In need of a life raft (Attn: Taesh)

[Locke]

Alric Aurella

Lathes of bamboo truck the dummy with a loud crack. Alric brought his sword back up to guard and stepped into Striking the Sparks. Another series of cracks. Bull rushes down mountain. An even louder crack as the two handed strike slammed into the top of the training dummy. Sword in hand, working his muscles to the point of exhaustion. This was the only thing that made him feel even remotely competent these days. The impacts made a comforting rhythm outside the Void as he worked his way through his frustrations. Sword practice had kept him sane living in Trasailles. Each morning waking up and training. He’d hoped things would be better here. They were, to a point. He had a purpose here. He knew what he was training to do. He just couldn’t do it. Try as he might, he just could not touch the Source.

He danced back and lunched Humming bird kisses the honey rose. According to the Dedicated, he had a “block”. He couldn’t channel unless something else was going on. They just needed to find out what. Then they’d brake him of it. Useless. If he’d been a soldier back in Damodred’s army who needed special instructions on how to march and which side of a pike to hold, he’d have been sent home in a week. Frustration was boiling over into anger as he danced with the training dummy. This dance was his life raft. It was what he knew. It was why he came to the Tower. They wouldn’t let him stay though would they? He obviously couldn’t channel, no matter what Pit had said.

The practice sword blurred around him, years of battle honed instincts fueled by a kind of desperation. He stood, sword poised as if to hack at his own doubts. His anger and frustration continued to boil over, cracking the Void. With a loud yell, he launched into River undercuts the bank. With a massive crack, the training sword splintered and the Void shattered. He stood huffing, sweat glistening on his bare chest, with the remnants of the practice weapon in his hands. He quickly picked up the pieces and began searching for a trash bin before one of the Ji came to scold him for destroying equipment.

[Kenneth]

Taesh

Taesh rarely came to the Warder Yards. He didn't have a reason to come to the grounds were men and women in the Tower came to practice the arts of sword and bow, and whatever else could be considered a weapon. He did not lean towards battle and war, and so the Warder Yards were all but unfamiliar to the Dedicated. Lately however, the Dedicated had become more intrigued by the Gaidin and aspirants to the title. Mostly it was because of the attack on the Tower. The Atha'an Miere still did not like war or violence, but he had resolved that it would be dangerous to promote peace without a way to protect it. So he had taken to introducing himself to some Warders, and learning more about their ranks. He could see the need for someone with martial experience and knowledge in the future.

That is what lead the ever-smiling Dedicated to the Warder Yards during his free-time. Normally that time would be spent rebuilding the Gardens utilizing his Talent in Plantweaving, but all that could be done with the Garden had been done. Now it would just take time and nature to restore all the beauty of the verdant sanctuary. So the Dedicated was watching the brown skinned bare-chested man practice with the wooden sword. The appraising eye of the Atha'an Miere was more for the physique of the stranger rather than the perfection of the sword forms. Taesh could not tell one form from another and had no idea if they were being done correctly. He though that the man looked like he knew what he was doing, but he knew as much about swordplay as fish new about flying.

The Dedicated was just beginning to get bored with all the hack and slash when the man with the practice sword made a motion, yelled, Taesh felt a moments aggression, and the wooden sword exploded. It had all happened so fast that the Atha'an Miere was not quite sure what he had witnessed. Did he swing to hard, or did he just channel and destroy the thing? he asked himself. Whatever had happened it was obvious that the stranger did not mean for it to happen. He quickly had gathered the pieces of the destroyed equipment and was looking for somewhere to place them.

Taesh smiled, knowing how much trouble the man would get into if anyone found it he had destroyed Tower property. The Dedicated like skirting the rules, so he waved and called over to the man. "Hey!" Taesh yelled and the motioned for the man to come to the perimeter of the Yards he was standing. "Come here quick." The Atha'an Miere knew that as a Dedicated he was expected to explore his Talents and continue to develop his ability to channel and wield saidin. He wouldn't get into as much trouble for the destroyed practice sword, if questions did arise. His plan was to just burn the pile anyway.

[Locke]

Alric Aurella

At the shout, Alric snapped to attention, pivoting to face the voice. He turned to face a Dedicated with skin even darker than his own. Expecting a dressing down, the man’s conspiratorial tone caught him off guard. He rushed over to meet the man, keeping the sword pieces down by his sides. There wasn’t any use hiding the destroyed practice sword, but waving it around didn’t seem like such a great idea anyway.

