It was a little weird working with another person. Dazar kept trying to fill in the gaps before he realized that the other man had it. Using air helped take the strain away, all the earth flows had really exhausted Dazar. Grabbing the slates with air Dazar carefully put them in place.

Exhausted Dazar looked at the place they had built. It still needed a few cosmetic touches like windows, but over all it was complete. Dazar couldn't help but smile as he realized that this was the first house he had ever built. 

"Well, should  we check it out?"

"Now we set to work boring holes for the footings and such, this is where it gets fun."

Of course the man had to make him use water. Right away Dazar knew that sucking the moisture out was not necessary, but it would give him a chance to see what he could really do. Seizing Saidin once again, Dazar started working the flows of water. Right away he knew just using water wasn't going to work, he got a few puddles on the ground but nothing spectacular. Realizing that not only was the water in the ground but it was frozen to, Dazar decided to try a new tactic. He had to admit he cheated a little by using a combination of earth, fire, and air to help squeeze the water out. With all the moisture out of the earth he began clearing out the little room. When he finally decided that the size was right he focused fire, air, and earth to create solid walls. He hoped that Tai wouldn't get mad that he didn't use just earth, but he figured that the Black Tower normally rewarded ingenuity. With his task completed Dazar turned around, and completely lost the Void, as well as Saidin.

-That throne is amazing!

Seeing Tai on a throne of flames was something else. The flames even seemed to caress him without leaving a mark. Looking Closer Dazar could see why it wasn't burning, but it was still a very clever weave. Grudgingly Dazar realized that he had developed respect for Tai. While the two of them were very different, what they had in common was the things most important to Dazar. Swallowing his pride, which he seemed to do a lot lately, Dazar decided he would ask.

"Uh...Do you think you can teach me to do that?"

Doing as he was told Dazar quickly stepped up next to Tai and Toram. Watching intently, Dazar was confident he had memorized the weaves that Tai used.

"Congratulations on the pin." Toram said to Dazar.

"Uh Thanks, it was hard work but it still came quicker than I expected. You can't be much further behind."

The man wasn't as high of a rank, so he should have been more formal, but Dazar decided not to make a big deal out of it. They were both Tai's students anyway, plus he kind of liked the man.

Dazar stopped waiting for the voice, but nothing came.

-Maybe I'm not going crazy yet after all.

"Today you will be training with Saidin, we are going to create a shelter here for times like this when we are training."

Dazar watched while Tai explained to Toram what he wanted done. Watching their encounter let him know that Tai could be nice when he wanted to. Dazar still couldn't understand why Tai had gotten so angry when asked if he was upholding their father's honor. Dazar would have been happy to know that some one cared that much. He had come all the way from the borderlands, leaving behind all of his land after all.

Noticing that Tai was calling to him, Dazar pulled himself out of his thoughts.

"Congratulations on the rank."

Dazar was blown away. In one day he had seen Tai be nice twice, and one of the times was even to him!

"Now, I need you to start pulling up blocks of stone about this size.

-Well at least it isn't water.

Assuming the void, Dazar seized Saidin. He had finally gotten to the point where he could seize Saidin every time he tried. Focusing a trickle of the power Dazar started trying to make the blocks. He quickly realized that with his ability with earth he would need more than a trickle. Now Tai hadn't said how many were going to be needed so he just kept making one right after the other. Quickly Dazar noticed he was getting tired, but he also noticed he it took a lot longer than when he first came here.

"Ok Dazar that is enough."

Exhausted, Dazar followed Toram's example and went over to the pond. To stubborn to lower his head to the water, Dazar tried channeling flows of water to create a fountain. Dazar was so surprised, when the water reached him, that he almost lost the void. Quickly taking a drink of water Dazar let go of Saidin. It had certainly drained him but he had been able to do it. Standing up with a grin on his face he looked at Tai.

"So what is next?"

Dazar was studying himself in the mirror when he noticed he was going to be late. He had meant to even show up early, until he discovered that he had been raised to Dedicated. Since than he had been staring at the sword pin on his collar. He understood that he had been working really hard but it still came sooner than he had expected.

Quickly running outside, Dazar headed for the clearing. Tai hadn't been to forthcoming on what they were going to do today, but he didn't want to make Tai mad at him. It seemed to Dazar, that every time that Tai got mad, he did his best to degrade him. Stumbling into the clearing Dazar quickly saluted.

