OOC :: There was just no other good forum for this post. Didn't know where else to put it. If you don't like it here, just move it somewhere else. :P




It was only the second morning after her arrival to the White Tower, and she was already on her fours on the dirty floor in one of the hallways. A couple feet from where she was half lying stood a heavy bucket filled with room-tempered water. It used to be hot, so hot it burned her fingers, but she had been scrubbing this part of the hallway for over an hour now. It was one of the lower floors in the building, and it was dirty. It was so dirty the water in her bucket had quickly become a dark gray.

A drop of sweat left her forehead and splashed onto the ground, next to the rag with which she was scrubbing. Absently she wiped her forehead with her sleeve. It was amazing how exhausted you could become from scrubbing a floor. Iva could not remember ever doing this before, and now that she had tried it, it was certainly not on her list of favourite activites. The sun was shining brightly outside, and it was warm even though they were well into the autumn season. It was one of those rare days when Iva would have loved to be outside, feeling the rays of sun on her face. She would be happy sitting on a bench and thinking, and not doing anything. Instead, she was stuck inside, cleaning the floor even though it would be dirty as soon as someone walked on it.

She let out a small sigh. Her hand moved automatically in small circles over the floor, scrubbing scrubbing scrubbing, then dipping the rag into the water, wringing it out, back to scrubbing. There was a slight comfort in doing this, even though her back ached like it never had before. It was work you did not have to focus on to do properly. Iva could let her mind wander as she scrubbed, dipped and wringed and scrubbed and dipped..

She was in the middle of wondering when her One Power lessons would start, as a boot came into her view. A dirty boot. A boot covered in mud. That boot would continue on walking.. all over her newly washed floor! She felt her cheeks grow hot with anger, and furiously she turned her face up towards the person whose muddy boot would ruin several hours of labor. Hard, exhausting, sweaty labor.

Elia walked through the hallways, looking for the mess hall, hoping to find his sister there, when he saw a young girl scrubbing the floor. He stopped and watched her for a few minutes, wondering who she was. At first glance, she appeared to be 15 or so, although she was quite attractive. After a few more seconds, he remembered what he had been doing and walked past her, not aware of the imminent explosion from her.

Calm. Breathe. In. Out. Exhale.. sloowly.. Normally Iva congratulated herself on being such a calm woman; she took surprises with a shrug and a smile. Now, as she had spent the past day in the Tower, already she felt like she was going to burst like a bubble, because of this.. boy! Yes. He was a boy - he was young, about her age. No doubt about that; he could not be one of the Asha'man or a Gaidin at that age. Thankfully, no one important.

So Iva raised herself to her feet, slowly. When she spoke her voice was pitched low, just so she would not scream right out at the bone-headed, feather-brained .. PIG of a man. "Stop. Stop right there. Don't you dare take another step." Her eyes were aglow with an anger she had not thought she possessed. As the boy froze, she threw the dirty rag at the floor, and stalked up to him, looked him straight in the eye. The scalp of her head did not even reach his chin, so she had to bend her neck.

Her hands curled into enraged fists, which she with an effort refrained from shaking at him. Instead, she made her voice as calm as possible, though it started shaking when she continued, "Who do you think you are? Have you any good bones in your body? Are you blind? Is is that difficult to take notice of other people? Cant you use your bloody eyes and see that I had just cleaned this floor? Do you have any idea how long time I've spent crawling on the bloody floor? Is it really that hard to wipe off your shoes when you enter and show some consideration?" As she spoke, her voice grew louder and louder until she was screaming. She could have gone on and on for several more minutes, but instead she drew a breath and tried to relax somewhat. In a much calmer tone, she spoke again. "No. Of course not. Why would you? I'm a woman. I'm just a stupid little novice." She folded her arms across her chest and succeeded in staring him down, even though she was more than a hand's length shorter.

"Stop. Stop right there. Don't you dare take another step." Elia stopped, more due to the tone of the girls voice than the words she spoke. He could immediately sense her anger.

