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Khaesho rushed towards the entrance at a manic pace; if he hurried, he could get into position before they got into the cave proper. He had been doing his best to talk and even think in English, for Shou's sake, but at a time like this, he and Kalokin needed the near instantaneous communication and exacting precision offered by mental communication in their native tongue.

*Kalokin, situation report. How many, what kind? How did they find the cave? What time is it? Are they specifically looking for Shouyousei?*

*Two of them, both civilized. One Blue-Jay, female, lightly armed, with nothing but the clothes on her back and a Saxe knife she doesn't know how to use. One rabbit, male, carrying some sort of metal contraption. If Shou's memory serves me right, it allows them to record visual and auditory information, and play it back with other equipment. Hallucinations won't do jack, but it should still pick up an illusion, depending on the cast. We've both been busy, and I'm spread a bit thin at the moment, we're lucky I did a cursory sweep while I was out and about, or else they'd have slid right in. The other thing is, they've used the oldest and most reliable method for finding something hidden by deterrent spells, I'm shocked they even knew how to do it. Oh, it's about noon by the way. We should be able to scare them off pretty easily. Threat level is almost non-existent.*

*Alright, roll out the welcome mat, let's give them a full arsenal. Breath on the neck, whispers in the ear, slipstream wind, disembodied scrapings, the works.*

*Ah, Khaesho... far be it from me to turn down a good haunting, but why don't we try talking to them? Shou seemed nice enough.*

* You're the Psychomancer who loves to scare people, you give them a once over, then you tell me. *

*I can't... my skills are limited; half my spirit is still with Shou.*

* Right... so, should we do both? *

*Both?*

* Both. *

----------------------------------- "This is Jackie Blue-Jay, coming at you from just outside of Angel Fire, New Mexico. According to local legend, thirteen years ago, a HUGE black Naga from one of the far western deserts showed up in town looking for something, or someone, to eat. After lightly maiming one of the suburbanites, the people rallied together to chase him off. Then, before their very eyes, he vanished into thin air, laughing as he did. Since then, there have been numerous reports from hikers and locals alike of seeing a glimpse of jet black scales vanishing into the underbrush, glimpsed only from the corners of their eyes. Some of the more adventurous souls gave chase, only to end up being haunted like something out of a ghost story. Really, disembodied heads, headless bodies, voices down the back of the neck, you name it. If it's been used in a B-grade horror movie, someone has seen it happen in these otherwise peaceful woods. Some believe that it's some sort of malevolent demon straight from campfire ghost stories, others say that it's a real flesh and blood Naga, hundreds if not thousands of miles from the deserts they call home. Whether it's a savage beast or some spirit of the night, I'm here to deliver the truth. This is Modern Monsters, on The History Channel."

"Alright Jackie! You nailed it the first time, Good job. I have just two questions. People have only ever seen this thing alone, and they almost always see it at night. Why are we here during the day?"

"That's the second thing, Simon. The mountain we're on is actually a long-dormant volcano, and it is absolutely riddled with caves and caverns. People have been coming up here for years to explore, but from the night the Black Serpent appeared onwards, almost no-one has been able to find one of the many entrances supposedly scattered around the mountain. Those who do infallibly report getting haunted, and even a few claim that they were scratched, with blood drawn, only to whirl and find nothing there. We're here to try and find an entrance to the caves, and do a little preliminary snooping around when we find it."

"Oooookaaaaayyyy... second question. Do you have even the slightest idea where we are?"

"Absolutely not! We're completely lost."

"Why do you sound so happy about that?"

"Psht, it's the oldest trick in the book! If something's been hidden intentionally, you can't be looking for it, you have to stumble upon it by chance, and the best way for that to happen is for us to get completely lost on these slopes and hope we see something that looks cave-like."

He sighed heavily, trudging alone behind her but dutifully keeping the camera centered on her at all times. "The messes you get me into. At least we're not breaking any laws this time."

"What?!? Come on, name a single time I EVER asked you to do something illegal."

"I can name ten off the top of my head, and that's in the last year alone."

