"Has anything changed?"
The man, if he could thought of as a man, was covered in black robes. He refused to wear anything else, murmuring in his foreign language at every word, move or sound of others.
"Is he any better?"
As good as us, Lews Therin said. He's a killer, like I am.
Shut up.
Alanna and Verin both inspected him. Looking up, Rand noticed Mat, Aviendha and the Maidens of the Spear were all terrified of him. The Aiel women did their best to hide it, but he still saw it in their faces.
"Moriñgotho." the man said. "Moriñgotho enutúlie." The word "Moriñgotho" was the one he kept repeating all the time.
"He is..." Verin said bewildered, staring at him still. "He is...fine. There is nothing wrong about him. His body is completely healthy. No scars, no wound...he is completely fine."
Alanna touched his head. "Light! It's the opposite. His body is stronger than any of us. He is in better shape than anyone I've ever seen."
"Eru apseni. Ilúvatar, apseni."
"He is stronger. Taller. Healthier than anyone I had ever seen."
Rand nodded, looking down at the man. He was still shaking and murmuring. He was not looking at any of them or anything at all. His grey eyes were completely absent. Rand barely needed to even lean to touch the man - even when sitting, his head and shoulders were close to Rand's. Rand removed his thick black hair, in his hand feeling it very smooth, looking at his ears. "Pointy? He has pointy ears?"
"Yes." Verin said, looking at the other one. "I don't understand it either." His ears were not slightly pointed: rather both ears were noticeably longer than of any ordinary man. Not abnormaly so, but noticeably. "Maybe he was just born that way."
"If he was born at all." Mat added.
The Aes Sedai looked at him, visibly irritated, with Alanna biting her lip. "And why exactly are you questioning that?"
"Why? Oh, I have no idea. Maybe because he fell from the bloody sky?"
"Cauthon!"
"Stop!" That was all Rand needed to say to convince them. Shutting up an Aes Sedai or Mat was an impossible task sometimes.
"Moriñgotho." the man continued. "Moriñgotho."
"Is he speaking real words or is he just...stuttering?"
Like you, maybe? Lews Therin chuckled.
Verin did not answer immediately. She kept listening to him for a while. "Those are real words. But..."
"But what?"
"I don't know what language is it, Rand." she said bluntly. "And I don't think anyone in the world does."
"Moriñgotho. Moriñgotho."
"That word he is repeating." Aviendha said. "Maybe it is his name?"
Rand looked at the man again. He was repeating that word all the time, yes - but he did so with terror. It seemed like he said it always as quickly as possible, just to end it. "No. It's not a name. Not his at least."
"How do you know?"
"I do." Aviendha and the Maidens rumbled about "wetlanders" when he said that. He placed the hand on his shoulder, slightly shaking him. "Listen to me..."
"Moriñgotho. Moriñgotho." he said. "Morikotto. Morkotho?" He looked at them once, as if waiting to be corrected, but then continued... "Moringotto. Moriñgotho."
He's lost his mind, Rand thought. Is he a channeler? And yet somehow, Rand doubted that was the case.
"What do we do with him?" Mat asked. "He needs help."
"And what do you want us to do, Cauthon?"
"Heal him."
Verin scoffed. "From what? Have you heard what we said? There is nothing wrong with him."
"Light, woman, he is mad! Rumbling the same thing over and over again!"
"Morkotho. Moriñgotho. Morgotto? Morikotto."
"You can Heal him, can't you?"
Alanna was frustrated with Mat's tone, but she felt Rand's answer to that. Just try if you dare. She bit her lip. "One Power can heal all wounds of the body, Cauthon. All except death itself. That is true. But no one, not even in the Age of Legends, was ever able to heal any mental illness or insanity itself. That is impossible. At most the Compulsion can be reversed, but that is all."
Mat looked at him. "Rand?"
Rand just shook his head. Lews Therin remembered some type of Healing of the mind, but... It came from him, not the Creator. You are still mad, though.
Mat kept looking back at the man. "We can't just leave him."
"And what will we do, Mat?" Rand asked him, almost deciding to turn back. "We cannot help everyone." Curse me, but we cannot.
Davram Bashere looked at the man, then at Rand again. "With all due respect, Lord Dragon, everyone saw him fall from the sky. Not only that, but people have said they saw a bright falling star moments before he fell."
"And you think he is that star?" Of all people, Rand never expected Bashere to be superstituos.
"If the possibilities are that narrow?" he shrugged. "I honestly do."
Rand clicked his tongue. And they say male channelers are mad.
"Rand al'Thor." Aviendha said. "No one is lying here. We all saw the star falling."
"Suppose you are all right." He played with buttons on his sleeve. "Let us say there was a star that fell and he was there when it did. Doesn't mean at all he needs to be that star."
Alanna felt frustrated, Rand returning that emotion.
"Rand, look at him!" Mat pointed at the man. "Does he look like an ordinary man to you? And we are all telling you - he fell from the sky!"
"If you do not trust us," Aviendha said. "ask the others in the city."