"Who do you think you are? Have you any good bones in your body? Are you blind? Is is that difficult to take notice of other people? Cant you use your bloody eyes and see that I had just cleaned this floor? Do you have any idea how long time I've spent crawling on the bloody floor? Is it really that hard to wipe off your shoes when you enter and show some consideration?" she screamed at him. He had not expected this kind of treatment from anyone here. In the world, when he had been homeless maybe, but not here. Being yelled at, he could feel his own anger begin to build.

"No. Of course not. Why would you? I'm a woman. I'm just a stupid little novice." As she finished her tirade, Elia backed up a few steps so she would no longer be in his face. First yelling, now whining? He had heard enough, and could take no more.

"Who do you think you are that you can just yell at anyone who walks by? So you've been scrubbing the floor for the last few hours. So you're back is sore. Deal with it! I don't want to hear your whining," Elia snapped back in anger. "Have you ever thought about what might be going on with me? Did you know that six months ago my town was attacked by Trollocs? Did you know that of the entire town, only my sister and I survived? Did you know that the two of us had to watch all of our friends and family get killed before our eyes?! Did you?! So quit whining to me about scrubbing the floor!" As he finished, he realized he had been yelling back. In a fury that consumed him, he turned and walked off to look for Mika.

(OOC: I hope you won't mind me stumbling in :P)

It was a beautiful day and Xaron had been happy to practice outside. Light breeze cooled the temperature just enough that the heat won't make you sweat too much. His muscles were aching a bit from all the work they had gone trough. The training was harder than he had expected from it, but it satisfied him netherless.

The Mistress of Kitchen had been nice to him as he had encouraged himself to ask for some oats. Xaron poured them in wooden bucket and added some water on them, it would soften them up nicely for Moonglow. He bowed gracefully to an Aes Sedai that passed him as he walked towards the stables.

Xaron decided to take a shortcut trough the Mess Halls. The hallways were not so often used and the walls were plain and simple, his mind drifted off as he repeated the conversation he had had with The Mistress. He really needed to learn how to conversate with people. He was walking deep in his thoughts as a loud shouting awakened him. Across the hallway there was a girl dressed in white, her hands were folded across her chest. Xaron couldn't see her face, but he could still tell she was furious about something. A boy or man was standing in front of the girl, his face was bright red from anger. The man turned on his heels and walked away.

Xaron kept walking as he stared at the incident. Whatever happened they were lucky that nobody higer ranked was there, seeing them getting mad at each other. He came to a conclussion that the fight started from the mud the man had brought in his boots, seeing that the girl was cleaning the floor. Xaron smiled as he knew he had wiped his boots when coming inside, however he looked down to his feet just in time to see his feet touching the wet rag on the ground. It was too late for him to retrieve his balance. He fell straight forward and managed to lighten the fall with his hands, but the bucketful of oats melted in water crashed on the floor. The oat-water ran quickly across the floor reaching out to cover he whole shining floor. A sight that would be hilarious when you aren't the one it happens to or the one who has to clean it...

Iva stared right in the face of the pig of a man that had just walked all over her cleaned floor. She felt her mouth dropping open when she heard him yell back at her. Such an obnoxious, stuck-up mulish hideous excuse for a man! As he turned and left her she shut her jaws with a snap, grind her teeth together and stared at his departing back with eyes that might have killed someone, were that possible.

As she fought to calm down, she suddenly realized she had not been paying attention to what he was saying, only the way he was saying it. A small frown appeared in between her eyebrows as some pieces of his monologue came back to her. Trollocs.. Sister.. Family.. Most certainly he was out of his mind. There was no such things as Trollocs. And he had also said.. Wait. He had said she was whining. Whining! Iva never whined! How dared he! Only moments from striding after him, she heard footsteps behind her. Quickly she turned, only to see someone stumble and fall. And.. and..

Oh Light. This was not happening. Oh no, she must be dreaming. Iva couldn't do anything but stare at the mess the stranger had created. Oats all over her shining floor, and the mud stains the delusional pig, as Iva would continue to think of him as, had left there. She looked down, and there was even some pieces of oats on her thin shoes. No. No. It could not be. Iva closed her eyes. She was dreaming. She was lying in her bed, her somewhat lumpy bed, in the room she shared with Salaine, and she was dreaming. This day had not come to pass. Unconsciously, she shook her head in denial as she wished herself back to her bed.

