It's early morning and the sun is just coming up over the horizon. The procession is still in view and the bulk of the crew on board are just starting to wake. It's the morning after Xander sent the meeting request to the Burning Sands. After much negotiation with Pyrelighter, Xander has been given permission to practice the art of fire on this particular upper deck. Of course, this deck is the furthest from the gas bag and there isn't much flammable here … but still, he was given permission to practice magic; rare for a non-naga to obtain on an Imperial ship.

The Lapi mage is stripped down to the waist, and has his ears tied back with a strip of cloth. There's a slight heat haze about him as he moves through the motions of what could be a dance or a martial art – or some sort of pantomime for that matter. Xander seems to push, pull and sweep the air with his hands as he moves, and a tiny ball of green flame expands, contracts and arcs in time before him.

The deck is empty as Xander performs his 'dance'. Thankfully since the sun is just coming up, the morning is still cool. "Do you realize how handsome you are when you are doing that?" comes Umeko's voice from behind Xander. She sounds distant at first, but it grows louder as she seems to approach. "Truly. You have told me your fears … and yet seeing you like this makes me wonder how valid those fears are."

Xander doesn't immediately respond to Umeko, but finishes the sequence he was practicing first. The green ball of flame puff out of existence, and the Lapi slowly exhales before taking on a more relaxed stance and turning to her audience. "Ah… how long were you watching?" he asks, as he reaches back to unbind his ears.

"A while. I hope you don't mind," Umeko says as she walks around the Lapi. She's dressed in a rough white tunic and pants; her sparring uniform. Her hair has been crudely rolled up and pinned back into a bun. She's also rubbing the front of her snout a bit with one hand. When he goes to untie his ears, the Kiriga adds, "Please, do not stop on my account."

"My control isn't that good yet," Xander mutters. He's still visibly radiating heat. "Are you sure you will be content to just watch?" he asks.

"I'm no mage, I can't exactly help you," Umeko admits, "All I could possibly do is offer suggestion on movements, but I am not sure that would be much help, either." The Kiriga leans lightly against the railing and offers Xander a smile. "So, of course I would be content to watch you," she says, "I could use a rest from my sparring with Anisa. We made an agreement to teach each other our fighting styles. She has a strong foot, by the way." Again, the Kiriga rubs the side of her jaw.

"I can imagine!" Xander says with a grin, and then closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He drops into a sort of 'ready' crouch, with one leg forward and bent at the knee. His right arm is stretched out before him, palm upward, while his left is arched upwards with palm facing forward. He holds this pose for some time, breathing deeply, until the green ball of flame appears again in his outstretched palm.

Umeko takes this as her 'cue' to remain silent and observe. So, the Kiriga slides down the railing and sits cross-legged. She folds her hands in her lap and watches quietly.

Next, the Lapi's right arm starts to cross against his chest, which then turns until he's nearly spun around, with his legs shifting until they've reversed positions. Umeko's eye is quick to see that each move has to take place within the span of a single deep breath, which is exhaled at the end. Finally, Xander lifts a foot and begins the dance again, sweeping his body through curves and gentle-looking arm and hand gestures that send the green ball through its own exercises.

The one thing that strikes Umeko as she watches is how much this follows the movements of her own kata. Many styles of fighting have been linked to elements. Fire is the strong, swift strikes, water is the flowing and graceful dance of blows, wind is the art in which like a leaf, your body glides and rolls around the opponents weapons and earth is the unyielding stance; strong in its defiance. Above all is the art of emptiness, or void; which is everything and nothing. It borrows from all the styles.

Xander's movements begin to speed up as he progresses, getting faster each time. He makes striking motions with his hands and feet, and the green flame jumps to their tips. He keeps this up until the glowing sprite falters and puffs out again, leaving him panting and shedding heat like a hot coal.

"You really do not give yourself enough credit. Would you be interested in training with me some time?" Umeko asks when Xander finally ends the next round of his dance and is recovering. "It would not be magic, of course, but I could show you some fighting techniques you might wish to include."

"That… might help me… build up strength," Xander pants. Once he gets his breathing back under control and seems to cool down a bit, he explains, "The Heart of Flame is the most difficult and powerful close-range combat technique of my Sphere. It draws on my own strength and uses my body to store up the magical energy to be released through my focus. I'm just not quite to the point where I can keep up the power and the focus enough to use it."

"Then I do think you would benefit from training with me. The ultimate goal of any martial artist is to fight without thought," Umeko says, "Do you understand what that means?"

Xander sits on the deck and thinks about it. "To make your moves like reflexes. Because you can't distract a reflex."

