Wheel of Time RPG

[TK]

It was early morning, and still only few people who lived in the palace were not quite awake. The torches were not lit, and few windows let forth much light. Clad in Ariena's Warder cloak, Leun sped down the hall, clinging to the shadows.

After some time, he found himself in the hall where Tanreall had attacked him. Scanning the length of it, he saw the tiny blue gemstone, no larger than his eye, against a tiny alcove's corner.

Leun sped back, the cloak flapping without silence behind him. Reaching Ariena and his rooms, he placed the tiny ter'angreal upon the endtable. She would find good use of it.

And still, saidin sang to him.

He left again, clad in only the white garments he had been garbed in. No britches, no tunic, no bolero, no scimitar, no scabbard, no dagger. A lot to lose, though he would be able to sell the Warder cloak for a good deal, and buy proper clothes and a simple hunting knife. He would need the hunting knife.

Leun broke into a run, dashing down the empty halls, simply breaking away. He thrust himself against the looming double-doors of the front, down the law and through the great grilles. Leun dashed through Farendal, down the cobblestone streets - past the tailor's, past the forge, past the inn.

He did not stop for breath until he was safely in the forest bordering the city, and after then, he pressed on.

[Crystal]

Ariena woke alone.

She vaguely remembered returning to her own bed after Braendar had left. She still regretted the harshness of her words, but maybe he'd deserved it. Ah well. She'd just have to apologize.

In the new daylight an hour after dawn, she was able to examine the room more closely.

Her clothes were there, neatly stacked in one corner and nearly invisible to whomever didn't look in the exact place. Missing, though, was her weapons, and her ring, and the angreal. The Warder cloak was gone as well. She dressed quickly, wondering where Leun had got to. She could still sense the man through the bond, somewhere outside.

Something glinted on the endtable as she finished braiding her hair, catching her eye.

It was the ter'angreal.

Ariena frowned. This didn't make sense... everything that could be a weapon had been taken, and the thing that was most dangerous was still around? She tucked the fastening into one pocket of her brown tunic. Where in the Light was Leun?

A knock at the door startled her, and she spun around.

It wasn't Leun or Braendar, as she'd expected. Instead, Artur Paendrag Tanreall strode into the room, accompanied by two of his guards. Braendar wasn't with him.

"I see you're a woman again," he said quite suddenly.

Her eyes widened. How'd he know... Garen. Of course. The familiar guard gazed at her from behind one of Tanreall's broad shoulders.

"Mithan, guard the door," the king instructed curtly. The second of the two guards saluted smartly and left.

Tanreall sat on one of the beds, there being no chair in the small room. "Where's your companion?" he asked.

Ariena struggled to mantain her calm composure. "I don't know, sire."

One eyebrow arched. "You don't? I see. And you have no idea whereabouts he is?"

Ariena felt a sudden compulsion to blurt out everything, to show the king the ter'angreal, to tell him how she could feel Leun through the Warder bond, to tell him everything. Light, what's the matter with me? She shook her head.

"Tell me, girl, what's your name?"

"Ariena," she answered, "and Leun." She cut off abruptly and stared at the king. What the--? Forcing her face back into it's calmness, she moved to the bed opposite. Standing felt too much like a prisoner on trial.

"Ariena and Leun," the king mused. "So, Ariena, what is your connection with the White Tower?"

She just barely cut off her blabbering words. "I failed one of the tests," she lied smoothly, "and left before they threw me out. How did you know?"

"I see. To answer your question, you had your ring tied around your neck when we found you, to say nothing of a Warder's cloak. Well, I have no Aes Sedai here to tell me if you lie or not..." Ariena heaved a sigh of relief, "but I DO want to ask about your companion. This... Leun. Can he channel?"

Ariena forced herself to shake her head. "I did all the channeling," she answered.

"Intresting. Some of my men swear that he was the one who weaved the flows?"

"No, my Lord. I did the channeling. We were together almost all the time, perhaps your men might have... mistaken... us." She was starting to sweat, and concentrated her mind into the form so similar to touching saidar, but not quite. All it did was prevent perspiration.

