Fanfic:Gareth's Great Stairs
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This fanfiction is anachronistic and refers to the original Wheel of Time world of the novels. Please be aware that the contents within refers to a different continuity from the one that currently exists for the Grey Tower. |
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This is a piece of fanfiction. Only the original author(s) or Librarian(s) should make content changes to this page. |
YELLOW STAIR
The Infirmary was a welcome sight, even if only its own sort of illusion.
Gareth stood with all required outward calm. Yes, there was anxiety in the pit of his stomach, for the time of his second test had come. Yet he had always been a solid, composed man on the outside through most of the situations he had faced in life. The required serenity of an Asha'man was not a difficult concept for him. It was only that in this moment it was far more vital that he maintain it, as he knew these steps were not going to be easy.
This Ajah was where he wanted to be, and where he felt his call. The question felt natural, and he inwardly cherished the moment, for he knew that it would not be long before he had to move on to the rest of the steps and those that were not of his nature.
"A weave of Fire and Spirit can Heal a Stilling or Gentling. As a male Channeler, I would do best to Heal a woman who was Stilled so that she can return to full strength. If I Healed a Gentling, the man would not return to his previous power," he answered the question.
When the Yellow Asha'man, who Gareth did not know, gave the nod, the Dedicated turned and walked over to the woman lying on the bed. She was a pretty creature, but there was a gloom hanging around her. 'She has been stilled', Gareth thought, knowing that was the answer to the despair. Her eyes lit with only the barest flickering of hope when she saw him approach.
"My name is Dedicated Gareth Tomosan," he introduced in his gentle rumbling voice. "May I Heal you?"
She gave him a shaky nod.
Seizing the tumult that was Saidin, Gareth first wove Spirit to Delve her and ascertain the nature of things and he easily found where the two ends of her connection to the True Source lay, like a rope fraying after a violent separation.
Gareth took Fire and Spirit together, using them to cross and bridge the gap and make whole again what had been cut...
The Infirmary vanished, and the yellow torches went out.
GREEN STAIR
Only vaguely aware of the green light surrounding him, Gareth found himself in the Channeling Yard and a new Asha'man was approaching him.
There was a parallel existence of thought in this scenario and question. Gareth chose to walk them both.
"I aspire to be a Yellow," he answered smoothly. "Thusly, during a siege, if I find myself upon the battlement than I would Healing." Saidin was once more taken in and she demonstrated the weave of Healing with all five powers, for he had now learned it well and wove it without hesitation or error.
After a moment, he dropped the weave. "Yet, should I have been forced to add my own to the defense," he went on, walking onto the second path that had opened in his mind. "I would use this weave to defend the battlements against opposition flying in on Raken." Here, he turned and demonstrated the basic weave of Lightning, allowing it to come from the sky.
As one not aspiring Green, he was not more skilled in weaves of battle, but every Channeler learned this one - and sometimes simplicity is the most effective route.
Then came the nod, then the Channeling Yard dissolved and the green torches went out.
BLUE STAIR
OOC: I'm taking this from the Ajah Benefits page. Refreshing is listed in both the Blue Weave and Yellow Weave sets. This may be an error, I don't know, but I do remember Moiraine using it on the horses, so I'm going to run with it and then give an IC justification for it. Since Gareth is Aspiring Yellow, his knowledge of Blue weaves will be limited and I plan to show that here.
IC:
With the previous two steps, Gareth had simply appeared - or seemed to have - in other places, so the change of pace to walk onto the step and simply meet an Asha'man here was potentially unsettling, and that was undoubtedly the point. If he was at all unsettled by it, however, it did not show.
"The Blue is called the Ajah of Justice because they are the champion of causes. While each Ajah can make that claim, the Blue does so on a broader scale. They fight for a variety of righteous causes and take whatever path it leads to, contrasting with the Green who focuses on the military aspect of such causes or the Grey which focuses solely on the goal of maintaining peace. The Blue pursuit of justice could be seen as an amalgam of tactics, and so earns the general name of seeking justice."
Gareth paused for a moment to think. "An Aes Sedai or Asha'man of the Blue Ajah may often be forced to push themselves hard to achieve their goals whether in great amounts of travel or exhaustive interpersonal efforts like discussions or strategy, as such, they are often in need of a weave much similar to one of the Yellow weaves, revitalization, or refreshing."
Here he took in the One Power and wove the flow of Spirit with the thin intermingling threads of Air and Water. He was careful to not overburden it with the latter two, lest it become a Healing weave.
The blue torches go out and the indigo ones ahead light.
