Storm Ananke
| Storm Ananke | |
|---|---|
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| Storm ah-nen-key | |
| Created by | Storm (player) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah |
| Affiliation | The Grey Tower |
| Attributes | |
| Talents |
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| Weapon Skills |
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| Masteries | |
| OP Strength | 6.0 |
| Affinities | Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Spirit |
Storm Ananke is a Blademaster and Blue Oathsworn Aes Sedai of the Grey Tower.
Description
Storm is about 5'8" with long black hair and green eyes that are usually disapproving or snapping at whoever she is looking at.
Storm has never smiled or laughed to date, and is generally very blunt and cold on the rare occasion that she speaks. Her words are formal and flat, as if she does not wish to be speaking with you.
She can usually be seen around the Yards training or out of the Tower hunting. It is rare to see her without a quiver on her back or a sword at her hip. She has Power-made scars crossing her back which she keeps carefully covered at all times. There is the heron of a Blademaster tattooed on the back of her neck which she scratches when she is deep in thought or uncomfortable.
Biography
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"Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind's eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees any one whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh; he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter light, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light."
Darkness had fallen.
A simple phrase. Taken literally it meant nothing more than another day had come to a close, and the dark of night was beginning to shadow the world. But taken in all contexts, its connotations and implications spiraled out into an intricate web of events, emotions, evils, bitterness, and happenstance that had no end.
The Mountains of Mist were aptly named.
Already at this, the beginning of night, a thin layer of fog clung to the ground and the sides of the foothills. Directly to the west the mountains loomed ominously. The trees of the forests were disturbed by occasional gusts of wind, which threw thousands of nearby leaves into a frenzied dance. The moon shone only intermittently, covered oftentimes by clouds rushing overhead.
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
Storm unfolded her legs from beneath her and stood, leaning on her bow. The men around the campfire glanced at her, but when it was apparent there was no alarm, went back to their low murmurings. Her shockingly green eyes reflected the dancing firelight as she looked to the East. Another rumble of thunder accompanied by flashes of light in the distance. A storm headed straight for the mountains. It would arrive in no more than three hours' time. Storm sat down once again, the wind blowing her dark hair in a halo around her head. It was going to be a long night.
"The deepest definition of youth is life as yet untouched by tragedy."
"By the Light Alicia, I can't remember the last time we had this much rain." The aging man peered outside through the rain-streaked window of the small cottage.
"Oh Grayden, sit down. Lunch is almost ready." The plump woman took a pot from the fireplace and used her foot to move a bowl on the floor to better catch the rain that was dripping through the thatching. The man sat down but continued to stare outside.
"Really,
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Alicia. When do you remember such a storm? Usually all we get is that Light forsaken dry wind, what with the Blight some-odd leagues north. But two days ago, bam!" He accentuated the last with his first pounding on the table. "Rain comes in from the southeast. When did the rain come from the southeast last, Alicia? And it hasn't stopped for two days!" the woman ladled soup into a bowl in front of him.
"Well I hardly think you should be complaining about it dear. Light knows the crops need it."
"I wasn't complaining, Alicia. There's just something strange about it, that's all." She murmured something non-committal and began eating across the table from him. The man raised the spoon to his lips and then dropped it back in his bowl with a small splash. "Alicia, look! There's something outside!" She sighed in exasperation.
"Grayden, how can you possibly see anything through the rain? We can't even see the neighbors!"
"Alicia, look!" She squinted through the glass.
"My word Grayden, you're right! What is that?" He shook his head, half-standing, trying to get a better look.
"Bloody ashes, it's a person!" The woman gasped.
"It's not a person, it's a child!" Just then, the figure outside collapsed into the mud. The woman screamed. "Grayden, do something!" the man rushed outside, bracing himself for the torrent of rain. It never came. The rain fell lightly. Ignoring this utterly strange change in the already strange case of the storm, he tramped his way quickly through the mire and gathered the muddy child in his arms. "Quickly, quickly," the woman said from the doorway. Dripping and filthy, he re-entered the cottage and laid the poor figure on the ground by the fire. "Light help us, it's a little girl," the woman whispered. She knelt down next to her, touching her wet face. "Dear, dear, can you hear me?" For a brief moment eyes the color of emeralds fluttered open and regarded the couple. Then they closed again and knew nothing.
"Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge"
"That damn storm isn't gonna help if they come tonight," the leader, Brun, voiced. The other men grunted in assent. The wind had died down for the moment. The calm before the storm. The fire crackling and popping was the only noise other than their intermittent talking. Storm stood up and looked toward the east again. Another hour had passed. It wouldn't be long yet.
"I don't see why we are here of all places," the latest addition to their group said, taking a bit of his salted meat.
"Because we go where our noble commissions us, no matter where," Brun replied in a low, grating voice. The men at the next fire began laughing. "Glad they're bloody looking forward to it," he snorted.
"I hear the shadowspawn will travel only around this side of the mountain. They won't go near the other. Some tower with those Aes Sedai witches in it." Storm didn't turn to look at the newcomer's as he spoke the words, but her hand gripped the top of her longbow more tightly.
The loudest peal of thunder yet sounded and echoed off of the mountains. "Hey you, Storm is your name, right?" he continued. She didn't turn around. "Can't you do something about that?" He laughed at his own joke. No one else did. "What's a pretty thing like you doing here anyway?" A moment later an arrow landed between his feet. His meat fell out of his hands. Storm lowered her bow, looked at him with deadly green eyes, and turned back around like nothing had happened. Brun chuckled.
"I'd leave her be, lad. I'd swear on my dead mother that one's related to Birgette Silverbow somehow. She's a damn good shot with that thing, and she's sooner put an arrow in your heart than give you a kiss. Been doing this for four years too. No lad, don't cross her." Had Storm been the type, she might have smiled.
"Only the educated are free"
"Alicia, where's Storm?" Grayden walked into the cottage, tying his topknot.
"The same place she's been for the past three months since you gave her that dreaded thing," the graying woman replied. Grayden smiled slightly and exited again. He walked across the small gathering of cottages, and found the girl by a stack of hay, utterly concentrated on re-stringing her longbow. It wasn't a true longbow of course. They guessed the girl had seen about 12 Namedays, and she wouldn't have had the strength to use a real one. So Grayden had made her a miniature himself. She had instantly fallen in love with it, and spent all of her free time practicing. A rope had been coiled around itself, bound together, and nailed to two pieces of wood. It now stood up, serving as a target. Storm finished, and when she looked up, noticed Grayden.
"Fix it?" he asked fondly. She nodded and stood up, taking a small arrow from a pile she had on the ground. She knocked it just as hoof beats could be heard on the road leading into the little village. They turned to see who was approaching. A man reined in when he saw them. He was still relatively young, maybe thirty-five years, with a pleasant look about him. But there was no mistaking he carried himself like a warrior. "Good morning, Lord Ananke," Grayden said with a small bow. Storm turned away, uninterested. She raised her little longbow and began to line up her shot.
"Good morning, Grayden," he replied. "Good morning, Storm," he said, giving the little girl a bow from his saddle. She ignored him. Grayden shook his head.
"I would chastise her my Lord, but it never does any good..." Dreyden Ananke chuckled.
"It's quite alright."
"So what brings you from the estate this morning my Lord?" Lord Ananke lived on his estate a few leagues away, and some of his men and their families lived here, farming and caring for livestock.
"Just here to see what needs the village has this month. And of course to extend my offer again," he said nodding in Storm's direction. "So what do you say this time?" he asked, raising his voice so she would listen. She let the arrow fly. It hit the coil second from the middle. She didn't smile. In fact, no one ever recalled her doing so, least of all herself. But she did give a small, satisfied smirk and turned to Dreyden.
