The first signs of dawn crept in from under the door and Kabria shuddered in the early morning chill. The long hours since the test had been spent writing and rewriting the letters she’d meant to send. The ones for Arath and Jasine had come with no issue, the words flowing from her mind and to the page. It was Perivar’s that had used almost all of her paper, and had still bore no fruit. There were so many things to say and yet no words would ever be enough to express how she felt. An hour gone she had put down her pen and forced herself to pray.

 

Through all the hard times in her life Kabria had always turned to the Light. Falling on her knees next to the bed she prayed as she always had, thanking the light for all her gifts before asking for the things she’d yet to receive. It was there, knelt with her head on her hands that the first swirls of the morning cold brushed her ankles.

 

Removing her Accepted’s dress for the last time she placed it almost lovingly on the hook by the door. Slipping into the only dress she owned besides those banded hems she doubled her arms up behind her back to do the last buttons. It did not fit as well as it once had, and the delicate embroidery along the arms and neck was faded with age. From the small box on the table she removed Perivar’s family crest and fastened it around her neck. She had made him proud last night, even if he did not know it yet. Giving her too big skirts a last tug Kabria looked at her reflection in the small mirror. Today she would be Aes Sedai The dull blue hem had just settled on the floor when three firm raps sounded at her door; signaling the end of her childhood and the start of her life as an Aes Sedai.

 

Seven Sisters waited in the hall, each one standing still and quiet, wrapped in their shawls. Kabria’s eyes scanned the fringe that hung down their arms her eyes settling on the Green. In a few minutes that would be hers. Could she live up to it as well as all of the Sisters before her?

 

This time as they descended into the bedrock Kabria hesitated, her steps dragging. She wanted to believe that the hardest part was over, but somehow she knew that her journey had just begun. She was led to the same large chamber on the lowest level beneath the Tower. Today the chamber was full to bursting with the Amyrlin, her Keeper and the Sitter’s from all the Ajah’s. Kabria tried not to shy away from their gaze and to keep her backbone strong. Hovering in the doorway she felt completely alone as the 7 Sister’s stepped back.

 

“Who Comes Here?” The Amyrlin’s voice rang out, echoing in her ears. Seeing her standing before her, wrapped in her shawl; it was easy to picture the nations bending to kneel when she crooked her finger.

 

“Kabria Delondre” Her name had never sounded less in her ears. Perhaps with time she could prove that she was worthy of the honor she was about to receive.

 

“For what reason do you come?”

 

During the night one of the things Kabria had prayed for was to be shown her true purpose in life; wanting some sign that she was making the right choice. No grand visions appeared to her eyes, and the earth did not tremble in response. So she had come here today of her own free will, trusting her heart to steer her towards the right course.

“To swear the three oaths and thereby claim the shawl of an Aes Sedai”

 

“By what right do you claim this burden?”

 

She spoke the words that thousands before had intoned, claiming by right what was theirs.

“By right of having made the passage, submitting myself to the will of the White Tower”

 

“Then enter, if you dare and bind yourself to the White Tower”

 

The Amyrlin’s eyes seemed to carry a threat with her words and for a brief second Kabria held back. Giving herself one last opportunity to flee, but with feet of lead she passed through the arch and knelt on the small velvet cushion. Her heart was pounding in her ears and her breath came in short spurts, but her hands did not shake as she placed them palm up accepting the Oath Rod. The thin fluted rod felt like glass in her hands, but Kabria only had a moment to wonder at the ter’angreal before the Amyrlin embraced the source and channeled and thin flow of spirit into its end. Closing her fingers around the rod Kabria gripped it as tight as she dared as she spoke the fated words.

 

“Under the Light and by my hope of salvation and rebirth I vow that I will speak no word that is not true.”

 

From the tips of her fingers to her toes her skin tightened as if burned and Kabria’s tensed as she spoke the next words.

