A Break in the Crowd (Attn: Adanys)

[Leala]

Jhanic

The young man Jhanic had come to test today was not only unable to channel, it was far too young to know if he could. At first, he thought it simple ignorance on the boy's mother's part, but he recognized a glint in his eyes, and soon he had confessed to a prank. He had thought to teach him a lesson, but his mother had taken on the task. As soon as he stepped out of the family's house, he felt a tingling on his arms, as though a woman were channeling. It was faint, but it was there. There had been no other record or whispers of a female channeler or even a traveling Aes Sedai in this town.

That was how he found this girl, slumped and trembling. Being nearly a head taller than the tallest man in the town, Jhanic had had a good view of the girl tending to the injured man. When a doctor came in to assist, and the girl moved back, the tingling stopped. The crowd went back to their lives, keeping as far away from him as they could, and he approached the woman. She seemed afraid of him, but most people did at first. "I came here to test a young man to channel, but it seems you need no such test." He tried to keep his voice gentle and friendly. The people in this Andoran village were still apt to call Aiel "savages." He could do nothing about his appearance, though. "I come from a place that can teach you what you need."

As Jhanic looked at the young woman, he studied her features. Brown hair and eyes, small stature...he hoped her family hadn't been in the crowd. "I am Jhanic, an Asha'man of the Grey Tower." He decided to state his title as well. Most people noticed the cadin'sor before the pins and cord. "May I have your name?"

[Adanys]

Mandira

The Grey Tower? An Asha'man?? Mandi felt her head spin, she wasn't sure if it was the exhaustion or from trying to process what the Aiel was telling her. She'd heard of the Grey Tower, sure, but she'd never met someone from there. Much less ever had someone approach her.

He asked her name, and she hesitated a moment, studying him warily. Some referred to the Aiel as savages, but she'd never met one, so she hadn't arrived at that conclusion yet. He seemed a decent sort. She rose to her feet. "I'm Mandira Cantlin. I'm-" she froze, recalling what he'd said first. "I came here to test a young man to channel, but it seems you need no such test." Her blood ran cold. He believed that she could...channel? The ice pricked at her heart. No, he had to be mistaken, the idea was so absurd.

She let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "You think I can channel? Please. What kind of joke is this? I can no more channel than I can fly." She shook her head. "Wouldn't I know if I had the ability? I'm just an orphaned village girl, nothing special about me at all. All due respect, but you must be mistaken." She took a step back, gesturing at her blood and paint covered hands. "I really should be going. I need to get cleaned up."

[Leala]

Jhanic

Jhanic patiently waited for Mandira Cantlin to finish telling him that she could not channel. He knew some novices and soldiers, even wearing the white and black were still disbelieving. He watched as she stepped back and looked at her hands, looking for an excuse to leave. Calmly, the Aiel walked up to the young woman and looked her up and down. He was reminded of Maidens of the Spear who fought against becoming a Wise One. Except, this girl didn't seem to have anything tethering her to this place. She had helped the injured man, but she had not accompanied the healer, had not followed anyone when the crowd dissipated.

"You had much to say to my offer, Mandira Cantlin, so let me answer it all," he said calmly. "Yes, I believe you can channel. I sensed a woman channeling not far away. The sensation left me when you left the man's side. This is not a joke. I do not take random men and women to be trained on a whim. No one, not even those who can channel, can fly anymore. We have that in common." He smiled with one corner of his mouth, making his long scar move with it. "Another thing we have in common is that I did not know I could channel either, until it was brought to my attention. It is a complicated ability, channeling the One Power, and there are no requirements of specialness from the person for the ability to be there."

Jhanic paused for a moment, looking out at the village, trying to get a good sense of where everything was. "If it is a mistake you are worried about, there is a possibility in that. I could not sense who was channeling, only that it was likely you." The Asha'man seized Saidin and Air and Water over Mandira Cantlin's hands, gently scrubbing away the blood and paint. Using the flow of Air, he rolled the blood and paint into a ball, then tossed it away. Still holding the torrent of fire and ice, he wove Spirit and Fire into a complicated column. The bar of white light stood taller than him, and he let it hover and rotate for a moment, so that she could see it. "If you come with me to the Grey Tower, I will find an Aes Sedai to test you. Though, likely, she will be able to tell immediately if you have the ability or not. If you do not have the ability, I will bring you back. If you do, you will need to be trained." With that, he tugged the gateway open to reveal the black void of Skimming. A large disc in the shape of his hide buckler waited for them to step on it.

