Rain drops came down hard and those who did not have to be out, decided to stay in and dry their soaked clothes and drink hot tea and soup to get warm. Lyv was among them, she had just finished a morning watch on the North tower and was now warming herself over some broth while her wet clothes were drying over a peg in her room. The warm fresh clothes, the warm broth and the company of other guards around her made Lyv feel comfortable again soon. She had a good time talking to a young recruit who was soon after sent out for training, none pitied him as trainees had to endure the same hardship as guards and rain or no rain, there was always training.

 

Lyv tilted her head as she watched him run off and smiled, then finished the warm drink and got herself a refill of tea, before settling and finding that Andular had taken a seat across from where she just sat. With a smile, Lyv greeted him and settled back in her seat as he finished the meal. She liked him and had not had much time to talk to him in a long while. Andular was bonded to Tiassale of the Green Ajah and they traveled quite a lot as part of her work. Lyv waited for Andular to finish his lunch and then said, “So, have you come back recently from long adventures in the dark borderlands?” her eyes gleamed in curiosity and she wondered if he would up and leave or do her the pleasure of a conversation. After all, she was compared to him a bored tower guard who spent too little time outside of the Yards anyway. As the rain kept ticking outside, and the wind started to pick up, Lyv smiled and sipped on her tea.

 

Lyv Tylin

Master of PoW

Leaving the Green Ajah quarters Andular grumbled under his breath. Tia had been in one of her moods today and he had spent the better part of the morning fetching books and parchment for her. “The woman is more Brown than Green.”

 

His mood did not get any better as he walked outside into the falling sheets of rain that had turned the hard earth of the Warders yard to mud. Finding his way to the mess hall he hung his cloak up to dry by the fire and scanned the room. The sounds of soft laughter and conversation filled the room and the Warders mood lightened a bit. Stopping a trainee on duty he told the young woman he wanted a bowl of stew and a mug of warm cider brought to him. When she left he found a empty chair opposite a Tower Guard he knew from the yards named Lyv.

 

Sitting down he could feel Tia’s aggravation through the bond and smirked. Good the woman had found something that was as irritating as she could be at times. When Lyv spoke Andular looked up not realizing she was speaking to him at first. Her soft easy smile was contagious and he smiled back at her.

 

“The only adventures I have had the pleasure of recently are those involving a curious Green sister and a large room full of books and parchment.” Which was true to a point, his last foray out of the Tower with Tia had been a month ago when they had returned from Andor. His stew and cider arrived and the young girl placed it on the table and made a quick exit before he could thank her.

Lyv grinned and mused over what it would be like to work for an Aes Sedai. Not just on a chore which she did often enough as the Aes Sedai seemed to think that all tower guard were like unbonded warders, ready to run, but as her constant companion. She had heard the stories of how far that bond of companionship could go, leading into the bedroom or in a brotherhood that made the two souls almost act as one.

 

“Tiassale Sedai makes you run for books and parchment, when do you get to slay the trollocs then?” Lyv said it with a light mock and then turned her tone more serious, “Can she know that you are here? Aside from the fact that she can’t see you carrying her books, can she feel that you are right here? In the mess hall?”

 

Curiosity killed the cat and Lyv knew that warders might clamp shut when it came to talking about their bonded, but she had nothing to lose aside from a piece of conversation over lunch and waited patiently for Andular to finish his drink from the cup of cider.

Liitha scowled at the stallion, all in all she had descided to bring him along from the farm. She had used him as a packhorse into the town delivering some things for Elmira to her father, and then back to the yards. Her descision beeing based on that with him close she could spend her free moments trying to tame the beast. And more so she needed him now, though the one she had bougth after loosing Yazi would do, it was more all in all suited for breeding, it had the body but lacked the spirit.

 

It was two days since she was back, and this morning she had had some spare time, time she had used beeing tossed more then a handfull times. Though she knew that truth be told had she not had the skills in riding that her choises had lead her too it would have been worse.

 

Raising she whiped the worst of the mud off her pants, mounting again she steared the horse back to the stables and left him with the stablehands. She knew she would be bruised before evening, but rigth now she had only thougth for a good relaxing meal up in the mess hall.

 

After geting her lunch consisting of hot stew with bread on the side, and a glass of water, she looked around. The hall was filling up though over to one side she saw two familiar faces, her old mentor and an old friend. Walking over she sliped down on the bench after greeting both and making sure she didnt interupt and the seat was avaliable.

_______________

Swallowing a mouthful of stew Andular chuckled at Lyv’s inquisitive questions. “Well I did have to save Tia from a trolloc raid party once before we were bonded. The woman would loose her head if it was not attached. The bond lets Tia know what direction I am in and gives her a good idea of my proximity to her. She cannot however know I am in the mess hall at this moment unless she followed the bond to me.”