"Sorry I'm late, I got kind of distracted."

Hoping that the apology would be enough Dazar looked around the clearing. Noticing Toram for the first time Dazar gave him a sly grin.

-That's it, make him think you trust him, then he will never expect an attack from you!

The smile left Dazar's mouth. He had heard that voice before but he had just blown it off. Now that he had heard it a second time he knew there was no way they could be his own thoughts.

-How can I be going mad so soon?

Dazar looked at Tai and Toram both, but neither of them had seemed to notice. With a struggle Dazar put the smile back on his face. Assuming the void Dazar seized Saidin and channeled fire to warm himself up. That had been the best thing about being raised, he didn't have to ask to channel anymore.

-Now they won't be able to get you unprepared!

The voice almost made him loose the void, but he pushed it to the back of his head.

"I'm ready to start whenever you guys are."

"I met a man in a black coat in Camelyn, we talked for a while and he mentioned this place. I have been traveling for a while and thought i would come stay here for a while. It is odd I know, but i think i might find that i like it here."

It was odd indeed, but for more than why she thought. Dazar couldn't help but wonder why any of the Asha'man would freely tell her about this place, let alone where it was. On top of that, if she knew that much, did she know that all the men here could channel?

-No use scaring her off, I might as well keep quite about the whole channeling thing. With the way she's been flirting I might actually have a chance.

Dazar thought everything was going his way. In the conversation he was witty and funny, while still being able to keep the topic away from the Farm and what they did there. It was a lot harder than he thought it would be. To not even mention what he had done every day for the last month was more than a little frustrating. After the conversation had gone on for a while Dazar started trying to think up ways to leave politely, he had spent all day training after all. Before he even had a chance to think up something Aria stretched, arching her back in the process. Instantly all thought left his mind, she seemed to have  that affect on him often. Realizing that his eyes were popping out of his head he tried to closed his mouth and go on as if nothing had happened.

"I am tired and am eager to start early in the morning. Thank you for your company" she said as she rose. "Maybe i will see you again sometime."

Dazar was so stunned from the stretch that he didn't even say anything back. Happily watching her leave Dazar decided he needed to come in for a drink more often.

"And you sound like you are from up north unless i miss my guess. I hope your friend is as handsome as you are."

Dazar was left speechless. Not only was she more forward than any woman he had met before, but she also gave him another one of those smiles. Quickly Dazar drained his glass. Trying to get his mouth working again to answer her, Dazar realized that she was already asking another question.

"What are you doing out this late if i may ask?"

"Well first of all my lady, yes I am from the north, Fal Dara to be exact. As for the reason I am out this late, I had a long day of training and thought that I would try to relax for once. It had been a long time since I had enjoyed some spiced wine, I thought I would come in for a glass. I'm glad I did, other wise I wouldn't have been able to meet you."

Realizing that he had already given away more than  he wanted to, Dazar tried his smile again. Back home all the girls had said that was his best feature.

"If I may be so bold, why exactly are you here my lady? I'm not sure if you noticed but there aren't very many woman here."

Again Dazar realized he was saying to much. He had never been so tongue tied around woman before, but this one had him blurting out things better kept a secret.

While Tai seemed to block every one of his attacks, Dazar felt like his time was coming. Noticing that Tai was distracted, Dazar decided to try Bundling Straw one more time. Realizing his mistake to late he could only watch as his sword was thrust up words. With rapid efficiency Tai hit him in the knees, and before he had even fallen all the way the blow was already heading for his neck. As Dazar rolled away he thanked the light that Tai had stopped the blade short, it may have been covered in air but it still would have hurt something fierce.

"You must be calm, you must never get over confident at an advantage. As I have shown you, an advantage can be turned to a deadly disadvantage in an instant."

Dazar nodded as he realized that his pride had gotten the better of him. At least Tai wasn't trying to embarrass him about his mistake.

With that the shield was released and before he realized it, Dazar had filled himself to the brim with Saidin. Riding the frozen molten flows, and trying to ignore the taint, he was amazed at how complete it made him feel; just after that short while without it.

"I know you are there Toram, come out. We need to have a word."

Turning around Dazar noticed the young man sitting at the edge of the clearing. Instantly anger gripped him.

-That commoner saw your mistake, look he is even laughing, KILL HIM!!!

Quickly Dazar let go of Saidin.

