The Twisted Forest (TBCB: Noj, other welcome)

[Scott]

Damien made his way across the grounds of the Black Tower as quickly as he could without seeming to be. He was supposed to meet Noj at the travelling grounds as soon as possible, but he wondered if the other man was even there yet. It was still dark out, the moon still visible; the first hints of sunlight yet to break over the horizon. There were several other figures moving about besides Damien, despite the hour. They were most likely sentries, or perhaps Asha’man who did not want their activities to be too closely scrutinized. It didn’t really matter to Damien; he was a Soldier, and he knew his place. Most of the time at least. His presence was clearly marked as he walked, the silver bell fastened to the end of each of his two, long dark braids jingling slightly when he moved. The sound didn’t bother him though, nor did the knowledge that wearing them meant he lost any sense of subtlety. The bells were a sign of his homeland, a custom of his people that he cherished. Besides, he and Noj were, supposedly, travelling to Shol Arbela, the capital of Arafel and city of his birth, and he wished to be dressed appropriately when he arrived.

Damien wore simple, black woolen breeches of a fairly snug fit, with dark, brown leather boots that reached the greater part of the distance to his knees. His simple, white linen shirt was covered by a coat of black wool which reached several inches past his waist, his dark leather belt fastened around his waist over it. Damien’s clothes were all entirely devoid of any sort of embroidery, needlework, or other sorts of finery, with the exception of a small patch of intricate work on the left breast of his coat. The embroidery was in the form of a rectangle split into four sections, two red and two white. The top left was white, the top right red, the bottom left red, and the bottom right white (From the viewpoint of someone facing the front of the coat). On the left half of the rectangle (Again, from the viewpoint of someone looking at the coat) were three, red roses. These were balanced by three white roses on the right half of the rectangle. Two sheaths were strapped across his back, their blades resting within them. The hilt of each sword rose over Damien’s shoulder, making their presence impossible to miss. The only other thing on Damien’s person was a tightly wrapped bundle cradled in his left arm. It contained some food, a few waterskins, his coin purse, and a map of the north; the Borderlands, the Blight Border, a few regions of the Blight that had been mapped out at the cost of many lives, and Tar Valon. He had already emphasized Shol Arbela’s mark on the map so that Noj would have no trouble finding it.

[Nojanath]

Noj yawned as he lead the two horses up to the traveling grounds.  Well, he was leading one, and riding the other.  Despite what he said, the boy still didn't quite get how Traveling worked.  Oh, he had taken into account that one had to be familiar with the place they were leaving from and they were Traveling to yes, but he seemed to think that if he took a pen and circled the town enough times in red ink, that would make him familiar with the spot enough.  While enthusiastic...it really didn't accomplish anything.  Which was why he was bringing horses.  He had never been to Shol Arbela himself, but he had been close, and remembered the area quite well at that.

Damien had asked to go to the Blight, and he had obliged the lad, after all, what was the point of training if one never saw the end result.  Sighing, he ran a hand through the hair on the top of his head, the bottom length of which was pulled together behind his shoulders.  He did wonder if it was too soon or not for him to bring the Soldier to the Blight, but he debunked his wonderings.  The Last Battle could be any day, and the faster the boy realized he was in over his head the better.

And how.  His thoughts on the matter were only emphasized by how the boy dressed for the occasion.  Riding up to him he suppressed a sigh.  "Are you planning to ask a Trolloc for a dance?"

[Scott]

Damien blinked at Noj's words before looking down at himself, at his clothing. "What are you talking about?" he demanded, indignation strong in his voice. "I'm dressed in nearly all black, most people look like a Tinker compared to me." He frowned, looking his mentor over. How could the man say such a thing? The only bit of color Damien bore was the tiny square of embroidery on the breast of his coat, a Trolloc wouldn't even notice it until the creature was close enough to gut Damien, so it made no difference. Shaking his head, Damien shifted back and forth on his feet, ready to be off now that Noj was here.

