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Khaesho and Shou both blushed, albeit for different reasons... but Khaesho had learned long ago that blindly following Kalokin's advice usually bit him in the tail later on. He sighed heavily, coiling around Shou, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep and recapture the warm peace they'd had that morning.

"K-Khaesho, what's going on...? The tornado was scary, but we're both fine."

Shou was indeed shaken up, but the warm scales around her did much to dispel her worries... even if the face wearing the scales added new ones. Khaesho looked like he was anticipating a funeral... his face was drawn tight with worry, and even though he tried to hide it, she felt the tension holding his mind fast.

"Its... nothing I can change, Shou. I'm just worried about Kalokin." Not for the first time, Shou was irritated at, once again, being left in the dark.

"Khaesho, don't pull this bullshit. You two both owe me some answers, and-"

"And you'll get them. Tonight. They aren't my secrets to give; you need to hear it from him, but more importantly than that, he needs to be the one to tell you. I've lived with him for almost a decade now, and I know him well enough to know that honestly, he needs to tell you more than you need to hear it." The unyielding stone faded from his voice and he sighed heavily again. "Yes, I'm worried about him. No, he's not in danger. Yes, I know what he's going to tell you. No, I can't tell you anything more..."

The questions died on her tongue as he answered them, in order... either he was better at the mind-link thing due to his schooling with magic, or she was that easy to read. "Can you at least tell me why he's afraid?" She didn't need their empathy to see the weight that crushed Khaesho's shoulders with that question; it soured his mind enough that she could almost read the answer in his soul.

"He's afraid of judgement. He has a dark past, Shou... as dark as the void between the stars and twice as deep. He's afraid that, even after what we've been through, you'll hate him for what he's done."

Shou responded to that answer with all the incredulity that it deserved; "Khaesho, he saved my life. He suffered untold torment to protect me. He stood up to Shelandra and did something he'd never even attempted before, all for my sake. Why on or off this earth would he think I'd hate him?"

Guilt slammed into him like Shelandra's favorite 20 pound hammer. It swallowed his mind, bringing with it a shame deeper than Shou thought possible.

"Because I did... He... I..." He swallowed carefully and tucked his head into her arms. "Shou, we have stories... wives' tales told around the last dying embers of a campfire... legends handed down in shadow and fear. Myth and history are hard to tell apart... and I couldn't handle learning what was true. I hated him for it... I wished for him to die... and he almost did..."

She wasn't prepared for that. Who could be? Any comfort, any words to assuage Khaesho's guilt faltered on an unsteady tongue that still didn't quite feel like it fit her mouth... worse yet, his doubt made her question her own conviction. There were plenty of nightmare stories, plenty of urban legends about monsters and demons lurking in the dark. What if some of them were true? What if some of them were inspired by the strange, unknown deity who resided in her soul? In the distant forest, she felt a tremor... a vibration of soul that tickled her mind. It felt like Kalokin... and it tasted of Regret.

The moment that one word filtered through her mind, it reverberated outwards through Khaesho and Kalokin both. Regret. One was darkened by it, but another was consumed by it. Regret for sins that had gone unanswered, for crimes unpunished. Their pain wounded her... even as it strengthened her wavering resolve.

The past didn't matter... People could change. People did change. Whatever he'd done... she knew a rattlesnake who had done everything she could to protect a lone, lost wolf. She knew a clever trickster with an easy smile and a laugh like winter sunshine... a little chilly, but comforting nonetheless. She knew who Kalokin was... and that wouldn't change.

"Khaesho, where did you grow up?"

The question almost surprised her as much as it did Khaesho. She hadn't planned to ask it, but a sudden curiosity combined with a moment of peace spurred the thought forwards before she had time to consider it.

"Erm, don't you know? In the deserts to the west, the Serpent nation."

"Right, just like I grew up in the mountains. I mean, what was your home like? Did you live in a large city, a small town? What were your parents like?"

Confusion cleared to understanding with a calm smile.

"A large city... the largest, in fact. I was born in the capital city... the center of trade and the seat of our monarch's power. Its name translates to something like 'The eternal font of the ocean of sand...' It was the pride of our nation, a scientific marvel crowned by the greatest single construct in the world... the Glass Palace."

