Timeless Conversation [Attn: Craig]

[Andy]

"I am sorry First Seeker, I was just...surprised" he told her in a conciliatory tone of voice, "I did not mean any offence. I know how hard Blademasters work for their Herons and accept what you say about the One Power" he continued in a calmer, more steady tone of voice. It was apparent that his experience of Aes Sedai still had a long way to develop into maturity. Elia clearly liked word games and was possessed of the rank and experience to run rings around one such as he. Not to mention he had already brought up something difficult for her when talking of Seanchan, whether he had meant to or not. It would serve him well to realise that channelers were like all other people - varied and different. Just they could also set you on fire if they wished to. "I understand," he said after she had explained what she meant and he relaxed further, the situation becoming clearer, "it sounds better. Always learned better by doing anyway" He breathed in and out to centre himself, finishing his tea and placing the cup down in case he ruined another of her cups through whatever this weave was. He had experienced healing of course, and the fire from Joshua, but other than that he hadn't had the One Power used on him much. Perhaps he was lucky for that. He inclined his head at her. "Please, I am ready"

[Craig]

Elia

"Please, I am ready."

I doubt it, she thought without scorn. She had been bonded before, although that knowledge was almost a perfect secret. Only two people knew that she had previous bonds, one of which she could trust, and the other she could trust to remain silent on the matter.

She opened herself up to saidar after a struggle. Gaining access to the One Power was not an instantaneous event like it once had been. Pregnancy muddled with these things, especially as far along as she was. Still, once she had a grasp on saidar she could hold onto it for as long as she needed.

The weave that Elia had been shown required Fire, Spirit and Water, as well as an active channelling to maintain it. Those two facts were as certain as anything that this was not the weave to bond a Warder. She started by stretching out a lattice of Spirit in the air between them. Appearing silver to her eyes, it resembled an elongated spider's web, far wider than it was tall. To the outermost connections she looped in a long band of Water until the entire 'web' was surrounded by a moat. The web of Spirit and Water would act as an intermediary between Alrim and Elia. This was as far as she'd practised, and everything that followed would be as new to her as it was to Alrim.

She tied a loop of Fire around one of the web's strands, then linked it to her heart. The second thread she connected with her head, a third with her right hand. She replicated this for Alrim, connecting his heart, then head, then hand with the lattice work. The final act was to pull in the ring of Water, focusing the density of the spider's web, drawing the connection between the two of them together.

"Here we go," she murmured softly.

The change was immediate. For one second she was herself, flooded with the One Power, acutely aware of the aches in her swollen ankles, the ongoing discomfort in her stomach, and the background agony that coursed through her withered arm with every incidental movement. In the next instant, she felt the cool feeling of metal against parts of her scalp and temples, different aches from weapons practice in the Warder Yards. Beyond the physical, Elia sensed Alrim's curiosity. He was working on a puzzle, attempting to unravel its mysteries. That was all she sensed before his shock flooded through the temporary link. She sat back, gasping from the sudden sensation of his surprise.

All serenity was lost. Elia focused on pulling herself together, separating her thoughts and feelings from Alrim's. This was not like the Bond; the connection was more intense, not less. She could feel his hair brushing against the back of his neck like it was her own neck being touched. Far too intense.

[Andy]