Opening his bundle long enough to pull out the map within, Damien walked toward Noj as he unrolled it. "So, if you can't put us right outside the city, how close can you get us?"

[Nojanath]

Noj smirked and shook his head,  "It just seems as if you sat there and color coded your outfit.  The fact it's black doesn't mean to can't be dressy, don't worry about it, it was just a wry joke.  Humor in the eye of the beholder, and so on.  I was thinking more of the bells than anything, I'm sure they make a lovely tune when you fight." He chuckles, "But don't worry.  My hair if anything will give us away long before you."

Taking the map he looks it over.  "I can get us about a day's ride out if that pleases you.  To this little outpost here."  He pointed to it's location on the map.  It was a watchtower that was built to watch the Blightborder. They'd be back tracking but that was alright.  He didn't bring anything yet except the horses, and a few things that were necessary in his pack, like the little angreal, and a set of finery for himself in case of any strange situations in which he'd need his nobility to do something.  They popped up, if occasionally, normally his rank as Asha'man covered for him for most of everything. 

Reigning in the horse toward the boy, he nods for him to hop on.  Not quite waiting for him, he grasps Saidin, boring a hole through the pattern to the outpost.  Cold air leaked in through the hole in the space, as he expected, it was the Borderlands after all, and he had dressed accordingly, even if the Void allowed him to ignore the temperature, he preferred to live with it normally.  Call it another eccentricity of Noj if anyone asked.  That's how he got away with most everything.  Looking back to the boy as he was on the horse, he nodded the boy on, kicking his horse into motion to go through the comfortably large Gateway.

[Scott]

Damien shook his head as he walked over to his horse, speaking as he swung himself up into the saddle. “I’ll switch the bells out for ones without clappers once we actually head into the Blight, or along the border, or wherever you plan for us to go. I simply wanted to be dressed appropriately when we visit Shol Arbela,” he gave the man a shrug as he moved his horse forward a bit. Thinking for a few moments, Damien gives Noj a nod, “A day’s ride is fine, gives us a chance to get used to the land if nothing else.” Damien wasn’t really sure how necessary that would be, he hadn’t been in the Borderlands for a few months, true, but one did not simply forget their home after such a short time.

A wide grin split Damien’s face as Noj opened the Gateway and the cold air of his homeland leaked through. He let out a loud, refreshed sigh, his grin showing no signs of disappearing, and edge his horse forward. “That, is the crisp cold of purity; purity that holds back the taint of the Blight and the Shadow.” Damien didn’t care how corny his words sounded, they were true to him, and most Borderlanders. Blinking as Noj was suddenly moving through the Gateway, Damien heeled his horse to follow, the grin still on his face.

[Bubble of Evil]

Shor Arbela was having a fantastic day. There was a discount on ice peppers from Saldaea. Unfortunately, the peppers had a nasty habit of rolling away when anyone tried to hold one. Consequently, the Gateway cuts a pepper in half and another rolls by Asha'man Noj's feet.

[Nojanath]

Noj takes a deep breath of the air as he goes through, closing the Gateway as the Soldier walked through.  But as he did he almost gagged because the air was stinging his throat.  That's odd....  Taking a look around he noticed a bunch of ice peppers on the ground.  He was about to ask Damien if it was usual when he felt the ground shake, through the horse. 

Looking ahead he noticed what seemed to be an avalanche...of ice peppers....  And it was coming with good force and as high off the ground as he was, on a horse.  Swearing loudly, he barks.  "Get behind me boy unless you want to be crushed!"

Possibilities raced through his head on how to deal with it.  A wall of Air?  No, the force of it would probably break the shield wide open, and they'd be crushed just a little more gently.  He couldn't just burn all of it, cause then they'd be crushed and on fire...  A Gateway?  Yes...a Gateway would work....but where...where...  He didn't want to endanger anyone.  His mind raced through for a place that no one cared about, or maybe a hole that no one would miss...  A hole that no one would miss... 

