An Interesting Decision {Atten: Dazar'sei}

[TaiDashan]

Tai'Dashan sighed as he attached the sword pin to his collar. Not that he was sighing over the rank, he was tickled pink over that. It was the task that had come with that rank. He brushed his hair and smoothed the black velvet uniform. Most would find velvet unbearably hot now a days but ignoring the heat was easy and he liked the look. looking at himself in the mirror he heaved one last sigh and turned to go. Arath had sat down with Tai' for a long conversation the other night at the Inn. Apparently he was ready to be raised to Dedicated but on one condition. He must become mentor to the man claiming to be his brother. Today was to be his first day training the man in the use of Saidin.

 

~You have gained power, use it you coward! What are you afraid of?~

 

Tai'Dashan had become accustomed to the voice residing in his head. As accustomed as one gets to having the darker half of you given access to your thoughts.

 

Ignoring the voice had become easier in the past few weeks, although it still caught him off guard now and again. As Tai'Dashan approached the clearing he had selected, he saw Dazar through the trees going through sword forms.

 

~You picked a nicely secluded spot.~ The voice cackled. ~Is that so that no one hears him die? It would be simple you know, training accidents happen all the time.~

 

Disgusted Tai' forced the voice into silence. He may loathe the man but he was still his brother. Killing him would be a horrible crime. Tai'Dashan stepped into the clearing behind Dazar, halting his sword and his form with a weave of air.

 

"That will be enough Soldier." Tai' said as he released the weave. "I see you are familiar with the sword forms. That tells me you are comfortable with the Void." Tai'Dashan nodded and ignored the look on Dazar's face, proceeding with the lesson. "I am going to teach you the basics of Saidin."

 

Tai' took a seat on the ground cross-legged and motioned for Dazar to do the same. Dazar paused and finally took a seat in front of him. Tai'Dashan could tell that the man had obvious issues with authority and did not like it that Tai' was of higher rank. It was going to be tough to train this man but if he did not learn to control himself he would die. It was that simple.

 

"Before we begin you must understand something." Tai' met Dazar's gaze flatly. "I do not like this anymore than you. However it is now my job to train you to channel and keep you alive. As you will find out, We here at the Black Tower do our duty."

 

Dazar nodded slowly and his eyes showed he at least understood.

 

"Firstly I am going to instruct you on touching Saidin, merely sensing it. Close your eyes and assume the Void." Tai' was impressed with the speed in which Dazar found the calm of the Void. It had taken him some time to learn it. "Now," Tai began in a slow even tone. "Stretch out your awareness, feel the light of Saidin. Reach out and feel it as you would stretch forth your hand to warm it by a flame."

 

Tai'Dashan held a shield ready. He had learned from his own time as a soldier, that strong will combined with lack of knowledge could kill. For the next hour, Tai' helped the man find Saidin and feel it out gently. Luckily the man seemed to have enough self control to simply feel saidin and not try to Seize it. Tai' barely supressed a chcukle as a look of wonder flickered across the other man's face.

 

"Let me know when you are ready to continue." Tai' said softly. The poor man didn't have a clue what was in store.

[Dazar]

As Dazar was completing a form he felt those to familiar bonds stop his sword. He had had nightmares about those bonds. He would never admit the fear he felt grip him, not to this man.

 

"That will be enough Soldier." Tai said.

 

This man dares to order me? I can't believe they put a bloody commoner in charge of a noble! He thought to himself.

 

 

"I am going to teach you the basics of Saidin."

 

Finally, what Dazar had been waiting for, he would finally learn the skills to make sure he was never helpless again.

 

"Before we begin you must understand something." Tai' met Dazar's gaze flatly. "I do not like this anymore than you. However it is now my job to train you to channel and keep you alive. As you will find out, We here at the Black Tower do our duty."

 

Duty is as heavy as a mountain, death as light as a feather.

 

His fathers words came back to him. Dazar grudgingly noticed that maybe Tai shared at least one trait with their father.

 

When Tai'Dashan told him to form the void he almost laughed, he had been doing this since he was a boy. Dazar remebered when it had been diffacult, but now it came to him easily.

 

Could it be that I saw suprise on Tai'Dashan's face when I formed the void? Good this looks like it will be another thing I excel at.

 

"Stretch out your awareness, feel the light of Saidin. Reach out and feel it as you would stretch forth your hand to warm it by a flame."

 

When Tai said this Dazar almost lost the void. He had asked his teachers what that warm feeling, that seemed to be right behind him, was when he formed the void. They had never heard of it before.

