Ripple Six: Taking Action, at Whatever the Cost
written by Saphire en'Damier, Firredal Osiellin, Antar al'Kadar, Leisha Lukonia, Caden Ives, Shyne and Negrath Devir

The order given and the Ji'alantar now out of view, Saphire Sedai released her hold on the complex weaves of spirit that held the fixed gateway open. Neglecting to even see the image return to its resting state she turned immediately to her doors.

I should have brought Sigmund or Ellisande with me, quick brush in and out of my study or not. I should not have been so careless. Burn me. She thought as she opened the hard oak door.

Now she was fixed in the Grey Tower, alone, and her Warders cast on the other side of the known world. What if Haruld Asha'man is dead? What if he returned to the Tower? Their only immediate way back . . and I must deal with the Yard now. Her intution screamed that this was not a simple matter. That body had been a sign from someone unseen. For the first time in years this Green Sister felt the anxious churning of her gut. Oh she was in her element fighting a foe face to face, stave clashing with axe, lightning to seige in impossible odds by her lone self. But unseen threats shrouded with mystery? No, she'd felt that was beneith her, the sort of games two-tounged courtiers play. But now . . . She shivered. No, she must handle whatever state the Yard was in now in whatever way she could. Even if she couldn't see the assasin's knife plunging towards her back.

Saphire Sedai glanced right and left up and down the empty corridor. Then headed out.

You know this was why mother chose them. A thought she hated to allow speak to her. But it was true. Her Warders were a great deal more adept at subtleties of intregue than she, and . . .

A reluctant grunt.

. . . she needed that now. They all did.

"Flame it, I hope Caden can be found fast." She muttered under her breath.

Saphire Sedai (for all she knew, the only Warder Officer on duty) decended the staircase to the lower levels of the Warder Hall. She was on watch for the first Trainees she could send.

Firredal moved quickly down the corridor, his right hand loose and his left resting on the sheath of his shorter blade. With the events of this morning, no one would blame him for being on edge, and Antar's insistence that this was murder had only solidified his suspicions. He had seen this sort of game before, though he had never been accounted much of a player.

And naturally, I can't find any of the Warder Officers... Sigmund, he knew, was out at the Citadel; perhaps Ellisande was as well. Caden was not in his office - Light alone knew where he was - and that left the Warder-Channeler Representative. Her office was just around the corner and up the stairs...

...but as they rounded the corner, he saw Saphire reach the bottom of the staircase. Lucky, he thought. Lucky lucky. "Saphire Sedai," he called. "Do you have a moment?"

Turning and following Firredal, Antar thought of the stupid mistakes he had made lately. 'Light i am blind! Burn me!' he thought. 'And to top it all off, im probably going to get chucked out of the tower' He did not see Saphire Sedai come down the stairs untill Firredel spoke, and, as his custom, made a bow.

Luckily a familiar face came in view as soon as her left foot met the bottom of the carpeted stairwell. Ah Firredal. At least there is someone trustworthy to be found, Saphire thought, recalling the Cairhien's descretion and respect when Ellisande's blow to the head had struck her Aes Sedai through the bond. Saphire repressed a sigh of relief upon seeing the elfish Gaidin, and paused.

"It depends. If it does not concern the recent . . ." She glanced between Antar Drin'far'ji's bow, the view of the Trainee Barracks beyond, and back Firredal Gaidin's sharp attentive expression. " . . incident, it will have to wait."

But given how Firredal did not show his customed hesitancy and neglected to salute, she inferred that it must be an emergency.

"What is our status?"

Leisha was walking the corridors, on her way to somewhere that was well forgotten upon the events that she passed transpiring. She didn't need to travel far before she found Saphire Sedai and a small contingent of a Drin'far'ji and Gaidin, both of whom she knew vaguely. She slid up near Saphire with an look of asking, if the Sedai minded her joining the crew - considering their circumstances - just as the woman was asking the status.

Firredal glanced appraisingly at Leisha, immediately suspicious at the timing of her arrival. Except that Janis specified ji'alantin, not Gaidar or Gaidin. Even so, he wished he knew her better; this was not a time for taking chances.

"My apologies, Aes Sedai," he said, returning his attention to Saphire and making a careful bow. "This drin'far'ji has information about the morning's events." He glanced down the corridor, then up the stairs. No one was nearby, but that could change quickly. We need to move to somewhere more private. "I take it you are already aware...? We were unable to locate any of the other Officers."

