Kytha Briar

Kytha Briar is an Ensign onboard the USS Phoenix. She is the resident Anthropologist, a position she holds with great pride. She is currently dating Commander Dunamis.

Appearance
Kytha is a 5'2 lithe woman. She has pale skin and midnight black eyes. She has long wavy chestnut brown hair which is usually kept in twin braids. She has lash grazing bangs which curl over her forehead.

Personality
Kytha is an upbeat, lively girl full of energy. She is extremely curious and is not afraid to ask questions or stick her nose into other people's business. She is blunt and will outright state her thoughts and feelings, wearing her heart on her sleeve. While outwardly confident, Kytha tends to doubt herself a lot. Having spent most of her life isolated, she has a hard time finding her place in the world and isn't confident she really belongs. This is slowly changing as efforts from Kianaa and Dunamis have gradually made her feel more confident of her place. She does still have a hard time having confidence in her ability to socialize effectively with others.

Early life
Kytha was born in Zria on Betazed on May 13, 2455 to Ethan Briar and Mirria Vai. Her father was a Starfleet Officer while her mother was a wildlife biologist. She was raised primarily by her mother as her father was away most the time do to his job. Kytha grew to have a love of fantasy and adventure. She absolutely adored the stories her father would tell her of his time in space. She buried her face in books and would pretend that she was an explorer traversing the universe. This always troubled her mother as she didn't want her daughter going off into space after her dad. Kytha of course knew this and would try to keep her distance from her mother, not liking the surge of emotional pain she felt from her mother every time she saw Kytha dreaming about space. Her dreams and the growing tension from her mother caused Kytha to ask her father to take her with him every time he visited. Ethan didn't want to upset Mirria, their relationship already strained from his absence, so he always told her no, much to Kytha's disappointment. She had a hard time with the other children on Betazed, being half human. She was constantly teased for her abnormal hair color, further pushing her into solitude. Having grown a fondness for human stories and food furthered the divide. She would occasionally make short lived friendships but they never lasted. While she did feel lonely, She didn't mind it all too much. She was used to the comings and goings of her father after all. She had grown used to the idea that people were going to come and go from her life. as the years went on, Kytha's relationship with her mother became more and more strained. Being Betazoids, her mother could never hide the fact that she disliked her daughter wanting to follow in her father's footsteps. Kytha had began resenting her for it and the two openly argued frequently. Her father himself had begun to see the resentment the two had for one another but all attempts he made to try and reconcile the two failed. Dating a federation officer took it's toll on Mirria and she couldn't help but feel anger towards him for leaving her and felt like he had taken their daughter from her. It was during this period that her parents broke up and while they were uneasy around each other, they both held it together for Kytha. On her fourteenth birthday, her life would forever change. For her birthday, Kytha's father decided to give her what she always had wanted. He told her she could come with him on the USS Phantom, a Federation science vessel.

Aboard the USS Phantom
As promised by her father, Kytha lived with him on the USS Phantom. It was here that she discovered her love for anthropology. She was absolutely amazed at how different everyone was and was extremely curious about how others lived. All she knew about the galaxy was from what her father told her but experiencing it blew her mind. She would constantly ask questions to the other passengers, eventually to the point that she started recording them for her to listen to later. She wrote her own book about everyone and every race she met. She would frequently ask the computer questions and it was through that she discovered what anthropology was and it fueled her determination to be one. She loved being in an environment where everyone mixed together and celebrated there differences. She wanted to help promote that type of environment throughout the galaxy. She had made up her mind and spent all the time she could furthering her goal. She worked hard at it, much to the dismay of some of the crew but she wasn't going to let anything stop her.

Academy Life
At the age of eighteen, Kytha entered the academy. She studied and worked hard at her grades but this left her little time to socialize. She worked on several different courses and dedicated all her time to school work. her classmates barely saw her. Kytha was used to being by herself and it was comforting and familiar to be alone with her own thoughts. This would soon be challenged as she soon had to start doing field work for her anthropology degree. She was forced to collaborate with others and she found it awkward. She found herself struggling to work with the others. This greatly dismayed her. She didn't know why it was so hard to work with others. She was resolved to overcome this hurdle. She worked up the courage and pulled one of the group members to the side and had a heart to heart. Kytha realized that her reclusive behavior had rendered her unable to understand the nuances of conversation. Not being able to realize how something so simple as her tone of voice turned others away from listening to her. With her classmates help, her ability to communicate effectively with others improved and she was able to graduate the Academy.

