It was suitably challenging to try and catch Kaleeth in the water. Janius persisted with futility for so long that he was nearing the point of giving up. Fortunately, Kaleeth-Rei had underestimated him after a while and Janius found an opportunity. His arm shot through the water and snatched Kaleeth firmly by the tail. Anchoring himself on the riverbed to the best of his ability, he stopped her forward motion dead and reached with his other hand, grabbing her by the leg. At this point, he pulled her back towards him through the water. Without her main form of propulsion, Kaleeth wasn't like catching smoke anymore. Janius followed through by releasing her tail and reaching to grab her by the arm and lift up to break the surface of the water.

He met the tropical air with a deep breath, letting go of Kaleeth's leg, but pulling her arm up high so she couldn't immediately dive right back into the water to get away. "Hahaha! You slippery eel! Finally got you!" Janius shouted with mirthful triumph. His laughing died down while he caught his breath. He lowered her arm, looking at her closely with a grin. "That was a lot of fun," he said in a quieter tone, "it's not often I get to fish for Argonians."

---

Thorantilth's question caused Sabine to look down and away. Not out of anxiety, but because she was thinking. All three of the stories had some virtues to them, some lessons that could be taken away. 

"...[i]The Fruit and the Stone[/i]..." Sabine started quietly. Her tone was slow and mumbling, but more confident than usual. She seemed to be less worried about the world at large and was more focussed on pondering the stories. "The fruit was small and simple, but it was important. The small thing, that Betzi didn't think was important, turned out to be the answer. I think."

Sabine took a breath before continuing to think out loud. It wasn't often that she thought out loud. "[i]The Lost Communion[/i]... Jaraleet did many useless things, but he kept going. Then he was inspired by his wife's suggestion, and rewarded for persisting." Sabine shrugged, "He... he kept persisting, and experimenting. Trying new things. He kept going to his goal."

Curling her lips in thought, Sabine rubbed her upper arm for a moment while she explained her interpretation of the final book. "[i]The True Balance[/i] said... to understand something, you must become it. You must fight with their weapons. So when you want to understand, you have to... think like them. You... you have to... see what they see." 

Sabine looked at the treeminder, "All the stories. They found answers to their problems in... where they... wouldn't normally look. They... found it in unexpected things." Sabine thought she understood better now. Thinking outside of the box for solutions was something that she didn't think she was very good at. But, if it would prepare her for the ritual, she would keep it in mind. She waited for Thorantilth to confirm this before she left it at that conclusion.