Zaide made his way through the Tower quickly, it was the Feast of Lights, and initiates were allowed out of the grounds. He would not be allowed out of the city, but at least he could get out of this Light-blinded Tower for a few hours. He had been waiting for this day for months, since arriving, the Tower and it's laws had not ceased to anger him, and finally he had a break. He walked through the gardens, not stopping for anything, he was far too eager to get out of the Tower for that. He stepped through the gates into the city with a feeling of excitement, he had not truly believed he would be able to get out of the Tower, soldiers were kept under lock and key within the Grounds most of the time. Light, the rules of this place are not getting to me, are they? He had come here, all the while refusing to let them break him, but were they doing it? Were they convincing him that obeying the rules willingly, and understanding them, was the best of choices? With that thought he stopped, stunned. He had been through Tar Valon once, but somehow had forgotten what it looked like. He stood, looking at the buildings, the Towers were easily the most magnificent buildings in the city, but he was fairly used to seeing those. Out here there were buildings of all shapes and sizes- shapes that a building should not hold! In the time he had been here, he had learned that Tar Valon was built by Ogier and the Power, but he had not thought that it would be fascinating to this extent. Zaide started walking agian, much more slowly now than he had before, there was nothing to get out of now, although, given the choice, Zaide would have left the city in a heartbeat.

He turned down a few streets, just content to look at the people and places in this amazing city. He had a few coins in his pocket, enough to buy him a lunch if he went to the right place, not somewhere those Asha'man would frequent, those places would be far to expensive, and he did not want to run into one of those men anyway. He let the crowd lead him down to the less kind part of Tar Valon, it was an amazing city, and there were no truly bad parts, but even Tar Valon had some less savoury neighborhoods. It was not necessarily the place Zaide wanted to be, but it ensured he would not run into any Asha'man, and it was the only place he could afford. Well, the worst inns and taverns in this city would far top the best in most others, he thought, it made for a bit more assurance. Zaide was not exactly new to the Tower, but soldiers were not allowed to carry the weapons they trained with through the city- or even the Tower -not that the soldier training would do much against a gang of fully trained men anyway. He stepped into an inn, and a large man stepped up and welcomed him. "Hello young sir, what can I help you with?" Zaide looked at him, naturally suspicious, but he looked kind enough. "Whatever your lunch special is, and a mug of wine please," he said as he followed the man to a table. "Coming right up, wait right here!" the man said, and lumbered off to the kitchen. Zaide sat at the table, off to the side of the room, and looked around. It really was a nice place, Zaide was no longer so sure that he could afford even this. Well, if he could not, he would deal with that later, after he had eated something other than that Tower food.

Mika nearly hopped trough the streets of the city; It had been a year ago since the last time she had been allowed in there... but it seemed so much longer, nothing looked the same and she was sure that she'd get lost this time.
Last year on the feast of lights she had gone here with her brother, as well as the years before; but this time Elia had things to do and she was anxious to explore the city on her own anyways.

Fingering the little money she had gotten from her brother she walked trough the city "Don't go to any of the inns in the city center, let the crown lead you if you really want some place to eat or drink something ; there are nice inns on the outskirts... just mind what you are doing and keep your eyes on your pocket."
Her brothers words ringed in her ears as well as the promis she'd made him that she'd mind what she'd do and wouldn't make too much fuss.
But still she felt so helplesly free; and she coudln't care less about his words.

She did however let the stream of people lead her troughout the entire city though, occasionally stopping to either look at streetartists, brightening up life like she had never seen with their daring tricks; flashing colors or beautiful sounds, or stopping to gaze atthe merchants stables, and the objects on them.
the things that she liked most were the little jewels shesaw, and the hairribbons. they were just so pretty, but most of them were too expensive as well.
Suddenly she found a stable with little strange silverish ball-thingies and as she approached the man told her that what he sold was something special from the foreign and mystical Shara, engulfed by the origin of the things Mika listened to the man telling of what the balls were; apparently they could be opened and hung around a strand of hair, then to be closed again and to stay there where one had hung it. Engulfed by the stories the man made up about it's origin, Mika just sat and listened and in the end decided to spent a -far to large- amount on them anyways and let the merchant put them in her hair right away.

