Liagala
    Liagala snuggled happily in her husband's arms, reveling in the feeling of
being with him once more.  There was something comforting in being held by the
man you love, something that chases away all the demons, and makes the world
right again.  Nothing can harm you with his arms around you.  For the first
time in what seemed like ages, she was happy.  Gently, she felt through the
Bond, and found that he felt the same.  She smiled softly to herself; he still
hadn't realized that she had reBonded him when she Healed him the other day.
She had been very careful to keep her emotions on a tight leash, to see how
long it would take him to notice.  Feeling mischevious, she looked up at him
and asked "So, when are we going to get reBonded, Eddie?"  If he didn't figure
it out now, he never would.  A soft smile playing about her lips, she waited
for his response.
    "ReBonded?" a dark light flared in his eyes.  This wasn't right.  He
never used that tone with her.  "You think I want to get reBonded to you?
You wish, wench."  What was this?  He must be joking.  He likes to pull stupid
jokes like this, and then expects me to laugh and act as if he wasn't tearing
my heart to shreds with every word.  Something in the light of his eyes told
her it wasn't a joke.  Suddenly afraid, she began to pull back.  He backhanded
her across the face, dropping her into unconsciousness.  

    Some unknown amount of time later, Liagala awoke, with a screaming headache.
Everyone in the Purple Tower was gathered around, their various vehicles like
a nomadic caravan.  She stumbled over to them, and said without preamble.
"Something has taken over Eddie's mind.  I need some motorcycles, and some
volunteers.  I'm going after him.  Lia, Sonja, you two are welcome to come if
you want, but for the rest, I would prefer men.  If it gets ugly, we need
people strong enough to hold him, and with the White Tower rampaging, we might
not be able to channel.  I want anyone who's willing to go and can fit on the
bikes with me, now.  If there aren't enough bikes, I need someone to drive me
to a dealership, pronto.  I Will Not Lose Him Again."  She glared about,
expecting resistance, but to her utter amazement, there was none.  (I'll let
someone else RP about how we end up with the bikes, cuz I don't know if Lia
and co. are coming along.)  If no one wants to come, that's fine by me.  I
just left the door open in case people wanted to come, but I don't mind going
alone, either. 

    Following the Bond, Liagala and her party (if there is one) found Eddie in
short order.  He hadn't gone far, as he was on foot, not having found the time
to get a vehicle.  When they caught up to him, he was reluctant at first to
allow them to go along, explaining the story in detail, but Liagala simply
refused to acknowledge him.  When he finally wound down, she said "You have no
further objections?  Good.  Then let's get going.  You can ride with me, we'll
go to the airport and catch the next plane for Seanchean."


Kaitlyn

   Kait snarled at someone to give her more room.  She was sitting crosslegged
on the floor behind Patty's seat, back pressed into the corner formed by the
seat and side of the van.  Haplo's head was in her lap, the rest of him
sprawled at an angle across the van, feet pointed to the far corner.
Caralaine was in the passenger's seat, Agelmar kneeling on the floor behind
her, trying to make himself as small as possible.  The back and middle seats
had been folded down and shoved back as far into the cargo space as they'd go,
and the remaining occupants of the vehicle were perched atop them, or sitting
on the floor as far away from Hap as possible. 
   She was still reeling from all that had happened in such a short space.
First healing Kat, then the near-accident, Eddie's desertion and Liagala
taking off after him, the scramble to get into the vehicles and leave....  She
was still unhappy with having to move Haplo before she could even assess his
injuries, but Patty had been right.  They couldn't afford to get entangled
with the police. 
   The thoughts all flashed across her mind in a heartbeat, and then she shoved
them aside to concentrate on Haplo.  When they had first arrived at the
accident scene, he had been glowing so much that they could barely see him.
It had abated somewhat, as if his Patryn protections had recognized
"friendlies."  At least, no one had been zapped when they moved him to the
van.  She tried to assess his injuries.  Miraculously, he appeared to have
suffered no hurt but the one from Eddie's sword, and that wasn't as bad as it
could have been.  It appeared to have missed the vital organs.  Perhaps that
was due to his protections, or maybe Eddie had done it purposely so as not to
kill him; Kait couldn't say. 
   She was suddenly conscious of a shifting nearby.  Caralaine was switching
places with Agelmar, and met her eyes across Haplo's prone form.  "You don't
have the strength to do this alone," the Aes Sedai told her.  "Link with me." 
 Kait nodded, once, then hesitated.  "I don't know if you can hear me, Haplo,
but it's Kaitlyn and I'm going to try to heal you.  Just relax."  Devoutly
hoping that Haplo's protections wouldn't fry them all, she linked with
Caralaine and began. 
   With the other's Power augmenting her own, she wove flows quickly, trying not
to feel dismay at the amount of damage.  First to staunch the bleeding, there,
and then repairing all the damage to tissues and blood vessels.  It was
painstaking work.  When the hardest, the internal damage, was dealt with, she
dissolved the link, knowing she could finish the rest on her own.  Then she
used a weave of mostly Air and Earth to stitch together the skin where the
blade had entered his back, with Spirit to make it hold.  A quick check showed
that he would be alright, though he might be sore for a few days, and the scar
would take awhile to fade.  So be it.  There had been no time for finesse, and
they dared not channel so much for too long, for fear of attracting attention. 
   When she released saidar, she was suddenly aware of just how tired she was.
She would have fallen over had she not been wedged so firmly into place.
Resting her head against the back of the driver's seat, she noticed Caralaine
doing the same on the other side of the van, and gave her a tired, grateful
smile.  Liam shifted forward a little to ask, "Is he okay now?"


