This is Aramme presenting the second instalment of Wings of a Dragon, and i would like to thank you for reading chapter 1. I didn't get as many actual reviews as I had hoped, but i realised that between gramatical errors in need of serious fixing and the fact i haven't introduced the ToS characters I should probably post chapter 2 up before I get serious in dropping.

My posting of this chapter now gives you readers a problem; Chapter 3 isn't written yet. It's planned and I know how it is going to be written, it just isnt done. That said, my schedual for updates, for those of you who haven't checked my account recently, is going to be 2-3 weeks for WoaD and once a week for DW. I can get DW up so fast because I have more, shorter chapters written that only need to be typed and edited.

Questions that might not have been asked but should probably be answered for clarification:

This is not compliant with ToS:DoaNW. The ToS characters are present in this fic because everything hits the fan just before, or during, that game. ToS main party characters will be showing up, but not in the expected way, so don't kill me at each of their appearences.

The abilities of the Two Rivers crew are more advanced than in cannon. This is becaused someones who walk into the Blight unarmed and return fine gave them access to the largest collection of knoweldge and physical arts in existance. And, no, not the white tower. The full extent of the tav'eren powers, most notably Mat, have yet to fully kick in; Mat can't randomly hit something and have something bad happpen to the bad guys yet, thats later. Nynaeve and Egwene don't know they can channel yet, though they have been taught some "tricks" so they wouldn't die trying to use it.

This story has Yuan as the main ToS character because he does the most talking out of all of them. Kratos, though, has more of a sub story that happens later than Yuan does.

This does technically fall with in the time frame layed out in the first chapters of EotW, Rand and Mat finished faster so there was more time for discussion and so forth.

Rand, Mat, Perrin: 18-20

Egwene: 16-18

Nynaeve: 24-26

Lan, Moiraine, Tam: 44-46

Finally, any one who can guess who Rus is getts a prize!


Chapter 2

Bydlo - Mussorgsky


Mat easily adjusted to Kiki's weight when the large black and white raven landed on his shoulder and absently scratched the favorite spot on her head. She seemed worried about something; the over-protective feeling parents get when their kid is getting picked on kind of worry. Mat might not be as good at empathetically connecting with animals as Rand or Perrin, but he did well enough to understand that much about the raven on his shoulder. Not that he could do it with just any animal like Rand or understand them to the point of carrying a surprisingly intelligent conversations with the animals he can understand like Perrin, but his understanding was well enough for him. Besides, ravens, like most birds, usually didn't think with definite thoughts; just the vaguest impressions of thoughts or ideas and sometimes images and names if they thought they were important. Though, the raven attempt of his name was 'Ma-traw', something as endearing as it was frustrating. The wolves and dogs, Perrin kindly informed him, decided to call him 'Maw-kon'; both in honor of what the ravens called him and the fact that his region wide prank resulted in the ravens and the foxes getting into an argument over how best to execute said prank (Perrin later informed that while he said the wolves and dogs called him 'Maw-kon' the more literal if lengthy interpretation of his moniker was 'he who instigates fighting between ravens and foxes and still gets them to listen).

Mat watched in an uneasy amusement as he watched Rand flee across the Green, dodging people and ducking under the cart of the newly arrived peddler, but thankfully only being chased by annoyed shouts of other villagers. The two strangers (the bloody Dai Shan of Malkier!) watched the back of his friend during his retreat until he was out of sight.

"Quiet fast, is he not?" Moiraine asked. Mat noted with relief that Lan (al'Lan Mandragoran, idiot, it only got drilled in his head often enough) started to relax a bit. Still could probably draw faster than his eyes could follow accurately, but not tense enough to give the impression of being ready to tear limbs off.

"Yeah," Mat agreed even though he knew the question was most likely rhetorical, "but I'm not convinced that it beats his escape from a pissed off mountain cat." At the inquiring look, Mat added, "He ended up running off a cliff. He was lucky; he jumped off the only part that had a mountain juniper growing out the side. The cat; not so lucky. Nynaeve saved her, though, so now we have a clan of angry cats in the mountains that attack men. Just so you know," Mat finished awkwardly. "Right then, I'm going to give Kiki a well earned treat," Mat said, backing towards the door of the inn. Kiki cawed happily and rubbed her head against his in gratitude.

"Ewin," Mat continued seriously, "you should go hear what the peddler has to say. Moiraine and Lan are probably very busy doing scholarly research." He leaned to whisper into Ewin's ear when it looked like he would protest. "Trust me; the talk she is going to go on about is boring. Know from experience."

