier to take care of that way, and it didn’t get into his eyes when he was training. Catching sight of the scar on his shoulder while he was shaving, Sadrok let his mind wander back to the day he’d gotten it, and the friends he’d lost that day.

Captain Caeyl had been the one who Sadrok trained with every morning. The old man taught him the importance of setting a morning routine and sticking to it, even when he’d had too much to drink the night before. A Blademaster, Caeyl was very old for a swordsman – he’d once confided in Sadrok that he’d seen more than fifty winters. It was meeting Caeyl for the first time that had inspired Sadrok to become a guardsman in the first place, and given birth of his dream of becoming a Blademaster himself one day. Tower trained as a gaidin, Caeyl had left the Tower shortly after finishing his training to return home to his family to protect them during the Whitecloak War, and never gone back. Sadrok had never been able to so much as tap Caeyl when sparring with him, even when the captain claimed he was taking it easy on the young recruit. Caeyl had lived through the ambush with Sadrok, only to succumb to his wounds a few weeks later.

Jaer had been the youngest in their patrol. Like Sadrok, it had been his first time actually out on patrol when they were ambushed. Jaer had come to Far Madding from one of the more distant farms, so it wasn’t his first time beyond the city’s walls like it had been for Sadrok. The least experienced of the patrol, he’d been the one everyone looked out for, though he had often resented the treatment. While Captain Caeyl had trained Sadrok, Sadrok passed on what he knew of swordsmanship to Jaer, teaching him the basics he’d need to know. Jaer had died in the ambush at some point, Sadrok hadn’t seen when his friend was run through; but, lacking a shovel, he had used the Power to dig the graves he’d buried his friends in, the three that had died that day.

Maern had been the odd one. He was lazy and sloppy with his training, but he had such a winning attitude that none of them had ever really called him down for it. The same age as Sadrok, he had been a member of the guards for a year before Sadrok had managed to convince his father to let him join. Of the five in their squad, Maern was the only one who didn’t know how to use a sword, instead he favored a long poleax with a single crescent blade. Built like a blacksmith, he’d been able to wield the unbalanced weapon almost like a staff, though it was far more deadly in his hands than any quarterstaff would have been. Maern had been a light hearted man, always ready with a jest, and free with his coin. He’d owed Sadrok three gold crowns by the time he’d died. Funny, the things you remember, when you forget even the faces of your friends after they’re gone.

Tadred had been about twenty five years older than Sadrok, a veteran of the Aiel War, and the battle at the Shining Walls. He’d shared stories with Jaer, Maern, and Sadrok about that war, where the Captain had always refused to talk about it. While Caeyl had later confessed he knew the trick, it was Tadred who had taught Sadrok, Jaer, and Maern of the Flame and the Void after he’d told them stories of how he’d been able to shoot Aiel with his bow from atop the high Shinning Walls. Initially they’d only used it for archery, but Sadrok had found it made the difference between himself and the Captain much smaller when he’d tried it while sparring. Tadred’s bow hadn’t done him much good.. it was probably the reason he was the first to die in the ambush, taken in the throat by an arrow.

Shaking his head to clear it of the memories of comrades long dead, Sadrok told himself that they would want him to remember them, yes.. but also to enjoy the day. They’d all been aware that being a guard, any day could have been their last.. They had almost a soldiers’ mentality about it, really. Sadrok was the only one of them left, so he had to enjoy the day five times over, just to be sure he honored their memory. When he finished shaving off the stubble on his chin, he took a moment to gather himself before getting dressed and heading back to his rooms for a moment, then off to enjoy the festivities.

He didn’t make it far down the halls though, before a young woman in novice whites came hurtling around a corner to slam into him at a dead run. If he hadn’t had his mind in the clouds, he wouldn’t have lost his balance, but since he wasn’t paying too much attention to where he was going when she came seemingly out of nowhere, he soon found himself flat on his back, with a wide-eyed petite novice pinning him to the floor, still within the male novice well.