Participants:
Ellorin, Accepted of the White Tower
Meriava, a particularly unpleasant Novice, played by Marelain

Practice Room: White Tower, Tar Valon
This room is devoid of any sort of decorations, keeping it practical for it's purposes. There are several desks and chairs about the room, lined in an orderly fashion for Novices and Accepted to use during their training in the One Power. There are also several stools about the room, where Novices and Accepted can break off and speak to each other one to one on certain channeling techniques. In one of the corners you might notice an area with some throw pillows, where one might sit to relax for a moment, or where one might lay out a student who passed out from over extending their abilities. A large fireplace sits against the far wall, used to hear the room during the colder seasons. Thw windows are thrown wide open to let in the fresh breeze of spring, which also holds the fragrant smell of blooming flowers, indicating that it's the season of rebirth. This room appears to be rather full as Novices get lessons from various Accepted and Aes Sedai present. Each small group appears to be working on different components of the One Power. There is one exit within this room that leads back out into the main hallway of the learning center.

Ellorin enters the Practice Room, carrying a stack of notebooks and papers, and looks around for her scheduled Novice.

Meriava, a well-known (and even infamous) Novice, sits almost dejectedly at one of the tables. She has her chin propped in one hand, and she idly plays with a handful of pebbles used in the Earth lesson.

Ellorin spots Meriava and heads towards her. "Good day," she says, perhaps a little louder than necessary so that she will break through the Novice's distraction. She places her notebooks on the table, but does not sit down, instead going over to the nearby window to pull the curtains closed.

The Novice straightens at the sound of Ellorin's voice, quickly dropping the pebbles back into an open drawer. Though as the Accepted moves away to close the curtains, she sighs.

Ellorin takes a seat, smiling at the pile of stones. "I see you've been working with Earth," she comments, either not noticing or pretending not to notice the Novice's attitude.

Meriava shifts in her chair, folding her hands in her lap. She looks back at Ellorin with what might be mistaken for smugness. Or maybe it wouldn't be a mistake. "This is my last lesson in the Power, Accepted." Maybe it's just your ears playing tricks... did she emphasize the title there just a bit?

Ellorin nods. "Is it?" she says mildly. "That's nice." She might as well have been commenting on the weather. "In that case, perhaps you'd like to tell me some of the uses you can think of for different Powers used in conjunction with each other."

The dark-haired Novice gives a toss of her head, raising one hand to tuck her long hair behind one ear, "I -have- been doing the assigned reading, Accepted," she replies with something close to exasperation. "Light, Warding, controlling the weather, Illusion." She smiles, all sweetness and charm now. "Shall I continue?"

Ellorin nods. "If you can, yes."

Meriava flinches just slightly, the sweet facade cracking some. "Healing, producing cold, a number of battle weaves." The pause at the end indicates she's running out of ideas. Her lips curl in a petulant pout and she lifts her chin in an attempt to look regal. Not a bad try, but of course it falls short of its intent.

Ellorin smiles gently. "Very good," she says, but the approval is casual, as if the accomplishment was not that large. "Can you tell me the individual components of someof those techniques?"

Thin eyebrows narrow to a point in a fleeting expression of frustration, and then she sighs. The young girl fusses with the skirt of her dress, "Oh, very well. Light is... Air and Fire." Her gaze flickers to Ellorin, perhaps to see if she's right. She continues on as if she had no doubt, "And illusion is Fire and Spirit... Healing Air, Water and Spirit."

Ellorin nods. "Very good," she says again, encouragingly. "Keep going."

Meriava looks ceilingward, rolling her eyes just a bit. "If I must," she murmurs. "Cold uses Air and Water, Wards are based on Spirit but can also use other Powers depending on the Ward." She tilts her head slightly, "Is there anything else, Accepted? I -am- scheduled to run errands for Caralin Sedai after this, and I wouldn't want to anger her. She likes -me-." Implying that, perhaps, the aforementioned Blue sister doesn't like the Novice's present company.

Calandra emerges into the practice room, under the watchful eyes of the two Aes Sedai guarding the door and keeping an eye on those present.

Ellorin's voice has just a tiny bit of an edge in it as she replies, "There is a good deal else, Novice. If you have done so much advance reading, then clearly you have read the summary for this class, and you know what it entails. And so does Caralin Sedai. The lesson will end when you have completed all that is required of you. Is that clear?" she asks Meriava, the sulky, impatient Novice sitting across the table from her.

