A Different Life [Attn: Soldier Jaren Marle]

[Bella]

Something...glad, at least as glad as she ever felt, swelled in her chest to meet another merchant. He liked life on the road just as much as she, and they were in the same business. Andraste felt an instant kinship with him that left a faint smile on her lips as she listened to him speak and, for a moment, she felt a little less alone.

"We traded everything," she said, trying to restrain any eagerness on the topic. If she grew too eager then she might get loud and draw the attention of the roving Accepted. She was too well-cultured to make that mistake. "I suppose you could say curiosities and curios were our best, but we did everyday things too. We were road merchants and traded whatever townspeople needed."

She bit her lip and turned back to the laundry. "I can't say I came here of my own wishes, though," she admitted without looking at him. "In fact, I very much did not want to come here but I was what they called a wilder and they said it was for my safety and that of those around me that I be trained."

The memory was fierce in her mind and swelled the anger again, not at the Greens--she had...mostly...gotten past that--but at the events and the evil that had forced this hand in this.

[Elan]

Jaren

Jaren looked up sharply when the Novice mentioned that she’d been brought to the Tower against her will. “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “My sister was the same— a Wilder, that is. She fell ill, repeatedly, scared our mother badly enough that when we heard there was an Aes Sedai staying nearby, we took her to Erin. That was a White Tower Aes Sedai,” he added in a lowered voice. He didn’t know if having a sister in the White Tower would affect his position in the Grey Tower — Alric hadn’t reacted badly when he’d brought it up, but he got the feeling that Alric wasn’t easily fazed — but he’d figured out that the Towers weren’t in best possible terms so it couldn’t hurt to be cautious.

“Anyway, she said Erin had started channelling and had to be taken away to be trained or she might die.” He shrugged. “That was nine years ago, roughly. She wrote a couple of times, in the beginning, but not for a while now. Well, for a while as of the last I heard. I guess she may be Aes Sedai herself by now. And that,” he went on in a more cheerful tone, “is indirectly why I came here. I wanted to know if I could learn as well.” Life story in a nutshell, he thought a little wryly.

“Do you plan to take to travelling again once you’re raised?” he asked. Then he lowered his voice again. “Or, I guess, do you plan to stay to become Aes Sedai or only learn enough to be safe?”

[Bella]

His story, brief though it was, made Andra's mind trip down a surprising path that she had not given consideration to before. Here she was, a channeler and forced to be here to learn, but what if her brothers could learn as well? She wondered if any of them could, were they tested to find out. She knew it would never happen, but it was suddenly...a small fascination.

The mention of the White Tower was not a bother, for she saw no reason for animosity. She imagined they would have dragged her off just the same as the Aes Sedai of the Grey Tower had, so how was one any different than the other?

His question perplexed her, if only slightly. She looked at him curiously for a moment as she thought about it. "To be honest," she said, also keeping her voice lower and her head near, "it has not been granted much to me that it's an option. I'll be here until I am Aes Sedai." Was there any option to just learn and be on her way? How did one find that out, though?

She was sure she'd get in trouble for asking that particular question directly.

"Well, be that as it may," she went on, not wanting to linger. "As soon as I am able, I would want to back on the road again. I loved my life on the road, and I hate being trapped in walls all the time." She paused, knowing the words were strong but they were true. "What of you? Plan to be an Asha'man on the road?"

[Elan]

Jaren

Jaren shrugged, a minuscule gesture to avoid drawing undue attention. He hadn’t thought Andraste seemed like the type to harbour thoughts of running away, but everything was possible, especially if she missed her old life that much. Of course, even if she was planning on running, she probably wouldn’t tell him about it.

“I don’t know yet,” he said in response to her question. “Well, I’m definitely not going to stay glued to the Tower, but travelling like I used to? I don’t know.” For one, his travelling had always had a goal, a destination, but with access to Travelling — assuming he turned out strong enough to make a gateway of a useful size; apparently it was impossible to gauge a saidin-channeller’s potential until they reached it — travelling by mundane means would have to be left to leisure trips. He wasn’t sure how much that would change things.

“Of course,” he went on, “a lot depends on where my duties take me.” He chuckled. “Oh, listen to me talk about duties, as if I have any idea what it is that I’ll end up doing.” He was silent for a moment, considering. “I don’t see myself as a diplomat, though those have reason to travel. And I can’t imagine an Asha’man merchant…” Would that even be possible? Could Asha’man — or Aes Sedai — have businesses independent of the Tower?

He was just imagining an Aes Sedai — one of the Oathsworn, with their ageless faces, for maximum dramatic effect — travelling from town to town trading perfumed soaps or dyes or some such, when he suddenly became aware of an ominous silence around him. With a mental wince, he glanced over his shoulder, though he was fairly sure what he would see: the Accepted glaring at him.

Keeping a straight face — with some effort — he reached to poke one of the dresses spread out before him and Andraste. “I think it’s cooled enough, yes, Accepted?”

