Tanya followed closely and respectfully after the accepted who led her to her new room. She looked down at her white novice dress and sighed softly to herself. It wasn't damane grey, although it was close enough and in Tanya's opinion was used for the same purpose. The restrict an individual's freedom so that those superior could feel more in control. The torn and stained damane dress that Tanya had worn to the Tower had been burned, they're excuse being that it helped sever ties with their previous life. Tanya didn't really see how it could, considering that in a few days she expected herself to wind up in the same predicament as in Seanchan.
Rain was falling outside softly hitting the windows that where stationed at varying distances along the long and narrow hallway. The rain carried to much memories for Tanya. It was rain that found her and mingled with her tears as she was torn away from the man she loved to become a damane, a piece of property to the empress. It was also rain that found her on the fate born voyage that led to the ship Tanya was on being destroyed. The captain and crew where all lost in the storm and Tanya only managed to stay near her Sul'Dam Brina through the link of the a'dam. They had floated for days at sea, the only sounds following them was the whispers of the wind and the ever constant, pitter-patter of the rain, landing on the waters. That shipwreak had led to Brina's death and Tanya's freedom, something she had long desired, although she had long ago resigned herself to her fate as being damane, accepting her place in the pattern. Even though she was finally free, she was upset over Brina's death, since over the years, she'd come to love the woman who had held her captive.
Tanya was startled out of her reverie when the accepted leading her made a slight cough, indicating to Tanya that she had not been as observant as she should have been. Reverting to her damane pet name she said "Anna is sorry accepted", giving her a deep curtsy. The accepted nodded in approval and motioned towards the door. Taking hold of the brass handle, Tanya revealed a medium sized room, certainly bigger that the damane kennels that she was used to. There was a large bed, with several pillows, a writing desk that had no large disorder and a washstand with a cracked mirror. In the corner was a plain wooden wardrobe where Tanya placed her meager belongings, carefully hiding her a'dam. A warm fire was crackling in the fire place and Tanya sat down on the soft bed and gave a faint smile. So this was home.
(ooc: please excuse the long post, but I needed to write out how she got into the tower for story advancement! )
Rahien clutched the bundle of her meagre belongings to her chest as she followed the dark-haired woman through the arched hallways of the Tower. She wondered if she looked as wide-eyed and confused as she felt. She couldn’t believe it was only three days ago that she had left The Waste, it all seemed like a far off dream. She had been ravenous before, but now her stomach just turned over at the onslaught of emotions that raged her body in quick succession. She shook her head subconsciously, still denying what she had been told. When an Aes Sedai had finally come to take her letter, she had given Rahien a long hard look that for some reason made her more uncomfortable than the look of disgust she had gotten from the young woman earlier. There was no mistaken the cool serenity of an Aes Sedai and Rahien did not need the introduction to recognise her as one.
As Rahien opened her mouth to warn the Aes Sedai about the protection on the letter, the cool blonde held up a hand, bidding Rahien to be silent. She looked at the letter for a brief moment and Rahien could have sworn she saw a faint glow appear around her for a brief second, but when she blinked it was gone. The Aes Sedai opened the letter with short, effective moves and her eyes quickly scanned the parchment. Her face revealed nothing, but Rahien had the distinct impression she was not impressed by the letter’s content nonetheless. Her cool gaze came to rest on Rahien once more and she found herself fighting the urge to fidget under it. Turning to the dark haired woman beside her, the Aes Sedai said: “It looks like we have ourselves a new novice. Accepted Moska, take this woman to be entered into the novice book and help her settle into the dormitories. Moska blinked and turned to Rahien with as much disbelief as she herself was feeling, but it would have to be said that the Accepted recovered from it much quicker. She smoothly curtsied before motioning Rahien to follow.
“No, surely Aes Sedai, there must be some mistake. I only came to deliver the letter and serve the Tower.” It was clear from the look on the Accepted’s face that she fully expected the Aes Sedai to get Rahien in trouble for speaking out like that, but instead a hint of a smile passed over her lips before she composed her expression once more. “There is no mistake, child. Anyone who has been trained in the Power could sense that you have the spark. It is to soon to tell how strong you will be, but you can be taught.” From the Aes Sedai’s tone, it was clear that she would be taught no matter if she liked it or not and Rahien realised there was no point in arguing. Truth be told, she was too dumbfounded to even find the words. Since then everything had been a blur, from her meeting with the Mistress of Novices, right up to the fact where the Accepted was taking her to her new room. The extend of Moska’s loathing became clear when she said:
“Perhaps you should visit the bath house first, before introducing yourself to your new roommates” From the look on her face it was clear that she didn’t think it would make much of a difference and Rahien felt her cheeks heat. The Accepted turned and walked away before she could even ask where the bathhouse was and so she had no choice but to enter the room that had been appointed to her. Moska had taken some satisfaction from rubbing Rahien’s face in the fact that she would be sharing with two other novices and Rahien entered the room with trepidation. Being forced to study in the Tower to learn some ability she still doubted she had was one thing, but sleeping in the same room with two other women almost on top of her was another. Taking a deep breath she opened the door and the small sliver of hope that she might be granted some time alone was crushed as she noticed the woman sitting on one of the beds. Rahien mentally braced herself for a whole scale of reactions and entered the room with a grimace.
During the months of recovery, Rahien had begun to pay a lot more attention to her surroundings and the people in it. In her early days she would never have noticed the other woman’s long blonde hair, except maybe in a comparison to her own auburn locks, that were now completely hidden by the red scarf that covered most of her head and face. She had cut her hair short soon after she regained consciousness, unable bear the way its beauty seemed to mock the remnants of her face. Rahien realised she could not just walk in the room without introducing herself at least, but she had to clear her throat a few times before she trusted her voice enough to speak. Cringing invisibly at how rough she sounded, she kept her eyes on the floor as she said: “I was told this is going to be my room now. My name’s Rahien.”