Ewin nodded morosely but walked towards the growing crowd as Mat ducked into the building. Mat nodded to the Village Council members and mouthed Nynaeve at Tam's inquisitive look. Tam nodded and left it at that. Mat was surprised when he heard two sets of footsteps following behind him.

"I though you had other things to do?" Mat asked the two strangers, giving them a sidelong look.

"Your raven is a curiosity to me," Moiraine replied. "I am sure my tasks can wait a few moments for a few questions."

Mat couldn't see any harm in a couple questions. In fact getting word spread that there was a difference in Master Kafei's ravens and those things, it might keep people from shooting at Kiki and others of her special breeding. "Okay then," Mat said, looking over the now empty common room. "I guess we can just grab a table. Oh." Mat paused and pulled Kiki off his shoulder, holding her firmly, but gently, in his hands. "Could you hold her for a minute? She'll be happier if she has her stand and a snack."

Moiraine looked at him skeptically but nodded. She held her hands out to take her but Kiki began to make a sound deep in her throat, like a dog growl. Mat sighed and turned the monochrome raven towards Lan. There was still a slight growl, but it was no longer audible. "You've been hanging out with Kiev and his family too much," Mat murmured under his breath to the raven. If anything she felt prideful. "Sorry," Mat said at their odd looks. "As they say, 'like breeder, like breeded'. Biased against Cairhien, biased toward Malkier."

Lan gave Moiraine an almost pleading look (not that anyone else that hadn't spent prolonged periods of time with Rand's teachers would have caught it) before sighing in audibly and holding out his hands. Mat sat Kiki down in the large, callused hands of the Malkieri Dai Shan; the larger than average raven was able to sit mostly in them. Kiki shifted slightly and stared into the eyes of the new person holding her. Her head tilted to the side slightly before turning to look at Mat. "Maaw?" Kiki crowed, but Mat understood it as 'who?'

"Just a minute Kiki," Mat said. The raven fluffed her feathers in slight indignation before starting a staring contest with Lan. "I'll be right back." He quickly went into the kitchen and grabbed the hand carved perch from the windowsill. The perch had been part of their requirement for the three of them to have their own personal messenger raven rather than be at the mercy of Rand's teachers' whims of showing up or deciding to send an older, crankier one who pecked at who ever touched them that wasn't Master Kafei. Even if Kiki wasn't there much of the year, she was like Mat, Rand, and Perrin's first own pet. They had been at hand for most of her raising and training.

"You feeding Kiki, deary?" Mistress al'Vere asked. The long sleeves on her dress were rolled up to her elbows as she kneaded some dough. It smelled as though she was making some chicken-vegetable stew and roasted mutton for the day's lunch and dinner.

"Yep," Mat said with a grin. "She cleaned up Emond's Field real good; no more of those nasty birds here."

Mistress al'Vere nodded with a sad and confused smile, she understood Mat's problem with the other, 'normal' ravens, as it were, but she accepted it. She grabbed an empty serving tray and plate and piled fresh honeycakes on it. She then grabbed a bowl of what looked like to honeycakes all crumbled up and placed it next to the plate. She finally grabbed an empty bowl and glass and filled both up with clean, cool water. "Can I have two more glasses of water, please?" Mat asked when he remembered his manners. "Mistress Moiraine and Master Lan are, erm, admiring Kiki."

This time, Mistress al'Vere's smile was genuinely happy. "Of course, deary." She filled two more glasses with water and handed the tray to Mat who held it expertly in one hand. "You have a good day, Matrim."

"You too, Mistress al'Vere," Mat said as he backed out of kitchen. When he looked into the common room, the sight made him sigh. Moiraine and Lan sat at a table in a corner of the room, Kiki a table away from them with her feather completely fluffed out while she growled her agitation and dislike. Scratch, the inn cat, was sitting on the table in front of Moiraine, looking back and forth between woman and bird as though unsure as who to support; the woman petting him, or the bird that it had a long standing truce with. The four occupants of the room looked up as he entered.

"Your bird doesn't seem to like me much," Moiraine said as Scratch settled down, tail flicking occasionally. Mat sighed and ostentatiously went to the table the strangers had taken, spinning the tray around so that the water glasses were in their direction. Moiraine raised an eyebrow, but Lan tensed minutely. Apparently, all traveling scholars got themselves into messes their near, elder brother figure of a swordsman had to drag them out of.

