The cool night air flew through his hair as he ran along the battlements. Crickets chirped in the distance and if you listened carefully you could hear the bats wings flapping in the sky. Other animals could be heard, owls hooting in the distance, bull frogs bellowing in the ponds around the grounds, and the gentle sighs of the biggest animal awake that night, man. Wearing padded shoes, barely more than the soft slippers that the rich preferred indoors, but harder and more rough, his feet made nothing more than a gentle pitter patter along the stone ramparts. The guards stationed every so often had torches that took away their night vision, constricting their pupils so that the evenings mysteries were all but hidden from them. He stayed away from the guards, not wanting to ruin his own eyesight. His cloak flared behind him as he ran, blowing out behind like some dark green flag. It was not quite as good as a warder's cloak, but it had served him well over the years. There were arrow holes in one or two places, each a lesson learned long ago about just how important stealth was.

 

As he reached a door to a staircase, he paused. Guards he could not see to the left and to the right, but that did not mean he was alone. Feeling the door handle, he slowly gripped the latch and lifted it. There was no squeak. The door was obviously well oiled and taken care of, so his little grease cloth would remain in his pocket until later use. Minutes passed as he opened the door, moved in, and than shut it behind him. Haste made waste, a teacher had once told him, and he had taken that to heart. Inside was darker than the night outside. Midnight was not as dark. At least a person had the moon in stars outside to light their way. Inside, however, it was pitch black. Luckily, he knew these buildings, and with careful work he was able to move his way down the stairs without making any noise. Once at the bottom, he had to be even more careful. Sometimes guards liked to catch quick cat naps while on duty, and an empty stair such as this would be a perfect place to catch a few winks. It would not do to step on a sleeping guard, whose cries would certainly arouse the others. The light was with him this dark night, and he passed without finding a soul. Finding the door took a little time, but in no time, he was once more out into the night.

 

There was no running now. Things had to be precise as he moved slowly through the night. Men avoided the shadow in their hearts, but in his mission tonight, he embraced them. From dark spot to dark spot, he crept through the yards, a silent ghost who no man could see. He spotted a group of youngsters standing by a shed. His targets. He had given them all letters telling them to arrive at this spot at midnight for stealth training, placed in their pockets, unbeknownst to them, as they had went about their day. Some were just leaning, bored, while others were attempting to stay alert as he had instructed, watching for his coming. He smiled. They had so much to learn. He crawled in the shadows near the wall until he got up close to the shed. It was a small thing, and made of old, course stone. Waiting until he was sure no one was looking, he grabbed his cloak around him and sprinted to the back wall of the shed. He held his breath, even though he desperately wanted to suck down air, making sure none had noticed his approach. They had not. Gripping the natural hand holds the coarse stone provided, he limbered up to the roof. It only took minutes, but it seemed hours. Making sure that he made no noise and was still able to move upwards was not easy, and by the time he reached the roof, sweat was running down his face like little rivers. A casual back hand cleared that, and with hand over hand, foot over foot, he made his way across the roof of the shed. He was just near the lip of the roof when he stopped. A pouch from his belt came out, and from it he pulled several cloth wrapped pieces of metal. Undoing the thread, he hefted the bits of iron out into the sky, towards the stone path nearby. They landed with a clang. All at once the young ones became alert, stepping away from the shed, staring out into the blackness to see the source of the noise. With a fluid grace, he let himself drop from the roof, landing right behind the young ones on padded toes. As they stared, he stood up with a smile. A single sentence turned them around, looks of utter surprise on their faces. "I am Jasen Pontean, and your lessons in stealth have just begun."

 

Jasen Pontean

 

ooc. Hey, so go through finding your letter, arriving to the shed with what you think you will need, and introducing yourself to Jasen when he finally appears. Have fun!