Vree

      Vree leaned back into the driver's seat.  It was a little more plush
than that found in normal sports cars, but then Battle Angel wasn't a normal
sports car, but any sense of the word.  The seat contoured confortably to fit
her body and Vree released a weary sigh.  
      She'd been hoping the accident with Kat and Andy would be the worst of
their troubles, as optimistic as that may be, but what happened with Hap's car
was the classic example of how trouble just seemed to follow the Purple Tower,
where ever it may be.
      Lissy and Kat lie exhausted, sleeping off their Healing in the back
seat.  Andy sat beside her in the passanger seat, eyes staring stonily at the
passing trees.  Andy had wanted to drive after their little incident on the
road, but Vree had refused to relinquish her keys.  Going so far as to
threaten to really hog-tie him to the roof of his car if he persisted. ^_~
      Her thoughts lingered, momentarily on Eddie and Liagala, hoping that the
two would be fine.  Hoping that Eddie had not found a way around the seal
holding the Dark One's taint from saidin and found himself mad.  Wondering if
Eddie might still have the primitive com unit that Haplo and he had used...
      :::Huntress, your thoughts are troubled...:::  Shadow's voiced echoed in
her head, followed by pure emotional happiness of being free in the woods.
She smiled, the wolf was trying to cheer her.  :::What ail you, Sister?  The
cubs are well, the Pack follows.:::
      :::It's too quiet::: she replied, and for the first time realized it was
true, :::There should have been pursuit by now.  The White Tower hunts.:::
She sent images of lightening and troubled clouds roiling over the horizon,
more a feeling of danger rather than fear.
      "What's wrong?"
      Vree glanced to the passanger seat, startled from her conversation with
the wolf.  She blinked, "Beg pardon?"
      Andy threw her a wary look.  "Look, I can tell from the look on your
face there's something not right.  I may not have enjoyed my ride on your
roof, nor may I have enjoyed getting stuck in the passanger seat of the car of
a woman whom I believe insane, but I  do know a troubled look when I see one.
And since Lissy and I are in the car, I want to know the problem."
      Vree threw him a crooked grin.  "Insane am I?  Believe me, you haven't
seen insane yet."  Her eyes flashed gold briefly before returning to their
normal hue.  "There's nothing wrong... yet."
      He frowned.
      She stopped listening to him.  Searching the woods through Shadow's
senses, Vree caught a distinct rythmic beating that widened her eyes in alarm.
Shadow's warning howl joined the Moonlight Dancing and the rest of the Pack's
as Vree called the alarm.
      "Kait!!!  Patty!!!  There's a copper heading our way!   I think we
attracted too much attention with that explosion.  Kait!  Patty!"  The com
buzzed in and out of existence.  As the last words left her mouth, Vree saw
the helicopter search lights touch the horizon in the rearview mirror.  Vree
cursed the luck of getting the defective com unit and continued rattling off
the warning.
      Andy twisted in his seat, and began swearing blatantly.
      Vree's eyes widened as the helicoter drew nearer at an impossibly fast
velocity.  The irregular black bulge emerging from the side of the aircraft
revealed a large, unwieldly, mounted machine gun.  Opening herself to the
Source for the thrid time that night, Vree allowed saidar to fill her with its
sweet power.  Grabbing the weave of the car's infinitesimally complicated
shielding, she twisted with Air, Earth, and Spirit.
      The car disappeared from human site.  Vree slammed on the brakes as the
helicopter opened fire.  Bullets slammed into the pavement just ahead of the
car.  The car roared protest and Vree shifted gears and slammed on the
accelerator, spinning the wheels on pavement in an ear splitting shriek.  
       Thankful for Battle Angel's amazing shields, Vree accelerated until the
car was actually beneath and behind the helicopter.  "Kait!  Patty!  I'm still
here.  We've got to split up or something, they're--"  The com buzzed and
died.  Not good.


