A month after the battle at the Black Tower, Blue Eyes paid us another visit. This time, however, he was on orders from Logain, sent to deliver a message.
He arrived with another shift of Asha'man sent for Linking practice, and Della found him wandering around the grounds, apparently unaware of where the Hall was. She spotted him before he saw her, and playfully smacked him from before. He turned and hit her on the head a few times with the rolled up parchment, and tried to skip off, but Della grabbed the message from his hands.
Not realizing its importance, she unrolled it and read it. Inside, she found a message to the Hall from Logain, requesting assistance in finding information as to the whereabouts of the Dragon Reborn. The Salidar Tower was in a similar predicament - our Amyrlin, Egwene al'Vere had also gone missing during a mission to Tar Valon. I tried not to think about what it could mean for the Last Battle to have both towers leaderless.
Since Della didn't know anybody in the Hall or there whereabouts, she decided to take the message to Berrandra. Blue Eyes skipped along behind her, and touched her hair. Unaware of what he was doing, she shook her head and smiled - until her hair burst into flame.
She immediately dropped to the ground and rolled, smothering the flames. Now covered in dust, her hair singed and smoking, she rose furiously, and smacked him with all the force she could muster. Blue Eyes only grinned like an idiot, and Della took out her dagger and cut off the burned edge of her hair.
They had passed the weaponsmiths during all this, and Ryah, having witnessed the scene, ran up behind Blue Eyes and jabbed his bottom with an arrow. Blue Eyes yelped, clutching the sore area as Della and Ryah laughed, and that's how they were when I came across them.
I ran up to the three of them, happy to see the people I had begun to consider my friends gathered together. Blue Eyes turned to me, and pointed to his injury with a pouty face, wordlessly imploring me to heal him. Before I could, however, Della cut in and told me the whole story, fuming.
I was in an inexplicably, extraordinarily good mood that day, so the whole story set me laughing, but I refused to heal Blue Eyes as a punishment. He pouted some more, but Della shouted at him, "You deserve it all!"
I was still laughing. "Considering you are pain in the arse," I added.
Blue Eyes glared at the three of us and stomped off towards the woods. To be honest, I didn't feel very sorry for him - he'd started it, and deserved a lot more for the antics he always pulled. Besides, he never held grudges for very long. For whatever reason, he always came back to us.
Della showed me the message, and we went to show the message to Berrandra. Before we arrived at her tent, we sent Ryah away, remembering the trouble we had narrowly avoided at the Black Tower. Berrandra scanned the message, but her face remained expressionless, so there was no knowing what she was thinking. "Where did you get this message?" she finally asked us.
"We intercepted an Asha'man we knew we couldn't trust to deliver it to the Hall," answered Della.
As if on cue, the Berrandra's tent suddenly collapsed, and Blue Eyes fell in. "See!" shouted Della.
Berrandra told us she would take over from there and dismissed us. As we turned to leave, Blue Eyes suddenly snatched the message from Berrandra's fingers and he ran out. "Stop him!" ordered Berrandra. We ran after him, along with twelve novices who happened to be in the area. He stopped and held out his hand, palm up, towards them, but they kept coming. He put the message in his mouth; although I don't see how much harm his swallowing it could have done, as Berrandra had already read the message.
Ryah cussed in the Old Tongue, and we all stopped. One of the bolder novices, one known for her haughty attitude, asked him to give back the message, but he rolled his eyes at her, and walked into a large tent - the tent used for cuendillar crafting. He crawled under the back flap and headed towards the other large tent. This one was indeed the tent used for meetings of the Hall, and when we finally caught up with him, he was sitting crosslegged on the ground in the middle of the tent, waiting patiently.
The same novice again asked him to return the message to Berrandra Sedai, but she got more than she bargained for. He moved his fingers, and flames erupted at the hem of her dress. She screamed and fell to the ground rolling, as the other novices stamped out the flames.
Several Aes Sedai, drawn by the commotion, barged into the tent and promptly shielded him. Sheriam Sedai was one of them, and demanded to know what was happening. Blue Eyes petulantly handed over the message to her, which she unrolled and read. "Get the rest of the Hall over here. I'm calling an emergency meeting of the Hall, immediately."
The novices and we were ushered out, but Blue Eyes was retained for questioning. There was no use trying to eavesdrop, since a silence ward was cast around the tent. The three of us sat there and watched the camp, listening to people talk about that 'crazy Asha'man'.
After about forty-five minutes, Blue Eyes emerged. I went up to him. "I hope you didn't get in too much trouble. I don't even like the girl you set on fire, she was a real brat." He smiled widely at me, and gave me a hug and a loud kiss. Della apologized to him for getting so angry, and hugged him with a kiss on the cheek. Ryah also gave him a wary hug, gruffly adding, "As long as you don't set us on fire again..."
Blue Eyes began to skip off, but I stopped him. "Wait! What's the Tower going to do?"