 

A familiar face slid onto the bench with him as Liitha joined them with her food. Greeting her Andular continued to eat his lunch. Lyv had a thoughtful look on her face so he decided to continue a bit more. “The bond lets Tia feel my mood and in turn allows me to know hers. Through it I can generally tell when she needs me or wishes to be left along.” Taking a drink of cider and sitting the cup down he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Oh and the bond allows me to sense shadow spawn when they are near.”

She had been able to hear the conversation subject even as she grew near and now listened closely to the answers. She sipped her water, she handnt touched alchol much since the day in the grove, but it was just cause she needed to trust herself again with herself. To be clearminded to get her thougths sorted, not cause she didnt plan to do it again, but then it would not be the same type of flight, it would be a more resoloute fligth.

 

Both her parents she was sure had done it from time to time, she just didnt need it, and was not about to go drink daily. No she would keep as clean as could but would allow herself relaxation when she deserved it.

 

Could you really sence shadowspawn, that for sertain was a usefull skill and news to her, or, she tried to think but couldnt remember what it was she had found out as a trainee. It was one thing that resent experinces made her wonder thoug, and after burning in for it a litle while she descided if there was any she could ask this of it was her old mentor.

 

"But how do you avoid geting insane, I mean she is Aes Sedai, they are born and breed to make peoples lose sanity." She had thougth she knew how well they could do that and how to avoid it, yet had been proven wrong and though somewhat seteling into it, she still had moments she wanted to scream her lungs out.

Leaving his cloak on a peg by the door, Aran brushed his leather breeches of the excess water. He couldn't believe his luck, a rainy day meant that he could weasal his way out of running about in the Yards. He could go spend some time in his room sleeping amongst other things. He might then go into the common room and play cards for awhile, maybe even invent something to do for the day. After all, a rainy day was just terrible conditions for training, he didn't want to get sick because that would damage his ability to perform his duties as a Tower Guard that were absolutely vital to the defence and protection of the Aes Sedai that resided in the marvellous White Tower that loomed above.

 

Yes, that was it.

 

Securing himself some hot soup and a couple of slices of bread, Aran was fairly sure it would do wonders for the slight chill he'd gotten from making his way from the Barracks to the Mess Hall. After all, he had to look after himself because he needed to be in top condition to serve the Tower. It was all for the Aes Sedai, as always, Aran had to stiffle a chuckle at that thought. He might be a Tower Guard but that was exactly why he knew what a pain in the arse Aes Sedai could be at times. It wasn't that they were necessarily stupid, it was more that they were intractable and didn't like being told what to do or take reasonable advice. Aran had always wondered whether it was pounded into them as Novices and Accepted or whether it was something that came with being able to channel, he hadn't been able to make up his mind on that one.

 

Finding a place to sit, he saw that Lyv was sitting with Andular and Liitha. He hadn't seen Lyv in awhile, she'd been so busy with her teaching with students like her cousin Sasha and other things that it felt like an age since he'd last sat down with her. Traipsing over with a certain jauntiness in his step, it was as he got closer that he realised that they were talking about bonds. Was Lyv or Liitha contemplating a bond? Who? Andular noticed him but with Lyv and Liitha's back were to him and what Liitha said as he got close made his lips quirk, in fact he couldn't help himself.

 

"Now thats just unfair." Grinning as the pair of women turned to him, Aran continued. "Thats not just Aes Sedai, thats all women." That got a grin out of Andular at least though it was smothered as Aran walked about the table and took his seat opposite Liitha, leaving the two women oblivious to Andular's reaction. Lyv was used to such comments from him, but he wasn't sure Liitha entirely approved. Still, he had a few things he could say about a bond. "When you've got someone in your head you have to make peace with them, otherwise its too difficult to function. More so for women than men with the bond because bonds are stronger between women than man and woman... So I've heard, what do you think Andular?"

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

 

OOC: I've set this post-Penguin which is my Bond studies thread, Aran was in a pseudo bond for a week. Not that thats well known, I think, unsure.

As Arab seated himself Andular finished the last of his stew and pushed the bowl away. Smiling at the man’s comments he knew the man to like to be have fun with people and he just hopped the two women were aware of it as well.

 

“Well in my experience Aran the Aes Sedai’s have the distinct advantage over us because they can mask the bond and hide what they do not want us to know.” Winking at Lyv he added. “But if you are good enough terms with your Sedai you can use it to irritate them as well and have some good fun.” Draining the rest of his cider he flagged down the serving girl and asked her to bring him another.

