Darhk Memories

Kara had much to attend to since her arrival in Kumogakure, even beyond needing to grieve. There was always business to deal with, like the recent merger of Lunari Enterprises and Darhk Industries. The merger had truly taken its toll on her, as it felt as though by doing it she was almost erasing the memory of Damien Darhk. She couldn’t bear the thought of ever forgetting him, so she had taken to recreating her memories of him through art and design. Her hotel room was filled with paintings and sketches that perfectly captured his black hair and silver eyes, and were the only things that stopped her from sinking deeper into despair as she sat alone.

Today she had to inform her shareholders of the merger, and based on the paperwork she had filed it seemed that the majority shareholder was a man named Tamwyn, who lived in Tomiko Heights. She was grateful that he resided in the wealthiest neighbourhood in Kumogakure, it had been a minute since she had been among her own. Her hotel wasn’t far from the area and so she walked, not feeling any particular hurry, this wasn’t a prearranged meeting after all. Her long black gown swished quietly as she moved, an interesting contrast to the sharp sound of her heels along the paved roads. Her partially severed right arm slightly obscured from sight by a sheer black silk shawl embroidered with alchemical symbols made from silver thread.

Walking up to the front door of a rather impressive looking mansion she raised her left hand and hit the knocker of the door once and waited patiently. She hoped that the man would be home, it was always a long shot when she made calls unannounced. As luck would have it, shortly the door would open and a servant addressed her. Without waiting for any type of exchange, Kara would quickly and authoritatively explain her business there. “Kara Darhk here to see Tamwyn.” She would look expectantly at the servant, and either it was protocol or simply the intimidation of well practiced upper echelon bullying, he let her in and directed her to wait while he checked if ‘sir’ was available. She stood patiently in the entryway, a picture of elegance and grace, taking in the decor of the area. Mainly plants it seemed. An unusually large amount of plants.

The battlefield was spread out around him as he moved with quickened pace, heart pounding as the heat of battle took him. Energy buzzed around and lightning crackled in the air as he fought. It was bloody, it was vicious, and it wasn't fair. Not fair in the way that shinobi fights tended to be. There was no nod to customs, or anything that 'wasn't allowed' in war. What mattered was winning, and he absolutely was at that moment. His opponents retreated, countless, faceless foes and he moved to make chase and as he crossed into a field found an army of thousands awaiting him. Taking a moment of surprise he paused before noting their grinning faces. They had the upper hand now, and right they were, but Tamwyn still had other tools at his disposal. Biting his thumb he flipped through the seals and set a hand upon the ground and a massive plume of smoke erupted around him. The army before him stopped, waiting to see what it was they faced only to look on in horror. Tamwyn, the Seraph of Lightning, the shinobi known as 'Blackwing' now stood upon the head of a 100m tall goose. The creature looked angrily down at it's opponents and gave out a great bellowing 'Hooooooonk'.

knock knock knock

"Fear Honkers the boss goo-Wha?" The white haired man in bed would say suddenly as he was forced from his sleep by the knocking upon his bedroom door. It was late morning and he was sleeping in. Yenn was out clothes shopping and he elected to let her go alone. Spending every waking moment together would seem cloying after a while and he wanted her to have time to herself and him to himself too. It meant that everytime he saw her his heartbeat skipped and he loved that feeling. However at that precise moment it would appear that one of his staff had decided it was time to get up for some reason. "Sir? I'm sorry to disturb you but there is a woman here to see you." He would hear a voice through the door say and Tamwyn would recognize it as Larel's voice and Tamwyn would shake the strange dream from his mind as he sat up. "I'm up Larel, and I've told you to just call me Tamwyn." He would say as he stood, he was still in his boxers and he moved to get a robe. It was completely black and made of silk. He didn't bother closing it all the way, so it left part of his chest exposed, prominently displaying part of his tattoo over his heart. Otherwise the robe was tied off normally and he checked himself in a mirror he kept in the door in his armoire. It was the only mirror in the room or bathroom and in most of the house with the exception of the guest and staffs rooms. Yenn couldn't take seeing her reflection in them but he did need to ensure his hair was alright when he was apparently entertaining a guest on short notice. Especially if he wasn't going to fully dress, she had come to him unannounced and such things wouldn't be unacceptable. "Yes sir, whatever you say sir." Larel would say simply before moving down to inform his guest that he would be coming down momentarily.