He made a sour face, indicating the request for help had been denied, and started off again.
I turned to Della, surprised. "Why aren't we helping them?"
Della shrugged. "I don't know. I read the message. They don't want help in arms, which would be against the treaty, but they just want information. We want to find Rand al'Thor too. I know we're usually stingy with our information, but maybe we should work together on this one. Although, we've got enough on our plate searching for the Amyrlin"
"Why are you two still here?" demanded a voice over our shoulder. Startled, we turned around and found ourselves staring at a Sitter.
"We knew that man, we wanted to see him off," answered Della.
"You know an Asha'man?"
"We ran into him on a mission in Saldaea. He followed us and became a member of our party."
"Is he trustworthy?"
"He's never betrayed us, but has been known to be thoughtless and distracted. On the mission, he followed us around and he helped us a bit. He also helped us when we went to the Black Tower to find somebody who persuaded us to aid Logain. However, as today's events with the letter showed, he's not the most reliable person in the world"
"He does like to blow stuff up, and he sometimes just does his own thing," I added.
The Sitter sighed. "Very well, we have to find him. He wasn't supposed to just leave"
After asking around, we heard that he had gone to the linking yard. "He can't Travel," I said. "He must be looking for the Asha'man who came with him so he can open a gateway for him"
"What's the best way to get him to come back?" whispered Della.
"Maybe I can ask him," I volunteered. I felt a little bad taking advantage of his liking to me, but this was rather important. Besides, I'd saved his life so many times, he owed me a favor.
"He does like you...but why do you think they want him? To hurt him or ask him questions? But, they asked if he was trustworthy, so maybe they want to use him for something."
As we approached him, we saw him in an angered conversation with another Asha'man. From what we could see of his motions, he was asking him to make a gateway so he could leave, but the other one was refusing, saying he had work to do. Then, Blue Eyes picked up a rock, and pointed to it.
"Oh, no" I muttered. If Blue Eyes created a scene at the linking field, that could very well end the tenuous treaty between the towers. Trying to stop him in the only way I could think of, I ran up to him and threw my arms around him. "You aren't leaving yet, are you?" I asked. Della and Ryah ran up after me, following my lead.
"Look, I'm supposed to be helping link anyway. We'll go back at the end of the day, and you can tell Logain you completed your task."
Blue Eyes glared at him, put his arms around Della and me, and we began to walk towards the tents.
Several high ranking Aes Sedai were approaching us, their expressions clearly showing that they were aghast that somebody -especially the likes of an Asha'man - dared treat them with such disrespect. "We still have some questions for you. Come with us!"
Blue Eyes rolled his eyes and was about to turn away, but Della took him aside and tried to explain what she thought their motives were. He attempted to pantomime the perceived injustices that they had afflicted him with - from what I saw, I think the gist of it was that they shielded him - but Ryah cut him off saying, "Maybe if you didn't set stuff on fire..." He scowled at her, and pouted.
I stepped up. "Blue Eyes, they don't want to hurt you. Just answer their questions as best you can, and don't provoke them. You know how some Aes Sedai are...they don't have much of a sense of humor."
He smiled at me, and began to walk towards the Aes Sedai. Just before he left us, he stopped suddenly, and crossed his eyes...he turned back to me and grinned. "What?" I demanded. "Why won't you go?"
He leaned forward, and puckered his lips.
"What!? You want me to kiss you?"
He just looked over at the fuming Aes Sedai, and then to me, tapping his foot as if to say, 'I'm waiting...'
"Oh fine," I grumbled, feeling my cheeks turn red as I saw how Ryah and Della were tittering behind me. I leaned forward, intending to peck him on the lips, but he suddenly grabbed me and swung me into his arms so that I was nearly parallel from the ground. He kissed me with a loud smack, and then threw me upright again. Blood and bloody ashes, he has to make a production out of everything. At least he didn't set me on fire...
Della laughed and bestowed a kiss on his cheek and thanked him, and he swaggered off with an unmistakable arrogance. I looked after him, trying to glare, but unable to keep the smile from turning my lips. I suppose the whole thing really was quite ridiculous.
We were dismissed, but moments later, one of the Aes Sedai commanded Della to join them. Apparently, they had asked if anybody else had read the message, and he'd indicated her. She told me later of the conversation they'd had - they had asked her why she hadn't told the sitters she had seen the message, and she replied it was because she had taken it to Berrandra.
"Berrandra is not a Sitter. When you were with us, why didn't you tell us you'd seen it?"
"I figured she told you"
"Well, we've decided not to help"
"I know"
"What gave you that impression?"
"Blue Eyes seemed very upset, so we got the impression he'd gotten a negative response"
"Do you know this individual? You seem to have a relationship with him...you and that Saldaean wilder, especially...Linnea, is that it?"
