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The cheerful crackle and pop of burning pine hearkened Shou back to reality. She spent a few moments in a daze, just listening to the wood burn, before abruptly coming to her senses. In a flash, she recalled the cave, the nightmare, the-

"You really shouldn't be here."

She tried to scrabble to her feet only to realize that her wrists and ankles were skillfully bound, tied with good rope and firm knots. She knew a thing or two about knots. "You know, most guys buy me dinner before they tie me up like this." She wriggled upright, blushing slightly as she recalled the last time she'd been quite so compromised. That had been a good night.

She took a good long look at her apparent captor, a look he returned with a mixture of shock, intrigue, and bewilderment. Something about his appearance struck her as... off. Honey brown skin and that sharp, angular face contrasted with the simple jeans and T-shirt. Dark, flowing hair hung just above his shoulders, with that effortless shine and beauty that women coveted and men seldom appreciated. He leaned against the wall with a certain air of arrogance, the kind often portrayed on royalty in movies. Even though his face was contorted in disbelief, there was a certain easy grace to his slouch, as if he considered everything and everyone beneath him. She got the distinct sense that there was little he respected enough to straighten his back, and for a half moment entertained the notion of him slouched like that before some monarch of olden days, dutifully disrespecting any and every power brought before him.

Then the moment passed, and he'd regained his composure. He spoke quickly, but his consonants lacked impact, an accent she'd not heard before, in life, in music, or in film. It gave his voice a kind of slithering feeling, not unlike sand pouring from a vase. "I'll say it again, because I don't think you understand me. I don't mean that you shouldn't be here because you're trespassing. I mean that I'm shocked you managed to find, much less enter this cavern."

She shrugged as much as she could with her bindings. "What can I say? I have a knack for getting lost in the woods." She should honestly be terrified. If this was one of the sleazy pseudo-romance novels she occasionally read, this would be the part where he started seducing her, the part where she pretended that she didn't fantasize about handsome strangers tying her up. Strangely though, she felt absolutely fearless. He wouldn't hurt her. That thought, that feeling of safety, was firmly rooted in her mind even though she had absolutely nothing to back that belief up with. He would have already killed her if that had been his plan, and for some reason she just couldn't imagine him as a rapist. Deciding to push her luck, she continued. "Besides, I was curious what kind of creature would drag bones in here just for decoration."

He arched one eyebrow at this revelation, and glanced in the direction of the entrance for a moment before asking. "And what, pray tell, makes you think those aren't the unfortunate remains of some animal... or person... that died in this mine?"

She couldn't put a finger on it herself, and she struggled to put the feeling into words until something clicked. She had a moment exactly like that first burst of understanding a puzzle, and smiled as she answered. "The smell. If something had died in here, the smell of it would linger. When I walked past them I smelled... well, not death. Mint, if anything. That, and how exactly do bones get sun-bleached if their owner died here.

A slow smile spread across his face, and he looked ruefully towards the entrance again. "Indeed. Yet, assuming that I did bring those bones here, the obvious conclusion would be that I wanted them as a warning, to keep strangers out."

"You say that like you own this cave... last I checked, it's part of the state park... why try to avert the curious?" Something didn't add up. Her brain still felt fuzzy from her loss of consciousness... who was this man? And why was he apparently camped out in an abandoned mineshaft far from civilization?

"Why indeed," His look of bemusement was replaced with the previous visage of consternation. "Since apparently they did nothing to deter you."

Shou heard it that time, just a faint over hesitation on the S in consternation. She knew now, what he was doing here, but more importantly, where he'd come from. "You... You're one of the In'Gha. You're one of the demon worshippers from the great pacific desert."

"Demon Worship." He spat the phrase with disgust. "We do not worship them, and they are not demons. The four protectors are the closest things to gods that exist." He glared back balefully. "and even if they did demand worship, they, at least, protect us." A wicked smile crossed his lips. "Or did your people think it coincidence that the hungering sands claimed every group of "settlers" who tried to push west into our land.

