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He watches everything holding his sword ready as the room changes and the sounds of a battle outside come and go. He glances at Shanoa when she starts talking. He turns to her, "I knew I recognized this place and you, you were that girl from....well here."

((Yes, I know. It's a long post, but it has a lot of stuff in it. ^_^))

Later that day when Nerul Verhost came home, he found his wife gone and no note. Upon looking out the back door, he found the garden in a sad state of affairs which caused fear to begin rising in his chest. Once again taking up his cloak from the back of a chair, Nerul exited his small home and set off in search of his wife. As he followed the trail of Vira's diminuative footsteps, Nerul began to hear two female voices on the small hill near his home.

When he stepped out of the tree line, both of the women swiveled to look at him. One was the pretty face of his wife that he loved dearly; the other was that of an Aes Sedai. Immediately he bowed and made a hasty apology for intruding. Nerul had never wanted to be on the bad side of an Aes Sedai, and he was not about to start today when all he had been doing was looking for his wife. Much to his surprise though, the Aes Sedai broke out into a smile, and Vira quickly hopped up and gave him a hug.

Katerine had awoken a few minutes before and was still a little groggy. As the couple said their hellos to each other, she looked to her prisioner who still floated in the air. A hard, glaring look crossed her face in his direction, but she channeled to let the guy move only a few paces in a box of air. Katerine put an air gag in his mouth to keep him from speaking.

With their hellos finished, the couple sat down next to each other on the ground opposite Katerine. Vira held Nerul's hand with a beaming smile on her face and gently squeezed his hand before looking back to Katerine.

"Katerine Sedai, this is Nerul my husband. He is in agreement with you coming to stay at our home for the next couple of days."

Katerine nodded her head in greeting toward Nerul and shifted a little in posture before speaking her thanks.

"Thank you for your offer. After what happened earlier, I feel much better staying within walls."

The incident that his wife had relayed to him had disturbed Nerul greatly. He couldn't believe that someone would attack an Aes Sedai so close to Tar Valon; but then again he couldn't puzzle out why an Aes Sedai wouldn't go to Tar Valon tonight when she is so close.

"If you don't mind me asking Katerine Sedai, but why are you not traveling on to the Tower? You could surely be there before nightfall with time to spare."

A little knowing smile crossed Katerine's face while Vira gave a little head shake at the question. Nerul had seen that smile before and the results had been varied. His surprise was quite evident when Katerine came out plain with the true.

"I have been trying to avoid the Tower for I find it quite stuffy right now. I wanted some fresh air, but almost ended up dead. So at your wife's gracious offer, I have decided that a change in scenery is best for right now."

Nerul nodded and was quite amazed at how frank the Aes Sedai was. From what he could gather, she had not twisted words in any way and seemed to be rather straightforward. He could not ignore though, the frantic pacing of the man that he had been informed was the man who had attacked Katerine.

"What about...him?"

"I will bring him with me. Don't worry, I will keep him bound and gagged at all times. You will never know he is there. I need to bring him to the Tower when I return to be put on trial."

Nodding his head, Nerul rose and made his way toward Katerine's tent. Silent understanding passed between the group that they were going to pack up Katerine's small camp and head back to the couple's home. In short order the camp was packed and Releran was retrieved from his grazing. The four people started back the way Nerul and Vira had come and it was only a matter of minutes before the little house came into view. Nerul took care of Releran while Vira and Katerine went inside the house with the mysterious man.

Katerine confined the man to a small windowless corner of the kitchen and left the gag in. While she did that, Vira began to made dinner for the night and Nerul came inside. The rest of the night was spent eating dinner and the three conversing about different things. Katerine came to feel a growing friendship with Vira and Nerul which made her rather happy. It had been a long time since she had friends who were not associated with the Tower.

Shanoa stands up a little unsteadily after having been overwhelmed by the strength of the dream and dusts herself off out of habit. Reaching into her pocket she finds the familiar shape of her notebook and pencil. Absentmindedly she pulls them out and begins to write down what has just happened while she is talking.
Don't feel bad, Mercury Sedai, not many do and most that did know have forgotten. I haven't used my Talent for years. I used to come back to this place to try and find some clue that would unlock my past. It never worked and after a while I gave up. I only conciously use my Talent if there is some great need for it now.
She turns to face Wolf again.
I can tell that you must have been worried for your Aes Sedai if you followed her into the uncertainty of another's dream. The others must also be worried by now. Maybe we should go back to them.

Mercury didn't ask what Shanoa meant when she said unlock her past...it wasn't really the time anyway. She just gave a nod and smiled.

"I'm glad you're alright. Oh..er...you need to re-ward your dreams...sorry I broke them, but we were very worried..I'll go back and tell the others so they don't worry an longer. See you at the Tower.."

With that, Mercury woke herself up. Her eyes blinked and took in the Ogier Grove and the bright light. She guessed they'd been gone perhaps half an hour, but no more. She was wondering why she could see the grove when she was lying down when she realized she was being held up by Hawk. Next to her, Shanoa was still semi-crumpled and Wolf's body was resting against the tree. Fayela had vanished, but Mog and Clarissa were there.

She lifted her hand to rub at her eyes and noted the burn marks on her wrists. Ignoring them, she stood up and stretched before giving a smile of thanks towards Hawk.

"Well...she's alright. Just...well..." Mercury didn't quite know how to explain it...so she pondered before shrugging. "Ack...I don't know how to describe it..but in the end, she's fine. It was a good thing Wolf arrived...or who knows how long we would have been there? So...how long were we away?"

Mystic smiled at Kashi.
"Kashi it is then. You can call me Mystic I'm a sitter from the white ajah. I hope to see you again but I have urgent business in the Tower to take care of at the moment."
She smiled once more but her eyes never light up. She had a long way to go to forget Desdian. She adjusted her reins and prepared to set off once more.

Skiiy comes upon Kakashi and a woman he didn't know talking. He stands back, not wanting to intrude upon a conversation. Kakashi was just a trainee at the moment, and he needed to learn to meet people on his own. However, he appears to be busy and wraps up the conversation quickly. Skiiy walks over and takes a deep bow. "Hello ma'am, I don't believe we've met before. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Skiiy Mikaido, the Shining Blue, Master-at-Arms of the White Tower. Is there any way I may be of service to you?"

((This is the point where I've reached a dilemma. The person who was supposed to be my Aes Sedai only gets to post rarely, and my character hasn't even met her. That's not the problem, I'd be willing to wait, but my character has no reason to wait IC, he's an experienced warder looking for an Aes Sedai, and he'd have no reason to wait if there was an available one. What should I do?!?!?!))

((Ya...my other thought was that if I moved on and got a different Aes Sedai, Kakashi could become her warder eventually. After all, his character is in training, and Nariah will be soon too, it would fit. Whatever works...))