"Water," Mat replied to the unspoken question. Lan seemed to relax some; it was hard to hide things in water. Mat set the perch on the table nearer to Lan and set the small bowl of water in front of it. Kiki made a keening whine, not wanting to be near the woman. Correction, she didn't want him near the woman. The only other clear things Mat got from the perturbed bird was bad, mean, and hurt. Mat sighed heavily as he waved the bowl of crumbs in front of the bird. "Come on Kiki," Mat said. "If you want your treat anytime soon, you need to be a well behaved and civilized bird and put up with the fact you'll be sitting with someone who is from the country your master dislikes. Or are you scared her?" Kiki squawked indignantly and in a flurry of feathers dropped onto her perch. Her feathers were still fluffed but she wanted it known that she wasn't scared, just cautious.

Mat set the bowl of crumbs down in front of the disgruntled bird and began to pet her comfortingly. She gradually defluffed and pecked at the crumbs some. There was a creak of wood and Mat looked up to see Lan shifting uneasily. He was leaning way from the raven more towards Moiraine, as if to shield her with his body if it was necessary, his hard blue eyes alight with suspicion.

"Sorry about her," Mat said with a sigh, not stopping his ministrations to the bird. "Master Kafei has had a strong dislike of Cairhien since the Aiel War. That is to say, the whole time we've known him and her being alive. While they may not perpetuate discrimination, they give solid evidence to support their points of view on any argument and usually win."

"While I take no offense," Moiraine said, her attention focused on Mat and Kiki. "May I ask what Master Kafei's argument is?"

"And are you sure that thing is safe," Lan asked.

Mat nodded. "I've known her since she was a hatchling," Mat said. "I think I've met her parents, too. Don't remember though, it would have been almost nine years ago. And yes she is that old," Mat said before it could be asked, for it was asked every time travelers heard how old she was. "Master Kafei's people have been breeding Kiki's species of raven since before the Breaking. Possibly even before the Age of Legends, but their documentation beyond the Breaking is too incomplete for anyone to make sense of. Or at least that is what they said; they keep it in their people's library for preservation purposes so I've never seen it myself."

The two strangers turned and looked at each other, stunned into silence. A part of Mat said that he really shouldn't be talking about that, but another part just said it was fine. "Anyways," Mat continued. "Kiki's kind is actually very offensive towards the, erm…"

"Dark One's spies?" Moiraine offered.

Mat nodded. "Yeah, vile examples of that family of birds, but then you already knew that and saw Kiki here in action.

"As for Master Kafei's argument; I think he actually wrote a paper on it but I doubt he published it. But the argument's title is 'Why the Aiel were completely justified in declaring war against Laman and Cairhien.' Their main arguments are that Cairhien betrayed the Aiel's gratitude of their ancestors' aid during the Breaking, and that Laman murdered children out of spite."

"Is this aid that the ancestors of Cairhien are suppossed to have given the Aiel the reason why the Aiel gave them avendoreldera?" Lan asked intrigued.

"Yep," Mat said with a nod. "The ancestors of Cairhien gave the Aiel aid when no one else did and in order to fulfill their obligations of ji'e'toh, the Aiel gave them a symbol of life. Cairhien kind of spat on their honor when they cut avendoreldera down. Just don't tell an Aiel you know that though; custom dictates that non clan chiefs or Wise Ones who speak of it are killed on sight."

Lan nodded in understanding. It wouldn't have surprised Mat to learn that he had fought them during the war. "I'd assume then," Moiraine began, her brow creased in thought, "that judging from the lag in time from the Breaking to when the Aiel presented Cairhien avendoreldera that they must have put a lot of time and effort to find an appropriate gift to give in return and make sure that they were giving it to the correct people." Mat nodded in agreement. "So I concede that Cairhien was in the wrong, as I have for many years. But what does Master Kafei mean by 'Laman murdered children out of spite'?"

"That gets into the complicated mess of histories that span beyond the Age of Legends," Mat replied with a grimace. "The short version is that Master Kafei's people held the type of tree avendesora is, the linkite tree his people call it, as a safe guard of life and the light and, to an extent, sentient. Comparatively speaking, avendoreldera was still a baby as linkite trees go, so Master Kafei and Master Aurion took the cutting of avendoreldera like they would the murder of a small child. I think they were angry enough that they actually got blackmail material on every member of the Damodred House at the time in case the Aiel wanted completely ruin them. They didn't though, so the Damodred House still exists."

Moiraine looked distinctly ill; Lan not far behind and Mat realized something in connection to Rand's analysis. "You're from House Damodred, aren't you?" Mat asked.

Moiraine's lips flattened in distaste. "Unfortunately."

Mat nodded. "Just be sure that they know that you feel that way and you'll probably be fine." Mat thought that through again. "Maybe keep an eye out for a prank or two."

"Master Aurion would be, who," Lan asked with a frown.