Kat

   After being thrown from the car, Kat's awareness faded into a jarred
jumble of pain and images... All she could remember clearly was when her
bond snapped back into existance, lightning pain shooting up her arm as
a shadowy figure leaned over her, and a perverse feeling of acute
embarrassment. Being thrown from a car, her thoughts raved, speeding
down a highway... how bad can you get? 
   After an indeterminable time they pulled in somewhere. She was carefully
manhandled out of the car and Kait healed her. She would have engulfed
the woman in a huge bear hug, but Lissy was fretting over her
immediately. It's nice to feel loved, she thought wryly. Not that she
had enough strength right after healing to go around hugging everyone.
Stupid me... 
   They were back in the car. She smiled sheepishly at Vree; she looked
kind of wild, with her hair mussed and her face fixed in a dark
expression. She caught Kat's look and gave her a little half-smile. Kat
fell asleep. 
   Lissy was still fretting over her nervously, but was relieved that she
was healed and asleep. As a matter of fact, she was pretty tired
herslef. Must be the bond, she yawned to herself. She was still in the
back next to Andy because she insisted Kat have more room. Not because
she wanted to be near him. Definately not! 
   Andy stared out the little half-window by his seat, head held proudly.
Lissy was soon torn between worrying over her bondmate and wondering
what was wrong with Andy. She decided, after a moment, that Kat was fine
and she couldn't do anything for her while she was asleep anyway. She
touched Andy's shoulder softly. "Love? What's wrong?" 
   He blinked, then looked at her. "What do you think? I was minding my own
business, trying to figure out what's wrong with my Land Cruiser, and
you guys pick me up--" He saw Lissy's look. "No, believe me, I was glad
to see you," he assured her. She smiled sweetly. "And then," he
continued, "I'm tied to the top of this car like a slab of meat by some
woman I don't even know. I end up falling off going who knows how fast.
And Kat..." He clenched his fist reflexively. 
   Larissa raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Andy, are you... jealous? Of
Kat's bond?" Andy stared at her blankly. "Oh, love," she giggled.
"You're always first for me. And Kat..." She searched for words.
"Well... uhm, well, that's... differ'nt!" She degenerated into giggles
again, but stifled it when a little vein in Vree's temple starting
pulsing. Andy looked at her skeptically. But then his hard face softened
a little into a smile.  "Yes, well..." he said, and put an arm around her. 
Things went okay for a while then... but Kat was jerked from strange
dreams about Liss, Andy, and horses as Vree's car screeched to a halt
before plummeting down the road and into Kait's van. Kat felt better,
but all this crap was giving her a headache. The scene was lit by
streetlamps and... fire? Kat unbuckled her seatbelt and flew out the
door. Lissy tried to stop her, but she was still entangled with her
seatbelt. Andy was right behind her. 
   She saw Haplo on one side of the road and Liagala on the other. "Oh,
curses," she muttered, and ran to her brother, nearly falling on top him
when she stopped. Why did I have to fall off that Light-forsaken car?
she thought. She had to squint to see him, thanks to those rune-thingies
of his. "Haplo!" she wailed. Wasn't there some Patryn trick to stuff
like this? Jargon about circles dawned on her, but she couldn't make any
sense of it. She saw movement from the corner of her eye, a shadow
sprinting into the woods. 
   Haplo was swept away into Patty's van, and Liagala was screaming
something about finding Eddie. What was he doing, running off like that?
Men! She glanced at Liagala... but Liss saw her look and grabbed her arm
with one hand and Andy's with the other. "Neither of you is going
anywhere," she growled, and shoved them back into Vree's car. 
"But Hap, and Eddie--" Kat started. 
   Larissa looked at her levelly. "Don't even." Kat submitted, recognizing
that stubborn glare. 
   Kat fell asleep in the backseat behind Vree, Larissa behind Andy with
the same idea. 
She woke up again as she was thrown against her seatbelt to the sound of
mass destruction. "My God!" she screamed. "Is there no rest?!" Larissa
was doing her best to hang onto Andy and not get strangled by her
seatbelt. Andy was cursing and trying to untangle her arms from around
his neck. 
   "Now there's something bloody flaming wrong!" he muttered. Vree gave him
a look.  Kat, now wide awake, saw Vree's attempts to reach thru with the comm.
"Vree," she said, "you're wolfkin, right? And so's Patty. Wouldn't that
Moonlight wolf have told her? And then she could comm the other vans?"
   The cars ahead coated for a minute, not knowing whether to act
nonchalant or go for broke before, almost simotaneously, they hit the
gas and shot ahead. Patty's voice came over the comm, full of static but
recongizable. At least it worked one way. 
   "Vree, where are you? There's a helicoptor chasing us. We've got to
split up or something." 
   Vree smiled grimly. "My thoughts exactly," she muttered. She tried the
comm again to no avail.


