Note (5/28): No real major changes. Just a few minor rewordings, mostly in order to make it flow more smoothly. Courtesy of advice given to me by Rui Costa. As I said before and I'm sure I will end up saying again, thank you!



Hello again, all. And here it is, the next chapter.

The Wheel of Time books belong to Robert Jordan.

The Sailor Moon manga belong to Naoko Takeuchi.

Kiara, Ilandrin, Jay, and this story belong to me.

Any questions?




Chapter 6

Ami sighed inwardly as she hit the dirt. Again. Slowly, she climbed to her feet. Her miraculously unbruised feet, considering every single other inch of her was covered in at least double layers. If it wasn't the bruises she got from riding during the day, it was the bruises from this torture in the evening. Making sure she stood up slowly enough to avoid dizziness--that lesson needed to be learned only once--she raised her sword back into position. A wooden bokken, not her Harp. And on Lan's face, again, those traces of bewilderment. Why could he not get it through his head that that display that night had been entirely her sword's fault? Not hers.

Still, she was learning. She thought she could probably manage to draw her sword now without cutting herself or anyone around her. And she could even overcome her opponent--that is, assuming her opponent was a three year old. "What point is there to this masquerade?" Lan asked harshly. "Are you afraid to hurt me? I hope you won't show so much consideration to your enemies." Sarcasm dripped from his words, as much as any emotion ever did. "I don't hurt so easily. And I cannot teach you if you are unwilling to show me your true level of skill." He deliberately lowered his sword and turned his back.

She wanted to scream, she decided dully. She really wanted to scream. And beat him over the head with a mallet. Then return home and do nothing but sleep and relax and finish her advanced calculus work, from the course she was taking through distance learning over the summer, before going off to college. Then maybe she would go to college, although she hadn't quite decided whether she wanted to take the scholarship from Harvard or find a university closer to home. And take fencing lessons. Then she'd feel up to returning to this place. Maybe.

"I've told you again and again, it's the sword that did everything, not me. Is that simple statement too complicated for your simple, muscle-brain to comprehend?" Seeing that he was not planning on attacking anytime soon, she sat back down with a thump. A combination of exhaustion, both physical and mental, and irritation served to loosen her tongue, make her say things she would have politely kept back otherwise.

"You want a fight, fine. I'll take my sword and I'll kick your rear into next week, you and any fist of Trollocs you feel like bringing along. But I can't do anything yet on my own. It's the sword that does all the work. The sword. The thought should not be so foreign to you. After all, you are Gaidin to Moiraine. As an Aes Sedai, she must encounter many Power-wrought objects. I doubt you ever refuse to believe they exist, do you? Why is my sword any different? Sure, it may not be created by a Power you know, but it has certain properties nonetheless." She stood. "Oh, forget it. I'll go wheedle lessons out of Rand . . . or even out of Setsuna! Someone closer to my actual skill level who might actually believe me."

She turned her back and began to walk away, then abruptly ducked as Lan's bokken came slicing through the air where her head had been moments before. Turning that duck into a roll, she surfaced, on her feet, facing Lan. "I told you. I don't feel like fighting someone--" she brought her weapon up to parry his, flowing into one of the stances she had learned by watching Lan with Rand, noticing that his movements seemed slower, weaker. "--oh! Did the light dawn?" Risked a slash of her own, but was careful not to overextend, was utterly unsurprised when he parried and countered. "Can it be that you actually finally believe me?!"

Thud. She hit the ground again, then rolled over to look up at Lan. "Let us say," the stony-faced man said, with what might possibly have been the beginning of a smile, "that I have decided to give you the benefit of the doubt." He extended a hand and she took it, pulling herself up.

She stretched painfully. "Lesson over?"

He nodded. "Lesson over. I'll take you up on your offer sometime, though. Minus the Trollocs of course." He turned and walked away, leaving her staring with astonishment.

Could it be? Had Lan actually made a joke? She shook her head. Impossible.

* * *

After Moiraine got up and left, their lesson over with, Setsuna turned to her new partner in learning. "So. You're Egwene, right?"

The dark-haired girl nodded shyly. "Egwene al'Vere. And you're Setsuna?"

She smiled. "Setsuna Meiou. So . . . if you don't mind . . . would you tell me something more about yourself? So we can get to know each other better?"