Mat blinked. "Oh, I guess he's the same as you." The Malkieri king looked taken aback, and Mat corrected himself. "The same as in the one who gets to save the ones who are supposed to be intelligent from bad situations, not a king in hiding from his worshipers." Lan's face darkened and Mat grinned cheekily. "The closest term to their relationship is the Aiel term, near-brother. I think they've known each other since they were in diapers."

"Since you say he is like Lan, I assume you mean that he is proficient with a sword?" Moiraine asked.

Mat nodded. "Yeah, and damn near every other weapon in existence. He calls it a hobby; we call it his sadistic pass time." Mat rubbed phantom pains. "The amount of swords he seems to keep on himself should be illegal." Lan raised an eyebrow. "I swear he has five on him at any given time and who knows how many others stashed else where."

"I'm surprised he would openly where so many this far from the Blight," Lan commented.

Mat snorted. "Who said anything about openly?" Mat asked. "He makes them invisible." The looks the two gave him was all Mat needed to know he spoke wrong.

"Invisible?" Moiraine asked intrigued, and was that excitement? Mat wondered how the Malkieri king ended up with a woman with a death wish like her.

"Er, not how you think," Mat said. "More like how no one notices Lan here unless he wants them to. 'I don't want to be seen, so you can't'; except for Master Aurion it is 'Sword? What sword? I don't have any swords on me, sir. Honest.' We didn't know that he had different swords on him till Master Kafei taught Rand the counter to the trick a couple years back. That is probably why Rand knew you were there with out double checking."

"And Master Kafei didn't teach you this trick," Moiraine asked.

"Nah," Mat said dismissively. "He can't really teach me; not the scholarly type and all. He had hope for me when I took to the Old Tongue like any good Manetheren would have but was disappointed when that was the end to my language capabilities. That and I hate sitting still for too long."

Moiraine seemed surprise. "Does that mean you understand what I speak, well?" she asked in the Old Tongue.

Mat grinned. "I'd like to think myself bilingual," Mat said cheekily.

"So I did not miss hear you earlier?"

"Nope."

"How did you meet?" Lan asked.

"The question is 'How did Rand meet them?'" Mat corrected. "The answer is he stumbled on them." The look that Mat received said that it wasn't enough of an answer. "Look," Mat said seriously, "that story goes into something personal for Rand. Not my business to talk about."

"But it led to these two, from observation of you and your friend, highly educated individuals to teaching farm boys?" Moiraine asked.

"Not on a general whole," Mat said. "You kind of have to take an aptitude test. I think. Rand, Perrin, and me wrote letters every day for a year to them and wouldn't stop bugging them till they read all of them or until they allowed me and Perrin to join Rand in his lessons. Master Kafei has been teaching the Wisdom some of their people's healing remedies, but other wise I don't really know anyone else they actually teach. They like to help where they can though."

"What reason did they have for teaching Rand?" Moiraine asked. Mat wasn't sure when, but somewhere during this conversation Mat was sure his warning system of sorts started going off, but it seemed almost muffled so he ignored it.

"I think they want him to be an heir of sorts to their trading thing," Mat said with a shrug.

"Why not settle down and have children? Or asked a relative?"

"They're the last of their people," Mat said, real sympathy entering his voice that seemed to catch the strangers by surprise. "I don't know the details, they don't like to talk about it, but something happened that led to their people's destructions. Either in front of their eyes or they came back from traveling around to find everyone dead, I'm not sure. But I can say that their talking about what happened, the little that they did, was the only time I have ever seen them truly cry. Hard to move on enough to start a completely new life knowing your wife, child, lover, and every other friend or relative died and you weren't there or able to save them, especially when you were the elite. Probably why they are defensive of the Aiel as a whole; they can actually trace their peoples back enough to find where the first Aiel came in."

"They're related?" Lan asked.

Mat shrugged. "Complicated histories," he repeated. "Ask them when they come in. Other wise I can compare it like Seanchan and Mayenar; but then, you don't know anything about Seanchan and I wouldn't know how to explain it."

"So what they see in Rand is someone to pass their legacy to," Moiraine asked rhetorically. "Why him though, I wonder."

"Something about a genetic quirk Rand inherited from his mum's side," Mat said casually, once again aware of the warning bells being muffled out. "Other wise everyone in the Two Rivers could learn it, easy. It is similar enough to Master Kafei and Master Aurion's people's thing that they can make do. Though what Master Aurion can teach is much more universal, like weapons, than Master Kafei, who teaches mostly book or people specific things."

