Patty
      Much as Patty understood the need to find a place of safety; much as she
knew they needed to be away from prying eyes and wild mobs...she wished they
had found a hiding place on flat ground.  Good Glory! if she's thought the
walk yesterday was bad, it was nothing compared to this hike!
      At least yesterday they were dealing with mostly paved roads on gradual
inclines.  Today she felt like they were walking vertically up this friggin
mountain!  Her mind knew they were walking on a steep angle, but her legs told
her they were going straight up!
      Patty grabbed hold of a solid sapling to take a moment to catch her
breath (which was coming in alarmingly fast gasps) and see how the others were
holding up.  Dinnae and Katassa, seeing Patty halt, halted as well.  Dinnae
bent over to sooth a cramp, but gave Patty the "thumbs up" sign when she
noticed her watching.
      Timothy and Liam were trying to "out-man" each other by pretending they
were fit and ready to run a marathon.  Timothy, being more fit than Liam from
his Warder training, did seem to have caught his wind already and was scanning
the area as he rested.  Liam was just trying to catch his breath without
making too much noise.
      Kasha too, was one of the least affected by the hike.  Her Dancer
training was serving her well in this climb.  All in all, the group was making
good time.  The clouds had cleared out and the sun made the moisture on the
leaves shine.  The rain made for slick footing, but they'd had no major
falls...yet.
      Moonlight Dancing ghosted through the trees scouting the way ahead.
Patty closed her eyes and sought closer communion with the wolf.  Her senses
became heightened - the colors brighter, smells sharper, sounds clearer.  So
far, all clear.
      Patty came back to awareness in her own body and gave the signal to move
ahead.  There was no unnecessary talking.  Dinnae took the lead.  Katassa
brought up the rear with Liam and Timothy directly before her.  Kasha and
Patty took positions in the middle - the one with no ability to channel, and
the one with the least control.  
      Only a few more hours on this blasted mountain.  Just let us make it
there in one peice.

      The worst thing about trooping up this mountain was the not knowing.
Not knowing how far they had left to go.  Not knowing how the other two groups
were doing.  They had no cell phones, or other communication equipment.
Something like that could be too easily monitored or tracked down.  Which was
all well and good as far as that went, but it also meant enduring moments like
this.      As they made their way up the mountain, the spacing of the group had
thinned out somewhat.  Dinnae and Kasha were still in visual range, but Patty
had lost sight of Katassa, Timothy and Liam.  Patty had been about to call a
halt of the front of the line to give them time to catch up when an urgent
sending from Moonlight Dancing had frozen her in her tracks.  ~~HALT~~HIDE~~
      Patty dropped to a crouch and had signaled Dinnae and Kasha to do the
same. The underbrush here was thick and offered plenty of cover.  ~~What's
wrong?  What's out there?~~  Patty couldn't tell the direction of Moonlight
Dancing's sending.  Was the danger in front, or coming from behind?  There was
no way to warn the three who had fallen behind.  And even at this close range,
Patty couldn't whisper directions to those closest to her for fear of giving
their position away to whoever was out there.
      ~~Hunters~~ was the reply, dripping with disgust from Moonlight Dancing.
      Patty's heart was pounding in her chest surely loud enough to give them
away. ~~What are they hunting?~~
      The sending from Moonlight Dancing showed two dirty, scruffy looking men
who'd obviously spent more time drinking than hunting on this trip headed in
their direction.  Both wore safety-orange vests required of hunters.  Both
carried old-fashioned double action rifles that required reloading after each
shot.  Neither one had much to show for their efforts so far.
       From what Moonlight Dancing could see, neither man was too steady on
his feet.  In their condition they'd shoot at just about anything that moved.
Concealment was their best defense; and remaining motionless.  Dinnae and
Kasha were as still as statues.  Patty was frozen as well.  If they were
lucky, these men would just pass them by, then Moonlight Dancing could warn
Vree and Nightwind of hunters on the mountain.  The hunters were taking there
time, ambling around, looking for somethng to shoot.  One minute wentby...two.
