Summary: What? It's the second part of chapter 6, it doesn't really deserve its own summary.
Disclaimer: I own my OC and the alternativeness of this plot. Everything else belongs to Robert Jordan. No OCs were harmed in the making of this fic.
Loran: Liar! You gave me a bloody nose!
Author's notes are at the end of the chapter.
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A Flashback to the End of Part I:
The sound of approaching footsteps brought one of Bashere's men into the courtyard. He focused his attention on the Saldaean while the Maidens focused their attention on him.
"There is a man has presented himself at the gates," the soldier said uneasily. "He says… It is Mazrim Taim, my Lord Bashere."
CHAPTER SIX- Much Ado About Nothing- Part II
Loran stared, mouth slightly agape, his entire body rigid in the presence of the man who stood before him in the throne room. Shock battled against outright discomfort as he fought to decide which would be better to address first: the outrageous assumption that he was the Dragon Reborn, or the unprovoked feeling of dread that emanated off this stranger. It was like standing next to someone who, while certainly not a psychopath, made you unable to think of them as anything else. The man's confident aura did nothing to help this. According to Loran's experience, all stereotypical madmen, minus the ones that had been described by Rand and Egwene (because madmen with powers didn't count, obviously), were usually harmless and perfectly content to rant their illogical babble while rocking back and forth on their little hospital beds all day long; and he could deal with the stereotype just fine. But a confident madman still possessed the human drive (and sometimes, awareness) to succeed rather than just rant and thus might act on their delusion, and Loran wasn't so sure he wanted to be responsible for dealing with someone like that. Unfortunately, said madman was currently standing in front of him, hip cocked to one side, arms crossed, and an expectant expression on his face. Loran half expected him to start tapping his foot. When it was apparent Loran's thought process had failed to reach his mouth, the man shifted his weight to the other leg and his smirk dropped into a frown.
"You are the one they call the Lord Dragon, are you not? You do seem a bit different, but I suppose appearances can change in the months that I saw the vision in the sky," Loran did not understand what the man had said about the images in the sky, it was of no importance to him and he would likely forget about it in two minutes, yet the words seemed to break the spell of silence that had been placed upon him.
"Well, I'm actually a clone of Rand they hope to use once he goes insane and they have to kill him- NO, I'M NOT THE DAMN DRAGON REBORN!" Loran was half surprised by the strength of his voice (he'd expected it to crack and warble, at best) and partly glad his irritation with the man had been evident in his tone. Of course, this may have been in part influenced by the unsettled feelings that occasionally filtered from Rand's end. However, the man just burst out laughing, disappointingly unaffected by Loran's words.
"I must be honest, I was not expecting such a reply," the man chuckled, "tell me, what is this clone of which you speak? Is it like a image made with saidin?" Loran's shoulders slumped as he gazed upon the spectacle in irritation. He was about to inquire as to whether the man truly believed he was Rand, when three men dressed in uniforms he vaguely recognized threw open the gilded doors and stepped into the room, eyeing the stranger warily. The stranger was once again straight faced and still, all evidence of the previous mirth gone from his body. The front-most soldier called to the man in a slightly wavering tone.
"Mazrim Taim. The Lord Dragon has allowed you an appearance," the man glanced at the guards, then back at his companion and suddenly went rigid, and Loran could not help but wonder why. He'd been so cocky a moment before- what could be so horrible about seeing Rand? He watched the soldiers escort the ma- this Mazrim Taim, out the doors and toward the courtyard, suddenly flanked by several more guards. The red-haired boy bounced nervously on the balls of his feet as he tried to work up the courage to leave his place by the desk. He should have felt relieved to be out of Mazrim Taim's presence; he should have just dropped the note and left.
Curiosity would not let him do that.
