Catieri wandered into the classroom and wondered if the teachers had any time for her. They all looked very busy. She cleared her throat and called, "Hello...? My name is Catieri al'Cardyn, I'm here for a lesson...?"
"No you are creating the weave in a manner that I did not instruct you to," said Phylia to the two young women on all white in front of her. "There are to be no holes in the shield, none...."
"B-b-but Phylia Sedai this is the fir-" one of the girls was saying when Phylia place her cold hypnotizing green eyes on the Novice. The girl quickly lowered her head.
"Continue trying, you will learn this weave by the end of the hour," Phylia said in her trademark icy tone.
"Hello...? My name is Catieri al'Cardyn, I'm here for a lesson...?" Said a voice from behind Phylia. She turned to see the newest member of the class.
"Hello Novice Catieri, I am Phylia Sedai, your teacher. Embrace the source now, c'mon I don't have all day."
Catieri stifled a squeak and did as directed. She was new at it, and it took her several tries to embrace the Source, but soon she was standing before the Aes Sedai, filled with saidar. "What now, Aes Sedai?" she asked politely.
Phylia looked around room looking for something simple for the girl to do. And she found it.
Pointing quickly, and sternly Phylia said "There, see that candle? Light it."
Catieri looked dubiously at the candle. She channeled a trickle of Fire at the wick -- a trickle was all she could manage -- but it only made a tiny spark. Phylia Sedai stood staring at her coldly, judging. She had to light the candle! She pulled in a little more saidar, thickened the flow of Fire. Another spark, though brighter this time. More saidar. More. More...
The flame leapt to the ceiling while Catieri, unconscious, sank to the floor.
The burst of flame reached the ceiling and spread a little. Phylia quickly embraced the one power and wrapped the flame in a combination of Air, Spirit, and Fire. It kept the burst caged and away from the other students.
Once the burst was done, Phylia spun around on Catieri. The two Novices who Phylia had been working with stared, mouths wide open staring at Catieri. They had successfully made the shield and one was holding it on another.
Phylia ran to Catieri and felt for a pulse. Yes, she was still alive. Picking her up in threads of air, Phylia began to run for Mistress of Novices study...
Catieri awoke with a jolt of pain in her head. She blinked and started to look around, felt a wave of nausea sweep over her, and closed her eyes again. Opening them more cautiously, she looked up at the ceiling. It was moving. Something told her that ceilings were not supposed to move. She looked down and saw the floor, two feet beneath her, moving at the same rate. She was floating! She moaned, closed her eyes once more, and sank into nothingness.
Phylia ran through the Halls of the Tower as fast as she could. In front of her lay Novice Catieri, suspended by arms of air created by Phylia. She was finally in the Halls of the Yellows getting closer to the infirmary. The girl had taken in too much Saidar. Phylia had already done a delving on her and found...the worse.
Running into the infirmary Phylia cried out, "Shalmistra! Shalmistra, we have Novice in dire need!"
Shalmistra rose at the sight of Phylia in the doorway of the Infirmary, a worried look on her normally stoic face. Behind her, an unknown Novice was laying prostrate in the air as though supported on a table. To most women, they would see nothing but a gleeman's tale walking, to a born Channeler like Shalmistra, the glow of Saidar plainly surrounded Phylia and bands of Air supported the girl.
"What happened?" The Yellow asked, walking across the room and gesturing to a bed. "I trust the girl is merely sick and not hurt, correct?"
Phylia gently placed the Novice on a bed and then raised her head to Shalmistra on the other side of it.
"It...It is the worst, Shalmistra. She is my student in the One Power Basics class and she took too much. I have done a Delving on and found...that she is burned out. My Talent in Delving is minimal, very small. But it was enough to give me a hint. Maybe you could find more?"
Phylia looked down and a jolt of guilt ran through her.
Shalmistra Delved the Novice, her face a picture of concentration and worry as she wove fine threads of saidar, wondering what Phylia meant by "the worse." Probing gingerly, she gasped and stepped back slightly from the form of the prostrate Novice. "She's burnt herself out! What in the name of the Light was she doing to cause this?"
She shook her head, feeling sorry for the girl, but at the same time thankful that it was not her in that awful position. Weaving Healing threads, she woke the child gently, removing her exhaustion and bringing her slowly to consciousness.
