Student of the Mask (fanfic)

[Leala]

Torianin picked her way through the corridors of the Grey Tower until she reached the classroom where she would learn about illusion. At the head of the class were a pair of instructors: a small, dark-skinned Aes Sedai holding her brown shawl to her. She recognized the woman, though. That was Raphine. She had been raised, then. Good. A lanky Asha’man spoke rather animatedly with her. He wore white shirt sleeves with a long white vest. He wore spectacles, which he pushed up with his index finger from time to time. The desks were arranged in one row that curved around the class toward the teachers. She took her seat with everyone else and waited, chatting with another Accepted that had signed up for the class.

“What’s this now?” the Asha’man’s sharp voice jolted everyone to attention. “Oh, no,” he said, shaking his head, walking up to the class. “No, no. I’ll have soldiers and Dedicated on this side,” he said, motioning to the left, “and novices and Accepted on this side.” He motioned to the right, and everyone moved accordingly. Torianin did not have to ask this man’s Ajah. He was definitely a White.

Once everyone was where he wanted them to be, he began the class. “Yes, good,” he said, clapping his hands once, nodding his head in approval. “Much easier to supervise this way. Now. I am Asha’man Aelyn, of the White Ajah. And, you may recognize my assistant as Accepted Raphine. However, her raising yesterday was the reason this class was delayed for a day. Raphine, now Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah has graciously agreed to continue assisting me in this class.” As he spoke, Aelyn waved his arms around, making gestures with his hands. He seemed to try to avoid looking directly at his students as well.

“The purpose of this class is to teach you the different techniques of the Mask of Mirrors. Can anyone tell me why it is called that?” He paused only for half a second before he rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Never you mind. I would rather tell you myself.” A few confused soldiers and novices with their hands halfway into the air gave each other baffled glances. If Raphine had anything to say about her partner’s odd behavior, she masked it with a serene smile. “The weaves themselves act as a mask, covering what is really there, and also as a mirror, reflecting what it wants us to see.” With that, he made a flourish with his left arm, indicating the desk in the middle of the room. Suddenly, the air around the desk shimmered, and after a moment, a box-shaped rose bush was in its place. Aelyn stepped up and slapped his hand on the thorny rose bush, but it went through the thorns, and the sound of a hand slapping the wood of a desk was heard. “Logically, we know that the desk is still there, but a mask was placed over it, and now it mirrors a rose bush.”

Torianin found herself nodding along with the explanation. The rose bush shimmered, then became a desk again. Aelyn stepped to the side and allowed Raphine Sedai to demonstrate with Saidar. Torianin paid close attention, watching how the mesh was made with Air and Fire, then the knots of Spirit at the joints. All this along with the Water and Earth, as she had tried, but much more intricate added up to this mask. She saw as the weave was laid on the desk before the desk shimmered and the rosebush came into being again. This time, the roses were red, rather than the white ones Aelyn had made.

“Illusion can be used in many ways,” Aelyn explained as the rose bush became a desk once more. “For this first lesson, we will try something smaller than turning a desk into a shrubbery. For your first exercise, I want you to make a book appear on your desk that is not actually there. Raphine Sedai and I will both demonstrate how the weave is done, step by step, and then you will try.”

Raphine faced the novices and Accepted, in front of the desk. Torianin saw as the glow of Saidar surrounded her. She brought out Air, making the vertical lines of the mesh that were then joined with the horizontal lines of Fire. She took bits of Spirit and added them to the corners of what would be the book, making a good outline. She took Water and Earth, laying them atop the mesh and knots. When the weave joined with itself, it formed a brown book that looked like old leather.

Aelyn spoke up again, a blue book on the desk next to him. “The weaves for men and women are strikingly similar with Illusion. You’ll notice how Water and Earth are applied at the end for color and texture. There is no theory that can be put into words for how this is achieved. Like many things in the One Power, this is something that comes naturally from the channeler. Raphine Sedai and I will walk around the room, guiding your weaves. Be sure to tie the weave off for a finished project. For each book on a desk, we will pass our hands through it, and if we do not touch the desk, you will put the actual book away and try the weave again. Any questions?”

