Time of the Senshi
Mercury Act III
Ami slipped quietly from the thick course blankets of her rickety bed. The cold of the hardened ground sent chills up her spine, but she did her best to ignore them. Kneeling down the temporary raven haired girl clasped her hands together as she embraced her power. The soft glow of magic enveloped her; a hairs breadth away from beginning the transformation sequence that would alert all the Aes Sedai in the area to her activities. Ami moved her fingers slightly, as if trying to squeeze shut some invisible object. "Mercury...bubbles blast." She whispered.
A cloud of icy vapor poured from her hands only to pool around her feet. That was the easy part, what little training she had been given in the use of 'saidar' enabled her to have a firmer grasp over her natural senshi abilities. Determining the size or speed of an attack was a simple matter of concentration. The hard part was using the 'flows' of the elements not attuned to her planet like air, fire, earth, and spirit.
The girl bit her lip and began waving her hands in circular patterns while sending a simple weave of air and fire down into small fog bank. The shaky strands of power threatened to completely dissolve the summoned fog, but she re-affirmed her grip on them and pulled up. What she was attempting was an un-tested weave and could possibly blow up in her face. Dangerous, and suicidal according to her teachers, but it was the only way for her to get away undetected.
"What do you think you're doing?" A voice hissed. Ami dropped the weave in surprise just as her fog bank had started creeping up her legs. She had thought all her 'cousins' were asleep; they usually fell into dreamland as soon as they're heads hit the pillow. Ami, who was used to working and staying up late studying, didn't have this problem.
"Nothing, I just needed to... to go out. You know." She pleaded with the older woman. Her name was Venya or something like it, and she was far older than any of the other girls in their group. As such she tended to find it demeaning to be but put with them, and an insult that some advanced before her. Personally, Ami thought she needed a boyfriend.
"No. I don't know. I do know I saw the glow of saidar, however dim, around you seconds ago. It's not allowed for novices to channel un-supervised." She yawned and rose. Ami would have panicked had she been anyone else, but her mind was already spinning through scenarios and options. Her blue eyes glanced down at the fog swirling around her ankles nervously. That would confirm all of the woman's suspicions, and if word got out she wouldn't make it five feet from the camp. Probably not even from the tent.
"Maybe I was. But everyone does it. How can we get better if we don't practice alone? You and I both know that they're simply aren't enough Aes Sedai and Accepted to help all of us. The influx of new girls is too great." Ami reasoned. Venya paused in thought, before shaking her head.
"I doubt that's the reason for your little exercise. I had a little sister, I know what you girls do at night. Ten to one says you just want to sneak out to meet with that, that boy. The young warder. I've seen him following you everywhere, sure, sometimes he switches with one of the older men but I'll bet it's only because his Aes Sedai calls for him." She sneered. Venya began to cross the room, not bothering to remain quiet. Other girls began to stir and groan into wakefulness at the woman's accusation. She obviously wanted an audience.
"That's preposterous. I don't want to be followed by men. They most likely don't wish to follow me. Please, I have to, it's my time of the month." Ami whispered, eyeing her waking friends.
"Please. I know urk-" Venya's eyes rolled back in her head as a crack echoed through the tent. Ami watched Venya's body fall limply to the floor, her jaw slamming against the hard ground as she hit it. The younger girls winced in sympathy; it sounded like something had fractured.
Ami turned to the tent flap, prepared to face a firing squad of questioning Aes Sedai and possible attackers. Her fist clenched at her sides, glowing softly with contained power ready to shoot out and freeze any opponents. "Steady, girl. It's just me." It was the calm voice of Abigail. Her hands were raised in a defensive posture while she eyed the gathered clouds at the senshi's feet. "You were late, so I came by. It's considered acceptable for Accepted to give private tutoring to a favorite Novice, encouraged even."
"That's good. But was it necessary to hurt her, like that?" Ami questioned with a wave to the floored Venya. Abigail just shrugged, she hadn't liked the woman much and tonight was as good a reason as any to act on her feelings.
"You said you had a way to be unseen? We'll need it if you hope to retrieve that thing for Isareen Sedai. I saw a warder not far from here on my way in, they still watch you. It's as if they expect you to try something."
"I know, but you see... I haven't done an actual trial with it yet. But I'm sure it will work. I used the Mercury Computer to calculate light refraction rates and mirror angles to alter the light rays to make us appear indistinct. It shouldn't render us completely invisible, but it's perfect for going about unseen in dim lighting." Ami said while resuming her weave. "Step over here."
With surprising confidence the older woman stood next to Ami in the smoky fog, and didn't flinch as it crawled up their legs. Long skirt's gained weight as moisture gathered in the fabric, and the senshi of mercury added strength to wind element. Abigail's eyes sparkled while the fog turned to a mist that settled on their skin and froze. "What exactly does this do, besides give a slight chill?"
Ami sighed and stepped over to one of her few friends. She slid a mirror from underneath Janis' pillow, and turned it toward Abigail, who gasped. Her reflection didn't seem to exist, only a blurry clear outline of her figure could be seen. In the darkness of the night they were nothing. "If your thinking what I think your thinking, the answer is: we can see each other because there are special lenses floating over our eyes. Don't touch them!"
Abigail smiled and glided to the door. "Ami, you are brilliant."
END.