Perhaps calling it the greatest architectural achievement of the world was a bit of an exaggeration, but the Glass Palace was definitely considered one of the world's wonders. It was a sprawling single story complex built purely of iron and glass, Shou had learned about it in history class, but here was someone who could give a firsthand account.

"I've heard of your palace... How do you keep from burning up though? With glass to focus the sunlight I mean, wouldn't it get blazingly hot?" Khaesho laughed that off easily.

"It does! We were made to enjoy the heat, and it's quite difficult to achieve a level of warmth that gets uncomfortable for us. I've only been to it twice... Once on my twentieth- err, sixteenth, birthday, for my coming of age ceremony. When a Naga comes of age, he or she is expected to declare what he wishes to do with his life, what job he'll learn. All are also entitled entrance to the palace for that one day, though the queen is usually too busy to give an audience."

Shou giggled at his slip, quick to poke fun at him. "Was it your twentieth or your sixteenth? Or does my snake have that poor a memory?"

He hissed at the jibe and responded by biting her ear playfully, earning him a squeal of surprise. "Twentieth in my numbers, sixteenth in yours. You've noticed that I only have eight fingers to your ten? Our number system only has eight numbers... Kalokin called it an octal system of counting, I think, and yours is a decimal."

"So two sets of eight years for you would be called twenty... I understand now."

"Your snake isn't that dense you know, I'm just trying to get used to your system of counting." He stuck his tongue out and tickled her neck with it before continuing his story. "Of course, if you count the guards barracks as part of the castle, I was in and out all the time... The Dhaesden (Dha-YEZ-den) line of Cottonmouths has always been peacekeepers, and my dad was good enough at what he did to get himself promoted as one of the outer castle guards."

"Dhaesden? But your last name was Scorpent last you told me!"

"Well yes, my current last name is Scorpent... but what does that have to do with my lineage?"

"Everything!" His continued confusion spoke volumes "At least, everything where I come from... we're given three names at birth. The first two are the parents' choice, but the last is inherited, usually from the father but occasionally from the mother, if the family chooses."

"But then how do you earn a new title? Naga are given their first name by their parents, and they inherit their second from their lineage... the snake in question can choose whose lineage, maternal or paternal, he wishes to introduce himself with, but most sons follow their fathers and most daughters follow their mothers. A third name is given when a Naga declares his occupation, his duty to his country, and any further names after that may be earned or awarded from any remarkable deeds or accomplishments... many Naga have at least a half dozen names before they die, though most only use the first two or three."

Shou's curiosity was piqued now; his explanation had begged a question she was happy to give. "And what of your title? What might I find a Scorpent doing in the city square?"

A pained smile lit Khaesho's face as his eyes lost focus. His eyes lost focus as he remembered something distant by many miles and many years. "Scorpent is the highest of honors a peacekeeper could attain... The Scorpents were the queen's own personal guard. They were her most trusted friends, closest advisors, and fiercest protectors..." His voice was soft with memory and heavy with longing... but it once again begged a question from her.

"But... you said you'd only been in the glass palace twice. If you were one of the queen's guards, then why...?" She didn't need to finish the question. Why had he only been to the palace twice?

"I'm not proud of my past Shou... I'm sorry. I lied to you earlier. A foolish prank was not the reason I wound up in prison, and an oath to a god was not the reason I fled my home."

She waited for him to say more... but he didn't. He lapsed back into silence as she absentmindedly continued stroking his head. He tightened around her slightly, grateful for her comfort, but when he didn't volunteer the information, she didn't ask. She felt that he was right when he said that Kalokin needed to tell his story... and now she felt like it wasn't the right time for Khaesho to tell his. Curiosity burned at her as to why he would voluntarily choose exile... because she now realized that he had chosen this. Kalokin was a master liar and thief, a deity with nearly limitless power and intelligence. There were no ropes that could bind him nor jails that could hold him, nor any of his chosen that he wanted to liberate. Khaesho could have lived freely an outlaw and nothing could have stopped him... nothing but a heavy conscience, or a crime that even criminals would shun him for. She felt that there'd be enough heartache soon without him adding to it, so she tried to distract him.

"Do you know why I climbed your mountain, Khaesho? Why I devoted an entire day to the trek?"