"I am afraid, my Lord Ananke, I am not one to acquiesce so easily." She turned back around. He stared at her back for a moment and then threw back his head and laughed. "Where does a girl that age learn to speak like that?" He wiped a tear from his eye. Grayden was smiling and shaking his head. She never said much, but when she did, that was the sort of thing that came out.
"Not in the two springs she has been here, my Lord. We don't know where, and neither does she." Dreyden raised his voice again to Storm.
"Maybe we should get you some silver arrows to go with that silver tongue of yours. You are becoming quite good." She ignored him again. He tried once more. "You know, if you would just come live with me, you could read any books you want. Learn more of those large words you are so fond of. And," he added, "Someone could teach you how to use that bow. You could learn from some of the best." Storm turned around. Now she was interested.
"The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do so for them."
The first drops of rain began falling. The darkness was complete. As it began to rain harder, the fire hissed in protest, as did the men. "Ready for the rain, boys," Brun commanded. Just then a man burst into the clearing.
"Scout!" someone from another fire yelled over the noise of the rain. Everyone turned to look. The man was breathless. He pointed back the way he had come. "They're coming. Soon!" Brun pushed his way forward.
"From the east?!" he said incredulously.
"They're riding... the storm," the scout managed. "A hundred... maybe more. Too dark." Just then an arrow flew out of the trees behind him. It hit him squarely in the back and he fell forward, a look of surprise his dying face. More arrows began coming out of the trees, but the band of fifty was already running toward the foothills of the mountains.
Storm swore silently. She had to find a perch far enough away to shoot. Not to mention how seeing her target was going to be a problem. They were going to use their initial surprise to herd them into the mountains where they would be separated. It was a good plan. Because it was probably going to work.
Dreyden Ananke walked into his living quarters and sat down. "Well we're not going to be able to depart today." As if to prove his point, the rain began to beat on the window even harder. His wife turned around to look at him and sighed. Golden curls waved down her back as she shook her head.
"Well perhaps that will satisfy her."
"I highly doubt it," he replied. "She won't be soothed unless she can come, not in the fact that we can't go."
"I'm not having a girl of seventeen Namedays gallivanting off with a bunch of soldiers! That's absurd! She has everything to her to become a lady except for any desire to do so!" Dreyden smiled. He did love that girl. She was so quiet, angry, and determined. Not an easy person to love, but he and he wife did nonetheless. She had the capacity, only lacked the will to be anything but what she was.
"I wouldn't have it either, for all of her determination to do so. Where is she now?"
"In her room. You know she is always angry when it rains." Dreyden sat there for a few moments, and then looked at his wife.
"She is always angry because it rains?"
"Death is not the worst; rather, in vain
To wish for death, and not to compass it."
Storm woke up and immediately wished she hadn't. The cold stone floor felt good against the welts on her back, but her joints were stiff and every inch of her body ached. She tried to move, but the effort was too much and she did nothing but exhale sharply. She'd been down in this dark hole for months. Possibly three or four. She wasn't sure how many. She had lost track of the days in between periods of unconsciousness, and there was no way to keep track of whether it was night or day outside. She wondered where the two Aes Sedai were. They hadn't been here in days.
The Yellow and the White had shown up in Shienar at the Ananke estate, all cool serenity and cordiality. Dreyden and Myriam had invited them, suspecting that the girl they had harbored for all these years had the ability to channel. Sure enough, when they had arrived, they confirmed that the girl had the potential, and had assured the Lord and Lady that the girl would be taken to the White Tower to be trained. It was a sad time for the three of them, as well as the couple's younger children. But the Aes Sedai were not patient, and insisted that Storm come with them immediately. A day later they set out for the White Tower.
