Fanfic:To Learn to Lead

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To Learn to Lead
Author(s)
  • Melonie Walther
Character(s)
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Kailitha d'ra Din closed the heavy oak door to the Master of Arms tightly behind her. She resisted the urge to slump against it's firm weight and slide to the floor. Her hand clutched around the orders, not understanding what was going on. But as the Master commands, she must follow.

Feeling for her bondmate, she sensed him out practicing with his ashandarei. She knew he was practicing with it and not something else because of the satisfaction he got only when practicing with the long and dangerous weapon. She needed to go that way regardless so stopping to tell him the news wasn't a hardship or out of her way.

She found him, his shirt to the side as sweat glistened down his chest and arms. She could see that he had gathered an audience, mainly consisting of Novices and other females watching as the Warder Channeler Representative did the forms she taught him. She watched them smugly. He was hers and soon they would be more than just bonded, they would be married.

She waited until he had stopped and all the girls pittered away disappointed, before she stepped up to him.

"Zander, I have to go away for a few days. You won't get into too much trouble while I'm gone, will you?" she cocked her head to the side and smiled. She loved teasing him. And he gave her it right back. He laughed when her saw her smile.

"I'm sure that I'll think of something to do while you're gone," he said with a look in his eyes that said it would be mischief for someone. She was just glad that it wasn't her this time.

"The Master of Arms wishes to test me and is sending me to the Blight with a few ji's. To train them on how to hunt Trollocs." she went on to inform him. She didn't want to hide it from him but when the look of concern flickered in his beautiful brown eyes, she almost regretted telling him.

"You want me to go with you?" he asked, his voice had gotten rough and throaty. She her head both to clear it and to indicate that he shouldn't come. He nodded, resigned.

She closed the remaining distance between them and placed her hand on his cheek. "I'll be fine. I'm tougher than you think I am." His hand went cover hers and he nodded, worry still in his eyes.

"I'll be back before you know it." She pulled her hand, gently free of his grasp and she kissed his lips gently. She smiled into his eyes and then turned and walked toward the rest of the Yards.


Kailitha went to go find the Ji'alantin and Ji'dar that would be going with her. Since it was four hours after early they would be in the Sparring Arena. She made her across the Training Yards and into the Sparring Arena where several Ji'alantin and Sa'ji'alantin sparred each other as several unbonded Gaidin watched and judged.

Normally it would be the Master of Training overseeing such things but with the Master of Training still under constant supervision and the Blight was the place' they wanted Jip Gaidin. She walked up to one of these men and asked to have a brief word with him.

He nodded and stepped off to the side. She told him who she was looking for and why. Even to the point of showing him her orders. Once he was sure of the validity of them, he stepped back to the Arena.

"HALT!" He called out to the crowd and after a moment all activity stopped but not before there were a few bruises from those that didn't or pretended to not hear the call to stop.

They all turned to the burly Gaidin with scars that crisscrossed his arms. The arms on his black training uniform looked as though he had ripped them off deliberately. His black hair was pulled back in a top knot and his mustache came down past his chin in thin lines. A scar ran through his left eye leaving the pupil now white. His other eye was a stark contrast of coal black.

"Listen up, ya slack jaws, this here lady is Kailitha d'ra Din. She's got orders from the Master himself. Five of ya lucky dogs get ta go with 'er. This ain't no volunteer operation. She's got names." He indicated to her to step up and read off her list.

"Carautan of Arafel, Barocs of Kandor, Rochatan Arafel, Aisha of Murandy, and Hanya of Andor."

Hanya stepped up first despite being called last. She was sturdy girl with the dark hair and eyes of her homeland. While she appeared to be dueling with bracers and greaves it was said that she was quite the expert in archery. Archer with unarmed. Interesting combination.

Aisha stood up next. This girl was all sleek and deadly like the daggers she wielded. Even though her medium grey uniform covered her completely it still seemed to cling to her showing off her hips and breasts as if she was wearing more scandalous clothing. All the boys moaned when she walked past. Her honey hair pulled back in a ponytail swished back and forth in time with her hips. She seemed to do this more for affect than as if it was her normal walk.

The boys were now more keen to go up once they saw Aisha was with them. The two Arafellin boys looked like twins their dark hair braided in two, each braid brushing against their shoulders, bells tied to the end. Strapped to their backs were twin scimitars. I like the look of these two, me thinks. She thought as they came up to stand next to her.