"Oh please, as if anyone cares about trespassing on condemned property. The only reason they put those signs up was to keep idiotic thrill seekers out."

"Isn't that pretty much EXACTLY what we are? Idiotic thrill seekers?"

"What's that Simon? I couldn't hear you over the fact that we're being PAID to go hiking around some of the world's most interesting places, investigating rumors of monsters and ghouls."

"Now, that's the thing, 'interesting' here, really means 'dangerous.'"

"You only live once Simon."

---

As lay low in an upper tunnel, near the entrance to the cave, Khaesho had to admit they made a strange pair. The Blue Jay was a cute thing, five and a half feet of bubbly exuberance, and she all but dragged the rabbit into the cave behind her. She talked as if there was a grand audience watching her, which reinforced the suspicion that they were recording the event by some technological means. Black denim jeans and a black denim jacket gave a dark contrast to her stunningly bright stark white and blue feathers. She'd cut most of the back out of the jacket, to make room for the beautiful wings folded behind her. Though her body feathers were entirely white and blue, broad streaks of red marked her wings, pointing out the fact that she, like virtually everyone except for the snobbiest blue bloods, had more than a little mixed heritage. Most species married at least within the same animal family; amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and so forth, so a few odd colors weren't anything to worry about, and truthfully, the broad red splashes looked rather dashing. It should also be noticed that she wore no shirt beneath it; the avian and reptilian counterparts to their more natural brethren remained true in the fact that they laid eggs. Thus lacking breasts, most Avians and Dragons went without wearing any sort of top; it wasn't worth the hassle trying to find something they could wear with their wings. The backless black denim went well with her feathers though, and it gave her a wild, adventuring look.

Jackie boldly strode right into the cave, calling out to hear the echoes as she went. Simon was far more hesitant, quivering a bit as he stepped forwards, and Khaesho could already smell a hint of fear on him. He was a bit taller, five ten perhaps, with pine bark colored reddish brown fur. He was dressed a far less dramatically, since he was the cameraman; he wore blue jeans and a simple black hoodie.

"Ooooohhh, this might be it Simon! I think this was the cave they were talking about! Let's see if we can't spook up something worth looking at."

"I, I dun-n-n-no Jackie. This cave looks dark as pitch, and something smells wrong in here."

Khaesho bit back a small chuckle. Not even Civilization could beat down survival instincts. Most of the civilized commonly thought of as "Prey," rabbits, mice, and other rodents, instinctively feared wolves, hawks, and anything else that would have made a meal of them in the wild. That didn't mean they were weaker, but there was still something hard-wired into their brains that screamed fear when they caught the scent. From what he'd seen, that went double for him, because they had never smelled a Snake of his kind before; he had a certain musk about him that, after living for years within the caverns, had spread to cover most of the areas that he frequented. All things told, he was actually a little surprised that the rabbit managed to force himself forwards. His hesitation did not go unnoticed.

"What, are you scared of the dark? Besides, it just smells like a dusty cave to me!"

They walked farther forwards, pulling out flashlights to light their path. Because of the extra light, they saw the numerous branches and paths leading off from the straight hall, and Khaesho even had to yank himself back when they randomly cast a beam upwards in his direction.

"Woooaaahhhh, Simon, look at the walls! They're SPARKLING."

"Yea, that's great, Jackie, we need to leave, NOW."

Come on, just a bit further... they were almost far enough.

"Simon, you do know we're coming back here at night, right?"

"No, we're not, there's something wrong with this place. I smell death and hunters, and if you want to come back at night, you can carry the damn camera yourself."

Just a few more steps...

"Come ON, Simon. You know management wants to replace you, right? They want someone more adventurous to back me up if shit actually hits the fan, but I refused to let them get rid of you. We're friends after all."

"To this day, I can't decide if that is a blessing or a curse."

"Really Simon, when have we EVER found ANYTHING that's legitimately haunted?"

