Noctisardor Bypass Tends to reach the same conclusion

The children grew, and while Kaertok still didn't feel that they were strong enough, they certainly did try. There were moments they made him proud, but those seemed few and far between. He could not, of course, blame these weaknesses on himself. Tartok blood was strong, and it was their mother who had the weaker lineage of the two. Wasn't it her children who had proven themselves to be insufficient? Spook (or Warlock, or whatever his name was this week) seemed to timid, Thief was who-knows-where, and Kaertok scarcely knew Brouhaha.

To deal with it, Kaertok had chosen to simply avoid Arbiter outside of pack matters. He slept close to the children at the rendezvous site, but he was warm to none of them; he never had been. As the days wore on, he felt himself become more and more detached.

When Arbiter called—specifically for him—Kaertok arrived as he always did: neutral and ready to listen. Although this time, there were things on his mind as well.