She she left she enjoyed the soft tinkling sound the little balls made as they touched each other in her hair, there had to be at least 20 of them balls in her long brown hair, and she grinned broadly as she tried to forget how little money she had left in her little white purse.

A while later she passed a sign which she already knew; last year her brother and she had eaten here... a very nice, clean place which wasn't too expensive, Elia had even been saying how little money he had spent on it and after a quick count of copper and silverpieces -not that there were a lot of those-she decided to enter the inn and find out whether the food was as good as it had been the year before.

Zaide sat at his table, waiting for his food to be brought out, watching the other people in the common room, those entering and those leaving, and everyone enjoying their meals. He noticed a few faces he had seen in the Towers, apparently everyone was taking advantage of the Feast of Lights, not just him. Most of those here were the initiates, as all the Aes Sedai, Asha'man and Gaidin would have enough money to frequent more expensive inns, or could leave the city. He let his mind wander, but quickly realized it did not have far to go, most of his Tower life was not something he wanted to think about, and life before the Tower was very nearly as bad. He looked up as a girl brought out a plate and mug, she set it down, and smiled prettily, but Zaide only nodded. He picked up a fork, and took a bite, it was delicious. He could not remember the last time he had food so good, his mother was not a bad cook, but certainly not this good, and the few inns he had visited in Caemlyn did not compare. Those inns had been rather poor quality though, and Zaide could only hope that the quality difference would not mean a large price difference, he only had so much money, and he could not stay around to work, he had to get back to the Tower, much as he hated that. He took a sip of his wine, he thought it was good, but he had very little taste for such things, his past as a farmer prevented that. It was acceptable anyway, not so strong that Zaide thought he would be overly affected, but certainly strong enough that he could feel it.

The room was fairly full, but not crowded, Zaide looked around at the patrons again, still no one who looked like they would be more comfortable in an expensive inn, that was a good sign at least. If this place turned out to be fitting, and within what his wallet could provide, Zaide was fairly sure he would be back the next year, or when he was raised to Dedicated. The thought had flitted through his mind before he realized what it was. I'm not even planning on being here next year, or long enough to be Dedicated! he thought furiously, the Tower had succeeded in getting under his skin soon after he arrived, and now he was thinking about the long-term future and still had himself placed in the Tower. He rubbed one eye with the palm of his hand, and sighed, why even fight it anymore? He had nowhere else to go, but he was reluctant to give in to the Tower, he still hated it more than he could bare, but was it really worth the fight? He could still go on hating it, but give in to it, much as that release would anger him, surely it would be less difficult than always trying to maintain these walls, he had been in the Tower for a few years, and so far really had no friends, he knew almost no one, mainly because he was unwilling to let go and let himself get to know others. He looked around for someone he knew was from the Tower, and saw a young girl he thought he recognized, a novice, he thought it was. He picked up his plate, ready to make an effort, difficult though it would be. He walked over to her table, and stood a bit awkwardly. "Hello, I'm Zaide, could I sit here?" he asked. This girl, he decided, would be his gauge, if she seemed to dislike him, he would continue life as before, but if she was polite, Zaide would concider meeting a few others.

Upon entering Mika took a quick look around, in quite a few places in the inn the white of a novice or acceteddress lightened up, but she could see none of her friends as yet, and the all seemed to be drinking and laughing already so she didn't want to but in.

Even as she'd decided that the innkeeper sank towards her and led her to a free table a bit further. she sat down and ordered the special and a bit of wine. true; Novices weren't allowed to drink, but this was a feastday and what would be the chance of getting caught?

For a moment she just sat, waiting for her drink and looked around a bit; smiling polite at the serving woman when she brought her wine.

Suddenly a young man appeared besides her, carrying a plate, and as she looked up to see his face, he introduced himself as Zaide and asked whether he could sit down. For a second or two surprise and confusion could be read on her face, followed by a flicker of suspision that faded away into a relieved broad smile as she recognised his uniform; the uniform that marked him as one of the dual towers.

