A Not-So-Blind Date [Attn: Tia Tomosan]

[Bella]

One single-person tent was set up on what Brynmor had deemed the safer side of the camp. In the Blightborder, "safe" was always a relative concept, but it was the best he could determine. He had chosen not to set one up for himself since he would be sitting watch and if he slept at all, he anticipated it would be with his back against a tree. Just enough of a doze to keep going.

When that was done, he turned to her just as she spoke of dinner. "I could eat," he said. After all, eat when the food was there. If something were to require his abilities during the night or in the morning, he would need to be well-fed.

He moved to check on the horses once more and make sure they were settled before he moved back to the fire that he had started. The night was already coming in and bringing a chill with it. He let himself take a few moments to warm by the flames as he let her focus on her task of the moment.

[Roan]

The Green Sister sat near the fire as she started to get the stew ready. It didn’t take too long to get the ingredients ready, though it would take a bit longer for the stew to actually cook and heat up. As the stew was heating up, she would stir it occasionally, and often caught herself watching Bryn. Each time she did, Tia would pull her attention away from the Gaidin. Things were awkward enough, and she didn’t want to make them any more awkward by awkward staring.

Light, but she felt awkward.

Tia gave a soft laugh and shook her head. There was no reason to feel quite this awkward given their conversation the previous night. Doing her best to push the awkwardness aside, she checked on the stew, which was bubbling away. The potatoes she put in were just getting soft.

“Dinner will be ready in a couple of minutes,” Tia said as she looked over to the Gaidin. She went to her saddle bags and pulled out a couple of bowls and spoons, along with her cloak. She pulled the cloak around her shoulders to keep the evening chill from getting to her.

Moving back to the fire, Tia served out two bowls of stew and handed one to Bryn, “I have no clue how it tastes. I don’t usually cook.”

[Bella]

He took the bowl with a quiet 'thank you' and an amused, crooked smile. "So long as it doesn't kill me," he replied easily, "then I am certainly not going to complain when someone else cooks. I am able to make one or two passable meals when I must, but I am far from a master in the kitchen myself."

Although now that she'd said something, he eyed the bowl with a hint of trepidation. It was only a moment, however, before he admonished himself. A Gaidin should not balk at anything, he reminded himself. Least of all a meal that an Aes Sedai had made for him.

Bryn braced himself and took a bite of the stew. He tasted it for a moment, chewing and swallowing, then nodded. He wouldn't call it spectacular, but he had certainly had--and made--far worse. Looking up, he offered another small smile. "Tis just fine," he assured her. "I thank you again for making it."

[Roan]

The Green gave the Gaidin a small smile before she turned her attention to her own meal. In her own opinion, it was a meal, but if she had to choose between what was in her bowl versus what the Mistress of the Kitchens would serve? No contest. Bryn was being far too kind about her cooking.

The rest of the meal and evening passed with casual conversation between the Gaidin and Aes Sedai. Knowing the pair would have an early start the next day, Tia excused herself and retreated to the tent, though part of her would rather have sat and enjoyed the fire and the company. Sleep didn’t come easily to the Green, nor was it a restful sleep, though she did drift off.

The sound of birds greeting the morning woke her. The cot she slept on was not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it seemed awfully cozy in the chill of the morning. Tia felt more than a little reluctant to crawl out from under the covers, but she knew she couldn’t sleep the day away. Giving one last stretch, the woman pulled herself out from under the covers and dressed for the day.

By the time she crawled out of the tent, Bryn already had the small fire built up again. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw he had tea and porridge ready to go, “Not brave enough to let me cook again?” The smile morphed into a smirk.

[Bella]

"Hardly," Bryn said with a good-natured laugh. "I was simply awake and figured I could get it going easily enough." His own cooking skills were not considerable, he was well aware, but he knew he could manage tea and porridge.

He gestured for her to join him at the fire and warm up some. It was always cold in the morning around these parts. "After we eat, I'll get everything broken down and loaded back onto the horses. Then we can be on our way toward the village. Judging by the look of the weather, we should make it there by mid-day. Hopefully, there won't be anything too difficult to sort out..."

[Roan]

Tia

Tia gladly accepted the bowl of porridge and cup of tea Bryn offered, though she was even more glad of the fire as she sat next to him. Both the warm food and fire helped remove the chill she felt once she left the tent. As she ate, she listened to his plan for the morning, and nodded, “I’m happy to help break camp. It’s not like I’ve got anything else to occupy my time. The horses are ready to go, though I’ll be sure to double check their girths. Storm is terrible at holding in air when I first saddle him.” As if on queue, the horse looked over to her and snuffled. Part of Tia thought he looked indignant, but it had to be her imagination.

“I’m glad for a mid-day arrival as opposed arriving at night,” she added after she washed down a bite of breakfast. She tried her best not to worry about what they might find, or the unease she’d felt since they left the Citadel. It would do neither of them any good to be wound up so tight.

It didn’t take either of them long to finish breakfast and break camp. Tia wove threads of water together to douse the fire, making sure it was completely out before they checked their packs, adjusted the girths on their mounts, and then continued on their way. By the time they were back on the main track, the sun had cleared the trees. There was a slight chill to the air still, but all things pointed towards a mild, beautiful spring day.