 

Doing as he was instructed Dazar reached out to the warmth, feeling excitement and wonder at progressing into the unkown. Well if Tai was suprised how quick he could form the void, he would definately be suprised if Dazar could figure out how to sieze Saidin on his own. With only the knowledge that it was called siezing Saidin, he grabbed at it.

 

Suddenly he felt like he was ripped down a stream of...molten ice? Dazar had never felt something so hot, and yet it was the coldest thing also. All at once he felt his bones freezing while they were incenerated. Then the taint, the most vile slime seemed to rip through him, infuse every part of his body. Dazar didn't know you could want to empty your stomach while burning and freezing to death at the same time. All the while he couldn't help but notice that he was barely hanging on, and that he was slowly loosing this battle.

 

Fear.

 

Once again he felt that numbing sensation. He didn't know what to do, but he did know, that he was slowly dieing. Had he pushed himself to far? And just to impress this commoner that was supposed to be his brother. As Dazar felt the himself reach his limit, he almost chuckled when he realized, fear, that new sensation, would be the last thing he ever felt.

[TaiDashan]

Tai'Dashan watched the man in front of him carefully. In his own training, he had foolishly reached for Saidin and almost lost his life. If it had not been for Arath's quick thinking he would have. Tai'Dashan had come to know this man well enough that he was willing to wager his shiny new pin that he would try the same. He was too Arrogant not to.

 

~Ha Ha!~ Cackled the voice with mad laughter. ~The fool is going to do it for you! He is going to eradicate his useless life, scour it from this existence, and you are not to blame. Don't bother stopping him, let him!~ Tai shoved the voice roughly into a corner of his mind. His duty was to train this man and now was not the time to make a costly mistake due to his own instability.

 

Sure enough the fool grabbed at Saidin as a child grabs greedily for a toy. Even watching for it, Dazar was brimming with the source before Tai' was able to slam the shield in place. Dazar had risen unknowingly to his feet as Saidin filled him. Now, he fell to his hands and knees panting and gasping for air. Tai' jumped to his feet, narrowly avoiding the man's breakfast as he spewed it all over the grass. Tai'Dashan resisted the urge to kick the man in disgust.

 

"That would be the Taint." He said coldly, gesturing towards the pile of digested food. "And you are a fool. What you just did almost killed you, I just saved your life. Remember that."

 

~You are the fool! A weak minded coward!~ Howled the voice before being shoved away.

 

Tai' allowed the man a moment to collect himself before continuing with the lesson. Using weaves of air, water, and fire Tai' quickly cleaned the remnants of Dazar's stomach from the ground and resumed his instruction.

 

"You must understand that Noble or Commoner," He started slowly. "Once you come to the Black Tower you are just another weapon. A tool to be used until broken and then cast aside. You mean no more, no less than every man here who wears the black coat."

 

Dazar slowly met his gaze but his eyes told Tai'Dashan nothing.

 

"I have been placed with the duty to train you. For now that means that I am in a position where I know more than you." Tai' repressed a smug smile at the sting he knew the other man would feel at his words. "Because I have this knowledge, you must listen to what I tell you to do and follow my instructions exactly, or you will die. This is not some child's game of Snakes and Foxes. One false move and you will kill yourself and others." Tai's voice grew cold as steel. "I will kill you before I let that happen. Understood?"

 

When Dazar nodded slowly, Tai'Dashan continued teaching the man to sense Saidin.

 

"Now that you have had time to grow accustomed to the feel of Saidin. I want you to Seize it. Assume the Void and take hold of Saidin. Do not try to do anything with it, simply fill yourself with it. I will be ready should something go amiss."

[Dazar]

Without warning Dazar felt a smooth shield slam in between him and the light that he was drinking from. Suddenly the world looked dreary and out of focus, life itself had seemed to dim, that's when the revulsion of the taint became overpowering.

 

Loosing his breakfast, Dazar tried to come to grips with what had just happened. Not only had he almost killed himself, but the man that he had come to hate, had saved him. Grudgingly he realized that he owed Tai one, just one.

 

"I have been placed with the duty to train you. For now that means that I am in a position where I know more than you."

 

Then I will learn, until our positions are switched. We'll see how smug you are then! he thought to himself resolutely.

 

Dazar convienently ignored the comment about the bloody commoner being in charge, Tai actually wanted him to believe this was a common practice!

 

"Because I have this knowledge, you must listen to what I tell you to do and follow my instructions exactly, or you will die. This is not some child's game of Snakes and Foxes. One false move and you will kill yourself and others." Tai's voice grew cold as steel. "I will kill you before I let that happen. Understood?"

 

Dazar decided that it might not be a bad idea to listen to the man, he did know more after all, and he had never heard a man talk about, killing, so coldly before.