He was patient but apprehensive, he knew he couldn't see the One Power and things that affected him that he couldn't see let alone do anything about always set his nerves off as few things could. Despite his carefree nature he always liked to make sure he had control of his own affairs, as far as that was possible. Yet he had agreed to be put at Elia's whim and it didn't matter that he felt sure she wouldn't take advantage of that, his fingers still tapped out a comforting tune upon the seat as he waited. He thought he felt something cool brush him momentarily and his head tilted slightly, it could have been his imagination. Another problem for one such as me, how in the Light to deal with the One Power. Can't see it, can't smell it and won't know it's there unless it hits me in the face. Channelers might sense it I suppose, from another, but doesn't change the fact it's an unknown to me...nothing is ever easy these days he told himself, turning it over in his mind and wondering if there were a ter'angreal for that somewhere, if Elia knew of one. He felt another brush of pin-pricks upon his skin and shivered slightly, that wasn't his imagination he now knew, she was using the One Power on him. It reminded him of a lesser version of the icy-fire when he had been healed. He was thinking upon that when it hit him, full in the face, and had he not been expecting it and bracing mentally he felt sure he might have shouted aloud. As it was his eyes widened to their fullest extent and his hands gripped the sides of the chair tightly, knuckled white and trying to grip harder still. He wasn't prepared for what he felt, how could he be? Elia's satisfaction, or what he thought was satisfaction, at her success was replaced by a brief period of thoughtfulness as she looked at him. That would have given him pause for his own thoughts had he not been immediately awash in pain and discomfort. His legs throbbed...no...ankles? Yes ankles. Nausea made him swallow and refuse to let himself retch. Then there was the obvious symptoms of her pregnancy. Nothing, however, nothing at all in his lifetime, prepared him for the sheer agony of her arm. Or was it his arm now? It flaming well felt like his arm. He heard himself groan and grit his teeth against it. How did she do it? Live with it? And then he felt her concern, cutting through the pain...she was...worried? "This...how do they get things...done...with..." he tried to ask the question but it was too hard. It was coming think and fast now, getting deeper and more overpowering, as if it were gaining momentum and had no intention of stopping. It was more than the obvious pains now, he could feel her clothing move against her skin. If he tried he fancied he could even feel her breathing. He went to try to stand, to see if moving brought him more back to himself, but as he went to move he felt Elia flash with something he thought was akin to a mental shudder and his knees weakened and the chair tilted sideways, almost comically slowly, and he fell out of the thing and hot the floor. He managed, after a few deep breaths and a lot of stubborn willpower, to push himself to his knees and get himself back into the chair, there to vow not to move for the rest of this experiment. "Okay, don't...move" he smiled, a thin smile. Light and I thought I knew what feeling was after Arafel he told himself, a brief flash of the pit of sorrow at the memory caused a reaction across the fake-Bond and he pushed it away, perhaps not the best time he accepted. He tried for the ko'di but it was impossible to find though the seeking seemed to help a little, a distraction to take his attention away, however briefly before something else brought it back. A flash of panic, he wasn't sure who it belonged to, possibly himself. Something told him this wasn't supposed to be the way it was feeling. He heard someone laughing quietly, am ongoing chuckle, and realised it was him. Yeah, seems like my kind of luck. Careful what you wish for....burn me he dared not shake his head but he did raise it so that he could look at Elia, to make sure she was alright. She was the pregnant one after all and his training took over as he looked her over with concern. "Aright?"

[Craig]

Elia

She could have released the weave. That would have ended this ordeal for both of them within a moment, but then what would she learn. Alrim was getting the (arguable) benefit of experiencing the bond. For Elia...

When Alrim fell, she instinctively flinched. She even felt dizzy, her head struggling to deal with the concept that she was both sitting straight in a chair and sprawled sideways on the ground. Elia would have helped him up but she didn't trust herself not to fall.

"Don't move," she agreed.

Doing her utmost to ignore what her senses were throwing her way, the First Seeker pulled on the weave. The bundle of Spirit and Water had merged into a dense tangle. Delicately she felt around it, seeing if there was any thread in its structure that she could manipulate.

The only parts that still seemed to be mutable were the strands of Fire. She brushed against the thread that lead from the tangled weave to Alrim's mind.

--AFTER ARAFEL

She shirked away, both physically and mentally, panic swelling in her breast.

"Alright?" the other half of Elia's mind asked.

"I..." She was stunned is what she was. Stunned, yet curious.

She brushed against the thread that led from the weave to her own mind. Can you hear me? she thought.

[Andy]

