Kaimla was now sitting on the pillow with her legs neatly tucked under her. She peered to where the maiden lay, trying to make her interest inconspicuous. The maiden was quite defiant. She attempted to appear unaffected by the glare that was thrown her way, but to no avail. A snarl came from her throat, quite loud, so Kaimla was embarrassed at that.
The maiden suddenly stopped talking, only to insult her again. The maiden had called her pampered!! And milk-skinned. The last one she could understand, she was pretty pale, but PAMPERED! Kaimla wanted to get up and slap the ungrateful girl silly. The bloody maiden would never know what it was like to be her, stealing for life. She was the farthest away from pampered that there was! At least the flaming maiden got decent meals daily, and a proper sleeping area!
Kaimla was quite surprised, though, when Rayna bent down and gave the maiden a full-armed slap in the face. Her teacher murmured something in audible to the girl on the ground. Then the maiden gave an apology! That was really amazing, considering her defying appearance.
Finally, Rayna left the maiden untied and came back to Kaimla's lessons. "I regret the interruption, but it was necessary." Her voice was strained, maybe from keeping something down. Kaimla didn't know. "Well, as I was going to say before we were interrupted." Rayna glanced towards the maiden. "We are going to start studying dreamwalking in more depth. Tonight, or sometime soon, you will go to sleep with this dream ring. It will ease your first passage into the world of dreams." The ring that her teacher held was old and twisted, yet Kaimla grabbed it with eagerness and put it on her right hand. She inspected it, and secretly inspected the maidens face through her fingers.
xxxx
Lavida sat sullenly on the ground, rubbing her reddened wrists gingerly. She watched with carefully hidden interest as the Wise One- Rayna, she had been told- gave the Wetlander a ring. The Wetlander grabbed it hungrily, immediately suspecting it. As she held it up, she glanced between her fingers, their eyes meeting for a moment by accident. She hadn't been meant to notice that. She perked her ears up as the Wise One spoke to Lavida again, stern.
"You will attend Kaimla's next dreamwalking class," she told Lavida, a woman who expected to be listened to. And obeyed. Immediately. "I wish to see what abilities you have," she said, chin in her hand. She searched over Lavida with eyes that could see through skin, looking into Lavida's very being. Their eyes met, and to her shame, Lavida was forced to look away. She had lost this first battle of wills. Barely here a moment and already she has me cowed! she thought fiercely.
Thinking of that, she raised her head, fiery eyes blazing with defiance once more. But that unblinking gaze caught her once more, and she looked down.
"Yes, Wise One," she said, hatred in her voice. It didn't matter. Tonight, she would escape. To her surprise, Rayna spoke to her once more.
"In fact," she said, her own eyes blazing in turn, "I wish to begin tonight." She looked towards the Wetlander- I will NOT call her by name! Milk-skinned CHIT!- and smiled slightly.
"Kaimla, guide this woman through her first touching," she said, then sat back onto a pillow. Lavida gaped at her, mouth wide. What did she mean? She was startled out of her thoughts when the Wetlander moved towards her.
xxxx
Kaimla was really frightened to hear that she was forced to teach this... this... idiot. It would be impossible! She wasn't even aware of her name! She swiftly, yet reluctantly got up and move closer to the Aiel, and then promptly sat.
"Rayna, what's her name?" She asked in a cutting, annoyed voice that she had never really used before. "For we have not been formally introduced."
"Her name is Lavida, and she was a Maiden, as you have surmised, and will now become a Wise One. Lavida, this is Kaimla, who has been studying with us for a few months, and is my apprentice. She will now guide you through the process of touching the True Source. It is hard at first, but will get easier." At this introduction, Kaimla smiled slightly at ... the maiden, slightly gloating, thinking, I'm better than you are! I'm in charge!
Kaimla looked her student in the eye, or attempted to. Everytime she tried to lock her eyes, the maiden defiantly looked away. She started anyway. "Now... Lavida I guess I'm going to have to guide you through touching the source. You MUST cooperate. Now do as I say, when I say. Close your eyes. Picture a flower, anything small, and concentrate on it." Somehow, by the way the former maiden was, Kaimla got the feeling that in her mind, the maiden was picturing her dead, or seriously injured. Not really the best mood to get when you were about to be instructing your first student.
xxxx
Lavida bristled as the insolent Wetlander asked Rayna- Rayna! for her name. The girl began to try to guide her to touch the True Source- she never would. She closed her eyes, however, and stored away the girl's words for later reference. She opened one eye impulsively, glancing at her.
