Suki

Suki
Created by	Aviaine Chaimere (player)
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Drin
Affiliation	The Grey Tower
Nationality	Seanchan

Suki is a Seanchan Novice of the Grey Tower.

Description

Suki has been a damane for over seventy years, since she was sixteen years old, though she currently looks to be in her early twenties. Her thick black hair has hardly ever been cut, as representative of her status. Her eyes are bright blue, and her skin is fair as a result of the great deal of time she spends in her kennel.

Before she was brought to the Grey Tower, Suki used to belong to the army; she was used in battles and was one of the first damane brought over when the Seanchan started invading Falme. Suki is a very good damane. The sul'dam used to argue over who would be allowed that day to be at the bracelet-end of her leash, and Suki reveled in her status as the petted favorite. She channeled when, where, and how she was told and thus was allowed certain privileges, like an extra treat for dinner, or a sul'dam might brush her hair as she sat at the foot of the lightening-paneled dress. Suki couldn't imagine a happier life.

Biography

The air was thick with smoke, and the scent of burned wood filled Suki's nose. Her turquoise eyes sparkled with terror--she wanted nothing more than to scurry back into her kennel, scurry towards safety. A quick glance at Lalina curbed those fears...her sul'dam looked so determined, so steadfast, that Suki's own nerves began to settle. She turned back and surveyed the scene before her.

It was utter chaos. Lightning cracked down around her, and everywhere men screamed and bled and died; some were good members of the Ever Victorious Army, and some were the oddly smooth-helmeted members of the foreign land to which they had come. A thick strand of Suki's ebony hair swept across her face, and she spat it out of her mouth in irritation. What is the Army doing here? Don't these foreigners know they cannot win against the Empress?

A jerk on her leash. Suki turned instantly, and Lalina smiled slightly at her. "Suki, that group there." Lalina pointed. They had positioned themselves a small bit out of the way, slightly elevated on a ridge, so as to see the battle and attack effectively. Lalina was so smart. Suki's bright blue eyes roved in the direction Lalina had directed her, and the damane made the familiar mixture of Flame, Wind, and Ground, sending lightning bolts shooting into the group as the earth below them erupted. She could hear the shrieks and smell the burning flesh of the men as they were thrown through the air, their crisped corpses falling to litter the battlefield and join the ranks of the dead. "Good, Suki. Well done." Lalina patted her hair, and Suki smiled. No, nothing bad could happen as long as Lalina was there.

Suki shrieked again, a long, howling wail that echoed through the trees. She would have pounded mercilessly on the back of the man who carried her had he not bound her limbs together after just such an event a few days earlier. He hadn't bound her mouth, however, and she had screamed and wailed with every breath. Red rimmed her clouded blue eyes, and her ebony hair fell in tangled clumps. Stains dotted her once pristine grey dress, and she hated it every time she looked at it. If she were home, she would not have to wear it. She would be given a new dress, a clean one. She would be petted and loved and fed; now, she was a prisoner.

"Oh, be quiet, child." The man growled. "Don't you see that I'm helping you more than your precious Seanchan ever would?"

As a reply Suki opened her mouth and sank her teeth into the man's shoulder. He yelled and, stopping, threw her to the ground. His stature towered over her, and Suki cowered before the man. If he punishes Suki it will be no more than she deserves...hurting a man! As if she had a right to! Bad Suki! Suki deserves punishment! She huddled on the ground, her face pressed into the dirt and her tears mingling with the grime on her cheeks to create a truly ghastly picture. The man's expression remained stone as he reached into his bag and withdrew a cloth with which he dabbed at the droplets of blood that had made their way through the back of his shirt.

He growled and threw the cloth into the dirt next to Suki's face. The former damane whimpered. "What do you want, girl? Do you want a life of bondage? A chained, miserable life with those Seanchan witches? You have been freed, girl! Freed by an Aes Sedai, channelers who are at least occassionally treated with the respect they deserve!" The man glared down at her and spat over his shoulder.

"Though I don't suppose that just because a girl can channel, it means she deserves respect. Look at you, sniveling in the dirt like an animal. Sit up, child! Wipe your face! Don't you understand the magnitude of our situation?"

With a rough gesture the man kneeled at her side and thrust a large hand under her chin. Suki kept her eyes carefully on the ground as her face was forced up towards his.

"No, you don't deserve her life." The man released her head just as abruptly and Suki fell into the dirt again. He stepped a few strides from her, his motions smooth as a panther's, and whirled again to glare down at her. The motions of his changing cloak made Suki's stomach quease, and she closed her eyes. Please, just kill Suki.

"No, you don't deserve her life. She was a great woman, you sniveling wretch. Daneine Sedai, of the Blue Ajah, sworn to end the wrongful treatment of channelers! She travelled to Falme because of you, you know." He thrust a trembling finger towards her, his face twisted with rage. The man's voice grew louder as he spoke.

"Because of you! Because of you, the bloody Seanchan! 'We must help them, Eagar. They do so need us...would you like to see me chained that way?'" He roared and slammed his fist against a tree, sending needles showering down around them both.

"She freed you, you know. You're here because of Daneine. You're away from that bloody leash because Daneine put your life before her own. And now she's dead, and I must take you," he spat again, "to the Grey Tower! You! To attain the same rank that Daneine once had!" He whirled and paced, his hands clenched across his chest. "You! To replace her! The idea is absurd. But it is the task she gave me when she knew she would die, and thus I must carry out her last wish." His fist slammed into the tree again. Suki winced at the solid thud of flesh meeting bark. "And you are free. So you better bloody appreciate it."

Suki opened her mouth. The howl that exited her lips sent the birds in the trees scurrying in a flurry of wings and cawing. She was what? Free?!? She was marath'damane, that was what she was now. The lowest of the low. And this man told her to be happy? She screamed and turned over onto her back, bound hands thrashing and bound legs kicking wildly into the air. Never again would she be happy. Never again would she see Lalina's smiling face opening the door of her kennel, sliding the bracelet on to her hand with the practiced motion of an experienced sul'dam. Never again would Suki feel the woman's hands playing softly with her hair, or slipping her an extra treat for dinner. Suki shrieked and kicked. If she had been allowed, she would have taken her own life. Light knew, she deserved to die.

The man simply stood over her, his dark eyes watching the damane's hysterics. With a sigh he turned and strode off, calling over his shoulder, "I'll be back. Do not leave." The steel of his blade flashed as it swung through the air.

Suki rolled over again and pressed her face into the dirt, breathing in the comforting scent of the damp earth. The thought of channeling never once crossed her mind--after all, no one had told her to do so.

Suki is alone. She thought bitterly. Suki is alone. The damane had never been so frightened in her life.

Career History

• Novice