02

[knifesedge]

[Some several days after arriving in Luceti, Knives finally appears in town in midafternoon. This is with remarkably little fanfare; what's one more new feather this week? Those who are familiar with Vash might well recognize him, as they are identical twins; his hair's shorter and black, he's a bit paler, but the rest is still there. The same features, nearly the same bearing..

But Vash probably doesn't pick his way through Luceti with thinly veiled distaste, as if he's spending most of the time wading knee-deep in something nasty. And he is shopping. Oh yes. So much shopping.

Probably because of the black and white border collie cheerfully tagging along wherever he goes. Which means Knives can be found at various times of the day at the grocery store, library, and in the forest near Luceti when he can't tolerate the town any longer.]

Comments

[Action at the Library]

[agelesseyes]

[The balls of light quiver as he touches them, but they're quite cool as his hand passes through them. Nothing about them is really solid, after all.]

I am.

[Coolly, she eyes knives, face expressionless.]

Have you never seen such before?

[Liebrary]

[knifesedge]

[The lack of solidity is interesting, and he frowns, immediately tempted to see how they interact with his own power. But that... is too dangerous, he decides quickly enough. Not enough to waste on such frivolous activities. Instead, after a thoughtful pause, he initiates the process he'd normally have used to absorb external sources of power - his own kind normally, but it might do something interesting when he moves to touch the next time. Maybe not. Curiosity.. has its downsides.]

Intangible light sources that cool the air where they rest? No.

[His tone is one of distraction, or simple lack of desire to interact much at all. The little lights were far more interesting than Moiraine herself.] I've seen something similar but touching it would kill you.

[But not Knives, is the implication in the way his voice shifts slightly. Perhaps she simply wasn't human, such skills could belong in the hands of other species safely. Certainly humanity did no such things in his universe.]

What are you, that lets you create such things?

[Liebrary indeed]

[agelesseyes]

[Moiraine closes her book, marking the page carefully and gives him her full attention. Her lip curls into a dry little smile as she shakes her head]

I could make them kill you, if you'd like. I thought that it'd be safer for passersby if I just made lamps.

[And in response to the question, she shifts her hand subtly, revealing her ring. A serpent eating it's own tail. Anyone familiar with her world would know the meaning but she imagined he wouldn't. It was simply a reflexive gesture at this point. Her ageless face remains smooth save that thin smile]

I am Aes Sedai. Though I suspect that means little to you. You might refer to me as a magician.

[Deceptionbrary is too obvious]

[knifesedge]

You could try. [He seems utterly fearless, unconcerned as to whether or not she could, or would. But neither is it an outright taunt, or a challenge, he's much too distracted by trying to shepherd one around for that.

The gesture with the ring does indeed mean nothing to him, the tail-eating snake was a symbol he often associated with alchemical processes from medieval times, but it probably meant different things on other worlds. More importantly, something she says seems to leech a good deal of unspoken tension out of him. Maybe he did know what it meant?

... Not at all. But he'd asked her for her species, in a somewhat less obvious way, and she hadn't responded with 'human'. His outright hostility was reserved for them alone. 'Aes Sedai' was as likely a species as 'plant' is. It might be a bit odd; without that tension there, unspoken and understated, he seems much more like his brother than he'd care to ever admit. Almost but not quite harmless.]

Can all your kind do such things?

[Even his tone seems more polite - or just less grumpy.]

[Just a bit!]

[agelesseyes]

[Well, what else would she be Knives? She's hardly an Ogier, and she's hardly some sort of shadowspawn. So the question is meaningless. But then, whoever heard of a fantasy world without elves? This one. The orbs to retreat in, winking out and dimming the little room a bit. She's not quite gotten comfortable with electrical lighting.]

The lamps? Yes, it's the first thing any novice learns how to do.

Who are you?

[We'll find something less obvious.]

[knifesedge]

[Looking human doesn't make one human, Knives is a good example of that. And as magical powers don't seem very human to him, the conclusion is obvious!

.. Erroneous, but obvious. But it, and the lack of knowing about the newt thing, keep him anything but hostile. Sometimes mistruths and misunderstandings are a good thing!

He seems disappointed when the lights wink out.]

Then you are trained, good. [His people weren't! They figured it out eventually. The lack of already having the answer to who he is gets Moiraine an odd look.] That's refreshing.

[He seems to mean it.] My name is Knives.

[GooD]

[agelesseyes]

[Moiraine smiles quietly. As if anyone could use the Power without some sort of training...]