"Exactly," Umeko says with a nod, "You teach your body to know what to do so you do not have to think about it. If you have to think, you hesitate. If you hesitate, you lose. If your body knew the moves, then you would be free to focus on the magic alone." Apparently the Kiriga has learned this well. She doesn't seem to have noticed the small trickle of blood that's started to drip from the left side of her muzzle. It's making a small line down her chin and is starting down her neck.

"Um, you're bleeding," Xander points out once he focuses back on Umeko.

"Don't be silly. We were not that rough. We even used pads," Umeko comments as she reaches to her mouth. When her hand comes away smeared with blood, her brow goes up. "If you have a moment, could you tell me where I'm bleeding? Maybe I bit my lip," she asks. The Kiriga then pulls her lip back and folds up out. Well, it does give a good view of her nice row of sharp looking teeth. All along the upper left is a bit bloody, so from this angle it's a bit hard to tell where it came from.

Nose twitching nervously, Xander comes closer and leans into try and locate the source – assuming it is Umeko's blood. "You didn't bite Anisa, did you?" he asks, just to be certain.

"Of course not. Why would I bite her?" Umeko asks. The Kiriga licks over the side of her teeth, her slightly forked tongue wiping the blood away. There doesn't seem to be any actual wounds in her mouth. But, after about ten seconds, more blood appears. It's oozing out from around her largest canine. The blood also has the slightly acidic scent to it now that Xander's close. A common trait of most reptiles.

"I think one of your fangs got knocked a little loose," Xander suggests. "Do your teeth hurt at all?"

"Some," Umeko admits, "But they hurt a bit before we sparred. Which one do you think is loose?"

Xander reaches out tentatively and taps the largest canine with one of his claws. "This one?" he says, watching to see if tapping it causes more bleeding or a wince.

Upon tapping the canine, Xander can feel the tooth move. Not only that … Umeko winces and draws back from the tap. The Kiriga tries to gently rub the tooth wit her tongue to placate it … and that succeeds in doing only one thing … the tooth falls out. It lands on her crossed legs, looking a bit bloody and with bits still 'attached'.

The Lapi clamps his hand over his mouth quickly, and scoots back a bit. He takes his hand away to say, "Sorry! I didn't know it would do that! Kiriga regrow their teeth, right?"

"No, we don't," Umeko says slowly as her eyes go down to her lap. She looks like she doesn't quite believe what she's seeing and ends up picking the tooth up between to of her claws. She turns the tooth slowly, repeating, "She did not hit me that hard." The spot where the tooth was drips blood.

"Maybe it came loose from your… you know… transformation," Xander suggests in a quiet voice. "But the healer said you were fine, right? Maybe it can be put back in."

It's rare for Umeko to look visibly upset, but right now she does. "Maybe," she says, not sounding quite convinced of the possibility. With the tooth out, it's rather long in both root and crown. It would have taken a lot of force to knock it out. She offers a weak smile to Xander. Without the canine, the Kiriga looks a bit … lopsided. Even though all her teeth tend to be sharp looking, the canines were always the most noticeable ones. "How bad does it look?" she asks quietly.

"Well… " the buck starts to say, tilting his head from side to side. "Maybe the Emperor will give you a gold-plated one to replace it? For now though… uh… eat your food more gently?" he suggests.

"It looks bad," Umeko deciphers from Xander's statement. Her eyes close and she sighs, "Maybe you are right. Maybe the transformation loosened it and the practice just … helped it out. Maybe it can be fixed."

"I have had a few swelling problems since then," Umeko adds in a really quiet voice.

"Errr, swelling?" Xander asks, scooting back closer. "As in… inflammation?"

Umeko reaches over and takes Xander's hand. Without asking him, she opens her mouth wide and puts it in. She presses Xander's fingers to the roof of her mouth. On both sides of her jaw Xander can feel what seems like some inflamed tissue above where her current canine is, and above the hole where her former one was. It feels odd really, like pressing on gelatin.

Xander squeaks in alarm. "That isn't swelling!" he says. "When you changed, you had folding fangs and… and venom sacs! You bit Hakuu with them!"

Umeko releases the Lapi's hand and rolls her jaw. "As that I did, but … I am not that anymore," she asserts. "Is some of the venom possibly still present and causing problems?" she asks after a moment, sounding worried now, "Are my teeth going to keep falling out?"

"I… don't know," Xander admits, rubbing the back of his head. "Nothing else has been bothering you, has it?"

"Minor muscle aches here and there, some stiffness. Nothing stretching has not helped fix," Umeko answers after a moment of consideration. Scaled brow furrowed, she reaches in her own mouth and rubs at the left side of her palate with one of her thumbs. A few seconds after she starts rubbing, the drops of blood change from red, to an almost clear liquid.