"But what they teach does allow Rand to use his… abilities to help people around Emond's Field, correct?" Moiraine persisted. Mat couldn't be sure what she said that caused his warning bells to break through the muffle in desperation, but suddenly they were blaring in Mat's head and all the obvious signs and questions clicked together. And Mat knew how badly he screwed up. How badly he just betrayed everyone.

Mat cursed under his breath, every self-deprecating phrase in every language and manner he knew falling from his lips as he roughly shoved his chair back and stood. His body shook in rage and strain, both, as he retrieved the coin he was given and slammed in on the table. Moiraine seemed to be in shock, Lan's Warder instincts kicked in and he had a knife his hand in a flash.

"I'm sorry, Sister," Mat said in a harsh whisper, nearly choking on his own words. "I do not think I can help you any more. It wouldn't do well for my conscious if I let you hurt my friend just because he has a talent thought lost to humans since the Breaking. I've been told of too many horror stories of what Severing – Gentling - someone who can't channel to make me feel fine with the misguided pursuits of 'protecting the common people'." Mat's hand twitched sporadically as he removed his hand from the silver (Tar Valon flame coin, stupid wool stuffed buffoon) penny and collected a growling Kiki onto his arm as he snagged the bird perch. He gave a small bow. "Aes Sedai. Gaiden."

Mat stalked out of the room and out the back door of the inn; Kiki sending waves of comfort and sympathy and 'It's not your fault' the whole while. Mat just hoped his friends (and teachers, Light) could forgive him eventually. He knew he wouldn't; not for a long time, if ever.


Moiraine stared at the silver coin helplessly, any weave on it falling apart as soon as the boy, young man, Mat, stepped away from it. While she was almost certain now that if anyone of the children here was the Dragon Reborn, that he was Rand al'Thor, she couldn't be sure due to how close those three boys were born.

"Did he break it?" Lan asked, the knife he had pulled when Mat had stood abruptly was already sheathed again.

Moiraine shook her head. "No, he fought it. What I put on him through the coin was not a true Compulsion, just a strong suggestion. If it had been a true compulsion, I doubt that he would have been able to fight it. The topic was just against his beliefs enough that his force of will was strong enough to give him enough distance from the weave to dispel it."

Lan grimaced. "It does not bode well, still," Lan pointed out. "That is two of the three possible children that have managed to break hold of us."

Moiraine patted her Warder's arm consolingly as she sat the cat (who seemed disturbed by the boy's outburst) on the ground. She collected the coin as she stood. "Only this one I cannot find. The other boy, Rand, I can still find; only the weave that was supposed to make him more malleable to my suggestions broke when the raven slammed into him. Not that it worked liked it should have; it felt as though it did not fit correctly. I thought it would have been fine, but we saw the results of that. I think he was trying to inform me discretely of the problem, but the raven interceded before he could find away to speak to us alone. The last, at least, seems to behave like expected."

Lan began to nod but stopped when Moiraine began to frown. "The two I can track seem to be meeting together. I would not be surprised if the third one is with them. We need to give enough of an explanation of our reason to calm their worry over us attempting to harm the al'Thor boy." Moiraine snorted disdainfully before continuing, "Like we would disable our only hope for survival."

There was a commotion at the front of the inn, an argument it sounded like. Lan quickly gathered the dishes back onto the tray and left it on the table closest to the kitchen as they left the common room to follow the Cauthon boy's retreat. They missed a man who seemed more out of place than they enter with the Village Council and traveling peddler. Seemingly late twenties to early thirties, the man was dressed in fine clothing; the pants and jacket the color of forest shadows, the undershirt a navy blue, a pair of dark brown leather boots that were upturned at the top and reached just under his knees and a matching pair of gloves, completed with a tree bark brown cloak. But the most stunning features of the man were his sharp, teal eyes and long, silken tresses pulled into a ponytail that seemed to be of a sea foam color. The afformented eyes narrowed in threat and suspicion when they landed on the Aes Sedai and her Warder, but quickly lightened up when drawn back into the discussion (that is, argument) at hand.

Not noticing anything wrong, Moiraine and Lan continued there discussion. "What kind of talent do you think the Cauthon boy, Mat, was speaking of?" Moiraine asked. "It must have something with the plants, but what? I never knew that gardening was a talent; many Sisters use the Power for gardening back in the Tower, but it was more a skill than a talent."

Lan's face pinched slightly. "He made it sound as though another group has had the ability since," he began. "But what other…" He trailed off when realization hit him like a ton of bricks, strong enough that Moiraine felt the shock. "The Ogier," Lan breathed. "The Ogier can make plants grow by Singing. It is possible that other groups could have also Treesung; the Green Man certainly could."