This revelation was, at first, more than Shouyousei could keep up with. The In'Gha rejected every north American attempt at diplomacy since their rediscovery back in the 1800's. The few times the desert nation bothered to translate a message into English, they'd communicated a fondness for their native American neighbors, which directly translated into open disdain for the Europeans who had mistreated them so. They guarded their borders with only slightly less malice than the desert itself, an ocean of sand stretching westwards that had swallowed explorers, settlers, and dignitaries alike. They were a secretive people, and as far as Shou knew, nobody had crossed into or out of their territory in hundreds of years.

And yet, here one stood in the flesh, living in an abandoned silver mine in northeast New Mexico. "What on earth are you doing so far east? Are you a spy, planning for an invasion?" She said it with a smirk; if he was scouting for an invasion, he wouldn't be doing it here.

"No." his answer was short, sharp, and stiff. "I've bothered no-one, and I've been just fine up until now. Hence, the 'you really shouldn't be here' bit. You should guess by now that I can't afford the risk of you leaving and spouting off about my whereabouts..." He let the sentence hang, and she jumped in before he could continue.

"But from your diction and knowledge of English, you clearly have more honor than to toss me off a cliff." She wriggled a little, stone floor certainly not comfy, especially with her current state of immobility. "Hence the ropes and the interrogation."

He smiled coyly at that. "You're a sharp one. Kalokin would love to- would have loved to get to know you." He saw her eyes light up with curiosity and quickly continued speaking, so she'd have no chance to interrupt. "So instead of having your law imprison me or sending you to meet your gods, I would offer you a deal."

She wriggled purposefully in her ropes; the thrill of being tied up was starting to wear thin. "Hard to bargain with someone who's tied up, and I don't even know your name."

He stared at her for a few moments more before chuckling and hissing something under his breath, likely some curse in his native tongue. He leaned up off the wall and strode towards her, letting one foot rise high enough behind him to smoothly pull a slim knife from his boot. "I do suppose you're right. The ropes were more for intimidation anyway, and since you seem to be immune to that, they serve precious little purpose."

He worked the back of the blade into one knot and tugged at it, apparently intent on unraveling the knots instead of wasting good rope. Almost as an afterthought, he continued to speak. "And you may know me as Khaesho Dhaesden Scorpent, of the proud In'Gha nation."

The knot at her wrists fell loose enough for her to tug her arms free and offer a hand for him to shake. "Shouyousei Murasaki. Pleased to meet you, I think."

He had started towards her legs, but paused, caught off guard by the name and the extended palm. "Murasaki? Of the Nihon? You're a great deal further from home than I am, sunshine." He casually flipped the knife into his left hand so he could shake with his right, then turned his attention back to the knots.

"Nihon... You mean Japan? Yes and no. My ancestors are from Japan, but immigrated to America at some point. I kept my mother's name and her eyes though. It's something of a family tradition for the girl who inherits the black eyes to keep the family name. There's even an old legend that goes with it." She rubbed some circulation back into her wrists, and then into her calves when he finished down there.

"By all means, do tell me this story. I had been meaning to ask about your eyes anyways." He slipped the knife back into his boot and stood, offering a hand to help her up. This she declined, in favor of sitting on the floor until all the feeling returned to her legs.

Khaesho had been kind enough to bring her pack along when he abducted(?) her, and she reached in to grab a water bottle to wet her throat before launching into the story. It had been years, a decade and a half since her mother had been around to tell her the story, but her captee seemed fascinated with it; she couldn't help but make a proper story out of it, pulling details from the air when her memory failed her. She got the story straight though, at least enough that her mother would have been proud. She'd been insistent on Shou learning at least that part of the family's history, even from a young age.

"Fascinating. And you say your modern doctors were unable to find a genetic cause? I simply must speak with your mother; might you bring her here?" He looked a mix of exited and intrigued, but the question only hurt more for its innocence.

"No, I'm afraid... I lost both my parents in a car wreck when I was just a kid." She stared down into the near-empty bottle with a bittersweet smile. "Her eyes and her legacy are two of the only things I have left from her."