Ensuring his hair fell properly, after taking a moment to brush out any knots from sleep, he would close the armoire and move toward the door to the bathroom, he brushed his teeth to give his guest the respect of not smelling any potential morning breath before deciding that was enough preparation and going toward the door to the bedroom he shared with Yenn. He moved down the stairs. Larel would have shown her to his den once it was clear he would be meeting her so he went there. It was decorated to his personal taste and books lined the wall in volumes reflecting his personal tastes. Such topics included the science of lightning, various books on taijutsu forms, and even a section on craft brewing. He had picked up the hobby awhile back and rather enjoyed it. He was good too if what others told him was true. Within the den was a liquor cabinet with various bottles from whiskey, to wines and even a fair number of his personal creations.

A fireplace was sat against a wall although with it being early summer it wouldn't be used unless at night. It was only during that time that it got cold enough to warrant one when not in winter. A large couch would sit before the fire, providing a comfortable reading location and an intimate setting for a conversation. A large comfortable chair was also prominent, facing the couch at an angle to give enough place to sit and a small side table sat between the two. Provided Larel did indeed show her to that den he would come around the corner into the room and look to his guest only to stop dead in his tracks. An image overlay the woman, an image of a picture hung against a wall in a manor office. A picture he had seen and stood next to as he guarded Damien Darhk for various meetings and what work the man did in that office. Instinctively his posture would straighten, although it wasn't particularly bad before. His eyes would go dead ahead and his sensory would activating, sending the normal pulse of chakra out to scan for threats. It lasted only a half second before he blinked himself back to his senses. He was in Damien's Manor office, and he wasn't guarding Damien. The portrait of her wasn't here. However the woman itself certainly was.

Taking a deep breath, and closing his eyes a moment to get a hold of his emotions as he remembered wooden doppelgangers, water, and fire. Of the visuals of thousands dying. He would open them again after a moment before moving his striking yellow gaze to meet....hers. This caused him to blink a moment, he had never thought of it much but the woman in the portrait, Kara, had a striking resemblance to him. It made for an odd visual, however he set that aside within his mind for later to focus on the here and now. "Lady Kara, an unexpected, but welcome, surprise. My name is Tamwyn, might I offer you a drink?" He would ask, greeting her with a small bow as he would any woman when he wasn't working on shinobi related affairs. His hand would motion toward the cabinet in the room and his raised, inquiring eyebrow would be polite.

Kara had been shown to Tamwyn’s den, a well decorated room lined with books which Kara was currently looking over. Most of it was military in nature and she skimmed the titles with disinterest, but as her golden eyes settled on a book about craft brewing her interest was piqued. Without any thought as to who the book belonged to or whether or not she should touch it, she pulled it off the shelf and sat down on the large couch that faced the unlit fireplace. It was still a struggle to read a book one handed, but she found that by curling up against the arm of whatever seat she was in that she could pin the book in place well enough to both read and turn the pages without the book sliding around.

As she read while waiting, she heard footsteps coming from outside the room and she would pause her reading and turn to face her host. Her eyebrow would raise in curiosity as he stopped and seemed to straighten a bit, his eyes seeming to focus on nothing in particular for a brief moment. She wasn’t entirely sure what caused the reaction, her presence likely, but what about it she couldn’t say for certain. Closing the book and placing it on the couch beside her she would rise and move to greet him formally, taking a moment to consider his greeting. He knew her name. Many people did of course, but most of her fame and renown came from her brilliance in medicine or the like and as such she was usually known by ‘The Apothecary’ or ‘The Mistress’. Her eyes would narrow slightly as she curtsied demurely in response to his bow. As far as she could recall she had never met Tamwyn before, and her memory was perfect so it couldn’t be wrong. Kara did not like mysteries, they offended her intelligence.