-Who was that? That wasn't my own thought. I can't be going mad already can I?

Shaking his head Dazar tried to forget the voice, and the fact that he had almost listened.

"Dedicated Tai may I have permission to leave?"

Dazar had worked through the forms multiple times. In fact he sometimes did it to calm down, but the way Tai made him do it seemed to demand absolute perfection. By the time Tai finally let him go get a drink, everyone of his muscles were sore, but with a long drink from the cold pond, Dazar instantly felt ready for more.

"Be that as it may, i may have a thing or two to teach you. Come, let us spar."

Dazar grinned, this was the moment he had been waiting for. Now he knew Tai was good with a sword, but Dazar had grown up in the Borderlands after all.

With that thought Dazar confidently walked into the clearing while drawing his blade. He was still amazed that he could sense the other mans weaves as they encompassed his blade.

"I am going to leave you shielded. It's not that I am afraid of you channeling,"

Dazar tried his hardest to keep the scowl from his face. It was hard going from always being the best at what he did to being one of the weakest channelers in the whole farm. He couldn't even make that pond ripple.

"Begin."

Before the words were even out of his mouth, Dazar started in on the attack. He started with Arc of the Moon, which led into the Boar Rushes Down the Mountain and finished with Bundling straw. With every attack Tai countered it perfectly.

-Pure luck!

With that he headed back in again. Settling into Lion on the Hill, he instantly followed with Lightning of Three Prongs. With that Dazar noticed that he had pushed Tai back. Abandoning all inhibitions, Dazar went on the offensive without any thought to his defense.

-I can't wait to see the look on his face when I beat him!

ooc: I thought I would let you end it how you wanted.

Noticing the blush Dazar smiled.

-It's always good to keep them on their toes  he thought to himself.

Dazar was feeling pretty confident about their encounter, that is until she smiled. Now he had some experience with woman, he was a noble after all, but after seeing the smile his mind seemed to stop working.

"So I am new around here, Mahdi's the name. Whats yours?"

Snapping back to reality Dazar realized that he was the one staring now.

"I am Soldier Dazar'sei at your service my Lady."

She wasn't dressed very nice, but she acted like a lady, so Dazar decided to play it safe. He had to stop himself from giving his house name, in the Black Tower there were no ties to family.

Realizing that she obviously wasn't here to learn how to channel, Dazar decided to not let her know anything about the farm. For all he knew she might even be an Aes Sedai. With that thought Dazar instantly seized Saidin, Drawing as much of the power as he could handle.

Shaking his head he let Saidin go.

-They aren't going to let an Aes Sedai just walk in here.

Taking the time to study Mahdi, Dazar realized that she had the look and sound of some one from Mayene.

-That is where my "brother" is from, I wonder if they know each other. Wouldn't that be great, me meeting and wooing a girl that Tai knows from his past.

With that thought the sly smile came right back to his lips.

"Are you by chance from Mayene? You have the look, and you speak like a friend of mine that I know from that area." Dazar asked her nonchalantly.

Dazar berated himself for the slip up, he should have known Tai would be upset about the drawn blade.

-It seems like every time I try to put on a happy face, Tai makes it his mission to get rid of it.

Try as he might Dazar was still having trouble thinking of this ignorant commoner as his brother, but he trusted his fathers honor. If he said Tai was blood, Tai was blood. That didn't mean he had to like him though.

"Good, now stand between the stone dummies."

Before the last words had left Tai's mouth, Dazar felt the shield slam into place. Without realizing what he was doing, Dazar desperately clawed at the shield.

-It's no use, Tai is much stronger than me, but what if he has gone mad?

Suddenly it seemed as if Tai's eyes had an extra "glint" to them, and on top of that he seemed to be talking to himself. It seemed like more and more people at the Tower were starting to loose it. Just the other day an Asha'man went over the edge and tried to take out half the farm. Was it so hard to believe that the man in front of him had been just as corrupted by the taint?

Assuming the void was difficult but Dazar finally achieved it. Dazar became one with the ground the trees, even Tai. In this state was the only time that Dazar could accept Tai as his brother. Letting all anger flow from out of his thoughts, Dazar floated in the emptiness of the void, even a madman having cut him off from Saidin seemed like a small thing.

Dazar calmly walked over to the dummies.

"Any time your ready." Dazar said making a stiff bow.