*Kalokin, that is the universe itself giving us our cue. I think a Class A blackout, over the entrance? Point based sound should be fine since they're quite a ways in.*

*She even read out the line, just like I fantasized.*

With a grumble like an avalanche, the daylight leaking in from the entrance was snuffed out. Simon and Jackie whirled around, only to see the settling rocks of what looked like a cave in, burying them alive.

*Nice details, no way they'll doubt that was real.*

*I aim to please. Besides, it's been a long time since I scared someone out of their skin; I'm looking forwards to this.*

"OHMIGODWHATWASTHAT?"

Simon whirled in a circle, tripped over his own feet, and fell flat on his ass. Jackie managed to turn without falling, but both of their flashlights now played over the rubble that covered the cave's entrance.

"Trapped... we're trapped underground..."

Jackie had been a little more nervous about going underground than she let on, but, as a bird, the thought of being buried alive terrified her. She was in shock, and her flashlight fell from limp fingers where it clattered to the ground. Simon quickly set the camera to the side and dove under her to cushion her fall when she collapsed.

"Trapped... no way out..."

"Jackie? Jackie, FOCUS! The locals said this mountain was riddled with entrances to the cave system, all we have to do is stay as near the surface as we can, we're sure to find another exit soon."

"Leaving ssssso ssssssooon?"

Between Kalokin monkeying around in his head and his constant practice with Shou, his accent had all but completely vanished. He reinstated it here on purpose just because he now recognized how creepy it sounded. His voice was a rough and tortured whisper that made it sound like he'd been gargling sand. He laughed, and Kalokin twisted and magnified the sound, causing it to echo around the cavern until it seemed to emanate from the rocks themselves. The bone chilling fear managed to snap Jackie out of her shock, and she huddled her back against Simon's as they frantically cast their flashlights around, revealing nothing but empty tunnels.

"Wh-wh-wh-who's there? Show yourself!"

Simon's voice wavered with horror, but in a startling fit of clarity, he slid sideways and put his back to a solid wall, turning the camera on and training it on Jackie. The camera had a large flash light built into it which he flipped on, nicely illuminating her from behind. Jackie quite suddenly remembered that every single "haunting" to date had been stupid teenagers looking for a thrill. Rigging the entrance up to collapse was a new low, but surely they would know another way out. Anger replaced fear, and she stood up, flaring her wings dramatically and drawing an unnecessarily large knife from her belt.

"This had better not be some sort of sick prank! I'm warning you, I'm armed!"

*Kalokin, I think that glass lens on the front of that metal thing focuses the light to help it record... like my scale lenses do. I'm thinking class C hallucination on both of them, B on the lens, and A on the knife itself. Convince them that the knife isn't there.*

*That's a tall order... keep them busy.*

"ssssssSick prank? Ah, I ssssssee. You thought they were joking, didn't you? You thought they were jussssst telling tall talesss to passss the time? Didn't they warn you not to come looking for me?"

*Alright, I'm ready to cast, but I'll need you to capture their attention for a moment.*

*... I have an idea. Can you make a sound appropriately like tearing flesh?*

*ooohhhh... not nice Khaesho, not nice at all.*

"Yea yea, really funny dick weed. 'oh, hey, it's Jackie BlueJay! Isn't she on that monster hunter show? Let's sneak into the caves ahead of her and scare the hell out of her.' It's been done before, and trust me, I've seen a lot more convincing acts than shadowy whispers from the darkness."

Khaesho pressed a sharp claw into the pad of his left palm, pushing just hard enough to draw a little blood. He let it pool in his cupped hand, waiting for it to gather.

*Ready? ... Mark.*

From his vantage above and to the side of them, Khaesho threw his hand outwards, scattering droplets of blood over the duo, accompanied by Kalokin's very best imitation of the sound of tearing flesh. As they screamed, he cast a mixture of spells to "vanish" the knife. Class C was technically a hallucination, directly affecting their minds. Class B was a two dimensional illusion visual illusion, cast directly in front of the viewpoint, here meaning the camera's video capture. Class A was a full visual illusion of or around an object. Between the spells, it would look and feel like the knife had vanished from her grip. Without a knife to hold, her hand relaxed, and the blade fell to the floor where Kalokin even muted the clinking sound of its impact.

