Night falls on the first day of Resplendent Water. The crews of the remaining Alliance ships start settling down to rest, overshadowed by the bulk of Great Rakatau. Tomorrow would be the start of another long journey, so most everyone hits the hammock early, to be refreshed for the morning.

On the Dryad, two Terrestrials remain awake. Kareth has just recently been dismissed from his meeting with Lasuri and Jadira, while Tageru has just finished looking in on the rest of the injured crew. Most have been restored by now, barred a few scrapes and bruises, and a pair of amputees that need more time and power to be healed. Even those will be whole by the end of the trip to An-Teng, most likely.

By chance or by intent, the two encounter one another on the deck, and exchange a few words...

The conversation with Lasuri and Jadira had left Kareth with alot on his mind.  He stood looking out over the ocean deep in thought.  He almost did not notice the monk nearby.

"Good evening, Kareth.", Tageru says calmly as he approaches the engineer. "Do you have a few minutes? I would like to ask you something, if you don't mind..." he says, as politely as he can manage and trying not to sound like an interrogator...

With his thoughts being disturbed, Kareth turns his eyes towards the monk.  He knew that his condition was unusual and that most of the crew would not have the knowledge to figure out what his anima meant.  He had been most worried about Miss Thornbloom, of course, but there was always the chance that his unusual anima would draw questions.  That's why he avoided flaring it whenever possible and that's why he was nervous about questions from people who had seen it.  He had best proceed with caution.  "What is it, Master Cynis?"

"Well, I saw something during our last battle that gave me reason to worry for your well being. It's... your anima display. I saw the lights around you and it's not something one expects of a child of Heshiesh. I don't want to judge you or make you feel uncomfortable, but I'd like to know if there is something that I can do to help you, or if there's something you might want to share? I've learned that life is not the way I was taught on the Blessed Isle quite some time ago, and have since adopted some pretty liberal ways of thinking, so whatever it is that's wrong with your anima, whether it's that you're ill or that you're not a Dragon-Blooded, I promise I won't try to harm you. I am merely curious and would like to know if I can help you in case something is wrong. There is no need to hide it, I am your ally and friend, and I will aid you if I can."

For a Child of Heshiesh, Kareth certainly managed to fix his stare at the monk with a significant amount of ice.  "I can assure you that I AM blessed by Heshiesh, monk."  The chill in his words indicated that he was clearly insulted by the insinuation that he was not.  Some might pick up that he was not angry merely because he was insulted, but because the subject matter hit so close to home with him.  After his second breath, Kareth had spent many sleepless nights wondering why his anima banner was so weak.  After he had been underhandedly initiated into necromancy, the pyre flame appeared in his anima and he questioned the very nature of his exaltation.  After a brief silent moment where he locked eyes with Tageru, Kareth finally spoke again.  "Thank you for your concern, but my health is fine."  This time his voice contained only the usual amount of unpleasantness instead of the cold anger from before.  The man meant well so it would be difficult for Kareth to blame him for treading on toes he did no know where there.

"Well, I didn't mean to insult you, but your Anima is not... usual... I have never seen something like that, and I was simply worried. If you say you're fine, I won't press the issue, but I was worried for your health.", Tageru says, a bit surprised by the sudden coldness from the Fire aspect. Not that he's the warmest and nicest person to be around normally, but even from Kareth this was surprising.
'No, I won't bother him. I keep forgetting, I'm not in the Realm anymore, it's different here.', the monk thinks to himself and bows slightly. "I will leave you now, master Kareth. I do hope I did not insult you, and I hope this doesn't make our friendship any lesser."

Kareth had control over his anger again and realized that he never offered an explanation about his anima.  That would only lead to more questions from him and the crew.  As the monk made to leave, Kareth spoke again in his usual dry and unfriendly tones.  "My anima has always been... weak and odd.  Master Tageru even from the time I drew my second breath.  It remains something of a sore subject with me."  This explanation wasn't really an apology, nor did it point out that his anima had actually changed from simply appearing weak to containing pyre flame.  He hoped it would do.

"Well, if you find it uncomfortable to talk about, then I will not bother you any further. If you're well, and this isn't something new, then I don't think there's anything to worry about, at least in the near future. I was just worried that the Chalice might have done something to you, or hurt you in some way, and I wanted to talk to you..."

"The Chalise did nothing to me but drag up old memories.  Was there something else you wished to speak to me about?"  Kareth waited for a moment until it was clear that the monk had nothing else to say.  The engineer turned and headed towards his quarters.  I'll have to be careful, he thinks to himself as he walks away.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:56, Sat 31 Oct 2009.