As Dante and Visar rounded yet another corner around the wall for their patrol Dante smiled as they approached the front gate. "I remember coming here years ago. Standing in front of that gate wondering where my life would be. I was so afraid and it was obvious. I see trainees coming to enlist with that same look... cracks me up." he said as they passed yet another trainee hopeful who did indeed look fearful.

 

"Thera chewed me out so badly I thought I had done something wrong by coming here. I kept asking myself what I had gotten myself into."

 

Visar has been quiet all morning. It wasnt easy to get the guy to talk sometimes but Visar never backed down from a challenge either so Dante often brought him out of the place he was hiding in in his mind with a few well placed words.

 

"So are we going to practice later or or does your arm still hurt from our last practice? I can find a trainee to practice with for you if it does. How about him?" Dante said as he pointed at the worst trainee swordsman on the yard that he could find.

 

Visar stopped and looked at Dante. (Probably wondering if Im serious or not.) However Dante's smile showed that he was goading the man to speak up.

They made their usual patrol, Dante with his usual need to keep a conversation going when there was no need for one.  As they passed by the front gate, Visar listened to Dante explain about his fear when first going there.  It was a common thought.  He too had been fearful when he had first arrived at the White Tower, yet for another reason as well as being intimidated by its size and reputation.  He had been afraid of his past for so long, yet now it didn't bother him as much to talk about it.

 

Visar let Dante talk, let him get it out of his system.  He didn't feel like he had any words of wisdom of particular importance to add.  Rather, he wondered what life might be like in five years.  Would he still be at the Tower?  Or would he go somewhere else?  And where to, if then?  Visar had no idea.  He was interrupted out of his pondering by Dante probing him for an answer.

 

"So are we going to practice later or or does your arm still hurt from our last practice? I can find a trainee to practice with for you if it does. How about him?"

 

Visar saw who Dante was looking at, and fought the urge to glare back at Dante.  He made a wry grin.

"Dante, you know I could beat him even without my right arm." he boasted. He was only half serious, since he could barely wield a sword competently in his left, but the trainee which Dante had pointed out had shown himself to be quite mediocre. 

 

"No, You'd best stick with practicing against me.  My arm will be good as new in a week if you don't try to break it again.  Which you had better not."

Visar added, lightly punching Dante in the shoulder with his left fist.

 

"What brought that on, anyway?" Visar asked, curious.  "Wishing you were still a trainee or something?"

Dante shrugged at Visar's question. "I didnt enjoy my trainee days so much. I was so busy trying to keep a low profile because I didnt want my brother to know I was there that it was a lonely two years of training, reading, and day dreaming about Addison." He added the last with his usual grin. Women usually fell all over Dante if not directly in his lap. It was the ones who had no interest in him what so ever that he was usually attracted to though.

 

"How about you? Do you miss those days all?" He didnt see much of Visar in those days so didnt have any idea what his days were like. He was practically invisible but not in the same Sandre could be. Sandre's ability with stealth almost made Dante envious.

"I didnt enjoy my trainee days so much. I was so busy trying to keep a low profile because I didnt want my brother to know I was there that it was a lonely two years of training, reading, and day dreaming about Addison."

 

Visar frowned, surprised at hearing something serious from Dante for a change.  He sympathised with not enjoying the trainee experience as much, though he felt that way for different reasons.  Visar was not exactly sure who Addison was, but he assumed it was a woman, possibly one of Dante's interests.  He idly wondered what the story behind that relation was, but didn't want to ask.  Some men could be touchy when asked about women that they had not worked out with.

 

"How about you? Do you miss those days all?"

Visar considered for a moment before replying.

 

"Not really.  Most of the time I was a trainee, well, before I was sentenced to five years, that is, I was afraid to talk about my past. I didn't tell anyone for a while what my real reason was for being here instead of in Tear where I'm from.  It took your brother to coerce me into finally telling the truth, and confessing it to the White Tower authorities.  Although I was punished for my crimes, I feel better that I did the right thing and told the truth.  So I don't miss that dishonest aspect of my trainee life at all, and I'd rather leave it behind me."

 

Visar hoped he didn't have to explain in too much detail what his crimes had been.  Dante could look them up in the Tower logs if he so wished.

 

"Yet, not all my trainee days were overridden with my feelings of guilt.  Most of the time I was training, I was thinking of how difficult it was starting out to train as a warrior.  I remember one time... Myself and a few other trainees were doing some fitness exercises at a creek, and we were trying to balance on the barrels.  I thought I had finally succeeded in standing on the barrel for ten seconds, and shouted out with excitement.  But in that moment, I was distracted and...Smack!  Knocked the wind right out of me."

 

"But before I go on about too many stories...How bout you?  What was the most memorable injury you took while a trainee?"

