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Waking from her sleep feeling much better, Katerine set out from her room. She had a vague notion to go to the training yard, but didn't know if she wanted to. She also feel a little pang of guilt at having left Nine. She almost thought of seeking him out, but she didn't have the slightest clue as to where he would be.

Oh well, I really just need to walk around. I may run into him. I just want to avoid Vancelle though. She'll herd be back to my rooms regardless of how I feel.

Katerine sighed and left the Blue Ajah's quarters. Eventually she arrived at the training yard where there was quite the group arranged watching the men spar. She looked around, but Nine was no where to be seen. Sighing, Katerine turned around and walked back toward another courtyard. On her way, she came across Nine and the new Yellow. She approached the two who were in a small conversation.

"I'm sorry for leaving earlier, but I didn't feel well. Did you see the Keeper yet?"

*Skiiy leans against a wall in the warder training grounds, chewing idly on a toothpick he had procured from one of his pockets after eating earlier. He was sure something was going on in the tower, there was some sort of commotion going on somewhere, but he hadn't been involved in it at all, he had figured to stay out of the business of others. He had put in a good day of training on his own, and some rest would do hhim good. Without an Aes Sedai to protect, he was just another warrior hanging around the White Tower, and he'd just have to take care of himself. He spits the toothpick out onto the ground, then grinds it into the dirt as he walks away, leaving the grounds.

Resting up after a day of work was fine and all, but Skiiy just can't stand the boredom of such things. He wandered off into town and finally ended up somewhere at the eastern gate of Tar Valon. He decides this is as good a place as any to laze around and sits down inside the gate, watching for anything of interest. In the distance, he sees Kederaji riding towards him, but travelers came to Tar Valon all the time, and he dismisses him, looking instead towards the city as a source of interest.*

(( crying Hawk))

: Azalea cringed slightly as the man began to scream. No matter how horrid the individual, no one short of a Darkfriend deserved to be Stilled. She shook her head sadly and pulled a seat closer, out of reach but able to spectate. There was nothing to be done for him now. All Azalea could do was watch and listen. :

~Letting the past sink into his head as he and Mina spoke rapidly to one another, Nine noticed Katerine only when she spoke up.

"No, Katerine Sedai. I haven't seen the Keeper; I guess I've been too busy sharing fond memories of years past with Mina that I forgot." Nine smiled, rubbing his head. "It's not something that one forgets, seeing the Keeper, but I'm good."

"Well, Merry, I'll let you to her. Good luck with the Keeper."

Color came to Nine's cheeks when Mina left an affectionate kiss on his cheek before walking into the Tower.

"We...have a history, she and I. Both went seperate ways, but I was the only one who did not look back."

Shrugging again, Nine wandered into the Tower with Katerine, telling her about Halfsmead and asking of her own origins.~

--The village of Osenrein, the southeast gate to Tar Valon--

The centurion dismounted his horse outside the first inn he found in Osenrein. The sign proclaimed the inn to be the "Watchman of Southharbor," which Kederaji found an absurd statement, since Southharbor was on the island, and Osenrein was not. Kederaji handed the reins to his horse and a few coins to a young lad, with instructions to remain still until his return, then strode into the Watchman.

The Deathwatch had adopted the clothing style of the area, and had made doubly sure his raven tattoos were covered, but he drew many glances as he entered the common room of the inn. Most of the people turned away quickly, writing the stranger off as a soldier or warder, both of which were people they did not want to anger.

Kederaji walked up to the barkeeper at the counter and ordered an ale. As the barkeeper poured the glass, the Deathwatch casually asked a question. "Do you know the date, by any chance, good man?"

"Sure," the bartender replied with a shrug, quickly answering the question with the number of the day.

"No," Kederaji corrected. "The full date."

The bartender looked at the stranger oddly, but quickly answered as he set the ale down. Kederaji picked up the glass quickly to hide his surprise. The man had given a date nearly 30 years before he was even born!