"sssssSo sssssorry about that. Dinner iss a bit messy today. The good newss issss that it meansss I won't have to eat you, though the blue one doess look rather tassty."

The air was thick with the scent of blood, even though it was his, and they were nearly in hysterics, whimpering and shaking as they frantically cast about with both camera and flashlights. Bravado was forgotten as she was liberally speckled with blood

"Oh god, have mercy! Please don't eat me, I'm too young to die!"

There it was. She collapsed into sobbing and Kalokin started a pout.

*Man... that was delicious for a while, but dejection and absolute abandonment of hope is a little too cruel for this trickster. We pushed too hard, too fast. After the blood trick though, I'm not surprised, that was really inspired, my friend. 10/10, can't wait to use that one again*.

*I aim to please. Like you said, it's been awhile since we scared someone senseless. Hey... now that you can physically manifest, can you use your essence to hold my palm closed and stop the bleeding?*

*Uh... actually, yea I can. I'd forgotten I could do that.*

*Thanks. Let me get down there and see if I can't get her to shut up.*

*Wait, they're recording this, remember? You let them see you, and all their world will know you exist.*

*Once Shou is healed, she'll want to move back to Civilization, and honestly, I'm 100% behind her on that. Caves are fun... but I miss culture and the bustle of city life. Granted, their cities are completely unlike ours, but I think I'd like that more than living in a cave. Better I get noticed now, maybe I'll make a good impression.*

*You call scaring two kids senseless a good impression?*

*Damn right I do.*

*Have I mentioned lately how glad I am that Shelandra chose you to bind me to? You have a sense of wickedness that's just... delicious.*

*Yea, yea, how do you know you're not just rubbing off on me after all these years?*

*Because you've never once said "Kalokin, we really shouldn't scare them, it isn't nice."*

Their minds were linked on a conscious and subconscious level, and the exchange took no more than a second. After that, Khaesho took his sluggishly bleeding left hand and wiped blood around his jaw and teeth, just to complete the effect. He quickly circled around the labyrinth to a branch where he could come at them from level ground, and slowly slipped forwards. He emerged from the darkness into the harsh white light from their lights, onyx scales gleaming from his recent shed. His head was low to the ground, and he observed no careful distance as he had with Shou. He went right up until he almost touched them and drew his head high off the ground, higher than he usually would, until he towered above them. Lit from below, the light accented his bloody jaw and hands, and he cackled viciously from his commanding height.

"What... are you doing... in MY cave?"

Jackie was sobbing in a pile of feathers and begging for her life, and Simon had acquired the wide eyed, frozen look of cornered prey. Neither of them was coherent, so Khaesho had to do something a bit... drastic. He put example to the phrase "Fast as a striking snake," as his head snapped down and he caught Jackie by the neck in his jaws. She screeched a bloodcurdling banshee's wail, for a solid ten seconds, before she noticed that he hadn't used his fangs. They remained folded up against the top of his mouth, so his small teeth did little more than snag at her feathers as he felt her pulse beating rapidly beneath his tongue. After she fell silent, he waited for several more seconds before he slowly opened his mouth and withdrew his head.

"That... was a trussst building... ex-er-sssize. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead. I shall not eat you though... I am not hungry, and you have not offended me. I wish only to know what you are doing poking around placesss you do not belong."

His last words twisted with a darkness that gave voice to his irritation and derision. He needed to be with Shou, and this was not a good time for him to be interrupted. Luck was on his side though, the "Trust Building Exercise" had snapped Jackie out of her panic even if it did give Simon a heart attack.