Tanreall obviously still had his doubts. "Lastly. Why did you try to re-capture Braendar?"

Ariena had no answer to this. Braendar would have to go alone now, and that she regretted. "That is something you will have to ask him, my Lord," she said quietly. "It's not my plan to tell. Just that it wasn't 're-capture' that was the word. Should Braendar choose to tell you, then so be it. Either way, I haven't done anything wrong."

"Aside from killing a number of my guards. And not to mention your companion has escaped."

She started. "Escaped?"

"You didn't know?"

"No! Fool man! He didn't tell me! I thought you had him somewhere!" She stood abruptly. "My Lord, may I have my belongings back, and his? I need to leave now."

Artur Paendrag Tanreall regarded her with a level gaze, measuring and weighing. She recognized the steady, calculating gaze of one who played Daes Daemar, the Game of Houses. Aes Sedai played it too often and too well. This man was an amatuer compared to some of her fellow Accepted.

Apparently he decided that he had learnt everything he could from her, because he rose and nodded to Garen. The guard left immediately. When he returned with her weapons, and Leun's, Ariena was surprised to see that nothing had been taken except the Warder's cloak. "My cloak," she asked. "Where is it?"

Tanreall didn't show any expression. "It was draped at the foot of your companion's bed. We thought it was his."

Bloody Leun! She tested the angreal, to see if it worked. It did. She tied the thing back round her neck, along with her ring.

"Oh, and did you have anything, perhaps, to tell Braendar? I'm afraid I cannot let him go right now. He will have to stay."

Ariena hesitated a little, strapping Leun's weapons as well as her own on, and tying his bolero around her waist. The rest she would have to leave - the weight was more than she had expected and she would probably have to sell some of this.

She wondered briefly why Leun hadn't checked to find his clothing before he left.

"Tell him I'm sorry if I was harsh on him with what I said," she answered softly, "and that the Shadowhunter is missing and the Black Cat must find him."

She left with the nagging feeling that she had just told the man much, much more than she had intended.



((IDL, if you had more specific questions in mind, tell me and I'll edit the post.))

[Crystal]

Ariena paused at the inn to pick up her belongings. Stuffing them into her packed saddlebag, she slung it over her shoulder. She was still wearing the hunter's clothing, brown tunic and baggy breeches. Her Warder seemed to have survived on relatively little. As far as she could tell he had nothing of worth to bring along.

She contemplated selling Leun's dagger - it would fetch a hefty price - but decided against it, reluctantly. He'd seemed fond of the thing, and even though the Light knew he deserved to have it sold, he wouldn't be too happy if she did. She sold his scimitar and her own belt knife instead, haggling down to the last few coppers and tucking the coins into an inner pocket.

The pull of the bond led outside the city, into the forest. Ariena paused for a moment to examine the tracks. She was a bit rusty in woodcraft, but her father had still been a hunter. Leun was hours ahead, and the Warder bond pulled her to him.

And when she caught up, she'd spend several hours cursing him out.

[Crystal]

(( Gyah! *has too much free time due to having holidays and refusing to do actual WORK - like overdue art/homework/writing/things with deadlines*

www.deviantart.com/view/12413708/ <----shameless plug

Eeee purty sword sword sword!

>__<

*suxxorz*))

[TK]

Through the bond, Leun could sense Ariena's presence - she was coming closer, slowly closer to where he stood. Only a couple hours' distance west from him.

Curse her! he thought. How could he make a clean escape? Al'Taren would probably be with her, maybe thinking he had been captured. He would have to confront them and tell them how he had . . . The humiliation would be suffocating.

Still, he continued on, picking up his pace slightly. He would go without food for time, it would seem, for having nothing with which he could hunt besides some sticks or maybe a sharpened rock would make it a difficult task. It's not as if appetite panged at him, though, for even as he no longer played the role of an Aes Sedai to a Warder, he was still a Warder to an Aes Sedai. Only half of the bond would be shattered in his burning out, the part created when he had thrust his hand to his throat shortly after Ariena had bonded him. It seemed so short of a time ago.

