[pfsb] investigations and explorations

[blue_ajah]

Two days after Moiraine brought Wei Wuxian's talismans back to Twin Peaks, after she has taken the time necessary to review all of her notes as well as the histories she has been collecting, she calls Dale Cooper, who is still in Olympia, now, rather than Seattle.

All things considered, the conversation could have gone much, much worse.

She is well aware that they are going to have a much longer discussion after he returns in a few weeks, but he had agreed not to ask her to wait. She, in turn, had agreed, as before, not to go to Glastonbury Grove alone, or at night. She also agrees not to approach the pool closer than necessary to place the talismans, or to test it with her own weaving - not at present, anyway.

Hawk had been her next call.

A few days later, after he has had time to consider and to consult with the Bookhouse Boys, Hawk knocks on her apartment door and agrees to her request.

* * * * * * *
When Moiraine returns to Milliways, she leaves a sealed note with Bar, addressed to Wei Wuxian.

Master Wei--

I made the trial of your talismans according to your instructions. When I activated the one at the northernmost point, glowing red energy swept inward from the circle in a wave focused on the pool at its center.

The pool absorbed it all. It vanished into the depths without a ripple, and without a trace.

Nothing else has happened. Yet.

--Moiraine Sedai

That task completed, she settles at her preferred table with tea and begins sketching something in a notebook.

Comments

[herald_ingress]

Hmm. Speaking of new things...

“Moiraine, I know you’ve been coming to Milliways since Tom has, and you’ve been a large part of happenings here, both good and bad, throughout that time. I’ve noticed some changes around how I access the bar, and I know that each person’s experience here can differ slightly. Would you mind if I asked you about what I’ve noticed?”

[blue_ajah]

"I would not mind at all," the Aes Sedai tells her.

"Indeed, I should be glad to discuss such matters with you, as both the young woman I knew before and as the colleague of sorts that I see before me now."

[herald_ingress]

Ingress can't suppress the delighted pink blush that spreads across her cheeks. Being considered an adult, a worthy participant in conversations and planning, is still a new thing for her.

"I appreciate that. Very much. I've never had time go out of sync when I visited here before, whether I was coming from London Below or from Valdemar. But time on the other side of the door is stopping for me now. I've been gone for hours at a time, and Megwyn thought it was only minutes. Do you know whether there are reasons why that happens?"

[blue_ajah]

"There must be," Moiraine says. "All things are part of the Pattern."

She takes a sip of tea.

"What they are, however, is often much less clear. I have known people to hold many theories and opinions on why the passage of time between worlds here is different for different people. Sometimes, it changes for the same person, as it appears to be doing for you. To the best of my knowledge, no one has been able to determine why with certainty."

"I have my suspicions, however, if you would hear them."

[herald_ingress]

“I would, please. I felt that there was meaning behind the change, even if I can’t figure out what it is.”

[blue_ajah]

"Most of those who observe such a change seem to have experienced some need," Moiraine says. "Whether it is something to be learned for themselves or to use in their worlds, or some ally to be found, some aid or succor--"

She places no particular weight on any word, but each is carefully chosen.

"-- often, those things can be discovered here. But to do so can take time, and so it seems that time is somehow granted in the passage through crossing into this place."

She takes a sip of tea.

"In the world where I was born, there is a place known as Tel'aran'rhiod, the World of Dreams. It is not unlike the Dreaming that you may have visited through here, at some point."

"Need is the key, in Tel'aran'rhiod. Need can bring you where you must go, or help you find what you seek. I suspect a similar effect is in play in this place."

[herald_ingress]

She nods, considering this.

“I’d like to figure out what it is, then, that I need. So far I’ve just been...”

Having a lot of fun? Making new friends? Remembering a very happy childhood in a special place as she looks upon it with adult eyes? Finding out who she is as an adult on her own, without a Companion beside her every moment?

“I’ll have to think on it. I also have the feeling that I need to do something. Say something. I don’t know what, but I’ve had dreams of memories of stories, and sometimes even objects, from my childhood.”

She laughs ruefully. “It’s maddening, because it seems like it’s right there in front of me, but I can’t wrap my fingers round it.”

[blue_ajah]

"Do not discount such feelings," the Aes Sedai advises her. "Would you tell me of these dreams?"

[herald_ingress]

She nods. "Mostly they're reminders, I think, of people who cared for me, or played with me, or taught me. I see their faces, I remember their words, things they gave me. Did you know Eddie Dean?"

[blue_ajah]

She nods.

"I did, as it happens."

[herald_ingress]

"He was one of my favorite people. He told me stories and made the best milkshakes. And he gave me something else he made, a wooden yo-yo, and it does something important, but I can't remember what."

[blue_ajah]

Dark eyes narrow at this.

"Do you have it with you?"

[herald_ingress]

"No, I don't. It's back in my quarters in Haven. I could bring it next time. I'll have the chance, I have a feeling."

[blue_ajah]

“It might well be wise of you to do so,” Moiraine says.

“The things Eddie made in the past were often much more than they appeared.”

She sounds very, very certain of this.

[herald_ingress]

"But... not bad. Nothing about this feels wrong," she says, a little uncertain. "Just strange."

[blue_ajah]

Moiraine nods.

"Strange is enough. The Wheel weaves. It may be that ta'maral'ailen, the web of destiny, is forming."

[herald_ingress]

"That sounds daunting," Ingress says, trying to laugh. She fails.

"Should I be worried about this?"

[blue_ajah]

Something about the Aes Sedai's tone gentles.

"I do not think so. It is enough, sometimes, to be aware of the possibilities, and to be prepared. You have been touched by such things before, Ingress; it is no surprise that you might be again. But whatever may come, others are with you."

Including her Companion, Megwyn; her friends and family; and Moiraine herself, perhaps.

[herald_ingress]

"I know this to be true. While I may have been touched by such things before, it's much different when you're an adult who contemplates and second guesses instead of a child who has faith that everything will be perfectly well."

[blue_ajah]

"That is not entirely what I meant, but you are not wrong," the Aes Sedai says.

"But tell me of what you have been doing while here, in your recent return and time spent? Perhaps there is something there to be discerned, as well, that may provide insight."

[herald_ingress]

"Oddly enough, I've ventured away more than I can remember. I've taken two friends from here to excursions in the Underside and London Above. I've laughed a lot. It's, I don't know. It's been different. Much different. For all my visiting, I haven't spent a lot of time in the House of Arch."

[blue_ajah]

"New friends, or familiar ones?" she asks.

"In either case, it is perhaps only to be expected. The House of Arch is your home, but it is the home of your girlhood."

[herald_ingress]

"New friends," she says, grinning widely.

"Nothing romantic," she adds quickly, because everyone who knew her as a kid knows about her Terrible Milliways Teenage Love Affair. "But I'm having a grand time."

Well, nothing romantic except maybe for a kiss to a temple, but that hardly even counts.

"It's only, I've worked so hard all this time to be a Herald. And now I am a Herald, and it is hard work. I knew it would be. I expected it. I'm not even complaining. It's just been such a relief to come here and not be a Herald for a little while."

[blue_ajah]

"Sometimes, a respite is welcome, and does not mean one is any less devoted to the cause that they serve," Moiraine tells her.

"Even if it were to be a romantic affair."

[herald_ingress]

She laughs, a little nervously. Hey, how about a change of subject?

"It's true. When I go back to Valdemar now, I'm happy to be there, happy to be with Megwyn again. Not that I wasn't happy before, but, oh, there's a saying, isn't there? Absence makes the heart grow fonder. That must be it."