 

“Under the Light and by my hope of salvation and rebirth I vow that I will make no weapon for one man to kill another”

 

Her burning flesh felt as if it had been dipped in the lava from the Pit of Doom and stretch to fit on a body five times her size. Only one oath left and she could not imagine the pain it would bring.

 

“Under the Light and by my hope of salvation and rebirth I vow that I will never use the One Power as a weapon, except against Shadowspawn, or in the last extreme of defending my life or that of my Warder or another Sister.”

 

She wanted to howl as the last words left her lips, but instead her fingers released the rod and she knelt with her eyes facing forward and her nails digging into her palms. Had she not already been on her knees the pain would have sent her there. It was done, and now no one could ever take away from here what she had become.

 

“It is half done and the WT is graven on your bones”

 

A tiny breath escaped Kabria and a shiver that only made the pain of her Oath’s feel new again. She was Aes Sedai which meant a world of freedom with no one looking over her shoulder, or punishing her for misdeeds. She was free to be a woman again, no longer a supplicant or a child.

 

“Rise now Aes Sedai and choose your Ajah and all will be done that may be done under the Light.”

 

Stiff with the pain and pride Kabria rose, taking her first steps as Aes Sedai. Bending low to the ground she curtsied and kissed the Mother’s ring. And it struck her…This would be the only moment where she was tied only to the Tower and not to an Ajah.

Taking a long pause she finally straightened her eyes scanning the faces before her. A few of the Brown Sitter’s looked eager, still holding out hope that her love of books could draw her to them, but taking a measured step to the left she had put herself halfway between the Blue and Green. Locking eyes with Loraine Sedai, the only Green present that she knew, Kabria took another step; making it apparent her intended choice.

 

For several seconds no one moved and then one by one the Sitters and the Amyrlin filed from the room, leaving her alone with the women she’d chosen. Unsure if there was more she was supposed to say Kabria stood waiting, with her hands folded at her side, for one of them to guide her.

 

OOC: Okay so i'm an extra but what the heck Eqwina asked so i'm here *G* Jade if I get in trouble sorry. *wince*

 

IC:

 

Rasheta styled her hair as best she could and had a moment of annoyance when the style she had tried didn't seem to be working. She shook her hair out and simply braided it, it was simplier that way and stayed out of her way. She stood up and glanced around her room, it was her room after she had been accepted and raised to a full sister in the Ajah. Her other one was elsewhere and she didn't miss it. This one held many memories some good and some bad. Today she was going to witness another raising and the general idea in the tower was the girl was going to go Green. Rasheta grabbed her shawl and left her room. Along the way she nodded to the sitters and Jaydena the Head of her Ajah. She was the forth person in the party normally she would be carrying a shawl in the color of the Ajah but the Greens did things a little different.

 

They all came into the room and Rasheta nodded to the other sisters and took her place with the Greens she leaned over to Loraine and whispered. "You have met her before, is it true she is going to go Green?" Rasheta wished most Accepteds decided to chose the Green Ajah, it was the best in the tower after all. She supossed though that all the sisters thought this way about there Ajahs. She went silent when the Amrylin appeared with the accepted in tow. She swore her oaths and Rasheta remembered when she had done the same. She waited when the girl stood and begain to walk toward them. Rasheta tried not to smile but she wasn't as sucessful as she would have hoped. Everyone left the room and Rasheta waited Jaydena would led the girl away and the time of acceptance would begin. Rasheta prayed the girl would be strong and continue in her quest to be Green. She gave the girl an encouraging look but remained silent. 

 

 

 

OOC: *Growls at DM* I posted on this earlier... I swear I did...

 

IC:

Loraine adjusted her shawl, unused to the formal side of Tower life. She'd been naught but a sister when she left and having been back, had slipped back into that role easily enough. She practiced her weaves, practiced her sword work and a mirade of other blades, read reports and visited the gardens. To be a Sitter, now, felt strange, though she did little different than she did before. She was sure that would change soon, but for now, it felt odd.

