Sahra liked the way Anabel thought, she did have a bit of a sweet tooth even though she didn't allow herself to indulge it overly much. It wouldn't do to be a fat Tower Guard even though training burned energy. Too bad that pies didn't stay good for a very long time, they were her favourite.

 

"Those all three sound very important. I think that I know how to pack efficiently but with tents and such I clearly need more practice. I can't understand how you get them up and together with the speed you do. I doubt that I can plan yet for all needs that one might have out here as I don't have very much experience."  At least she knew how to swim and how to make fire.

 

"How about navigating, how important is that?", she asked a tad embarrassed as she had been going to completely wrong direction instead of Cairhien when they had found her. "I recognise the Three Geese that signal north and my... mentor told me that at day time you can tell north from the colour of the bark of the trees. I just can't see any difference in one side or the other yet." She sighed and was filled with melancholy again at the thought of Sana. It was unacceptable that she made someone she cared about so much to suffer.

 

There was a silence but she finally broke it. "I would also ask you about something we spoke of previously. I... I got the impression that there was something special about your eyes. Was that just my wild imagination spinning tales?"

Anabel made a mental note to help the girl as much as she could while they were traveling.  It was not a hard thing to show what she knew to her, though Anton was far better at all of it than she herself was. 

 

When Sahra asked about her eyes though she was taken aback for a moment.  She had grown used to being at the Stedding and being surrounded by similar eyes.    She shrugged her shoulders at the question. 

 

"You don't see many people with golden eyes, do you?" She asked with a small smile.  "Yes, it does mean something.  There was a time when our kind was more prevalent and ever if you hadn't see us, you would have heard of us.  The eyes.. it is a sign of something old come again.  It is a sign of those that speak with wolves." She said.  Her manner was relaxed, but she watched Sahra warily, waiting for the girl to jump up and run, or worse, attack. 

 

Anabel/Timewalker   

Sahra shook her head wordlessly in answer to Timewalker. Golden eyes definately were not a common sight. "Speaking with wolves", she repeated with confusion. "What does that mean? You mean that you really speak with them and they understand and even... answer?" The thought of wolves speaking made her grin. It was just so unbelievable. She would have thought it all a joke if Timewalker's and Anton's eyes weren't so strange. "How do wolves speak and what do they say?"

 

"Speak with wolves." She thought about how to explain it better, but was at a loss.  "The wolves speak, but it is not as I speak.  Nor as you speak.  It is mostly images of what they see.  They do not call me Timewalker.  It is the image that they think of me as that they convey my name with.  I don't know how to describe it otherwise.  But the wolves are extremely intelligent and when they learn of one of our kind, the Wolfkin as we call ourselves, they help us, they guide us to them so that we may teach them of our ways."

 

The explanation didn't really clear it out, it was nigh impossible to imagine the way the wolves talked. But Sahra was really curious now. "Are there alot of people like you? And how are the wolves able to do that? Are there other animals like that too?"

 

"I've not heard that other animals can communicate with humans, nor have I seen anything to suggest the like.  It is a rare enough thing to find those of us who can talk to wolves.  I don't think i'll worry about anything else." She said with a grin.  "And yes, there are few of us, though our numbers grow quietly now.  There was a time when.."

 

She stopped herself with a shake of her head.  A time when.  A time when life had been kind.  A time when their numbers had been much larger.  A time that was long past.  She pushed the thoughts aside as she looked at the other woman.  "The world is not ready for too many of us I think.  But someday, perhaps, there will be more."

 

Shaking her head in amazement, Sahra tried to take it all in. "So what is it like? Have you always been able to speak to the wolves or is it kind of like channeling and it just manifests one day? I would be really scared, I think. Were you?"

 

"Slowly.  It came slowly to me, as it does to most of my kind.  It is... a terrifying experience for some.  Other's get help quicker.  I was lucky that I have had two men to help me through this." She said.  "More lucky than some who never find help at all.  Our bodies change, our senses change.  Without a guiding hand many believe they are going insane and then allow themselves to do just that.  So there are people like Anton and I who roam the world and bring in these strays when we find them."