"You could have asked me, you know, girl," she said, then snapped her eye closed again. The True Source. The One Power. She was supposed to touch it-
She convulsively clutched her spears to her chest, which had been dumped on the rugs with her. With her eyes closed, she didn't notice the Wise One eye them with distaste, then smile grimly at the thought of what would be done to them.
However, the Wise One had also commanded her to do something- and a Wise One could not be turned down. Not without violating toh. So she sat, trying desperately to envision a flower. She thought of the Rikath, a small blue flower than was poisonous if eaten, but beautiful. She had only seen a few times, though, and had trouble.
She made the flower become clearer in her mind, until it was picture perfect. She opened one eye again, the flower imprinted on her other lid.
"What next?"
xxxx
The maiden did as she said, but she was so rude! Kaimla thought of slapping her again, and demanding to be respected as a superior, but decided against it as the maiden protectively held her spear to her chest.
When she was asked what the next step was, Kaimla nervously glanced over at Rayna for consent, and got a nod in reply. But she really didn't know how to explain the next steps. They were easier done than said, in a fashion. She thought back to her training. "Well, first, you need BOTH eyes shut, only one won't do. Now, concentrating hard on the flower, make sure to have every single little detail of the flower, every bend, every shade, every petal. Now, pour your entire being into it. Surrender to the power, the flower holds your being, you and the source are one. Eventually it will start to... ahh... glow." Kaimla repeated the last few sentences a few times, then gave the maiden a few minutes to try this. She was still unsure of how to instruct anyone on anything.
Making sure that the maiden was concentrating on putting her very being into a flower, or at least seeming to do so, Kaimla mouthed the word 'Help' to her teacher, because she really didn't know what to do next, and she didn't want to be doing this. Rayna shook her head, and urged her to go on. Kaimla took a deep breath and prepared to keep teaching the maiden how to embrace the source.
xxxx
Alright, both eyes closed. Easy enough. I can do that, she told herself, shutting her eyes. She pushed away her spears, intent upon doing this perfectly. If I have to do it, she thought to herself, I may as well do it right! She formed the flower again in her mind, perfecting the colour, the shape of the petals, the smell even...
"Now, pour your entire being into it. Surrender to the power, the flower holds your being, you and the source are one. Eventually it will start to... ahh... glow." Lavida struggled to keep from laughing aloud. That was absurd! A glowing flower that you surrender to? Surrender was never an option! Never!
Regardless, she truly tried to 'surrender' to a flower. But she could not. It was written into every fiber of her being... never surrender. Finally, after a few minutes, she opened her eyes, exasperated.
She faced the Wise One calmly, aware that she may be punished. "I cannot, Wise One," she said, wincing at the sound of the words. "I cannot... cannot surrender. She spoke the last word with distaste, spitting it out of her mouth, leaving a foul taste behind.
She kept her chin up. "I am sorry." She stared defiantly at both of them, unblinking.
xxxx
Kaimla waited, then the maiden finally spoke. "I cannot... cannot surrender." This was going to be hard. The former maiden had a BLOCK! Curse the bloody blocks! They made nothing any flaming easier! Now she had to find out how to break it. Bloody blocks!
Since there was nothing that Kaimla could do to break the block now, or figure it out -that would come in time, hopefully- all she could do was go back to trying to embrace, even though she new it wouldn't work.
"Alright, Lavida. Don't worry about not being able to surrender to the power. You have what we call a block. It means that you cannot embrace the source except for under certain conditions. You will have to practice embracing the source, though, so it will be easier when we find out what your block is. Now, try again. Concentrate on the flower. Make sure you have every detail..." She droned on, letting the maiden find the source again and practice.
xxxx
Lavida glared at the girl, who kept insisting upon trying. A block? So she could not even do this thing she was forced into! She glared at everyone and everything; the tent, the blankets, the girl... Rayna... Oh. Maybe that was not a good idea. Rayna glared right back, her eyes far more intense than Lavida's had ever been, outside of battle. During battle, she always felt so alive, like her senses were heightened, like the Wheel of Time itself was turning within her. The thrill of the dream of life potentially ending...