"The Pattern, Rand." Verin said. "Whoever or whatever he is, the Pattern brought him here."
"And how do you know that?"
"How?" Verin scratched her chin. "Well, I am just an Aes Sedai, after all. However, I seem to remember people do not often fall from the sky."
Sky was filled with fire and ash, then. Lews Therin seemed to have gotten quite talkative at the moment. When I killed her. He started weeping. I killed my Ilyena.
"Moriñgotho."
"I cannot take care of him."
"Who said so?" Alanna commented. "Honestly, you would be the worst person for that, al'Thor."
Rand bit his tongue before answering back. If I don't want her being proud, I must be humble too.
"We will take care of him." Verin said. "We can..."
Rand cut her off with one short glance. "Mat?"
"Yes?"
"You will take care of him."
Cauthon reached his chest. "What?"
"Since you are so eager to help him. And you found him first."
He nodded. "So...I need to go find the princess and take care of this poor man. You want me to clean your toilet too?"
Alanna felt like an injustice was done to her when Rand let that pass. "He is safe with you too."
"This is absurd!" Verin said. "Rand al'Thor, we need him with us! Whatever he is saying must be properly translated."
"Fingolfin..." The man said, with a voice that was almost breaking. "Hanno! Hanno, apseni!"
"He is going where I said he is going - as far away from Aes Sedai as possible." He did not consider them deserving of even a look. "He is going with the Band of the Red Hand. I will not argue about this."
Even Sulin scoffed. "Rand al'Thor, don't you dare be that stupid!"
Davram Bashere just looked to the side during this argument. Insulting superiors was something only the Aiel considered acceptable, as it seemed. Rand continued with his own. "He goes with Matrim, Aes Sedai. My decision is final."
"If you do this, the White Tower will not be on good terms with you anymore. And you need us, Rand al'Thor."
They all stopped as the man stood up from his seat. Standing now almost a head taller than Rand, he gave a glance to each of them. Those grey eyes were deeper and older than the sea itself and the face, again, more timeless than the face of the Aes Sedai. He looked down on them all, then fixing his sight on Rand. He stared long enough for Lews Therin to start rumbling...and then go silent without any interferrence of Rand.
The man walked up to the window, looking over the city. Rand slowly approached him from behind, and the man turned back to him. "Here." he said abruptly.
Rand narrowed his eyes. "What?"
"Here." the man pointed towards the bottom, then to himself. "Here. Stay?" he said, again waiting to be corrected. "Here. Stay here."
"What, you want me to stay here?" The man started nodding, but when Rand pointed at himself, he shook it, then placing a hand on his chest. "No...you want to stay here?"
The man nodded. "Náto."
"I suppose that means yes." Rand said. "Very well. Do you want their help?" Rand pointed towards the Aes Sedai and tried to explains with his hands as best as possible.
The man slowly came to understand it. "No."
"No?"
"No know?" he shook his head. "No! Lá sí. Now not."
"Not now? You do not want their help at the moment? In this place or at the moment?"
"Náto."
"But maybe later?"
"Náto."
"Alright then." Rand said, offering his hand for a shake. "You may stay." Alanna felt like she will scream. The man looked at Rand's hand for a bit before eventually taking it and slowly shaking it. Light, he has a strong shake! he admitted. "Bashere?"
"My lord."
"Find some servants to help our friend. Get him a home or a room."
"At command, lord." he clasped, leaving the room to look for some servants.
When Rand turned, he saw them all staring at him, confused and frustrated, all except Verin. He had no intention to explain himself, not even to Aviendha and Mat. Verin, however, was staring at the man. "He just learned to speak the Common Tongue fluently...within minutes?"
Mat scratched his hand. "Uh...Verin Sedai, he simply babbled a few words."
"That he never heard before or understood." Verin looked towards Rand, expecting him to change his mind.
"He is not a rat you can experiment on." Rand said. "He said he doesn't want your help now. He will ask for it later."
She pursed her lips and closed her eyes. "Rand, please! He is important, whoever he is. We can help him..."
"He will ask for it when he needs it." Rand did not raise his voice and went to leave. "Mat, you come with me. You others can stay or go."
The women all wanted to burn him as it seemed, but he could not care less about it anymore. The room he led them to was Mat's temporary place while he was still in Caemlyn. Rand was not going to change his plans, despite the man's appearance. "Nice place." Rand said. Not as warm as he Two Rivers, however.
"It is cozy, yes." Mat took a seat on his bed. "But I must admit I miss the Two Rivers."
Tam's gentle voice. The baaing of sheep. What did I do to deserve this? "Make haste slowly, Mat." He started striding up and down. He never looked in Mat's direction. He could feel sweat slicking his face, and his jaw was tight. "He has to see it coming. Everything depends on it."
Mat started taking his boots off. "I know," he said sourly. "I helped make the bloody plan, remember?"
That was a thing Mat would always say. He missed those days when the two of them, along with Perrin, would just live and rejoice. He found it, at he very least, good he met other people and loved other people after that. That was not encouraging, but it was comforting.
