It Never Ends... (Solo RP)

[Leala Sedai]

Aureli let out a sigh that sounded more like a groan when she heard someone knock on her door. She had been assigned to work the kitchens today before breakfast. But, because she knew this the night before, she didn't get a good night's rest. She had worked the kitchens before, but never to prepare and bus tables for breakfast. She kept having nightmares about people fussing at her for not working fast enough. Some said she was using her one arm as an excuse to work slowly or even less than the others. Some just laughed at her from all the taunting of the others. The dream had made her frustrated and angry. When she woke up, she could feel the unspoken yell and unshed tears. She hauled herself up with her one elbow and cleared her throat until it sounded more like a voice than a crumbling building.

 

Her roommate didn't stir...even after all that moving and grunting she had done. Aureli stiffly moved to her dresses hanging on the wall. She slipped on one and tied her right sleeve in a knot with her teeth and her other arm. She stepped into her slippers and left her room. The sun hadn't even come up, and yet the halls were lit well enough that she could see. Only a few other novices moved around on the plain white tiled floor. Some were going to the kitchen, others were going...somewhere else she couldn't guess. But her destination was the kitchens. She hated laying out the tables. It just reminded her that she would never be like everyone else. At the same time, even though she was barred from some tasks didn't mean she was lacking for anything to do. Her entire day was filled with either doing chores, running errands for an Aes Sedai or Accepted, or else in class. It was the same for these women in white, too.

 

When the group got to the kitchens, they were set to work immediately. Only one other novice stayed with her to help lay out the tables. Aureli felt silly holding a tray full of plates while her partner held her plates deftly in each arm. But the feeling didn't last too long. Aureli se the first tray down and set each plate, one by one, at their place. After those were set, she went back to the kitchen for more...

 

After eating a late breakfast, Aureli was then do for laundry duty. She thought to herself as she watched the servants scurry around her and other novices that it must be nice to at least be paid for their labor. Lifting the dress she was working on to examine the red stain, she growled and tried harder to get it out. If she had had another arm, she'd be able to scrub it out with just the rest of the fabric. Even better, if she was able to channel unsupervised...no, not even Accepted were allowed to do chores with the... SPLASH!!

 

She had leaned too far in, and now Aureli was wading in a vat of dirty laundry water. No, that wasn't right...she had felt something brush the bottom of her feet. Looking up, she saw another novice who had been working directly behind her. The girl's shoulders were shaking in utter mirth, even though she was looking away, pretending to be caught up in her work. Despite being offered various hands to be helped out, Aureli got out without help. She kept a calm face, not letting the other girl know that she was boiling inside. No, she'd get her back another way. Another white novice dress was brought to her to change into. to dry her hair, she was sent outside to help in the gardens. She liked working in the gardens.

 

Happily, she knelt with another pair of novices on a spread mat, planting seeds. The other novices were called away, and just the person she was looking for came up. She hadn't seen the girl's face, but she recognized those bouncy chestnut curls. Instead of kicking dirt in her face, the other novice sat next to her and grabbed a handful of seeds. "Well, this is my first time in the gardens. How dod I plant these?" The girl had a smug grin on her face and waited for instructions. Aureli said nothing, patting the dirt around her seed. The other novice dug a hole in the dirt with a trowel and tossed all the seeds into it before covering it with dirt and patting the soil like Aureli. "Like this?" she asked. Again, Aureli said nothing, standing up.

 

"It's time for my class."

 

The other girl yelled after her, apologizing, saying she was put up to it, begging for help. It only attracted the attention of an attentive Blue who wanted to know what she was confessing to. A satisfied smile on her face, Aureli happily strode to her class. After her class, it was time for lunch. She sat down gratefully to a plate that someone else had placed there for her and began to eat. As she did, the culprit novice sat next to her. "I'm sorry..." she said, sounding as thought she meant it. "I've had such a hard time making friends..." Aureli stole a glance at her face. She had been crying. And she sat tenderly on the bench. "I thought I had found some, but they just wanted to laugh at me. None of them stood up for me in the Mistress of Novices' office. They said it had been all my fault and they had nothing to do with it."

 

"We all make choices," Aureli said simply while taking a bite out of her bread. "I didn't choose to be different, though."

 

"I know...and I really do regret what I did. My name's Ydith."

 

Aureli hesitated a bit, but introduced herself as well. It really was hard to make friends. After lunch, the pair headed off together to the library. They had to study for different classes, but extra help was always appreciated.