"But that does not explain being able to set the fields afire if he was distracted," Moiraine countered, though the Treesinging did seem like a good possibility. But if he was a Treesinger, where did that put them? The Ogier certainly could not channel, if it was because of what ever trait that led to Treesinging then the al'Thor boy couldn't be the Dragon Reborn. And it seemed like they were so close, too.

Lan grunted in concession as they spotted their quarries. They weren't as alone as Moiraine had hoped. With them there were four other people; two Moiraine recognized as the Wisdom and the innkeeper's daughter, Egwene. The other two were foreign. One looked like he could be a farmer born man dressed in plain brown wool clothing and nondescript tan cloak, but had the air of someone who usually lived in a city; merchant class then. And from the cut of the clothing, Ghealden. Odd. He had dark hair that had a slight curl to it; taller than the average man, but not by much; broad shoulders were hunched defensively, a nervous crouch. He must not have come here before, not one of the teachers then. The other man was a different story.

While not as tall as Rand, he wasn't short by much and had a similar build to the boy. His hair was a light brown of a reddish tone that made Moiraine think of some types of stones she had seen used in buildings, and hung loose down to his shoulders, looking a little shaggy while still refined. He wore a rich brown coat and pants that looked like the darker color of his hair, accented by a crimson under shirt. A deep purple cloak hung from his shoulders, the hood lined with a dark gray fur; by far the most expensive of his clothing and was well cared for judging from the way the hem had been redone with a barely noticeable mistake. He talked easily with the five Emond's fielders, arms crossed while conversing in low, rapid fire tones. Mat was standing to the side dejectedly, nodding every once in a while. Nynaeve seemed to be speaking harshly while Rand tried to pacify the growingly volatile group. Moiraine noticed, with an internal start, that the third boy, Perrin, was staring at her with his golden-brown eyes; betrayal and fierce loyalty shining through in threat.

He said something and five heads snapped in her direction, staring at her in a variety of emotions. A weary fear in the unknown man, fury in the Wisdom's. The man in the purple cloak merely turned his head a fraction before drawing the others attention back to him. Nynaeve didn't look happy but didn't seem inclined to argue.

"… everyone just better be here when I get back," Moiraine heard her say as they got into hearing range. "If not, I'm hunting you down and dragging you back. Aes Sedai or no Aes Sedai." She turned in the direction of the inn, and glared at Moiraine and Lan as she passed, a slight echo of saidar coming from her as she passed; not touching but very close to it.

"Egwene," the man in the purple cloak asked in a kind, if firm, tone, "could you make sure there is a room for Rus and help him get situated?" The girl and Ghealdean looked like they were about to protest but stopped and began to follow Nynaeve; the girl shooting one last worried look at the boys as she left.

"Kiev," he began this time in a commanding tone that booked no argument, "go to your mother and have her get everyone together. What you and the rest did were very smart things to do and now we just need to plan. Send Din back here, hopefully he won't be needed to hold that position." From the shadows of the tree, a figure that had gone unnoticed before stood and slipped in between Aes Sedai and Warder and the others. Golden eyes glared at her, lips pulled up in a snarl, revealing sharp teeth; a warning like no other. Wolf.

"Now, Kiev." The wolf's ears flattened against his and gave Moiraine one last glare before sprinting off in the direction of the Westwood. It ran passed several groups of people, and while people stopped to stare after it for a moment, they went on as if it wasn't unusual. Moiraine didn't know if she should be concerned or not.

"So," the purple cloaked man began, finally turning towards the strangers, his hand resting on, Moiraine noted with a shock she also felt through her Bond, the hilt of sword that Moiraine could have sworn wasn't there before. "Why are you asking after my students, Sister of the Blue Ajah?"

Moiraine froze when she got a good look at the man's face. His skin was smooth and lightly tan with out a hint of wrinkles; the only lines were from the crinkling of his mouth and furrowed brow as he frowned at her. Part of his hair hung down over the right side of his face, partially covering his eyes. But one thing was for sure; he didn't look as though he was a day over thirty. Younger, almost; that is, if you didn't see his eyes. They were a burgundy wine color; red, brown and purple mixed perfectly, but alone meant nothing. There was an age to them. A terrible age. As though he had lived never ending lifetimes of struggle like Lan's had before they met and be came Bonded; never dying, only living. Being of an organization of people that didn't age in ways like a normal people, you learned to tell age by their eyes, and Moiraine could tell that this man was far older than any Aes Sedai that she had ever met. It frightened her.