Ears prickling, Leun crouched to the ground, peering through the bushes. Four figures stood in the distance, walking the path to Farendal. Squinting his dark eyes eyes, he saw that two were women and clad in coloured shawls - one green, one red - and two men followed. Warders to the Green Aes Sedai, no doubt. Suddenly quite aware that he was wearing a stolen Warder cloak, Leun crouched even lower.

"This way, Pertrova," the Green said to the Red. He recognized the woman of the Red Ajah as one of the guards who had accompanied Bonwhin in his near-gentling back in the White Tower. "Farendal is not far off, and when we can arrive, we can capture the Accepted and the two men who can channel. The one with the wolf Talent especially, so the Browns can study him."

They're on the way to Farendal! he shouted inwardly, cursing at himself. Ariena and possibly al'Taren were approaching. Skilled as the boy was with swords, he would not be able to take down two Warders, and even if she had the pendant angreal and gemstone ter'angreal, taking down two Aes Sedai would be an impossible task. He muttered under his breath.

"Halt," one Warder stated, turning his head back. Leun crouched lower. "What was that sound in the brambles?"

Burn my stupidity!

The Warder, armed with a crossbow, took one step closer. Leun acted on impulse, and before he could stop himself, he made the motion to seize.

Glorious, wonderful saidin filled his body, blazing like fire through his veins. Not even questioning this impossible miracle, he weaved one glorious weave of Air, snapping a twig on the opposite side.

"Don't advance further, Gryl," the Green said to the Warder. "This entire forest seems to be making sounds; let's waste no time and continue on."

Leun managed to let go of the One Power, somehow, still in a state of shock. It made absolutely no sense at all. He was not burned out! He could still channel! He would no deliberate this now; he would question Ariena when the time came. Now, however, he sped ahead, unseen, behind a wall of trees, hoping to reach Ariena before the four others could.

((Just for the record, in case you're confused - Leun wasn't burned out. The combination of the ter'angreal and Tanreall's being ta'veren made the stone act odd. Regardlessly, it just barred him from the One Power in a sense for a short time. The bond shattered under this strain, though, as it would if he had actually been stilled. It, unlike the barring of the One Power, can't go back to normal unless he bonds Ariena a second time.

Just explaining this incase you're thinking something along the lines of "why the fail o_______O;;;;;" ))

[irishdragonlord]

"Bloody girl."

Braendar set in the wolf dream, sharpening his swords. Light knew they didn't, and even if they did it wouldn't matter outside the dream, but he did it anyway.

"Planned, she says? If it wasn't for this nose I'd might not have noticed she was going to bloody well break down and she was bloody well scared to bloody death!"

He didn't mention he could have still rode over her anyway, but he wasn't completely emotionless.

Black Cat leaves, Small Bear follows. Leun leaves, Small Bear follows as if Last Hunt. Both leave, Brother follow as if Shadowbrothers on Last Hunt after him. Rockfur cocked his head to one side. Brother, Shadowbrothers on Last Hunt after you.

Braendar had never seen a wolf display humor, if that's what it was. Bloody wolf, sneaking up on him like that!

Shadowhunter and the Black Cat are 'tied', Rockfur, if you do not remember. he thought back at the wolf. If he spoke he knew he would scream.

Shadowhunter gone, Black Cat follows, the Hawk knows and has released them, and now the Brother shall go and get them back! Rockfur lunged at Braendar, maws open wide.

***

He shot up in his sleep, drenched in sweat. He had fallen on top of his sheets in the same clothes as the day before, and, strapping on his swords, was about to run full tilt outside when Tanreall came in the room. He dropped the swords.

The kning gave him a quizzical stare. "Do the names Shadowhunter and Black Cat mean anything to you?"'

Braendar dropped his swords right then and there. He prayed Tanreall had mistook it for surprise at his entrance, not the names.