 

As much as she was glad for Kabria, she wondered if the woman would actually decide to be Green. She'd done a good bit of thinking, it's true, and she'd been close to making that decision when she left Lor's parlor. If she did, Loraine was happy for her. Sad for what was to come, and loathe to see the look that would overtake her soon, but happy, nonetheless. Kabria would make a wonderful addition to the Green Ajah. Loraine caught her reflection in the mirror and realized she was smiling. She laughed at her thoughts and slipped into the hallway, meeting Jaydena, Eadon and Rasheta as they made their way to the ceremony.

 

Once there, she heard Rasheta whisper "You have met her before, is it true she is going to go Green?" Loraine smiled and looked back at Rasheta a moment. "She was seriously thinking about it when I spoke with her, though she'd been thinking a few other colors, too. We shall see pretty soon, either way." She schooled her features as the doors opened and watched Kabria walk in. The oaths were the same as they'd always been, the same as the day she and Moraine had stood before Karana and taken their oaths. Light, how long ago that had been!

 

When the oaths were finished, she held her breath. She truly hoped Kabria was heading their way and couldn't quite put her finger on why. She liked her, sure, but she liked a good many Sisters in a good many Ajahs. Why was Kabria different? Was it her link to Perivar that had done it? Thoughts for later, she chided herself, watching Kabria pause between the Greens and Blues, meeting her gaze steadily. She let the corner of her lip curl up slightly, hoping to set the girl at ease. When the other Aes Sedai had filed out, Loraine straightened her smile. Jade would handle this, but she had to watch. She'd played a part in this woman's life and she couldn't allow herself to shy away from it. She met Kabria's gaze evenly, waiting on the rest to fall in place.

It was inevitable that on the day of a new Sister's raisings, Eadon would think back to her own. It was so long ago now that memories that were once so vivid had faded into a hazy mist. The one thing that would never escape her memory were the moments of agony she felt when told that she was not yet a Green Sister, and that there was more to be done to prove her worth. Eadon snuck a sidelong glance at Jaydena. Even to this day it was hard to separate that awful feeling from the woman she once looked on as a mother.

 

Eadon's silk skirts brushed the floor as she walked in step with the other Greens. Her slippers made a soft patter on the smooth floors of the White Tower. Since her return after the debacle that was her solo mission to Tanchico, Eadon rarely left the Tower. She wasn't best suited for the battlefield type missions anyway. With time her transgressions were either forgotten or forgiven (Eadon never bothered to research which)and she ascended to the Hall. Her own history as an Aes Sedai was tangled and dramatic. And now, this young girl who would swear the three oaths began her own journey.

 

 

She strode down the hallway in the early morning, her heart hard and steeled against what was to come. Of course all Greens had to go through it, she herself had done it, however it didn't make it any easier. Especially on the one that must sit calmly in her desk and break the spirit of the woman in question. She knew why it had to be done, light she had seen the results and knew that they worked, didn't mean she liked it. Floor tiles of white with green borders and a sword inlaid on each one flashed under her long legs. Jade wasn't a giant by any means but she was on of the taller Aes Sedai in the Tower. The walls that she walked past were green and white and were hung with painting and tapestries of battles gone by. Some of them she had painted herself, as painting was something she did to deal with the heartbreak of losing her friends, sisters, and lovers even. Her thoughts strayed to losing Jared and his picture that hung with the other warders she had lost within the Green Vault inside of her display. There were quite a few of her warriors inside of that display and she didn’t want to think about losing another one. As she rounded the corner out of the quarters, the torchlight glinted off her auburn hair; her green eyes sparkled inside her pale face with its sprinkling of freckles across the cheeks and nose. Her body was hourglass shaped and there were times she hated it, more than once in her youth she had felt fat, and had hated the looks she got from men. That might be why she had started sleeping with women, they looked at her too, but not in the same way that men did. They all looked at her like a possession, something they could own, use, and then throw away.

