Haru studied her face intently for a moment, looking for any signs of deception, then bowed and left the room.

Sense Motive
1d20+5=21

Haru found it hard to concentrate. By the Kami but she was beautiful. Eyes up there. Eyes up there.

Despite the distractions, she did not seem to be lying. And as Haru left the room, so did the others. She was alone with Kai now.

"Feeling any better, Kai love?"

Kai bit his lip. "Lady, that you know of, are there any others...?"

Rin gave him a flirty little smile. Also a knowing one.

"Why do you ask, love?" She pulled him off her so he was looking at her gorgeous face once again. "Why do you care? You're fine now. It can't hurt you anymore, Kai love. You're not alone. I'm here with you. I'm here with you as long as you want, always. I won't abandon you."

Kai shook his head slowly. "There were so many dead. There's no more, are there?" He made a strangled noise in his throat and pulled away from Rin enough to bury his face in his arms, his knees pulled tight to his chest. "Gods let that be the only one."

Rin pulled his head out from his arms. "No. You, hey - hey, listen. Wallowing in sadness isn't going to help. That's just going to make things worse. Don't make things worse. You can beat this. We can beat this."

"You're not alone, Kai. I'm here with you and I'm here for you. That's all that should matter."

"So." She smiled, apparently trying to lighten the mood. "I promised I'd let you see my silly goose. You wanna?" She giggled and kissed him on the forehead. "Cheer up, Kai. You're alive. Your friends are alive. That's all that matters. You did what you could do. I know, also, what you did for Hitomi. You're a beautiful person, Kai, inside and out. Quit being a whiny baby and man the silly goose up."

Kai chewed his lip, apparently thinking over what she'd said. After a while he nodded, and stood. "I don't know about beautiful person, Rin, but I am certainly alive. Thank you." He didn't know about 'friends', either. He wasn't certain he'd recognise friendship if it came up to him and bit him on the silly goose. People were silly goose confusing. "I'm sorry, but I think I would prefer to be alone right now. I... I don't think I'd make very good company, in any case."

Rin held his hands in hers. Gods she felt wonderful.

"If you want to be alone, Kai, I'll let you go. But I don't think you want be alone, Kai. I think you're terrified of being alone, to be honest." She shrugged and hugged him close again.

"I'm afraid to be alone too, Kai. We all are. That's part of our lot. You don't have to be alone though, Kai. I'm here."

Kai squeezed her hands gently. He'd grown up alone. It was the only sort of terror he was used to. "I know, and I thank you. For everything. I just..." He smiled, just a bit. "I'm a ninja. Alone is what we're good at."

She gave Kai a sad smile. "Are you sure, lovely? I was hoping we'd bond. And/or that you'd silly goose my brains out. Sure you don't wanna stick around? We can invite Haru."

"I think we have bonded." He said quietly. At the mention of Haru, Kai flushed. In all the... excitement, he'd forgotten how Haru had acted when he'd brought the thing up. He flushed deeper, remembering how he'd addressed the Druid as his former master. Perhaps those particular horrors weren't buried as deep as he'd thought. "Thank you for the, uh, offer, but no, I'm sorry. I'd like to be alone." He bowed, and winked at the beautiful woman, able to smile at the stiff, over-formal thing he'd been only a short time before. "Again, thank you. For everything." With that, he left.

Kai walked out of the palace, feeling oddly empty. The further away from the thing he'd gotten, the more easily he'd breathed. He thought over what Rin had said as he meandered along dark streets. Did he have friends now? He thought about Hei, and how she was around him. Friends, he decided. She was there for him, in her own weird Hei way. He remembered how Jian had supported him when he'd needed it, and how Haru had tried to squash his own instincts, and comfort him, at least a little.

He paused in his thoughts and noticed he was back in the park, in the clearing where Haru had tried to teach him about nature. Of course. He'd wandered there half-deliberatly; it was serene, quiet, and still held the stinging memories of how he'd fallen flat on his metaphorical face.

Kai Morioka, he thought to himself, sitting down. For the first time in your life, you've got... friends. This would undoubtably lead to disaster and pain. He remembered the room. He was alive. His friends were alive. That was a pretty silly goose good lot.

"Ah, there you are. I was worried." Of course, Haru was addressing Tsubasa. She had thrown a fit when the monolith appeared, and had immediately flown off when they teleported to *. Luckily, she had just been relaxing in the big park, and what was left of a fox kit body nearby indicated a successful hunt. The druid rubbed his fingers gently across her feathered breast, and she shifted on her branch.

Her head twitched, and Tsubasa moved her neck so that she could see something behind him. Haru followed her gaze. Kai.

"Kai..." Haru turned from Tsubasa and took some cautious steps toward him. He had been surprised by Kai's extreme reaction to the monolith; perhaps he was more in tune with the rhythms of nature than the average person, or the situation the monolith was discovered in was too disturbing for his feelings. "I wish to apologize, again for my behavior today. It was wrong of me to take my emotions out on you. Are you feeling better?"

Kai looked up at the Druid and was grateful for the nighttime, admitting to himself that this was the real reason he'd come here. You're an idiot. Not only is he very much not interested in you, he's very much not interested in your not-Druidness. Kai knew all this. It didn't stop him wanting to see Haru, wanting to find out more about him.

He stood and shrugged awkwardly. "You don't have to apologise again Haru. Your emotions were effected quite a bit more than the rest of us, by the look of it. I'm... better, yes. Thank you. And I'm sorry for... reacting all over you."

"It is all right." Haru smiled gently, and rested a hand on Kai's shoulder. At least the ninja was feeling better. "I 'reacted all over' you, too. That thing is...I pray that Lady Rin has it destroyed as soon as possible."

His hand slid from Kai, and he turned away, staring pensively into the sky. "The monolith, the earthquake, the robed figure...all of this must be connected somehow. I am deeply concerned for the future."

Kai nodded. "You're not the only one." He hesitated, not wanting to worry the Druid. "I asked Lady Rin about whether there were any other monoliths, and she was careful to avoid answering me." Kai moved forward and caught Haru's hand. "But, take heart. We've delivered the thing to the Emperor. He will ensure that it is properly investigated and destroyed." He let his grip drop and shrugged. "It's good to be concerned, but try not to make yourself sick with worry. Then you'll be no use to anyone."