"Novice," She murmured, not knowing the girl's name. "I am afraid I have some troubling news for you. It appears you have burnt yourself out, and I fear that I cannot fully Heal it. All the Yellow Brothers are away from the Tower, and from my experience with Healing, they are the only ones who can fully restore the burnt out ability in women." She sighed and glanced at Phylia, not quite sure what to do in this instance. "Are you alright, dear?"
Catieri awoke to find two Aes Sedai staring down at her. "Wha...?" she tried to ask as she struggled to sit up. Then Shalmistra Sedai spoke, and the words echoed in Catieri's head. Burnt out. Unable to channel. She laughed bitterly...A novice unable to channel. Would they send her away? What would happen? She surged to her feet and ran from the room, sudden tears obscuring her vision. She didn't know where she was running to, but the knowledge that she couldn't run away from reality was only a vague nuisance at the back of her mind. She ran and ran and ran, until she fell, had tripped over something, no, someone... "I'm sorry..." she choked out, trying clumsily to pick herself up. "I..."
Stefyne had been sitting peacefully reading a new book she had borrowed from the library, making notes on a piece of parchment beside her when another novice came hurtling towards her, tripping over Stefyne's legs and sprawling across the floor. It was difficult to know whose fault it was - Stefyne certainly should have been sitting in a more suitable place to do her work - but she didn't seem to have much space in her room. It hadn't been tidy since the day Stefyne had arrived, but the novice should have been looking where she was going. It was only after Stefyne had had this thought that she actually focused on the novice, she was almost certain she had never seen anyone as distressed as her before.
Stefyne stood herself and then reached out a hand to help the girl stand.
"Are you alright?" she asked uncertainly, it was obvious that she wasn't, but Stefyne wanted to try and help, and asking was the only thing she could think of doing at the moment.
"I..." Catieri stared at the floor as she smoothed her skirts. Was she all right? "Yes, I'm fine," she said quickly. "I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" The polite apology and concern came easily, but she was hardly aware of the other novice. She just stared at the floor, words turning over and over in her head. Burnt out...unable to channel...unable to Heal...all right? She didn't notice the girl staring at her, didn't notice Phylia Sedai coming up the corridor, didn't notice, didn't notice...
Stefyne stared at the novice, she had been in the tower long enough to be able to tell if someone could channel, and something about this novice felt...wrong. She had an idea what it might be, but that was impossible! Wasn't it? Stefyne notice an Aes Sedai coming down the hall towards her, no, towards the other novice, but her thoughts were still occupied with what was 'off' about the woman. "Are you...um, did you...have...?" Stefyne couldn't complete the question, she wasn't even sure she wanted the answer.
Phylia walked the Halls of the Yellow Ajah at a quick walk. Deep down she still felt that strange...sensation. What was it? She would need to talk to Chialla about this...she could help her.
Turning a corner Phylia could now see the Infirmary. As she entered she saw Catieri lying in her bed and with another girl with her. Phylia felt rather protective of Catieri now, for some strange reason. Embracing Saidar, Phylia wove a ward against sound around Catieri, so that their talking wouldn't disturb her.
Walking up to the Novice she said, "Hello Novice, I am sorry I do not know your name. Do you have business with Catieri?"
Stefyne looked up, her thoughts interrupted by Phylia Sedai.
"I...uh. No, not really," she said distractedly, then blushed when she realized what she was saying. "Aes Sedai," she added belatedly, curtsying with her head bowed deep to hide her flushed cheeks.
"I...tripped her up, and I couldn't help noticing that she...that her...well, you know," Stefyne didn't want to say what she had been thinking when the other novice tripped over her - she hadn't been sure until Phylia Sedai had taken her off to the infirmary.
"I'll leave if I am disturbing her...?" Stefyne was hoping to be raised to the brown Ajah, and this was very interesting to study, but that was not the only reason she wanted to stay. She didn't really know Catieri, but she felt incredibly sorry for her, and wanted be there if she wanted someone to talk to who wasn't an Aes Sedai. She would go, though, if Phylia Sedai asked her to.
Phylia's cold statement changed little as the girl spoke. Then she said, "Child, there was an accident with Catieri in my One Powers Basic Class, she has burned herself out. She has yet to become conscious, and Shalmistra has been unable to ask permission from her to Heal her. Yellow ethics says that one must ask permission of those to be healed before any healing is to be done. For that reason you do not feel the same feeling around Catieri as you do me."