He felt her flinch though he wasn't sure why, or why there was a flash of panic that accompanied it. He forced himself to turn his head even though it felt like water was sloshing around in it as he did so. He couldn't see anything untoward or threatening. Then his eyes widened and his eyes flicked to her belly, his mind focusing as best it could and found nothing wrong he could feel in her, in either of them. He relaxed a little and tried to centre himself, slowly getting used to the way it felt. He wasn't about to ask for another demonstration right after this but it was...interesting. And now the initial shock had worn off it was a bit easier to deal with. Might be easier with someone who isn't in so much pain, or her condition. And she must be feeling the same from me...surely? I mean we get hit around a lot and I've got more bruises every day. I'm used to them but...is she? he wondered. Elia made to speak but stopped after the first letter too, strange for someone who before had been quite talkative. Then again she was possibly as shocked as he was. He felt it but he was unsure of why she was. She must have done this before otherwise she wouldn't have known it would work. He turned it over in his mind and the quiet suspicion that she might not have known exactly how it would happen crept into him. She was quite unbalanced, they both were from what he could feel. Can you hear me? the voice came, Elia's but somehow different, more muted perhaps. It sounded closer than she was too. "Of course I can hear you, you're right there" he looked at her again, trying to block out what he could of her sensations. She merely looked at him silently, lips still not moving. He wondered what she was talking about with a slight frown. You can hear me? he heard again and this time he saw that her mouth did not make the words and his own shock came back like a sword lathe to the gut. He carefully said nothing and just kept his eyes upon her, blinking as little as possible in case he missed something. His head tilted in thought as he quietly figured out what was going on. It took him some time, he wasn't versed in the One Power as she was but he had the strangest feeling he could feel what she was feeling, or doing with it. It was like he was her, outside of himself, feeling things in an echo. Or perhaps not actually feeling them? Feeling her thoughts upon them? Either way he knew he had heard Elia's voice twice, once without her speaking, as if it had come from his own skull. He licked his lips and fought the urge to call everything off and run. I can hear you Elia Sedai, unless I'm going mad a faint smile at the corner of his lips You can hear me? Do you see what I think too, in here? he tapped his head and thought of something neutral - the Gardens and his favourite bench. He felt a sort of mania begin to rise in him now, not only was he experiencing a Bong but he had someone else in his head talking to him. Either that or he was going mad. Light knew it was probably overdue. What little control he had of the situation was definitely gone now and that merely added to the strangeness. It was one thing to be someone's guard, or Bondmate, or whatever close relationship, but another entirely for them to have free access to your thoughts. Is this what a Bond is? I really hope you get used to it after a while

[Craig]

Elia

Thunderous, cacophonous sounds battered at her skull. Elia felt like the skein of a drum, forehead pounding with each percussive blast of Alrim's thoughts. She couldn't decipher them; she could barely disentangle the pain from the noise. There was no separation between the thunder and the lightning inside her. Elia was a hair's width away from losing herself. All that was left to be decided was if she was going to lose grip of her emotions, or whether her mind was going to be the first to go.

And then she was gone.

Awareness blossomed after an untold Age of darkness. Sight and sound returned first. The world seemed quiet. Her breathing was barely audible, and the sunlight seemed soft through the thin gossamer curtains. Elia began to reach towards them when touch restored itself. Her blackened fingers stroked against the pale fabric, barely sensing a thing through damaged nerves. At least, sensing little beyond the ache that was ever-present.

Elia hadn't lost her memory. She quickly looked to Alrim to see if he was alright. He too looked bland, like dust or white sand had covered a painted canvas. Frowning, she glanced around for the source of the dullness.

It took her too long to realise that the dullness was in her. Or more accurately, she had released her hold of saidar.

Accepting the world through this lense, the First Seeker restored herself to a sense of calm. That was possible now. No longer was the Ji'val's emotions so intimately ripping through her like a river torrent.

"That was... not a bond." Elia wasn't answering Alrim's question directly - she hadn't heard it. "That was..." I don't know. She needed more time to come up with a better summary.

"I'm sorry you had to bear witness to that." Contrition was not easy for Elia, but the Indigo made it sound genuine. Maybe she wove the weave wrong, or perhaps that was always how it functioned. Either way, she should have experimented in a safer environment with a different subject. "We should... stick with questions perhaps?"

[Andy]

Any thought of whatever experimentation with circumstance went out of the window, bounced down into a chasm and was lost forever. He felt it coming before it hit him, like a wave of some kind. It was the only way to describe it, as if he were buffeted by choppy waters and then suddenly turned over. He wasn't sure who it was who lost control first, it didn't matter really. He thought he weathered slightly better, perhaps, but then as the connection dissolved a semblance of normality returned and he shuddered, wishing he could forget that blast of pure emotion. Or whatever it had been. He knew he wouldn't though, you couldn't forget something like that, the feeling of being drowned by your own senses and sentience. Things seemed too dark for his liking, as if the world had been driven towards sunset hours too early. Or perhaps it was that late, he had no idea how long he had been in Elia's rooms anymore. His head throbbed and air was sharply taken in against his own volition and he pressed the heels of his palms into his eye sockets , there to massage and ease the ache. "Good, I think. I'd have a hard time fighting like that. And waking up with these headaches. And it's fine, supposed to serve the Tower after all" he responded, his words perhaps more familiar than they should have been. Under the circumstances though he could have thought of worse. He nodded at her suggestion and wisely didn't ask what had gone wrong or what she had not been told by this weave finder. Though his wisdom was running out quickly. He leaned back and blinked a few times, focusing upon her once more and this time the world seemed a little lighter than before. Reasserting itself, perhaps. He gripped the arms of the chair slightly, fingers clutching. "Yes...questions. I've been told that a Bond makes...makes you able to go for longer without rest. What other...benefits are there?" he pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt the ache receding, bit by bit, but only marginally. This was going to be a long day indeed.