Egwene shrugged. "I don't know that there's much of anything to say. I'm an only child, daughter of the innkeeper and mayor of Two Rivers. I've never traveled more than a mile or two out of the Two Rivers, though. I'm afraid my life hasn't been very exciting. Nothing at all like yours, I'm sure, Setsuna. I mean, you're a lady, right? And you've been traveling with Lady Moiraine and Master Lan longer than I have, I bet that was exciting too."

Setsuna shook her head, clearly surprised. "I'm no lady." She paused and grinned, telling a deliberate half-truth. "I was a princess in my former life, though. But then I died, so so much for that." She laughed at the look on Egwene's face. "I'm certainly not a princess anymore. Just a simple astrophysicist."

"What's that?"

"It means I study the stars for a living. Or, rather, studied. I left my job rather abruptly when we came here; my boss probably thinks I've quit." She cocked her head. "You know, Egwene, adventure and excitement is not necessarily all it's cracked up to be. Sure, it's fun . . . for a while. But the novelty wears off quickly . . . especially once your friends start dying."

Egwene's eyes narrowed. "I won't let them die." The intensity with which she said it made the words a solemn vow.

Setsuna shook her head at her new friend's naivety. "Just hold on to that belief while it lasts. I fear the time will come far too soon when you will be helpless to stop the death." She remembered watching from the Time Gates in horror as Princess Serenity impaled herself with her dead lover's sword. How she wanted, then, to break away from the Gate, to prevent it from happening, to be forsworn from her oaths as Guardian, if only by doing so she would be able to keep her princess alive. Her princess, just as the elder Serenity had been her queen.

"I hope never again to be so helpless," she sighed, and Egwene recoiled slightly from the depths of remembered pain in her new friend's eyes. What had happened to the seemingly so young green-haired girl? And she began, just a little bit, to reconsider her excitement at the adventure unfolding before them.

She had not previously associated the thought of death with this journey. Now that she had . . . she knew she wanted no one to die. Her friends, Rand and Mat and Perrin, or the cute Tairen or her new friend Setsuna or the exciting and mysterious Moiraine Sedai and her Warder, Lan. No one should have to die.

Except, perhaps, the Trollocs.

* * *

"Moiraine."

The dark-haired woman looked up at the familiar voice. "Yes, Lan? What is it?"

The warrior frowned. "Ami let slip that his sword is Power-wrought today when I was teaching him."

Moiraine nodded. "I suspected as much when it turned out to be a heron-marked sword. Still, there could be some truth in his claim that it is simply an heirloom." She reached up and fingered the jewel on her forehead, then frowned thoughtfully. "It is strange, though, that I have detected no aura of power. Surely something powerful enough to be able to control the entire body . . . even I would notice something like that." She knew she wasn't the best at identifying Power-wrought objects; for once she found herself almost wishing that Elaida was there. She heartily disliked the woman, but with the combination of her sensitivity and her random Foresight, she was one of the best at identifying such objects. She shook her head. "He seems harmless enough . . . but with the exception of the sword and that hair, almost entirely too normal to be true."

She shrugged uneasily. "I'm no Foreseer, but I feel like he can be trusted." She looked up, looking to her Gaidin's eyes briefly lost and far younger than usual. "I'm not used to getting such strongly intuitive feelings about anyone or anything. Except, perhaps, our quest." The Dragon was one of the three boys they had picked up at the Two Rivers, of that much she was sure.

"I know what you mean." Lan briefly cracked a slightly less impassive expression than usual, the closest he came to a smile. "I find it hard to keep my guard up around either of them myself. There's just some quality in them that demands trust, like no one else I know. And that worries me."

"So we keep a vigilant eye out. Nothing must be allowed to interfere with our quest." Moiraine said firmly. She remembered sitting up with Ami, talking, over Setsuna's sleeping body. How peaceful both of them had seemed asleep. How eagerly Setsuna drank up all the channelling-based information she could throw at the two girls she had taken as students and how determined Ami was to learn everything he could of how to wield a sword, getting up every time he fell and never complaining no matter how many bruises he collected. "Nothing." She repeated, and Lan nodded, once again stone-faced . . . and she wished she didn't sound quite so much like she was trying to convince herself.