Torianin was satisfied with the instructions, and once the signal to start was given, she was ready. Embracing Saidar, she directed weaves of Air and Fire into a simple, rectangular mesh. She took weaves of Spirit and attached them to the joints to form the shape. Then, she took Water and Earth, keeping in mind a deep red color with a smooth leather cover and neat, white pages. Once the weave settled, the book that she had envisioned rested on her desk. No sooner had the book taken shape then Aelyn’s hand slammed through the shape and onto her desk. She jumped at the action and looked up.

Aelyn looked at his hand going through the book, then up at her. “You’ve practiced this before,” he said matter-of-factly.

She nodded in response. “Yes, in the gardens two days ago.”

“You were the first to finish the weave. Very well done.” With that, he took his hand from the desk and walked in front of the male students to supervise their weaves. Raphine quietly walked up and tested the book as well. She nodded her approval and walked away.

[Leala]

After a week of practice with her teachers, Torianin returned to the classroom for the next portion of the lesson. Other students had actually come to her for help when they were too embarrassed to ask for help from Raphine Sedai. At first, she was hesitant. She may have had a knack for this sort of thing, but she was certainly not an expert. There were times that she wasn't sure of herself, and there were times that she needed help as well. But still, it felt good to help out her fellow students, and she was happy to lend a hand or just to tell them that they may want to ask the teachers for guidance.

Raphine Sedai and Asha'man Aelyn greeted her at the door with polite smiles, and she nodded to both of them respectfully, but she stopped in her tracks as she walked past them and saw them waiting at the large desk at the front of the room. They were concentrating on a weave, and as she walked past, the Accepted noticed the strands of Spirit going from Raphine Sedai, curving over her head, and into the limbs of her double at the front of the classroom. The instructors, the real ones, flashed her a smile when they saw that she had noticed the weaves. She sat down and watched this play out as others filed in. Some students jumped when they saw the teachers, and a few gave audible gasps. One soldier jumped and let out a small shout before he caught himself and laughed it off.

Once everyone was in their seats, Aelyn and Raphine stood as their doubles walked up to them. "Good morning, class," Aelyn said as he and his partner dissipated their weaves. "If you were not awake at the start of this, I should hope you are now." The class laughed nervously at his comment. "In the last class, we covered how to make an inanimate object appear to be there when it is not. This portion of the course is how to make a moving object appear. Now, I will not expect you to make a perfect double of yourself today, but let's start with something a bit smaller, shall we?" There was a collective sigh of relief in the small pause. "Let's start with a small animal." He and Raphine turned to the teacher's desk and began to weave the net of Air and Fire as usual, adding Spirit at the joints. Torianin could see that the small Brown was making what looked like a cat. They added the Water and Earth for the color and texture, and Raphine's creature was revealed to be a black cat with a white-tipped tail. Aelyn had created a large, orange fish that hovered above the table. "Now, this is nothing new so far to what you've already done. This cat and this fish are just existing for the moment. to make them move, one will fill the parts that will move with Spirit." Raphine and Aelyn slowly demonstrated, and Torianin saw as Raphine added Spirit to the cat's head, limbs, and tail. "For guidance, attach strands of Spirit to the mobile parts." That was what she had seen when she came into the classroom earlier.

The class watched as the black cat jumped off the teacher's desk and gracefully sauntered up to them. Aelyn's fish began to "swim" though the air and above their desks. "I do not expect perfection, but do try to make it look as though your creatures are moving naturally, hm? Try to start simply, like we started with the book on the first day. Make a small animal, but a baby at first. They do not require a lot of movement, and they are smaller than their grown counterparts." The teachers walked among their students, their illusionary creatures having shimmered out of existence..