"Um... yes." He said. "That's - it's - it's what the two bounty hunters called themselves when talking about themselves." Elegant save, he thought, only half-sarcastic.

If anything, Tanreall looked - and now smelled - confused. "The girl - Ariena - said she was sorry for whatever she said to you" - he looked even more lost - "and that... that the 'Shadowhunter is missing and the Black Cat must find him.' Exact words."

Braendar would have dropped something if he had anything left.

"Where's the other one? The man?"

"This Ariena said she had no idea what happened. He escaped earlier."

Very bad, he thought. "I... I need to see him. I have too. I must."

Tanreall just looked at him. "You need to rest," he said simply. No smell came from him; that was odd. It had to be there - it must be this underdeveloped nose.

The king turned and left.

"Blood and bloody ashes," muttered Braendar. He had to find Leun. He had too!

[Crystal]

Ariena moved quietly through the forest. The bond with Leun still tugged.

She jerked a little as she felt sudden shock come rippling through it.

Light!

Abandoning some of her caution, she started moving faster. She couldn't keep up at this pace for long - he had less to carry than she did and was stronger to boot - but if she could catch up it would be easy.

She still felt hungry. Should have stopped to get something to eat.

It was about an hour after the shock had come when she heard someone coming through the trees. Leun?

The bond confirmed it. But why was he coming back? She'd been all ready to hunt him down, but why was he coming toward her?

Ariena tensed as he blundered on toward her, watching him come out into plain sight between the trees. He didn't look tired, and he wore the cloak. "Leun?" she asked uncertainly, drawing his belt knife. She'd been all ready to chew him out, but the look on his face stalled her, and the mix of feelings she felt coming through the bond.

"What's wrong?"

[TK]

"Aes Sedai!" Leun wheezed, haunched over and trying to regain breath. "Warders!" He paused longer to try to regain breath - Light, he had been running for too long, he could taste blood in his throat. "I saw them coming. They're on their way to Farendal to hunt us."

They could not flee - al'Taren would still be back in Tanreall's palace at this moment, and by the time they rallied him, it would be too late. The White Tower was supposed to have all sorts of scouts in cities across the nation, and they might have even seen the three of them traipse to and from the palace.

"Stand your ground," he whispered. He seized again, the euphoria and despair of saidin and its taint, the raging river of life and the oozing creek of darkness. His senses sharpened, enhanced, and he could hear the pair of four slide slowly through the forest. He held himself ready to link with Ariena, and only waited.

[irishdragonlord]

Artur Paendrag Tanreall paced up and down in his own personal quarters. They were in the middle of the top floor of the palace and quite expansive, so he had quite a good amount of room to pace in.

There was something going on here. Those two bounty hunters and the Al'Taren boy were not simply captive and capturers; why would that other one, Ariena, apologize to him? Because he was now in the King's care and she did not want to punished for misdeeds? But then there was the Shadowhunter and Black Cat business; it was believable they were named so by themselves, but what under the Light did it all mean? He slammed his fist on a desk, polished to a glare and sent some ink across flying onto it.

And now this Braendar wanted to talk to them. He "had" to talk to them. He was convinced something was afoot; he was not blind. Something was going on here.

***

Braendar banged his head against the wall. And again. And again and again and again. Hard.

How could he get to Leun? Where was Leun? Where was Ariena, for that matter? Something had to be done. It was some feverish desire now - get to Leun, or... or what? He didn't know. Get to Leun.

Artur Paendrag Tanreall came into his room, and sat in a chair by the door, next to Braendar's washstand. What was now his washstand, anyway, and that would make the chair his now, as well. But that was unimportant.

"Why do you want to speak to those two bounty hunters who captured you?" He fell silent again, regarding him with weighing eyes.

Braendar swallowed. No desire to tell him everything, now. That was good. "I... he... the man, Leun - he told me... told me he knew something." Light, let him think his bloody eyes were amking him falter. In a way, they were, in fact. "He said he knew something... about my father. About Taendar." That was good; if anyone had known something about either of them he would want to speak with them. Badly. "But now he's gone. He told me once they got the reward, that..." This was bad. The king knew he was lying. That was obvious. Braendar took a deep breath.