A wet stone floor gazed back at Xaron. He lifted himself quickly from the mess he had created.
Again I got lucky when I didn't put my armor on, he wondered, will I ever use that. It seemed to be just a useless weight for him, growing less beneficial each day. Maybe thats why gaidins prefer so light armor if any...

Xaron blushed as he realized that he had again dwelled in his thoughts, and forgotten what he had just done to the poor novice. As he turned to the novice for the first time, she was shaking her head eyes closed. Her face was full of desperation. "I... I'm so sorry maid for my clumsyness..." Damn it, I can't speak at all. It was hard enough to speak with people in normal conditions, without mentioning talking to a pretty girl whose day you had ruined a moment ago. Xaron looked around the hallway, all she had done was now in vain. "I... I'm not that familiar with rules here, but... uhm... I'll clean the mess, it was my fault..." He wondered what he had just said, Am I really going to spend rest of my day here? Well I've got nothing to bring for Moonglow so what else would I do. He looked at the novice into her eyes and waited for her answer uncertain about what to do.

Dalaine had been heading back to her study. She'd stopped off to have a quick bite to eat in between reading the numerous reports on her desk. As she was about to turn a corner, she heard a banging and clattering noise from not far away. Wondering what on earth would shatter the peace of the Tower like that she quickened her pace. Turning the corner she came across a surprising sight and for an instant her mouth opened.

Regaining her composure quickly, she channeled Saidar to amplify her voice. "Just what in the name of the Light has happened here?", she demanded, her eyes narrowing, giving her normally gentle face a much harder appearance. She rarely lost her temper, she'd been too long Aes Sedai for that, but the sight of a red faced Soldier, a damp looking Recruit and a shame faced Novice, not to mention the dirty water all over the floor was enough to do it. She quickly tried to dampen her emotions through the bond. She didn't want Orpheus to become worried, he had duties of his own to deal with.

She glared at each of them in turn, "Well, isn't there at least one of you with a tongue in their heads or didn't you hear me? I want one of you to tell me what has happened here before I have to fetch the Mistress of Novices, Master of Soldiers or the Master of Arms". She stood there, unmoving, her face expressionless. Just by her right foot a pool of dirty water had begun to form, which only succeeded in further irritating the Blue Sister.

Xaron almost jumped at the booming voice that echoed trough the hallway. He turned to see a furious Aes Sedai walking across the hallway towards them. He looked around, automatically searching for a way to escape from the storm rising before them. Xaron had never guessed that there would be something that looked harder than a face of gaidin, at least that much harder.

"Well, isn't there at least one of you with a tongue in their heads or didn't you hear me? I want one of you to tell me what has happened here before I have to fetch the Mistress of Novices, Master of Soldiers or the Master of Arms".
Xaron didn't know how but suddendly he wasn't in panic anymore. He took a step forward and bowed elegantly. "Good afternoon milady Aes Sedai." He made a quick glance around him, expressing the mess covering the floors. "I must admit that I've caused this incident with my neglicence. I fell and dropped the food I was carrying for my horse to the floor she had been cleaning. Without me, her chores would have been over by now. I hope that I'm allowed to make up with the work by myself."
He was able to completely ignore the fact that he was all wet and stood facing an angry Aes Sedai. He stood before her gazing down waiting her answer. He hoped that his answer would please the Aes Sedai, or at least wouldn't irritate her any further.

It took Iva a couple moments to realize the man was speaking to her, and she was forcibly drawn out of her daydreams. The man's phrasing caught her ears first - he was calling her a maid! Completely unacceptable. But.. then again, maybe she was a maid. After all, she was scrubbing the hallway floor, she and no one else. She opened her eyes suddenly. He was apologizing. He was apologizing? Well, he should be! At least this manly creature seemed to contain some sense. She felt herself nodding to his words as he suggested he himself clean it up. It was not her fault. He should have been more careful where he was going, not be so interested in what others were doing; Iva assumed this stranger had been eavesdropping on her and that other.. She shuddered.