Torianin thought for a moment. She had shown the ability to make an illusion before, but this involved a lot of Spirit, and Spirit was not her strength. However, illusion before this had used all Five Powers. Calm down, she told herself. You've gotten this far before. They didn't just make you Accepted because they felt like it. Embracing Saidar, she decided she would start small, but not too small. She wove a small net of Air and Fire, adding the Spirit where it needed to go. She added Water and Earth, then watched as a still, fuzzy, gray chick took form. She liked watching birds when she was damane. The weaving for the still image was almost easy now. She added Spirit to the little bird's wings and feet, then attached the strings of Spirit as well. Narrowing her eyes, she carefully tugged on the wings, and the puffy things lifted. Baby birds were jerky in their movements, though. She tugged a little more and watched as they fluttered. It still seemed a little off, but it looked better than before. She began to move the legs as well, and the little bird began hopping around on her desk. She noticed that a small smile had appeared on her face as she watched. It was rather cute. Concentrating, she added Spirit to its head.

At first, she couldn't quite get the weaves to cooperate to have the wings, feet, and head moving all at once, but after the allotted time was up, she was successful. She was exhausted from so much channeling, and from so much concentration, but she was finally able to make a convincing chick hop around her desk.

[Leala]

Over the course of the week of this particular lesson, Torianin had successfully made an illusionary bird soar around the classroom. She noted that Asha'man Aelyn seemed to be keeping an eye on her progress, but she tried not to let that bother her. She knew that it was a good thing...hopefully. As she walked into the classroom, she walked toward her desk, or at least where her desk should be. It was gone. Everyone else was standing around, talking, and they seemed rather amused. Reaching down, she felt her desk that she could not see. Ah. So, this was the next lesson. Everyone else's desks were veiled as well, but they all seemed to have found them easily enough. Even if they hadn't been standing there, Torianin would have bumped into it, trying to wander into the seemingly empty space. A few students sat down, laughing, in their invisible desks, but most of them, like here, were a little too uncomfortable wit the notion of sitting on something that looked like just air.

"Asha'man Aelyn!" a rather loud Dedicated called out, "Raphine Sedai! We know you are here. We have solved your riddle." Torianin lowered her brows at the young man. There was no ordering around Asha'man and Aes Sedai, and he knew it. Rolling her eyes, she sat in her desk, if somewhat stiffly, and waited as the young man called out again. Everyone was in their seats and waiting, quietly.

"Dedicated Mikel!" Aelyn said as he rushed into the classroom through a door, Raphine Sedai following a moment later. "Why are you yelling?" he demanded. "I know you cannot see your desk, but everyone around you seems to have used their deduction well enough and found theirs." The class chuckled as Mikel sat at his desk, right next to Torianin. He leaned over to mutter something in her ear, but she gave him a cold stare. He very nearly reacted when the weaves were let go, and his desk suddenly became visible again. The thing that made him jump was when Aelyn said, "Dedicated." The slightly joking tone in his voice gone now. The Asha'man pointed to the ground next to him, and Mikel stood next to his teacher.

"We have covered Static Illusion and Dynamic Illusion thus far. Now, we will study the weave that was demonstrated as you found your seats." The class laughed again as Aelyn continued. "This weave was called 'Folded Light,' and there are two parts to achieve perfect invisibility. The first part can be used by itself to make the object less noticeable. This is very similar to what we've been using in the first stage. You will make a net of Air and Fire, but instead of making a shape out of it, you will simply make a cover of it." Mikel's arms jerked up on their own and hung in the air like those of a puppet. Torianin saw that Raphine Sedai was holding the arm on her side up with a strand of Air.

The teachers wove simultaneously, and the Accepted saw as the Aes Sedai wove a mesh of Air and Fire big enough to cover the Dedicated's arm. As it fell over it, Torianin could see that there was no arm there, but that the air around it was somehow bent, or broken. "As you can see, there is something to be seen where his arms are no longer, just not his arms." Mikel blinked and looked at both of his arms in wonder. "To perfect this weave, we will add color and texture, as usual. There is no exact way of doing this, but the philosophy is to make the color and texture of what is covered match what is surrounding it. We do this with Water and Earth." Torianin watched as Raphine took Water and Earth, bending them slowly to add to the illusion. As they settled, the air no longer looked broken. It just looked like Mikel no longer had arms.