Calandra slips in and blinks, "I'm sorry, I need to record a lesson, ignore me."

Meriava crosses her arms and mutters, "Yes, Accepted." Despite her words, the Novice continues to speak coolly to Ellorin.

Calandra nods and slips back out quietly.

Calandra exits the Practice Room, watched by the Aes Sedai guarding the door.

Ellorin does not smile, merely nodding and saying, "Good," in a calm, cool voice. "Then we can continue. The first use of combined weaves that we are going to work on is creating light. You may embrace saidar to watch while I demonstrate.

Ellorin embraces saidar herself, but blows out the lamp at the table with a puff of breath, and as the area around the table grows a little darker, she waits for Meriava before continuing.

The Novice's face loses its petulant cast, turning almost reverential as she opens herself to the Source, her lips parting slightly in a wordless expression of awe. Despite all this, she is clearly not strong in the Power. She looks to the Accepted with almost greedy expectation.

Ellorin nods, waiting patiently, then begins to weave equal parts Air and Fire, going slowly so that the Novice can follow each step. "You use these two together to make Light...you must be careful to do both flows at the same time, or it wont' work." Almost at the same time that she finishes speaking, the mass of flows takes its final form and a small ball of light, about the size of her fist, appears above the table.

Meriava's dark eyes narrow to intense, almost black points as she watches. She watches for only the briefest moment before she begins to form the sphere of Light, Fire and Air spinning together into a tight ball and beginning to glow softly. It is haphazardly done; functional, but poorly woven. The look on the Novice's face, however, is proud. Smug.

Ellorin watches closely, murmuring, "Good...good...no, not quite," as the weave progresses. "Try again, and this time remember to keep it tight, especially at the end. Don't worry - Fire is a difficult Power for most people, and this may take a few tries." She speaks calmly, with as much gentle encouragement as she would give to any other Novice who hadn't quite succeeded on her first try. "Using smaller flows might help you with your precision."

Meriava tosses her head again, "Why? It's just as good as -yours-."

Ellorin says, her voice VERY quiet and VERY patient, "No, it's not. Do it again."

The girl fidgets in her chair and sighs, reluctantly letting the weave fade. "If I -have- to." Still quickly, but with a little more attention to detail, she reforms the ball of Light. It flickers a bit, and she lets out a tiny gasp, spinning more Fire into the weave.

Ellorin says "Better...but still not quite right. Try it once more."

Meriava stares flatly at the Accepted, clenching her jaw tightly for a moment. The weave flickers and dies. Settling back in her chair with outward casualness, the young girl takes her time putting together her third try, this time with precision and detail, almost as if she didn't care to try the first two times. "Better?"

Ellorin nods. "Yes. Much." She smiles. "Try it once more, just to make sure you have it."

Meriava makes a wordless sound of protest, "Why? I did it right." Before Ellorin can reply, she releases the glowing sphere and reworks it, gritting her teeth as she does. Of course, with her mood the way it is, it doesn't work quite as well.

Ellorin holds up her hand. "No. Stop." Her voice is still calm, her tone even. "Take a deep breath, and calm down," she says patiently. "You can't concentrate on what you're doing when you're angry."

Meriava opens her mouth to protest again, but even she can see it'll get her nowhere. Once more she tries, careful to remain calm, and she produces a near-copy of her best weave. Her hands fold in her lap, awaiting the Accepted's assessment.

Ellorin nods. "Good," she says as if nothing had happened. "I think you have it. Now let that go, and we'll move on to the next weave."

Ellorin lets her own light disperse, and weaves a small flow of fire to relight the lamp. Tactfully giving Meriava a moment to recover her composure, Ellorin rises to open the curtains again.

As if the pressure of remaining calm was wearing her down, Meriava quickly releases her weave. Her head hangs slightly, almost obscuring the frown on her face. Almost.

Ellorin returns, taking her seat again. She smiles, looking at the Novice as if to check her emotional state, but if she notices anything, she has no outward reaction. "All right. We're going to move on to something a bit harder now - elementary Illusions. These use Fire and Spirit - again, it's important to create both weaves simultaneously or it won't work."

Adjusting her dress absently, Meriava raises her eyes again to study the weave presented. Not quite the same degree of desire as before, more like she already knows what's going to happen.

Ellorin weaves Fire and Spirit together, as before, going slowly so that Meriava can follow it. After a moment, a quill pen shimmers into being on the table between the two girls. "There - if you think you have a good enough idea of how it's done, you can try it yourself now."