Rounding a corner inside the Warder Hall, with Shyne still in his wake, a small gathering came into Caden Ives' view. Saphire Sedai with two Warders - Leisha and Firredal - and for last Antar al'Kadar ... his own mentee. They seemed to be engaged in a discussion but the Gaidin Captain's approach drew their attention. His fancloak billowed out behind him by his winged pace, taking on the wooden hue of the walls.

Given the need for haste, Caden did not even exchange a glance with any other than Saphire, for he stopped and leaned close to her. "The body is poorly guarded now, we need to secure it immediately - and ji'alantin Shyne here knows where it is hidden. Follow me as soon as you can, Aes Sedai. I don't know how much these people know, so bring those you see fit. Hurry, for the Shadow stir within our halls." he said in chopped whispers and set off again. There was no need to say more, for now the whole Tower should have heard about the hanging. Clenching his jaws, he eased his hand-and-a-half sabre in its scabbard, he could not disregard that they could walk in on the murderers. He motioned for Shyne to lead the way up the stairs, "Keep your eyes open and your hand by the hilt, Trainee."

Shyne showed no sign that he heard snippets of what the Captain told the W-C Representative. It wasn't any of his business. It was his business, though, and his perplexion, that his hearing had been getting this way. He didn't like it. It was like spying, only he didn't do it on purpose...

Pushing that out of mind, he nodded to the Captains order. "Aye, sir." Unfortunately, it was difficult for him to do both, because a hand on his hilt meant that one or both hands was reaching over his shoulder, and thus disrupting his peripheral vision. Thus he just kept his hands ready, and his head constantly moving, as he moved up the stairs. There was no one on the second floor, nor the stairs to the third. In fact, Shyne hadn't seen anyone at all when he stepped to the side of the door that led to the classroom he'd temporarily changed into a morgue. "In here, Captain."

Saphire Sedai frowned after Caden. Her gut was mixed with relief at finding him, slighted at being subtly ordered outside the chain of command, and reserved with scepticism that the Shadow infiltrated their Hall. She sniffed indignently and glanced back towards the others, yet she only met Firredal and Leisha in their grey-green and slanted brown eyes. Prudent or not, Saphire was a woman of action.

"Follow me." The Representative gestured with her head up towards the top of the stairwell and with one fluid motion followed on the Captain's heels. She expected the Drin'far'ji that followed Firredal would have something interesting to say.

Her trust by now in Firredal and Leisha was implicit. Yet crisis allowed them few words.

"I am aware of everything Kira Ji'alantar told me, and promptly sent her to summon the Mistress of Arms and Master of Training to Council here. Unless Haruld Asha'man is otherwise indesposed, they should be arriving shortly." Her voice was not loud, yet loud enough for roughly two people ahead and behind to hear.

The feel of anticipated battle must have wafted from the warriors ahead, for Saphire acutely missed her stave. Yet there was a slight feeling of comfort from behind in having famliar and like-minded Gaidin and Gaidar behind her back.

When they entered the classroom, ironically one she had passed on her way down, Saphire stepped inside and to the left of the door. She waited until they could all see whether or not the body was present, then, turning to Antar Drin'far'ji she intoned:

"Swear upon your life and hope of salvation and rebirth to tell us the full truth, and nothing strayed from the truth, of what you know regarding this. Report."

As soon as he entered the classroom, Antar went riggid in a stance, hands behind his back, head looking forward.

" I do swear upon my life and hope of salvation and rebirth that what i will be saying is the full and complete truth."
Easing himself he starts out. "About two months ago, one newly raised ji'alantin came to me, and asked me to do a few small tasks. I did them, without thought. He was off a higher rank than i, and older. His name, Ranno al'Din. Later on in the day, another approuched me, his name Clavil Fon'har, then Jhedan Storm-foot came to me with a task. Luantar, my friend later told me that the same had happened to him. We did not think much on it." Antar looks down. "Now i wish i had questioned..."

He continues, "Around a week later, they came again, and i was busy. So, telling Jhedan that i was on an errand, yours actually Saphire Sedai, he punched me hard in the face and kicked me after i hit the ground until i agreed on doing it. I did it. You may remember, Saphire Sedai, i was late that day..."