*Hell, the rabbit's heart froze. Let me restart it.*

* You can do that?!? *

*Of course. He doesn't have any mortal wounds; he only had a heart attack. All I need to do is get it beating again.*

Jackie hadn't noticed Simon slump over suddenly, and when he blinked a few times and sat back up, he only believed that he'd fainted for a moment. Jackie was slowly managing to calm her breathing, still looking at him with wide, fearful eyes. Her eyes lacked the mindless panic though, and that was a good thing. Simon had huddled back against the wall, but Khaesho ignored him as if he didn't exist. He'd been telling the truth when he claimed to dream of being an actor, and this was not the time to break the fourth wall.

"I-I-I-I'm sorry sir, w-w-we were just exploring! We have a T.V. show, we poke around abandoned buildings and spooky caves, we didn't n-n-n-know something was already here."

"Ahh... you heard the... rumorssssss in town, and you wanted to come look at the local mon-ssster, is that it? The Demon of smoke and shadows, laughing as he spirited away children?"

"I, uh, that is-"

He laughed abruptly, cutting her off.

"Fear not. I have been called far worssse thingssss, in my time, and children are not nearly large enough to make a good meal. Still, your mission isss... accomplished. You are here, and here I am. Wassss that all you came here for?"

"Um, can I ask you a few questions? I mean, most people don't think you exist, I... I'd love an interview."

Slowly, she was overcoming her fear of the large Snake, and with fear fast fading, she saw an opportunity for profit. An exclusive interview with a local legend, no less than a Naga from the far deserts? She trembled at the possibilities; this could be huge. It could change the way the modern world looked at Naga; none had been allowed into the desert kingdom in centuries. She shot a quick glance at Simon, who flashed a shaky thumb up. He'd caught the entire ordeal on camera, including the "Trust Building Exercise." He kept the focus between them, and Khaesho continued to ignore the fourth wall.

"Quesstionsss... and if I sssay yess... what would you do for me...?"

"I... I don't know. What would you like me to do for you?"

A dirty thought flashed through the Snakes' minds, vehemently repressed by Khaesho and somewhat forlornly repressed by Kalokin.

"Hmmm... I need nothing at the moment, that you might give. Tell me your namesss, so if I have need of you, I might call in your debt."

"That... okay, we can owe you a favor, I think. I'm Jacqueline Roberts, better known as Jackie Blue Jay, and my partner is Simon Jameson."

"...That will do fine. I'll allot you half a glassss of my time. Then, I have pressing matters I mussst return to."

*You look like you have them eating out of your hands. I need to get back to Shou, can you take care of them?*

*Easily.*

*Good. Here's the weave for the illusion over the entrance. Deal with them, turn them loose, and hurry back.*

With that, Kalokin fell silent, leaving to return to Shou. He knew that what was coming would not be pleasant, but it had to be done.

Khaesho coiled his long tail beneath him, resting his head comfortably on his thick body, just below Jackie's head height even though she was sitting down. She asked a lot of expected things. His name, why he was so far from the desserts, how much truth was in the rumors the townsfolk told. He answered as truthfully as he could, with a few lies mixed in to ensure that the topic of gods never came up; he was Khaesho, of the Dhaesden family line. He had been exiled for a crime he did not commit, on the capricious whim of the queen. He could not guess what rumors were told, but he had never killed anyone. Then she asked a few questions he hadn't been expecting.

"So, Khaesho, what are your plans for the future?"

"...planss?"

"Um, yea. You can't tell me you planned to live in this cave forever, did you? There's an entire world out there... you can't honestly expect me to believe that you would be content here, living like an animal."

Until Shou had found him, he most certainly would have been content with a near primal life, but since then... he'd already decided that he and Shou would try to assimilate into the Civilized world again, but he pretended to ponder the question.

"I am... curious... about your society. I mentioned before, I am an exile, I picked this cave to live alone becaussse I thought I would be shunned from any modern city. We keep to oursselvesss, and not much isss know about you. We have many rumorss about you, some proved to be true, and ssome I can only hope are wildly outlandish, and I imagine you have much the same for usss."

"Yea, I can imagine. I've heard a lot of wild rumors, and I'm hoping that most of them aren't true."

"Then I propose a game... You assk me absssolutely any question, even about my... culture, and I'll anssswer it truthfully. Then, you must do the same for me. Deal?"