"Most memorable injury." He said as they continued walking. He shook his head. "I never paid attention to where I was stepping in the bath houses... slipped and went down a few steps. Cracked my head open and had to walk bear ass naked across the yards to the yellows for healing because of how serious the injury was... I could care less for the towel staying on at the time."

 

He was thankful it was so late at night. A lot more people could have seen him. He stopped for a moment to check an oil lantern on a pole a few feet from the walls. It needed more oil before the night so he made a mental note to pick some up on his next round.

 

"How was sword training for you? I had to break old habits learned while training with the house men at arms. Was a rough thing for me otherwise I might be as good with a blade as you are by now."

"How was sword training for you? I had to break old habits learned while training with the house men at arms. Was a rough thing for me otherwise I might be as good with a blade as you are by now."

 

Visar frowned.  There could be bad habits when training elsewhere?  He hadn't thought of that.  Usually when people mentioned their having some martial training elsewhere, Visar felt that people like Dante had an advantage over him, since they had studied combat for much longer.

 

"I'm only proficient with my sword. I still have many techniques to learn and perfect, same as you.  Perhaps it would be unfair to try to compare our skills, since we have slightly different ways of fighting with our different weapons.  But as to my sword training..."

 

"I had absolutely no martial training whatsoever before I came here, and I must say I'm surprised I've picked up as much as I have in such a short amount of time.  The only "combat" I had seen were in street fights and tavern brawls, and even then those were mostly with other teenagers who didn't know how or wish to kill.  Not usually the same thing as fighting for real, as I've come to understand.  I had great difficulty adjusting to the training here.  Although the physicality of it was not impossible for me, since I have always been in decent shape, the mentality escaped me for some time.  Just wasn't used to the idea of striking at someone with a lathe as if I meant to kill, and a lot of trainees had the same problem, I recall.  And at first, I was extremely afraid of being hit by the lathes.  I'd try to back up and get out of the way more often than not, but I discovered that I did better with other newcomers if they were the ones backing up from my blows.  Granted, I still have the problem of rushing in overconfident.  It keeps getting pounded into my skull that I need to be prudent and cautious just as much as courageous and audacious in my fencing, but in practice, easier said than done.  True, I'm much better than I was as a trainee, but I've still got a long way to go.  Maybe I'll get there one of these days,"  Visar concluded hopefully with half a grin.

 

"What else do you remember about being a trainee?" he asked Dante, keeping the conversation going as they checked the perimeter.  Another lantern's oil was low other than the one Dante had seen, but it would last until the next patrol was sent out to replenish it.

"I remember rushing into every fight with too much confidence... I get lost in the thrill of my life hanging by a thread... I can become a machine but tend to forget that I am not immortal.. a horrible flaw I still work on."

 

Dante stopped and idly pulled out some jerked beef covered in various forms of pepper. Without asking he handed some to Visar. It would take time but Visar would eventually come to like the overly spiced food that both Dante and Sandre enjoyed.

 

"I met someone you know the other day... a Rasheta Sedai... how did you meet her and did she react as badly to you as she did to me? I swear the woman hated me from the first moment she saw me."

 

He stopped for a moment to gaze at a copse of trees and bushes to make sure no one was hiding inside while he waited on Visar to respond. (This ought to be good)

Visar grunted softly.  It seemed both of them needed to work on rushing in heedlessly.  He accepted the jerky without much thought and gnawed on a corner.  He coughed in surprise at the spice, but did not stop chewing on it.  His eyes might water and his tongue might feel on fire, but he still liked spicy food well enough not to complain.

 

"I met someone you know the other day... a Rasheta Sedai... how did you meet her and did she react as badly to you as she did to me? I swear the woman hated me from the first moment she saw me."

 

Visar smiled slightly as Dante mentioned Rasheta, though he could hardly imagine the woman hating anyone, much less Dante's jovial nature.

 

"How I met her...I think it was when I was weeding in the gardens, I fell backwards while pulling a tough one out, and Boom! crashed right into her, soil and everything!"  Visar paused for dramatic effect, leaving Dante to imagine what might have happened to him before concluding that nothing out of the ordinary happened.

 

"I was surprised I got off with hardly a scratch!  Normally you get months of chores or some worse punishment for crashing into an Aes Sedai, but she barely seemed to mind, even blamed herself for it or something like that, like she could have used her power to prevent it.  She seemed more interested in knowing who I was than what I had to do to make it up to her...  Sometimes I don't understand her honestly...Do you know why she might have behaved that way?"

 

 

An Aes Sedai could have a million reasons to visit a man and if he was lucky he might figure out one. Some of them liked to breed horses or cats. Dante had never ruled out the possibility that they might be trying to breed better warders either. They would live long enough to try for sure. Coming from a house that descended from an Aes Sedai and Warder... a noble house that took their mates based on ability and intelligence rather than noble blood... well Dante often wondered if they were part of that effort, and if not, why did they hide their origins from the White Tower. His father would say nothing on the matter.