He pauses, takes a deep breath and continues, "Incedents continued to occur, and i was afraid. I am ashamed of it, but there were three of them, plus the," he looks nervouse, visibly gulping, "Aes Sedai, Eya Sedai of the Green Ajah, that was helping them...She.. She beat me with a cane of air more times than i can count for looking at her..." He sighs, a tear coming into his eyes. "Luantar, my friend, had been undergoing the same treatment as i, and finnaly decided to put an end too it..." he looks at the ground. "I didnt believe he would do it... but he, he.." He breaks off unable to continue.

After a moment he continues, only this time hatred his smoldering in his eyes, "I should have been there, but i wasnt. I should have believed. I hope the ji, and Eya Sedai get what they deserve"

Firredal nodded slowly, barely aware of the body before them. A slow, burning rage expanded within him, and he did not fight it... but he did not move either. He merely stood until it had passed, and then drew a long, slow breath. So that is why he tried to go after them. Ranno, Clavil, and Jhedan. Light, but Janis was right. He wouldn't have lasted two heartbeats against any of them. The anger drained, leaving calm in its wake... and the realization that one thing he absolutely couldn't stand was a bully, let alone three of them.

Still unmoving, he went through a small exercise to help himself relax, tensing each muscle and then letting it ease. As he did, he looked from Caden to Saphire and back. "I found Antar in the halls," he said calmly. "He was fighting with another drin'far'ji, an Aielman named Janis. Apparently Antar meant to punish the three, and Janis was trying to stop him." He kept his gaze on Caden; discipline belonged to the Gaidin Captain. "Janis had a broken wrist. I sent him to the infirmary. He will not speak to anyone of this."

Shyne's eyebrows were up, his astonishment quite plain. During all of this, he had been unaware. He'd noticed that some of the drin'far'ji seemed to be a little beat up, but he'd past it off as battle scars. You couldn't be a drin'far'ji without getting beat up a little.

But all of this had happened under his very nose and he hadn't noticed any of it. Ranno, Clavil, and Jhedan, people he'd trusted, as much as he trusted anyone here. All of this... right in front of his eyes, and he'd been too blind to see it.

The rage beginning to fill him was a different kind of rage than Firredal's. It was an indignant rage, rage at the fact that people would defile his trust when he did everything he could to earn theirs. It was rage at the fact that these people were using their superior strength and superior skill to such an end... murder. He could never forgive them for this, just as he could never forgive himself for his own crimes. He began to wonder if perhaps the few drin'far'ji he'd noticed that had dissapeared lately hadn't just run away, as he'd thought they had. Maybe Luantar wasn't the first.

Perhaps not, but if there was anything Shyne could do about it, Luantar cen Thaal would be the last. His right arm was convulsing again, but not from fear, or excitement, or loss... from anger. It was times like this that he wished he sheathed his swords at his hip. He very desperately wanted to be gripping one of them, but it was obvious when you had to reach over your shoulder to do it.

Things had not been their clearest when she approached the group and then wastold to simply follow Saphire Sedai, but now the things she was seeing and hearing explained it a little more. Ghastly, Ji' and Sedai in the Tower... shadowed as that. She had heard the stories, but to actually hear it?

She remained silent and stolid, standing just beside and behind Saphire and listening, seeing, sensing everything around her - she was heightened at that point. Still, she was silent and watchful. When she was needed, she'd know it. Sometimes silence, attentive, cold silence was the best for moments like these.

Caden listened while he paced about the classroom, taking in the details. He soon sat down over the body, looking at the dead man's eyes. They stared back at him, and something in his cold heart tightened at that. Am I your bane in the end, for I didn't act when I could? He didn't want to believe that, and pushed the guilt back, for he knew he could not have done anything without setting greater ... and more sinister things into motion. While he listened to the drin'far'ji's report, he reached out and closed the eyes of the dead young man. Peace favour your soul, and the Creator watch over it with a ready sword.

He stood then and watched the floor, and then trailed the walls with his gaze. Something is wrong? He stood perfectly still, listening to Firredal about how Antar had broken Janis Tearsin's wrist, he ground his teeth at that. His Mentee would clearly have to be disciplined, however, that would have to wait a bit. Since now, his thought were elsewhere - he just realized what was amiss.