"Shouyousei, I... I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I know the pain of losing someone close to you..." Something echoed in his eyes, a passing glance of an emotion. Not sadness, but... could that have been anger?

"What, don't tell me you're an orphan too?" She pulled herself up a bit, sass the only thing she could really rely on.

"No... my mentor. He was murdered and I was framed for it... Which, coincidentally, is why I'm exiled." It was a smooth lie, well enough practiced that Shou didn't doubt him even for a moment.

"My condolences... but you got your story, I believe you mentioned a trade? Something about being afraid of getting deported or imprisoned as an illegal immigrant?" He gave a small jump, almost as if he'd forgotten that crucial detail. "That is why you tied me up, I believe?"

Guilt shaded his face and he gave a wry chuckle. "Well... yes, though I'm not sure how this will work. In In'Gha, one may buy silence at a negotiated price, and the seller is then honor bound to keep that secret forever. Similarly, one may buy, sell, or trade in knowledge as easily as currency, so long as the price is right." He spread his hands with a grandiose gesture. "I'm sure you have many questions about me, my home, and my culture. I would answer some, if you swear to keep my existence a secret."

Shou knew immediately what she wanted to ask. "I don't think you'll like my question."

He shrugged. "I would like a prison cell very much less. Ask away."

"Alright then. When I first got here, your eyes looked like mine, but silver instead of black, and they glowed with blue fire." She saw him open his mouth and cut him off. "And don't try to tell me that I didn't see that. I know what I saw." And if he didn't like to answer that, she'd surely like to know exactly what he did to her to knock her out without touching her.

He stared her down hard, all traces of casual mirth vanished from his body. He still sat back against the wall, but his muscles were tensed like a coiled snake. "Be careful what secrets you ask after, Shou. I offered knowledge, and I will answer, but for this you must swear an oath of secrecy. You may tell none without my explicit approval, or a curse will fall upon you and your children, greater even than the blessing you inherited." If not for the fact that he looked deadly serious, she might have thought he was joking. "Swear by the blackened bones of Rikhan Ghanyr, long since scattered across the wastes, that you will tell no one. Not about me, it is the answer to your question I must protect."

"Well that's hardly a solid oath, I could just write it down somewhere." Surely, he couldn't be serious? She'd heard that the In'Gha were superstitious to a man, but oaths of secrecy were a bit much.

"It is your spirit you will swear with, and in your spirit that you may break the oath. I am no lawyer nor a demon, to build a trap from words. If you break the faith of this oath, disaster will follow you." He glanced towards the mouth of the cave again, an action he'd repeated often enough that she'd almost stopped noticing.

This seemed a bit much, and he was the one asking a favor from her after all! But where recklessness was enough to lead her up into the mountain wilderness, guided curiosity was certainly enough to goad her much further. "I swear by the blackened bones of Rikhan Ghanyr, long since scattered across the wastes, that I will tell no-one your secret. Cross my heart and hope to die." She added this last bit with a smile, one that quickly vanished under his withering glare.

"Foolish is the soul who makes such an oath as a jest. I pray that time proves you honest." He sighed and closed his eyes. There was a faint feeling of motion, almost like a gust of wind in the dead air of the cavern, faint enough that Shou wandered if she had imagined it. When it passed, Khaesho opened his eyes, revealing those scorching globes she'd seen when she stumbled upon him in the dark. Like pale embers shining in the recesses of his face.

"I am Khaesho Dhaesden Scorpent, descended from a long and proud line of battle mages." He turned towards the wall, blue light leaking from his veins as it flowed down into his right hand. He slammed it against the wall with a shockwave of heat that all but singed Shou's eyebrows even at this distance.

Before Shou's awestruck eyes, the wall of the cave started to melt. He dug his fingers in, carving deep furrows into the solid rock, heat softening it enough that he could pull at it like taffy. After he'd clawed a good foot long furrow into it, he pulled his hand away and shook it, flinging drops of molten stone onto the floor.

"Oh." Words failed her. Even her legendary sassitude couldn't grasp at something witty to say, she just sat there, all but slack jawed, not fully able to process what she'd just seen. "That, um, that explains the oath to silence."