"Sure, sure, sit down.... I'm Mika" As always a smile lay on her face as she watched him sit down a soldier... is he pushed away from his table for more important guests? she quickly looked around, but there were at least a few tables left empty. well then I suppose it's for the company... nice
"You're a soldier right?" she asked him as soon as he sat down, he made an affirmative sound and nodded his head, quickly glancing at his colar that showed neither sword nor dragon. "I thought I'd ask it first... on a day like this I'd prefer not being sent to the Mistress of Novices for neglecting to curtsey to a dedicated because of a mistake" she flashed a quick grin to the lad.

Sure she got sent to Cayana sedai often, but it had never been about something big, like being rude, not showing respect or channeling unsupervised -not that that was possible anyways- that was just a waste in her eyes; you at least had fun with pranking recruits and accepted!

Zaide waited, realizing he had made a mistake coming over here, he should have just stayed where he was, surely that would have been better. The woman interrupted his thoughts by telling him he could, in fact, sit, and that her name was Mika. He blinked, and set his plate and mug down, then pulled back a chair and sat. Mika asked him whether he was a soldier, and he nodded and made a grunt of a yes. She explained that she would rather not be sent for punishment for something silly during the festivities. Zaide nodded, and gave a small half-smile back. He was here, he could not be rude, as he was the one who had asked to sit. He ate a few more bites of his dinner, and looked around a bit before looking back at the woman sitting across from him. "So then you are a novice? If you're not, I apologize for being disrespectful," he said, his voice lacking a bit in sincerity, he could not muster up much energy right now. Isn't it enough that I've come over here, giving up everything I've wished for since I came here, an no one's even going to know it, why did I do this? He had no doubt he would regret this later, but there was nothing he could do about it now without being completely rude.

He took another bite of his lunch, it was enough to make him want to stay here forever, he had never had food this good, and was fairly sure he never would again. How could he, back at the Tower, the initiate meals were not overly wonderful, and he knew he would never be anything more than that. They could force him to be in the Tower, but they could not force him to stay forever, could they? Surely not, even here he had some free will, if he did not want to be Asha'man, surely they would not accept someone hesitant or unwilling into their numbers. However, it would still mean many wasted hears of his life, when he could have been doing any number of better things. Even without the Tower, he would have gotten out of Andor eventually, this only prolonged his imprisonment until he could escape this place as well.

The young man seemed to be only reluctant and posed a mystery to Mika. He had come to her table out of his own free will -or so it seemed- and yet seemed to have a dislike of her company. Mika wonderred what she'd done wrong in the brief moments that they knew each other.

"The food here is good isn't it..." she said softly as he seemingly enjoyed it a bit, trying to build up at least some for of conversation. "The years before my brother and me always came here for the nice food. He's a soldier too y'know..." She underlined her words as she dug in on he plate that they had just brought to her and had to surpress a big smile of the explosion of flavors that so lacked in the slob they fed the novices.


((sorry that it's this awfully short, but I really cannot think of anything better... :unsure: ))

Zaide said nothing for a few moments, and was almost surprised when the novice across from him spoke, saying how much she liked the food, and talking about her brother, and the times they had been here. He nodded, "Yes, the food is good, much better than the stuff in the Tower." He took a few more bites, eating slowly to savour the taste, he would certainly not get this again for another year, he had to make it last. He was silent for a few moments more, trying to decide whether he had done right after all. Well, he thought finally, the only way to find out is to talk to her, I guess. He thought about what he should say, what did people talk about around here. He thought back to the other novices he had met, only two or three, but maybe they could give him some idea. Finally, he decided on something fairly neutral, and something he could answer himself. "So..." he began slowly, "how long have you been in the Tower?" He turned back to his meal as he waited for her to answer, thinking about how long he himself had been around here. It's been a few years at least... he thought, trying to decide just how long ago he had been dragged here. About three years, maybe a bit more, he decided in the end, he could only hope he would not be stuck here much longer.