"I have nothing against you staying, but I do not see how you will be able to study her until she awakens. Come." Then Phylia walked to the opposite side of Stefyne, and let go of the Ward. She grabbed Catieri's hand, she seemed to be coming awake, or was she?
Stefyne looked to the door, and then back at the Aes Sedai, finally resting her eyes on the novice lying on the bed. She wasn't sure whether she should stay or go. She didn't know the other novice, but she thought that if the situation were reversed she would like someone of her own rank there. But then, Catieri wasn't her, and she might feel differently.
Burnt herself out! She can't channel!
"She will be able to be healed though, won't she, Phylia Sedai?" Stefyne asked. She was still standing at the end of the bed, ready to leave as soon as necessary.
Catieri's dreams were haunted by the echoing words. Burnt out...unable to Heal...all right? Sometimes she heard other voices, other words, but those echoed down through the depths of her soul, spinning nightmares around themselves. Finally she woke up, drenched in sweat but shivering cold, to see Phylia Sedai and a Novice standing near her bed.
"Wh...What happened?" she asked the Aes Sedai, afraid that she already knew the answer. The dreams, the memories, it all seemed so distant, so far removed from herself...it couldn't be the truth, could it?
Phylia was about to answer the girl when she heard the loud steps of no other than....
"Rolanda Moroso, I am glad to see you. We need your help this child had an accident in my One Power Basics class. I am afraid Shalmistra...is terribly busy."
The paled skinned Yellow raised an eyebrow and said, "An accident Phylia? Or were you too lacking in common sense to realize the girl was doing something wrong?" Rolanda gave out a "Hmph" and then said to Stefyne "Move girl, you don't really expect me to Delve on this girl working around you do I?" Roland wove the threads for Delving and closed her eyes.
Phylia remained calm as Rolanda said the biting words. She motioned for Stefyne to sit next to her, it would be better if Catieri had a girl her own age be with her at this time. Maybe they would become friends, Catieri would need friends with the news Rolanda was about give them.
"She has burned herself out. I am surprised she is not dead. I am also afraid that there is nothing I will do for her. If I heal her she will be too weak even to remain in the Tower. Kyelen has not been in the Tower for some years now. I am afraid there is no man who can help her. The only man that may be able to help her is in fact a Soldier, a coward by the name of Ithan Brandfor. He has the Talent strong; maybe when he is raised to Dedicated he may be able to help her. But until then we must leave her as she is."
Phylia grasped Catieri's hand and looked down at the girl. "I am so sorry child..."
Stefyne bit back a gasp and clapped her hand over her mouth. She also had to bite back a demand for either of the Aes Sedai to go and get this soldier Rolanda had mentioned to heal Catieri. She couldn't believe it was possible for someone to be able to channel one minute, thinking they were perfectly safe in a class run by an Aes Sedai, and the next discovering you could no longer channel, and there was nothing anyone could do - perhaps ever. Thinking about that, Stefyne glanced curiously at Phylia Sedai, who had taken hold of Catieri's hand; what exactly had happened in her class? Shouldn't she be making sure things like this couldn't happen?
Stefyne just waited for Catieri to respond in any way to what she had been told, she was standing - ready to either leave or stay, whatever Catieri wanted her to do - but she stepped forward a little to look around Phylia Sedai at the other novice.
Catieri didn't speak for a long time. She withdrew into herself until they had all gone, until only Rolanda Sedai remained. "Rolanda...Sedai...," she whispered hesitantly. "Are...are you sure there's nothing...?" Blood and ashes, how she wanted to taste saidar again! How long since the accident? A few hours, perhaps, but it seemed an eternity. She grasped the Aes Sedai's sleeve, pulled her closer. "Anything!"
Rolanda wanted to slap the girl for having touched her. She was about to also, until the girl said, "Anything!" Rolanda stopped for a second and thought. Yes, a new recruit would be perfect for the Dark Lord.
"Anything child? I know of a way to give you back your power. I for I can take you to He who is all power. To he who can give you back what has been taken from you from that icicle of an idiot named Phylia. Tell me now child and I will take you to he who can give you back what you miss...and give you revenge." Rolanda said.
Catieri lay there shivering, staring up at Rolanda Sedai. Was...was she talking about the...Dark One...? Catieri hugged herself, trying to get warm. She was so cold... "I..." she started, stopped when her teeth chattered. She tried again, whisper barely audible. "I...Yes. Anything....