Rebecca & Katja

   Rebecca rubbed Algai's neck as she watched the group heading to buy the
vehicles.  Where in the world had Jen and Katja gone?  They had
disappeared too quickly for her to pick up the afterimage of the weaves
on the gateways.  And, of course, Katja hadn't mentioned what to do with
the horse if she couldn't take him with her any longer.  No, she had
just handed her the reins, without a word!  Rebecca shook her head with
disgust, but she just couldn't get angry at Katja.
   Looking back at the black horse, she sighed.  "What in the world am I
going to do with you," she questioned, "You can't exactly ride in a van
or car with us."  Rebecca laughed at the image of the 20 hands tall
horse sitting in the back of a ferrari.  Sadly, she led the horse over
to where a long-ago avalanche had piled rocks on top of each other.  She
found a cave just big enough, and put the saddle and reins inside, along
with the saddlebags and everything in them.  Hesitantly, she reached up
behind the horses ears and stopped.  Algai, seeming to know what was
going on, was pawing and tossing it head, making it even harder for
Rebecca to reach up far enough.  Finally, she used one hand to grab his
halter alongside his cheek, and with with the other hand, traced the
fabric to just behind the ears.  With a sigh, she unlatched it, and
slipped the halter off.  The horse, completely free of man, stopped and
looked at Rebecca.  "Stay well, friend," Rebecca spoke, more to herself
than to the horse, "Katja will be mad enough when she gets back, but
she'll find you again."  It took her by suprise when the horse nodded
its head up and down and then rubbed the top of her head with his chin.
In a flash, he was gone.  Rebecca wandered back to the group, wondering
what Katja was doing.