Keeping her suspicions in mind she would immediately offer the handsome man a flirtatious smile, her voice like honey as she sought to ease the tension in her own mind. “I often arrive before those I find myself entangled with.” She would let the innuendo hang in the air for a moment before clarifying. “And I do apologize for arriving unannounced, I have not been myself lately. Though that is no excuse for bad manners.” An apologetic smile would cross her features that quickly transitioned to relief as she looked over to the liquor cabinet. “A drink is most definitely in order, thank you. I unfortunately have a good deal of unpleasantness to discuss, with regards to the late Damien Darhk.” She nearly choked on the words, her voice cracking as she spoke his name. It was one thing to think of these things, but saying them aloud made them real. Too real. She could feel her sorrow seeking to resurface and she would turn back to the couch and would feign renewed interest in the book she had left there, hiding the grief that she knew would be on her face. Without turning to face him again she would take a deep breath and speak. “Anything will do, the stronger the better. I found this book rather fascinating. Are you a brewer?”

He would find her curled up on the couch reading one of his books. He recognized it by the colour and binding, not even needing to see the title and smiled softly. A book of craft brewing, one of his favorite hobbies. When she stood, he would look her up and down, not like a man does a woman when they're interested. But as someone taking the measure of someone, when she curtsied shyly at him he noted the seemingly missing hand and filed it away for questions for later. When she offered him a flirtatious smile he would raise an eyebrow in mild surprise and curiosity. Her voice, smooth and seductively sweet would come forth, and the first words out of her mouth would be...flirting. Of course Damien would end up with someone who used flirtations in an opening salvo in a conversation. Tamwyn however was not in the mood for such things for a few reasons. First and foremost, this woman who not Yenn, secondly, he had just woken up, and thirdly he had the strangest desire for roast goose for some unknown reason. Either way, he wanted the needless flirting to end, especially when this conversation promised to be quite painful. So his response to her statement was a bladed edge that implied things of their own, some of which she might not like. His tone when delivered though, combined with his raised eyebrow as if the possible response hadn't occurred to her, would be meant to act not as an insult. However as a statement of cessation of such things. "I see, I suppose that makes you easy to please then?" He would say.

When she apologized for arriving unannounced Tamwyn would wave it off. To be honest he shouldn't have been asleep this late anyway. It was well within the reasonable hours of a visit, even an unannounced one as unlikeable as they might be. "Death of a loved one does tend to make one act out of sorts." He would say, and with one sentence confirm any suspicion she might have of how he might know her name, as well as what the reason for her arrival might be. When she accepted his offer for a drink he would move over to the liquor cabinet and pull out a bottle. His body would hide it from her view and he would pour two glasses of an alcoholic beverage that was probably the most perfect one he could have possibly chosen for the occasion. It wasn't his strongest drink as she requested. However it would compensate for that by having meaning. For the drink Tamwyn had poured was none other than Darhk Reserve. He had a few bottles of it in stock that he had managed to get his hands on after the man had died. He hadn't opened any of them yet, however this would seem like the perfect moment to do so.

Once the glasses were poured he would leave the bottle on the counter, label pointing away and turn toward his blonde guest before moving toward her and offering her a glass. If and when it was taken he would nod before holding his up in solemnity before speaking. "To Damien." He would say simply, before downing his in a single gulp and moving back to retrieve the bottle and bring it to the side table next to the couch. "Please, have a seat, should you want more, I'll pour." He would say simply before sitting on the couch and pouring himself another drink but not taking a drink of it this time. He would refill her glass if requested and pass it back before moving to meet her gaze. Amber meeting amber, a small smirk would cross his features at the similarities between them. 'Did he hire me because I have similar features to his lover? I hope not, that would be weird.' He would think before speaking. "So Miss Kara, what can I do for you today?" He would ask, his tone conversational, all traces of solemnity gone. It was an emotion best dealt with alone after all. Better to get straight to business.

As the white haired and yellow eyed man before tried to provoke her with thinly veiled insults, Kara would smile briefly, a gentle smile. In truth it amused her to no end the gall the man had shown. And his comment stung about as much as a puppy growling might. With practiced elegance she would turn after her modest curtsey and make her way to the couch again, her voice just as smooth as it had been before. “I suppose it must. Though I must say that is the first time I have ever been described as such, so I’ll thank you for the compliment.” She had always been told that she was fairly difficult to please, and it would be less than classy to stoop to slinging insults so she chose to reframe the comment in a way that caused her no irritation.