The teachers dispelled the weaves and sent their student back to his desk. "This is also something that can be used on the channeler themselves." Raphine and Aelyn wove a blanket of Air and Fire over themselves, then added the Water and Earth for better effect. They dispersed that weave, and the Asha'man continued. "As we have been doing, we will start with something small. Try to make your hand disappear at first. We have been practicing with similar weaves for a fortnight now, though. Once you feel you've gotten this, try to cover yourself."

Torianin stared down at her hand and took a deep breath. Embracing Saidar, she wove a net of Air and Fire. This part felt natural and easy enough. She laid it over her hand and smiled as she saw the air bend around what looked like nothing. Concentrating, she added Water and Earth. At first, it just made the air bend further, but as she adjusted to what she intuitively felt was right, her weave left her with just one hand, as far as the eye could tell. Raphine walked by and looked down at her desk. She gave a sweet smile and nodded in approval before moving on.

Wondering how the next weave would work, she decided to try the next one. Weaving Air and Fire in a bigger net, she covered herself from head to foot. Mikel, sitting next to her again, looked over at her and made a face. His hand was invisible now, well, mostly. Remembering what she had done before, Torianin wove Water and Earth into the cover. Aelyn walked by her desk. He nodded his approval to Mikel, then looked at her desk. "Accepted," he said, leaning into her space, but not too close. "If you are there, you may be interested to know that I'll need a new teacher for this soon. Keep this up, and that may be you." Standing back up straight, Aelyn walked away and she let go of her weave, blinking. She hoped she could get to that point, but the thought of her as a teacher... Well, it was no longer impossible.

[Leala]

Torianin was surprised to find the classroom just as it should be when she walked in. Her teachers sat at their desk, and students milled about their seats as they had for the first class. It was a bit confusing to have things look so normal. She sat down at her desk, and Dedicated Mikel sat next to her stiffly. The freckled young man scratched at his head, and his usually confident expression was serious today. That was good. The class filed in, and after everyone was seated, Aelyn stood up with Raphine and addressed the class. "I have no unusual tricks for you today," he said, spreading his hands. "That's because our next lesson is far too obvious to surprise really anyone. That's because this next lesson is about making an impression." He paused and let his students stew on that for a moment. Torianin was drawing a blank as to what he was talking about. "The next set of weaves we lear is called 'Mirror of the Mists.' Aes Sedai and Asha'man use it when those that we serve do not listen to reason. It should be used sparingly, because as Servants of All and Guardians, we must be sensitive to those that we serve and guard. That being said, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you must be seen and heard, you can use this."

The two teachers walked in front of their respective students, separating themselves by about ten feet. Watching as Raphine began to channel, and Torianin assumed that Aelyn did too. She saw the Aes Sedai make a net of Air and Fire about as tall and wide as she was. Instead of laying it over herself, she continued to weave. "This weave is familiar, yes?" Aelyn asked. "Before you act, attach Spirit to the intersections of Air and Fire." Raphine did just that, attaching knots of Spirit to the corners, as was usual as well. "With that," the Asha'man said dramatically, raising his hand, "we'll take the Spirit and stretch the net out." The Spirit on the corners of Raphine's net expanded in all four directions, making her appear as tall as the ceiling. Aelyn did the same, and the class was taught by giants.

"You can see how this would catch the attention of anyone, were they not expecting it," Aelyn said, going back to his animated speech. It was odd to hear his normal voice coming from the giant in front of her. "Now, we'll add another weave, to keep attention. Tie off the visual illusion..." Raphine tied off the Illusion. "Now take Air, and make a funnel in front of your mouth." Torianin watched as a thread of Air formed in front of Raphine's mouth, but her real one, to make a funnel. "AND NOW..." Aelyn's voice was amplified through the room to match his new size, "IT WOULD BE RATHER HARD TO IGNORE ME, WOULDN'T IT, RAPHINE SEDAI?"