 

Shaking her head she thought, my thoughts shouldn’t be straying in this direction, I should be thinking about the coming trials. Of watching another woman swear her oaths to the Tower and take on all the responsibility that comes with it. Turning her thoughts away from that subject she smoothed a hand over the green satin dress with it’s Aes Sedai symbols worked in real gold thread across the bodice, along the waist, across the sleeves, and ringing the hem. She wore a golden belt which her warder of long ago had given her. It was made up of golden links, in which rubies carved as roses, and emeralds carved as leaves glinted. A matching necklace, earrings, bracelet, and hair pin graced her pale skin. It was a treasured possession and something she only wore on occasions like this. Around her shoulders she wore the symbol of her station. A white shawl with green fringe that trailed almost to the flower, ivy leaves and vines were embroidered across it, and a pin in the shape of the serpent kept it closed.  Her auburn hair was twisted up onto her head in an intricate design and the hair pins kept it in place. She smoothed her hand over her skirt in a sign that some would recognize as restlessness in her if they knew her. Not that many knew her these days, she had no warders left, and her best friends and lovers had all either died or left the Tower to never be seen again. The door loomed in front of her and she pulled it up, all her Sitters were already assembled, as was the last raised Sister in the Greens. Nodding at Loraine, Eadon, and Rasheta she took her place with them and waited for the ceremony to begin.

 

The young woman walked in and Jaydena almost smiled, she looked so young and scared. She was trying as they all did to appear ready and tough but she really had no idea what was in store for her. Her life would change so much from the regimented existence she was used to over these many years. Jade glanced over and Loraine and her eyebrow arched, one side of her smile pulled up into a half smile. Looking back at the girl she wondered if she would go Green as it was suspected. The oaths began and just as quickly as they had started they ended and the new Aes Sedai stepped toward them. It was clear that she was choosing the Green. Jaydena nodded at her and spoke, “So you have chosen the Green Ajah, please follow me Sister and we will begin your journey.” She nodded at the other Sitters and then led the way from the room. They reached the Green quarters quickly and they parted ways with Rasheta before they reached the office. Jade opened the door to her office and walked over to take a seat behind the large desk with it’s carvings of the Aes Sedai symbol in the dark cherry wood. She looked Kabria up and down and then spoke, “Kabria Sedai what are your reasons for choosing the Green Ajah as your future Ajah?” She crossed her hands on the desktop and waited for the new Sister to speak…

 

Jaydena Mckathur

Head of the Greens

Sitter of the Greens

 

 

Future Aes Sedai? Kabria’s eyes were wide and she looked from Jaydena to the door and back again. Had she stepped into some alternate reality, where the world was turned on its head?

 

“ My future Ajah? I am sorry but I thought I was Green Ajah.” There was question in her voice, but something in the look in old women’s eyes made Kabria answer the posed question.

 

“My choice of the Green Ajah was not one made lightly, or in haste. Due to unfortunate circumstances in my life I am widely traveled and I had seen many horrors in my years before coming to Tar Valon. Perhaps as a product of my upbringing, or in spite of it I am filled with a desire to protect and serve which is why I choose to be Aes Sedai at all, but I digress. My travels did not leave me well educated about the world and so I turned to book for my source of knowledge. It was there that I found a desire, nay, a passion for serving the Light. I read about the tragic lives of men, women, and children in the Borderlands who are used as meat for Trolloc bellies and nations that have been destroyed by vile Darkfriends. It was then that I knew I was meant to fight those evils and stand up for those who could not stand for themselves. It is my desire to stand against everything that is evil that drove me to the Greens.”

 

Pausing Kabria looked at Jaydena to see if her answer was having the desired response, but there was nothing coming from her cold eyes. “ Perhaps you think my words are grandiose, but by my Oaths you know them for true. I can think of no greater threat to the world than the evil that boiled in the Blight. I wish to stand ready against all things that the Dark One can throw our way, be it large or small. I want to prepare others for what is to come as well as being prepared in myself. The Green Ajah is the Battle Ajah and there is no other place I would wish to call home.”

 

Folding her hands in her lap, she waited. Were her worst fears coming true? Was the Green Ajah going to turn her away?