The final boy was a striking youth with long blond hair, that formed a mane around his head and muscles rippling underneath his training uniform. Strapped to his back was large circular shield and hanging from his hip a rather large ax. His eyes gleamed gold. She raised a slight eyebrow but said nothing. Having a wolfkin on the mission would be a good thing.


Once they had gathered their horses they met in the Channeling Yards. Her lover stood waiting for them to settle their horses. Despite the horses being Tower bred the Gate still unnerved them. Once the horses had settled Zander opened the Gate a scant ten feet in front of them.

Kailitha nodded to Zander once before urging Cal'kiserai forward. The gelding edged forward and nickered nervously as she moved through the swirling portal. Once she was on the other side she moved off a ways and turned to face the Gate.

Hanya as before was the bravest of the group and strode forward making her way through the Gate. Kailitha nodded and indicated that she should move off as well. She pulled in along side her on her right.

Next to come through was Barocs. Though he wasn't on a horse. The large drin was far too large for a standard war horse and they hadn't trained a draft horse to act as a war horse which is what he would need to hold his bulk. But she knew him to be a Wolfkin and could keep up with the horse should they have to run. She nodded and he came to stand next Hanya.

The next two were the Arafellin boys, straddling the long distance runners of the war horse breeds. They would be fast and light and she approved. They pulled their horses along to her left.

The last to come through was Aisha trotting through. Though it was more a lurch than a graceful entrance and the Gate closed tightly behind her. The girl glared back at where the Gate had been almost angrily.

Kailitha stifled a laugh. She had a pretty good idea what happened. The silly chit went last so that she could stay behind and flirt with Zander. Zander she was sure had seen her kind before and hit the back of her horse sending her through the Gate. And then to add insult to injury he closed the Gate before she could glare at him.

Good job, my love. I will see you soon.

She turned the horses around to run for the Blight, the wind blowing through their hair as they raced toward their mission.


Kailitha slowed up her horse as they neared the Citadel. She didn't want the Guards to think that it was an emergency. No sense in getting them railed up if she didn't have to. Once they reached the Gate, she called to the Guardsmen stationed there.

"Ho, the Gate!" she called, loud and clear. A man poked his head out of one of the slits. He opened his mouth to say something but before he could fill his lungs he noticed the medium grey of the Ji'Alantin and the woman with hard eyes and stopped what he was going to say.

"Gaidar." he said simply.

"Yes, I come with orders from the Master of Arms. I get to teach these young ones how to hunt trolloc." She smiled up at him impishly. He simply shook his head and vanished.

Kailitha merely waited, while those behind her fidgeted. They were nervous now. Before the Blight was just a place she said they were going it didn't quite settle into their heads that she might actually mean it. But it was settling in now.

She smiled, knowing that they couldn't see her. Soon the gate opened and let them on through. Kailitha clicked her horse into action, spurring them through. She did not need to look back to see if they followed. There was a short pause and then she could hear the clip-clapping of the horses. She couldn't hear Barocs but knew the Wolfkin followed nonetheless.

She saluted the guardsmen as they went through.

Once they were all through the gates she called them get off their horses and gather close. They dismounted and huddled around her.

"Alright my lambs. Listen up and listen up good. The Blight has a bad reputation for a reason. There are all sorts of nasties out here. And each one more dangerous than the last." She had their attention now.

"Trollocs are actually the easiest things to fight out here. It the other things you have worry about like the Faceless and the Worms." Aisha's eyes went wide.

"We-we're not going to fight those a-are we?" she asked.

"There is that possibility, yes." She saw the terror in their eyes. "I'm going to lie to you. Trollocs are often led by one Myrddraal. But often you will catch scouts roaming in groups of three or four. That is what we are hoping for." Barocs merely nodded. He was wolfkin and Wolfkin like their lupine brothers sought to destroy all Shadow. He was up for anything she knew. The brothers also began to nod.

"The best way to take down a trolloc is to simply overwhelm them. If they feel that they are losing they will turn tail and run. The only exception to this rule is if they are led Myrddraal. If you want to make sure that there are no survivors then you need to corral them and take them out." Hanya nodded this time, she gripped her bow tightly, now resolute.