 

After learning more about sensing Saidin, Tai once again asked him to sieze it. Pushing down the fear that instantly bubbled up, Dazar siezed Saidin, making sure to be careful about how much he drew in. At first it was just a trickle, but it felt so glorius! Now that it wasn't such a large amount, Dazar'sei discovered the thrill of wrestling with Saidin, he felt so alive. Fighting the small stream of lava and ice, Dazar wanted more. He slowly drew in a little more, but stopped instantly. He wasn't going to be dumb and pull in to much again. Trying to sit there patiently, Dazar waited for Tai's next "order".

[TaiDashan]

Tai' nodded to himself as Dazar slowly filled himself with Saidin. The man was not a complete fool. He had listened to Tai' and understood the danger. Good, he would not die of  ignorance at least. When Arath had announced this little 'assignment' Tai' had wondered how in the Light he was supposed to teach Saidin to someone when he was still learning himslef. When asked, Arath just chuckled and said that was for him to decide. Tai' had determined to just explain the basics and what it was like for him. The rest would just have to happen as it came.

 

"Good. Now the One Power is made up of 5 elements. Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and Spirit." Tai'Dashan said, marking each on a finger. "Each has it's own individual feel, a flavor if you will that make channeling a particular element enjoyable, at least to me." Tai' smiled and held up only one finger. "First we will start with Fire. I want you to examine Saidin as it courses through you. See if you can distinguish Fire in that raging torrent of freezing fire. Tear it loose and bend it to your will." Tai' wove earth and raised a small ring of rocks. Placing some sticks in the center he continued. "I want you to light these sticks with a weave of Fire. Start small and slowly feed it as you would blowing on your campfire to get it started." Tai' warned. "Otherwise we will both go up in a forest fire." Tai' smiled grimly to show that he wasn't joking.

 

Dazar seemed to wrestle with some inner struggle but eventually channeled a small flame that lit the sticks and created a nice blaze. Nice if it had not been a hot Andoran summer that was. Ta' Instructed him to weave water to wring existing moisture from the air to put out the flames. This was not an easy task but Tai' was not going to fail in his role as a teacher. Instructing Dazar to weave something with all of the remaining elements they finally came to spirit. "Spirit is a bit harder because nothing physical changes but I will be able to see what you do. Get creative."

 

OOC: Feel free to RP the individual weaves Fire, Water etc. or just skip to the Spirit if you like. Try to shield me for the fun of it or something. Just a few more posts and you have your req done!

[Dazar]

Filled with the power, Dazar sighed with relief when Tai'Dashan finally told him to channel. Holding Saidin without doing anything with it seemed like torture. As Tai described the different elements, Dazar studied the seeming beam of light that was Saidin. Now that he looked closer, the stream wasn't just one big river of molten ice, but actually five different flows, making one big stream.

 

Even though Dazar had no idea which was which, when Tai asked him to weave fire, he instantly felt pulled towards one flow over the others. Wrestling with that one flow, while trying to make sure he didn't use to much, was more challenging then Dazar expected, but when the sticks caught on fire, Dazar felt his heart sore.

 

This is it, I'm really learning how to Channel!

 

With the sticks on fire, Tai then asked him to pull moisture out of the air to put out the fire. Looking again at the beam of light, Dazar grabed the first flow that stood out to him. Right away he noticed a distinct difference between fire and water. The water was much harder to direct, while fire jumped to do his will, water seemed to fight him the whole way. After many minutes of collecting water out of the air, Dazar let it drop, extinguishing the fire. Dazar fell to his knees and breathed heavily.

 

I will have to remeber not to depend on water to much in the future. he thought to himself.

 

Next came earth. Diverting the earth flows Dazar than covered the fire with dirt and rocks. Then air came next, pulling at the flows Dazar simply directed the wind to blow some of the dirt into Tai's face.

 

"Sorry about that, I guess I'm still figuring things out." Dazar said while smiling slyly.

 

Then came spirit.

 

Time for the jokes to stop, time to show him what I can really do.

 

Dazar had been thinking about this since Tai had shielded him. He remembered the sensation of a smooth substance being slammed in between him and the source. Using this knowledge, Dazar clumsily tried to slam a shield of spirit between Tai and the Source.

 

Lets see what he thinks of me now.

 

OOC: I figure this will be easy to stop, even though I have a 6 in spirit, I have no idea what I'm doing, do what you want though :)

[TaiDashan]

Tai'Dashan nodded to himself as Dazar wove Saidin for the first time. He was a fairly fast learner. One thing that looked like it flowed through both of their veins. For a moment, Tai'Dashan wondered if that trait came from their father. The feeling of Saidin being channeled in his direction brought him back to the present as he barley diverted a face full of dirt.