He started thinking of Aviendha then. Mat always had a way with women, he thought. How do you know you're in love with a woman, Mat? he almost asked, but then brushed it off. Mat already had enough of burden on his own shoulders. Rand did not want to place his own upon him too. And...something pulled those words away from him.
He still did not stop his striding, and he dropped it in as if it fit what he had been saying. "I'll finish Sammael, Mat. I promised that; I owe it to the dead. But where are the others? I need to finish them all. One at a time, though." That was all he could do.
What did I do to deserve this?
"There are Dragonsworn in Murandy, Mat. In Altara, too. Men sworn to me. Once Illian is mine, Altara and Murandy will drop like ripe plums. I'll make contact with the Dragonsworn in Tarabon - and in Arad Doman - and if the Whitecloaks try to keep me out of Amadicia, I'll crush them. The Prophet has Ghealdan primed, and Amadicia almost, so I hear."
The Prophet. An old word. From an age long forgotten. Even Lews Therin mocked it from time to time. Men who heard voices in their heads, he would often say. So I am a prophet too, am I?
"Can you imagine Masema as the Prophet?" Unimportant question. "Saldaea will come to me; Bashere is sure of it. All the Borderlands will come. They have to! I am going to do it, Mat. Every land united before the Last Battle. I'm going to do it!" He hadn't noticed his voice had taken on a feverish tone.
"Sure, Rand." Mat said slowly, depositing his other boot beside the first. "But one thing at a time, right?"
One thing at a time. There was a game like that. His voice started breaking. The game my children liked to play. I killed them. I killed them and my Ilyena.
Rand sighed. "No man should have another man's voice in his head." he muttered. How long has Lews Therin been in there? Rand did not remember when was the first time he heard him. It seemed to him that it happened when Lanfear met him in Tear. That seemed to have triggered Lews Therin to come out. Since then, the Kinslayer just started speaking louder and louder. Very rarely did he say meaningful things. Just babbling about his wife and children, and friends long gone. From time to time, he would speak of creatures of old, or "Angels of Heaven" as he called them, begging them or the Creator for forgiveness. But otherwise, he was just babbling.
He's like us. Lews Therin said then. He's like me. He killed.
Who?
Those who were his family.
No. Who are you talking about?
I killed my Ilyena.
He sighed again. You are mad. Like Sammael was. "He can be gulled, Mat - Sammael always thinks in straight lines - but is there any opening he can slip through? If there's any mistake, thousands will die. Tens of thousands. Hundreds will anyway, but I don't want it to be thousands." he said that more to himself than to Mat. Not even to Lews Therin - himself.
"But, what about him?" Mat asked, expecting Rand to know. "You really don't think he's a big thing?"
"Maybe." Rand said. "Maybe the Pattern or the Creator himself sent him as help or temptation." then he narrowed his eyes. "Or maybe the Dark One himself sent him here. Maybe he is even one of the Forsaken." Lews Therin did not agree, however. "You see it makes sense, right Mat?"
Mat looked down at his boots. "Yes...I think I know what you mean. But...Light, what if he is an ally? You can't refuse help, you know?"
Lews Therin scoffed and, honestly, Rand would have too. He has been refusing "help" ever since killing Rahvin. "Don't worry about him, Mat. He is my burden now. What you need to do is stick to the plan."
"But, there is something off about this, Rand..."
"Don't worry about it." he insisted. "Just stick to the plan."
"That is all?" Mat expected something more. What is it? "That is all you have to say?"
"Yes. That's all." He opened the door, not even looking back. "Sleep, Mat. You'll need good rest tonight." Rand closed the door, continuing his way through the red corridor that was covered in light of only few torches. He made some light himself, weaving Fire and Air together. The Maidens were, at the moment, absent, and had left him alone there.
Two hundred and five. That is how many people had died when he fought Rahvin excluding Aviendha and Mat and who, unlike them, stayed dead. And Mangin...He was hanged this morning. I watched it. That was all he could do for him. The young Aiel was much like Mat, and had a great respect for Rand, wanting to protect his honor. He cursed Aiel honor three times when that happened. Aiel customs, Aiel culture and all of it. And he cursed Andoran stupidity, Andoran pride and Andoran carelessness. Lews Therin instead behaved practically and cursed them both. Wetlander, Andoran, Aiel...it's all the same. Bands of babbling idiots, both talking of honor, when they can't even agree what that word means.
How many more needed to die because of such pathetic views of honor? The Forsaken also wanted honor - honor and glory. Demandred, Sammael and Lanfear wanted it most of all. Did it make it any better? Lews Therin seemed to actually wonder about that.
He wondered again. He hated it. Hard as stone. I must be hard. Light, I must. The man can stay for now. If he is an ally, good. If he is an enemy, good - he knows how to handle him quickly. As easy as Rahvin.
He extinguished the lights, allowing sound and smell to lead him instead. He woke up the next day, still feeling tired.
I am quite excited to write about Rand - he is my favorite character in all of fiction. Our poor Dragon:)
Thank you and please leave your thoughts.