She nodded. "I was on a quest in Saldaea - that's where I found Linnea and met Ryah. I ran into him in Linnea's village after he blew up a Trolloc that had been trailing us. He began to follow us, and he helped us a few times."
As Della said this, he snuck up behind the Sitter and tapped her shoulder, startling her.
"Don't hurt him!" Della implored, as the Sitter raised her hand to perform a weave. "He's just trying to show you what I said is true...he does just trail about."
"Very well...since you know him and he wont talk, YOU deliver the message to Logain. We will provide a written message to take to Logain"
"He's kind of hard to deal with. Can Linnea come with me? He really likes her and sometimes listens to her. It would be easier to make sure he didn't do anything stupid."
The Sitter sighed. "Very well"
She gave Della the written message, and they came out of the tent then. Della told me what had gone on, and the three of us went back to the Travelling grounds. The other Asha'man opened the gateway for us, and Blue Eyes led us to Logain's chamber.
Logain smiled in greeting. "Blue Eyes, I didn't expect you back so soon."
We made our respectful introductions and presented him the response from the Hall. He read it over, his brow furrowing anxiously. When finished, he looked up at us and said, "This is unfortunate....you two," he said, pointing to Della and I. "I worked with you, and I thank you for your cooperation last month. I know you two can be reasonable people with influence. Try to change their minds"
Della and I just looked at each other dumbstruck. He expected us to change the mind of the Hall? Again? Couldn't he do anything himself, we wondered. Della sighed and said, "We will try our best. I had hoped we would work with you. I do think that such an agreement would be beneficial. We want to find him too and think we could work together on this..."
"Oh, so you read the message?" he asked, although he didn't appear angry.
"Well, Blue Eyes didn't seem to know where it went, so he gave it to me."
"Very well. Blue Eyes will join you shortly."
We left the room. "I don't know how we're gonna manage this one...." I sighed.
We could hear Logain's voice booming from the room. "...Blue Eyes, we have a very tentative treaty with them. If you mess this up you will do kitchen duty for the rest of your natural life. Don't screw this up. Now go." Blue Eyes walked out then, with the stature of a whipped dog, Della felt bad for getting him into trouble and kissed his cheek again, but I merely rolled my eyes. That's what you get when you set people on fire!
We went back to the travelling grounds, and somebody opened a gateway for us. We weren't expecting him to come through but he did.
"Why are you coming back with us?" asked Della.
He stooped down and drew two stick figures in the dirt, and then a link between the two.
"Oh, you got sent on linking duty again?" He nodded, and didn't seem too happy about it.
The Hall was still in session, and we didn't dare interrupt them. We weren't keen on finding Berrandra, since the last time we had to do something like this, she'd only been convinced by another Aes Sedai. Della suggested we go find Rowena Sedai, a Green that both she and Berrandra were on good terms with. She wasn't as helpful as we'd hoped. She merely told us, "The hall greatly respects Berrandra, which is why they allowed you to go on your mission at her behest. My advice is to get Berrandra to help you"
Della shook her head. "It took a lot of convincing to get Berrandra to support Logain. She isn't persuaded by me."
She smiled cryptically. "I think you have a lot more influence than you think."
Defeated, we went to Berrandra.
"Why did you bring this creature back to my room?" she greeted us, gesturing towards Blue Eyes.
"Logain ordered him with us and to try to make peace with the towers, so he has consented to help us. He's been helpful to us in the past," explained Della.
"Very well. Why are you here?"
"I know you respect my diplomatic skills. I was sent to the Black Tower with a message to Logain because they didn't trust him to deliver it. He's been very good and trying to regain his standing with the tower. The Hall decided not to assist the Black Tower, and Logain asked me to find out why, and perhaps to change your minds, because as I understand, we're interested in finding him as well. As we have a treaty, this would be good in cementing it, and would make it easier to find him."
"Very well, I will help to convince the Tower" She seemed disappointed, and then told Della "I agree with you. I feel we should be finding the Dragon as well...especially before other powers do."
Berrandra marched over to the Hall, taking us along. "Sitters, I ask your attention on the request for Logain," she demanded in a loud voice. The Hall was struck silent, and stared at us. "I believe we should reconsider," she continued, and launched into a monologue detailing her reasons. We were questioned as well, and after some discussion, the Hall agreed to send a small amount of help.
To our surprise, that help ended up being us.
"Since you two are already experienced in the outside world and fighting Trollocs, we can trust you on this kind of mission. You, Della, are known for your diplomatic skills, and you Linnea, for your healing. You two will go to the Black Tower and take your orders from Logain" They gave us a list of names of Tower contacts, and sent Blue Eyes with us. Della asked permission to bring Ryah as well, since she had proven her loyalty and usefulness, and it was agreed.
We left the meeting, and Della and Berrandra seemed pleased. I, on the other hand, was not so pleased. I knew the Hall was never straightforward, and wondered if they saw us as expendable - why else would they send a novice and an Accepted on such a mission? Perhaps they were even willing to get rid of us, after we had challenged their decisions so many times. I gritted my teeth. The Tower would not be rid of me so easily, and I would prove my worth to them.
