Sinead stood on top of a hill, her hair whipping in a sharp breeze that had sprung up abruptly an hour before. She looked down the slope, toward the plain below. Or what would have been a plain, if it hadn't been crawling with Shadowspawn. She put her hands to either side, fingers spread, and a wall of red mist flew from them, spreading to protect the men she was leading. It would only be there for a few minutes, but anything to shake up her enemy would help, and the army at the bottom of that hill knew to dread that misty shield.

She wasn't leading that large of an army; Kesinda had said the host they were facing today 'wasn't that pressing, and they don't have a Dreadlord.' Only…Sinead had felt a woman channeling only minutes before, had had to shield the army behind her from lightening that came from the clear blue sky. "We are going to be slaughtered." The man standing to the left and back of her was the leader of the company, though Sinead had the right to take command from his hands if necessary. His name was Jastin, and thought he was quite large, the words came out as a squeak. "We are going to flaming get bloody slaughtered, Sinead Sedai."

Four long years of battling the Shadow gave calm to Sinead's voice as she spoke, readying several nasty weaves to send at the opposing army. "Apt wording." She informed him, with a half-smile that held no mirth. "I'm afraid that as long as we can kill or capture the woman who made that lightening earlier, then our deaths will not be in vain," she said. After a moment, she added, "Remember- everything I do will kill you as readily as the Shadowspawn, if you should be in the wrong place at the wrong time.." He believed what she said; he had been there the day she brought Jocinde to her knees, begging for mercy, even while she babbled about how many people she'd killed -among them the nameless young Gray she'd co-led her army with. Hard to believe that Kesinda had put a Black sister in charge of an army to face the Shadow. Foolish the Amyrlin was, but a Darkfriend she was not. It was the only thing to be sure of about her.

Jastin nodded, and Sinead turned around without waiting to see what he did. She walked forward, black lightening crackling around her, making her hair rise in tendrils to form a halo around her head. As she reached the line of red air, it leapt forward, and she kept going, striding toward the army with such an expression on her face that if she'd been facing humans, they would have run. She couldn't actively attack yet, but she sent Earthfire into the ground, spreading it out, watching as it caused trees to sway and fall, roaring to full life beneath the Shadowspawn, causing them to lose their balance as the ground bucked and rolled, growing hotter than any flesh could withstand.

Impassively, she kept moving forward. She would catch the woman leading this army, and she would beg as Jocinde had, and Beneon, and Vantis. How many men and women had she captured? How many had she killed? Enough to earn her a reputation; she'd heard the other Aes Sedai talking about it in amazed whispers. What they did not know what that most of her prowess came from the strength of the angreal Lasana had made for her. Sinead would have given anything to be Sinead Sedai of the Blue Ajah, relatively unknown, with next to nothing to worry about. But that would never happen now, she was unhappily certain.

The trollocs were coming to meet her, goaded on by the Myrddraal behind them. The red wall went through the first few lines. Vapor sprang up, and the Shadowspawn the Ward had touched vanished. Sinead smiled grimly, and then the shield disappeared. The next thing from Balefire, she'd been told, when she'd created it as an Accepted. She heard Jastin bellowing something, but just kept walking. They could attack now- and she would be able to, as well. Lightening and fire flared from her hands, and trollocs fell screaming. She heard a sound above her, and raised her hand. The lightening that had been dancing about her gathered in her palm, and she flung it upward, at the Draghkar about to land on her.

She turned northward, following the sense of channeling. Is she insane? Why is she not masking her ability to channel, inverting her weaves? She kept going, using the Power to make a path for her to walk through. Unless she wants me to find her…but why would she want that? Maybe she wants to be the one to turn me to the Shadow, as all the others tried to do…

Even with the Power, it took a long time to even walk five paces; before she'd gone very far, she felt Lasana's presence jump from the camp, to the middle of the battle, on the opposite side of the army. Sinead kept going; she and Lasana could fight apart as well as together, and right now, it might be better to be apart. Apparently Kesinda had decided that her first-sister had rested enough after her involuntary collapse.