 

"Theres been a lot of Aes Sedai in the yards lately... seeking Warders mostly. It makes me nervous Visar. Everyday in the yards... I knew how my brother was lured here... they lured me here too. My house came from an Aes Sedai and Warder... the Warder died thirty years after the White Tower was told both were killed and the Aes Sedai many many more. We have hid our origins but the way they look at me sometimes I have to ask myself if they knew all along."

 

You never truly escape the eyes of the White Tower his father had said. As Dante gazed at the Tower he knew somewhere inside lay a vault of the the Greens with memorials to their fallen. Somewhere among those was a memorial to a Green and her Warder, a Warder who was once a Black Smith named Kaldun.

 

"Underneath all the pretending they are still women who need our protection every bit as much as the world needs theirs. Instinct tells them still that being a warrior is desirable in a man... perhaps that was it?:

 

His smile was genuine. He meant what he said. He patted his partners shoulder and they continued their patrol. He stopped when Visar stopped at a bush with a broken twig. It was fresh. He didnt know how Visar knew all these little tricks for the job but paid close attention as Visar then found tracks. Dante meant to ask him later how he had found those too, or knew where to look. Sure enough a few steps into some trees and brush later and they were forcing two trainees in the middle of a coupling to get dressed and report to the Mistress of Trainees to report their actions. Dante could only shake his head after they sent to the two running. If another killer had been present those two would be sitting ducks... he looked at his partner and knew who the better man at this was. "You will have to teach me these tricks you know some day. So what was your favorite class?"

"Theres been a lot of Aes Sedai in the yards lately... seeking Warders mostly. It makes me nervous Visar. Everyday in the yards... I knew how my brother was lured here... they lured me here too. My house came from an Aes Sedai and Warder... the Warder died thirty years after the White Tower was told both were killed and the Aes Sedai many many more. We have hid our origins but the way they look at me sometimes I have to ask myself if they knew all along.  Underneath all the pretending they are still women who need our protection every bit as much as the world needs theirs. Instinct tells them still that being a warrior is desirable in a man... perhaps that was it?"

 

Visar frowned as he listened to Dante, and shrugged the pat on the shoulder away, not feeling in a great mood.  He had not thought before of Aes Sedai as always seeking Warders to protect or love them, yet that made sense. He had seen some women that might have been Aes Sedai looking at him strangely when he was practicing or sparring particularly rigorously.  Perhaps some of them thought him a prime "candidate", but he doubted that.  None had introduced themselves to him.  surely they would do that if they were even remotely interested in a warder bond. 

 

But no, he thought.  Nobody would want to bond me with my criminal history, and I have to serve for five years in the Tower Guard anyway.

 

Visar saw a randomly broken twig and stopped, eager for some other detail to push any thoughts of bonding from his mind.  I'm not ready for that anyway...what's this?  he thought as he found tracks, indicating that someone had passed here recently.  As he and Dante followed the tracks, they caught two trainees doing something they shouldn't.  It didn't take much to send them running back to the Mistress of Trainees, though Visar wondered if they would do that or try to hide and get away with it despite the fact that Dante and he would report it in the logs.

 

"You will have to teach me these tricks you know some day. So what was your favorite class?"

 

Dante seemed to have thought that Visar had some skill in tracking.  He shook his head,

"No trick, it just caught my eye.  I'm not trained to do that sort of thing yet, though perhaps I have an eye for it.  Maybe I should talk to that warder who was a Tracker?  What was his name...?  Let's see, My favorite class?  I doubt I have a favorite...Oh there was that city survival course I took once.  That was one of the most thrilling classes I ever took.  I was able to hide and run circles around some of the other trainees that weren't used to big cities.  It took the instructor two days to find me too and tell me the class was over!  Such a difference from that other time where I got lost trying to find a certain stall in the market.  Your brother fetched me out of trouble with that one too. I think that's when I first met him... I had hurt myself and ended up going to a picnic with some other trainees!"

 

Visar laughed, remembering the strange but fun times of that picnic by the river.

 

"How about you, Dante?"

 

It took Dante more than a few minutes to think about that one. Finally he settled on one. "Basic first aid... I was top of the class and learned a lot about the body." It was a rather bland answer. Of course it was a needed class to make better killers as well. However Dante had taken it to the next level and learned more on the topic than was required. Rare for him to get into an academic like that.

 

"As for your criminal history remember that Aes Sedai have died for having Warders who discover that after all that training they are afraid to kill. Having one who has proven he can do whats needed will appeal to someone."

 

He shook his head. If he didnt say otherwise he wondered if Visar would have any confidence at all.

 

"Lets get back so we can call it a day. I will make sure you dont get lost on the way." he said with a grin. He wasnt going to mention how lost he was just on the yards his first day.