As Tamwyn poured them both a drink she would take the offered glass with her left hand and raise it as he raised his own, trying to push through the shock of hearing Damien’s name in a toast to his passing. She felt the lump of grief forming in her throat again and attempted to swallow her drink to keep it from taking hold. She managed to get a small sip before the realization of what she was drinking hit her. She would recognize the taste anywhere, one of Damien’s special creations, and one she had more recently become intimately familiar with. She would get a faraway look in her golden eyes as she brought the glass to her lips again and swallowed the rest of the golden liquid. She would glance up as Tamwyn spoke again and implored her to sit, moving to sit on the couch again and holding out her now empty glass for him to refill. “Thank you. Fitting choice of drink, I must say I wasn’t expecting it though.”

As their eyes met she was struck by the similarities in his own visage to her own, and it helped in distracting her from her rising sorrow. Once the business of business was over she would ask him more about himself, the similarities were a bit too uncanny. For now though she focused on the task at hand, which she would begin after downing a second drink and holding out her glass for more. “I’m here because you were the majority shareholder of Darhk Industries. Due to recent events I have had to merge both mine and Damien’s companies. This won’t affect you overly, though your shares are now owned in The Eclipse Federation. The end result for you is the same as for any money you obtain as a result of that ownership however I felt that it would be prudent to inform you of the change in person. I do hope that this doesn’t create an issue for you. I am still learning what precisely occurred at and as a result of the fall of Moonspire. I’m unsure how deeply you were affected but it is my desire to continue any business arrangements that Damien had, which it seems you were also on his payroll, to what end his notes were not exactly specific.” Knowing what she did of Damien and seeing the obviously well built Tamwyn, she could imagine what he was hired for, but she would prefer to hear it from Tamwyn.

Her response would elicit a chuckle from him, he had only be kidding but he also hadn't meant his words to be insulting so he supposed her response was fair enough. He'd incline his head in acknowledgement of her decision. When it came time for their drink he would watch her reaction as her expression turned to one of remembrance. He remained silent throughout, not wanting to intrude upon the moment before they sat down. At her passing of her glass for a refill he would do so, filling the glass once more and passing it to her. "I thought it fitting considering how close you must have been to him. I saw the portrait of you he had in his office." He would say, leaning back in the seat and taking a deep breath. When she downed her second glass and held hers out for a third he would take it and refill it again. He didn't have an issue if she wanted to drink, it's not like he didn't have plenty. He would continue to pour and provide more if necessary. She was his guest after all.

When she finally got the reason of her visit he would sit and listen, eyes of burnished gold staring back at hers as she explained things. Essentially, she had had to fuse her own company with Darhk Industries. While the end result for him wouldn't change she had felt the need to inform him given that he was her majority shareholder. He would nod his head at this, it wasn't really an inconvenience. When she spoke of not knowing exactly what happened at Moonspire the white haired man would get a mildly haunted look in his eyes before he downed his second glass without a word. When she finally went silent, the quiet inviting comment from him about what he did for Damien, which would require him to go through the events of Moonspire again from his perspective, he would wordlessly pour a third drink and down it immediately before filling a fourth and simply holding it. He sighed deeply, but his eyes would remain on hers with the exception of when he poured because he wasn't a moron.