* * *

"You told me you were going to show me how to cure exhaustion." Setsuna grabbed Ami and pulled her off to the side as they began to stop and set up for the night. Ami nodded. "How? You know I can't see your weaves."

"I've got a couple of ideas on how to overcome that problem." Ami replied quietly in Japanese. "Wait a minute and try to think of a good excuse for us to go off alone together for a while. I certainly can't show you with everyone else watching."

"Right." Setsuna shook her head, amazed at her muddy thinking. "We could just wander off? And see if anyone notices? I'm pretty sure at least half of the others think there's something romantic going on between us." At Ami's shocked look, she grinned wickedly. "Everyone does think you're a guy, after all."

Ami focused on her current task for a few moments, seemingly ignoring the statement. Finally, she turned. "Can you see it? Do you see me as a guy too?"

Setsuna cocked her head. "I know you're not. I can see you as you used to be, when I remember to. But when I'm not thinking about it . . . yes, all I can see is the way you appear. The illusion . . . if that's what it is, and a good enough description in any case . . . really is very well-crafted, you know. As few differences as were absolutely necessary to make you appear a guy, with nothing major enough to cause you significant problems. No major change in height or weight or general build--except in a certain few areas."

The corners of Ami's lips turned up as she failed to completely suppress a smile. Without saying anything more, she stood, brushing her hands off on her pants. One good thing about being seen as a guy--she didn't have to wear a skirt. In Ami's opinion skirts and dresses were all well and good for school, special occasions, and whenever else she felt like it . . . but trekking through wilderness while doubtlessly being pursued by Trollocs, Myrddraal, Draghkar, and any manner of other native nastinesses was not one of those occasions. Especially when part of that trekking included riding horses.

She looked around casually. Good. Everyone else was preoccupied with setting up or . . . it looked like Lan was going to give the boys another round of lessons. Linking elbows with Setsuna, she grinned up at the green-haired girl. "Well? Shall we go?"

* * *

She stood, slowly, looking around. The tent walls formed dark masses on either side of her and in front of her she could see a slightly less dark streak of darkness, which she stepped toward and through. Outside the tent she blinked, eyes watering, as she encountered unexpected light. She shook her head. So many times she had come here and still she always forgot the state of perpetual day, at least here. She didn't know what it was like elsewhere.

Instinctively she ducked as a blackish . . . something . . . whirred past her head. She recognized the shape; nothing harmful, but it would have left a stain on her cheek for several days, and one that would follow her back to the waking world at that. She hadn't always been able to duck on such short notice. "Nice to know you still have good reflexes." A familiar voice grumped. "That's something, I suppose."

She closed her eyes as tightly as possible before opening them a bit, daring a squint. "Nice to see you too, Amys." She grumped. "You seem in fine form tonight." The light didn't seem quite so harsh anymore, so she opened her eyes fully and glanced down at herself, a glance that had become almost second-nature. A tan outfit, almost exactly like the one she wore during the day, greeted her glance, and she breathed a nearly inaudible sigh of relief. There had been one time, when Amys had just started teaching her this aspect of her power, when she appeared wearing a pale yellow knee-length dress . . . her dress as Princess of Venus during the Silver Millennium, to be precise. If anyone actually saw her wearing that and thought to question the significance of the dress . . . thinking about it even now caused her to suppress a shudder.

How she could access Tel'aran'rhiod was still something of a mystery both to her and to Amys. Certainly before she stumbled into this place while dreaming, she had never experienced anything even closely resembling a true dream. Unlike Ilandrin.

Conscious of Amys' eyes on her, she sternly suppressed the urge to shake her head. Ilandrin needed training in case she ever did stumble into Tel'aran'rhiod. Amys had, more than once, impressed on her just how dangerous this place could be. For someone unaware of the dangers . . . yet she had promised she would not tell. And she was determined to keep her promise. There just had to be some way . . .

But in this world of dreams where every place was completely accessable, no matter what the accessability back in the real world, where could she go where she would be truly private? A truly private place would be the only safe place to teach Ilandrin . . . and the other girl really did need to be taught by someone.

Perhaps if she went somewhere no one was likely to look? That idea bore further consideration. Guiltily aware that Amys was becoming increasingly impatient at her woolgathering, she shelved the thought. Later.