 

Light, I hate this part, Lor thought as she smiled at Rasheta before slipping into Jade's office. She hadn't been through this since she was the one sitting across from that desk. She'd hated it then. She hated it now. It didn't stop the fact that it was happening and would continue to happen. She only prayed Kabria didn't look at her as if she'd deceived her. She kept her back straight and her expression emotionless, listening and waiting. How would Kabria react to the truth they hid from everyone else? She'd heard tales of horrible things, suicides, fist fights... She looked Kabria up and down a second while the woman's back was turned and prepared for the worst, praying she'd not have to see it.

Eadon was calm. Well, she was going to be calm. Yup, right after she saw how Kabria reacted. Cool as a cucumber.

 

Light sod it, Eadon felt nervous for the girl. She hated this part so much. All of Kabria's hopes and dreams would seemingly crash around her ears. She could imagine the girl's blood pumping so fast and so furious that Jaydena's voice felt like it was a thousand miles away. She wanted to hug the girl. She wanted to hand her a sword and tell her to just go after Jaydena. She wanted to stand there and watch the girl go through it because everyone else in the room had as well.

 

Mostly Eadon just wanted this part to be over.

The future Greens eyes opened wide and Jaydena knew the exact moment the words she had spoken sank into the girls head. She remembered it well, the moment she had thought, 'Wait a second, why are they saying future.' She could still feel the anger that had gripped her as she watched everything she had worked for for so many years slipping through her fingers like grains of sand in a hourglass. “My future Ajah? I am sorry but I thought I was Green Ajah.” Jaydena almost winced when she heard the question, Kabria's confusing was clearly coming through in her voice, but the girl stood up tall and answered in a clear voice, “My choice of the Green Ajah was not one made lightly, or in haste. Due to unfortunate circumstances in my life I am widely traveled and I had seen many horrors in my years before coming to Tar Valon. Perhaps as a product of my upbringing, or in spite of it I am filled with a desire to protect and serve which is why I choose to be Aes Sedai at all, but I digress. My travels did not leave me well educated about the world and so I turned to book for my source of knowledge. It was there that I found a desire, nay, a passion for serving the Light. I read about the tragic lives of men, women, and children in the Borderlands who are used as meat for Trolloc bellies and nations that have been destroyed by vile Darkfriends. It was then that I knew I was meant to fight those evils and stand up for those who could not stand for themselves. It is my desire to stand against everything that is evil that drove me to the Greens.”

 

Kabria's words were wise, some of the best she had heard and there was a part of her that wanted to just give in and let the girl, but she had to believe there was a reason for this tradition, a reason that she has ajah head had to put these new recruits through this over and over, to watch the pain and remain cold and emotionless in the face of her pain. Light she wasn't a White and it wasn't easy for her to do. “Perhaps you think my words are grandiose, but by my Oaths you know them for true. I can think of no greater threat to the world than the evil that boiled in the Blight. I wish to stand ready against all things that the Dark One can throw our way, be it large or small. I want to prepare others for what is to come as well as being prepared in myself. The Green Ajah is the Battle Ajah and there is no other place I would wish to call home.”

 

Sighing softly under her breath without showing any sign of emotions she spoke, "Your reasons are just and sound, however you come to the Green Ajah an untried babe in the face of the trials we must endure. You have been through much as a Novice and Accepted to be sure, but it is nothing compared to being a Sister of the Battle Ajah. Your are denied entrance into the Green Ajah. From this day forward you will be an intiate of the Greens, you will go to classes on how to be a Green and take battle weaves to learn how to fight shadowspawn. When you are decreed by your instructors to be worth of this ajah, you will go before the ajah and they will decide if you are worthy or not. To the rest of the Tower you will appear as a Green Sister and you will give that appearance. You must tell no one of this, for this is a tradition that every woman standing in this room has gone through." She paused for a moment to guage the woman's reaction and then continued, "You are bound to us now and have no choice, for it is the Greens you choose, the hardest Ajah of them all. We must be as stone and as strong. You will take a tour of the quarters and meet all the Sisters that are currently in the Tower, and tomorrow we will begin your Battle Weaves training. Do you have any questions recruit?" She stayed on the brink of the power as she had seen one girl try and kill herself already and would not let that happen again in her presence...