Storm gave a silent, bitter laugh. The White Tower. She had never even glimpsed Tar Valon. They hadn't been twenty leagues away from her home when one of them made some tear in the very air, and they walked through into another place. She didn't know where. It seemed palatial at the time. White marble floors, pillars. No one was around though, which was very strange. Apparently this was not the White Tower. She was taken to a nice room, and was promptly locked in. Confused, she sat on the bed. She was in there for three days. Her stomach knotted with hunger and the basin of water was now empty. She had nothing to attempt to get out with. There was no window, and her bow, knife, and other belongings hadn't been seen since she got off of the horse. Then the door had opened and the two Aes Sedai stepped in. She immediately stood up and opened her mouth, but before she could say anything something hit her from behind and she fell to her knees. She tried to speak but it was impossible to make a sound come out. Something was in her mouth, preventing her.
"Well now dear," the Yellow said. "It seems you have a lot to learn. You see, we plan on giving you an education." She smirked. "A very different one from the one you would get at the White Tower. And so much more beneficial."
It hadn't taken long for it to be apparent her "education" was being presided over by two members of the Black ajah. The things they tried to teach her, related to the Power or not, were terrible. She would refuse them, only to be beaten until she was told to again. From what she could gather from the bits of conversation she heard, they were trying something new. They thought it would be easier to convert girls to the Dark at the beginning of their training, rather than waiting until they were Aes Sedai. Storm had refused their 'teachings' over and over again. Finally realizing that she had a block and could not channel whenever they wanted her to, they threw her down in this dungeon and left her. Now she only saw them when she was forced to write letters to Lord Ananke, telling him how wonderful her training at the White Tower was. And when they tortured her. She had initially refused to write the letters, no matter how badly they hurt her. They hit her with the Power until spots flashed before her eyes and she couldn't stand, but still she refused. But when they told her the Ananke family might lose one of their members if she did not, she wrote them without protest.
She shifted the ropes that bound her hands as best she could, wincing at the sting of rope on raw skin. So now she was down here. They would come down once in a while. She would get rancid food, brackish water, and occasionally a Healing. But only to go through the same thing again. They promised if she would just accept the Shadow, they would break her block and she could be a powerful Aes Sedai in the service of the Great Lord.
She refused.
And so it continued. A favorite method of the former White sister was to use a stick. But she did something to it. It appeared normal, but when it struck Storm's back, it burned. Welts and scars now crossed her back. She couldn't see them, but she could feel them. But at least the floor was cold. Blessedly cold. It provided some relief while she laid there in the dark, plotting how she would take out her revenge.
"I know indeed what evil I intend to do, but stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury."
"Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives."
She was now well into the foothills. The storm was now full fledged, rain and wind lashing out. She couldn't see anyone. If there was any fighting still going on, it was isolated. No doubt there were men scattered all over the mountain. The flashes of lightning provided the only light, and Storm struggled along, looking for any sign of fighting. She reached a rock outcropping and was forced to stop because of the darkness. At the next flash of lightning she looked down. It was about fifteen feet to the rocks below, and two figures were there. At the next flash she could make out Brun, sword drawn. Coming at him, was ...nothing. Storm squinted into the darkness. More lightning. She could see white hands.
Fade.
Brun was one of the best swordsmen she knew. But he didn't have a chance against an Eyeless in the dark. She heard swords clang over the sound of the storm. She raised her bow. In the next flash of light she sent an arrow toward where the Fade was standing. It obviously wouldn't kill it, but it just might by Brun enough time. The Fade stumbled for a moment. It was all Brun needed. The Fade now lacked a head. It wandered around, headless, and Brun went back in the direction he had just come. Storm turned around, right into an arrow.
It took her in the abdomen, and she stumbled in surprise, exhaling in a rush. She fell, her knees buckling. She laid on her back, the rain washing over her. Her boots and pants felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. With extreme effort she moved her arm and attempted to grip the arrow protruding out of her. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't grip it. Her fingers were too clumsy. She let her hand drop, and her eyes fell shut.
The story continues with The Extension of Steel
Career History
- Novice
- Accepted (13 October 2007)
- Council of Youth
- Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah (5 January 2009)
- First Selector of the Blue Ajah (16 January 2010)
- Warder-Channeller Representative (14 January 2010)
- Blademaster