      A deafening report sounded off the mountain, followed by a drunken yell.
"I hit me something, boys!"
      The two hunters crashed through the underbrush toward the sound of the
yell oblivious to the three figures that rose a their passing.  Dinnae quickly
wove a barrier of silence around herself and the other two women and they
followed the two men down the treacherous mountain.

      Timothy didn't like this.  It was bad enough that he wasn't wallking
point.  But to allow a woman to be the rear guard as well was a blow to his
ego.  He was the one with Warder training, not her.  It was his job to protect
Ayenda Vera, not hers.  And to be stuck with this walking scarecrow who was
training to be a dancer of all things.  It was humiliating.
      At least these two walked with something approaching stealth.  Not as
quiet as him, but close enough not to have him tearing his hair out at the
noise they were making.  Timothy looked up ahead and realized with a start
that he could no longer see the front end of the group.  Stupid women...not
keeping track of us.  Not even in his mind could Timothy admit that he of
all people should've known to keep the group together.  At least the trail
wasn't too hard to follow.
      Timothy kept walking but turned to address Katassa.  "We need to catch
up to the front of the group.  We shouldn't be separated like this."  Katassa
only nodded in agreement, not sparing the breath to answer him.  Timothy took
the lead (at least for a little while he could take point).
      Liam didn't really mind that Timothy ignored him.  Timothy was a Studè,
so Liam outranked him, but he was also a goon who was always looking for
trouble.  He thought he was all that and never let anyone forget he was also a
Warder in training.  Liam was just as happy to have Timothy out in front where
he could watch him.  
      A vision of orange flashed through Liam's mind.  He missed a step and
fell heavily onto one knee.  Timothy looked back and glared at the noise he
was making.  Light!  What was that?  Katassa helped Liam up.  He shook his
head trying to clear it.  He was about to reassure Katassa when another
stronger vision impinged itself on his mind.  ~~orange, hunters, guns~~
      Liam felt like his head was going to explode, and clung to Katassa for
support.  Light!  What is wrong with me?  He managed to gasp out,
"...hunters..."
      Katassa gave him a searching look and signaled for Timothy to rejoin
them.  "Liam says there are hunters on the mountain."
      Timothy scoffed.  "And where is he getting his information from?"  Liam
switched his grasp from Katassa to a tree.  He groaned softly, muttering, "Get
out of my head."  
      Timothy rolled his eyes as if to say "there he's proving my point."
"Voices in your head, Liam?"
      Liam could only glare as he tried to fight off the visions that were
insistently pounding his head.  He gasped out, "need...hide...don't move."
Okay I told them now get out of my head!
      Katassa overruled Timothy's misgivings and ordered they young men to
hide.  The spot where they had stopped offered little to no cover.  The trees
were thin and spindly, the ground was hard and mostly rock.  But not far to
the right was a small fissure where they could take cover. Timothy stalked
over.  "We three can fit in here.  And hold of Liam's "hunters".
      Katassa nodded her approval.  She jumped in first and began to weave a
wall of concealment.  It was risky, especially if there were women who could
sense the channeling somewhere out on the mountain.  Timothy waited
impatiently on the edge of the fissure for Liam to catch his breath an join
them.  Liam was finally able to clear his head and waved Timothy off. 
      He took one step before an exploding pain shot through his hip and leg.
He didn't remember falling, but suddenly, he was on the ground.  The
astonished look on Timothy's face was almost funny.  That's my hunter
alright, you stuck up bastard.  And he got in a good shot didn't he?

      Timothy broke out of his shock almost immediately.  Training took over.
Take care of the fallen man.  Protect the rest from incoming danger.  
      The hunter gave away his position by yelling, "I shot me something,
boys!"  He had to make his way upslope and didn't seem to know that it was a
person that he'd shot.  He was calling to at least 2 others who were probably
about as drunk as he sounded.  They certainly were making enough noise.