Lan, the ever faithful Warder, gripped the hilt of his own sword and moved into a stance in challenge. The man's eyes flickered briefly to Lan before turning his eyes back to Moiraine, dismissing him as a threat. A moment after, the man's eyes widened slightly (more in his pupils than anywhere else) and looked at Lan in an analyzing manner. He scowled at Moiraine.

"I have heard of Aes Sedai acquiring odd… obsessions as the years pass," the man said with equal parts disgust and contempt. "Perhaps you're wishing now to exchange your blue shawl for green in order to expand your collection of rare peoples and talents?"

Repulsion was the main thing Moiraine felt; the thought of what the man suggested was one of the things that disgusted her most about some of the Green Ajah. She did feel indignation, however, but it took her a moment to realize most of it wasn't hers.

"I chose freely to become her Warder," Lan growled.

"You say that now, but did you say that then?" the man asked fixing his eyes on Lan. They almost seem to soften, a bit. "I have seen it before, and have no doubt that I will again. There are few things I can say that are a worse thing to see; nothing comparable in recent times that aren't from older times,though. Many times they do not know a change unless you force them to see it. To remember it. A good number in recent decades from the Malkieri survivors."

"I don't think that would have happened to him, Master Aurion," Rand said hesitantly. He frowned and made a bow like in a court. "Presenting; al'Lan Mandragoran, Dai Shan Malkieri."

Master Aurion froze, eyes widened noticeably now before narrowing in concentration. A second later his hand whipped out, almost to fast to follow and definitely to fast to see directly. In his hand held a plain leather pouch, ordinary in of itself, but it held one of Lan's only treasures. Master Aurion shook the pouch gently and a golden ring slid into his palm. Taking it between his forefinger and thumb, Master Aurion seemed to squeeze it out of shape but when he let it fall back into his palm again, it was unchanged.

"It is good to know you are safe, brat," Master Aurion said with a definite hint of fondness in his voice now. "Though in the grand scheme of things, I should be happier that the ring is safe. But then, thinking like that reminds me too much of the Eternal Guardians, and I've had one or two bitch to me more than enough for a couple lifetimes and my own experiences to think so. Though it is quite funny to see a moron Aes Sedai use Compulsion on one of you kids while wearing it, if you have a rather morbid sense of humor, that is," He returned the ring to its pouch and handed it back to Lan, who snatched it immediately.

"Don't sound as though you know me," Lan said threateningly. Moiraine wished it didn't make her think that it was like a new born puppy growling at a full grown wolf.

"You are right," Master Aurion said, his eyes looking regretful, but other wise not showing expression. "I do not know you now, but I did know you; before memories were more than impressions in your mind." His mouth twitched into a smirk. "I'm not sure who ate more of my cloak, you or one of your older cousins. The joys of teething, eh?"

Both Moiraine and Lan stood shell shocked, Lan more so than Moiraine. Lan had long thought than anyone that truly knew anything about him or his family died when he had his first battle in the war he now fought with Moiraine rather than his own personal one. But if what this man said was true….

"That aside," Master Aurion said, a razor edge entering his voice again but with more the sound of a reprimanding parent than threatening a fight. "This is a long way from the Blight where, if what little I have been able to hear of you is correct, is where you wage your own 'war'. What, then, brings you to the Two Rivers?"

Warder and Aes Sedai shared a glance. The man sounded honest in his statements about Lan's family and no longer seemed to see them as a completely hostile entity (something shared by the boys standing behind him, thank the Light), which seemed to support a long standing trust between the man and, from assumption, Lan's family. If Lan could get him to cooperate…

"While this might be a different battle field than one would suspect," Lan began. "It is sometimes necessary to look in unexpected places to find ways to harm the forces of Shadow."

Master Aurion gave Lan a flat look. "Either your Aunt – not that one, an older one that was Green – gave you something of her personality through channeling or osmosis, or its White Tower business. I doubt they even remember the-" he said something, but in a tongue Moiraine couldn't recognize, "- so I doubt you're here for Manetheren." He raised an eyebrow at them. "Do you expect to find a male channeler here?" He snorted contemptuously. "I've been coming here for more than a decade, Yuan and I have only seen three boys in the region with the spark and we've blocked them before it manifested. No, not something that can be taught to Aes Sedai and can't be used on those who have already touched it. It merely makes them like one who has to go through the steps of learning to touch it instead of touching it at random. Better than Severing or killing the poor boys. And if we teach you, Rand, it will be years coming."

A sudden chill went down Moiraine's spine. To think someone could… "We were looking for something, or someone, which or who, from what we can tell from a Sister's foretelling, will cause great harm to the Shadow if it is against it, or the world's destruction if the Shadow has it."

"Foretelling," Master Aurion echoed. "When was it and what were the words exactly?"