We returned to the Black Tower, and told Logain of the news. He told us that the most recent knowledge of Rand was that he had been in Cairhien, and had left to make a treaty with the Seanchan. Logain suggested we travel west, and see if anybody knows anything that way.
We settled on Ebou Dar, since that seemed to be where the Seanchan leadership had ensconced itself. We knew we couldn't Travel there - any channeling would be detected, and Della and I would be leashed and Blue Eyes executed. By this point, the Seanchan controlled almost half of the westlands, so the furthest we could Travel safely was the city of Illian.
We had all changed our of our Aes Sedai and Asha'man gear, and into other clothes. Della was in her courtesan outfit ("I had a feeling I would need this, so I packed it," she said), Ryah purchased a courtier's outfit, and I wore my old Saldaean travelling clothes. Blue Eyes put on his cadin'sor, and we were ready to go. We decided that Della and Ryah would pose as merchants, which was natural for a Domani and a Kandori. As Della's family had been textile merchants, Della knew a fair amount of the trade, and chose that to be part of our wares, and Ryah, with her skills in metalworking and her Kandori heritage, would deal in jewelry. I was posing as the maidservant, and was 'allowed' by my superiors to peddle my healing wares as an amusement. Blue Eyes was our guard. Once all that was decided, we found Blue Eyes's Travelling friend, who said he had a hunch that Rand was already somewhere across the Aryth Ocean, and the Seanchan were not to be trusted. Still, he opened the gateway for us, and we stepped out.
It was my first look at a big city, and the Ocean. I inhaled the salty breeze, which was marred by the scent of the masses of people and their byproducts, and gazed at the throngs of people and the diversity of their wares. Della nudged me and reminded me I was supposed to be a seasoned traveller, so I struggled not to look so goggle-eyed.
Our first task was to buy some things so we would actually have things to sell. Della was able to somehow seduce the shopkeeper into selling her linen at half price, despite the shopkeeper being female, and then we went to a jewelry shop and haggled the shopkeeper down to half price on silver.
Meanwhile, I took Blue Eyes, who was uninterested in jewelry and clothes, to the apothecary. He attempted to purchase a poison for his arrows, but it proved too expensive, so he settled on a five leafed herb that was used for relaxation and recreational purposes. I was able to impress the shopkeeper and purchased some healing herbs at a good price. We all met at an inn for one last decent meal.
It was like no inn I'd ever seen - filled with people talking about their lives and adventures, lively performers, and tables of gamblers. We all tried our hands at cards and dice rolling, but only Blue Eyes won anything, and he lost it in the end. After we finished our meal, us girls pooled our money together and bought a tent. I suggested that we get some miles in before dark, so we travelled the last quarter of the day before pitching the tent. We felt relatively secure - Ryah was keeping watch, and Della had put on the tiny ring angreal.
We decided we'd use the nights to allow Blue Eyes to experiment with the storage sphere. That night, he didn't find anything, but he did knock himself unconscious. We resumed our travelling early the next morning. Around midday, we passed a middle aged farmer and his son, a boy about ten years old, on their way to Illian. They were pulling a large turnip cart, and the man introduced himself as Dan, and told us he and his wife had been farming for ten years, and finally starting to make a profit. He had decided to take his son with him to show him Illian for the first time, and to show him the ropes of their trade.
The boy tugged on my arm. Looking down, I saw him holding up a small figurine in the shape of a tower. "Isn't it neat? We found it in that old building down the road? Do you know what it is?"
I smiled at him and shook my head, although I suspected it was a ter'angreal - I could sense that it was Power wrought. Blue Eyes must have come to the same conclusion, for he tried to persuade the boy to give it up to him. He launched some of the rock grenades, seemingly offering the boy the exploding rocks for the figurine. The boy was enthralled and looked ready to hand over the figurine. I was appalled at his trying to cheat a little boy.
Della was too. "He's only trying to take advantage of you," she interfered.
"How? They really do blow up!" exclaimed the boy.
Della sighed, and tried to be as truthful as she could. "Yes, but he's doing something to them...if he's not there, they won't explode."
The boy's eyes widened. "Is he channeling?" At the mention of the word, Dan looked up sharply and stared at us warily. Myself, I wanted to knock Blue Eyes's head off for being so conspicuous, so close to enemy territory.
"Don't be silly," said Della lightly. "You know men don't channel"
I breathed a sigh of relief at Della's defusing of the situation, but it only lasted a moment - in one of his contrary moods, Blue Eyes directly contradicted Della's statement by once again lighting her dress on fire. In the next chaotic moments, Della rolled on the ground to smother the flames, and the three of us got into an unsuccessful scuffle with Blue Eyes. He placed his finger on the boy's head and glared at us. The three of us stopped in our tracks - I find it hard to believe he could be so cruel as to harm an innocent boy, but with him you never know.