"Hanya you will stay back with me," Kailitha told her, hefting up her ashandarei. "You will be shooting only when I tell you too. We want to make pincushions of the Trollocs not our friends, alright?" a small chuckle rippled through them.

"Rochatan and Carautan... whew! That's a mouthful! Roc and Carn," the two boys nodded clearly liking their new nick names. "You will be the main fight force, with Barocs as back up."

She turned to the large Wolfkin, "What your job will be is to insure our boys here don't get messed up to bad. Try to draw the biggest to you. You are more than capable of that." The big man grinned and unstrapped his ax.

"You Aisha are mainly here to keep the trollocs penned in. I want you on the ground with Barocs. You are to dart in and dart out. Stabbing places like hands, feet, hamstrings... keep moving though. I don't want to haul a trampled corpse back to the Master of Arms, eh?" She gulped and nodded.

"Mount up my lambs, we're hunting trolloc today."


At the end of the first day there had been no signs of Trollocs in the area and they were forced to spend the night out in the Blight. Aisha looked as though she was going to complain but a stern look from Kailitha quelled whatever thoughts she may have had on the subject.

Kailitha wished that they could light a fire out here for warmth but would rather remain safe than warm and she told the ji'alantin this.

"How do we eat then? I don't think that there's anything out here that's edible," Roc asked.

She pulled out a large package out of her things and tossed them each a cube of the stuff.

"These are trail rations. They are as tasteless as anything comes. But they are full of the things you need to keep going." she said as she watched them chew on it. "I have enough of these to last all of us three days. I also have dried meat which isn't as tasteless but that's for breakfast."

She step up watch in pairs, she deliberately split up the twins as they would be joking and messing around instead of paying attention. Seeing the girl Aisha as trouble Kailitha put her with her on the first watch. Roc was to hold second watch with Barocs as he was the more mischievous of the two and solid wolfkin would keep him in line. Carn was to take final watch with Hanya as she doubted there would be any misconduct on his part toward the girl.

Night fell and Aisha had her daggers out and was fiddling with them twisting and twirling. Looking closer she saw that they were stilettos and wondered why she used an assassins weapon. She knew that Zander had been an assassin and that his life before the Grey Tower had been a harsh one.

Kailitha pulled out her boot dagger and began to whittle a piece wood that she had brought with her. She had to do something with her hands regardless of how badly she did a thing. In this one thing she was not her father's daughter. She had no talent with wood the way he had.

The night drew on in silence and made Aisha nervous. Kailitha half expected the girl to begin to babble like the empty-headed chit the girl looked to be. Instead she grew more quiet and glared at the soft scraping that Kailitha was doing as though it was impeding her from hearing the monsters outside their circle. Kailitha looked up at the sky and felt that enough time had past and stood up and stretched.

"To bed for us Aisha, let's go rouse Roc and Barocs." She smiled at the girl impishly. "I'll flip you for the wolfkin?" Aisha laughed and the tension went from her body.

"You can have the hairy man beast, I take Roc thanks," Aisha called over her shoulder and went to go wake Roc up.

Passing near them Kailitha caught some of the conversation.

"-woken up by a pretty thing like you is quite the pleasant way to wake up," Roc drawled as he stretched out his lean body to show off for her.

"Maybe if you're good I'll give you something when we get out of the forsaken spit hole," she told him roguishly and walked to her bedroll hips swaying for his benefit. Roc chuckled and got up. His chuckling stopped when he caught Kailitha's eye.

"I beg your pardon Gaidar," he mumbled as he grabbed his twin swords.

Kailitha went to where the large wolfkin slept and nudged him gently. "Barocs, time for your watch."

"As you say, Kailitha Gaidar," he spoke for the first time the entire trip. His voice was soft and smooth almost a caress. She wondered how many of the female trainees wished to follow him home. She shook herself mentally and pictured the lean body of her lover, stretched out on their bed. Grateful for the darkness to hide her blush she stood up.

"That Asha'man was your mate yes?" he asked. She paused for a second and then relaxed, she had seen this sort of thing with her mentor. He could smell emotions and see well in the dark.

"Yes, Barocs he is. And I miss him so," she told the large Ji.

"He's a good man." he said and that was the end of it. She stood watching him as he took her place at the perimeter. Roc began joking with wolfkin over something but she didn't dare get closer to find out what it was so she just laid down to sleep.