"You know I'm lying." No reaction. "I can't tell you why I need to speak to them. But I do; please, I beg you, I have to find them." The king stood up.

"When?" No expression, no emotion.

"Now." It was worth a shot, at least. Now would be best anyway.

"I will assemble the guards, and you will go with them. Am I clear?" Braendar nodded. Tanreall half turned to go, but then... "What do you know of the two bounty hunters and their connection to the White Tower?"

Braendar felt his face go snow-white; the king seemed satisfied with that and left.

Braendar turned away from the door. Shaking, he strapped on his swords. Something told him what would happen next involved the word "tied".

[TK]

Pertrova stalked across the undergrowth, skirts raised so she would not trip. On either side of her were the Warders, the men who thought she was in need of protection. She! A weaver of saidar, competent in Spinning Earthfire more than any other sister in the Tower! Preposterous notion! Horse-minded men!

Gendowin, clad in her green shawl to denote her Ajah, strode just ahead of the three. Having been raised to the shall some thirty years ahead of Pertrova, it was clear who led this excursion. That was why Pertrova was not able to supersede the woman's want for both her Warders, Dem and Amble. Regardlessly, they did seem to know how to use the blades on their back, and Gendowin was noted in the White Tower for her ability to keep tight leashes on her Warders. Perhaps they would be of some menial use after all.

Once the three children were taken care of - the boy with the wolf Talent, the exiled girl and the other channeling one - there was other business for them to attend to, business on order of Bonwhin Sedai, her Ajah's own head. Taking the trio back to the White Tower would be costly of time, and as they lacked the presence of eleven other sisters for the gentling to go underway, a simply blast of Earthfire would do the trick. An accident, even.

Artur Paendrag Tanreall would need tending to. A minor king, newly taken to his thrown after the death of his parents. The White Tower would be there to guide him, to snare him from the impending failure that loomed above all men who thought they were fit to rule. There was a Grey correspondant somewhere in Farendal who might lay a hand in the negotiations, some five years younger than Pertrova and much weaker, too. An inferior who she could order around like a serving wench. And if Tanreall would not kneel like a good puppy, then that was where the Earthfire would come in. Another accident, perhaps.

Voices rose in the forest from just ahead. She did not need Dem's whisper to tell her that - idiot Warder - nor Amble's halting hand, which would have been impaled on a rod of Air if it had come one fraction of an inch closer to her face. The pair drew their swords.

Following suit, Pertrova embraced, feeling glorious saidar flowing through her veins, and Gendowin did the same, the light of the One Power surrounding her. Through the distance, another embrace of saidar could be sensed, and a similar light appeared. Strong enough to rival the average Aes Sedai. It outstripped the Grey's reported strength, and no other Aes Sedai were reported to be in the region besides themselves, and certainly none that would prepare an ambush. That left...

The girl.

She prepared the threads of Fire and Earth, the elements of Earthfire. Guerilla warfare against Pertrova Gerantt was a foolish thing indeed.

[Crystal]

Ariena embraced saidar the moment she heard the words 'Aes Sedai'.

There were four of them out there, Leun was right. She relaxed, let her power slide to him. For a moment she forgot about the angreal, until she felt the hard cold lump against her chest. The power she held increased threefold - she gloried in it, the sheer bliss of holding the One Power.

By now the Aes Sedai would be able to sense her weaving saidar. She advanced slowly nearer, trying to take the best position she could, mentally trying to balance the scales of possible weaves that could be used against them.

Ariena fished the ter'angreal from one pocket.

"Leun," she whispered, "go to the back. Take it and go to the back. They won't be able to sense you, and the thing will work for whatever Talent is used, no matter who uses it. Get out of range."

She would be the bait.

Light, but she hoped she'd survive.

[TK]

Leun stared briefly at the ter'angreal, a fleeting image of one of the Aes Sedai weaving Wave Dancing on a trickling brook and sending it erupting into a fully-fledged flood, consuming the city. Light, that mustn't happen!