The child ran back to his father, and Della began to profusely apologize for our companion, explaining that he wasn't quite right in the head, that the rocks were a secret Illuminator trick and wouldn't work for much longer.
I don't know if he bought it or not. He nodded to us, and told his son to get ready to go. With an exasperated sigh, Blue Eyes pulled out ten marks and held it towards Dan. His eyes widened at the sight of so much money, and he turned to his son. "Will you sell your toy?"
"Do I get any of the money?" I chuckled inwardly at that - perhaps the boy would make a good merchant one day.
"I'll give you a few marks," said Dan indulgently.
"Great!" said the boy, and handed the figurine over to Blue Eyes.
We both went our separate ways, and once we were out of earshot, launched into an incensed scolding of Blue Eyes for nearly exposing us and drawing so much attention to us. Still angry that we had interfered with his "bargaining", he didn't listen and refused to show us the tower.
We headed down the road, and before long, could see the abandoned shed-like building Dan's son had told us about. We decided to search it, on the off-chance we found any more artifacts. As we neared the building, I suddenly felt I had been plunged into ice water - and realized I could no longer touch the Source! Della had the same reaction, and Blue Eyes simply turned and left. Only Ryah seemed to enjoy herself - she said she felt quite calm.
We looked around the shed quickly, Della and I feeling quite uncomfortable. It was a simple, one room shed, with windows on three of the walls. There was a small dresser in one corner, and the remnants of a very old bedframe in another.
We found quite a bit - Ryah found a silver brooch, in the shape of winged boots, which she pinned to her collar. I found a small drum the size of a closed fist, and Della found an intricate earring. Five very fine silver chains hung from the stud and ended in five silver disks. She placed it in her right here. We also found five pairs of earrings that didn't appear exceptionally valuable.
We left the stedding-like area, and I was able to sense a great deal of saidar from the drum, and a small amount from the earring. Ryah was able to tell us bits and pieces about our items. The earring was an 'earring of luck' that somehow made you more resistant to attack in battle. My drum was, fortunately for me, designed as a healing item, but nobody knew its true function but the Forsaken anymore. I beat the drum, but nothing noticeable happened. The other earrings were just plain jewelry, so we gave them to her to sell. She couldn't identify the brooch.
Blue Eyes was in a better mood by this point, so he let Ryah inspect the tower. She told us she suspected it was an 'anchor' - a ter'angreal that allows the channeler to concentrate on a weave regardless of any kind of distraction.
We continued our journey along the Illian coast, but before we got back to the path, we heard a rustling in a nearby bush. Blue Eyes had his fireball wand at the ready, but we stopped him from firing without analyzing the threat first. Those of us who could embraced the Source, and we could hear the padded feet of some large feline. This time we allowed Blue Eyes to fireball, and Ryah let loose an arrow.
We heard a mewling yelp, but before any of us could act, Ryah let forth another two arrows, one of which hit. She had always been skillful, but I had never seen her act so quickly. Della cast another fireball, and I was actually able to learn the weave, and then the earth exploded, leaving a gigantic crater. Blue Eyes had cast Riven Earth again, but he was so far away from the bush that he had used an extravagant amount of channeling to do so.
We explored the crater, but there was nothing left of the cat that we could see. We went to climb back up when we heard growls - the mayhem had attracted the rest of the pride, and we found ourselves surrounded by eight hungry, angry leopards.
I don't remember much of this 'battle' - Blue Eyes was able to engulf three cats with a fireball, and Ryah was able to let loose some arrows before one of the cats attacked me. I wasn't able to dodge quickly enough, and suffered a deep gash in my legs. The pain was enough to make somebody as inexperienced as me lose hold of the Source, so I tried to attack with my dagger as I reembraced, but to no effect.
Meanwhile, Della was fireballing leopards, but two other leopards decided I was easy prey and surrounded me. One bit me even deeper than the first one had (in a different leg, which I suppose is lucky), and the third missed me. This time I was able to stab the beasts, although I think it did little more than make them angrier. The last thing I recall seeing is a leopard attacking Ryah and biting a gaping hole in her leg. She slashed at it with her sword as she fell to the ground, nearly unconscious.
Perhaps I would have tried somehow to get to her, but my vision was suddenly obscured by the black rock that materialized all around me. Within seconds I was completely hemmed into a cylindrical portion of rock - I couldn't even move. I panicked for a moment, and then realized Blue Eyes had cast a false wall closely around me to protect me from the leopards.
I couldn't do anything but wait for the battle to end - and hope that Blue Eyes lived so he could release the wall. I attempted to fix my legs, but I didn't have much room to operate. I stopped the bleeding, but that was all I accomplished. I could hear the sounds of battle around me - I felt the heat of a fireball Della cast that took out two cats at once, and felt the earth shake as Blue Eyes rived the earth about the last cat.