A few hours later, she awoke to the changing of the watch. She sleepily raised herself on on elbow and asked, "Anything of note to report?"

When they both shook their head, she went back to sleep. Just before dawn she was awoke with the sound of yelling from Carn.

"Trollocs on the northeast perimeter!" He was screaming once she got her head through the fog. Cursing she grabbed her ashandarei. There was not enough time for everyone to get to the horses but she and Hanya needed height.

She whistled and Cal'kiserai pulled away from the other horses a took off toward Kailitha. She mounted up and called out to Hanya, "Come here!" The girl snatched up her bow and ran for the one horse she could get to. Cal'kiserai.

Kailitha held out her and Hanya leaped up behind her. "You ready for this?" She asked the girl.

"As ready as I'll ever be," came the firm reply.

"Good, fire at those fiends!" And she began to fire into the night. In dim light Kailitha could barely make out about five of the beasties and they were all coming their way.

A bit more than I would have liked but it'll have to work!

"Fall in boys! Things are going to get rough." Her job was to keep them safe. She was going to have to corral the trollocs but first she needed to get Hanya on a horse of her own.

Roc and Carn weren't very happy about having to do this on foot but as they didn't have time to mount up they didn't have much choice. The first set of trollocs were upon them and it was time to act. As they came into view they could see that a couple sported arrows and yet they kept charging.

The twins pulled out their swords and grunted to each other before they went after the trollocs. She didn't want to turn her back on them but they needed the help of their only archer and Hanya was no good without height and distance. She needn't have worried Aisha and Barocs had remembered their orders and waded in. Aisha was a spit fire darting in and out leaving spurts of blood in her wake.

Barocs had taken the rear and fought two on his own. The middle trolloc stood unsure of what to do. He stood there looking back and forth between the two Arafellin and large wolfkin. Kailitha knew what was going to happen next and raced toward the horses. She pulled out her dagger and cut one of the Arafellin's horses for Hanya would need the speed.

"Circle and keep firing whenever you get a shot!"

She raced back to trollocs just in time. Aisha sought to take advantage of the confused trolloc and stabbed his ankle. He roared in rage and reached out for the pretty drin. Cal'kiserai reared up and brought his hooves down hard on the trollocs flank. The trolloc turned and Cal'kiserai thrashed his hooves into it's face. It had found it's quarry and began attacking Kailitha in earnest.

Kailitha needed to make short work of this one as to keep them together. She looked over at the twins and with their twin blades seem to be able to take on one trolloc each. She nodded. She turned to the wolfkin and saw that he was in trouble. The two trollocs had spouted various cuts and gashes but it had only fueled their anger. Barocs fought to stay on his feet as the two work as a pair.

"Aisha, Hanya! Help Barocs! The twins can take care of themselves!" Hanya fired to quick shots into one and it looked up at her. She fired another into it's eye and he roared and lurched after her. He stopped mid-step when he felt a piercing in the pack of his leg. He turned around but he felt two arrows imbed in his shoulder. He looked back at Hanya confused. Aisha leaped on his back and Hanya raced toward the trolloc firing to keep it's attention on her. Aisha struggled to remain on it's back but once she managed, stabbed both stilettos into the creature's eyes. Hanya ran past the trolloc and the other girl leaped on the charging horse grabbing her hand and they charged off.

Barocs raised a salute of thanks before he turned and buried his ax straight into the skull of his remaining trolloc.

All the while Kailitha and Cal'kiserai fought the third trolloc. Kailitha slashed and ducked while Cal'kiserai wove and thrashed. They had done this before. They were good at it. There!

There was the opening they had fought hard for! Kailitha swung her blade and opened a gapping gash in the trollocs throat. It fell silently to the ground.

Roc had gone berserk on his trolloc and had torn his to ribbons. Though Kailitha was pretty sure it was dead it still stood and Roc still slashed at it. He ran into it feet first and knocked it to the ground and continued his assault. Carn's left arm lay limp at his side as tried to fight the remaining trolloc. Kailitha charged it and tilted up her ashandarei to drive the tip into it's back. Thus distracted Carn cut it's throat.

After it lay fallen Carn stood huffing, panting for air. She looked around to make sure that there weren't going to be any other surprises once she was satisfied on that account, she took stock of her people.