She grabbed control of a weave that would have obliterated her, and sent it flying at a group of trollocs and Darkfriends. They flew apart, and she strode on, closing eyes and ears to the pain around her. She could not afford to feel sorry for Shadowspawn, for they would never return the sentiment. She felt a flash of pain from Lasana, quickly suppressed, and then a sense of…apart-ness. Had Lasana gone back to the camp for Healing? No. Wrong direction. Actually, there was no direction. Worried, Sinead stopped, looking about her.

"If you want me," a voice came over the sound of the battle, "than follow me! I am so sure you are brave enough…" The voice was filled with sarcasm, but that wasn't why she stiffened. Did she know that voice? She was sure she did. She would remember it in a moment…someone Traveled, and Sinead blasted a way to the Gateway with Air, for once not noticing those she killed. It was right where Lasana had been before… A chill went through her, and she wove the flows for Traveling, exactly as they shone in her mind from the residue of the Dreadlord's weave. Oh, Light…please…be merciful. Lasana is not there...PLEASE! The Gateway rotated open, and she stepped through cautiously, throwing herself to the ground and rolling to the side.

Fire roared as she straightened, and she cut the weaves almost casually, looking about her. No residue of channeling besides that…Where was she, anyway? Things seemed slightly odd, light came from everywhere. "Well?" She said out loud. "I came." That was really stupid, She thought, as she flung herself on the ground once more to avoid a streak of lightening. But at least I know that she's here… She stood back up, and masked her ability to channel. This woman might be brazen enough to think she wouldn't be able to feel her ability, but Sinead wasn't about to take that risk. She ran toward where the weave had originated, feet padding softly on a grassy lawn. She reached a small stream, and kept running, ignoring the water that got in her shoes. She cut another weave through, and then had to turn to her left to keep going.

Lasana seemed closer, but still foggy. Oh, Light illumine and protect me, she is here! She thought as she felt another weave coming. She ducked, and then ran in the opposite direction of where she'd been running before. Then she darted behind a large boulder and crouched down, waiting. Pain came to life in the bond again, and Sinead winced, sending what reassurance she could to her sister. Except- Lasana wasn't in the battle! She was here…wherever 'here' was; Sinead still wasn't sure. Which meant…With a cry, she sprang up, and ran, following the bond blindly, ignoring everything else, except the weaves that kept trying to kill her.

She entered a wood, but didn't truly notice. Lasana! Too soon…I won't let you die… She thought angrily, darting from tree to tree to avoid getting blasted with Fire again. She found herself only a few feet from a small clearing, and stumbled to a halt, staring at what she saw. Lasana was sitting slumped over against a rock, blood all over her face, and her arm at an odd angle. Beside her stood a plain-looking woman in a simple brown woolen dress, looking about her, even now, with the same curiosity that she'd always shown for the world. Sinead felt herself shiver.

Arla? But I liked you… I trusted you… what happened? The Brown was looking away from her, and Sinead crept forward. This was one Black sister she didn't want to have to kill…they had been friends, and Sinead didn't trust her ability to look the woman in the eyes and end her life. Arla whipped around, raising her hands, and Sinead found herself struggling to keep from being stilled. She kept walking forward, her own weaves darting out to wrap around Arla. She didn't want to severe her…only to shield her, so she would stop hurting Lasana. Because she could tell, through the bond, and with her eyes, that the Cairhienin woman's torment hadn't ended.

"Let her go," She said, her voice strained with effort. "You…do not…have to kill her just because you hate me." She flung another weave at Arla,and felt it evaporate. Naturally…she'd forgotten that Arla was the one who had taught her about Tracing weaves. No wonder she slipped away so easily. She flung another, and then another, and then paused long enough to snap the weave that was threatening to put her completely at Arla's mercy.

"Oh, she'll do." Arla said, smiling. Sinead closed her eyes, and kept channeling. It was easier to do some things without looking. Right now, she couldn't risk seeing Lasana's face twisted in agony, even if she could still feel it. "I know something about you two- I know, for instance, that whatever I do to her, you will feel." She grinned, and Sinead staggered, clenching her fists and teeth against the redoubled terror and suffering in the back of her head. "I thought so."