He stopped before the Dedicated. The Asha’man at the Tower didn’t seem too concerned with marching around and saluting, despite there military style ranks and uniforms. Back straight, feet shoulder width apart in the at ease position, he met the man’s eyes. “No excuse Dedicated, I’ll try not to be so rough on the equipment in the future,” he said, falling back into the habits of a recruit.

Alric still didn’t see a hint of anger on the man’s face, but he had been in the wrong, if the Dedicated assigned him chores or yelled at him, it would be his own fault. He’d had to authorize all manner of dispensary actions as an officer. He didn’t enjoy being reprimanded, but he’d lost control and carelessly destroyed Tower property.

[Kenneth]

Now that the stranger was closer Taesh give him a quick but thorough once over. He was not bad looking in the slightest, slightly taller than the Dedicated was himself, and very serious. The stranger put Taesh in the mind of many of the soldiers and mercenaries he had met during the Seanchan's attack.

“No excuse Dedicated, I’ll try not to be so rough on the equipment in the future”

Defintely some sort of military man Taesh though to himself after that response. Aloud he said "Taesh. My name is Taesh, not Dedicated. Taesh Durlaen if we are being formal. And put those down already before someone sees you and thinks I made you go pick them up."

As someone of mid-rank in the Tower, Taesh did have some authority over the lower ranks, but not enough to be sending them on pointless errands. If an Aes Sedai or Asha'man thought that, it would be the Dedicated who received chores. It had been sometime since Taesh had toed the line enough to be assigned extra duties, and he was not quite ready to begin again.

"So, He Who Breaks Stuff, what happened? Swing your stick to hard?" the Dedicated asked grinning playfully.

[Locke]

Alric Aurella

Alric put the splintered piece of wood down. He know he couldn’t just leave them there, but what else could he do with them? Letting himself relax and match the man’s playful grin, he said, “Yeah, I guess I don’t know my own strength.” He paused considering the Dedicated, Taesh, seemed to be inviting a degree of candor. He also thought the man might be checking him out. Alric let out a frustrated sigh, “Dedi- I mean Taesh, I lost my temper. I’m just so bloody frustrated these days.”

He wrapped himself in the Void, trying his hardest to feel for the Source. The raging flames seemed just out of reach. Letting go in defeat, he said, “I feel like a pike without a blade. I can’t channel to save my own flaming life. I can’t even touch the source. They told me I have a block. I just. I don’t like being this bloody useless. At least I can swing a sword,” he looked down at the broken remnants of his training sword, “Usually.”

He slowed his breath trying to bring his heart rate back down. He tried to force a smile back onto his face as well. The Dedicated probably couldn’t help him. He still wanted to get it off his chest anyway.

[Kenneth]

Taesh listened intently, even though his grin might make some think his mind was elsewhere. The grin was an almost permanent feature, but the Atha'an Miere was a good listener. It was his nature to try and calm others and soothes feelings, and that desire was no different now. He had heard of blocks, never dealt with one himself but he did have just a bit of knowledge.

"I have a friend here. Jhanic Thunderwalker. Well I suppose now it is Jhanic Asha'man. If we got formal, and we probably should or we could both get in trouble if we slipped up, he is actually Master of Soldiers Jhanic Asha'man now. But between us, I like to call him Thunderwalker. It's a society of something like that of the Aiel. Did I mention he is Aiel?" Taesh was rambling. Too someone who didn't know him, it might sound as if the Dedicated simply had nothing of importance to say, but actually he was trying to put man at ease. "Anyway," he continued "when Jhanic came to the Tower, he had a block too. He could only wield saidin when he had his spears, or on his spears, something like that. Eventually though, he got past it, and now he is an Indigo and Masters of Soldiers. You'll get past it, hopefully sooner rather than later. I don't know how long you would be able to hide all the broken stuff from the Gaidin."

With that last statement Taesh laughed and gave a bright smile before opening himself up to saidin and wresting it to his will. Fire was the Power that the Atha'an Miere had the most difficulty weaving, but it only took a simple thread to light the broken practice sword. Once the fire was going, Taesh weaved Air to dissipate the smoke and smell. He gave a sly grin to the frustrated blocked channeler.

"If Jhanic's thing was with spears, maybe yours is with swords or something" Taesh supplied.