"Shyne," he said, in a low voice, "did you not say there was a drin'far'ji guarding this room? Where is he?" The silence became deafening then. And when Caden took a step towards the door, he saw something on the wall behind Leisha Gaidar's back.

Across the wooden surface, a diagonal spay of blood revealed itself.

The Gaidin Captain clenched his fists by his sides then, looking at the ji'alantin who had brought him there. "The body. I need you to remember if it is in the same location as when you and Kira al'Haram took it down. Think, for this is very important."

Firredal loosed a heartfelt - and uncharacteristic - curse, then turned to check the rest of the room. If they were lucky, the drin had just been tricked into leaving... but he feared it would not be that simple, now that they had killed already.

Saphire Sedai's emerald eyes flickered between Antar and Firridal's reports and followed Caden's movments. Her purposful eyebrows arched suddenly at the implication of not only three Sa'jialantin that she had hand picked for the Privy Council, but one of her own Ajah Sisters. She was less than pleased with Antar's lack of restraint. Infact, she believed the situation could easily ignight like an Iluminator's work in their faces if tempers were not kept in check. The room seethed with anger - visibly from Antar, to Caden, to Shyne, to Firredal. She opened her mouth to speak when Caden spoke.

Abuptly the Representative looked over her right shoulder towards the door. Kira had mentioned nothing about a guard, and for a moment Saphire felt the pressing need to question Shyne under oath on what he had seen too. Then when she regarded Caden again, she caught his glance over her left shoulder and so she turned to follow it.

It was not the first time she had seen blood. Not by far. But it was malicious. Not purposful, not in honorable warfare or accident, almost a warning.

Saphire's jaw clenched.

Following Caden's question and Firredal's uncharacteristic curse, Saphire interrupted the Ji'alantin's response.

"If we are to get through this, each needs to keep a cool head on his shoulders and not jump to conclusions." The gems in her raven hair chimed softly as she cast her glance on Antar Drin'far'ji. "You make serious accusations against you fellow Trainees, and an Aes Sedai of much higher rank than you." Her eyebrows deepened into a frown. "Are you certain you saw what you think you saw? Do not let your anger and hurt carry you too far to conclusions. You should have reported these incidents, and that is your fault. How can we be certain that these Sa'jialantin did not inflate their heads with too much pride to understand proper conduct in the Warder Yards? As the Representative of the Amyrlin Seat and M'Hael in the Warder Yards, I require proof before any action be taken against my Eya Sedai and these Sa'jialantin."

She inclined her chin to the body, but her eyes were now on the Ji'alantin. She elaborated on Caden's order, but respecting the chain of command, did not contradict it. "Shyne Ji'alantin, swear like Antar Drin'far'ji and obey your Captain. Can you provide support for the claim? Is there anything that does not match what Antar says? What do you know of these Sa'Ji'alantin? What did you origionally see beginning with this body? Who was standing guard? And has the body been moved since you last saw it?" After his answer, Saphire Sedai looked over her left shoulder to Leisha Gaidar. "Liesha, I believe you know the best of us all of the condition of the body and injuries. Would you look at the body and tell us the cause of death?"

Lei's brow knit slightly, "Aes Sedai? This is the first time I have seen the body and are we in doubt that the boy was hanged?" She asked simply, "I can look and tell you what I see, but I did not think we doubted the cause..." She said. There was only the blood and the missing guard and then the man who was hanged and moved there... She was a little confused at her orders then.

Trudging down a corridor on a whim, Negrath's earlier haste somewhat subdued as he strove to grasp the ramifications of what he'd seen, he noticed a curious group grouping at the door of a classroom. Curious, if nothing else, because of its members. Stepping over in the intent of delivering his message, he caught a glimpse of what they'd apparently gathered there to observe; the young man who'd been suspended from the roof earlier in the day.

His words dying on his lips, he distractedly listened as they discussed, feeling a shiver run down his spine at the implication of a missing guard.

As Leisha spoke, Saphire Sedai saw a Trainee she recognized appear in the doorway. She frowned deeply,

"Negrath Drin'far'ji!" she barked, "It is a serious matter to spy on your superiors. Swear you will not speak of what you have heard here, and I will consider not giving you pennence. You should make your presence known when you step into a room with Officers and Warders. Then, unless you have something to report or deliver, stand guard outside the door and keep others from entering or evesdropping."