Kederaji slowly drank his ale while thinking. Fifty-five years ago.... the Ever Victorious Army would still have been struggling then. The Forerunners had just landed, but the Return had not yet come to bear. It would seem that his career as the Centurion-Captain of the Ivory Guard was over. He needed a plan, rather badly. After a few moments of thinking, he came up with one. Kederaji stood and went outside, where he found the young orphan still holding his horse. The centurion pressed several more coins into the boy's hand and swung his leg over Tsorovan's back. Taking hold of the reins, he urged the horse toward the bridge to Tar Valon.

His plan was fully formulated now. He needed some place to keep his elite skills honed. According to what he remembered from his combat history, the gaidin of the White Tower were considered the best of the best in this land. He would attempt to train with them, and await the Return. He knew that to aid the marath'damane was treachery, but perhaps this Empress, who was the grandmother of the Empress he had sworn allegience to, may she live forever, would understand his position and grant him a fast death. Kederaji straightened himself as he approached the gate on the other side of the bridge.

"Hold there," the Tar Valon guard said. "What is your name, sir?"

"Kederaji." The answer was simple. Since he wouldn't be born for another thirty years, nobody knew who he was.

The guard asked his next question. "What business have you in Tar Valon?"

Kederaji knew this was where his treachery began. He'd prefer to die rather than serve the unleashed, but he knew that the Empress, may she live forever, needed him to aid her in any way he could. "I am here to train as a warder in the Tower," the centurion answered in a carefully practiced accent.

The guard looked him over for a moment, then waved over his shoulder. "You may pass. Good luck, master Kederaji."

Kederaji nodded and spurred his horse toward the Ivory Tower. He felt like a traitor for what he had just done, but he hoped he could provide the Empress, may she live forever, something valuable enough to redeem himself.

Out of the corner of her eye Shanoa saw a movement and turned to look at the doorway once more, embracing the Source in fear of another attacker. She quickly recognized the new person as Katerine, though it took her a second to recognize her in a location other than the library where they had passed each other in the past.

Relaxing, Shanoa released the Source and realized suddenly that she still had her hand familliarly on the Ashaman's arm. Embarrased she snached her hand back and stuck it into her pocket where it could grab the comforting shape of her book.

Katerine, I'm glad that you're here. Maybe you know who this man is and why he tried to attack the Keeper? He had the ability to channel, as you can tell from the damage to the door, do you think that he came from the Black Tower? Although why would they send an assassin who was so poorly prepared? Or maybe he's a darkfriend?

Realizing that she was babbling, Shanoa stopped talking abruptly.

Calm down Shanoa. Babbling like this won't accomplish anything.

Stepping closer to Katerine, Shanoa lowered her voice so that only the two of them could hear what was being said.

I'm no good in stressful situations like this, I really need your help here. Azalea is here but she hasn't really been helping and I've been snapping orders like I know what to do. I even got so flustered that I used a gateway to go from the hallway outside this room to inside it! I can't keep this up Katerine.

I assume he would walk with great assurance and pride nonetheless though correct? And even so, might he have a tad of a drawl? From what I remember reading the Seanchan drawl was so slurred most people this side of the Aryth couldn't understand well at all. Oh, and I love that first text line in your siggy 3nodding

*Skiiy watches Kederaji pass, and in the end, he decides to follow him, since he has nothing better to do at the moment, especially with such a weird situation.
The man himself had a local accent, but Skiiy think it seems a bit suspicious that a local would come to the tower to be a warder at this age when, living nearby for such a time, he could have become a warder younger. Also, he could hear a bit of some other accent, though that didn't necessarily mean anything. Skiiy doesn't know anything about what accents come from where in this world, so he can't pin the fact that the man is Seanchan, and a farmer could have moved nearby from somewhere else.

Of course, Skiiy had thought this through while the man was having his conversation with the guard, which is why he had decided to follow him in the first place. It is his business after all, since he is a warder, so, instead of trying to follow Kederaji in secret, he pretends to be a normal person walking down the street, and blends in with the crowd as much as possible.*