She barely listened as the girl talked on, almost lulling her to unawareness. She did try, she truly did... but what was the use if it couldn't be used?
Her eyes closed, she tried harder, until the Wise One declared the lesson ended, standing up. Lavida opened her eyes, looking towards her, and the girl out of her corner of the eye.
"You shall sleep in my apprentices' tent, with Kaimla," she told Lavida, hands on her hips. "Be at my tent an hour before dawn tomorrow morning," she said. With that, she whirled around, striding briskly out of the tent. Lavida stood gaping at her, then slowly turned to face the Wetlander.
xxxx
Her tent! It was her flaming tent! This would only ruin her privacy! And it was a small enough tent to begin with. Now it was going to be small, and shared with a person who she didn't like, who didn't like her, and she hardly knew! What was she going to do?
Kaimla decided to roll with the punches. It could be worse. "Follow me." She said to the maiden, motioning to the door flap. The maiden first had to pick up her stuff. As she led her across the camp to the small, brown tent that they would now be sharing, Kaimla walked quickly. She really didn't want to share a tent. Hoping to lose the maiden along the way would be no use, she would only get in trouble later.
They finally reached the tent, and Kaimla walked in. She promptly sat on her bed, making sure that the other girl new that it was hers and that she was not getting it. The maiden entered. " Well, this is our bloody tent, now. And we will be sharing it from now on. This is my bed," she said with a bit of anger, pointing to what she was sitting on, "and that means that the other one is yours." Someone had brought another cot in during the time they were at the lesson. "Put your flaming stuff here, here and here. Mine's over there," she added as she pointed to different areas in the room. "The wash basin is over there, the towels along side."
"And since we are roommates now, I guess we should bloody well be on better terms with each other. That means you call me Kaimla, not girl or wetlander, because I DO have a name, and I will call you Lavida. And we should at least appear to be more friendly. Alright? If you have any bloody objections, state them now."
xxxx
"If you have any bloody objections, state them now." Lavida glared at her. It was bad enough they had to share a tent- did she have to make it worse? She stiffly walked over to her pallet, sitting cross-legged on it and making a show of arranging her weapons. She did like doing this- it usually was quite a show! First, she laid down her spears in a neat pile beside her unstrung bow. Coiling the string in a puddle next to it, she took off her quiver, counting the bristling arrows.
Next, she flipped her knives out. The belt knife went first- the obvious one. Next, her throwing knives- from up her sleeves. The smaller palm knives came next, from the same place. Two long knives were removed from her lower legs, then two stabbers from her soft laced knee-high boots. Finally, she took out a small poison-tipped dagger- from the small of her back.
Grinning carnivorously at the Wetlander- she would say that in her mind, always,- she said, "Objections? Oh, no, Kaimla."
xxxx
Kaimla calmly watched as Lavida elaborately displayed all of her weapons. She was completely unaffected by it -almost- knowing that they would be taken away from Lavida if she wore them around or used them for fun or killing friends. She thought of her own knives. She had them under her pile. It would be pointless to bring them out now. That would only lead to a competition between the two of who had the best weapons. Lavida would surely win. All Kaimla had were 10 knives, 2 small daggers for the boots, two longer knives up the sleeves, two on her belt (her favorites, with jagged edges), two on her stomach, one on her left thigh, and a hooked one on her back.
When Lavida was finally done and admitted that she had no objections in a voice that seemed slightly carnivorous, Kaimla sat back against her small, hard pillow. She eyed the weapons that Lavida had laid out more thoroughly, getting a little more uneasy at each glance. The bow would not be harmful currently, as it was unstrung. Her spear wasn't bad either, as it seemed to be more of a status symbol than a weapon. The knives were another matter. As with Kaimla, Lavida was really comfortable with them, and at least one was bound to be poisoned.
"Lovely little collection you've got there. It outdoes mine. I only have a few knives." Kaimla's voice was strained at the effort to keep it from shaking slightly. "If you would be so kind as to put them away, I believe that Rayna will be over soon, or summoning us to her tent."