(OOC: Sorry it's short, we're even :P)

For a moment both of them did nothing but eat and Mika let her thoughts roam free.
Maybe I should get Elia something from the city as well.... but what? I'm not sure what he'd like to have... and even worse; I doubt I'll have enough for anything fancy after this meal. hmmm... Maybe I should get him a warm filled bread or somethign... or a meatpie. he loves those. And they are not that extremely expensive. But I don't know if I'll see him again before the thing gets cold.
For a time she kept thinking, but the fact that she was eating made most of her ideas come down to something edible as well.

Suddenly Zaide spoke up again, breaking both the silence as her train of thoughts. "So..." he began slowly, "how long have you been in the Tower?"
As she looked at him a thoughtfull expression lay on her face. "It's been somewhere over four years I think." she finally said. "I came here when I was merely 14... rather young it seems. but I doubt I'll get the banded hemn and sleeves and the serpent ring anytime soon." She sighed ofr a moment as she remembered her little chat with her mentor about her block. "My mentor once spoke to me of an old friend who tried to break her block for 13 years. and afer that she could only decently begin training..." her voice had started sounding a tad sad; but she freshened it up quickly though. "Not exactly a comforting though huh?" a grin once again appeared on her face and she took a bite before mumbling. "Wo; wha wewout..." As she realised that she was speaking with her mouth full, she briefly coughed and swallowed her food while a slight tint of red appeared on her cheeks. As her mouth was empty again she started over. "ehm; sorry 'bout that... so... what about you?"

It wasn't exactly a perfect or original way to start a conversation, but often Mia, however fluent she could be at time, just didn't know what to say; and it grieved her to admit that this was one of these moments. Then again, most of the time it helped a lot if the conversationpartner was fluent as well... which Zaide didn't really appeared to be, he seemed more like the shy type; and for a moment Mika had to think about some of the things Shaya, her roomie, had been telling her about men. Those things had often made her blush, but had also made her thoughs on becoming a Green sister be more vivid and pleasant.

Mika however deftly put hose thougts away and hoped he'd interpret the blush that had become a bit deeper red, to still be of the 'full mouth' incident.

Zaide waited for Mika to answer, turning back to his plate while he waited. She told him she had been a novice for about four years but said that she did not think she would be raised any time soon, because she had a block. That was one thing Zaide had to be thankful for, he did not have a block, so he had some hope of being able to get out of the Tower before too long. But, have I eliminated all chance of that today? He did not let himself wonder on that any longer, it was not a cheerful thought, and Zaide did not want to ruin his day out. Mika said something then, but he did not understand what, around her moutful of food. She turned a bit red, and coughed, before translating herself, asking him how long he had been in the Tower. Before he could answer, her face got a bit redder, apparently she was easily embarassed, but Zaide did not mention it. "I've been in that prison for about three years, I think. I arrived when I was nineteen. I don't plan on gaining the sword pin, I don't think the Asha'man would like me among them anyway," he said, not bothering to hide his distaste. He let his mind wander for a few moments, realizing that though the novice sitting across from him had been in the Tower a year longer, she was still a year younger than Zaide had been when he arrived. It was an odd thought, age meant less than nothing to Zaide, but still it was a bit strange.

He ate a few more bites of his dinner, and thought about something else to say to Mika. Zaide knew he was not good at conversation, he had had almost no practice back in Andor, and little enough since arriving here. He did not really desire to be either, but he could not deny that he should probably have some skills, it would make things much easier, he thought. He ate a few more bites, before finally deciding on another question, it was not a most interesting conversation piece, and again it was not something Zaide could speak fondly of, but surely it would be better than nothing. "Where are you from?" he asked, hoping it was not as sore a subject for her as it was for himself. He tried to think of something that he would be able to talk about easily, but Zaide realized there was little. His life had not been one to make a very happy person of him, and it did not help that Zaide's outlook was very pesimistic, he knew it was, but he saw no reason to change it now- there was no good to be found anyway. He waited for her to answer, wondering what sort of home this young woman had left behind. He hoped for her sake it was not the sort of place he had, even now, three years later, thoughts of his home and family could serve to upset him. Zaide wished he had not said anything about home, he knew it was a sore spot for himself, but for some reason had mentioned it anyway.

sorry that this is taking me so long.... I'm trying to think of somethign to actually do or RP about....