Can I Keep Her? (fanfic)

[Alianora]

Liaran sat on a bench on one of Hama Valon's streets watching people pass by. She'd found herself coming to the city more often, though she never did much more than walk through its streets. Though not large, it was still a change of scenery from the Grey Tower, something the Accepted appreciated. She had passed through many of the streets and had stood, ready to return to her room and its piles of books when she heard an odd, sharp sound she couldn't quite recognize. She glanced at the buildings surrounding her, but the streets were filled with people passing and patronizing the various shops the city offered. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, so the Accepted left and started out towards the Tower. Liaran hadn't gotten more than a street away when she heard it again, louder now, and coming from the left. It sounded almost like a small, unhappy child, but not quite the same. Looking into the alley that stretched off to her left, Liaran was able to immediately identify the source of the sound, and just as she had thought, it was no child.

Some sort of large black animal lay on the paving stones and at first, Liaran wasn't sure what it was. It had long legs, a long nose, a deep chest and a whip thin tail. It took the Accepted a minute to identify it as a dog, and even then, it didn't look like any dog she'd ever seen before. Of course, Liaran hadn't seen more dogs than she could count on the fingers of one hand and guessed that this one was perhaps a different type than the very few she'd ever known. What concerned her more than the animal was the dark haired man hovering over it. Even as she watched, the man drew back a foot and kicked the dog hard in the ribs, eliciting another of the pained yelps Liaran had heard earlier. The Accepted inched closer, reaching for saidar as she did. She didn't know much about dogs, but she was certain it didn't deserve such treatment. As she got closer, she could see more clearly that one of its legs was twisted and part of its chest appeared to be caved in. She scowled as she wove, pulling strands of Air into an impenetrable shield that could be lowered over the dog, though she was careful to leave several holes for air near the edges. As she worked, she shifted her eyes from the weaves to the man, who did not seem to be aware of her presence. She would have to work quickly, since the man had lifted his foot again, clearly bracing for another assault on the poor dog. The Sea Folk woman lowered her weaves to cover the animal even as the man struck out, this time connecting only with a mass of solid Air, crying out in pain.

Liaran turned towards him, offering a small, cold smile with no trace of sympathy in it. “You might want to leave that dog alone,” she suggested. The man’s head snapped up, and a pair of cold grey eyes glared at her. He towered over her, and Liaran realized that if he decided to turn on her instead of the dog, it would not go well for her. She braced herself, ready to defend herself with saidar if she absolutely had to, but the man foolishly turned around and kicked at the shield again, with the same result. His eyes flickered from her to the dog and back again. “What did you do to my dog?” he demanded. “I’ve done nothing to the dog,” Liaran replied, more calmly than she actually felt. She took a deep breath before continuing. “Perhaps if you stop kicking at her, I won’t need to protect her from you.” “It’s my property,” the man muttered. He had knelt down, uselessly pounding on the shield with one hand.”I own it, so you have to let it go.”

“Of course,” Liaran agreed. “I can let her go whenever you stop kicking at her. A dog isn’t a thing, she’s alive, and I don’t see any reason to allow you to hurt her.” The man gave up his pounding on the shield. He spit to the side before coming closer to her. Liaran flinched back, but the man stopped well short of coming closer enough to touch her. “It’s just a useless runt.” the man snapped. “Can’t even hunt right. What do you care what I do to it?” “She’s a living animal,” Liaran responded, “She can feel pain. If you don’t want her, why don’t you just turn her loose?” The Accepted didn’t really want to see the dog running loose through the streets of Hama Valon, but she thought the animal would prefer it over life with an owner like the man. “I can’t just get rid of it!” was the answer. “Do you have any idea what it cost? I need to make some money off the worthless beast.”

Liaran had no idea what the dog might have cost, nor did she particularly care. With no money of her own, she couldn’t buy the dog from the man, which she might otherwise have done. The Accepted looked out of the alley, trying to decide what her other options were to help the poor dog, when she noticed a city guard approaching. She smiled as she realized that the man wasn’t likely to want the guard to witness his behavior. “There’s a guard coming,” the Sea Folk woman observed, as if she had only just noticed. “I don’t think he’d approve of how you treat your property,” As she had hoped, the man immediately looked over to the street where the guard was passing by. Liaran turned her back on him, beginning to walk towards the guard. She had barely gotten two steps away before she heard the man shout from behind her. “Why don’t you just take the bloody thing, then! It’s worthless anyways!” Fast, receding footsteps followed the statement, and when she turned back, the man was quickly disappearing into the distance.

With the man gone, Liaran was able to kneel down beside the dog and release her weaves. With the shield gone, she could hear the creature whining. It turned its head and sniffed at her hands. “You’re safe now, dog,” she told it, feeling foolish. What was she going to do with a dog? Leaving it to lie in the street wasn’t an option, but the only other choice she had was to take it back to the Tower with her. Poor thing could use Healing...is that even possible? Having never studied Healing, or much under the Yellows at al, the Accepted wasn’t sure an animal could even be Healed, but she didn’t know what else to do for it. She gathered the dog awkwardly in her arms before attempting to stand. It was not easy to do. How can such a skinny dog be so heavy? She made it to her feet, the dog’s thin legs dangling from her arms, and trudged slowly towards the Tower. It was going to be a long, slow, walk back, and she’d probably be late for her lesson, but as the dog settled, resting its chin on her shoulder, Liaran decided that she had made the right decision in speaking up for the dog, and was perfectly willing to serve any penance she might face when they arrived.