      Timothy lept over to the fallen Liam.  The bleeding was bad, and his
eyes already showed the glassy signs of shock.  Timothy pulled Liam's left arm
over his right shoulder.  He hefted Liam to a standing position, braced Liam
with an arm around his waist and dragged him to the hidden fissure.  Katassa
was waiting for them underneath.
      Timothy lowered Liam to Katassa as gently as possible, but bumps and
jarring movements were bound to happen.  Thank the light that Liam had control
enough not to cry out.  Katassa stretched Liam along the bottom of the fissure
and immediately began work on staunching the bleeding.  With the three of them
crouching upright there would've been room enough, but with Liam stretched out
on the bottom of the fissure, Timothy had no where to go.
      He adopted his best nonchalant pose and wished he was already the owner
of a color shifting cloak. 

      Patty thought they probably didn't even need the wall of silence Dinnae
had woven around herself, Patty and Kasha.  The two men they were following
had thrown any attempt at stealth out the window in their race to see what
game their friend had bagged.  They were making so much noise, they would
hardly notice the three people behind them.
      Patty's mind was racing even as she prayed that no one in their group
had been injured.  They were hoping that by splitting up the original group
they'd have a better chance to make it to safety without being detected.  The
faces of the Ayenda Vera had been plastered all over the TV and print news.
Patty, Katassa and Dinnae were sure to be recognized even if the Nila and
Studè weren't.  And if one of these men got back into Tar Valon and reported
there presence here, the mountain would be crawling with Red Ajah hunting them
down in no time.  That is, if these hunters didn't decide to kill them first.
      But the thought of killing these men outright made Patty distinctly
uncomfortable.  Maybe their drunkeness could be used to some advantage.
Confuse and distract them without giving them the chancee to make a positiveID.
 The next sending from Moonlight Dancing made killing these men seem like a
more plausible idea.
      The wolf had outraced the women and the two hunters.  She had circled
around, and was coming upon the scene from behind Timothy.  She showed a large
stain of red on the flat rock that could only be blood.  Patty had no doubt
that the blood belonged to Liam because of the feelings coming to her from
Moonlight Dancing.  More than any of the other Studè or Nila, Moonlight
Dancing held a special affection for Liam.  Patty had some suspicions why.
      Her suspicions were confirmed when Moonlight Dancing, in a jumble of
emotions and thoughts, tried to explain that she'd sent warnings to Liam but
that he'd understood too late.  Blood-lust and revenge were the thoughts
uppermost in the wolf's mind, and Patty fought to impart some calm andcontrol.
      Dinnae, seeing that Patty was distracted with trying to maintain control
of the wolf, turned her attention to Kasha.  She motioned for the girl to
follow her as they moved closer upon the scene.  Dinnae could sense someone
channeling; it could only be Katassa.  And she could see the weaves around the
hiding place in the fissure.
      The hunter who had shot Liam had his gun leveled at Timothy.  He was
ranting, wanting to know what Timothy had done with his "deer".  The blood on
the rocks was proof of his kill, and in his drunken state, was convinced that
Timothy was had stolen his "deer" for himself.  Dinnae sent up a silent prayer
of thanks that Timothy had not used the One Power against this man.  He wasn't
far enough along in his training to have enough control to do something
subtle.  It would be hard enough to explain his presence there without having
to explain channeling too.
      Timothy maintained his pose of feigned indifference, and let the hunter
yell.  He didn't flinch when the man started waving his gun in his face,
although it took everything he had not to grab the thing out of his hands.
With Katassa engaged with Liam, Patty still fighting with Moonlight Dancing
and Timothy trying to be as inconspicuious as possible, Dinnae knew it would
fall to her and Kasha to get them out of this mess.
      Dinnae considered a weave of sleep, but she was not strong in Spirit,
and she'd have to touch each man one at a time to make the spell stick.  She
didn't have time for that.  She didn't want to do anything too drastic with
the Power.  Nothing that would get them noticed by people they didn't want to
know their location.  Plus, the less these men remembered about this
particualr hunting trip, the better.