Ellorin says "Make a pen, first, and when you've perfected the technique, you can move on to other objects."

The Novice leans forward as if to get a better look at the item brought into being. She sniffs softly at seeing what it is. "Useful," she says with a hint of sarcasm. Making certain to remain calm, Meriava almost negligently constructs the illusion demonstrate, an ease that she probably shouldn't have, if she had never performed the weave.

Ellorin's eyebrows go up. "You've done this before," she says, only half a question.

Again, that wordless sound of protest, "I have -not-. Maybe I'm just better at this." Indeed, she does sound honest.

Ellorin tilts her head. "Very well..." she says skeptically. "Try another one. Of your own design, this time."

Meriava lifts her chin in an expression of victory, her lips curling in a smile. She begins forming her own weave, her brows furrowed in concentration, but she clearly struggles with this. Spirit comes easily enough, to shape itself in the form of a flower, but the Fire is just as difficult as the Spirit was easy.

Ellorin watches, shaking her head. "Try it again," she says thoughtfully, "but start both at the same time. Relax...don't fight with the weaevs."

Sighing, the girl releases her weave and tries again, attempting something smaller and simpler this time. A single maple leaf, turning red as if autumn were approaching, appears, faded and somewhat indistinct.

Ellorin nods slowly. "Better..." she concedes. "But still...hm. Try the pen again, so that I can see exactly what you did."

Meriava sighs morosely, "Again? Oh, all right..." The girl shakes her head, hair falling around her face. This time, even the pen isn't so easy. She makes a show of struggling with the weave, but it's rather plain that she's holding back. Failing on purpose? How odd...

Ellorin shakes her head. "Meriava. This is getting us nowhere. I can't teach you if you're not willing to learn. And if you refuse to be honest with me, that tells me that you're not willing to learn. If you have done this before, tell me," she says with persistent patience.

Meriava sighs heavily, "Oh, fine. Yes, I've done it before. But you're going to lecture me either way, so why not admit it?" She props her chin in her hand again and stares at the table in front of her.

Ellorin just says calmly, "Where, and when, and with whom?"

As difficult as it is to talk with her chin resting in the palm of her hand, Meriava makes an effort at replying. "In the kitchen garden, a couple weeks ago, with... oh, what's her name? The older Accepted. Thais? Whatever." She lifts her eyes to stare coolly at Ellorin, "I didn't do it unsupervised, if -that's- what you're implying."

Ellorin says "Why didn't you tell me you'd done it before?"

Ellorin's voice remains calm and even, and her expression doesnt' change one bit.

Meriava sniffs, "You wouldn't have believed me. Besides... you're supposed to be able to -teach- me, right? So I don't admit to it. They all say..." She clamps her mouth shut and doesn't finish that thought.

Ellorin says, in the same tone, "Who all says what?" Simply inquiring...

Meriava shrugs. Might as well finish what she's started. "That you're never going to finish anyway, so I should just make sure I get my class finished before you have to leave."

Ellorin smiles a tiny smile that doesn't come close to reaching her eyes. "You missed a part.. _Who_ says that?"

Meriava waves a hand negligently, "A lot of people. Novices, Accepted."

Ellorin nods. "Ah. 'Them,'" she says, with the smallest hint of sarcasm. "Meriava, you know the rules about spreading rumors, do you not?"

"Of course. I'm not simple." Meriava steels herself for what she's sure is about to descend upon her.

Ellorin says "And you have just broken one, have you not?"

Meriava replies, a hint of desperation just beginning to sneak into her voice. "I was only trying to -help-..."

Ellorin raises her eyebrows. "Is that what it was?"

The girl nods quickly, "Well... it only seems fair that you know..." she mumbles.

Ellorin says "Does it?"

Meriava sighs, "Fine. Forget I said it. You're perfect, Accepted. I can't see why -anyone- would ever doubt your ability."

Ellorin actually laughs. "Perhaps I should recommend you for some extra sarcasm lessons while I'm at it. Meriava, I think we are finished for today. I will be submitting a _full_ account of this lesson to the Mistress of Novices. You can go to her before or after it reaches her desk. Your choice. You are dismissed."

The girl's jaw drops, alternating pale and fierce blush. "You... you... I can't believe this!" She rises to her feet, tears starting to form in her eyes as she rushes from the room.