She was just opening her mouth to answer him, as she heard a loud voice boom in her ears. She blinked a couple of times in surprise before turning towards the sound. There was a lady, a beautiful lady. Somehow she looked familiar, and it took Iva a few moments to pinpoint why. It was the look in her face. She was like that other woman she had met yesterday; neither old nor young. She was watching Iva with stern eyes. Again, Iva felt her hackles rise. She had not done anything to deserve such a look; it was all the stupid men's fault.

As the man spoke, Iva felt herself nodding to his words. "Without me, her chores would have been over by now. I hope that I'm allowed to make up with the work by myself." If that stern woman had not been looking at her in that manner, she would have given the man a huge smile. It seemed as though he truly was willing to accept the consequences of his clumsiness; he had not said it to please Iva and forget about it the next blink.

Remembering herself, Iva made as good a curtsey as was in her power, and lowered her gaze modestly before the woman. "This man is telling the truth. I was merely cleaning as he came and spilled his oats all over the floor." She spoke softly; she did not want the lady to think she was blaming him because she did not want to be punished. That was not so; Iva was after all not to blame. Her eyes lowered to the floor, her shoes were again in her view and she frowned at them. She would have to clean them, again. She repressed a sigh and stood quiet, awaiting the judgement of the woman in the dress.

She eyed the Recruit carefully, as she listened to him explain what had happened. He appeared to be genuinely sorry, which helped Dalaine's mood improve a little.

"Well, at least you had the decency to speak up and accept the consequences of your actions", she finally said, nodding her head in approval. "I accept your answer, and yes, you can finish cleaning up this as you have offered to do, but you will also help him to clean this up. It was originally your chore was it not?". The Blue Sister had turned to face the Novice as she spoke. The girl wouldn't be best pleased with still having to clean the floor but chores were chores, she'd learn soon enough that once a chore was given, a Novice didn't get out of doing it.

She visibly calmed down, the expression on her face softening as she looked at the young Novice. Perhaps I did over-react a touch, she mused to herself. Still, she'd not apologise for it. Aes Sedai rarely if ever, apologised to a Novice. "I know that cleaning the floors is an annoyance, but there is more to being Aes Sedai than wielding the One Power. You must learn humility as well, after all we are the Servants of All". She hoped the girl realised what she was saying. That was another thing she'd have to learn, how to interpret what a Sister meant, even if she'd not actually come out and said it. She smiled at the girl, "If you apply yourself and work hard, you will succeed in your ambitions dear, but it is very hard, anything worthwhile is not easy". She regarded her for a moment more before turning back to the Recruit.

"If you are late for something tell your Instructor that you were given a chore by Dalaine Sedai of the Blue Ajah, I have no wish for you to get into further trouble by being late", she said to him. "I have still to hear an explanation from you though?", she questioned the Soldier, who was still simply stood there.

Elia tried to disappear into the walls when the Aes Sedai rounded the corner. He had thought he had succeeded until she turned to him and said "I have still to hear an explanation from you though?"

"My apologies, Aes Sedai. I came walking through here, perhaps a tad carelessly when this girl here started yelling at me. I snapped and yelled at her when this man here came in and spilled his oats. I apologize for losing my temper like that, Mistress...Dalaine Sedai." Luckily, he had been paying enough attention to what was going on to catch her name. He was sure she would not be pleased if he didn't know it mere seconds after she revealed it.

As Elia glanced up to the ageless face, he saw what appeared to be a fellow Soldier waiting behind her, holding an envelope with his name on it.

Dalaine listened to his explanation. At least he remembered my name, she thought to herself, although he had hesitated. "Very well", she replied, and was just about to speak again when she became aware of someone stood behind her.

Turning round she noticed another Soldier and stared at him until he lowered his eyes and began to speak, slightly flustered by her gaze. I...er....that is I have a message for Soldier Elia, he eventually managed to say.

He remained standing there, letter in hand, until she spoke again, "Well hand it over to him then, no need to stay standing there all day", her tone was amused. She rarely spoke to the men from the Black Tower, but they always seemed to be polite whenever she did, even if they were a little nervous sometimes. She looked round at the assembled group one last time before she moved off down the corridor, a smile touching her lips.