 

Curious about her questions the Warder folded his arms and sat back. “Why all the curiosity about the bond Lyv? Are you entertaining the idea becoming a Warder?” With a soft chuckle he added. “The fan cloak is a nice perk.”

 

 

ooc: sorry so short I don't know where else to go with it.

Liitha looked sidways at Aran, she sipped her water and took a spoon of stew. "You know some time ago i bumped into an old friend of you, or so he claimed anyway." Anton had been well not someone she would expect to see in the yard yet not as intolerable as Aran was in her mind, he didnt seem to hold anything in high regard, and sometimes she wondered what he did in this place.

 

Or so she had anyway, lately she had found herself again through a newfound understanding of who her parents had been, and why they had been as they had. Oh there had even been a while she acted out, looking back she had found she been through many a phase, then thougth herself growing up and geting out of it, just to well be thrown back in in a new unexpected way.

 

Mayhaps they got the rigth of it, and with her behaviour as of late she where not one to judge on how others should deal with the Aes Sedai. And in the end Aran goten quite far, there where a capable management in the yard, so he must have done something to get where he was.

 

No she found herself actualy not anoyed but understanding mayhaps of the joke, she was not about to show that thoug before she had had a chanse to get back in some way. It was another thing she had grown to love, wordplays. Her mind drifted to gray eyes, she realised her stew would grow cold at this rate and spooned in while listening to the conversation.

Smirking at the mention of having fun with the bond, Aran could certainly think of a few ways one could play with it. Those had definitely been some fun moments, they'd created a hurdle or two but nothing that couldn't be forged past. Masking the bond was something Aran only knew of as opposed to practicing though, for the week he had used the rings they had agreed not to mask the bond at all which had been quite the experience. No masks or barriers, complete access to each other's feelings. There was a lot of trust that was implicit with that, because even if you could mask yourself, you still revealed to someone that there were things that were hidden by the very act of it.

 

It was Liitha's words that threw him though, she had met someone that claimed to be an old friend of his? Grinning at her, Aran probed as he asked. "I have a lot of old friends, does this one have a name?"

 

"Yeah, I think his name was Anton."

 

"Anton?!" Laughing, Aran saw the recognition on Lyv's face as well. Lyv had travelled with him from Caemlyn to Tar Valon the last time he had visited which had been some years ago. If she had met him and hadn't mentioned it sooner, that meant that he was alright. At least, he'd better be alright. "We'll have to talk about him later at some point I think. It'd be nice to know where he turned up, he gets about everywhere."

 

"But, we were speaking of bonds." Smiling, Aran decided to continue. "Who is the lucky woman Lyv? Green maybe? Got to be careful about them." That got a look from Andular with his own bonded being a Green Sister, but Aran's smile turned to a grin as he continued. "Ones with multiple warders can be tricky, especially female warders. Not only can you feel each other's emotions, but sometimes they can leech into each other. Say you were bonded to an Aes Sedai and she was having a particularly bad day, you'd develop a foul mood in response to it if you don't watch it. And if you get a foul mood in response to hers, it feeds back which makes her worse in turn."

 

"If you've got an Aes Sedai with three or four warders, If a couple of them are angry, the influence exerts itself until they either stop being angry or you succumb. You'll also probably have to stop drinking, drunkenness filters through as well. How long has it been since you've had a decent night out Andular? Unless Tia has set aside nights?"

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

Lyv grinned at the story that Aran was laying out, it was true that she had more male friends these days than female friends and it had in part to do with all the emotions. Or maybe it was just easier to fight out a difference in a spar than with words and calm reasoning. “I’m not looking no, I was merely curious as I have not been bonded myself and yet so many around me seem to take this as the ultimate sacrifice to another being.” She noticed the frown on Andular’s face and decided to shut up here, she did not understand how someone else could give themselves completely to another. To give yourself and your life to an Aes Sedai to protect and serve her, but that did not mean that she could not respect this and appreciate that a lot of men and women were brave enough to become a Warder.

 

She decided to put her cards on the table and said, “There was a time when I was serious about becoming a Warder, the White Sister Leah Sedai was a close friend who taught me a lot about the mind and the workings of philosophy even in our work. I trusted her and was ready to give my life,” she stopped here and decided not to continue the story of how they finally grew apart and Leah decided to travel far without asking Lyv to join her. It was an odd situation that Lyv did noy like to dwell on. Besides, she was sure that some of her friends in the Yards already knew just by regarding the situation from a distance that Lyv was not warder-material. She knew it herself and had not tried to pursue the subject further with Leah. Nor with anyone else. “So, who’s up for another drink then?”

 

Lyv

 

OOC: Sorry for the immense delay, thanks a lot for not dropping this RP and hopefully we can continue?