"In a lot of ways, I would rather use a mind reading jutsu or something to learn of Moonspire, from my perspective at least. However you deserve to hear it. If you wish to utilize said jutsu afterwards to confirm what I say, I invite you to do so." He would begin, sitting forward and setting his elbows on his knees. He hated retelling this story. It had only happened a couple of weeks ago and the internal wound was still fresh and bloody. "Moonspire was attacked by a three man cell made of Akihiro Uchiha, of Konohagakure. Ikomiki, also of Konoha, and Hana Kaguya, of Kirigakure. When they attacked, Damien, my now Fiancée and myself were underground conducting a business arrangement. Damien ordered me to remain in the security room with her to protect her if necessary and to take the security footage afterward to Kumogakure, then he ran off.  On the footage I saw the attack occurring. Ikomiki created hundreds of wood clones and started slaughtering the civilian workers. Hana utilized large scale water jutsu to help destroy buildings alongside mulitple large summons summoned by Ikomiki and Akihiro utilized some large scale Earth technique to bring Darhk Tower itself down. The footage cut there so I have don't know what happened but only a few minutes after I felt the seal that Damien placed on me to make sure I always followed orders lift, which he stated would happen if he were killed. Afterwards, I proceeded to evacuate all who remained in the underground area after getting the security footage. Then I returned it to Kumogakure." He would say, getting through his retelling of what happened at the town that once stood on the other side of the Land of Lightning. "Frankly Miss Kara, I consider my contract with Damien Darhk void due to his death. I was his bodyguard, and with him gone I don't serve a function any longer." He would finish, going quiet and keeping his bright eyes on her as he waited for her reaction.

Kara was glad for the continued offer of alcohol, especially after he mentioned the portrait. She actually hadn’t known about it, and it was in stark contrast to her own artistic endeavours as of late. While he must have painted the portrait of her to give him inspiration and hope for things to come. All the portraits she had painted of Damien were to remember him as he was, to hold onto things now passed. It was a sad and sorry state that she had found herself in, just on the very edge of self pitying. However her saviour had been the magical ability to suppress any emotions she had with one numbing drink after another.

It was only through the grace of mild intoxication that she was able to listen to Tamwyn retell the story of the fall of Moonspire, and the death of her love Damien. She had already heard the names of the terrorists responsible, but hearing them again renewed her rage. She could feel both of her hands gripping tight as she listened, though only one of them was actually holding anything. The look on her face was one of attempted calm through horror and fury. She was aware of the leveling of the civilian town, and while she didn’t particularly care for anyone other than Damien, the wasteful destruction was something she could only describe as idiotic. Even she; who had literally given up her own arm to save her skin, who would sell anything to anyone regardless of who it might hurt, who at best had questionable morals. Even Kara Darhk would not be so wasteful and stupid. The power that those three had simply thrown away was mind boggling. If all they were up against in dispensing vengeance was three petulant and moronic children who only knew how to blow things up, then it would be no trouble at all to get rid of them. She knew that the town of Moonspire had housed thousands of men, women and their children. Damien’s morals had been as equally questionable as her own, but he took care of his own.

Hearing of his fiance she would nod subtly, the rebuffing earlier made sense to her now. She could understand wanting to protect those that you cared for, she now thought the notion was stupid, but she understood it. While he had been speaking she would finish her drink and hold out her glass again, she was finding it strange drinking from a glass. Since she had lost her arm she’d grown tired of the extra steps required just to fill a glass and so she usually drank straight from the bottle now. At least privately. She would wait to reply until her glass was filled once more, or reach for the bottle herself if it wasn’t. Once she had downed another mouthful of burning liquid she would take a steadying breath before returning her gaze to Tamwyn.

“I believe you. However I would like to see it for myself, not as a reflection of your trustworthiness, I just simply need to see it. I hope you understand.”

She would set her glass down and move towards Tamwyn on the couch, raising her left hand to touch his head. There was no flirtatious smile this time, no lingering gaze. This was not one of her many ploys that gave her the upper hand in deals, she was sombre as she approached him, seriousness in her gold coloured eyes. Assuming he let her, she would begin channeling chakra to extract his memories of the events at Moonspire.

It was disorienting at first, seeing the world through someone else’s memories. Like a dream that was nearly lucid, where you knew that you were dreaming but every time you tried to prove it that knowledge would slip away. She was barely aware that she was sitting on Tamwyn’s couch with her hand on his head while she watched the carnage unfold. Funny thing about memories is that they are not only visual, they smell and taste and feel. And before long Kara was wrapped up in the events of that darhk day, her heart screaming as she watched everything she had ever loved get swept away in water, earth and fire. She saw everything that Tamwyn had seen that day; the sealing of Yenn in Damien’s manor, the tigers, the long descent into the lower levels of Moonspire, the final moments of Damien as seen through the yellow eyed man’s memories. The destruction of everything above ground, the thousands screaming and dying and dead. The removal of Damien’s seal. The survivors, and the long run back to Kumogakure with the security tapes. The meeting with the Raikage and Queen, the girl named Rini and the ANBU Captain named Shimiko. Even the application of the black raiton seal. She kept looking at it all again and again, committing it to her own memory, and searching for some tiny shred of hope within all the despair.

