The trickle of the fountain in Market Square was just as constant as Sanria's chatter with Kineada. The Shadow Bushi seemed pleased to be speaking, yet Sanria could sense he was careful with the information he would give out - as if he had not truly spoken of himself in a very long time. "So where exactly do you come from? I mean, you look unusual. I have an acquaintance with similar features, perhaps you've heard of her, Myn Kaze?"
Kineada chuckled. "Not everyone who looks alike comes from the same place."
"Oh, I know, I just... it's simply unusual."
"Well, Kara-Tur is my homeland, though it has been many years since I've gone back."
"I understand. Kara-Tur is in Faerun, is it not?" Sanria asked.
"Indeed."
"I was born near Unther, but was brought here in infancy. I've never visited Kara-Tur."
The green eyed man gave another chuckle and shifted, his blades at his sides moving along with him. It was curious, Sanria thought, that this older man would carry weapons. Could he use them or were they ornamental... "You carry very thin swords."
"Katanas, child. The sword of my homeland."
"Can... you use them?"
At this, Kineada let out a laugh and looked at her, his eyes sparkling as if given a new challenge. "Do you wish to spar?"
"No, not in my condition," she smiled, patting her stomach lightly.
"Yes, I suppose it would be a bad idea, wouldn't it? So, tell me. Why are you interested in balance?"
"Ah, my writing... yes. I've just had so little of it in my life. I'm either off on some half-planned adventure, barely hanging on by the skin of my teeth, or as dull as a dirt clod in my home - doing nothing but reading."
"There is nothing wrong with reading," Kineada replied.
"What good is reading if it leads to nothing but more reading? I do not use what I learn, not like I did in the Illuminati."
"Mmm. I understand."
"I was given a proposition not one day ago to seek balance to learn truth, to learn truth to seek balance, and when I had both, I would find harmony."
"An interesting proposition. Do you find it worth pursuing?"
"If it's true," Sanria said.
"Well, there is your first problem," Kineada said with a chuckle.
"What?"
"Doubt. While its healthy to have doubt in many other things, in balance, you can't have doubt. You have to believe there is balance before you'll ever see it. If you don't know if it's there to begin with - what good is it chasing it?"
Sanria sat back on the bench, staring at the fountain. "I would love to see this whole place the way it used to be."
"Bah," Kineada said dismissively, waving a hand, "time passes, people and even the Gods come and go. You simply learn what you must to deal with the present and if you believe in planning for the future, adjust to what becomes your future's present. For - the present is always here."
Sanria looked over at Kineada, who also stared at the fountain with a touch of a smile on his mouth. "You are wise," she said. "Do you seek balance?"
"I believe it an essential component to life."
"So... do you seek it?"
Kineada looked over, his eyes suddenly filled with mirth. Sanria had the sud- den feeling that this man saw her as a child with questions that were foolish, but none-the-less, deserving of answer for nothing more than her earnest in asking. "I would suppose that one must always practice balance to keep it, in that regard, I seek it."
"Would you be willing to meet my friend, Fenlauch? To learn what he has to say on the subject?"
"As long as he is not seeking a religious convert, I have no problems meeting a new face."
"No - he's not religious. He's... well, I don't really know what he is. He's very tall, gold skin, bright eyes, and very much about balance."
A small smile came onto Kineada's face and Sanria returned it. "He sounds like a very interesting character," he said.
"He is. He seems very intelligent, too. He said his kind had been watching the realms since the fall of Myth Drannor."
Kineada lifted his eyebrow slightly. "That is a long time."
"I've never known Myth Drannor without demons in it."
"Yes... well, I'll meet with him if for nothing other than figuring out what type of creature is residing in our deeper midsts."
Sanria chuckled and stood up from the bench. "Let me return home to prepare. I think I should make sure I'm a little more ready than the last time I met him."
"Oh?"
Sanria pointed to her forehead where a red scab was still forming. "He startled me quite a bit and I had an encounter with a tree."
Kineada chuckled. "I see."
"Will you be here tomorrow?"
"I suppose I can make an exception," he said with a mirth-filled smile.
With a quick bow, Sanria headed back into the west and the Haon'Dor toward her cavern, her heart lightening with each step.