A thought occurred, it seemed so perfect he almost said it out loud too.  Weaving the Gateway, large enough to cover both him and his student, he really hoped that Timin wouldn't miss his pond...and that he REALLY liked ice peppers.  The bombardment lasted for about fourty five seconds before it was over, and definitely had to be the strangest thing that had ever happened to him in his life.

Looking around, seeing that it was over, he eyes Damien.  "I'm guessing...that's not normal is it?"

[Scott]

Damien had sniffed at the air after moving through the Gateway as well, though he hadn't noticed the ice peppers on the ground, being too distracted by the extremely large avalanche of the things that was approaching Noj, him, and their horses. "Ahhh...Noj...?" Damien asked, doing his best to keep his voice from shaking; he hadn't taken hold of the Void, and didn't think to do so.

"Get behind me boy unless you want to be crushed!"

Nodding, Damien heeled his horse around, behind Noj's. Leaning to the side a bit, so as to see better, Damien glanced at his teacher, waiting for him to do something. After a few seconds, a few seconds of Noj doing nothing, Damien opened his mouth to ask if he planned on taking care of the peppers somehow. Before he could begin to voice his question though, another Gateway opened in the air in front of his teacher, swallowing up the mass of ice peppers that had been going to crush them.

"I'm guessing...that's not normal is it?"

Blinking, Damien slowly turned his head to meet Noj's questioning gaze, a look of exasperation on his face. "No..." he replied slowly, "No it isn't..."

[Nojanath]

As the avalanche of peppers ceased, Noj closed the gateway, letting Saidin fade away.  There were peppers everywhere, though the avalanche wasn't completely made up of them.  There were also random bits of debris spread throughout the mess.  There was even a tree in the pile around them.  And all the haze was starting to burn his eyes.  Many of the peppers had been sliced by the edges of the Gateway, making breathing also rather painful.  Grasping the source, he cleared the air around his head and tied the weave.

What had happened still defied his sense of logic.  How could there be that many peppers?  He didn't understand it.  Shaking his head, he turned to face Damien.  "Well, I was planning on taking a leisurely pace to get to the city, but it appears that those peppers came from the direction of Shol Arbela.  I don't know if that's where it started, but we should ride hard there to see if we can help with anything.  Whether it's their defenses or helping to rebuild if necessary."  Rebuild if necessary?  From a bunch of bloody peppers!  The world seen to have turned on it's side!  He began to wonder if similar things were happening elsewhere but shook his head.  "Ready Damien?"

[Scott]

Damien went into a fit of coughing after a few seconds after the gateway was opened, and continued to cough well after it was closed. His throat and eyes burned, and there were tears threatening to leak down his cheeks. Light, so this is what it feels like to have that blasted pepper juice in your eyes! He had mocked a friend a few years earlier who had cried when juice from an ice pepper had gotten into his eyes, and regretted doing so now that he was experiencing the same pain. He noticed that Noj was coughing as well, and also noticed that the other man stopped coughing after only a few seconds. He must've done something to clear up the air, but Light! I can't think straight in this haze, let alone channel.

Still coughing, Noj's words, and the meaning of them, took a bit longer than usual to register in his mind. Once he heard the man's question though, he nodded his head vigorously, unable to speak, and was thrown into another fit of coughing. Without wasting any more time though, he heeled his horse off in the direction of his home, and the direction that the avalanche of peppers had come from.

[Nojanath]

Noj sighed at the boy, and at the situation.  Feeling some pity, he cleared the air around Damien's head as well, and tied it up.  Eventually he boy would notice the weave and be able to copy it.  Heeling his horse around he followed after the boy.  After all, he knew his way around the area better than he did.  The only reason Noj was able to travel to this spot was because he had camped there before.  If one looked close enough...and the ground wasn't covered in peppers...they would still be able to pick out where the fire pit was due to the pit he had dug with is former compatriots.  Life had already seemed way to long and Noj was only in his mid twenties.  Hopefully the rest of his life after the Last Battle wouldn't be so...eventful.  But, on the bright side, Noj probably wasn't going to live that long any way.  The only thing that had kept him alive so far was luck, with a bit of help from the Power.  And like everyone elses, his luck would inevitably run out.