   Katja quickly uncurled herself from the corner in the closet.  It was
almost impossible to get any sleep or food, but she imagined that she
was back on her own, with only her wits and talents to keep her from
dieing in the wilderness.  Only, now, there was no animals to be
companions and no fruits that can be plucked from trees or bushes.  But
now wasn't a time to reflect on that.  It sounded like someone was coming.
Katja stood up and backed farther into the corner, blending into the
shadows.  The footsteps stopped outside the door, and she held her
breath as the seconds ticked by.  Fortunately, a voice called from the
hallway, and the footsteps turned and left the room outside of the
closet.  Deciding that she was hungry, Katja slipped out of the closet.
She padded quietly across the floor, thankful that she had cut the heels
and some of the sole off of her boots many days ago.  The soft leather
had quickly readjusted to the different position, and cushioned most
sound that came from her already quiet footsteps.  Pulling on the
Accepted's dress that she had found in the closet, she happily noticed
that it was about the right size.  A little big, but that covered up the
fact that she was wearing other clothes underneath.  Lowering her head,
she stepped into the hallway, following her nose to the delicious smells.
"Accepted, take these forms to the Amyrlin," an Aes Sedai, wearing a
yellow dress ordered her.  Katja nodded her head, doing her best curtsy.
   The lady seemed satisfied, for when Katja raised her head, she was
gone.  Hmm, wonder what these say?  Katja slipped into a nook to open
the letters.  One was about a bunch of Warders injured by an escaping
Darkfriend, the name Eddie catching her eye.  Way to go, Eddie!  The
other was about the "recivilizing of the Blue Sitter".  What in the
world could that be about?  Seeing nothing about Jen, she tossed them
in a nearby trash can, and continued her constant search for food.
Katja knew that it would be very difficult to get out of the WT without
being noticed.  She had been there long enough to make a gateway, but
somebody would be able to feel the amount of energy used to make
something as large as that.  Jen had covered up her entrance, but what
could cover up her exit?  She could just walk out, except for the fact
that she was in a part of the WT for members only.  And the rest of the
WT was heavily guarded and watched.  Sure, she could wear a WT dress,
but after leaving this section, there was too much traffic for her to
shed it, and she wouldn't be able to leave the tower in it without a
special pass from the Amyrlin.
   And then there was Jen.  She still wasn't sure what had happened to her.
   When they had taken her from the study, she wasn't dead, or even
stilled, but she was still hurt.  Black clouds rolled over blue in her
eyes as she thought of Mayadi, but there was nothing she could do at the
moment besides what she had been doing the past few days.  Slinking,
listening, and foraging.  And for some strange reason she was enjoying it.


Haplo

   Hasn't too good for his old body.  Finally, he woke as pain lanced through
him, someone using the Power on him.  He opened his eyes and saw Kaitlyn and
Caralaine sitting next to him.  A groan broke the silence as he pulled himself
into a sitting position, he was almost as weak as a newborn.  He only half
heard the two as they tried to explain what they had done, but the only thing
he heard was that they had healed him.  A growl started in his throat as he
reached, painfully and slowly, to the place where Eddie stabbed him.  He felt
the scar left there by the healing, disrupting the flow of the runes...until
it went away he was as helpless as a mensch!  "What did y'all do ta me?" he
asked the women, "I may never use the magic again, my body was trying to heal
itself when you stopped it and did your own."  He groaned again as he lay back
down.  "We're goin straight on, I don't give a shit where the hell Eddie an Li
have gone, we need ta get ta Tear, they can take care of themselves.  Get
everybody movin, while I try an fix what ya did ta me," he said as he
attempted another healing sleep....


