A Different path- Part 2 ---&RPaward

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Alison
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A Different path- Part 2 ---&RPaward

Post by Alison » Mon Dec 19, 2022 7:36 am

For context I wrote this in 2017 i think and at the time my future wasn't as clear as i wanted it to be. This is the same for the new year. I don't know where we are going and what the future brings, but having friends helps. The part 2 is at the bottom.

Part 1

Ely edit 26 Jul 2021_Written in 2017

This one had already been awarded. I added the record to the relevant note so it will count for RP ranks in the future.

Ely edit 28 December 2022:

1-6 qps, depending on length and quality.

Potential +1 qp: if part of a series: x

Total: 3 qps

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The early morning remains quiet and serene as always. She wraps her arms calmly into her lap and look out of the North Easter Tower of Tar Valon.
Deep inside of her mind she sits and wraps the oneness around her like a comfortable blanket. A sigh escapes from one of the Guards down the stairs and she dismisses it as if is of no consequences..

Her mind climbs over the days as a child, running around and her mother yelling at her, "Dont do that Ali, you are going to hurt yourself.""

"Mother, there is no reason for worry. I have calculated all the variables and made sure that i have complete control of the rope as I cross over
the river. And can you please stop calling me Ali. My name is Alison." she remembers frowning at the older woman. The woman was the epitome of a hard working farmer, gladly giving of her crops to the city of Tar valon.

In her mind she examines the days following her life and it is as if she is looking out over every effort she has ever put into all that she has done. At times she was brusqee and at other times she was marked as idle brained. How do you explain to someone that your mind is calculating the trajetory of a leaf as it crosses your path or the strength of will it needs to withstand healing from a girl in banded white?

She folds her hands into her lap and gaze inward as the quiet of the morning compliments her meditative mood. She has studied with the Yellow ajah for almost 2 years now. It has been a journey of discovery and of hope found. Her time was spent well in what was clearly at the time the most logical route to follow. Just like when she was trying to tell her mother she was in control of that rope.

She wasn't. The one variable she didn''t anticipate was that the rope was old and at its apex of her swing, broke and plunged her into the icy cold water.
Her mother grasped her and held her shivering body while she contemplated her arrogance at the time. Like that experience taught her not to be too confident in her knowledge of the journey she will follow, this too must change.

"I hear you are now being called by your full name, Alison Lily San. Why the sudden change?" asks Raya behind her. The wisdom has come to join her in this early morning vigil.

""Yes. As much as i like to remain who i liked everyone to call me, i cannot see or feel the need to be called by a nickname my mother dreamt up whenever my life didnt meet up with her expectation. I was born Alison Lily San. I am a Tower Accepted and it is time to adjust the sails of my journey."

"Then what puzzles you so my friend?" says the voice behind her. It is echoing the one from inside as well."

" I have to follow another journey. The path i have been on is leading me into a future i don't know if i want to go there. It is weighing heavily on my heart and I find meditation here to best help me understand what my mind and body wants."

She unfolds from her seated position, quietly stretching lean muscles and her left hand gently traces the jawbone that has lost all of its baby fat over the last few months. Best to face what is to come with confidence, Child. She tells herself as she hooks her arm into Raya''s.

They descend the stairs into the quarters and her mind searches for where she put the pen and paper. That letter to Elyse sedai must be written..


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Part 2: Few years later:

"Alison? " yells Detritus from behind a bloodied sword, he looks as handsome as the day she met him. Though the last year its been tough on both of them. Physically and mentally.

"What?" she yells back at him. He has this bad habit of yelling at her in the middle of her weaving.

She fold the fireball weave neatly into completion as she has done 176 thousand times in her life. It is an odd thing to keep track of how many fireball weaves you have weaved, but she is over logical somtimes.

"Can you aim in a different direction please. That one almost singed my hair." He laughs as another corrupted guard goes down. She admires his ability to be so calm in the midst of all of this madness. Around her is the chamber of these guards. If she remember correctly , this is south of Cairhien. These guards tend to put up a heavy fight.

"Would you like me to save you or not weave near your hair?"

"Anywhere except this moustache, i have taken weeks to grow it." He swirls around and a surge of the bond suddenly warns her about the sword coming at her head.

Alison flips left, ducks down and stabs backward. A few people have commented about her using a spear. She enjoys its sharpness, she feels the vibration as it stabs through the man behind her.

His eyes glazes over as death takes him.

"Next time a good warning would be appreciated. Less worries about your facial hair and more about my safety." She admonishes him, but sends a warmth through the bond at him. Lest he thinks she doesn't appreciate his assistance.

Detritus smirks as he kicks the corpse out of the way. She blinks quietly and doesn't realise how fast this fight has completed. The Young tower guard with them frowns down at his blood stained cloaks.

"What has you distracted today?" He asks as he bends down and starts to search the corpses for angreal, weapons, anything that can be used to help others in the Tower and the world. She always enjoy the fact that he wants to hand over a whole wagon full of equipment to others. Illogical to not keep at least some stuff for their own usage.

"Mom. She passed away today."

He pauses, his right hand dripping blood as he pulls out something from someones backpack.

"Wasn't she like 100 or so? Why today is it distracting you. I have seen you fight two Dreadlords without even blinking."

"Its not that. I regret lying to her when i was a small child. The woman on that bed at the farm. She looked so fragile. So helpless. I ..."

She sends him regret and anger through the bond. Being White ajah does not stop you from feeling anger.

He walks over to her, his eyes soft and slightly misty, "Don't do that, Ali. She gave you to the world. Regret does not serve you."

Alison bends down and cleans her spear. A moment of stoicness flows from him to her. How does he know to calm her so. He forgets it was his calmness that let her face those two dreadlords. She felt like death was going to claim her that day.

She sits down on a bench, a moment passes as she pull off her left hand glove. He comes and sits next to her. The guard ignores them as he watches the door.

"Tell me."

She takes a deep breath, ' I have told you the story of the rope? Where i was brave enough to tell her a small lie. I am white ajah now and it irks me to know that i could not use logic to explain something. This scar in my palm. It reminds me of that day."

He takes her hand and trace the burn mark with his index finger, "I don't recall the story. Just don't let it eat you up. Her memory doesn't deserve it."

She pulls her hand back. "Lies are beneath anyone. I should not have used it then. Maybe confessing to you will ease my mind a little."

Detritus rises quietly as a lion in hunting grounds. His cloak makes him fade in and out. She averts her eyes.

"What do you always say, Meditation will help. Let us go back to the farm and you can tell me about it. Maybe meditate at the farm will ease your mind?"

She nods at his wisdom. He is stubborn and hard headed as any gaidin could ever be. But his wisdom in this moment helps her.

They exit the chamber and slowly drive their warhorses towards Tar Valon. It will take days to get there and then she will face her inner thoughts through meditation and calm.

It is no way for an Aes sedai to have regrets in her heart. She wrote that letter to Elyse Sedai. It put her on the path to meet Mierin Sedai and her road to the White ajah. Maybe this day will also show a new direction.

He nods as if he heard her thoughts. She takes a small stone and throws it at him. Detritus dodges to the right and grabs it out of the air.

May the light guide them in the new year and everyone they will come across...