The question caught him off-guard; it wasn't something he'd thought about much. "No, actually, I don't. Do tell though."

She smiled easily and stroked a hand over his scales as she spoke. "I want to say I was chasing a ghost story, but really I was looking for an excuse to go climbing. I've always loved Wheeler Peak... there's just something magical about it, like if you climb high enough you can leave all the world behind. It had been a long time since I climbed the west face, and a cute bartender told me some local superstition about a snake demon haunting the slopes. I could tell he didn't believe it, and I didn't either... I just wanted to climb until I'd left all my worries behind. The view once you clear the tree line is breathtaking... I wanted some good material for painting, but I can't lug a canvas and easel up the mountain. I had a sketch pad and some colored pencils... but I never got to sketch that day." She smiled softly and reclined in his warm embrace. "Someone stole half of my sandwich and lured me into a cave. Kind of prevented me from taking in the sight as I'd planned. You still owe me half a sandwich, by the way."

Khaesho laughed easily with her and nuzzled into her neck. "Do you know how often I got bread, or flavored meat, or cheese of any kind? Your sandwich was the tastiest thing I'd eaten all year. I'd say that meeting you is worth paying back half a sandwich... though, we almost didn't meet. I'm not normally that close to the peak, if you hadn't picked that particular day to go climbing, I'd have used one of the lower exits. I wanted to bask in the sunlight for a while though, even if it was cool outside, and then I found you perched just outside my cave. I was tempted to scare you off, as I have so many others but Kalokin... if I didn't know better, I'd say he recognized you. He said you were different, vouched for your honor and trustworthiness when he'd never met you. If you'd taken a story back to town, it would have made life... difficult for us. He made quite a gamble for you, but I know him, and he never gambles unless he knows he'll win."

"Heh, a gambler, hm? I suppose he'd be awfully good at rigging games with his illusions. You used magic to steal my sandwich, didn't you? Filched it right out of my hand, if I remember correctly."

"Yes... He convinced you your hand was empty, and you relaxed, dropping it. Neither of us are very good at Kinetics, but I was good enough to pull the sandwich into the darkness."

"And you followed it with some kind of compulsion, to lead me deeper into the cave. I'm still not sure how you managed that... it felt like I had a physical need to go investigate, and from what Kalokin's said of magic, that kind of subtle inception is near impossible."

Khaesho's coils tightened around her, and he moved to look her in the eye. "A compulsion...? Shou, we never cast magic directly onto you. Well, technically, everything Kalokin does is magical, but he didn't touch you until he hypnotized you in the forest."

Confusion wrinkled Shou's brow with uncertainty. "You didn't? but... I remember the feeling... I almost couldn't control my feet, like they walked in without my permission. I wanted to do some light spelunking, but I went far deeper than I'd intended... I always thought you or Kalo had used some kind of mind trick to lure me in."

"No, nothing of the sort. I assumed you were brave, and Kalokin insisted you were unusual, but we didn't force you into that cave."

"Strange... but come to think of it, I felt it before the cave... from the moment I heard the story of a Naga demon, I felt this itch in my pads, like a wanderlust only with a set destination." She thought a moment more, and then lifted her voice again. "Khaesho, what are the odds? I mean, there's an entire mountain, and it's dotted with small caves and outcroppings. What are the odds that I sit down in front of one that leads to your tunnels?"

He shook his head soundly, matching Shou's concern now. "Miniscule at best, but stranger coincidences have happened. Why do you ask?"

"It just... feels like someone was leading me. Like-"

Follow me, Shouyousei. We'll have a grand old time, if only you have the courage.

A fragment of a memory drifted out of her consciousness. She remembered... a childhood friend, one who'd taken her on grand, frightening adventures. She'd always followed him... even when he went somewhere dangerous, somewhere that scared her... like a pitch black cave.

_ I can show you wondrous things. _

"Izu... no... Isa..." What was his name? She remembered a voice, calling out to her, leading her on... taunting her onwards, sometimes. He was good at staying one step ahead, just behind the next bush. It was a piece of her childhood she'd all but forgotten, but she'd heard that voice more recently... hadn't she? Unbidden, she remembered a dark house haunted by a feverish dream, a footstep creaking on an old wooden step, and a clawed hand reaching up from her memories.