She stayed like that for a long time unless Tamwyn interrupted her, to her it seemed an eternity as she watched it again and again, though it was probably only mere minutes. All sense of time had gone and when she finally could watch it no longer she would open her eyes to realize that there were tears pouring down her face. As she removed her hand she instinctively reached for her glass again as she spoke quietly.

“That was. . . horrible. I don’t have the words. Thank you, for letting me see that.” She would take a moment to collect herself before continuing on in a more businesslike manner, wiping away her tears. “I know you probably wouldn’t want to be labeled a bodyguard again, but if it’s all the same I’d like to keep you on the payroll. Damien trusted you, and that means quite a lot to me. I will hopefully be travelling soon, not far and not for long, but I would appreciate an escort. A hand if you will.”

Training Psycho Mind Transmission - A-Rank Canon Jutsu 250/250

Training:

After he finished speaking she would extend her glass for another refill. He would so gladly and he briefly considered standing up to grab another bottle and handing to the woman but he decided that would be far too rude. He didn’t mind pouring or providing her with what she needed to get through this. It would simply be a matter of pragmatism. Once he filled it she would take another drink before taking a breath to steady herself and turn toward him. Her request that she see what happened from his own eyes for herself was expected. He nodded his head in agreement, letting her move closer to him to place a hand upon his head, luckily after setting down the glass so she didn’t bonk him on the head with the thing. There was no flirty smile this time, no, nothing like that. This wasn’t the time even if it was welcomed, which it wasn’t.

He felt the memories be dredged up. It wasn’t too difficult given how recent the event was but he would relive them, as she did. Which meant he would watch, and rewatch, and rewatch the events that had taken place over and over again until she was satisfied. However he would do so without complaint. If she needed this to help her in some way than he would do so. It was only right. Even if he had been ordered to protect Yenn, and therefore unable to move to protect Damien, he still felt guilty for not saving the man. Or at least trying to at any rate. Therefore he felt this was the least he could do. As he relived the memories over and over again to let help the woman in her grief he would feel, watch, he would relive, and he would go through it all again and again.

When she finally finished, her hand now removed from his head. She would reach for her glass, and thank him. It took him a moment to get his bearings too, but once he did he knocked back another glass before standing up and getting two more bottles from the cabinet. To hell with pragmatism, he needed to get drunk after that and with his constitution doing so took a lot of alcohol. He brought the bottles back and passed one to her after removing the top, in deference to her only having one hand. “Y-Yes of course.” He would say as he opened his own. He would also extend something else he had retrieved from the cabinet, a clean, white napkin. Her tears needed to be dried after all and he was the host so he would provide what was necessary to do so. Once he was settled he would listen to her request to keep him on the payroll perhaps simply as an escort, but that he didn’t need to be her bodyguard. He would listen before nodding, a small quick at his lip at her small, dark joke. A Darhk joke if you will. “I’ll accept that, but you must know that due to my Jounin promotion I’m expected to help with the war. I also don’t have the same kind of freedom I had with Ryuko-sensei, who wanted me to work for Damien and was happy I was. I can’t just leave the village at will. If you want me to escort you, you’ll need to get it cleared by Seid. The current acting Raikage.” He would say before knocking back a large swallow of his bottle.

Kara wasn’t aware of the effect that the technique had on Tamwyn, not that she would have cared overmuch if she did know. He had suggested it in the first place, and then allowed her to view his memories without so much as a word of caution or complaint. And even if he had complained she likely wouldn’t have cared. She was single minded in her need for hope, closure and revenge, it did not leave a lot of room for empathy. Once she saw what Tamwyn was doing by collecting two full bottles, she would breathe a quiet sigh of relief. Erasing those memories temporarily was just what the doctor ordered, and the doctor here was her.