Suddenly I was in the open again. I staggered forward and collapsed on the ground. Ryah practically crawled over to me, and I healed her as best I could - I was too weak to do it completely, but I knew she couldn't wait much longer. Luckily, Della was able to weavesight the heal weave, and used it successfully on me, enabling me to finish with Ryah.
I was exhausted and starving. I ate two days of travel rations right then, and called Blue Eyes. "Thanks for saving me, Blue Eyes. You've definitely made up for my helping you." He smiled and kissed my cheek, and then I fell asleep, dead to the world until the next morning. In the meantime, Ryah and Della skinned the one leopard that hadn't been burned, hoping to sell the skin.
I awoke the next morning along with Ryah ravenous, but Della gave us both lots of food. Blue Eyes had gone off exploring, and came back with two leopard kittens - the reason the leopards had attacked us was to protect their cubs. Ryah and Della fawned over them and wanted some to train as their own, but I flatly told them I wanted nothing to do with them - I'd had enough of leopards to last me a life time, and I could see what they were truly capable of.
Blue Eyes directed them towards the nest, indicating that there were eight more cubs left. They returned after some time, Della cradling a cub, and Ryah with three. Before I could say anything, she dropped one of the cubs in to my lap.
I went to push the cub away, but as I did so, she nuzzled my hand, and then curled up in my dress and went to sleep, purring loudly. I sighed, my shoulders slumped, defeated. The little cub was so small and helpless, and there was no way I could turn her away now - and they knew it. I glared at them, but they just smiled, busying themselves with their own cubs.
I decided I may as well name her - I settled on Nessa. I had always been a cat person anyway - of course, cats are naturally attracted to women who channel. Hopefully it would be the same way with this cub, and she wouldn't try to bite my legs off. "So, what did you do with the other four cubs? Leave them there? Do you think there's another cat around to take care of them?"
Ryah and Della exchanged guilty glances. "Well...they were a bit sickly," Ryah began, "And, with nobody to take care of them, they would just starve. So I...put them out of their misery."
"You what?" I exclaimed. I would have jumped up, but Nessa stirred and whimpered, and I stayed put, running my fingers through her silky fur to calm her. As much as I didn't want the cubs in the beginning, and felt no compunction over fighting the adults, something about slaughtering babies appalled me.
She shrugged sadly. "They would have died a miserable death otherwise. At least with the sword it was quick enough that they felt no pain." She turned back to her cubs - a boy she'd named Kirke and a girl named Nenya, and I knew I had to accept this.
We continued on, and Ryah was able to forage fresh meat for the leopards. After a few days, we neared the border of Altara, and stopped at a border town called Doviande. We posed as merchants, as planned. I was able to earn some silver pennies with the healer, and Ryah and Della were able to sell some of their wares. Della had even made the pelt into ten pouches and purses and sold each of them.
After I finished with the healer, I stopped at the butcher and requested the waste meat for our cubs, and returned to find that Della and Ryah had used their earnings to buy a small cart, all the better to fit our posing as merchants. We loaded our wares in, as well as made an area for the cats (who had previously been travelling in our saddle bags) and camped outside of town.
Blue Eyes was able to open some more compartments with the sphere. In one he found a green crystal, that when channeled through, began to glow. However, there was a male weave also emanating from it, which he promptly learned. Without provocation, I suddenly had the image of a kumquat in my mind. It took us awhile to realize that the weave gave him the ability to project images and simple thoughts into somebody else's mind - finally, a way for him to communicate with us! Another compartment provided him with some Power wrought lockpicking tools, which could be used to open any simple lock.
After a few days travel, we came across a very large circus caravan heading from Ebou Dar - Valan Luca's circus. They hailed us from awhile off, and we went to talk to them. Ryah talked to the beasthandler about our cubs, and then went out to find some booze. Della and I attempted to gather some information, but they were hesitant to talk about the Seanchan. Their caravan was under the protection of the Crystal Throne, and they told us to just say, if anybody asked, that we serve the Crystal Throne, and everything would be fine. Then Della casually mentioned that we'd heard an odd rumor of the Dragon meeting with the Daughter of the Nine Moons for a treaty, but that couldn't possibly be true, could it? Everybody went strangely silent. Della apologized, saying we hadn't realized we'd said something wrong, but the circus workers told us they couldn't talk to us anymore and we were left alone.
Blue Eyes was, to none of our surprise, causing mischief with his newfound Impression wave, and caused a minor disturbance by projecting more and more bizarre and frightening images of kumquats into some poor man's head. Della found the whole thing hilarious and assisted him a bit, until the man ran away screaming. This attracted the owner of the circus, and Valan Luca came running up to us, along with Ryah and her newfound drinking buddy - who Della and I saw, to our astonishment, was none other than Matrim Cauthon.
