To say the fox was uncomfortable as he sat in the white, elemental-guided boat in his usual position, his legs crossed to the point where the soles of his feet were pressed together and his hands resting over them, would be rather a gross understatement. His ears flattened forward atop his head, his wide tail curled protectively around his waist, he seemed to direct his eyes straight down into the very center point of the boat beneath him, as if he was trying to bring it into such sharp focus that he wouldn't see the slightest hint of the water outside this image of safety, of a dry surface.

Still, though, there came a time when he had to look up, when he felt the boat slow, the water swishing around it, though for as harmless as it was, one wouldn't guess from the fox's reaction, which was to duck himself further down into the safety of the boat. Childish green eyes that resided on a body that appeared a fair deal older than they hazarded a look upwards to see if it was safe, if land was ahead, finding that it indeed was. Trying to get up quickly, he winced and stumbled back down into the boat, his attempted frantic escape from the water's grasp not serving to override the injuries that lay bandaged across his body. His right arm lightly bandaged, some singed fur showing from it, and his chest, in particular, bandaged up to keep his damaged ribs stable and cuts closed, even the end of his tail looking a little burnt, the fox got himself up slowly and walked out to dry land, heaving a sigh of relief, his ears beginning to rise again as he took steady steps forward, toward the building that now lay before him, the shrine of water.

He would, however, approach the place, looking over the to him illegible writing on the gates, before frowning, his ears flattening once more onto his head, taking a step back. He was already here, he'd pushed himself into some semblance of bravery to get himself this far...but that, alas, seemed to be the last of the resolve of this stray fox as he stood there unmoving, a mind muddled with a haze that was his lost memories wavering on the point of escaping this place or pressing forward, retreating from this unnatural fear of water or pushing himself to face it. It wasn't as if his fear of water was even currently founded...he knew, somewhere in his mind, that it had something to do with his fire, but that, itself, was lost somewhere in his memory.

[color=blue]"I...I came to meet the Lady of Water..."[/b] he finally resolved to speak, though to nothing in particular save perhaps the gate in front of him. He'd even seen the woman, once, at a carnival not so long ago, and she hardly seemed something to fear...still, he couldn't help but fear.

The carnival seemed to have brought joy and a let-loose happiness that she had not seen about the lands recently. The death and rebirth of the World Tree had seemed to put the citizens into a sort of stupor. But at the Twelfth Night carnival with its happy-go-lucky and carefree performers, people seemed to abandon this stupor and finally allow themselves to let go and have fun. It had brought a smile to her face, as well as a smile to the performers. It was always nice to have their unusual talents appreciated. The androgynous Scarlet Bard had enjoyed the merriment and had told many a story. The bard claimed it was the most appreciation they had seen in quite some time.

Rei regretted that it had been over several nights ago and the performers- some of which she had become quite fond of- had left. The mask Belvin had specially made for her for the occasion was placed on a silver display stand within her room. It had been placed on her vanity where she might see it and smile at the memories of the night. The children had not been able to attend the carnival and as such, she had brought them back masks as well, displayed elegantly in their rooms. Larren seemed to very much enjoy his that had been fashioned like the face of a dragon.

But now as the Avatar sat on her vanity stool, admiring the mask for a moment, she felt the presence of a boat touch gently on the shore. For some reason, the person who had stepped off the boat seemed to have stopped just outside the doors. The wards, though, had made no notice that the person meant harm. Searching more, she touched on the aura of the person and immediately recognized it. It was the playful and light-hearted fox boy she had met outside of Medora’s tent. It had seemed to her then that the boy had been scared of water. It made her more puzzled as to why he was here.

Rising, she left her room and walked until she reached the entrance doors. Rei pulled at them, opening them easily. Smiling, she glanced up at the elven writing above the doors. “You need only push open the doors. If you mean no harm, they will open.” She was clothed much more simply than she had been that night. The Avatar wore only a pair of silver mage robes embroidered with sapphire blue silk thread. Her silvery white hair had been left alone. Vibrant and friendly blue eyes settled on the fox and looked over his bandages.

“We have met before, Kai. Is there some other reason you’ve traveled this far? Your wounds perhaps?”

In honest fact, as soon as he saw the doors begin to open, he wanted to run, run to the shelter that would hide this water from his view, assuming of course there wasn't more water to be found inside...though even if there was, it might be better for him than out here. But he didn't, partly for the fact that he wanted to remain composed as he currently could, and partly for the fact that the sudden movements would by no means be good for his ribs in their present state.

Still, though, there was a thing to be said for being met with a familiar face, albeit not very familiar...though last time, at the carnival, he hadn't seen her face very long for the mask she'd been wearing most of the time. This time it seemed it was uncovered. Still, he relaxed, if only a little, remembering that she hadn't seemed to be a bad person by any means.

"I don't mean harm or anything like that..." he said somewhat feebly, though there was nothing about him to say anything otherwise, particularly for the fact that he seemed rather too uncomfortable to do harm to anything.

Taking a light breath to try and return some semblance of calm to his mind, he chose to proceed with the thoughts that had, somehow, successfully brought him here.

"I'm not too worried about this stuff, it'll heal, I guess...that's what they told me, at least..." he began, glancing down mainly to his bandaged chest that still lightly pained him, before returning his eyes to the woman before him. That said, he took a moment to consider what next he could say, though even now his mind was betraying him, barely allowing him to think beyond simple terms. Well, it would have to do. "I...I don't want to be afraid of water any more, I can't even summon my fire right now to have to worry about that...and I figured maybe you can help?" he asked, a hopeful tone leaking into his voice more than his eyes and the ears that remained mostly plastered forward against his head. He knew it wouldn't be a particularly easy thing for him, but he'd made it this far...that was a start. And, as his mind started obeying some of his commands to work, he came up with another thought on the subject, one that could perhaps be easier and thus serve two separate purposes.

"Well, um...I've learned how to use wind once before...I think..." he began, another vague hint of recollection directing this possibility to him. "Maybe I can try to learn how to use water...that'd probably make it easier to not be afraid of it any more..."