The note crumpled in his hand and he stuffed it in his pants pocket. He walked at a hesitantly slow pace and didn't reach the door of the throne room until after about a minute. He may have wanted to know what was going on, but enough of him disliked the thought of remaining around Taim any longer, so he compromised by putting his curiosity into action, albeit at an excruciatingly slow pace. This continued for about five minutes, Loran muttering to himself that he was not currently dying of boredom and anticipation all the short while. That all changed when blinding rage suddenly sent a feverish wave across his face. It did not take Loran any mentionable amount of time to figure out where that had come from, and he sprinted to the courtyard.
By the time Mazrim Taim's escort came into view, every soldier had their spears practically in between his ribs, the maidens looked as tense as stone could look besides, and Loran was awash in the flaming, white torrent of pure saidin. Taim was kneeling before Rand, who looked as if such an act had actually provoked his anger further. Taim handed something to Rand, a bundle of rags it seemed, and it was not until Rand suddenly raised the object into the air as if to smash it that Loran saw the object. It was a disk, possibly made out of some ceramic material, and its face very much resembled the red flag waving above them with its black and white circle and the curved line that dissected the two colors. This object was still held high, as Rand seemed to be in some sort of inner conflict as to whether he should break it or not. Loran, who had released saidin as soon as Rand had glared at him from his place in the courtyard's center, glanced back at the palace hallways from which he had sprinted. Not a soul was in sight, but he was certain he'd heard a voice. The words had been indiscernible and the voice itself like the echo of an echo, quite possibly imagined, but he was certain someone had spoken. Odd.
"I think perhaps you should wait before deciding to break it, eh?" Loran's attention was once again brought forward as the man he'd been told was called…Bashere?...yes, that was it- reached up in the motions of staying Rand's arm, a slightly hilarious feat considering his stature was undoubtedly lacking in comparison with Rand. Every eye in the courtyard was now on the Dragon Reborn, the expressions of the guards and Bashere implying that something might have been wrong. What Amis and the other Wise Ones had said about the taint and saidin reasserted itself at the front of Loran's mind, and he wondered briefly if Rand could already be suffering from the madness that he had for some reason escaped. It was strange that he had not thought of this earlier, but it had never occurred to him that Rand would also fall victim to this inevitable curse simply because, well, because he was Rand. He was one of the only people Loran could call a friend in this world and he was the Dragon Reborn, if that was anything worth noting. The injustice of the situation made Loran's chest tighten. If he was not even supposed to be in this world, how fair was it that he would get away completely unscathed? Furthermore, if he was actually stuck in a book, as unlikely and cliché as it was, what kind of author would give the main character such a horrible fate? But then, what if Rand wasn't the main character? In fact, what if he was the villain? Loran scowled and tightened his hands into fists. No, he was not going to think that way. Rand was a good person, as naïve as that sounded, and if he was truly stuck in a book, surely he would have felt some tug from 'reality', or rather, one of his friends would have noticed a change in the book's text at the very least. He forced the unhappy thoughts from his mind. Whatever was going on, this was real: real emotions, real powers, real people, and nothing short of being handed the exact book, chapter, and page number of what was currently happening would convince him otherwise.
A memory flickered through his thoughts, too fast to see or understand, and Loran nearly screamed out his frustration in front of everyone at the fact that he couldn't remember something that seemed so important. He was stopped from the outburst, however, by Rand calling him over. As he approached the group, he saw Mazrim Taim looking slightly confused and anxious, staring at him warily. In fact, now that he thought about it, the man had been trying to turn ever so slightly to look in his direction since he'd followed into the courtyard while channeling. Taim leaned toward him and whispered.
"Do you know anything of this…Farm? " Loran's eyes widened slightly as he shook his head. He'd never heard of any farm place, and if Rand was planning something he'd never said a word. Or perhaps, he had but once again; Loran had not been paying attention. He turned to Rand, eyes slightly wide, head cocked to the side in confusion.