*********************************

Things weren't exactly looking better the further they went either.  Apparently the blast of peppers that he and his student had weathered was just a small brunt of the force.  The closer they got to Shol Arbela the worse the...pepper...carnage.  A few house had collapsed walls, and if he was seeing things straight, there were even pepper refuges...  Those were definitely two words he had never expected to string together for certain.  And the pepper haze was visible now too, which made Noj glad that he had put the screens up.  And ever time he passed one of the...refuges...Noj would erect the same screen around their faces and tie the weave. The weave in and off itself wasn't very hard to do, so he figured he should help where he could at least.  Sighing again for good measure, he wasn't looking forward to what they would see at the city itself.

[Scott]

Damien took a deep breath, followed by a sigh of relief, when the air around his face cleared up and he was able to breath without feeling as if his throat was being pierced by daggers. Well, at least I won't have a problem eating ice peppers anymore... Glancing over his shoulder, Damien was met with a bit of surprise when he realized that Noj seemed to be following him. Shrugging to himself, he moved his horse forward, weaving through the large piles of peppers and trying not to hit people who were attempting to clean up the destruction the avalanche had caused.

After noticing Noj place the same screens around passing refugees that the Asha'man had put around himself and Damien, the Soldier began to follow his teacher's example. Grasping Saidin was easy enough, much easier than his first few attempts had been anyway. After seeing Noj perform the weave, Damien began to form it around refugee's as well, and wished he was able to see the peoples' reactions when the air cleared up around their faces. Heeling his horse to move faster, Damien tried to set them on the fastest course to Shol Arbela, though the peppers did slow them down quite a bit. Damien reigned his horse in when the city finally came into view.

[Nojanath]

Noj took a look around the city and couldn't tell if he wanted to laugh dryly or shake his head in pity at what happened to the place.  It was terrible, homes were destroyed, and people were out on the streets, and there were peppers everywhere.  Peppers...  Most of the refugees had fashioned rags to tie over their faces too keep the haze out of their eyes and mouth and nose.  And the haze was clearly visible, almost like mist.  He...was at a loss to do.  His mind continued to scream at him that this wasn't natural, that it didn't make any REAL sense.  Yet there it was, in front of his eyes.

Turning his head, he sighs.  "Damien, do you know where the town hall is, or something.  An official I would be able to reach without reading enough paperwork to swim in?"  Most likely there were some efforts to restoration somewhere in the city, figured that they might as well help out.  He could bring Damien to the Blight after things were taken care of.  Besides, this was the boy's home.  He was sure that at this point Noj would have to drag the boy out of the city to really get anything accomplished in the Blight.  That and his morals wouldn't let him anyhow.  He was going to help with this...pepper...massacre...if it...killed him...

[Scott]

Damien unconsciously slowed his horse to a walk as they reached Shol Arbela, as if his body didn't want to allow him to enter the chaos the city promised. There was destruction and the debris of it everywhere; fallen walls and timbers from collapsed homes had spilled into the streets, and sections of the wall surrounding the city were missing. That was what worried Damien most; walls were one of the most efficient tools that Borderland cities had, without them Trollocs could swoop down and overrun a town or city in hours.

Forcing his horse forward, Damien stopped clearing the air around people, there were far too many to even bother. Unable to speak, the Arafellin merely nodded at Noj's question, and turned his horse in another direction. Head moving slowly, Damien did his best to take in the suffering around them without breaking down or getting off of his horse to help. It was all he could do to hold on to Saidin. This was wrong, so very, very wrong. Light, what could have caused this? Burn the Dark One, burn him and everything that has happened as a result of his existence! Damien wasn't aware that, beneath his riding gloves, his knuckles were white as they gripped his horse's reins.