[Adanys]

Mandira The Asha'man stepped up to her, and she forced herself to meet his eyes. When he quirked his lips in a smile, it brought attention to a long scar on his face. She found herself wondering how he'd gotten it. His words were as clear as glass, but she still had trouble understanding. Her mind didn't want to grasp that there was even a chance she could channel. But what if he was right? It didn't make sense for him to be lying about this to her.

He looked around the village, then continued speaking. Suddenly, she felt something on her hands. She raised them slightly, looking down in astonishment as the blood and paint was neatly removed from her hands. She couldn't see what was doing it, but it had to be the One Power. She shivered, but didn't pull back. He even got the stuff that was wedged under her nails. She watched in a near trance as he balled up what he'd removed and it flew to the side. Then, just as suddenly, a bar of light taller than the Asha'man appeared at his side. She watched it hover and rotate, her lips still frozen shut. Her mind spun as she tried to comprehend what was happening.

He told her he'd take her to be tested, and if she had the ability, she'd need training. So that means if I go with him, I won't be coming home. ..but what is home these days? I go through the daily motions, my painting and my work with the doctor the only deviations. I have nothing keeping me here.I have no home here, I only live here. The bar of light was moving, opening to reveal a vast blackness. She shivered, there was nothing in that blackness, she'd never seen such emptiness. There was a round disc, resembling a shield or something like it, just inside the opening. Did he intend her to step inside? She took a step back, her gaze shooting back to his. "I-I'll go to the Grey Tower with you. But...but do I have to go in there? What is it?"

[Leala]

Jhanic

The young woman watched in amazement as Jhanic wove away the blood on her hands, and then wove the Skimming gateway. When he offered to take her with him to the Grey Tower to be tested, she squared herself up and said she would go, but... Her hesitation made Jhanic chuckle. So brave to face something uncertain and new to her, but this was a bit too much. Well, he couldn't say he would blame her. The black void at the edge of the disc made many people hesitate. "This is a weave called Skimming," he explained as he stepped through the opening and stood on the disc. "If I was more familiar with this area, I could make one for Traveling that went directly to the Grey Tower. Since I am not, we will stand on this disc, and it will take us there."

He could hear mutters from the villagers at this from the other side of the gateway. "If you do not touch the edges of the gateway, or step off the disc, it is completely safe," he assured her. "I know this is sudden, Mandira Cantlin, but training is essential, if you can channel. Both women and men can harm themselves, those around them, or even cause death, if they are not trained properly." If she was too stubborn or frightened to follow him in, he would likely have to hoist her into the gateway with a thick weave of Air, and he would rather not have any trust she had with him broken.

[Adanys]

Mandira

Mandi eyed the opening and the vast darkness again, her unease dissipating slightly when the Asha'man stepped inside and explained what not to do. Great, all she needed to do was make sure she didn't fall into the unending blackness. He made not going to the Grey Tower and getting proper training sound far more dangerous than the gateway looked. Her mind tried to shove aside the idea of her being a channeler again, but she didn't let it. No, if she was going to do this, she couldn't go and pretend to ignore what the man had told her.

She took a deep breath. "All right, I will go with you. But I must go tell my aunt that I am leaving. Don't want them thinking I've disappeared." She ran off before he could object, her house was just a short ways up the road. She threw her 2 dresses and her paint supplies into a bag and hastily explained to Nora and her family what was happening. They hugged her and wished her well, but they knew as well as she did that Mandi wasn't overly attached to her life here, wasn't attached to anyone here. "I-I don't know if they'll let me come visit, but I need to go."

Less than 10 minutes later she was before the gateway again. She'd never actively planned to leave, but she'd certainly never rooted herself into this life. Not if she could say goodbye and pack up her life in less than 10 minutes. She took a deep breath, and not even looking back, she stepped onto the disc. Eyes dry and chin held high, she heard the sounds of the village fall away as the gateway closed. With a small voice, she asked, "What happens now?" In this darkness, her life's belongings in her hands, a stranger toting her off, she felt as alone as she had the day of her parents' funeral.