[Ariyah – Lady Washington – The Stores – BoL – Fame 2 – A]
Ariyah watched Yuri react to her words… not favourable it seemed. She wasn’t surprised; she knew a lot of Kindred – especially young ones – who fought against their nature.
They held to some belief that they could stay human. From her experience, that seemed to do more harm than good. Of course, she was no advocate for needless killing or cruelty. However, she was of the firm belief that only by understanding their monstrous nature and accepting it as a matter of course, could they try to steer it to less destructive pursuits.
But words are not going to convince anyone, only through trial and error would one learn, or die in the process.
“You know,” Ariyah said after Yuri mentioned not having any skills, “that as a member of the undead race, we have a very long time of existing ahead of us.”
“I’m not sure about your looks, since you have the whole mask thing going on,” she gestured to Yuri with one hand, “but charm and skills are something that could be learned.”
“Now, I’m not saying you have to change who you are fundamentally, or do things you don’t like to do. But don’t let who you are now restrict who you could be. You have all the time in the world to learn and explore. Are you happy to spend the next hundred, heck even the next fifty, years underground?”
Ariyah didn’t know why she was so persistent; it’s not like his being out and about would affect her in any way. But in a way, his reclusive attitude reminded Ariyah of Jasper’s belief; that if they stayed away from Kindred politics, stayed away from the spotlight, then they would be left alone to do their art. That, of course, did not happen. And instead, their isolation meant they had few friends, and practically none with power, which could help them when the time came. That is not a lesson many could survive to learn.