INDIGO STAIR
"I am not of an Indigo's training or mindset," Gareth began. "But I do know that there really isn't any safe way to study an object of the One Power. Some are better than others, of course, but it is always something that must be handled with great caution." He paused. "From what little I know, a small weave of Spirit is perhaps the best way to start."
Stepping up to the table, Gareth examined the small ter'angreal. It was a small rod, no longer than the length of Gareth's hand and was red. He first touched it, carefully, to see if anything was found simply by proximity, but at length, nothing occurred so he set it back down and seized Saidin. Nothing more happened now either.
He wove a tiny thread of Spirit to test it and the rod began to glow, though it was not warm to the touch. Gareth's brow rose. He pulled back the bit of Spirit and wove it again, but not this time into the ter'angreal but closer to himself. The rod continued to glow, but seemed to do little else. Gareth dropped the weave, and the glowing stopped.
After a few moments and few more weaves to test it - primarily a thin weave of each of the other powers, individually and not into the rod, he turned to the Indigo Asha'man. "It appears to me that this ter'angreal tells when there is weaving happening in its vicinity by giving off a glow. Whether it will also detect a woman's Channeler, I cannot tell."
Again, the nod and the moment of disorientation as the indigo lights vanished. Lights of a brown shade appeared ahead, and he moved on to the next step.
BROWN STAIR
The Library appeared around him and he was quickly confronted with a familiar image from this place: a Brown with a book.
'It is a history lesson', Gareth thought. He'd never excelled at History, but would do his best.
"The Seanchan invaded Ebou Dar. Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, attempted to repel the invaders with an army of multi-dimension, including Asha'man. He wielded Callandor which amplified his powers, but also rendered him temporarily insane and thusly he was killing the enemy and his own forces at the same time. He was forced to retreat, and now the Seanchan hold Ebou Dar and southern Altara," he explained with his usual economical use of words.
"History tells that he used a sort of advanced Cloud Dancing, mixing Water, Air and Fire to darken the sky with storm clouds and rain down more than a hundred bolts of terrible lightning." Gareth looked around placidly, considering, and then back to the Brown. "I have no talent for that weave and fear to attempt it in the Library setting, lest I do damage, but I know of the weave and its composition, which is as I have described."
The nod, the darkness and then the grey light ahead.
GREY STAIR
The sense of progress was closing a small tension around Gareth's heart. Inwardly, he was beginning to feel a slight pressure against his breathing - tension. It did not show outwardly, through much effort, but the feeling of coming towards the end was growing much and he hoped that he was truly passing each step well and would not be, say, knocked off the top of the stairs when he got there.
"A truce is temporary, a suspension of hostilities for a noted amount of time so that negotiations can continue. It is the first positive step in mediation, while the treaty is the last step, the goal, and the one that - with hope - holds more permanence."
Pausing, Gareth considered. "I am not skilled to be a mediator," he began, feeling like he was saying the beginning of that phrase a lot right now. Most of his 'meditation' before coming to the tower was acting as bodyguard to break up the occasional bar fight and hold people away from beating one another. He didn't think it applied here. "But when mediation becomes heated, it does so in both temper and temperature.
"Something as simple as a weave of Air to bring a subtle yet cooling breeze can lower the temperature, and cool heads, so to speak, and could be advantageous if things get over-heated."
The lights flickered out and the last step lay before him.
WHITE STAIR
"I do not think that those with the abilities that give glimpses into the future are necessarily any better off than those who don't," Gareth replied. This seemed more like a question of belief, rather than logic, but more like it fell into the middle of the two: philosophy.
"None receive clear glimpses. Dreamers, Foretellers, those who can read the pattern in Auras - these are all things given in riddles, and you may attempt to unweave them and learn what they mean, but you may not be able to. This may have a terribly detrimental effect on the psyche of the person who knew it, knowing they were given a clue but something bad happened because they did not understand it.
"And the Wheel is not always determined, I believe that we often weave our own paths as well as the Wheel weaving for us - so we may make choices based on the things seen, and perhaps choose wrongly and cause worse for ourselves. So while sometimes there may be benefits to seeing ahead, I do not think it grants an automatic benefit to the one who does."
Gareth spoke with the resolution of opinion yet not fervor, for he maintained his calm outward appearance despite the stress and weight upon his shoulders.
To the next portion, he was forced to plead a more complete ignorance. "I do not know of a weave that will collect this information, unless you mean simply to record it. The rare abilities of Dreaming, Foretelling and aura reading and even, as I understand it, Listening to the Wind, are all passive and not conscious abilities. Most born in Channelers, yes, but not Channeled."
A moment of darkness told him that the final step was complete.