Visar found a letter on his bunk in the afternoon.  Reading it, he was curious to find that someone wanted to teach him a stealth class.  Stealth: he hadn't really thought much of the word.  True, he knew a little about being sneaky at night, especially from trying to avoid the feared thief catchers when he was in Tear.  But it had always been someone else that knew how to sneak or hide at the right time.  When that person had not been there, most of the time Visar had been caught.

 

Well, he doubted he would take up thievery again any time soon, but knowing more about stealth would be useful, especially if he had to combat sneaky darkfriends as a Tower Guard some day.

 

He arrived at the shed mentioned in the letter, and met several other people.  Only, none of them seemed to know where their instructor was.  Maybe he was late?  some wondered.  Visar wasn't sure.  He thought the letter might have been some clever trainee's idea of a joke, and they would be caught violating their curfew after hours because of it.

 

He was just about to leave when a muffled metallic sound hit nearby.  Visar tensed reflexively, and drew his dagger, backing away from the shadows of the shed.  Someone or something was out there, and the murders in the yards were all too recent for him to let his guard down.

 

Suddenly someone landed in their midst.  Visar whirled, his eyes wide in shock.  He clenched his dagger, briefly trying to figure out if this was an enemy or not.

 

"I am Jasen Pontean, and your lessons in stealth have just begun."

 

Once this Jasen had spoken, Visar relaxed his guard a little. "Blood and bloody ashes, you scared me!" he exclaimed, then laughed aloud to try to relieve the tension.

 

"Visar's my name. How did you do that, anyway?"

 

 

 

Llewelyn was carefully checking each pocket of every clothes that would accompany him to his weekly laundry trip along the river before folding them into a wooden basket. It was foolish to fold dirty and sweaty clothes but his mother had raised him into that habit with the simple reason that folded clothes left more room in his basket to put more clothes...

As he was checking the jacket he had been wearing during his last training session, he discovered a piece of paper he had no recollection of ever putting in one of its pockets. With arched eyebrows, he slowly unfolded what seemed to be instructions for a stealth class. The irony of the situation didn't escape him : he had no inkling that someone had put that paper here while he was wearing his jacket. If it was that Jasen Pontean guy that had slipped the note in Llewelyn's pocket, he was pretty much the right person to teach a steath class. And the boy was always up to learn something new.

 

Of course, their class would take place at night - coud there be more fitting a time ? - but Llewelyn was pretty sure that the teacher had asked the Mistress of Trainees, Thera special curfew permission for all those who attended, or would it be part of the training as well ?

 

In such a case, Llewelyn carefully chose the clothes he would wear that night : nothing too colourful or bright, black, dark brown and grey only ; nothing too extravagant, or that would hamper his movements. Well, that was about most of his clothes, since a peasant has no money to buy coloured or frilly clothes...

 

Finally set, Llewelyn headed on time to the appointed meeting place without being noticed. There, he met with Visar and several others and hoped they wouldn't wait too long for a group this size would attract unwanted attention for sure. He sat cross-legged, his back leaning against a nearby tree trunk as was his habit when waiting for someone. After some time, Visar among others seemed gradually irritated as their wait dragged on, but Llewelyn under the cover of the leaves wasn't as tensed as them.

Yet he jumped as high as the others when a faint sound of metal pierced the silent night, quickly followed by some blurred movements at the corner of his eye. Llewelyn spun his head toward a stranger who wore a grin on his face and presented himself as none other than their stealth teacher, Jasen Pontean.

 

The brisk laugh of Visar gave Llewelyn another scare. Another loud noise and the guards would be swarming about the place and the trainees would find themselves in Thera's office before they could explain their situation. Thus, Llewelyn went to Visar's side and presented himself to their teacher in a much lower voice than his companion while he gave him a friendly pat in the back and grinned.

 

"I'm Llewelyn Naese. Forgive that loud mutt, he has much to learn in this class."

 

 

(OOC : *wink* No hard feeling, heh Visar ? Besides, now you can pester me for being a zealous student...)