Aboard the USS. Phoenix
Kytha came aboard the USS Phoenix on Stardate 154801.2, being assigned quarters with Ensign Kianaa Otri. The two clicked instantly and would frequently be seen together. She settled in quite quickly as opportunity came knocking fairly soon after her arrival.

Mission on Gramen
The ship arrived a Gramen and Kytha eagerly joined the away mission. She was thrilled at the possibility of meeting these undiscovered people though her hopes were initially dashed due to adherence to the Prime Directive. However, Due to two natives endangering themselves, first contact was established. Kytha hadn't expected to be apart of such an impactful mission on her first away team and was completely ecstatic about the opportunity. Kytha spent every waking moment on the planet, gathering information. What she didn't experience first hand she gathered from interviewing other officers. She was determined to write a paper on all of the planets inhabitants. However, as the end of their mission drew near, things too a turn for the worst. The inhabitants had agreed to undergo transcendence, A type of evolution that their predecessors had undergone. Kytha didn't have a good feeling about the ordeal but the Prime directive demanded they not interfere. Her fears were seemingly confirmed when the transcendence caused a species wide genocide on the planet. Being an empath, the feelings of the dying inhabitants and the despairing crew flooded her mind. She was overcome with grief and despair. She blamed herself for such a catastrophic failure. She regretted not knowing these people personally and felt like she had not been there enough for all of them. Kianaa consoled her but the lingering feeling of failure and worthlessness stuck to her.

Meeting Commander Dunamis
After the mission on Gramen, Kytha was left in a dysphoric state. She felt like she hadn't been of much use and questioned her place in a crew with such talented officers. At this time, the ship had docked at the Earth Space Dock for shore leave. While a lot of her fellow officers left, Kytha stayed on the ship, too emotional to want to face her family. While wandering the ship, She came across Commander Dunamis off duty. Without a second thought, Kytha approched him. Having never met a Kelpian before, She wanted to interview him for her own personal records. Dunamis accepted her company and the two conversed as they traversed the space dock. Kytha continued to run into the Kelpian even after they departed from earth. Kytha eventually confided her feelings of depression and dysphoria to him. He consoled her and helped her see her value to the crew and that what had happened on Gramen wasn't her fault. Not only did this heart to heart begin the process of her healing and regaining her confidence, but the young hybrid began to start developing feeling for him. As time went on, her feelings only grew more as the two spent night after night in the holodeck together. She kept this to herself as she was an Ensign, twenty years his junior, and felt as he wouldn't even consider the notion. Little did she know that Dune had started growing just as fond of her, having started allowing her to address him informally. Things finally came to a head one night in the holodeck. The two came to admit their feelings for one another and after yet another holodeck date, decided to enter into a relationship. This caused quite a stir amongst the crew due to the large gap in both age and rank. The two didn't seem bothered by any of the gossip, though Kytha herself had to adjust to the amount of attention thrown her way.

Xiodia Prime
While investigating a mysterious nebula, the ship became stuck on Xiodia Prime. Kytha was on the away team when they made first contact with the inhabitants. The Azvahdelians were decedents of a crashed ship while the Crix'iods were the planets native inhabitants. The two where in conflict. Kytha helped make first contact with the Crix'iods. She was the first to be able to communicate with them. She ended up taking over the talks between the Phoenix and them. During these missions, she ended up in a war zone where the Xoids where being attacked by the Azvahdelians. She had felt what death was like on Gramen, now she actually had to see it. She desperately tried to protect the only medic while contacting command for further orders. Throughout this mission, She helped build a bridge between the Phoenix and the Xiods especially. She felt like she had finally proved herself.

The Second Iconian War Begins
During the wedding of Amy and Malcom Parsons, The Phoenix was attacked by the Iconians. Kytha could do nothing to help. She simply huddled at her desk feeling helpless as she felt the despair of her crewmates. Shortly afterwards, war was declared on the Iconians. Kytha felt helpless in the war effort, as her specialties provided no assistance in combat. She applied to take the bridge officer test and tried to find various ways to help on the ship. She also met and started spending time with Ensign Nedras, a Vorta who worked in tactical. There friendship had an abrasive start as the Vorta who liked to keep secrets was confronting by a Betazoid who could see through his lies. Kytha soon realized that she needed to allow him to lie to her. She had to learn to respect where Nedras was coming from. She could tell whatever he was hiding with his lies was eating him up inside and hoped he would confess to her in time. During thus time, Commander Dunamis announced to her that he had been reassigned. She was very heartbroken and decided to try and spend as much time with him as possible.