[panfandomsandbox] change is in the wind

[blue_ajah]

She sits at the table near the fireplace, sipping tea and reflecting on what she has learned in recent days.

In the world where she was born, the Dark One is also known as the Lord of the Grave, and is the one who holds power and sway over the dead -- and to an extent, death itself. Fortunately, Moiraine is experienced enough with Milliways to not draw instantaneous conclusions.

(The lessons learned from Anthy Himemiya will remain with her for the rest of her life.)

It had helped that she had seen nothing of intentional evil or the mark of the Shadow as she knows it when she had studied Harrowhark while channeling. It is nonetheless something that requires consideration, in case action of some sort becomes necessary.

The Aes Sedai has much to think about.

Comments

[acrookedpath]

"Ah! Well, I am no teacher myself, but I'll do my best."

He sounds cheerful enough as he puts down his teacup. (Now, how did they explain it to him when he was a young child?)

"A cultivator draws upon qi to perform their talents. It can be very easy to exhaust yourself if you rely solely on your own qi, so cultivators also strive to expand their skills until they have an always-burning crucible of energy to call upon. Is that where you pull your power from as well?"

[blue_ajah]

"Perhaps, if this crucible of which you speak is like the True Source," Moiraine tells him.

"The power that I channel is saidar. It is part of the One Power, drawn from the True Source, which is the very force of creation itself. The ability to channel and wield the power is inborn among those who become Aes Sedai, like myself, but the power itself is not. As one completes their training and is raised Aes Sedai, the amount which they can channel and hold may vary with their skill."

[acrookedpath]

"Hmmm."

Thoughtfully, he scratches the tip of his nose.

"No, that isn't quite like the golden core of a cultivator. It's not unlike it, though. Qi is spiritual energy, a life force -- maybe similar to this True Source of yours? But if I'm understanding correctly, a golden core would be as if you scooped up handfuls of the True Source and placed it inside yourself."

[blue_ajah]

There is no mistaking the surprise - and the interest - that sparks in her glance at that.

"I have referred to the process of channeling as not unlike dipping water from a stream," she tells him, "but the power that is so taken is not held for long. Say, rather, that it is directed through, in a steady flow, to create the weave that is intended."

"But yes, if qi is power drawn from the force of life itself, it does sound similar."

[acrookedpath]

He nods, pleased by her confirmation.

"We also have ways to draw water from a stream, as you say," he adds. "Take in energy from outside ourselves. But that is a skill rarely practiced."

[blue_ajah]

She nods.

"Is it a skill that you practice?"

The emphasis on you is light, but clear.

[acrookedpath]

Clear enough that Wei Wuxian catches it immediately. Very little about his light, easy bearing changes -- except for a slight sharpening of his gaze as he regards Moiraine.

"It is," he says, smiling.

[blue_ajah]

She nods again, as if that is no more than she expected.

"If such a skill is rarely practiced," she observes, tranquilly, "then one might presume that those who are able to do so are themselves skilled above and beyond that which is common."

One might, indeed. As always, each word that the Aes Sedai speaks is true, whether or not the meaning of the whole is what is heard by others.

She has not missed the way his glance has changed, but gives no outward sign of it.

[acrookedpath]

A laugh. "You flatter me so shamelessly, Madam Moiraine!" he teases. "Yes, it is not an easy path, but no path is easy when it is still new and choked with weeds. Luckily, I've found I enjoy clearing those weeds as I go."

[blue_ajah]

"I am Aes Sedai," she tells him, untroubled by his teasing, her manner still as serenely unruffled as before. "As such, I am oath-bound to speak no word that is not true."

"As it happens, you are not the first I have known to pursue a difficult path of power."

[acrookedpath]

"Oh?" he asks, before availing himself of a sip of tea. "Others in your White Tower?"

[blue_ajah]

"Outside it, as well."

[acrookedpath]

"Ah, so these paths are explored by many, not simply your sect!" He settles back more comfortably in his chair. "Would you tell me more of them? There is so much to discover here, and I enjoy learning of the cultivation of other worlds."

[blue_ajah]

"I would be pleased to," she agrees. "I also have been known to take an interest in such studies."

"Especially in association with the Dragon Reborn."

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian, midway through taking another sip of tea, nearly chokes on it.

After a minor coughing fit against the side of his sleeve: "My apologies, the what?"

Does this woman associate with an actual, literal dragon, or is it the posturing stance someone like Wen Ruohan would adopt?

[blue_ajah]

"The Dragon Reborn," she repeats, observing his reaction with no small interest.

"Does this have some meaning for you?"

[acrookedpath]

He's pretty sure it's posturing. Has to be. A title of some sort, yes?

However, Wei Wuxian is also supposed to be lying dead at the bottom of a cliff, not having tea with a cultivator from another world while the sky explodes above them, so...

A bit weaker than he means, he asks, "Not an actual dragon?"

[blue_ajah]

"I see. No," she says, without even the slightest sign that there might be anything at all unusual about the question.

"It is a title. Rand al'Thor is the reincarnation of Lews Therin Telamon, who was known as the Dragon, I suspect in part due to the level of power which he was capable of wielding."

[acrookedpath]

"It must have been a significant amount of power, to earn a title as strong as that one."

He's mostly over his coughing fit, but his teacup will stay firmly on the table for the remainder of this conversation. Just in case.

"And -- you associate with this person?"

[blue_ajah]

"It was," Moiraine agrees. "Both in his first life and his second."

"And yes; I have done so for years."

[acrookedpath]

"I see."

Well, that derailed the conversation quite admirably. Hastily, he casts his mind back to remember what they'd been talking about a moment ago.

-- Right! That's what it was.

"And his path -- was it as difficult as the others? Or did he return to the world fully formed, able to wield the Dragon's power skillfully from the beginning?"

[blue_ajah]

Moiraine shakes her head, very slightly, at that last.

"No," she says. "His ability to channel was an inborn talent, of course, but he had to grow in strength and learn the ways of its use."

She takes a sip of her tea before adding, with perfect calm,

"And, of course, the fact that the Source he drew upon - saidin, it is called - was tainted with the Shadow presented some difficulty."

[acrookedpath]

Ah. And there it is.

Wei Wuxian had grown used to cultivators looking at him askance, the murmur of wicked tricks on their lips even as they bowed and smiled in greeting. He can appreciate Madam Moiraine's politeness. It shows she does not think so lowly of him, for if she did, he'd be afforded no politeness at all.

But abruptly, he's exhausted by the pretense. All the careful prods and parries. It feels like a cage closing around him after weeks of being so open in his conversations, here in this strange inn.

"Mm," is all he says. And he waits to see if she will say more.

[blue_ajah]

Dark eyes meet his, and hold, for long seconds.

Then, Moiraine inclines her head to him.

"I believe you know something of what I speak, Master Wei. And I suspect that you know what I have discerned when I channeled just now."

A single, precise beat of silence.

"What I do not know is why. And while you are under no obligation to tell me, I felt that I must ask, because of what I may be able to offer you, because of the cause that I have served for well over twenty years."

[acrookedpath]

There's a thin, bitter edge to his smile now, as it returns to his lips.

"What you can offer me," he echoes. "Of course. Is that why you wished to share tea with me, Madam Moiraine?"

She would fit in well with Gusu Lan after all, he thinks.