She accepted the napkin after taking a drink from the opened bottle he passed her, having to set the bottle down first. She was still annoyed with how much longer everything took to do. If she wanted to look less dignified she could have held the bottle between her legs as she carefully patted away the tears from her face, but even that wouldn’t have saved that much time. She could see from Tamwyn’s reaction that this current visit was going from ill timed to uncomfortable and so she resigned herself to putting on a smile as she responded to his caveat about his rank with the Kumogakure military.

“Please don’t concern yourself with the details, my dear. Let me worry about those, they are my speciality after all. As for Seid, I have met with him already and we are to meet again soon. Convincing him of your necessity in my ventures will not be difficult, he is a reasonable, and I must say enlightening man. And one who I believe is fully invested in making this world a more magnificent place, just as I intend to do.” She was making assumptions, but those were at least based on observable facts about the Otsutsuki and her dealings with him.  

Taking another long drink from her bottle, she would breathe deeply as she felt the intoxicating calm settle over her. Her constitution was not in the same universe as battle hardened combatants, but due to years of overindulging in alcohol she had built an unhealthy tolerance for it. She would close her eyes for a moment, and then open them immediately as without the input from the external world all she had was visions of the destruction of Moonspire. She had merely wanted to relax for just a second, clear her head of the terrible thoughts that had crept in during their exchange of memories, but it seemed the alcohol still had a while to go before it granted her peace. “Before I become too inebriated, I do need to update your employee file. Basic information, name, birthdate etcetera etcetera. Also an update on your medical file, including a blood sample.” It was all very standard for her company, and she had noted similar practices when going through Damien's paperwork. Kara would place her bottle down again and reach into her bag, pulling out a small vial and a needle, assuming Tamwyn allowed her, she would use the needle to collect enough blood to run the standard tests, as well as satisfy her own curiosity regarding his remarkably similar likeness to herself.

At her words Tamwyn with withhold a groan. He liked Damien enough, had gotten along with the man extremely well actually for the most part. Out of the man's annoying habits though was the one where he always seemed to talk down to people. Her choice of telling him not the concern himself with the details of his employment with her was just the same as Damien would say and it rankled him. He would keep his expression neutral and voice calm however. Besides, she probably wouldn't care regardless. Damien certainly had not so for her to do so would certainly be an odd change of pace. He would instead take a pull from his bottle and nod to acknowledge that she had spoken. She closed her eyes for a moment but just as quickly snapped them back open. Tamwyn's yellow eyes kept an eye upon her. Had she just realized something? Or was she being haunted by visions of what she had seen in his memories? It was possible, and if so it was her problem, not his. She had willingly done the deed of looking into his memories and then kept pressing the metaphorical 'replay' button. So it would be no matter to him.

When she spoke of updating his file with relevant information, name, birthdate, and such. Although she would want a blood sample for her records. It didn't really matter to Tamwyn any, the other information she could get from Damien's records, she had them now. In response to her pulling out a syringe he would raise an arm and pull the sleeve of his robe back up, rolling it back to give access. Then she would lift the arm up so that she could collect her blood sample. As she did that a thought occurred to him. "Walter.." He would say, his voice becoming a tone and volume that would make it clear that he was not speaking to her. Within a moment a young man about Tamwyn's age with black hair tied back in a ponytail, glasses, and dressed in a long sleeved, white, silk shirt, gray dress pants and wearing a blue vest with a tie underneath would step in. "Yes sir?" He would ask, his tone respectful and ready to do what was requested. "Would you please bring me that canteen I returned from Meijing with Walter?" He would ask, prompted Walter to bow respectfully. "Of course sir." He would say before walking off.