      By this time, the two other hunters had joined the third man demanding
to see what he'd shot.  "C'mon here, Tad.  Whadya call us down here for?"
      "Looker there, boys.  I shot me a biggun.  You shoulda seen the rack on
'im."  Tad pointed to the bloodstained rocks as proof of his kill.  "But the
boy 'ere done stole my deer.  Thinks he'll be eatin venison tonight."  The
hunter advanced on Timothy again.  "Where's my DEER?"
      Timothy held out his hands in an "I don't know" gesture.  "I haven't
seen it, fellows.  I got here same time as you.  All I saw was the blood.  He
couldn't have gotten far though.  Want me to help you look?"
      Tad, enraged at the percieved uppitiness of this youngster who'd stolen
his kill, took a step in and smashed Timothy across the face with his rifle.
Timothy, unprepared for the blow fell hard on his left side.  His arm flung
out to absorb the blow.  And appeared to disappear into the rocks.
      The three hunters stared in shock.  Timothy swiftly pulled his arm back
to his side, but it was too late.  Katassa's weave was illusion for
concealment.  It wasn't a solid construct.  Tad hauled Timothy up by his
collar and shoved his rifle under the boy's chin.  "Whatcha hidin' down there
boy?  My deer?" 

      If they'd had some time to plan...if they'd had a way to
communicate...hell, what they needed was some ESP.  But they didn't have any
of those things, so what they created instead was a mess.
      Kasha, who very privately had a crush on Timothy and in better times
snuck down to watch him while he trained, was startled into action when his
life was threatened.  She did the only thing she knew how.  She did the thing
that frightened her most in the world.  She channeled Fire.
           Dinnae took advantage of the shock caused when Timothy's arm went
through Katassa's weaving.  There'd be no hiding the fact that *someone* here
was channeling....so she channeled Air.
      Katassa, though absorbed in stopping the flow of blood in Liam's leg,
was not unaware of the dangerous position they were in.  Timothy's hand
flopped in, then was jerked out of her concealment weave.  She knew they
needed help up there.  She channeled Earth.
      Katassa caused the rock and soil they were standing on to shift.  The
hunter lost his hold on Timothy in an effort to keep his feet under him.  He
slid a few feet, but was stopped by a tree that blocked his way.  The tree
burst into flame.  The hunter screamed as the heat from the flames raced up
his back and caught his hair.  He dropped his gun and frantically beat at his
head in an attempt to put the flames out.
      Tad turned to his friends in an appeal for help, but they were bound by
Dinnae's flows of Air and were held suspended above the earth that had shifted
under them.
 Dinnae caught the last hunter in a flow of Ari to stop his frantic running
around and feeding the flames.  Timothy channeled a flow of water and put the
flames on the man out.  But the water did not affect the tree.
      It blazed brightly and burned hot in spite of the damp conditions left
by the storm the night before.  Kasha was caught, frightened by the Power she
wove and was unable to cut off the weave of Fire to the tree.  Patty was
closest to the girl and called her name.  "Kasha!  Kasha, stop!  It's over!"
      Timothy sent a weave of water to catch Kasha in her face.  He called her
too "Kasha!  STOP!"  Kasha was never certain afterwards what made her stop,
the water in her face, or Timothy calling to her.  She cut off the weave, and
Timothy was able to put out the tree without any trouble after that.
      For a moment no one moved, and silence reigned.
      Patty slowly became aware of the sounds around her.  Ragged breathing of
Kasha and Timothy.  Muffled cries from the hunters bound in air.  The dripping
of the water off the burned branches.
      Katassa unwove her concealment spell and stuck her head out of the
fissure.  She looked around at the motely crew.  "I've stopped the bleeding,
but he's lost a lot of blood.  Shock is the biggest danger.  We need to get
him someplace warm."
      Everyone looked to Patty for a plan.  "Okay.  We head back up the
mountain."  She looked at Katassa.  "We have to risk some channeling.  Can you
carry Liam without jostling him too much."  Katassa responded with a nod and
ducked down to get Liam ready to travel.