[Bella]

Risking the barest of glances over her shoulder to see what he saw, she gave an almost imperceptibly nod as she turned back to the Soldier and then to the laundry. She touched it and found that while still warm, it was now cool enough to handle. She rolled up the sleeves of her white Novice dress and began to pull the sodden mess apart into its many pieces.

"I know they don't expect much of us now," she said thoughtfully, "but there is so much talk of Ajahs and what Ajahs you wish to pursue... Do you have any ideas what you want for that?" Andra took one dress and carrying it, held out from her body, over to the empty basin. She began wringing the excess water from it.

[Elan]

Jaren

The Accepted glared for a moment longer, but apparently she hadn’t been looming there for long enough to hear Jaren speculate about merchant Asha’man, and the way Andraste simply went about her task seemed to convince her that there was nothing but laundry going on. With a mildly indignant sniff, she stormed off to supervise the younger Novices towards the other side of the room. Jaren picked up a dress as well and hurried after Andraste.

“An Ajah that actually does something,” he replied, wringing water off the dress. He didn’t want to think about what his hands were going to look like after this… “Ah, that was not a good way of putting it. They all do something, surely. But I want…” He considered for a moment. What did he want? Surely not be stuck as an adviser to a king or a queen, or patrol the Blightborder; both were important things that needed to be done but he couldn’t see himself at a court or leading soldiers. For some reason, his thoughts went to Johan and his family. “I want to help people.” That sounded horribly naive, but he couldn't deny that it was true. “What about you?”

[Bella]

I want vengeance.

The word sprang instantly and unbidden to her mind, and she very nearly said them aloud. It was only a last minute catch that stopped like, like a girl who just barely manages to snatch back her hat before the wind has its way with it. She got that thought back under control as she wrung out a dress with perhaps a touch too much vigor, thinking about the past.

"I agree with you," she said thoughtfully, once she felt collected again. "I would like something that...does something. I mean, they all do, as you say, but there's a difference. I can't imagine sitting around contemplating philosophy, or being stuck in the library all day. I want to be active. I want to...to take the fight to the enemy." It was as close a proclamation to her first thought as she'd allow.

With the one dress wrung out, she carried it over to one of the myriad of lines set up and clothes-pinned it in place on one of the free spaces. "I guess something like the Green, perhaps," she mused, going back for another dress.

[Elan]

Jaren

Jaren nodded slowly. “Maybe Green,” he said, though it didn’t sound quite right. But then again, even Greens didn’t spend all their time up in the Blight; maybe there were aspects of the Ajah he simply wasn’t aware of. “Maybe Red. Maybe…” He trailed off and hurried after Andraste to hang the mostly-wrung-out dress on the line. Now to repeat that — he didn’t want to think about how many times — and maybe then the laundry hell would be over, at least for today.

“I suppose,” he continued when he caught up with the Novice again, vigorously wringing water out of another dress, “it makes sense to eliminate the definite 'no's first and then learn more about the options that remain.” He was certainly not going to be White or Brown, and he highly doubted anything would convince him towards Grey. Indigo intrigued him, but he doubted he’d want to dedicate his life to innovation for the sake of it.

“Yellow might be an option,” he said out loud, “if it turns out I have any Talent for Healing, that is.” Healing was helping people, surely, and just like all Greens didn’t constantly watch over the Blight, not all Yellows remained confined to infirmaries. Travelling and offering Healing to whoever needed it was an appealing thought, in theory at least, but… On the other hand, it felt a little— passive.

Or maybe it just didn’t satisfy his adventurous streak.

[Bella]

Andraste was thoughtful as she hung up the next dress, her thoughts roving over the topic of their conversation, herself, and what she had learned around the Tower so far. "I have yet to show any particular aptitude for a given Talent," she said, putting on the second pin and once she was sure that it was stable, she moved back for another dress.

They reached the table at the same time and she gave him a small smile. "But I think Green, or Red, or Blue seems like me. Of what I know so far. They are the most...active, so it seems to me. I think I'll need to be active. Just being confined to the Tower as it is," she went on as they walked their sodden fabric to the bin, "has been nearly too much."

Her hands were already starting to feel weird and uncomfortable from all the water. She tried to ignore it and just wring.

"I haven't really talked to many about the Ajahs, though. Just what I've heard from other students, or teachers. I do know that the two..." She paused, trying to decide how best to phrase it. "The two Aes Sedai who found me and brought me here, they were Green. Both of them. Related too, which was a surprise."

[Elan]

Jaren

“Really?” Jaren said, attacking the next dress with almost grim determination. “Truth be told, I never thought about Aes Sedai having families until I came here. My sister barely bothered to let us know she’d got to Tar Valon safely, and I guess that just seemed like something Aes Sedai did, leave old families behind.” He didn’t know much about the White Tower, but he was beginning to figure that there was a difference that went deeper than just the name.

He considered for a moment asking about how the Aes Sedai had found Andraste; had she already been channelling? Had the Aes Sedai just stumbled upon her while she was minding her own business? But ultimately, that was none of his business. “What’s the deal with the Blue Ajah, anyway?” he mused instead. “I admit they’re the one I know the least about. What exactly do they do?” Blue, Green and Red all seemed to have a similar function but a different way of approaching it.