Elyan walked into his room, greeting Edana who was sitting on her bunk. Grabbing his fletching supplies and several ashen shafts out of his chest,  he took a seat on the bed. Something in his rear pocket crinkled when he sat down. Curious, he pulled it out and read it. He finished the letter with a chuckle and looked at Edana while gesturing to it. “Did you get one of these,” he asked, “The man’s a show off if you ask me,” he said looking over the letter again. “What is he trying to pull having us meet in the yards at midnight, and we are supposed to be watching for him.” He said shaking his head, “Why, so he can prove that he can sneak up on us? I’d be more impressed if he did so during the day.” He folded the letter and placed it back in his pocket, “Sorry,” he said, controlling his irritation, it was probably that someone was able to place a note in his pocket without him noticing, he must be getting too used to feeling secure in the Tower grounds. He thought he could remember who placed the letter, he did not let many people get close to him, but he wasn’t positive, that only served to raise his irritation. “I spoke rashly without thinking, not sure what came over me.” He looked up at Edana, “Anyway, I’m not going to give him the pleasure of catching me off guard, I’m not going to be where he expects.”

 

One of the greatest advantage someone has when trying to find someone, is that they can never be sure where and when they are being watched. Asking to give up that advantage ensured that the instructor would be able to get past their watch. This was a test of their skills, and one Elyan was planning on passing. 

 

Elyan walked past the guards to the city giving them a small nod, and receiving a questioning stare in return, even explaining the circumstances to them did not prevent that. His dark grey clothes were snug, and he padded along on cloth wrapped feet. From head to toe he had plastered mud from the river bed, it helped to break up his outline to observers. He did not wear a cloak, if it caught the wind at the wrong time it could give him away. A rope was wrapped around his waist with a small hook tucked into it, both were of dark color. Four knives with dark handles were fastened to his mid-section, their blades were oiled so they would not catch the light. His tools resided in a back pocket, padded so they did not make noise as he moved. Nothing on him swung free to cause unwanted motion or to hinder his movement. Many years of staying concealed had taught him methods to make himself unnoticeable. Normally he preferred to stay hidden in plain view, but this was not a night for those tactics.

 

He arrived at the yards an hour before they were supposed to meet. Moving around behind the buildings so that he would not be seen, he climbed a small building that was thirty feet from shed. Crouching on his hands and feet he settled down to wait, the shadow of the roof would keep him in the dark and he was low enough that his form would not contrast with the sky wall behind him if someone scanned the roof tops.

 

In front of the shed, other trainees started to arrive, some lounging waiting for the instructor to show. About half of them scanned the shadows anticipating his arrival. Elyan watched the darkness too, paying close attention to the path that he would have taken to get to the shed unnoticed. It would have been easy enough for a man, even an unskilled one, to pass through the yards without being spotted. A flicker of motion brought Elyan’s attention to the back of the shed, which he had a clear view of from where he was positioned. A man was starting to climb up the back of the shed, Elyan frowned while watching him. He was good to have gotten behind the trainees without being spotted, but Elyan’s plan had worked, their instructor thought that he was no longer being watched and so deemed that it was more necessary to focus on minimizing the amount of noise he made climbing instead of keeping himself concealed. There were things to be learned from this teacher, he thought, watching the surprise of the trainees at suddenly having a man in their presence. Elyan landed lightly on padded feet and walked swiftly to the group, choosing to stand at the back of them rather than be in there midst. Not wanting to intrude, he held his peace until he was bidden to speak.

 

Edana was stretched on her side, reading a letter that had mysteriously appeared with her overcoat during training. It was interesting, though she had to admit... she had no skills in Stealth. Elyan walked through the door, and Ed waved, but focused on the letter a moment longer. “Did you get one of these,” he asked, drawing her attention away from the letter in her hand. She smiled, waving hers at him wordlessly. He didn't give her any time to reply, anyway. She grinned as he went on a little rant about the instructor showing off. While he apologized, he still had to get the last jab in. It made her grin wider.