She wove something, and Sinead barely managed to catch it in time; her full attention was on breaking the weave around Lasana. Arla could do what she willed to her, but she wouldn't allow the other Aes Sedai to kill her first-sister. The weaves around the slender Cairhienin woman flew apart, and Sinead stepped in front of her, a bit of her strength going to her sister, but most of it focused on Arla. A time passed that it would have seemed nothing happened between them. They simply stared at one another…but the weaves that flew back and forth between them could have leveled cities, if they hadn't been stopped. Arla wove Balefire, and Sinead blanched, cutting the weave only just in time.

She wove Earth and Fire, inverted them, and thrust them into the ground, spreading them out toward the former Brown. The earth heaved, and Arla staggered, her concentration momentarily broken. In that time, Sinead slammed a shield into place, and bound her with Air. "Don't move." She said sharply, when Arla tried to struggle free of the bonds. Arla needn't know that they were only a hair's breadth from being too large for Sinead to keep together. "If you do, I won't wait for the Hall to pass judgement." She kept control of the shield, but tied off the bonds of Air, as she turned to look at Lasana.

"Are you okay?" She asked anxiously. She suddenly realized where she was, and frowned. "Are we in tel'aran'rhiod?" Lasana half-nodded, and then her eyes rolled up, her face suddenly going gray. Sinead lifted her with another flow of Air, sweat breaking out on her forehead from the challenge of dealing with three weaves made with one of her weakest Powers. She turned back to Arla. "Follow me. Stay two feet from me -no more, no less- or I'll-" Arla nodded emphatically, face white, and stood, coming to stand in front of Sinead.

"Don't think I'm not watching you," Sinead added sharply, as she wove a Gateway back to the campsite. It revolved open to reveal a section of grass, with a marble bench sitting in the center of it, seemingly floating on nothing, in a sea of black nothingness. She settled herself on the bench, with Lasana's head in her lap. "And don't expect mercy. Kesinda might be a fool, but she won't believe you didn't do what you did unless you can say you didn't after swearing the first Oath again." Arla shuddered, and Sinead smoothed Lasana's hair back from her forehead. It was a short journey; within seconds, the platform came to a halt, and the Gateway opened again. Sinead stood up, tugging Arla forward none too kindly with flows of Fire and Air. The Black sister winced, and stumbled forward. Sinead lifted Lasana in her arms, and strode out, pushing Arla ahead of her.

They were in the center of Kesinda's tent. The Hall was meeting, she realized. Sinead smiled at the Blue who had taken her position as Sitter; she didn't mind not being a Sitter anymore; it was the penances that Kesinda kept giving her for not apologizing that had her at a slow boil all the time. "Mother!" She said, looking at Kesinda, who was sitting on a seat several feet higher than the others. She looked like a doll up there. "I have another." She gave Arla a push, and the woman looked around her. "Arla?" The gasp came from the Brown Sitters, and Sinead turned to face them. "Yes." She said, her hands tightening on Lasana's light form. "Arla. And she has killed my sister." Pain flooded through her- not physical pain…just the realization that Lasana was dying. Nothing, Sinead knew, would rescue her; nothing at all.

She straightened, still holding Lasana, as she passed the shield to Kesinda's control. The Amyrlin promptly linked with three Sitters, and the shield redoubled in strength. Sinead stared at Lasana's face for a moment, before looking around. "I testify that Arla Sedai, former sister of the Brown Ajah, is a Darkfriend and traitor to the Light and the Tower," she said formally. "I testify that she has tried to kill myself and has killed Lasana, and has led an army against the Light and the Tower."

Kesinda stared at Arla, face cold. At least she wasn't soft-hearted; sometimes it was better to be hard, rather than compassionate…the reason Sinead had never been able to make herself kill even a Black sister in cold blood. Though with the realization that Lasana would die, she would gladly have made Arla's death as long and miserable as possible. Sitters of the Hall," the woman's voice rang out. "A trusted Aes Sedai has given her testimony-" Sinead stood there, oblivious to what followed. Trusted Aes Sedai? Lasana's life was fading; she could feel it through the bond. It was getting weaker and weaker…