"A great while ago," Moiraine said. "And while I was one of those present when she had it, the notebook I had written it in is back in my room at the White Tower." While all true, Moiraine didn't need to say it was branded into her memory.

Master Aurion grunted in displeasure. "What makes you think it is a person?"

"The way it was describe," Moiraine said carefully, "was in a way that makes you think it has conscious thought."

"And you've been looking, how long?" he pressed.

Moiraine's lips turned into an annoyed line. "Some months after the Aiel war ended; I met Lan near the beginning of my search. And when some agents of the Shadow -"

"Black Ajah, you mean," Master Aurion said, more to himself than to anyone else.

"- when they killed the last living people who knew me since I was young," Lan continued. "I decided that if the forces of the Dark One thought what little information given in the Foretelling was so important as for them to kill high ranking lords and ladies at court while blindly trying to find what ever it is, then it would be worth my association."

Master Aurion gave him another blank look. "Crap, you did take after her," he finally said. "Did they attack you, personally?" Lan nodded and the purple cloaked man sighed aggravated and rubbed a hand over his face. "At least Midhe's luck still is in affect for your line. Means they failed there." He mumbled some more under his breath, but it didn't sound like any language Moiraine had heard before. At least it appeared that he has taken it to mean something other than the Dragon Reborn if he thought Lan had a greater connection to their reasons for looking than just actively making sure the child survived to Tarmon Gaiden.

Before anymore could be said, the inn door banged open, revealing a wry man with long white mustaches wearing a patch work cloak, grumbling to himself as he aimlessly walked out, and in their direction. Egwene and the Ghealdean man, Rus, appeared at the door, saw where the obvious Gleeman was heading, cringed and slid back inside, closing the door. Master Aurion sighed at the actions of the two younger people. The Gleeman stopped and looked up, sharp eyes glancing around and stopping on Moiraine. A slight recognition entered his eyes and he instantly became wary. Moiraine felt a slight bit of déjà vu, though she couldn't think why.

"Don't worry about her, Master Gleeman," Master Aurion said. "She's here to help with manual labor." He flexed an arm. "Super strength and all."

The Gleeman snorted incredulously. "I don't think you know what you just said, boy."

Master Aurion just shrugged and turned to the three young men. "Gather your ready equipment, we'll provide the rest. Squad Combat Training ton-"

"YES!" Mat shouted happily throwing his arms up. A split second later, Master Aurion stumbled backwards as Mat jumped him. "Thankyouthankyouthank-"

"Mat," Master Aurion asked calmly. "Are you ten?"

Mat paused. "No?"

"Off. Now."

Mat let go, not the least bit embarrassed, and smiled brightly. Master Aurion sighed again. "In any case," he continued, "Meet where Quarry Road runs into the Westwood two hours before sunset. Moiraine, Lan," he gave the Aes Sedai and Warder a look, "your welcome to join us." Mat gave a squeak.

"Now," Master Aurion said, grabbing the gleeman by the elbow and led him away. "Can I ask a favor of you?"

The two of them soon wandered out of hearing range with there heads together. After a moment, Perrin spoke what was on most of those present minds. "Why was I suddenly over come by a sense of doom?"


Omake/outakes: expressions


As Master Aurion and the Gleeman wandered away, Perrin turned to Mat. "You do realize that you're to an age now that your actions might be taken incorrectly, right?" Perrin asked.

Mat gave Perrin a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Rand gave his friend a bland look. "It might seem that you share certain interest as most women," he answered.

At Mat's continued look of confusion, Perrin went into more depth. "People might think that you prefer the company of men over the company of women in private settings."

Mat had a horrified look plastered to his face. "I don't care if they looked like a girl if you put a wig and a dress on them, I won't get near any guy like that with a ten foot pole!" he exclaimed.

-----------

Far away in the Caemlyn Palace

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"Achooo!"

Galadedrid Damodred held a handkerchief to his nose, a glare plastered on his usually emotional less face. Gawyn looked up from the book he had been reading in a near by chair, a mischievous grin taking over his face.

"Uh oh," Gawyn said. "We all know what that means." Galad's glare focused on his younger half-brother. "One of your fan boys wants to put you in a dress agai-"

Gawyn was cut off as Galad punched him in the face, the First Prince being knocked to the ground unconscious while his eye began to swell. Galad returned to the report he was writing while ignoring the way his peers and the castle servants backed away, muttering ways to torture who ever attempted to put him in a dress this time. Maybe they would finally take the hint and stop.

Some how, Galad knew they would try even after he was married to a woman. Not. A. Man. Ever.