As Della and I stared goggle eyed - for this man's identity and importance had been drilled into us just as much as the Dragon Reborn's - Blue Eyes walked right up to him and stared intensely. Suddenly, Mat went tense. "Asha'man!" he said to Blue Eyes.
We groaned...somehow, Blue Eyes had blown his cover. But how? "What did you channel at me?" demanded Mat angrily. Desperate, Blue Eyes looked to Della and impressed an explanation on her - apparently he had tried his kumquat trick on Mat, but the weave just dissolved somehow - he must have had some kind of device that allowed him to detect channeling and made him immune to its affects.
Trying to defuse the situation, Della said Blue Eyes had tried to send him the image of a beautiful woman, thinking Mat would appreciate it - nevermind that this was a flagrant breaking of the Oaths.
"How did he do it?" Mat inquired, and Della explained the nature of the weave
"Good trick, huh?" said an unknown voice. I looked around for a moment, but nobody else was there, and I realized - Blue Eyes had spoken. Della and I stood there fuming as the realization hit us - I really was quite beside myself. After all this time, he really was able to talk! All the difficulties incurred on our journey because of his lack of communication were due to nothing more than this bloody Aiel's obstinacy! Ryah staggered over to him drunkenly and attempted to wrap her hands around his neck, but only succeeded in falling over herself.
"Wait, what is this all about?" asked Mat
"We need to find Rand," said Blue Eyes, and the two of us groaned inwardly again. So much for subtlety - that sure wasn't one of Blue Eyes's strong points.
Mat's eyes widened, and he looked truly shocked for a moment. "What do you know about him?"
Della broke in, attempting to explain that we were merchants, but Blue Eyes interrupted her. "We need to find him," he simply stated again, and with a pointed look at him added, "Mat."
I couldn't believe it, that he would be so direct with him, and I wondered if we would get thrown out of the camp. Instead, Mat gave a defeated sigh and told us to come with him. We were escorted to a commonplace wagon, and he told some soldiers with red bands on their arms to keep watch over us when he went to get some people.
He came back with two women we quickly recognized as Aes Sedai, due to their ageless countenances. Della and I immediately curtsied to them. "You two," snapped one. "You can both channel, and you both know this."
"Yes," we said, having no need to deny it.
"Where are you from?"
"The rightful White Tower," answered Della vaguely.
"Don't you know who you're dealing with? Be straightforward with us!"
"We're from the Salidar Tower," replied Della, defeated.
"We are an Accepted and Novice sent on an important mission," I added.
"Why would they send you, if it's so important?"
"Because we have connections with that one right over there," said Della, pointing.
"The insane Asha'man?" said one of the Aes Sedai, distastefully.
"I prefer to think of it as playful whimsy," cut in Blue Eyes. Della and I both glared at him, but he got worse from the Aes Sedai - he was promptly shielded. "That's really unnecessary," he said, sounding quite put upon.
We ignored him, and Della continued. "He is quite a bit insane but is a great help to us. He also assisted with an alliance between the two towers."
"What do you mean an alliance between the two towers?" asked one sharply. "The two White Towers have come to an agreement?"
Della shook her head. "No, White and Black."
Both Aes Sedai looked as if they would be sick, and glared at Blue Eyes with even more revulsion. "They did what?!"
Blue Eyes nodded impatiently. "Like I said, this is really unnecessary".
Still ignoring the Asha'man, Della took the opportunity to tell them about overthrowing Mazrim Taim. "The Black Tower is now in the control of somebody who can be trusted - Logain Ablar"
They scoffed among themselves. "Well, that shows why you two haven't been raised. Logain is a gentled False Dragon, and to think - "
"He has been Healed," I said evenly, daring to interrupt an Aes Sedai.
Again, shock and revulsion overtook the usually serene visage of the Aes Sedai. "What?! But...everyone knows you can't Heal stilling and gentling!"
"It is possible," I said, with more force. "Nyneave al'Meara of the Salidar sisters discovered the weave. Even I, the lowly novice who hopes one day to gain admittance into the Yellow Ajah, know this weave and am capable of such a task."
The Aes Sedai merely stared at me in complete stupefaction, and I took some delight in having silenced two full fledged Aes Sedai, until Mat cut in. "Enough! What do you want to know about Rand?"
"Where he is," answered Blue Eyes simply.
Mat shrugged. "I don't know, I haven't seen him in forever."
Blue Eyes, now unshielded, turned to face him. " I know you know where he is"
"No...where do you think he is?"
"Somewhere in this vicinity, thus we are here."
"Enough double talk!" snapped Mat. "I get enough of that from those two!"
"Well, rumours are that Rand has gone to forge a treaty with the Seanchan and is now meeting with the Daughter of the Nine Moons. She is currently in Ebou Dar, is she not?".
"No, that's impossible!" exclaimed Mat, aghast at the idea of Rand negotiating with the Seanchan.
"A lot of stuff he's done is impossible. A lot of stuff you've done is impossible," replied Blue Eyes calmly.