Yes, of course. It takes study.

[Knives...so not Vash. That's good at least.]

I am called Moiraine, Knives. Am I correct in guessing you are...new?

[BaaD]

[knifesedge]

An innate skill? Not something anyone with the desire to try could learn, I assume.

[He hopes. The last thing he needs is humanity running around with 'magic'.

He's been called Vash more than once, but it wasn't his name and he wasn't inclined to answer to it. There are differences at least, for those who know what to look for, in spite of being identical twins. ..Aside from the hair.

Having dismissed the possibility the Aes Sedai is human (boy that one will come back to haunt him later), he seems almost but not quite comfortable in her presence, though he picks up his two books and steps out of personal-bubble range after a moment.]

As new as the morning. It's taking a bit of time to get my bearings. Nothing quite prepares one for waking up in a prison. A pretty prison to be certain..

[Like the Power Glove.]

[agelesseyes]

No. It requires a certain spark that not many have. And no man.

[Not for Saidar anyway.]

A newcomer and already seeking knowledge of...dogs? Did you arrive with a pet, Knives?

[The expression there is pretty quizzical.]

[Some things are best left forgotten!]

[knifesedge]

Hm. It was thought that only females could hold the power in my species as well, until males were born and proved it wrong. Perhaps it simply hasn't happened yet. Perhaps it never will.

[There's no sense that it really bothers him that power could be gender-segregated. It makes sense to him, but then again his entire species save for two individuals is female.]

No. I seek knowledge of everything, but the dog matter is first. [He flips one of the books open and thumbs through it a little.] I acquired a dog here. .. Or more accurately a dog acquired me. It is ... complicated. But I know little about them, dogs are uncommon on my world. It seemed best to find out before anything goes awry.

[Or are they?]

[agelesseyes]

Dogs are uncommon in your world? Truly?

[Yes, that's the thing that stuck with her. Moiraine is very much a cat person. Cats like Aes Sedai while dogs seem drawn to men who can channel.

And she doesn't want to talk about male channelers...]

[Yes, absolutely.]

[knifesedge]

[The book is snapped closed.]

The planet is called 'No Man's Land'. It is little more than a global desert. There isn't enough food and water to sustain most Earth animals larger than a cat. Cats are ubiquitous. Dogs however are rare, and as I understand it, something of a status symbol.

[If you had the resources to throw away on having a dog, then you had a lot of resources.]

Things seem far more abundant here.

[agelesseyes]

They are. So you took one in immediately?

[The rest of it is absorbed quietly. What can one say to that? Moiraine mentally files all this away for later though.]

[knifesedge]

No. As I said, I didn't get a dog, it ... she got me. I simply chose not to reject ..her, and leave her behind when she wished to follow.

[It's difficult, to equate a spayed animal with 'she', when it was in fact now neuter, but if that's how people did it in Luceti, then Knives will adapt.]

It's a diversion. There's no harm in having a dog, or particular prestige. If I wished to have one before then I would have. You have no pets yourself.

[Not ..quite a question, she didn't seem a pet-sort.]

I am so fail with tagging speed lately T.T

[agelesseyes]

[Moiraine smiles at that and shakes her head]

That's not entirely correct, Knives. I do have a pet. My horse arrived with me, though I've grown to think of Aldieb more as a partner than a pet. But I do not keep...cats or dogs, no.

RL always comes first!

[knifesedge]

... A horse.

[Something in his tone suggests Knives has to scramble a bit to even remember what one of those were. His brow furrows slightly.]

You keep livestock as pets? How do you keep it indoors with you?

[agelesseyes]

Livestock? No, a horse is hardly livestock. A good horse...well, they'll weather the roughest storms as Siuan might say.

[She clicks her tongue irritably.]

And a horse is kept in a stable, of course.

[knifesedge]

[The usefulness of a horse, to someone who's probably seen one in his life and that in Luceti, is nil. Knives knows what the words mean; stables are where animals are kept. But there's no connection to anything relevant. It's archaic, an anachronism from Earth.]

If you say so.

[His tone is one of an utter lack of caring. Horses weren't pets if they were kept as far away as possible. He knew little of pets but that didn't sound right to him.

Knives should at least offer a parting goodbye or something, but he simply turns, scanning the bookshelves, intending to continue his search.]

[agelesseyes]

[With a sniff, Moiraine goes back to her reading, the lights flickering back into existence.

What a rude man...]