[Locke]

Alric Aurella

Alric did his best not to flinch back as the broken sword was engulfed in flame. His eyes widened and darted to the flames, but he was happy that he hadn’t made too much of a fool of himself. He’d felt a brief something, a sense of menace from the other man. It was extremely out of place, seeing as Taesh with his conspiratorial smile was one of the least intimidating people Alric had ever met.

“If the Master of Soldiers had a block, then maybe there’s hope. But if an Aielman couldn’t channel without holding his spears, then maybe I won’t be able to channel unless I’m eating a fish or something. I’m a Mayener you see.” He snorted to himself, “If it’s like that, I’ll probably only able to channel during tumultuous love affairs.” Curious now, he asked, “Do you know if there’s any actual like between people’s backgrounds and their blocks? What if it’s random? What if I can only channel when I’m holding an ice pepper. I don’t even like ice peppers that much.” Not wanting to come over ungrateful, he added, “I’ll give your sword idea some thought.”

He used his boot to kick away the ash, he’d polish them tonight anyway. “Did you have any trouble channeling?” Alric asked. He knew he shouldn’t, but he did want to compare his own progress with somebody else.

[Kenneth]

Taesh continues grinning as he answered. "I dont know.much about blocks, but from what I have heard its a little more.personal than nations. You're block is probably something you do all the time and don't even realize" Taesh shrugged then. "Or it could be the time of day. Who knows, saidin is hard enough to understand as it is."

With a final weave of Air the Atha'an Miere scattered the remaining ash to the wind and the reluctantly released his hold on the source. "As difficult as it is to understand, its so hard to let go. But no, I had no trouble learning to channel, though my affinities are not normally those of men." Taesh laughed again. The teasing had all but ceased, and what remained was that of friendly banter. "What is your name Soldier? I cant keep calling you He Who Breaks Things, or else you'll get caught and all that hard work I just did will go to waste and then I'd be upset " Taesh said. It was clear from his tone and the spark in his eyes took any real threat out of the statement

[Locke]

Alric Aurella

“Alric Aurella,” he said, sticking his hand out. “He Who Breaks Things works though, so does He Who Fixes Things. I was a carpenter for a brief spell. I liked soldiering better though.” He paused, thinking about what Taesh had said, different strengths in the Power. His lessons so far had talked about strengths but not really how to determine strengths. Men tended to be good at fire and earth, and women at air and water. His strengths must have been with Air and Water. For some men, being stronger with air and water than fire and water would have been a sore point. It didn’t seem to bother Taesh, so he asked, “Can you become stronger with a certain power or is it like eye color? Something you’re just born with? I’ve got to say, once I get past this block, I’d love to make giant walls of earth. Maybe I should get myself a notebook. If I’m going to figure out this block, I’ll have to be systematic about it. Keep trying things and making notes.” Having a plan of action felt good. He felt less like he was clinging to a piece of drift wood, instead he was just piloting a tiny boat in a storm. Still hard, but at least he had a way of fighting back.

[Kenneth]

Taesh nodded his head in greeting when the Soldier supplied his name. He smiled and accepted the offered hand and shook it with a firm grip, a laugh escaping the Atha'an Miere's lips as Alric gave himself a different honorific.

“Can you become stronger with a certain power or is it like eye color? Something you’re just born with? I’ve got to say, once I get past this block, I’d love to make giant walls of earth. Maybe I should get myself a notebook. If I’m going to figure out this block, I’ll have to be systematic about it. Keep trying things and making notes.”

"As far as I have learned, the strength of the Five Powers is born into each channeler. I am no Indigo, and do not hope to be, so one of their number would be able to give you a solid answer, but that is what I have learned. Once you get past your block, one of the Asha'man, or maybe a Dedicated will help you discover. Even though I have the most connection with Air, still I must work at channeling to become stronger. At first I could only make little whips of wind, but I kept practicing and experimenting. and now..." a sly grin took over the Dedicated's face "let's just say that I have shown some of the Dedicated the power of Air, women's Power or no."

The Atha'an Miere channeler smiled, thinking about the weaves he was able to use now. Not just Air weaves but also learning Cloud Dancing and Plantweaving. Even the weave he did not understand as was currently trying to figure out with the help of Jhanic Asha'man, Taesh had come a long way from his first attempt a weidling saidin and still there was more to learn.

"If you are interested in notes and such, you should definitely see an Indigo, or maybe one of the Browns who guard the Library. They are all about facts, and notes, and findings, and other things that take the winds of out my sails."