"While that is true...I don't know where Rand can be found"
"You have some sense though," said Blue Eyes, not about to be put off.
"What makes you say that?"
Blue Eyes's reply was succinct. "Ta'veren"
Mat seemed a bit unsettled. "Just because I'm a bloody ta'veren doesn't mean I know where everybody else is in the world!"
Blue Eyes sighed, as if he were chastising a schoolboy. "Your biggest problem is that you don't think anybody else is half as clever as you. Your ta'veren and tied to Rand, and so you have a sense of him. That would be very useful indeed."
Mat looked defeated. "All I know is that Rand is somewhere in that direction...." He pointed to the southwest. "...but I can't tell you anything more specific. You may continue with me for awhile, and perhaps I can give you more specific locations over time."
"Are you going in the right direction?"
"We are joining the Band of the Red Hand to the north"
"If I was so bold to make a suggestion to the ta'veren, I would suggest that your merry band of cutthroats rejoin the Lord Dragon." Blue Eyes stared at him pointedly, and I could see how loyal the crazy Aiel was to Rand.
Mat stared at the sky, a faraway look in his eyes. "I can tell Tarmon Gaidon is coming. Things are progressing at a very rapid pace now. We may need to do it sooner or later."
Blue Eyes nodded briskly. "Send a message to your band and have them intercept us on the way. The numbers will be needed. Let us find Rand."
"Very well, Asha'man."
Blue Eyes grinned then. "Besides, I'm sure you've been itching for a good fight for awhile."
Mat gave him the hint of a smile. "Come along." They turned to leave, and we realized we had been completely ignored.
"Hey Blue Eyes!" called out Della. "Tell him about us!"
Mat shook his head, and said to Blue Eyes. "Just you, for now."
They went off and chatted, but Della and I were quite annoyed. After all the trouble he had nearly gotten us into, for him to be the one in charge seemed quite unjust. After chatting amongst ourselves, we decided setting him on fire would be an ideal payback. At least he would appreciate the joke.
So, when he came back, Della weaved Fire into his clothes. He only suffered a few minor burns, so I refused to Heal him unless he asked me, nicely and verbally. He refused, of course.
Mat acknowledged us. "I don't know why the White Tower is interested in Black Tower affairs, but I've decided to help you."
Della answered, as usual. "It's because we need to work together, and we'll do better if we cooperate. Besides, we need Rand al'Thor alive and well for Tarmon Gaidon!"
"Did I ask?" he sneered.
"I don't care if you asked!" replied Della heatedly.
Mat looked annoyed, but Blue Eyes pulled him aside. Not far enough that I couldn't make out what he was saying. "Look, we know the barmy bitches have something up their sleeves, but we need them on our side. So let's just pretend they're honey and sugar." Infuriating! After all the times I'd helped him - and not because of some ulterior motives - he had the gall to say something like that! Truthfully, I don't know if he meant us specifically, or Aes Sedai in general, but it was still insulting.
Mat sighed. "You're right. I hate Aes Sedai."
So, thus began our travels with Mat to find the Redarms. Blue Eyes was able to find one more item in the Sphere - a hollow glass oval filled with a clear liquid, emanating Water. As Blue Eyes channeled, the water in a nearby glass of water congealed into a sphere and rose out of the glass. As he moved the ter'angreal, the water moved with it. Grinning devilishly, he swung wildly in my direction, but lucky for me (and him!), the arc was too long and it missed me completely.
He was able to gain more control over it, moving it closer and farther away from the ter'angreal. He faced Ryah and suddenly pushed the water towards her, drenching her. Before she could react, he pulled it towards him, and droplets of water evaporated from her clothes and reformed into a sphere, leaving her completely dry.
He took it to a nearby bond, and was able to control an enormous quantity of water. Up to his usual tricks, he dropped it on Mat's tent, and then walked away, the water reforming as he did so. The rest of the camp was astonished and didn't know what to make of it.
Blue Eyes experimented more with the water. He could split the water into separate globes, and make shapes with it, and turn it into ice, at which point it fell to the ground. He could make it boil and evaporate as well.
At this point, Mat came running out, thinking it was raining. Blue Eyes sent one of the globules of water in Mat's direction, soaking him.
"I hate channeling," he sputtered.
"You looked hot," said Blue Eyes nonchalantly, and walked off with the globules of water following him.
"NICE WAY TO BE INSCONPICUOUS" Mat shouted after him.
Della sighed, exasperated. "He's been like that the whole trip. We came across a leopard and he rived the earth so intensely it created a fifty food crater in the middle of the woods! And then there was the incident with the turnip farmer!"
Mat turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, so that mysterious crater was your doing then?"
I nodded. "As helpful as he is, he certainly is frustrating. We've known him for months, and he NEVER spoke a word to us. We were wondering if just wasn't able to!"
Mat just giggled.