Roc was still in blood fury. Kailitha did the only thing she could think of before he turned on them, she opened her water pouch and doused him with the cold water found within. The shock to his system pulled him out of the frenzy and he collapsed to the ground, his energy spent.

She checked her people. Carn's arm had a large gash from shoulder to elbow. Aisha was covered in blood but none of it appeared to be her own. Roc was still lying on the ground unconscious. Hanya was fine as she had not got near the action at all and was moving through bodies of the trollocs looking for arrows she could salvage. Barocs had sagged to ground panting, nicks and cuts riddled his body.

She tossed some salve and bandages to Aisha and told her to get to work on Barocs. Even if she didn't know a thing about first aid anyone could bind a few cuts without much trouble.

"And after you and Hanya are done with what you are doing, I want you to take Roc and bind him to a horse. I'll look it over after I'm done with Carn to make sure it's secure."

She went to work on Carn. "He got you good there, my friend," she told the Ji'alantin as she ripped off his sleeve.

"Well he was aiming for my head," he explained.

Kailitha laughed and went to work cleaning the wound stitching and binding it. "It's the best I can do. I know herbcraft. Not so much first aid. We'll have to get you to a Yellow right quick to avoid you losing the use of it." Carn nodded mutely, worry etched across his face. She put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze.

"You be fine."

She went to go check on the girls and came up to them just as they had finished lashing the poor Arafellin to his horse. He wasn't going to keen on his return not being quite so triumphant as he would have liked. She pulled on the rope a few times and was satisfied that he wasn't going to fall off. They broke camp and soon was ready to leave.

"All right boys and girls mount up!" Kailitha called out. Cal'kiserai whinnied ready to be on the rode again.

"Carn, you have your brother's horse firmly tied to your saddle, yes?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," was the clear response.

"Good cause we're going to run for it." They all nodded, they needed to get back to a Healer quick for the twins' sake.

"Fall out!" And the horses lurched forward keyed on by their riders and began to gallop for home.


In half the time it took them to ride out to the Blight they had returned to the Citadel. The watchmen seeing them race for the gates at breakneck speeds threw them open in time for them to race through and into the courtyard.

Kailitha called for a Yellow as she pulled up hard on the reins. Two Yellows came dashing out, an Asha'man and an Accepted. She pointed to the twins.

"The one strapped to the saddle is a berserker, Roc and fell from fatigue and the other got a trolloc axe to the arm, Carn." The Yellows nodded and took the two boys to the infirmary.

She turned to the remaining three. "Go get cleaned up and rest. We will stay here until Carn and Roc are fit for travel." They nodded and was led off by some soldiers to guest quarters. And the horses, including her own Cal'kiserai were lead off to the stables to get taken care of.

She was torn between sending messages to the Grey Tower with a report and seeing if the two boys were going to be all right. She finally decided that to better report she needed to find out about the boys.

She went to the Infirmary and looked around for the Asha'man she saw earlier. Spotting him she made her way through the beds toward him. Once she reached him, she bowed and said, "Asha'man? Kailitha d'ra Din, Warder. How are the two boys?"

"Ah Kailitha Gaidar. I am Teek Ajanree. Roc will be fine, he woke up as soon we made him comfortable. Carn will need to rebuild strength in his arm again before he can left anything heavier than a spoon but he will be able to fight with it again, it will just take time," he explained.

She nodded. In away she was glad that it was Carn and not Roc that had been hurt this way. She didn't think that Roc would have had the patience to take it slow and build it right. Unlike his brother.

"May I speak with them?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I put both of them to sleep so that they be rested enough for the ride home in the morning." She nodded.

"Well, when they wake tell them to meet me in the courtyard at first light." Teek Asha'man nodded and she made her way to her own guest quarters.


At first light the six of them gathered in the courtyard, standing next to their horses. Kailitha turned to them and said, "I want you all to know that you did the Grey Tower and your teachers proud yesterday. I know because I am proud of you. Mount up!"

They mounted their horses and made their way to where an Aes Sedai stood with an open Gate.

"It will take you outside of Hama Valon, you can ride to the Tower from there," she told Kailitha.

She nodded and led the through the Gate going slow as to not to spook Cal'kiserai. Once they were all through she looked up to see the lofty heights of Grey Tower spread out before them.

"Well there we are my little lambs, the Grey Tower. We are home." And with that they rode home with the wind at their backs.