Abruptly her attention turned back to Leisha, with a much gentler tone she explained, "There could be another cause. We do not know whether the boy was dead when he hung. Please objectively check it, I trust your judgement."

Then to Antar, this time more pressing, "I am still waiting for your re-evaluation, Antar Drin'far'ji." and to Shyne, "Ji'alantin, swear and report."

Curious as to why the event should be kept a secret, Negrath blinked as the last exchanges of the group replayed in his mind...right.

At the demand of an oath, he wordlessly put a hand to his heart with a nod of respect and acknowledgement; he could honestly not see whom he should tell it to, anyway...

Stepping back out, not really aware he'd crossed the treshold, he closed the door behind him securely, and took up position beside it, doing what he could to keep the entiriety of the corridor under observation.

Turning to Saphire Sedai once more with a face that seems carved out of stone, Antar slowly unbottons his shirt and removes it. There are welts covering his back, angry blisters as well. Too many to have been recieved simply from practice. "Is this proof enough, i do not mean to take the tone that i have taken, but i have been beaten, severely on more than one occasion, and you question that? See it for yourself!"

Saphire Sedai's eyes narrowed at his tone. She thought heatedly, Am I the only one in this room that will not point fingers with the curse"darkfriend" on her lips like a Whitecloack whenever there are ill deeds?

She looked to Caden who seemed to be pausing . . before taking a breath to steady her temper. She replied steadily, compassion mixed with scepticism. "I will forgive your tone, Antar Drin'far'ji for you are obviously, and rightly, distressed at what was done to you." She nodded to him, "Dress yourself." then a quick glance to the Captain and back, "Unless the Master of Training objects when he arrives, you may be excused from training today and be Healed. You have been abused, I see that. And I will also see that those responsible will be punished and you are protected until this is matter is complete." Her words were as carved in stone as the Three Oaths to her very being. Yet she reserved judgement of the nature and motive of those bullies, and whether her sister of the shawl was truly involved.

He can not be dismissed until an escourt is found, yet hearing more could jeapordize his safety.

"If you will wait outside with Negrath Drin'far'ji we will emerge shortly and I will see you to a Yellow Sister myself. If any of those suspect approach, you have leave to return."

Now she looked expectantly to Shyne Ji'alantin.

Shyne looked up at Saphire Sedai. He vaguely remembered her asking him something, telling him to swear an oath. No, that couldn't be right. She couldn't expect an oath from him. "I..."

"I left a Drin'far'ji in charge. He's someone I'm fairly familiar with, but I'm not in the right state of mind to remember names, nor have I been for much of the morning, and his is persistently escaping me..." He paused for a second, closing his eyes, trying to peice everything together. "Wensa. His name is Wensa. I left him to guard the body, which I distinctly remember setting down, on his side... and over here." He pointed to a different spot, closer to the door. "That's all I remember..."

This shock that was just freezing him where he stood was simply the realization of everything that had happened... and the obviously horrible judgement call he'd recently made that had quite possibly resulted in another death...

With a deep breath, Caden placed his hands on his hips and looked to the floor. "Then we are too late," he said, collecting his thoughts. Wensa... That must be Wensa Fuon. That young Andorian, who were a sell-sword before he came here... His eyes scanned the people in the classroom. His thoughts were working fast now, and his orders came along with them. "Firredal Gaidin and Leisha Gaidar, bring the ji'alantin and the two drin'far'ji and quickly search the Warder Hall and the Yards after Wensa Fuon. Find out what has become of him, and if he is still alive. Report back here to me when your search is completed. Now go." by his order, the classroom emptied and he was left alone with the Aes Sedai. Caden had small hope hsi order woudl result in anything - that they would find anything.

He turned to the Warder-Channeler Representative, searching her almond shaped emerald eyes - not unlike his own. His tone was soft when he spoke. "You don't believe that the Shadow has found it's way in here, do you, Aes Sedai?" He whole bearing had hinted at scepticism when the tales had been told. "I will give you a full report in the Executive Council. However, I am certain we have heard the truth - that much i can say right now."

Chapter One: Dawn to Murder
~Ripple One: The Sunrise
~Ripple Two: A Written Order
~Ripple Three: Where are you, Luantar?
~Ripple Four: Uncertainty
~Ripple Five: One Fine Morning
~Ripple Six: Taking Action, at Whatever the Cost

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