"Ack!" Xander yelps at the sight. "That could be dangerous! Where's Anisa and her blasted crystal? She's got to fix this!"

Umeko withdraws her hand and peers at the liquid. "What do you mean dangerous?" she asks just before sniffing her hand.

"That could be venom!" Xander points out. "Just because you produce it doesn't mean it can't affect you!"

"I'm not a Naga," Umeko points out as she wipes her hand on her training uniform. "And I've never heard of a Kiriga that had venom glands."

"Well… you should still be careful until you see the doctor," Xander says, crossing his arms over his chest. "And we need to make sure that Orb isn't acting up again."

"You're really worried," Umeko says, her fingers now closing around the tooth laying in her palm, "And you're being protective. I'm sure it's nothing and maybe the doctor can just fix my tooth. My other one seems fine." And to prove that, she reaches up with her free hand and lightly grips her right canine. Watching Xander intently, she tugs downward on it. To Lapi ears there's a really disturbing wet-flesh tearing sound … and the Kiriga finds herself now holding her right canine between her forefinger and thumb. She just … blinks.

"Oh… please don't do that again?" Xander begs, looking a bit squeamish. "You have to see the doctor now, before anything else starts falling out!"

Umeko seems to shrink/curl downward a bit as she looks at the tooth between her fingers. "Well, at least I'm not lopsided?" she offers rather weakly to Xander. The attempt at humor is short lived as she curls her tail around herself while she hugs herself protectively. "What is happening to me?" she whispers.

Xander moves in and hugs the Kiriga, saying, "Let's go find out. I'm sure it has to do with sparring with Anisa somehow. Did she hit you in the mouth at all?"

"A couple times. But … never very hard," Umeko repeats. With a sigh, she rests her chin lightly on his shoulder. "No matter what happens or what the doctor says, you'll stay with me, right?" she asks a bit worriedly.

"Of course," Xander notes. "Just… try not to bite me, okay?" he asks, and gives the Kiriga a squeeze.

"With what?" Umeko has to ask, her lips pursing into a bit of a frown, "At this rate I won't have any teeth to bite with." Slowly, she pulls back from the Lapi.

"Well, that could just be temp… hmmm," the Lapi goes, and then says, "Hold on a moment. Did you notice that swelling before you came over to where I was practicing?"

"Yes. Why?" Umeko asks.

"Oh, I just wanted to be sure it wasn't a reaction to being around magic!" Xander says. "I'd hate to find out you'd become allergic to me."

Umeko gives Xander a quizzical look. "You are very odd," she tells him. "Even if I was allergic to you, I would still visit you."

"I'm still worried about this," Xander notes. "I think you're growing real fangs. Your horns are feeling loose too, are they? Any other swelling in unusual places?" he asks.

Umeko tests a couple horns by tugging on them. They seem rather solid as her head moves with the tug. She then rolls her shoulders and thinks for a bit. "No, I feel fairly normal. Just as I said, a little stiff and sore," she says. "Do I look ant different?"

"No, not externally," Xander notes, examining Umeko's face and ears. "Was Anisa wearing her crystal when you sparred by any chance?"

"Might have been. I think she wears it all the time now," the Kiriga answers as she's examined. "But she usually keeps it tucked away. If she had it, it was under her pads."

Xander sighs. "Well, do you want to go to her first, or to the doctor?" he asks.

"Probably the doctor, as she may not be awake yet. That would relieve your worries about me, would it not?" Umeko asks. "You really think I'm growing fangs, don't you?"

"Why else would your teeth just… fall out!" Xander says. "I mean, I know I'm sexy and all, but I'm sure that fluid coming out of your mouth wasn't drool… " he jokes.

"Do you want to taste it to find out?" Umeko counters, brow arching.

"Eeep!" Xander squeaks, and flaps his ears. "I'd better not, just in case it is venom!"

"Then we should go see the doctor," Umeko says as she finally gets back to her feet. She checks herself, then realizes she has no pockets. So … she offers her two dislodged teeth to Xander, asking, "Ah, mind carrying these for me?"

Xander accepts the teeth, and can't help but hold them in front of his own mouth and go, "Rawr!"

"Come along, my dragon protector," Umeko says with a look of mild amusement playing across her lips. "And oh, Xander?"

"Yes, Umeko?" Xander asks after stowing the teeth in his pants pocket.

"That dance you were doing," Umeko says as she glides off towards the stairs that lead below deck. "I know you were joking a moment ago, but I'm not. You were sexy. Intent, focused, and graceful," she continues as her tail sways from side to side behind her to keep her balance. "You truly do not give yourself enough credit."

The rabbits ears turn red and he folds them back to hide it. "Thanks Umeko," he says quietly. "Sometimes I need to hear that."