"Rand? What farm?" Of course, the Dragon Reborn knew by now that what Loran wanted to say was, 'Whaaat? What what? A farm? The hell?!' and as different as Loran's speech could be, the principle of the question was loud and clear: 'Why didn't you tell me?' Rand sighed, almost regretful.
"I would have told you sooner, but it was something I wanted to be sure would work before I let someone prone to accidents, like you, into the area," the whispered comment was meant to be serious, but the younger boy couldn't help but chuckle at the Dragon Reborn's accurate assessment of his quirks, "I wish to train other men like us, who can channel. It would be a definite advantage against the Dark One; maybe even the White Tower if it comes to it."
Loran had only heard bits and pieces about the White Tower, where women who could channel became Aes Sedai, like Egwene Sedai, and what he heard made him suspicious at best. Taim cut in between the two boys, his expression stony and his tone of voice indignant. Apparently, he did not enjoy being the odd one out.
"What farm? Where is it you mean to take me?" Rand stared at Taim suddenly realized whose conversation he had cut into, though he stared back at Rand defiantly. Loran winced, knowing that if he could not act that way without some sort of revenge enacted upon him, no one else stood much of a chance against Rand's irritation. However, Rand merely turned aside and began channeling.
"I'm taking you where you can serve me," was the grim reply. The weave Loran had tried and failed to perfect was suddenly poking through the threads of reality, and a thin beam of light appeared as the 'portal' (for that was the only thing it could be to the outsider) opened. He likened it to when one was waiting for an elevator in a dark lobby and the light inside the vertical car cast a silhouette on its opening doors. He watched the Maidens creep through cautiously, always watching for danger, always protecting the car'a'carn. 'What was it like,' Loran mused, 'to be held in such high respect that someone would practically volunteer themselves to be your meat-shield? How did Rand deal with woman, of all people, doing this?' He jerked out of his reverie when he realized Rand was shoving him in the direction of the opening. He turned and swatted the older boy away, still moving toward the hole in reality as he half-heartedly scolded his companion.
"I can walk! You don't need to-" facing ahead, he was knocked back by the most painful glass wall in all of existence, or at least that's what it had felt like. He fell backwards, the force knocking the breath from him along a resounding "Shit!" His nose stung and he wavered slightly as he leapt up to once again attempt to pass through the opening, but to no avail. Some invisible force was keeping him from Traveling through the hole. He gave Rand a lop-sided grin.
"Well if you didn't really want me to go, you could have just told me," Rand looked more concerned that amused, but Loran dutifully ignored it, waving at him to "just go" while he put pressure on his throbbing nose with the other. A shout from behind them revealed Aviendha striding with purpose towards Rand. Loran groaned, and not because of the pain. He and the Aiel woman tolerated each other, but that was as far they were willing to interact. This did not help since Aviendha was almost always trailing behind Rand like a puppy, though Loran noticed he tried to avoid her at times, and she could never look at his 'advisor' without scowling or glaring. Loran had thought this was just an 'Aiel thing', but had quickly changed his mind as he'd become a somewhat welcomed addition to the Wise One's (and sometimes the Maiden's, though he was never playing that stupid game again) daily lives. No, it was just an 'Aviendha thing' and Loran suspected she was jealous of him getting a majority of the attention she'd most likely received before his unexpected arrival. That and perhaps she just didn't like the nickname he'd given her, but then again, 'not-quite-Wise-Woman' was not the most flattering alias. Some of the color drained from Rand's face and Loran knew that today was one of those 'let's see how long we can stay away from Aviendha' days. He released the hold on his nose and pushed Rand into the 'portal'.
" Well, have fun. Be sure to get me a souvenir, okay?"
"But-"
"Don't worry about me, I'll find some poor unsuspecting courtier to harass while you're gone."
"Wait I-"
"Just go!" Loran hissed and the opening snapped shut at the same time that Aviendha meant to walk through, carrying her forward a few paces before noticing she was still indeed in the palace courtyard. The brown-eyed boy smiled sheepishly at the not-quite-Wise Woman, vaguely aware of the warm tingle on his nose and lips.