* * *

She focused her concentration totally, until nothing existed but herself, the bow and the target. Calmly, she waited, then abruptly released, concurrent with an explosive exhalation. "Hah!" Absently wiping her hand across her forehead, she did not need to walk closer to the target to figure out that it was yet another bulls-eye. She had felt it.

Slow clapping attracted her attention, and she turned. "Oh. Did you want this range? I'm pretty much done." She knew it was, if not precisely taboo, at least 'not done' for Accepted to stray into the archery ranges and sword practice areas, those places generally attended only by Gaiden and those in training. Still, it had been quite a while since she had done any serious archery, and she had a feeling she might be needing it sometime in the future.

The young man who had been clapping shook his head, a good-natured smile on his face. "No, no. I'm afraid I don't do bows too well. I'm much better with the sword." He ran fingers through dark hair and laughed self-deprecatingly.

Despite herself, Rei began to smile back. "Well, you really ought to learn." She commented softly. "After all, at least I have saidar for long-range attacks as well as short. The sword is very good if you can use it well and if your opponent is kind enough to stay within range. But if you have a bow as well, you are able to hit them even before they come within sword-range." She grinned. "Besides, even at short range, it makes a tolerable blunt object."

"You have a point." He laughed. "Perhaps I ought to learn to use a bow, then." He cocked his head. "Say . . . I don't suppose you'd be willing to teach me? You're the best bow . . . person I've seen, except a very few of the more eclectic Gaidin." He shrugged. "But then, most of us feel like the bow is a waste of time, so it's not surprising that few are adept in the use of one."

Rei turned and began pacing toward the target and he followed her amiably. As she reached the target, she nodded. A bulls-eye, of course. She yanked the arrow out and put it back in the quiver she had borrowed for the afternoon. "With me, it's mostly instinct. If you have the instinct, I can teach you to hone it. If you don't have the instinct, though . . ." She let it trail off. "Besides, I can't teach you if I don't even know your name."

"And what of yours, my mysterious lady of the bow?" He asked extravagantly, eyes twinkling good-naturedly.

She eyed him and sighed. "You're trying your best to be infuriating, aren't you?" He said nothing, but his eyes widened and he assumed an overly hurt pout. "Fine. I'm Rei Hino."

Like magic, the pout vanished. "Jay Hawkins. Pleasure to meet you, Rei."

"Nice to meet you too, Jay." Rei replied. Her eyes caught his and she was pulled into the brown, nearly drowning in the color. In a soft voice, apart from and serenely with curiosity watching as the words poured from her mouth unanticipated, she began. "Your honor and loyalty is unquestionable and, in fact, an integral part of your being. Yet you, and you alone, must decide to whom you will give that loyalty. Be careful that you make the right decision. Along one path lies danger, along the other, dishonor. Both are fraught with peril to your body and to your soul.

With an intense effort, she shook herself from his eyes, yet remained unfocused. "Be careful . . ." She whispered. "You must make the right choice."

Then, before his stunned eyes, she collapsed.

* * *

Siuan eyed the young man who had come rushing into her office so impetuously with a certain amount of amusement. He was so clearly overwrought, and so very young, that she couldn't help but feel somewhat superior. She could barely remember what it had been like to be so young, so incredibly sure that the world centered around herself.

"Yes?" She asked.

He came to attention, shunting off to the side his impatience with a determination she couldn't help but admire. "Amyrlin? I just witnessed a case of Foresight." His voice wavered slightly with palpable uncertainty that showed on his face as well. "At least, I think I did. She certainly didn't sound normal. But then she fainted." He drew in a deep breath. "So I brought her back up here and then came straight to you." His eyes pled with her for reassurance.

"You did the right thing." She assured him calmly, though her own thoughts were in a mess. Another Foreseer? It was one of the rarest of talents, and they already had encountered one--Elaida, curse the woman for being a fool and Red!--in the span of her lifetime. For a second with that talent to appear in such a compartively short period of time seemed very strange, to say the least. Strange or coincidental--and Siuan was not one to believe in coincidence. "Often, when a new talent comes on all at once, the shock will cause them to temporarily lose consciousness. She should wake up soon, with no other adverse consequences." He sighed with relief. "Who was it?"