Raphine turned to Aelyn and nodded her head, "YES, I'D SAY WE'RE RATHER IMPRESSIVE FIGURES, ASHA'MAN AELYN." It was so strange to hear such a big voice coming from quiet Raphine. The teachers let the funnels of Air disappear and dispersed their first weaves, returning to their normal appearances. "Now, I'd rather not have a room flooded with giants while you practice, so I'll have one volunteer at a time, and the first one is never a volunteer, I would have Accepted Torianin come up to the front of the room."

Her heart skipped a beat and her shoulders immediately stiffened. She looked to her side and Dedicated Mikel was rolling his eyes. Straightening up, Torianin stood confidently and walked to the front of the classroom. Aelyn did not give her any instructions, and did not say why he had chosen her. He just stepped aside and left her to her work.

Torianin embraced Saidar and wove the net of Air and Fire that was getting close to second nature for her. She made the net about as tall as she was. She stopped to make sure that it was right. She was performing in front of the whole class, after all. When she was satisfied, she added the knots of Spirit to the corners where they met. Raphine said nothing, so she assumed she was correct. Taking the weaves of Spirit, she spread them out, stretching the net to the ceiling. On the other side of the weave, she saw her classmate's vision go up with the Illusion. It was working. Good. This felt good. Tying off the weave, she wove Air in front of her mouth in the shape of a funnel. She said, "WILL THIS DO, AES SEDAI? ASHA'MAN?" Her giantess voice made her blink in surprise.

"Yes, well done, Torianin!" Aelyn shouted up to the illusionary Torianin. On her other side, Raphine smiled and nodded her approval.

"Well done, Accepted," she said with a smile clap.

As the class politely clapped, Torianin undid her weaves and took her seat again.

[Leala]

As Torianin rounded the last corner to arrive for the next lesson of her Illusion class, she was greeted with shocked faces. There was a novice speaking with a soldier at the door, and when they saw her, their jaws were agape. They looked into the classroom, then back at her, as if they weren't sure of what they were seeing. She blinked and walked up to them. Before she could ask what was wrong, she saw what they were so shocked about. There, already in her chair, sat Torianin. For a panicked moment, she thought that perhaps her twin had found her in the Grey Tower, and was about to reclaim her as damane, and she stormed into the classroom to confront her. However, her double wore an Accepted's dress and a Great Serpent ring. Lumanin would not have taken upon a life of a marath'damane. Torianin in the chair raised her eyebrow's at her sudden movement. "Oh, is this your seat?" she asked in a perfect copy of her voice, except for the Altaran accent. That made her blink. The extra Torianin stood up and next to her.

"I thought you were my twin for a moment, Asha'man," she explained with a smile. "She and I...did not get along when last we met."

Her double smiled and laughed, but Aelyn kept the Illusion. "Ah. I was not aware of that. I'm glad the disguise seemed to be successful, though." It was rather strange, though, speaking with someone that looked and nearly sounded exactly like her. Torianin looked around and noticed that a crowd had formed around her and Aelyn.

In the confusion, it was found that Mikel had a double as well, in Raphine Sedai. Once everyone was accounted for, Aelyn, as Torianin, directed everyone to their seats, and he and Raphine stood at the front of the room in their disguises.

The air around the teachers shimmered, and Aelyn and Raphine appeared as they normally did. "Welcome back, class," Aelyn said with a smile, his voice back to normal as well. "This lesson will cover the weaves necessary for disguise. This is one of the few weaves that a channeler can use on themselves. I won't expect perfection from you on your first attempts, and certainly not anything as complete as a full disguise on the first day. Although, that will be expected for your final exam. But, today, we will change our faces to look like someone else's. Accepted Torianin cannot use the excuse to change hers to look like her twin's." The class laughed, and so did Torianin. "What I would like you all to do is to pick a partner of the same gender as yourself, so that you can see each other's weaves, and try to replicate their face. The weave used to change one's appearance begins with a foundation of Spirit over the part that you wish to change." Torianin saw as Raphine Sedai wove a blanket of Spirit over the contours of her face and hair. "You'll remember that we use Spirit when we want something to move, like in dynamic illusion. Every part of a person moves. With the Spirit in place, we'll add the usual Air and Fire mesh over the foundation." Raphine wove the net and laid it over the Spirit. "By now, you should know what comes next to change the color and texture." Raphine added a complex array of Water and Earth to the mask of Air and Fire. When the weave was complete, Raphine had gone from dark-skinned with full cheeks to paler than Torianin with sunken cheeks and deep-set green eyes. Her curly black hair was replaced with sleek and straight golden hair. Aelyn's appearance had changed dramatically, too, but she was concentrating on the weaves that Raphine was using. She did notice that his hair was now green, however.