      Patty ordered Dinnae to put the hunters to sleep, fog their memories of
the events that had occured, and leave them bound with Air on a slow-release
spell.  That would give them time enought to get away and to safety,hopefully.
      Kasha was looking shell-shocked, but was well enough to keep putting one
foot in front of the other.  They would march in this order: Dinnae in the
lead, Patty, Kasha, Katassa carrying Liam and Timothy.  Before they set out
Patty pulled Timothy aside.  "You did well, lad.  You kept your head and
didn't do anything stupid.  You kept those men distracted long enough for help
to arrive and so they didn't find Liam and Katassa.  I'll make sure Hap hears
about it."  Patty smiled and patted his arm.
      She took her place in the middle of the group.  "Let's go."  

      After three more hours of grueling marching, the group made it to the
caves and relative safety.  One group had arrived ahead of them, and one was
yet to come. 


Lia
      Lia stood fixed against a tree, smoking silently, watching as her group
rested a bit, and Nightwind chased a butterfly   " Still a cat, gonna be a big
cat... but still a cat...  " she muttered...   Trace lifted her head froma
book she had brought, and laughed softly.   She was so pleasant, it was so
weird that she got advance to Ayende so young, she was no more than 18, and
yet, she seemed so much older...   Sonja and Lissette were talking to each
other in Far Daris Mai hand-talk... Lia laughed as she caught the last part of
the conversation...
    " ... and he's so enamored with her, but she doesn't even know it" 
    " ....  Poor Ayende....."  
 Lia laughed, because they always called her Lia, and had they been talking
about her, they'd have gone somewhere she couldn't have seen...    
   Tossing her cigarette on the ground, she smiled, " Come on guys.....  we've
got to reach those cave-things Patty was talking about by nightfall  "  Lia
was so glad she didn't get any whiny babies on this trip, but Patty had
probably known Lia couldn't handle whiners...   
    Night had barely fallen when Lia and the others reached the checkpoint...
Lia stood outside with her cigarette lit, and watched everyone clustered
around Liam... Nightwind stood at her side, pouncing on invisible fuzzballs,
or whatever they were... and truly wished she could help....  Fighting, fire,
lightning, Mindbending, even Spear-dancing....  all that was one thing.....
Water on the other hand...  Lia shuddered.. water.. was baaaad stuff......
Rain.. cool.....  Water.. not bloody likely....  Lia could spit more water
than she could channel.....   Which was strange considering her strength in
everything else...   she sighed, and watched, as those who could help tried
to, and listened to Nightwind, in his shy little voice ask the fuzzballs, " Do
you think that wolf would be my new Mommy?"  

      Lia stood outside, the aftershock of Jen's storm dwindling to a
drizzle...   NIght was in full bloom, and poor Liam was moaning in his sleep
due to his injury...   Seems everyone had given up for the night, or maybe
he'd just lost a whole lot of blood... Who could say...  Lia was good at
Hurting, not healing...   Though she had been known to raise the dead once or
twice in desperation...  If she had known that she'd be leaving the Black
Ajah, she'd have left them to rot....  Though...   
     She looked over at Lissette and Sonja... contentedly Hand-talking to
themselves about Dinnae's Warder Michèl....    Seems they had come across him
washing in a stream, and were pleased...  Those two were as inseperable as
always....   But why did Lia feel on the outside....  Her loner ambiance had
only begun when she left the Black for Tar Valon,   when she had felt the
desire to ask the then Amrylin  for Asylum... and become a good guy...  But
Lissette and Sonja were her best friends...  The black was no different then
the white really.. bad no different than good, just with different goals...