"Really? One free question? With how little we know about your kind, I'm surprised you'd be so open."

"We maintain our sssecrecy on purpose... but ass I no longer belong to that world, it painsss me not at all to reveal to you one truth. You may refuse the deal if you wish... all thingsss come with a cosst. The cost here iss that, if you make my ansswer known to others, you musst do the ssame with yourss. Can I trusst your honor?"

"Oh... uh... I don't even know what to ask, I'm sure countless scholars would kill for this chance."

"Neverthelessss, it is your question, not theirs. Do have a care with what you assssk."

She was tempted to ask about magic... rumors of dark rituals to heathen gods in return for unnatural powers abounded, but she didn't want to ask her question only for him to laugh in her face and give a simple no. She didn't want to waste it if the answer wasn't true, so she went with something else that was equally widespread in rumor.

"Okay. Is... Is it true that you practice polygamy? Your entire culture?"

His smile stopped for a moment then. The word was not one he knew.

"I mussst beg a definition. I do not know thiss word, polygamy."

"It's when... when a man has more than one wife, or a woman, more than one husband. Marriage to multiple people."

"... I begin to undersstand, but you still use wordsss alien to me. Let me explain our relationshipsss, and see if that answers your question. We do not have an equivalent con-cept of this word... 'Marriage.' We view lussst and love ssseparately. Any two or more may share a bed, once, twice, or a thousand times, and not another thought could be given of it. sssSex, to us, unless it leads to eggs, is simply pleasure. If any two Naga enjoy spending time together to a point that they want to share their lives, they may declare themselves partners. It can last as long as a life-time, or as short as a few daysss. It is not considered taboo to call yourself mated to more than one at any one time, nor is it considered taboo to, ah... copulate, with others whom you are not mated to. Our young are raised by those who sired and laid them, but our children are raised more by the community as a whole."

Jackie's beak had fallen open, and when he stopped speaking to look at her, she shut it with an audible click.

"Oh... my next question would have been if you had any wife or family left behind, but I guess that doesn't exactly apply."

Between her phrasing and her obvious surprise, he couldn't help but poke fun at her. He pushed his head forth from the pile of his coils, snaking low along the ground to where she squatted. He raised his head up to look directly into her eyes, not trying to hypnotize her, just trying to make her nervous.

"Do you asssk from... curiosity... or do you asssk for fear of... competition?"

He'd put just enough suggestion in his words to literally make her blink with surprise, stammering excuses and denials. She blushed beet red beneath her blue feathers, and he had to admit that she did indeed look quite cute. He laughed as he returned to his coiled position, while Jackie tried to school her emotions. He considered for a moment on what his question would be. She expected him to ask about their society at large, but Shou would answer any of those questions. He recognized that most if not all the Civilized were monogamous, and considered sex as something of a taboo, not to be spoken about. He wasn't sure he wanted the Naga's open minded policy on sex to be made known to a society that would look down upon them for it... so he chose his question to be what he hoped would be embarrassing enough that she wouldn't want to tell it.

"sssStill, you ssspoke out of turn. I get to ask you one... free... quesssstion... ah. What iss the dirtiessst thing you've ever done?"

She twitched and turned her head to the side, blushing dark again. She knew what he meant, but she held a small hope that she had misunderstood.

"Dirty as in real dirt, or dirty as in..."

"Dirty as in that one night that you went crazy and had sssex with more men than you were able to count. I can ssssee it in your mannerissmsss, in your... reaction to my quessstion. You're a girl who has done something wild in the passst and I want to hear the sstory."

"I-I-I'd really rather not say, not while we're on camera."

"Neverthelessssssss, you owe me an anssswer. These caves are a labyrinth to the... unaccussstomed... and you will die down here lesst I lead you out. I would not abandon you to the darknessss... I am not that cruel. ssssStill, you owe me from the bargain, and you owe me for my time for anssswering all your quessstionsssss. All you need do issss anssswer my one."

She fidgeted uncertainly, not wanting to answer but having no way to avoid it.