 

Jaydena Restona Mckanthur

Green Ajah Head and Sitter

Her hands were clenched in tight fists at her sides and she fought the desire to punch the woman squarely in the mouth. Surely this had to be some cruel joke, a test to see if she had the back bone to stand her ground? She longed to turn and glare at Loraine for not telling her the vile truth of her situation.  Even as she argued in her own head Kabria realized that this was no joke, it was reality and she would face it like she did everything else.

 

“If not for the three oaths I would think that you are lying to me.” Her voice was hard but she forced in a measure of respect for her Ajah Head. “ I cannot say that this…initiation makes me happy. In fact I am quite angry, but since it seems I have no choice…..I accept the strictures set upon me and will work very hard to try and be worthy of my Sisters and Green Ajah standards.”

 

Oh how it grated to think that she would still have to bow and scrape, at least when she was in her own halls. One small consolation was that the rest of the world would see her for what she was.

“I do have one question, if I may” she waited for Jaydena to nod before speaking. “Am I to assume that since I am a babe that I cannot bond until my new lessons are at an end?”

So hoped that it wasn’t too soon to ask this question, but with Perivar waiting she had to know. She could almost feel Loraine’s smile, for she knew the depth of their relationship

 

Loraine closed her eyes, biting the inside of her lip as Kabria's question about bonding hung in the air between the newest Green and the Captain General. The girl was eager to claim her warder, though she couldn't imagine anyone else getting close enough to him to claim him before she had the chance. These questions never went over well, though she hoped Jade would not react as violently as some other Captain General's she'd known. This was harder than she'd thought, being torn between knowing the girl sitting in front of Jade and knowing this was for the best. It was right up there with watching her youngest son swinging a pair of scithes around like they were his toys. She'd warned him so many times that there came a point when she'd had to step back and let him hurt himself. He'd not touched them, since. Would Kabria require blood before she learned to step back?

Jaydena watched the girl carefully, she could see Kabria's hands clenched at her hands. She had to be prepared for anything as anything could happen in these cases. “If not for the three oaths I would think that you are lying to me.  I cannot say that this…initiation makes me happy. In fact I am quite angry, but since it seems I have no choice…..I accept the strictures set upon me and will work very hard to try and be worthy of my Sisters and Green Ajah standards.” Jaydena let out a small sigh of relief though her face stayed calm and serene. She had long ago trained herself not show any emotion, even when she was dying inside. Very few got past that shell and these days no one did. She had been hurt far to many times to let anyone into her heart again. Her heart was much like the clay she fired to ease her pain during the lonely hours of the night, it was hard as a rock. Though she had to be careful for clay broke when it was dropped and her heart was always in danger of breaking.

 

“I do have one question, if I may.” She almost winced, they always had questions and those usually involved them trying to prove how wrong she was and how much smarter they were in their limited years. Maybe if they had seen their warders and friends die they wouldn't think they were so wise. Perhaps they wouldn't be so fast to be a Green and take on the Shadow. “Am I to assume that since I am a babe that I cannot bond until my new lessons are at an end?” Jaydena arched an eyebrow and folded her hands at her waist, she leaned back into her chair and spoke, "You know in all my years that is the first time I have ever had someone ask me that question. I assume you ask for worry over the person you would like to bond and not some misguided attempt to keep someone else from bonding your intended. For let me warn you, no one in this Ajah will take a future warder from you knowing you have bonded in soul at least. I am sorry but you will not be allowed to bond that person until you are fully a Green, I also had to wait to be raised to bond my intended, and so I know how difficult this will be for you. However I believe you to be a true canidate for the Green Ajah, and I know you will be able to handle the wait. Do you have any more questions before Loraine takes you on your tour."

 

Jaydena Mckanthur