"One more weave to complete it: something to change the voice. Now, for the Mirror of the Mists, we used Air for that weave, to make our voices larger. For this one, we will use a cone of Spirit to simply change how it sounds, rather than amplify the sound." A cone of spirit appeared in front of Raphine's mouth. "To make your voice higher, add Air to the cone." As Aelyn spoke, he added the Air to make his voice higher, as Raphine, but she sung a few notes of a song in her head to demonstrate. "To make it lower, add Earth." Aelyn's voice went back to his usual register, then much lower, as did Raphine, who was still singing.

Aelyn left the students to their work, and Torianin turned to the girl sitting next to her, another Accepted. Mikara was from Arad Doman, and had darker skin than Torianin, higher cheek bones, and her long, wavy hair was a deep brown. She studied the girl for a moment, and she was studied back. She had studied with her before, and as they chatted, she picked up that her voice was a little higher, but had a husky tone to it. She would have to experiment for the texture of the voice, but she was confident that she could figure it out eventually.

She and Mikara embraced Saidar and began to weave at the same time. Spirit was not her strongest of the Five Powers, but after all this practice, it still bent to her will, if with a little resistance. She wove a mask to cover her face and her mass of red hair. Her partner's face was covered as well. She wove a net of Air and Fire, laying it over the foundation of Spirit. Mikara was still working on hers. These weaves incorporated all five of the elements used, but these weaves felt very natural to her, almost as if Air was what pushed them. Adding Water and Earth to her mask, she concentrated on the shade of the other girl's skin first, then she shape of her face. She also added in the bright brown of the girl's eyes, almost orange. As she added the Water and Earth to the parts of her mesh that she couldn't see, she was relieved to find that she could still feel it. Looking over at her partner, she saw that she had made nearly a perfect copy of her face. Mikara blinked when she made eye contact with Torianin. "You forgot my freckles," she said with a laugh.

Raphine Sedai stopped by the two of them and offered a mirror. Looking in the mirror, Torianin saw that she had left her eyes as big as they were originally. She moved the weaves set in place and watched as the other girl's eyes replaced her wider ones. She changed the lips to make them a bit darker, and Mikara admitted that she had used color on them that day. When she was satisfied with her results, she passed the mirror to Mikara. As her partner studied her new looks, Raphine Sedai leaned over and looked at Torianin. "Very good."

[Leala]

When Torianin arrived for the final lesson for the Illusion classes, she found the classroom had no desks, but this time, it wasn't an Illusion. Students walked around, a few here and there reaching for the desks that weren't there. Aelyn and Raphine sat in individual chairs at the front of the class, even the teacher's desk was not there, leaving students to wander around and chat excitedly about what the final exam would be. Finally, Aelyn spoke up. "This is our final class together. Today will test whether or not you have passed this class, or whether you may need some extra tutoring after this. Now, it's a tradition to have the final exam be a show of sorts, this being about Illusion, and I have no intention of changing that. It is by far the most entertaining portion of the class...for the instructors." he grinned an tilted his head. There was a little nervous laughter from the students. "Your show much incorporate everything you have been taught. Static Illusion, Dynamic Illusion, Folded Light, Mirror of the Mists, and Disguise. Remember, when you become Aes Sedai or Asha'man, you must think on your feet. Do not simply demonstrate these weaves one by one. Make them flow. You are all to wait outside, and I will allow you ten minutes to prepare material, and I will call the first person in. However, do not start weaving until you enter the room. If I call one person, and another comes in their place, you will leave and be called last. Is that understood?"