Lia could remember times when Lissette, Sonja and herself would stay up all
hours hiding in secret and teaching themselves how to channel..  Each had
special powers that most Aes Sedai and Aes Sedai in training never dreamed
of....   Everyone knew Lia's had been to channel both Saidin and Saidar,
Saidin better than Saidar, but still horrendously strong in each..  Sonja had
mastered many things... But her own special talent was foretelling, and the
locating of Angreal...  Sonja would stand in a place, and know...  there was
an angreal of some sort two feet beneath her...  Lissette, her power had been
minor at first...  noone really saw it as a power...  Lissette could copy any
weave she saw.. upon seeing it once...  that wasn't seen as a useful talent
until Illyena began teaching Lia new things, but then Lissette's power had
manifested stronger...  It was not limited to Saidar...  Lissette could copy
and manipulate Saidar to weaves made by Saidin, and the True power of the Dark
one.....  All were insanely strong in their powers,  their entire group of
Novices had been,  noone was quite sure why, except that their parents had all
been Darkfriends, and not only that...  They were all Children of Darkfriend
Aes Sedai and Darkfriend Whitecloaks...  That was the only thing that tied
them together...      
      Nightwind popped in then, intterupting Lia's thoughts...   "  There are
more of you " meaning Ayende Vera...   LIa nodded...   "  Three more are
coming, and three more going the other way.. "   Lia's eyes brightened...
That meant that the hostages had been freed....  and Kelly, and Nyna,a nd
Haplo were coming back 
      " Haplo...  " She breathed.. almost not believing it...  Her mind
couldn't comprehend his return  " You care for him, huh ? "  NightWind
asked...  Lia blushed a little, glad for the night cover, and smiled " I
suppose I do....  "  Lia Sighed, and cuddled herself against a tree, hoping to
watch them arrive... . 
     Oddly, she slept instead...  in broad darkness, Lia actually slept....
not only that, but she dreamt.... 

     The fires burned brightly as she ran on and on through a tunnel....
She wore a white dress..dress!!??.. flowing, and a silver belt...  Come to
think of it, she looked a hell of a lot like Lanfear...  She didn't seem  to
be afraid... but it seemed odd now.. like what should have been...      She
entered a room, with a fire and a table with a twisted blade....   Twelve
other people stood around her....   All people she knew from her Novicehood in
the Black Ajah....   There was Lissette, looking like Mogediehen, Sonja, like
Grendal, complete with spider charm dangling from her forehead...   Tamian,
looking like Rahvin, and  Patrick, looking uncomfortable dressed as Samael....
This all clicked in, and she remembered the ceremony...  of course, a new
age.... New forsaken.....  The same had been done to her Aunt Liandrin, after
Rand's final Battle.... The Forsaken must all be born again, but it's
different for the dark side...   This was what made Ilyenna crazy...   When
Lia cut her own wrist, let the blood run into the fire, and took the oaths..
that she would serve the dark one until death.....    As did the others....
But the next part of the dream was no memory..  Haplo stood, and held a
chalice beneath  her arm, catching the blood and sipping it....   " I vow that
I will serve you and only you.."   Lia tried to stop him, but couldn't move...
Then Jak stood up, taking the chalice from Haplo... " I vow to make life
difficult for you always .."    Then that Gholom Stood up... from the fire....
Sredny.. who she barely knew.... Taking the Chalice, he sipped, " I vow to
make you mine.... " And with evil laughter, he pulled Lia into the fire... as
Sonja and Lissette, Grasped Haplo and Jak, chanting...  Long Live Liandryn...
Lanfear.. Princess of the Darkness......

      Lia woke up screaming..... Light was in her eyes, and the heat burnign
her face....  throwing her arms up, she hit someone...  the light went out,
and Lia saw Haplo, rubbing a bruised cheek, and Hat and Davidson getting out
of the car...   Car.. headlights...  Lia looked into Haplo's eyes... and
forgot about her walls, and her facade, and her hate...  All she saw was
Haplo... and she hugge dhim, not aring what he, or anyone though tof her..
forgetting to be mean and spiteful....   " Hap.. I'm so glad you're back.....
It was terrible   "   Not caring that Jen would skin Davidson, or that Liagala
eddie, and Sredney weren't there...  all she wanted was Haplo....    Lissette
and Sonja joined the scene, flashing *she's nuts* back and forth to each
other...