He sped off, the gemstone extended just ahead of him on a narrow thread of Air. Leun hurried through the trees and dropped it with a hasty toss to the ground, fastening it to a treeroot with a binding thread of Air. Shock whelmed him when he realized the tied weaves actually held.

Hurrying back, Leun entered the small clearing. Ariena stood there, surrounded by the two Aes Sedai and the Warders. The two men had their swords raised. Splattered against a tree, a red path of some liquid - What? Molten stone? - still bubbled and gave off great plumes of smoke. He had no time to speculate over what could have happened if he had not abandoned the ter'angreal.

Before the four could take so much as a step, Leun snatched the Warders' blades up on threads of Air. He sent them spinning over to the Green Aes Sedai. He could see no flows of saidar, as was natural, though he suspected she blocked with shields of Air. She began attacking the steel with Air whilst Leun weaved the threads of Aligning the Matrix, preventing them from shattering. It became a deathgrip over the blades, and a close one, for the swords seemed to be balancing along an invisible tug-of-war rope, similar to the ones he had seen village children play with.

Leun was not sure what was happening over with the Warders and Ariena and the Red, though he could no divide his attention; if he was not linked with Ariena, the swords would have already impaled his throat, and he could never allow that to happen.

***

Pertrova watched as the man sped off into the darkness, fleeing from the clearing in the woods. Coward, she thought wryly, the corners of her lips turning up. He had left his companion all alone to fend for herself against four.

She combined the Earth and Fire into the Earthfire and thrust it forth with powerful movement. In her haste in building its strength, the molten stone missed the girl by some fair amount, splattering into a bubbling patch against a tree. Pertrova cursed beneath her breath.

Gendowin beckoned to her Warders and they surrounded the girl, the runaway Accepted, and Pertrova followed suit. What do they think they'll do with those swords? she thought, grinding her teeth whilst watching as Dem and Amble raised them over their heads. They'll only ruin things!

The swords rose into the air and Pertrova spun about; the man had returned! Yes, he was the weaver of saidin. The swords began hurtling towards Gendowin who, in a jagged bit of weaving, managed to block with Air. Dividing the skirmish, Pertrova spun away to the Accepted. Weaving powerful chords of Air, she caged Dem and Amble like the animals they truly were. No interruption, she thought, nettled, blocking the swords of their angered shouts from her mind.

She stared the girl in the eye and began combining the elements of Fire and Earth, preparing for an Earthfire assault.

[irishdragonlord]

Braendar sat in his saddle, trying not to get down and run. Light, but this was slow moving!

He could smell them and thank the Light they were on the right track; what to do if the 'escort' - as he was coming to think of it - turned away? How could he get them back? Rodrein, the leader of this group, was a skilled tracked as Braendar soon found out. He was probably doing a better job then Braendar's nose, the Wolfbrother noted ruefully.

The forest was just in sight now; and then Braendar became vaguely aware of a slight stirring - oh so slight - on his legs ((Bow down to the amazing teleporting swords! XD)). He mused for about and instant before he whipped his head to stare at the faintly glowing hilts. He immediately grabbed the things out of their scabbards and held them as steady as he could. The vibrations were getting stronger.

The escort was in a vague sort of circle, with Braendar next to Rodrein. Rodrein looked at Braendar quizzically. "What's wrong, boy? Something frighten you?" He grinned as if at a joke, but not very meanly. Not very.

Braendar just nodded. "Call it a sixth sense," he muttered, not caring if the guard heard or not.

[Crystal]

((Hey TK.. doesn't Leun weave saidin, not saidar?))


The Aes Sedai in a red shawl was all too recognizable. Pertrova Sedai had been deemed high in the sights of the White Tower for being one of the strongest in weaving Earthfire - something she herself had never been able to do - and extremely low in the eyes of a teenage Ariena for setting her to two weeks in the kitchens over a misunderstanding, when later it had been proved the Accepted was in the right.