 

"Sorry about that, I guess I'm still figuring things out."

 

Tai' chuckled at Dazar's sense of humor and as it was harmless, did not mind. It dawned on Tai' that this was the first real glimmer of something that wasn't hatred. Maybe there was a chance after all...

 

Once again Tai' was brought back to the present as he felt something touch his connection to the Source. Dazar had tried to shield him. The sensation reminded Tai' of a child swinging an axe at a tree. The weave of Spirit bounced harmlessly off his connection to the source, but if he had not been holding Saidin it may have taken him a minute to break through the shield. So, he was not one to be trifled with. Tai' was back on guard it seemed and all thoughts of friendship prior shattered with the silence as Tai' spoke.

 

"Good, now you understand the elements. By the way," He said sternly. "Trying to shield someone here can get you killed almost faster than declaring for the  Dark One. I suggest you not try that again." Tai'Dashan looked meaningfully at Dazar before continuing. He had notice that Dazar had struggled with Water. This was not uncommon, but Tai' was not willing to be thought of as lacking in his duties. And he would start there to make this man strong where he was weakest. "Now we are going to explore weaving multiple weaves at once. We will not try weaving mulitple elements as even I have difficulty sometimes and do not wish for you to kill yourself in ignorance."

 

~You are a liar and a fool! You wish him dead!~ Cried the Voice, mocking him.~ Dead! Dead! Dead!~ The voice chanted as he shoved it roughly into the back of his mind.

 

"I want you to start with Water. I noticed that was your weak point, for most men it is. I will weave small flames and i want you to put them out. One at a time."

 

As they began, Tai'Dashan could see the frustration mounting on Dazar's face as he repeatedly missed or couldn't complete the weave correctly. This man had a hard time of not being the best, and just as Tai' would ensure that his weakness in water did not remain so, he would also break this man of his even greater weakness. Arrogance. Arrogance would get him killed faster in battle and cost more of Tai's comrades lives than this man's weakness in Water, and Tai' refused to allow that.

[Dazar]

When his shield bounced back, Dazar was afraid that he might have pushed Tai to far. Memories of the first time he had pushed Tai to far came flooding back to him. Instantly he noticed fear, and shamefully pushed it away, he would not be afraid of this man.

 

To his relief all he got from Tai was a lecture.

 

I definately won't try that again, at least until I know what I'm doing. he thought to himself.

 

"I want you to start with Water. I noticed that was your weak point, for most men it is. I will weave small flames and i want you to put them out. One at a time."

 

Dazar groned as got ready to try the weave that Tai showed him. Seizing Saidin Dazar glorified at the life instilling battle, while cringing from the foul taint.

 

Then started the hard part.

 

Tai started fire after fire, while Dazar clumsily tried to force the weaves together to put them out. When the weave fell into place it was easier than how he had done it before, less draining that is, but he couldn't seem to get the flows to go where he wanted. After a couple hours of practice, and when Dazar could complete it three out of the five times, He finally let go of the source.

 

"Ok can we try something else now, how about with fire, I really liked that one."

 

Revulsion swept over Dazar as he realized he had just asked this commoner for a favor, instead of ordering it.

 

Oh well, I guess I'll have to get used to it for awhile.

[TaiDashan]

"Ok can we try something else now, how about with fire, I really liked that one."

 

Tai'Dashan all but chuckled when the man asked him this. So he liked fire. Fire definitely seemed to be one of his strongest elements. Tai decided to grant him his request but in a way he knew he wouldn't be expecting.

 

"Fire is fine, I noticed you are fairly strong in fire. Maybe this will give you an appreciation. Next I am going to teach you to weave multiple weaves at once. This is much harder than it sounds but you are advancing well enough that I think you are ready for it."

 

Dazar straightened his shoulders a little in an unconscious act of pride.

 

"However, I will use your strongest element to make sure that it is within your reach. No use trying to have you learn from something that you cannot do in the first place."

 

Tai'Dashan motioned to the ground and Dazar'sei sat. This was a bit of a surprise. A pleasant one, but a surprise nonetheless. 'Finally we may be getting somewhere.' Tai' thought to himself.

 

Tai'Dashan grinned and picked up a handful of pebbles. He looked at Dazar saying, "When I toss one of these into the air I want you to incinerate it with fire. It is a lot harder than it sounds because we will be dealing with precision weaves. Directing your weave to an exact point. This takes a lot of skill and will help you to not be clumsy with your weaves."

