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Behind The Dorms, Tuesday After Classes

"During the attack two weeks ago, we found ourselves relying on our fellows," Arthur began, peering around the reserves. "It can be safer to go out in teams of two or three, especially when our vision is limited and larger groups might become unwielding. We have spent a lot of time training ourselves individually, but it is small groups that will have our attention today."

He gestured at the group. "I'd like you to find a partner or two. Discuss your skills or powers, and determine whether or not they compliment each other. Practice combinations of individual skills wherever possible. We won't get you all up to anticipating each other's movements in one session, but it will be a start."

A beat.

"If possible, try to meet up and do the same several times this week," he said, "If nothing else, it has become obvious we are strongly in need of small teams used to working with each other."

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]]

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“Do I have to be to enjoy a tree?” she wondered, kicking her legs idly. “I wonder if I ought to feel gypped that I haven’t any feathers?”

"Probably not," Mat decided, "unless you were supposed to have some and they got lost. I enjoy trees plenty from here on the ground. They're bloody excellent to hide behind."

“But people oh so rarely look up,” she pointed out, unable to keep from smirking at that. “Making it far easier to get a drop on someone just walking ‘round.”

"Makes it easier to get eaten by a creature who would live in the tree, too," Mat replied.

Mat was quite a fan of nature. Really.

“I won’t tell you ‘bout our tree dwelling flesh-eating leeches back home then,” Ino said, rolling her eyes in amusement and swinging out of the tree with absent-minded ease. She landed light and raised one eyebrow. “Better?”

"Much," Mat said, grinning. "I thank you, my lady. Now, other than tree climbing, what skills will you share with the group?"

Which was not the same as asking what skills she had.

It really wasn’t.

“Clever of you,” she praised impishly and shrugged. “I’m a fully trained medic-with-magic—of a sort. If I can’t heal someone up right then and there, I can generally do enough to get them stable and get them to more comprehensive help. Downsides are that it’s a slow ability for middle of fight. Anything more than a scrape and I need to focus which leaves me open to attack if I’m busy healin’.”

Ino tugged at her hair. “My primary training is in stealth, espionage and sabotage. If I’m going to attack someone, I’m going to find a way to give myself as many advantages as possible first—poisons, ranged attacks, trip wires, anything like that.” Spars for training and fun were different beasts entirely. “And I’m good at personal illusions. If I don’t want someone here to see me, then they’re not going to unless they’ve got a power that cancels mine out. And I can walk up walls and on water.”

A beat.

“Questions?”

Edited 2010-04-06 16:59 (UTC)

Mat's jaw had dropped at her list. "You can walk up walls?"

It was hardly the most impressive on the list, but his brain had frizzled out a bit.

Her eyes went guilelessly wide. Empty as a light bulb and about as bright.

“You mean you can’t?”

Ino, it is mean to tease like that.

Mat pouted at her. "That's not very polite," he said. "I'm not bloody magical. Not that I want to be. Men and the Power don't mix well where I come from."

She wrinkled her nose at him slightly.

“You could, in time, learn most everything I can do,” Ino said, “what I dub magic here ‘cause it’s easier to explain is closer to using your own life energy to accomplish things. And everybody’s got life energy.”

Unless they, uh, weren’t alive.

“I’ve been training my whole life. Ain’t no reflection on you what I can do. What can you do, then?”

"I don't think I have the time, and I don't really relish the idea of the Red Ajah tracking me down and trying to gentle me to figure out what I'd learned," Mat said with a slightly apologetic smile. "I can dance. I'm a decent card player. I can make women smile."

And he was one of the great generals, but that part he skipped.

Eh, she’d skipped the telepathy and possession bits of her little recitation. They were pretty evenly matched in omitting details that were important.

“Making women smile is a useful trait,” she said, being biased. Yes. “More honestly, though, dancing and a gift for charm can be used in a lot of situations. Don’t know ‘bout a straight out fight though...”

Well, she did, but. “No weapons at all?”

Mat pulled a knife out of his sleeve and spun it between his fingers. "I didn't say that," he said with a wink. "I can also thump any noble with a sword using a quarterstaff. I'm a decent shot with a bow and arrow, too."

Ino arched one brow.

"Can you thump oh fearless leader over there?" ... She was curious. Shut up. "And see, that's dangerous omitting," Ino scolded. "What if someone hadn't asked 'bout weapons and went on thinkin' you were useless and it did come to a fight in some invasion? They'd be makin' mistakes in watching their back 'cause they'd be watching yours."

"Arthur?" Mat checked, then grinned again. "I can definitely thump him. I beat two Warder-trained princelings when I was just out of a sickbed. And I helped free Lady Winchester last weekend, so I'm no slouch. I just don't want it widely advertised."

"Warder-trained?" she asked curiously, then shook her head. "Fine, fine. I'll let you pass this time."

Besides, she hardly wanted the same lecture about her powers. Ew, no.

"So how do you think we'd work best together?"

"Warders keep Aes Sedai alive," Mat said. Helpful, really. And then he described a battle plan that would optimize on Ino's skillset.

He also forgot to mention that he was a bit of a tactician.

"Would that do?"

...

...

"I see," she said, her tone somewhere between amused and horrified. "You're one of those people."

Ino had experience with overly efficient tactician types, yes.

"The handsome ones? It is a burden, but yes," Mat replied, winking.

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Behind The Dorms, Tuesday After Classes

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