She flung herself to the side of the molten stone, but it was misaimed and missed her by quite a bit. Leun had come back - he and Gendowin were engaging in some insane, half-seen battle.

Ariena was briefly worried about the Warders, until she noticed that they were caged. She could sense... wait.

Caged with saidar? That meant... Pertrova. But that didn't make sense!

Channeling through the link with Leun, Ariena wove Spirit and slammed a shield down between Gendowin and the True Source. Time to get rid of her. Hoping the shield would hold, hoping that Pertrova hadn't yet woven Earthfire, she risked a quick glance at the Aes Sedai.

Gendowin battered against her shield, but she clung to the angreal, and the shield held firm until she tied it off tightly. It was a mistake to tie it off - any shield could be undone - but she needed her power and she needed it now.

Ariena turned to see Pertrova aim another thrust at her. Earthfire again and this time it wouldn't miss.

She flung up a shield of Air and Water desperately.

[TK]

Gendowin pushed with all the strength of Air she could muster, trying to gain control of Dem and Amble's blades. Curse that Light-blasted Pertrova for caging them so, though with all that went about, she herself could play no aid in undoing the weaves!

She looked over, watching Petrova's next attempt at Spinning Earthfire. The molten red liquid hissed in protest against the Accepted's blocade of Air and Water. Light, but that younger woman was quick.

Quite suddenly, Gendowing felt a shield of Spirit barring her from the True Source, and all of saidar fled from her control. Curses!

***

Leun focused, slamming with weaves of Air against the two swords. Light, but this woman had strength! He thanked the Creator with a fleeting grunt for having Ariena with whom he could link - otherwise, he'd be long-since dead.

Then, miraculously, the Green ceased! Her threads of Air that he could only surmise had been present were no longer pushing against his control. The blades were his!

"Aes Sedai!" he shouted towards the woman of the Red Ajah. He cast back in thought, remembering his night in the White Tower, and drew a name. "Pertrova. Abandon the One Power, for your accomplice has been shielded." He looked towards Ariena for reassurance. It had to have been she who shielded the Green. "Stop your assault, or her veins will be emptied, and then yours will follow."

Pertrova rose he curved nose in indignation, her tilted eyes blazing into Leun's. Then, as suddenly as he had lost the One Power in Tanreall's palace, it was taken from him again. A shield! he thought wildly, charging against it to no avail. The link he had forged with Ariena shattered away to nothingness. Burn the woman! But, if the link had been broken, then that meant Ariena...

***

Weaving Spirit, a shield came slamming down upon the man. He stood there, brown eyes widened as shock. She could sense him slamming himself against it, making his futile attempts at shattering it, though he seemed not to have the strength.

Added power seemed to have left the girl, too, lessening her strength with saidar. They had been linked, she thought, her smile curving into a devilish grin. She laughed with victory as she sent a second shield of Spirit closing over the girl. She inverted the weaves and tied them off, making it impossible for them to be undone, and did the same with the boy. That ought to teach the pair.

She was not done, naturally. Around the girl's throat was a familiar angreal, one that had been in the White Tower for many years. From that Pertrova gained strength, more than enough to triumph over Gendowin. Pertrova cast Spirit into a third and final shield, blocking her accomplice from the True Source. That was also inverted and tied.

"Now who will lead the excursion, Gendowin? Certainly not you with your Warders," she intoned, an steely laugh ringing through the forest. Firing rods of Air, she impaled Dem and Amble's throats. They collapsed to the ground, dead. "I will not have you dominating this journey with and robbing the Red Ajah from its true glory." Then, she strode over to the woman and placed a hand upon the Green's throat, and did something that violated every moral rule of her Ajah. She bonded the woman as a Warder. "Tell no one, lest you wish to share your Warders' fates." With all the Power of this woman as a bargaining piece, getting Bonwhin onto the Amyrlin Seat would be an easy task, and she herself would be the woman's Keeper of the Chronicles.

((Birgitte was supposedly the first woman bonded in history, though this bonding won't be discovered by anyone else And I'm going to stop dancing between characters now XD))