"She said her name was Rei Hino." He said, a touch uncertain. "I think. Tallish, slender, with black hair that looks almost like it has violet highlights when the light hits it just right, and dark eyes. Those looked violet as well, but I didn't really look close enough to tell." Enthusiasm flared, and he grinned. "And she's a mean shot with a bow! Every time I saw her shoot, she hit a bulls-eye, and the target had been left at the distance our professional bowmen use!"

Siuan resisted the urge to put her head in her hands. Rei, again. Would the mysteries surrounding the girl ever cease? Then a new thought occurred to her, and she smiled. I wonder how Elaida will react to having to train this most unusual Accepted?

* * *

Setsuna focused on the diagram Ami had drawn in a small clear patch of dirt. "So this . . ." she pointed to one line, "is Air, and this other is Water?"

Ami nodded. "Right. You think you have it?"

Setsuna nodded. "Those were the only two that were really giving me any trouble." She began crafting the weave, slowly, glancing frequently at Ami for reassurance. Finally finished, she applied it to Ami, and the blue-haired warrior sighed happily.

"Thanks, Setsuna. That felt wonderful." She carefully wiped away the diagram, scuffing the dirt a bit with her shoes to make it look less like it had been unnaturally smoothed for a specific purpose. She looked up, into the brief patches of blue sky that could be seen between the leaves. "This is nice, you know? Just the two of us, not having to worry about keeping up appearances or watching our tongues. Much as I like the others, it is nice not having to deal with them."

"You have a point." Setsuna agreed. "Although we probably ought to be getting back fairly soon. Else, oh-so-suspicious Lan, the mightly Gaidin, might then decide that we're out here communing with the Dark One or inviting in the Trollocs."

Ami snorted. "I would not be at all surprised. He doesn't trust us, you know. Thinks we're hiding something."

Setsuna shrugged with a smile. "Well, we are. But what we're hiding really isn't any of his business."

The conversation dropped off into natural silence. Both remained where they were, sitting, staring at the sky. "Ami? How did you manage to adjust? To being seen by the rest of the world as a guy, I mean."

A small smile curled the blue-haired girl's lips. "At first, there being no convenient mirrors around, I had no clue. To me, nothing had changed, after all. The sudden appearance of my sword took up a great deal of my attention." She grinned. "I think I didn't really realize until I glanced at the mirror in our room at the inn and saw a boy staring back at me. No, that's not true. That's when I noticed for the first time that there was something . . . different . . . about me." She stood and stretched, turning away so that Setsuna couldn't see cheeks growing ever so slightly pink at the memory. "I finally realized what it meant that morning when I walked in on Moiraine." She shrugged and offered a hand to the other girl to help her stand up. "But by then, I'd had time to get used to it in stages. Besides, I'm still me, so does it really matter what the rest of the world sees?"

Unable to come up with a good response to that, Setsuna stayed silent as they began their return to camp. She just knew she couldn't help but admire Ami for her calm self-possession. But then, this is Ami . . . so why should I be surprised?

* * *

The halls were dark and quiet. Occasionally a muffled noise could be heard, snores much more vibrant than the norm. Beside one of the many windows, a girl stood, her dark hair blending in well with the dark walls but her white dress standing out almost like a lantern. Her posture indicated waiting, for something . . . or someone.

Finally that someone came, another dark-haired girl in an equally white dress. "Are you sure we should be doing this?" She whispered, only loud enough for the sound to be carried to the other girl's ears. "We could be . . . expelled or something!"

The other girl smirked, briefly flashing brilliant white teeth. "Ah, come on, Ari. You know they wouldn't expel us; after all, it's their duty to teach us how to use the power properly. They wouldn't expel us for something so minor as sneaking down to get a little midnight snack. Besides, the danger just makes it that much more fun! And anyway, my friends and I used to do this at the Lunar Academy all the time."

"You, my friend, have a very warped idea of fun." Aridwyn sighed. "Unfortunately, my sense of humor seems to have been similarly warped. The sad effect of hanging around with you too often, I fear."

Kiara huffed, pretendng offense. "Less talk, more food! Let's march!"

A flash in the moonlight, Ari saluted. "Aye aye sir!"

Giggling quietly, the two girls embarked on a new adventure, the first of many. Together.




5/27/2002
5/28/2002