Tai had left him a while ago but Dazar kept trying anyway.

-If I can just make the water ripple I will be happy.

Dazar sat by the pool, riding the frozen molten flows of Saidin. Try as he might he couldn't get the flows of water to do what he wanted. Finally Dazar collapsed in exhaustion.

"How does Tai make it look so easy?" Dazar panted to himself. Shaking his head he got to his feet. He was surprised to notice he had a hard time staying on them at first. With another shake of his head Dazar gathered up his things and headed for the inn.

-I could definitely use a drink, it's been a while since I've sat down and actually enjoyed some spiced wine. 

With his thoughts on home, and how bad the raids must be this time of year, it took Dazar a while to realize that the common room was almost empty. Dazar was amazed that he had really spent all day, and into the night just trying to get that water to move.  What did catch his attention though was a cute little blond that had just gotten up from her table. She had been staring at him since he had walked in the door. Trying to look the other way and pretend he hadn't noticed her staring at him, Dazar sat down at a table on the other side. Before he could even finish ordering the drink he noticed her coming his way.

Great, a beautiful girl heading my way and I smell like I haven't bathed in a week. Dazar thought to himself.

Then the strangest thing happened when she got to the table, she just stood there.

"Well would you like to sit down, or are you just going to stand there staring at me all night?"

"Another day another bruise." Dazar'Sei mumbled to himself.

Training at the Black Tower had been a lot harder than he had imagined it would be. For starters he wasn't even allowed to use his hands for any simple tasks, Tai forced him to use Saidin just to open a door. On top of that Dazar was amazed at how exhausting it was to use The One Power, he had almost given up on even collecting condensation on a glass.

At least this morning he would be able to do something different, do something he had some experience with. Last night Tai had told him that they would be training with the sword today. So with that thought fresh in his mind Dazar buckled on his sword belt and headed for the clearing that Tai and him always used for their training sessions.

Before he had even made it to the clearing he noticed that Tai was looking in his direction.

-Yea well I guess I'm used to that by now, it is weird thinking of a male channeling being an every day thing, let alone me doing it.

With Tai watching him Dazar went over to the spring and dunked his head in, letting the cold water help clear his troubled thoughts about what was to come. While Dazar wasn't a stranger to a sword, he was no expert, and on top of that he definitely was not what you would call strong in the power. Take those two thoughts and combine them with the fact that Tai didn't exactly like him and that led to a very uncomfortable Dazar.

Pushing away the last of those thoughts Dazar gritted his teeth. Never before coming to the farm had Dazar felt fear, or even admitted to someone being that much better than him. With a sly grin on his face Dazar assumed the void and drew his sword.

"Ready whenever you are Tai."

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.

"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.

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.

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 :)

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".

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.

When Dazar'sei saw Tai'Dashan stop mid-stride, he knew he had pushed the man too far. Dazar'sei got a feeling of something being not quite right but before he could turn his attention to it he was violently slammed against the wall next to him. For the first time in his life Dazar'sei tasted real fear. It was a curios taste, and left him...helpless. feeling helpless and afraid for the first time in his life was a new and dumbfounding experience. Slowly the unseen pressure increased to an almost unbearable level as Tai'Dashan's snarling face crept to within inches of Dazar's. All at once the fear rose in Dazar'sei to a new and almost panic-like state. what if this was how you went over the edge of sanithy? what if he had pushed this man over the edge and was about to die helpless like a little kitten. Rage welled up to replace fear. How dare this flaming commoner treat someone as great as Dazar'sei so brusquely? And after all those hard miles traveled to find him and to bring him news of a father he probably didnt even remember.

The unseen bonds loosened slightly as Tai'Dashans face relaxed a bit. So he wasn't completely insane. Dazar briefly struggled against the bonds but to no avail. Then the half crazed commoner spoke.

"Wether you are my brother in blood or just some snivelling worm of a Darkfriend, I do not know." Tai' said coldly, turning to go. "But you will stay here until Arath comes for you personally. I have no further use for you."

'Darkfriend? The man must be insane.' Dazar almost laughed aloud and quickly thought better of it.

Tai'Dashan turned to go and Dazar'sei had no choice but to watch motionless as he disappeared around the corner. Dazar assumed that by Arath, Tai meant Attack Leader Faringal and hoped he would arrive soon to release him from this ridiculously foolish predicament. As Dazar'sei hung there pinned against the wood, he consoled himself with the thought that surely the Attack Leader would punish his commoner subordinate for such an unnecessarily brutal act to a noble's son such as himself. Renewing his patience he resolved to wait.