 

Tai' tossed a pebble into the air and watched it hit the ground with a thud. He looked at Dazar. "See? Not as easy as it seems is it? Remember this is your strongest weave." Hours passed as Dazar slowly got more accurate and less and less pebbles hit the ground. After a while Tai' had Dazar practice weaving fireballs at multiple targets by throwing a handful of pebbles into the air. After this exercise in frustration he sat down in front of the man.

 

"Weaving water to put out the flames I created showed you how to place a weave on a larger scale. This was very difficult for you. Then we learned how to weave with more accuracy, smaller areas, faster reaction time. This has honed you but was still very difficult. I want you to remember we didn't do these precision weaves with water. We did them with fire, your strongest element. If we had, you would not be here listening to me now. You would be passed out from exhaustion. I don't think it would bode well for me to begin a reputation of pushing my trainees to exhaustion, do you?" Tai' smiled at the joke. That last little exercise was to show you how hard it is to split your weaves in just one element. I wanted you to get an understanding of how hard it is to weave multiple elements at once."

 

When Dazar looked as if he got it, Tai' stood. Now is the time to ask me any questions you may have. If you haven't noticed," Tai' motioned to the darkening sky around them. "The day is almost gone. I am more than happy to answer some of your questions. Otherwise I want a hot bath and a meal at the Inn." Tai' hesitated slightly before adding. "If you like you may find me there and we can discuss thing over some food and some mulled wine. That is if you have any more questions." He added.

 

Tai' Patiently waited for any questions the man had. He knew he probably had a hundred, but Tai' had already gotten to know him well enough that he knew this man would limit them to only a handful.

[Dazar]

"Next I am going to teach you to weave multiple weaves at once. This is much harder than it sounds but you are advancing well enough that I think you are ready for it."

 

When Dazar had asked to weave fire, he was hoping to show off with how easy it was. Now Tai was pushing him again, no time to show off yet. At first Dazar thought that it couldn't be as hard as he said, surely with fire he could start two or three at once.

 

Dazar had never been more wrong in his life.

 

Even getting the weaves to strike the small pebbles was a problem at first. Then Tai started adding to the pebbles thrown, but Dazar grew up in the Borderlands. His aim had been honed by hours of practice, and it wasn't long before he was being able to incinerate most of them before they hit the ground.

 

The next step seemed to be a more complicated weave. Tai wieved four flows of fire and two of air together to create a fireball in his hands.

 

Before Dazar had time to copy the weave, Tai threw up a pebble. Pulling on Saidin Dazar weaved the flows together, launching the Fireball. To Dazar's disapointment he missed the pebble, but he couldn't help but feel overjoyed at the fact that he had made a fireball. Dazar got absorbed in his task, making fireball after fireball. When Tai didn't throw a pebble Dazar looked up at him.

 

"The day is almost gone. I am more than happy to answer some of your questions. Otherwise I want a hot bath and a meal at the Inn." Tai' hesitated slightly before adding. "If you like you may find me there and we can discuss thing over some food and some mulled wine. That is if you have any more questions."

 

Dazar looked around him, as if seeing the scenery for the first time. Not only had he worked throught the whole day witht this man, without killing him, but he was being civil.

 

Maybe there is hope for this commoner yet.

 

"Ok I have a question, how is it that the taint feels like its on the surface of Saidin, but it also seems to suffuse the whole stream. Also how did you slam me against that wall and hold me there?" Dazar asked.

 

Let's see how much of his knowledge he is really willing to share.

[TaiDashan]

"Ok I have a question, how is it that the taint feels like its on the surface of Saidin, but it also seems to suffuse the whole stream. Also how did you slam me against that wall and hold me there?"

 

The man's questions surprised Tai' slightly but were fair questions. After nodding to himself he spoke.

 

"The taint has, as you may or may not know, infused the male half of the Source thanks to the Dark One. It is not exactly clear on how it works as anyone trying to study it would have to channel Saidin. We all know what happens shortly thereafter." Tai' grimaced to show what he thought of the madness. "As to how that little...incident, occurred. That was a weave of air. You will learn that soon enough in your training." Tai' smiled. "Anymore questions or shall we make our way to the Inn? It is a long way across the grounds and I should like to make it before tomorrow morning." Tai' winked to show the man he was joking and patiently waited to see if he indeed had more questions. Maybe this would not be as bad as he had first assumed.

[Dazar]

Dazar had hundreds of questions, but he figured Tai was right, it was definately late.

 

"Let's head back, i can always ask you some questions later. Oh, and I think I'll join you for that dinner."

 

He knew it would be awkward but he needed to find out more about this man. He needed to know without a doubt that he was upholding his family's honor.