07/20/2000

Barracks Room #41, White Tower, Tar Valon



Up on his bunk bed, Neelkan is rolled on his side, half-asleep, half-awake.
In the very beginning stages of sleep in fact. And not by his own will,
he's tired and keeps drifting off. He knows he should sleep. He has yet
more tasks to complete tomorrow, and everything, not to mention training
and normal chores. But he doesn't want to go back to sleep after that
partial dream he had a little bit ago. So he's going to try to linger on
conciousness for a while.

Redd slips into the room as quietly as he can. He doesn't want to wake
anyone save one person. He climbs up to Neelkan's bed and looks at him
before climbing up onto the bed, and onto Neelkan before asking in a
whispered voice, "Are you awake?"

There's a soft grunt, but honestly, Neelkan's glad for the little
distraction. His eye lids were starting to wait to seal shut. He slowly
peeks one open, though not really able to make out much more then an
outline at first. "Ye'h..." he mutters back softly, reaching up to rub at
his eyes to try and clear his vision. "Redd?"

Redd nods silently. "Yeah, it is me. I need your help making a decision."
No explanation to why he disappeared, not enough time for that now.

There's another grunt and Neelkan shifts around in the bed a little to
change where his wieght is placed. "What's goin' on...?" he asks in a tired
voice, lowering his hand to peek again. A little better. Course it being
dark doesn't help all that much.

Redd leans in closer, so that Redd is almost making contact with Neel's
nose with his own, speaking quiet. He obviously doesn't want anyone to know
except him. "A friend of mine is in trouble, and I know how I can help him,
but it means doing something bad, but I do want to help him, I am just
nervous about doing it, and I don't know if I could do it, but I have to
try, right? So? Should I do it?" As to what /it/ is, nothing was mentioned
in that entire statement.

There's a long pause during all this, as Neelkan's half-sleeping mind tries
to process what the kid is saying. After a few moments he leans his head
back, trying to reserve his own personal space for a moment, then shrugs,
"If it's a friend 'en ya should bloody well do whate'er ya need t' do t'
help 'im. D'ya think he would d' the same f'r ya?" He doesn't wait for an
answer, instead reaches forward and ruffles the kid's hair, "'en go d' what
ya have t'. Just b' careful, whate'er it is." He isn't going to ask.

Redd shakes his head. That isn't what Redd wanted to hear. "I need you to
know /what/ I am doing... it is important... I need your help..." That last
one is in a begging tone.

Sigh. Neelkan lays back on the bed for a moment and stares at the ceiling.
"A'right. Tell m' what's goin' on if ya have t', 'n I'll d' what I can t'
help."

Redd nods. Now, if he can only get himself to say it. "I have to..." He
stops. No... if someone is awake... he looks to the other beds to make sure
no one else is awake. When he feels confident enough, he leans forward,
whispering. "I have to pretend to be a Darkfriend..." He winces as he says
it, before Neelkan can even respond.

This causes Neelkan to jerk slightly up in the bed. But it doesn't seem to
wake the other two, so he leans forward and stares at the boy, "Ya have t'
what?" he asks in a harsh tone, but not loud at least. "Blood 'n ashes,
Redd, 'at... what's goin' on 'at makes ya have t' d' somethin' like 'at? 'n
what in the bloody world d'ya need m' help f'r?"

Redd expected that. He takes a deep breath. "A friend is in the Fort of the
Shadow(that is all Redd knows it as) against his will, but everyone there
thinks he is a Darkfriend." He constantly looks around, making sure no one
wakes up. "He has a plan to attack the Shadow from the inside, but he needs
people to pretend to be Darkfriends... both here and at where he is..."

"By the Light." Neelkan quickly grabs onto the boy's arm and gives him a
good shake, "Yer a kid, Redd. Yer a little kid. Ya were layin' on yer death
bed no more 'en a month 'go. If it was somethin' else... Blood 'n ashes. Ya
can't do 'is. It's too flamin' dangerous, 'n if it's as big scale as yer
sayin' a lil' kid like ya won't b' able t' do much."

Redd blinks as Neelkan grabs his arm. Once the shaking stops, Redd looks at
Neelkan quietly. Sunan wouldn't have been this violent, but he probably
would've said the same thing... No use, no matter who he told, he couldn't
get someone to agree. "If I can get people here to join with his plan, that
will be more than he expected me to do..."

There's a long pause, as Neelkan takes his hand back, then he closes his
eyes and lays back. Blood 'n ashes. "Kid... just... go t' bed. 'n don't
tell anyone else 'bout 'is. I don't know how in the Light 'ey work, but f'r
all ya know, 'ere could b' a real Darkfriend in 'is room. So just... go t'
bed. Leave it t' the grown ups, 'n consentrate on yer trainin'. 'sides. How
ya gonna protect Espi if ya end up dyin' at the hands of some flamin'
darkies."

That was harsh. And effective. You want to win an argument with Redd,
mention Espi in the right context. He frowns looking down at his bed. No,
not yet. He has something he has to do first... After he finishes with
Neelkan. "One more thing, if you don't want to go to sleep?"

There's another long sign, and Neelkan's just glad there's no more argueing
on the Darkfriend issue right now. He does however shrug his shoulders and
ask, "Go f'r it. What 'one more thin'?"

Redd sighs. This topic is easier to bring up. But not by a drastic margin.
"What... /exactly/... is a sister?"

"Huh? A sister?" Neelkan looks completely confused for a second, then
shrugs, "Well, blood 'n ashes, I got five of 'em, so I outta know. 'ey're
kinda like brothers, 'cept 'ey're girls, not boys. Some 'r annoyin' all the
time, 'n some 'r 'kay. Jiang was always kinda nice t' m' at times. So was
Mai." He pauses for a few moments, thinking back on his sisters for a few
seconds. "'ey're family. Yer... obligated t' 'em. Just like any other
family member. I don't much care f'r m' sisters though, so I'm sure others
would see it differently." His sisters are half the reason he's a self
confessed woman hater.

Redd nods quietly. "So, if Espiria were my sister," (which she is, in his
eyes) "she would be family, and I would be obligated... what is obligated?"

There's a small pause, and Neelkan opens one eye for a moment, then lets
out a soft laugh, "Well, obligated basically means what yer doin' f'r 'er
a'ready. Ya protect 'er, 'n care f'r 'er. 'ere are other levels of
obligation, but ya should just stick t' brother 'n sister f'r now, kiddo."

Redd nods. "All right. Thank you." He starts to climb off of Neelkan, but
hesitates. He grins, with something coming to mind. He looks to Neelkan
with an innocent smile. "Sir." He's been hanging around other trainees too
much, getting too much of a thrill out of jokes. Soon, he could be pulling
pranks on other Tower folk...

"Sir, eh? Who ya callin' sir?" Neelkan rolls over to try and tickle the boy
lightly on the sides as he hops down, but then lets him get away and says,
"G'night. 'n just consentrate on yer trainin'." he rolls back over, back on
the facing the outer edge of the cot and prepares to go to sleep now,
despite the fact his dreams might just be worse...

Redd smiles up at his 'brother' before heading out the door.