 

She rested as much as she could before midnight, then gathered her things and made her way down to the assigned spot. She had no problem with the instructor knowing she had little, if any, training the ways of hiding and stealth. Her job had been to spot those trying to sneak by, not to actually be doing the sneaking, after all. As if on cue, she caught the flash of metal out of the corner of her eye. She turned towards it, her hand on the hilt of the sword at her hip. Another sound behind her turned her back that direction and she eased the tenseness in her shoulders as she recognized a face she'd seen around the Grounds.

 

"Blood and bloody ashes, you scared me!" Edana had to laugh with Visar. More because the curse seemed genuine than because it was funny. She shook her head slightly, either way.

 

"I am Jasen Pontean, and your lessons in stealth have just begun." Edana nodded, though she had to admit Elyan was right about his showing off. If he'd been after their attention, apparently he had it. She wrinkled her brow, turning her head as she realized that Elyan wasn't there. Her eyes found him and she shook her head, waiting for him to get closer. "Now who's showing off?" she asked, elbowing him playfully.

 

~Edana

 

Jasen counted the trainees as they came up to introduce themselves. Visar was first. The young man looked a little spooked, but his surprise had quickly dissolved after seeing who it was that had snuck up on them. "Well lad, I'm going to show you exactly how I infiltrated your circle. Well, at least I'm going to show you the basics. I've been doing this for quite some time now." Moving on, he looked to the next two trainee. Llwelyn and Edana. But that's only three, where is the other? They should all be here by now. As he was looking around, he noticed something trying very hard to move about the night. [Ahh, this must be our fourth pupil. I think I will let him continue and see how well he does.[/i] He only had to wait a few moments, casually keeping track of the shadow out of the corner of his eye as it approached. Before their fourth member joined them, Jasen turned around and opened the shed.

 

"Elyan!" Jasen's voice carried through the night. He was not shouting, but his voice was not kind and friendly as it had been with the other trainees. The young man would have to learn that if he wished to join the ranks of the guards, let alone the warders, he would have to do as he told. "I told you to wait outside this shed at midnight, not to be gallivanting throughout the night." The young man tried to say something, but Jasen cut him off. "I should drag you to the Mistress of Trainees right now; I'm sure she would love to be woken up at this time of night to deal with a young man who was wandering around the yards disobeying direct orders." Still with his back to the trainees, Jasen thought he could hear a worried breath. A smile almost worked it's way to Jasen's lips, but he quickly stamped it down. Now was not the right time to be laughing. Rummaging through the shed, Jasen continued. "I don't think I'm going to do that. I have another way to punish you for disobedience. By the end of this night, you might wish I had woken up the mistress." Grabbing a bow, a satchel of arrows, and a large rolled up bundle, he faced the trainees once more. "Come on, we have a special place for the first night's training."

 

Jasen led the troupe outside of the yards. They walked for a good half hour, the moon slowly moving overhead, keeping track of the time. Down the streets of Tar Valon they went, until they began to hear the sounds of animals. Crickets, frogs, owls, and all sorts of other night time noises slowly came to their ears as they came upon the Ogier Grove at the south of the city. The tall trees cast huge shadows, but spread out through the towering trunks, there could be seen large braziers with flickering flames. They made a collection of wavering orange lights, and as Jasen led them through the first few trees, he could see the confused looks of the trainees. Jasen remembered when he had gone through this very training, and remembered the confusion they obviously felt. I wonder if my teachers wanted to laugh as loudly as I do right now. Knowing them, probably more. They arrived at a stump in the ground, and sticking out from the middle was a large flag. Jasen stopped the group, and set his things down. It was time to begin.