"Guess we didn't quite make it," the redhead scowled, then curled a lip in disgust.
"Your nose is bleeding," was the terse reply, and she stomped away looking almost like a toddler throwing a fit. Almost. Loran brought his hand back to his face and noticed the semi-dried crimson stain on his fingers. He fervently hoped Rand didn't notice the blood on his coat where he'd been pushed. Then again, the coat was red anyway. Rushing inside to find some rags to stop the bleeding, he mentally ran through his list of things he could do seeing as Traveling anywhere was now out of the question. Deciding it would be best to follow through on his original agenda before Taim had interrupted him, he washed his face and hands in a basin used by those coming in from the dust and nature and set off toward the Aiel encampment. He had a problem that he hoped the Wise Ones could solve. If not, he wasn't sure he could face that apothecary again. Ingesting an unknown herb that some cross-eyed, old hag had the mind to shove under his nose was never an appealing choice.
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Now that most of my finals are over, I can concentrate on working on this. The second half of chapter 6 was difficult to write for some reason, especially the first few paragraphs. I guess I just had to get back in the groove of writing -shrugs-. Here are a few things to consider:
-Some people might be offended about the part where Loran is accusing the author of basically being a 'bad person'. I'm NOT bashing Robert Jordan! He was an amazing writer…it's simply what I think a person stuck in that sort of situation would think about. And since Loran hasn't read the books, he doesn't know SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER (I went and spoiled the books for myself, or rather, my friend spoiled a part of it for me…ahem. I won't actually say it thought, eh-heh.)
(now 'spoiler' looks odd…like when you say a certain word over and over again…and it starts to sound like it's not a real word…eh.)
-About all the b.s. about psychopaths at the beginning- I completely made that up, not because I didn't want to research it, but apparently Loran is not a psych major in the real world and thus wouldn't have his facts straight anyway (It's all about staying in character, right?)
-If Mazrim Taim seems a bit ooc, I always saw him as the kind who is slightly sarcastic and a bit humorous but…maybe that's just me.
-Because I see this far too often to be able to freely use parenthesis without deeming REM as bad!fic: When I use parenthesis in the story text, they are NOT author's notes. That's what this space down here is for.
-I know how Robert Jordan explains the feeling of saidin and such, but the actual flow I always imagined as a torrent of white energy that also writhes like fire, and the taint is like an oily greenish-yellowish-black film over top of it. So that's how I describe it visually (though with Loran, minus the taint o.O)
-I can't explain Traveling without thinking of an elevator… -.-
-Sadly, Loran and Aviendha don't get along too well; but at least they don't go for each other's throats on sight. That might change later unless Loran does something stupid (though I'm not saying he will.) And I'm not trying to bash Aviendha with how I describe her, I'm just trying to be true to character, and all character's have quirks.
-Yeah, he was finally tricked into playing Maiden's Kiss. Maybe I'll write a one-shot/side story about that…but only if enough people ask for it...
Yay! After this things will start picking up and we'll get to the more fun parts! (Like I promised…how many chapters ago?)
Here's the list so far of what we know about Loran:
-He can use Saidin and it has no taint. He CANNOT use Saidar but he can sense it like a woman who channels can (I guess it's a bit like being Stilled.)
-He and Rand share a link that sometimes communicates strong emotions or image-versions of thoughts. It can only be felt when the feeling is either very strong, the thought is about them personally, or the thought is directed towards the other intentionally.
-He might be able to go into Tel'Aran'Rhiod
-He CANNOT Travel, create a portal to Travel, nor use a portal created by someone else.
-He and angreal/ter'angreal/sa'angreal act negatively when in contact with each other.
Thanks to theamyrlinseat for reviewing! Your comments are always very helpful in both keeping myself on track plot-wise and…it's just fun watching people speculate. :D
