Running Wild [Attn: You Know Who]

[Bella]

There was a small jab of some emotion in her gut, but she recognized it for what it was and tamped it down. She eyed him and nodded slowly. "Of course," she said evenly. "See to that, and then come meet me." Here, she hesitated again. "I'm still in the quarters that were once yours." This last bit she added in a lower voice, with quicker words, then hurried away.
* * * "Oh, Dog..." Nat said, practically pacing her quarters in agitation and tugging briefly at her scalp of red hair.

Dog Gaidin sat on a special-made pillow. He was a very mature doggo now, his golden face almost all white but with the same big smile and thumping tail as he wagged it against the floor from his bed. The light knew he was certainly the best listener that she had ever met, and he'd been listening to her talk for some time now as they waited. Mostly incoherent thoughts, though.

It was something to pass the time.

[Locke]

Pit Short for her age, Pit had to drag a chair across the room to see on top of the dresser and still could barely see. Standing on her tiptoes, she reached with little regard for her own safety. There, her fingers brushed something hard. Straining further she managed to almost— The chair slipped with a scraping sound and she fell with a crash. Pit lay in a bruised heap laughing, the newly acquired spear gripped in her small hands. “Though you could hide these,” she said proudly as she walked to the center of the room and settled into a fighting stance. She’d spent the entire morning practicing the simple spear and buckler sequences Terric had shown her. The same way she’d spent nearly every morning since the strange Aielman had taken her in. The stick he’d given her to train with lay abandoned across her bed. It was time to train with a real weapon. Block. Open. Step. Strike. One. Pivot. Block. Open. Step. Strike. The repetitive steps were soothing. Her arms ached. Especially the arm holding a buckler sized for an adult, but she pushed through the pain. She was already becoming stronger and maybe those Far Daries Mai ladies Terric told her about would let her join. Block. Open. Step. Strike. Thirty. Pivot. Block— Terric was standing in the doorway watching her. “Your form is improving, Little One. But try not to become so caught up in the dance that you miss the rock viper at your feet,” he as he entered the room. She pouted as Terric plucked his spear from her hand and handed her the stick. “I’m ready to use a real spear,” she said petulantly. “Learning to follow orders is just as important as knowing how to stab a man, and much harder. Pack your things. It’s time for the final leg of our journey."

Terric Terric walked the familiar route to the quarters he and Natlya Cade had once shared. His thoughts drifted to the disappointed look Pit had shot him as an Accepted chivied her off to be fitted for a new Novice dress. It was better than roaming the streets in Lugard, but he still felt he’d done her wrong.

A booming bark cut through his melancholy. He hurried the last few meters to his door face lighting up at the sound of energetic barking and claws scratching on wood.

He flung the door open. “I see you, Dog Gaid-oof,” he cut off as the big golden dog bowled into him. The two playfully roughousd for a bit. Dog Gaidin deserved the attention.

He found a place on the floor across from Natlya Cade and Dog Gaidin rested his head across his knees. Terric scratched the dog’s greying muzzle. “We’re all getting old aren’t we?”

[Bella]

Even with the raging conflict of emotions in her head, Natlya couldn't help the big, warm grin that crossed her face at the sight of Dog Gaidin greeting his long-lost master after so long. The dog's excitement was not dampened by the years, nor memory, nor age. They really were the best of creatures...

"Hey," she said with mock sharpness, laughing, "Speak for yourself. I'm as young as ever."

[Locke]

“Getting old is a victory; itself is it not?” Terric said, wishing he’d brought a treat for Dog Gaidin. “So, Shade of my Heart, I don’t want to delay, but maybe you can glean a bit more off of Pit. Assuming she’s not too upset about her new Novice Whites.”

[Bella]

"Oh, she will be," Natlya said with a faint laugh as she leaned back against the large cushions that still comprised most of the furniture in the room. She had gotten used to them and just kept it that way. She watched Dog Gaidin slobber over Terric even more than Natlya herself had, considering how much had changed in such a short time.

After a few moments, she continued, "Can it wait until tomorrow, at least?" she asked. "I'd like a little time to settle all this about in my own head, and be with you, and I think she'll need a little time too." One corner of her mouth lifted. "Does Pit know anything about me?"

[Locke]

At this point, Dog Gaidin had managed to settle down with his chin on Terric’s leg. Idly scratching the large dog, Terric replied, “Of course, I told her that you are also an orphan but that you found your Society among the Gaidin. She never said as much, but I think that’s partially why she wanted to learn the spear.”

“Aes Sedai, Gaidin, or Maiden that girl still needs to learn to listen to instructions that aren’t fighting lessons,” he grumbled.

[Bella]

That drew a bit of a laugh from Nat. "Do you really think I'm the one to help her with that?" she teased. She relocated herself from where she'd been sitting to sit closer to him--without interfering with Dog Gaidin too much, of course. "I'll talk to her in the morning and see if she might have anything she'd be willing to tell me that might be of use. Then, we can make a plan. I'll have to make arrangements to cover my duties if I'm going to be away, but I can do that first thing in the morning as well."

[Locke]

“You are quite skilled at listening to sense,” Terric said, patting her leg. “If you cannot talk some sense into her, maybe you can teach her how to listen to sense. But you are right, that is something for tomorrow’s Terric and Natlya Cade. What shall we do with tonight’s?” he asked, leaving the question open ended. They would have to begin their mission soon, so he was quite amenable to finding ways to pass the time together. As long as he could spend time with her he knew he would enjoy himself.

[Bella]

Natlya flashed one of her high-powered smiles at that, leaning toward him and tilting her head slightly. "Well, I'd start by saying you have a lot of making up to me to do," she teased, one red brow arching slightly, "but I would leave you to figure out the best ways to go about that."

She chuckled a little and then straightened up, which is when one of those...emotional moments that, really, she tried hard to avoid and was generally successful at avoiding, came upon her. She leaned back against the wall, looking at her hands as she smile fled from her face. "I just want to spend it together," she said, all teasing gone and a single tear coursing down her cheek that she didn't even notice. "I missed you."

[Locke]

That a former thief and a former thief taker, both of whom were Gaidin of the Grey Tower could approach something approximating domestic bliss was astounding. The two managed to make it work, however. Cooking a small meal together. Playing with their giant dog. Though they’d never been wed, they always managed to settle into the comfortable rhythm of a long married couple. If he had his way they would have been, but according to the customs of his people, it wasn’t his place to ask. So he didn’t, instead musing about how much his sister’s children had grown and making plans to visit after their mission. An all too common reminder that they weren’t just a normal couple. Whatever that meant in the first place.


The next morning, they headed to the Mistress of Novice’s study to borrow Pit from her chores.