 

Sahra looked symphatetic when Timewalker described the manifestation. It sounded truly frightening. "It is really valuable what you do. Are you on a lookout for someone particular right now? And how widely do people know about you? Do you think that the White Tower knows?"

 

"I hope the Tower doesn't know.  I don't feel comfortable with the idea of these Aes Sedai trying to get a better look into my head.  There are enough people in there already." She said with a small smile.  "We were not out looking for anything at the moment actually.  More of a training exercise than anything else.  But that is the way of things.  We move about the world and the wolves lead us to where we need to be."

 

Facing Timewalker, Sahra said firmly. "If the Sisters aren't aware already already, they won't be learning from me at least. I... well, you have been helping me and they don't really need to know everything, not about things that won't be threats. But Aes Sedai aren't that bad. They can be... imposing but they do try to help people." She hadn't really met that many Aes Sedai, the Mistress of Novices, Maegan and a scary Blue and Yellows. Mostly her image of them was positive. "What do you do beside search for new to your... kind? Do you have some kind of... well, division of tasks like the Ajahs do?"

 

Sahra & Timewalker

Anabel smiled at Sahra.  "Divisions? Well, there are people who do different jobs if that is what you mean.  There are others like Anton and I who travel like we do and hunt down our lost brethren.  We have Sages, or healers you might call them.  They take care of us, teach the dreams if they need to and make sure we are whole.  If there was a heart to the Stedding I would say it is there, with the Sages.  We have Rangers also, who protect us and others like us, and there are others who keep an eye on the world."

 

she shrugged then.  "There are many in the world that would take our gifts, like our eyes, as a sign of the Shadow so most of us stay as far away from outsiders as we can.  The watchers bring information back to us and keep us informed about the world around us.  I think that is what you mean by divisions.  But tell me about you Sahra.  Tell me what it is you will do once you get through this mission." 

 

Timewalker/Anabel

People doing different jobs was exactly what Sahra had meant and she listened with interest as Timewalker described the Wolfkin society. So they had Travelers, Sages, Rangers and Watchers. Rangers were kind of like the Greens and the Blues seemed to have the best network of Eyes and Ears like the Watchers but otherwise it didn't resemble much like the White Tower. Aes Sedai were on a lookout for new novices but not quite as actively as the Wolfkin.

 

She didn't really want to think on the time after the mission because everything was so very complicated. "Well, assuming that Sana is in Cairhien... and he will be, I will see the city a bit and then we return to Tar Valon and he will continue to be my mentor and keep training me." She was filled with misery when she thought of driving him away and hurting him. And in Tar Valon would be Fior and she had no idea what she would be doing about any of it. She tried to sound brisk and think nothing but what she had left to learn. She and Sana would go back to normal with that at least, they just had to. "I still have two years left until I could don the red cloak at the earliest. Then I will be free to go on missions that are more of my choosing. It will be exciting"

 

"How about you? I am sure that looking out your kind has taken you all around the world. Have you had any notable adventures?" She coud smile genuinely having turned the attention away from herself.

 

Sahra Covenry

Confused Trainee

"Adventures?" Anabel asked as she listened to the other woman. She thought a moment about the word before being able to place it, then shook her head.  She had been in more 'adventures' than she cared to think about.  No, she wanted a quiet life and would be happy to never have another adventure again.

 

"I look for a quiet life." She said with a sad smile.  "The world is a wide place.  I think there is room for me to travel it's width, to help my kind, and still do so without any 'adventures' that you seem to be so fond of."  Her tone was light, but there was a sadness in her voice that corresponded with her smile.  "I am not so young as to want all of that again."

 

Truth be told, she was still young in body, but parts of her felt the weight of the years that had passed since her birth and she was not the young woman she had once been.  Once upon a time, she had dreamed of adventure and excitement and noble things.  She had been a part of them.  But unlike the stories, she had watched her world crashing in around her, had fought on the loosing side of a war, and had lost everything.  No.  The young woman who had believed adventured to be grand things that always ended well had died with the young woman who believed that good always won and that love conquered even time.

 

Anabel/Timewalker