Looking to Bryn,Tia offered a small, but warm smile, “I think the first night we met, you told me how you came to the Tower. That night was quite a while ago, and I’d like to hear the story again. Why did you decide to serve the Grey Tower as opposed to a city guard or someone else?”

[Bella]

Brynmor smiled ruefully as he contemplated her question. He had told her the most surface angle of the story, so there wasn't much to hear in hearing it again...unless he chose to tell her more. He found himself equally compelled as repelled by the idea of doing so. He found himself wanting her to know him, and yet...

He feared what she might think of him were she to know the whole of his past. He wasn't that man anymore...and yet you could not escape the past.

"I fear the whole of the tale is not a happy woman, my lady," he said, turning that crooked smile on her briefly before he looked off at their surroundings again, ever watchful even when deep in his thoughts. "And I do not always come out looking particularly good in it. These are not our favorites stories to tell, yes?"

Taking a deep breath, he began, even as he weighed just how much to say. "The broad strokes are... I was born to the mistress of a minor lord of Andor," he said, "and it assured we had a safe home, a comfortable home, and food... If that was all. I was taught well, trained well, and then sent to the service of another lord. A friend of my father.

"It was in his service that I learned, truly learned, how to fight. Things... They did not end well. Simply put. After that, I felt a need to serve something greater than myself." To do penance... "To give my life over to a cause devoted to good. The Grey Tower became that for me."

[Roan]

Tia Sedai

It was clear Bryn wasn’t sharing everything, but he shared what he was comfortable talking about. Tia wasn’t going to push as it wasn’t really her place.

I felt a need to serve something greater than myself.

Something happened. He’d said things didn’t end well, and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious as to what happened. Bryn also said he didn’t come out in a good light, but somehow Tia doubted that, figuring he judged himself too harshly as people were wont to do.

Looking to him, Tia offered a warm smile, “The Tower is lucky to have you in its service, and needless to say, I am grateful for your presence, and your company.” It looked as if something caught his attention, and she followed his gaze.

On the horizon, Tia saw what looked to be chimney smoke, suggesting they were near the village they were looking for. She slowed Storm, “Looks like we are here.”

[Bella]

"Looks like," he agreed laconically.

Although it was subtle, every part of him seemed to...shift. Change. He went from being vigilant but warm and companionable to alert and focused, not cold but obviously on edge. He saw the smoke rising just like she had, but there was something else putting him ill at ease as they slowly rode forward.

Bryn frowned slightly, the expression working against the Void as he plunged himself into it. "It's quiet," he said, looking from side to side as he scanned their surroundings. "Too quiet. I don't hear anything from the village, or from anything else."

They rode a little bit further, although not quite into direct line of sight of the village. He held his hand up to bring them to a stop. His sharp blue eyes never left the village ahead of the wilderness to either side of them. "Let's leave the horses here," he said. Waiting for agreement from her, he dismounted and set his horse to remain in place.

He strode forward, drawing his sword and holding it ready at a low guard as he walked. Nothing was feeling right about this...

...and the sudden appearance of a screaming, running, flailing person didn't change that.

They seemingly came out of nowhere, running at full speed. Such speed that they obviously had no plan about when to stop. Bryn brought the sword around to face this person, hoping to steer them off with the sight of the blade, but it didn't work. In fact, it worked precisely opposite of his goal.

When the woman--he thought it was a woman--skewered herself on his blade. He was forced to lean back and hold the sword at length to stop her hands from scratching at his face for as long as she survived until she fell over and slid off his sword to the ground.

"What in the Light was that?!" he exclaimed, his shock poking briefly through the Void.

[Roan]

Tia Sedai

The subtle shift in Bryn might have been easy to miss if Tia hadn’t grown up with a Gaidin for a parent. She tended to Storm as he tended to his own horse before the pair finished the distance to the town on foot. She followed closely behind, but didn’t yet reach for Saidar. There were those things that could sense when someone touched the Source, and she didn’t want to advertise their presence, unless necessary.

Necessity came pretty quick when the pair were rushed. The screams startled her, but the Green reached for Saidar a moment later as a number of people seemed to charge them. One seemed focused on Bryn while another two were rushing in their general direction.

The other two, a man and a woman, seemed to focus on her at the last minute, and she found she couldn’t really pay attention to what was happening with Bryn any longer. Pulling threads of Air together, Tia knocked both of the charging people off of their feet and away from her and her Gaidin. The man quickly gained his footing again and started charging, his crazy eyes intent on her.

She had little time to think and just acted as she pulled threads of Air, Water and Fire together, hitting the man with a bolt of lightning. He fell dead less than two feet from her. The woman started to get up, but Tia didn’t hesitate as threads of Air wrapped around the crazed woman and held her in place. The woman screamed at the top of her lungs, but there were no words that she could make out.

‘What in the Light was that?’ Bryn asked.

Tia looked over to see the woman who’d charged him dead at his feet. Catching her breath, she shook her head, “I have no idea.” She winced as the woman shrieked, and tied off the thread that was holding the woman in place before weaving a Ward of Silence over the woman, muting her cries so she wouldn’t raise more of an alarm than her and her compatriots had already raised.