Patty

      By whatever power one wished to be guided by, the trip started out
uneventfully.  No blaring sirens; no Red Ajah on their tails; nobody getting
pulled over for speeding.  In the Brown van, Patty noticed that a few of the
people had started to relax.  Not a lot...but the tension was reducingvisably.
      Patty had spent the first hour or so chatting intensely with Caralaine.
They were catching up with each other.  Patty wanted to know how things stood
with her former Ajah, and Caralaine wanted to know just what the hell was
going on with the Purple Tower.  Patty asked after Celisa Sedai and Reidon
Gaidin in particular.  She would never be able to thank them enough for what
they had done for her, and it was important for her to know they hadn't
sufferred for helping her.
      "I knew what Celisa was working on.  But I made it my business *not* to
know.  Things have changed in the Tower.  Everyone is suspicious of everyone
else.  Even we Browns were well aware of the poisonous atmosphere around
us...and you know how hard it is to get our attention."  She shared a sad
smile with Patty.  "I never asked Celisa about what she was doing...and I
didn't have to ask Reidon if he was successful when he returned."  She reached
out and lay her hand on Patty's arm.  "I'm so glad you're okay."  she
whispered in a choked voice.
      Patty reached over and squeezed Caralaine's hand.  She glanced over at
her long time friend and mentor.  "Thank you."  Her voice had become equally
as choked.  Caralaine sat back up in her seat and stared out at the road
ahead.  "When we left....we left badly.  It may throw a bad light on the
Browns for a while.  But Celisa and Reidon know how to take care of
themselves.  They'll weather this new storm too."
      Caralaine became lost in her thoughts.  Not long after, she seemed to
slip into a doze.  Patty really wasn't surprised.  Caralaine was no spring
chicken, but she'd managed to keep up with Eddie and Agelmar running through
the woods.  Of course she was exhausted.  
      Patty checked out the status of the rest of her passangers.  Liam and
Agelmar were in the seat directly behind her. They seemed to be having an
intense discussion about something, but Patty couldn't hear.  Katassa and
Rebecca were sitting together in the middle seat.  Rebecca had fallen asleep
and slid down to lean on Katassa.  Katassa had thrown her arm around the girl
and arranged her in a more comfortable position.  Katassa wasn't sleeping, but
seemed entranced watching the scenery go by out the window.  Danielle was
pouting in the seat furthest in the back.  
      Patty reached out to Moonlight Dancing.  She grinned when she felt the
joy of her friend.  She managed to pick out something about "running with
humans too long", but mostly the wolf was enjoying the feeling of the ground
beneath her and the speed with which she ran.
      Patty turned her thoughts from her wolf friend to Sredny.  To say she'd
been disturbed by his revelation would be a severe understatement.  When he'd
told her what he'd done to the wolves she was thoroughly disgusted.  Her heart
sank with every word he said, and every step they took.  She still couldn't
reconcile what he said he'd done with what he'd done for the Purple Tower.
      She tried to think back and figure out what she thought of Sredny when
he'd first joined the Purple Tower, but she didn't have a clear recollection.
He'd come to the Tower not long after her stilling.  An involuntary shiver ran
up and down her spine.      She tried to remember how he'd behaved, and how
Moonlight Dancing had behaved toward him.  She couldn't remember a single
instance when Moonlight Dancing had demonstrated any hostility toward the man.
But then why did she flip out so badly when Tamane had attacked the Gholem?
      ~~It was my mistake.  I lost control.~~  The sending startled Patty in
it's intensity and it's underlying feelings of disgust toward Sredny and
Moonlight Dancing herself.  Moonlight Dancing then showed some of what Sredny
had told her about on the mountain.
      Packs being ripped apart. From pups to oldsters the Packs were
systematically destroyed. Wolves skinned alive and left for the carrion
eaters.  Unimaginable torture. Lingering death.  Patty had to swallow hard
around the tightness in her chest.  The wolves had many names for the Gholem:
Liquid-Shadow-Death. Wolf-Eater. Grassburner's Son... Plague.
      ~~Why didn't you tell me?!~~
      Moonlight Dancing was filled with conflicting feelings.  ~~YOU were the
reason I came to be with humans.  I needed to help make you whole.  You were
alreadly filled with fear and anger.  If I had given you mine...I would have
lost you.~~
      Patty was stunned with the feelings behind the sending.  As strongly as
the wolf had felt against the gholem...her need to protect Patty was stronger.
She knew that in the state Patty had been in she'd never have been able to
deal with how the wolf was feeling.  So, Moonlight Dancing had kept herself in
check.  She watched Sredny for any move against her adopted pack.  She was so
ready to kill him.  But everything he had done since she'd known him had been
for the benefit of the pack of the Purple Tower.  Patty trusted him, and he'd
never let her down.
      It wasn't until Shadow had joined Vree on the mountain and Tamane had
attacked Sredny that the wolf's instincts had won out over her intellect.  A
part of her knew that since Patty was Healed, the wolf's reaction to the
gholem wouln't be damaging to her. She'd been so long without the presence of
another wolf, that Shadow's intense reaction had triggered the long pent up
emotions in her.  She was ashamed of her loss of control.
      Patty had never sensed such self-doubt and self-anger in the wolf.  She
tried to send back as much love and reassurance as she could without checking
out completely and driving them off the road.  ~~LOVE~~GRATITUDE~~
      ~~Oh my friend!!  What you've done for me!!  Please don't be angry with
yourself...~~  She was at a loss for what to say to her friend.  Patty
wondered if Shadow had been giving Moonlight Dancing a hard time for not
killing the gholem as soon as she knew who he was.  Was that the source of
Moonlight Dancing's anger toward herself?  Patty desparately wanted to stop
the van and find her friend.  Physically hold her and work this out between
them.  
      And what would Patty make of Sredny now?  She didn't know how to deal
with the man.  A part of her already felt the loss.