At that point he would turn back to Kara before speaking. "If it's not too much trouble, I have a small request, it should equate to nothing for you but I'm curious. When I took part in the Battle of Meijing I looted a canteen of what seems like simple water from a puppeteer of Konoha. I almost had to drink it later on due to other circumstances. I didn't have to, but in the end I'm curious as to if it was poisoned or not. I keep the thing around because it reminds of the battle and what occurred there but to know what's in it would settle a personal curiosity of mine." He would say as he reached onto the side table and withdrew a pen and pad and began to write. His handwriting was neat and crisp, although not overly elegant. It was however perfectly legible no matter who read it. On it he wrote a name and address. "I also feel you might want this." He would say, tearing out the paper and holding it to her. "It's the address of Zhu Li, Damien's personal assistant. She's kept and taken care of his tigers since..since the incident, Raava and Vaatu. I don't know if you want them, or to meet with her or not." He would say before taking back another slug of his drink before Walter entered with the canteen Tamwyn had taken from the puppet user. "Here you are sir." He would say as he held it out for Tamwyn, who would take it with a polite nod of thanks. "Thank you Walter, that's all." He would say, dismissing the man who would bow respectfully before withdrawing. Then, assuming she took the earlier proffered paper with Zhu Li's address on it he would hold the canteen out to Kara, letting her decide if she would take it or not. "So, mind answering a curiosity of mine Miss Kara?" He would ask, a small grin on his features.

If she took it, he would nod his head in thanks, and if she chose not to he would shrug and set the canteen on the side table before standing and offering her a hand. "Well then I believe that completes our business. You may keep the bottle if you wish, but allow me to escort you out." He would say, referencing the still mostly full bottle that he would hold the top to and offer to close for her. "Will you need assistance in carrying anything?" He would ask, to which if she said yes he would ask the first man or woman they came across to the door to assist her in carrying her things back to her hotel. Once they reached the door to the manor he would turn to her and nod politely in farewell as he opened the door. "It was certainly an experience meeting you today Miss Kara, I await the next meeting readily." He would say, giving her a small smile. Once she had left, he would close the door and sigh deeply before turning back to the study, he needed to drink more to obliterate the images she had dredged up.

Exit

Kara would take the sample of Tamwyn’s blood, setting it into her bag and starting a mental timer. She wouldn’t have long before the sample would be unusable for her purposes and so she would need to make a decently hasty exit. As she was readying her things in order to leave, she would look curiously as Tamwyn asked one of his servants for a canteen he had brought back from Meijing with him. She could only assume he meant the battle at Meijing, since she was aware of a famous battle occurring there recently and other than that she couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to go there on purpose. Listening to his explanation of the mysterious canteen with the equally mysterious liquid in it she would nod seriously. “It is probably for the better that you didn’t drink it there, though not common, poisonings are never a thing to take chances with. I’ll test it myself, and report back anything I find out. I can’t promise any of it will be left after I’ve concluded my testing however, the nature of investigation can sometimes deplete the original sample. The tigers, those I will deal with later, thank you. I had never considered myself the type of person that might own a pet, but I suppose this way I might be able to. . .” She meant to say ‘hold on to a piece of him’, but it sounded so morbid and depressing that she kept the thought to herself. “Thank you for the information Tamwyn, it is most appreciated.”

Taking the canteen she would carefully put it in her bag along with the blood sample and stand using his offered hand for balance. She thought that it might be more professional to leave the bottle of alcohol behind, but instead she would accept his offer of assistance with carrying her things. Besides the sentimental value that the drink held, she was having a harder and harder time turning down a drink. “I am not staying far from here, and I would appreciate the help. Even before I lost this arm I didn’t carry my own things if I could help it, or rather pay someone else to do it.” She would hand off her things to the servant and make her way to the door, a congenial smile on her face as she bid farewell to her host. “It was an experience indeed. One that I do not wish to repeat in that exact manner, though I look forward to meeting with you again. And congratulations.”

Once she left the manor she would not look back, merely expecting that the servant would follow her back to her hotel, which they did. Once her things were safely deposited in her room, and Tamwyn’s servant appropriately tipped and sent away, she would get to work on testing the two samples that she had acquired. It would take a while, but the mysteries of the physical universe were easily solved by a person of her intellect. The day had been tiring and painful, much like every day since she had left Sunagakure. She knew that if she were less intelligent she would wake up one day and it just wouldn’t hurt as much as the day before. But with her memory she doubted she would ever be free of the horrible images she had seen. With a sigh she would uncap the bottle of Darhk Reserve and continue her spiral into darkness.

[Exit Thread]

[Claiming 1 container of Hero Water, and 1 blood sample from Tamwyn]