The class murmured a response, and went outside to prepare their shows.

Torianin began to pace in small circles. She tried her hardest to appear as a calm Accepted, on her way to raising, but it was difficult. At least she wasn't biting her nails. She had been practicing since the last class on her weaves. She could create large illusions now, but probably not ones big enough to fill the entire classroom. She tried to calm herself down and relaxed a bit. She could do this. In fact, she had created one that filled her quarters just the other day. By the time her name was called, she was relaxed, but ready.

Stepping into the classroom, she saw her teachers there, waiting for her. Aelyn moved his spectacles down. "Is that your twin?" he asked. Raphine rolled her eyes, and Torianin smiled, then curtsied, as if he had not asked. When the signal was given, she began her show. For Static Illusion, she set the scene. A large mesh of Air and Fire covered a good span of width of the room, and up to the ceiling. She placed many knots of Spirit at many joints of the mesh. She made sure that everything was wear it needed to be, then added Water and Earth all over the scene. This part was the most exhausting, but after the weaves were put in place, she tied the weave off, and there was her scene. A portion of the room was outside, and a large tree rested still in the grass. One could even see that it was a sunny day. Now that the scene was in place, she added Dynamic Illusion. Making a net of Air and Fire along with the Spirit-attached knots, she made the shape, then filled in the parts that would move with Spirit. A little boy with tattered clothes and golden hair walked up to the tree with the help of strings of Spirit. He stared up at the tree and made a face at an apple out of reach with not branches to climb with. Using the same set of weaves, she conjured a starving wolf who peeked at the boy from behind the tree. The wolf crouched down, ready to strike when Torianin used her next weave. Laying a blanket of Air and Fire over the illusionary lad, she took Spirit and expanded the weave to make him tall enough to reach the apple, almost as tall as the tree. The wolf jumped and ran away.

Removing the Mirror of the Mists from the boy, who now had one apple in his hand, Torianin wove Spirit over her entire body. She added the large mesh of Air and Fire over the base, then plugged away with the Water and Earth to complete the disguise. She walked up to the boy, hunched over to go with her disguise as an old woman with equally tattered clothes and fluffy white hair. The boy looked up at her and smiled, then his smile turned nasty, and he kicked at her, or at least he tried. Using the last weave, she conjured a weave of Folded Light. Quickly, she wove Air and fire into a net, covering herself once more, then swiftly following it, she added the Water and Earth to match the colors behind her. The boy's foot stopped in mid-air, seeing that she was no longer there, and he jumped and ran away, just like the wolf. As the boy ran off the scene, she kept the weave going until he seemingly ran through the wall of the other side of the classroom. The starving wolf that had eyed the boy walked back from around the tree, keeping his head down. Torianin tried not to think about how many weaves she was currently manipulating at the moment. At least the scene was tied off. She dispersed the Folded Light, revealing her disguise again, and the wolf shuffled over to her, wagging its tail happily.

Her story told, the Accepted let go of her disguise, the wolf, and the Static Illusion behind her. She was just an orange-haired girl in a banded dress again with nothing about her but the classroom and her instructors. There was a pause, then they both clapped at her performance. "Very well done, Torianin!" Aelyn said with a smile. "You pass. And it's very possibly that you have a natural Talent for this. I would suggest teaching this after some practice. I'll need someone to teach it, now that my usual partner is on to better things."

Raphine smiled quietly. "It was always entertaining, working with you, Aelyn."

The Asha'man laughed, and Torianin smiled. "I think I'd like to teach," she said happily.

"Wonderful!" Aelyn said with a bright smile. "Do make some lesson plans and let me know when they are completed."

She nodded, beaming a bit. As she exited, she told Mikara that it was her turn for the exam, then left for her quarters, already thinking of how to teach this to others.