When Dazar'sei's shirt just floated up in front of his eyes, he almost shied away from it.

I swear I can feel the taint radiating from it, and I'm not even the one doing it.

"So Dazar'sei, Where are you from and what brings you here?" Tai'Dashan said.

Well he would have to do it sooner or later...

"I'm from Fal Dara, I came because our father died."

Instantly Dazar could tell that Tai'Dashan was on his guard.

"He was a noble in Fal Dara, and he got mortaly wounded fighting off a Trolloc raid. On his death bed he told me about you and your mother. Ever since I've been following rumors of where you've been, eventually to here."

Instantly Dazar felt an intense feeling of pride, he knew he wasn't a coward, he knew that he could go through with this. Once again he looked around at the Black Tower, and he couldn't help but wonder if this was really such a good idea.

"My...I mean our father, didn't tell me much about either you or your mother, just where you came from and that you were wealthy jewelry mearchants. I've came here to make sure you are living up to our father's name, and upholding his honor."

With the words already out of his mouth, Dazar realized that might have been a bad thing to say. Tai'Dashan looked on his guard before, now his face went completely blank, he wouldn't even look at Dazar'sei.

OCC: React however you want, I figure we're almost to Faringal's place lol.

In the middle of one of his forms Dazar froze. The man that he thought was his father was walking up to him. Now that he got a closer look, it obviously wasn't his father, but they did share a striking resembalance. Dazar'sei couldn't help but notice that the man seemed to be talking something over in his head.

Is this the begging signs of madness?

"I'm soldier Tai'Dashan, I'm here to take you to Attack Leader Faringal."

All the pecies of the puzzle suddenly fell into place. This is my brother I've been looking for, he thought to himself.

"I'm Dazar'sei, lead the way."

At saying this there was a mixture of emotion, not only did he feel the shame of having a bastard and a commoner for a brother, but also the feeling of cowardice. He didn't even have the nerve to tell his brother who he was.

For just a second Dazar'sei caught a glimpse of someone staring at him.

I must be going crazy already, for a minute I could have sworn that was my father staring at me.

Thinking this to himself only made him more nervous about his choices, and the inevitable madness to come. And not only that, everytime he tried to talk to one of the men in the black coats to see what to do, they just scowled at him and walked away. Was this the madness, or had this place broken all of these men to the point where they weren't even civil anymore. It didn't seem like madness, but people had tried to break Dazar before, obviously it hadn't worked.

Let these men try, I'll show them what a man from house Drak is really like!

Though his thoughts were bold, Dazar couldn't help but feel nervous. After all the people who had tried to break him before hadn't had The One Power to help. So Dazar'sei decided to do the one thing that always calms him down. Stripping to the waist and pulling out his longsword, he started going through the forms his teachers had taught him.

Forming the void, Dazar started. Instantly he felt one with his sword and everything around him. He couldn't help but notice the comforting warmth that seemed to be right behind him. The pure pleasure at not worrying over his choices and his current perdicament almost broke the void; but Dazar just smoothly moved into the next form, letting the oneness envelope him.

Dazar'sei drank in his surroundings as he tried to calm himself down. It had been a long road, and he never had expected it to end here.

When he first thought about Channeling, it seemed like a good idea. Now that he is here, all he could think about was the madness that would surely overtake him. Maybe he shouldn't have come here, what if he kills the people he cares about, instead of saves them? What if in this thing, unlike everything else, he doesn't excel? Can he take not being the best?

Now that I'm here, where do I start? Who do I talk to?

As all this went through his head he relized he had completley lost track of his main goal.

Is my brother here? Or will I have to choose between finding my brother and learning to channel

The thought of his brother made him warry. If his brother was here, he would have to finally face the fact that Tai'Dashan was a commoner; and if he was able to come to grips with that, would he be able to come to grips with Tai's life style?

Dazar's Noble family was known through all the Borderlands to be "Noble". All growing up Dazar had gotten lectures from his father about the family values, and how we always did what a good man would.

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

The saying his father had constantly said rang out in Dazar's mind. The Drak family always did there duty. So would Dazar. Determindly Dazar went in search of someone to talk to, to ask about his brother.