 

"Our first lesson is going to be movement from shadow to shadow. When you are trying to infiltrate a place, stick to the shadows. It is far easier to avoid notice in places that are to dark for people to see. I have set torches throughout the trees to create more shadows, so that this task will be easier. Now, the human eye detects movement, so be careful about how you move. Sometimes moving quickly will help you evade notice, but other times, it will draw all eyes to you. Also, if you must pause, try to stay crouched. If you can hide parts of your body so your shadow does not resemble a person, that's even better. Now your goal tonight will be to get from this stump to another one a ways to the east. It will also have a flag, and will be flanked by two torches so it can be seen easier. Now, Elyan, for disobeying me, you will have to wear this.' Jasen tossed the young man the bundle. Unwrapping it, he groaned when he realized it was a bright white coat. "Now, you will wear this throughout tonight, and if you stain it, I expect you to clean it." Hefting his bow, Jasen pulled out one of his arrows. It looked normal, except that the tip was covered with padded rags and no point. "Now, as you move throughout the woods, I will also be out there with my bow. If I see you moving, I will shoot you. Don't worry, these won't kill you, but they will hurt terribly. If you get hit, head back to this flag and start again. You are to begin once you hear my horn. Tonight's training will end with dawn, so if you hear another horn blast, you are all to return here and we will return to the yards. Good luck to all of you." With that, Jasen disappeared into the dark. Not trying to sneak through the forest, it only took him ten minutes or so to jog to the other flag. Raising the horn to his lips, he blew out a short blast. The arrow came to his bow smoothly. The smile finally broke free. It was time to hunt trainees!

 

Jasen Pontean

 

ooc. All right, this is pretty simple. Get from one side to the other, and watch out for arrows!

OOC: Sorry for being late, was on LOA ^^;

 

IC:

 

As the lesson was about to get underway, a form was seen sprinting across the Yards, though far less stealthy than Jason -- or even Elyan -- had done earlier. Like the other four, Melenis had recieved a letter as well, but had had her hands full up until recently, which unfortunately hadn't enabled her to make it to the shed on time. Once there, she noticed there was nobody there, and she wondered if the lesson would be held elsewhere.

 

What had started as a routine check by the Yellow Ajah had taken a turn for the worse as they decided to run more tests, and if there was one thing she was aware of it was that when it came to the Infirmary, you weren't going to leave without the Yellow's permission no matter what you needed to do. At least she had managed to get a written letter though that she could use as proof.

 

Still, even though she didn't know much about stealth, she knew how to track, and a group of five would undoubtedly leave footprints. A quick scan of the ground told her she was right. There were no clouds, and the moon gave off enough light for her to see by as she followed the trail leading out of the yards and into the nearby Ogier Grove. Squinting, she could make out a human shape in the distance, and broke out in a run again so as not to be too late.

 

Upon arriving, she noticed Visar and Llewelyn standing there, recognising them from the lesson she had given them. The others she did not recognise, though she wondered why one of them was wearing a bright white outfit. While she was grateful that he had -- it certainly made spotting them much easier -- she couldn't help but wonder just why he would be wearing that during a class on Stealth. Her fellow students filled her in on what they were supposed to do, and she decided to let a few of them go on ahead so that they could fill Jasen in that another person had arrived for the lesson.

 

 

Melenis

Had both survival classes ;D

Edana's eyes widened at the coat in Elyan's hands, then watched their instructor disappear into the woods. She sighed. There were two ways to handle this. One, forget Elyan and let him fend for himself, since he was the one who had to try to show off to begin with. Or two, help the silly trainee make it across this distance without getting hit... too much. She muttered and turned to him, her hands on her hips. "Please let this teach you not to go showing off? Some day, it'll get you killed!"

 

She smirked and looked over her shoulder as the horn sounded and those around them disappeared. "Now, if you're going to make it to that post without being bruised from head to foot, you're going to have to work with me. The moon is rather bright, so it'll take some work, but it's not impossible. You can't hide in shadows, you'll have to hide behind something. While I'm not big enough for you to hide behind, I'll help you find what is." She raised her eyebrows, waiting on him to answer. "What do you think?"

 

~Edana

adopting Elayn, it seems...