[Craig]

Elia

When Alrim mentioned that this was a part of serving the Tower, Elia found herself shaking her head. That weave had gone wrong, or was wrong. She had experienced what it was like to be Bonded, but that had been something else entirely. A sensation of sickness began to spawn in her stomach.

"Ah yes, um. The bond is..." Elia frowned thoughtfully, her brow making a dark furrow on her otherwise pale face. "Yes, sorry, the bond helps the Warder go without the normal need for rest and sustenance. A Warder will be able to run laps around an unbonded Gaidin, although that's not to say they become superhuman. It's just that the Warder's endurance is heightened compared to their unbonded peers.

"I understand that Warders are also capable of sensing the presence of Shadowspawn in some way, although I cannot tell you anything of what that feels like. Likely not something one would wish to experiment on." She smiled contritely in reflection to her last experiment a moment before.

"As for other benefits, you'll be aware of how a channeller and their bondmate develop an awareness of one another. What just transpired between the two of us was well beyond what the bond should be like. As you say, fighting with that torrent would be nigh on impossible."

Whilst she spoke, Elia observed Alrim. Little of what she had sensed during their link had been useful to divine his personality, but she could read his physical reactions. She embraced saidar again, drawing on her strongest affinities to put together a ring of Air and Spirit and Water. Elia placed the weave over Alrim's scalp and watched as it faded into him. Filigrees of silver returned from the Delving, relaying to her his pains and injuries. He would have felt and seen nothing of her intrusion.

"I can Heal you if you ask?" she added softly. "That actually reminds me, the bond also confers the ability to survive and endure injuries that would kill a normal man. Not something you'd wish to press your luck on."

[Andy]

"I can see why it is something sought after" he noted simply as he tried to ignore the feeling of nails pressing inexorably into his head. It must have been an after effect, it was the only explanation he knew. Still he wished it was not one. He'd have taken many things over it. At least the world was getting back to its normal shades as far as he could tell. Something she said caught his attention though and would have made him laugh if he weren't clenching his jaw between words. "How can you know the extent of something without trying it out? I'd never have become as good with a sword if I never tried to be so, or tried new techniques. Safely...of course" It struck him that the only true way of knowing what your limits were was to push yourself. He was not advocating getting Bonded and them immediately running towards Shadowspawn to see how distant he could sense them from or whether he could sense different types. There was such a thing as being cautious he was aware. Yet he would rather experiment where he could in order to be better. He supposed he would not be the only one to make such a choice though in that situation. He also made a note to have a talk with an actual Warder to see if they could express their side in words, as far as the sensations went. "At least I'll be prepared for the actual Bond then. Maybe. Or at least know I've had worse," he chuckled against his better judgement and it brought a slight groan from him, "yes...please. I'd rather not feel like this" he said simply, letting silence slip in after and wondering if she were experiencing anything like he was at that moment. She seemed so collected so he doubted it.

[Craig]

Elia

Elia did as she had offered without an additional word. She chose to put together the simpler Healing weave, trusting in her strength with the One Power to mend all of Alrim's ails in one go, whilst not having to rely on the use of Earth. She wove the mesh of Air, Spirit and Water around him, then let the light merge with his body. He shuddered with the Healing. She waited patiently for him to return to reality before continuing their conversation.

"It's not all beneficial. Maybe I should have left you with that headache as a reminder." She smirked before returning to seriousness. "With a bond, you always feel one another. You are permanently and persistently in one another's head, both physically and emotionally. You will know if your bondmate stubs her toe, and she will feel it if you are wounded in battle. You'll also know when she is frustrated or angry, or happy. Her emotions will bleed into yours and vice versa, until you are no longer sure if you are the one who started feeling that way originally. It can lead to some pretty dramatic arguments, so I've heard."

The First Seeker smoothed out her skirts in an attempt to ease her conscience and her stomach. It wasn't working out too well. Briefly she held a hand in front of her mouth as she let a wave of nausea pass.

Lowering her good hand, Elia continued. "And there is also the issue of when a bond breaks." She didn't feel the need to delve into that further. That topic was something for the Gaidin to worry about on their end, and should she ever chose to bond again, she would panic about her half of the deal.