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For once, Shou didn't dream. It was a sleep that was quiet and restful. Exactly what the hybrid girl needed as she woke to the sound of a roaring engine. Ears perked, and her head lifted off of Khaesho's chest as her sleepy gaze jerked around and tried to figure out what was going on. It was just one of the large parked trucks roaring to life - the sky was only just beginning to lighten in the east. A yawn stretched her jaws causing a soft squeaking to escape her as she huffed gently. Her first instinct was to cuddle back into Khaesho and go back to sleep, and seeing as it was barely sunrise, she did exactly that. Khaesho didn't strike her as a morning snake anyways, though it was hard to know since they'd slept in a cave up until this morning.

Khaesho did in fact love to doze in the mornings, but this was no ordinary morning... he was on the run from the law, coiled around a beautiful wolf, warm and relaxed to start the day, and full of excitement at the idea of learning more about a world powered by technology rather than magic. He felt like a hatchling at the dawn of a Summer Solstice celebration, and though Shou did technically awaken before him, he was in no mood to let her snooze now that he was up.

He licked one of her ears playfully as she nuzzled him in her sleep. She smiled and squirmed as his lick turned to a nibble, but before he could really enjoy the taste of her cartilage, she'd ducked her head to bury it under his body. He tried to chase her and accomplished nothing more than tying himself in a complicated knot around her and giving her something to laugh at as she awoke.

"Good morning Khaesho... I think this is exactly how I want to spend every night... pressed fur to scales with you. You make a wonderful blanket and bed."

He squirmed a little in a moderately successful attempt to untie himself before her words struck a chord within him. "I should hope I do! If I wasn't comfortable, then I'd never get any sleep. Speaking of comfort, though, I never got the chance to... explore you. I definitely feel two reptile tails buried somewhere in this mess, and I'm pretty sure that only one of them is mine."

He hugged her tight against him, but his restless fingers sought to feel her scales. He raked his talons through her purple dyed hair and continued the motion down the back of her neck until soft fur turned to soft scales beneath his gentle fingers. He tickled the stripe of scales all the way down her back until his hands had reached as far down her tail as they could go.

"I am glad you're so eager..." And she blushed under her fur and her scales, looking up at him with a small grin. His eight fingers relaxed and excited her at the same time, prompting a little shiver from her as she pressed into him. It felt good, to be held like this. Some might have found a Serpent's embrace unnerving, even worrying, but she failed to imagine ever feeling as safe and warm as she felt when he was wrapped around her. Her scales were more sensitive than she thought they might be; his feathered touch tickled enough that she felt like she needed to scratch. It felt good... and he smelled like he always did, wild and primal... but... "That is something will have to wait until we get somewhere a bit more secluded. A truck stop parking lot is hardly the place for something so intimate."

"But I need to know if you still taste the same!" She gave a teasing wink as she pressed a kiss to his chin, but he wasn't having any of that. His prehensile tongue slid down his chin to wrap around hers and pull her mouth towards his. He squirmed beneath her, bringing her higher up on his chest so he could pull her tongue to his lips and push his directly into her mouth. His slick black organ still tasted strongly of desert spice as he quested upwards in search of her fangs. He found them right where they should be, nestled up against the roof of her mouth, and stroked them several times. Seeing as his tongue was busy, he made an attempt at their recently developed telepathy; Kalokin made a great medium for until they could bind their souls together.

Mmmm You still taste like mint, that's good. Now that you have a tongue that can actually move, let's see what you can do with it.

She pressed into his kiss and slid her arms around his neck. Her maw parted just slightly and her tongue curled around his. The taste of him was as he remembered, earth and warmth. Like dust seasoned by the desert sun. Her fangs felt like her teeth did, but larger and more flexibly... and Khaesho's gentle strokes were oddly erotic in ways that she didn't quite fully understand. His lips against hers erased all worry of the world, for a little while, prompting a sweet moan from her throat. Now that she knew what kind of sensation fangs could bring, she stretched her own tongue forwards... and forwards... and forwards... reaching out with a prehensile, forked organ with a far greater length and flexibility than her canine tongue could ever dream of. She swept down the length of his fang multiple times, stroking the bone sensually in a kiss that burned through her body like the Devil's Cut of a barrel of whiskey. He was missing a fang... she dimly remembered him breaking it when he wrestled a boar to the ground. It seemed like so long ago... even if it had only been a week. She prodded what she expected to be an empty socket, but was surprised to find a bony lump in his mouth half the size of the fang that once was there. It was still covered in his gum, still growing, but it was undoubtedly a replacement fang. She smiled as she stroked the growing spike, happy that he'd have a new fang before too long.

Like mint, huh? I thought that'd be too chilling for your taste...

He pushed his tongue back into her mouth then, stretching it all the way back so that he could just get an inch or two of it into her throat. It tastes like you... foreign... exotic... dangerous. The feeling of cold is a little unsettling, but the flavor of cold is... intriguing...

His tongue muffled the groan that slid up out of her throat, but nothing could stop her from arching her body against him to feel his scales all across her fur. A shiver traveled down her spine, ears pinning closer to her head as her thighs squeezed an errant coil and her arms looped lazily around his neck.

You taste like spice and warm sand... you taste how the desert feels...

Their tongues twisted in a serpentine dance, but this wasn't the time or place for such things. Shou had to focus hard to remember that... it was so tempting to just forget the world and lose herself in his embrace for an hour or three. With effort, she pulled her lips free and started clambering backwards. "No means no Khaesho, don't think that sweet kisses can distract your way between my legs. We can find somewhere secluded tonight, I promise, but for now we need to lay tracks."

He pouted unhappily as he did his best to entangle her legs while making it seem like he was trying to help. Ever restless lips found the bead at the end of her tail and nibbled it, sending a shiver through Shouyousei as she finally managed to grab her clothing. She was relatively safe from his ensnaring body now that she was in the back seat, and once free, she slid into her cloths quickly before clambering into the driver's seat.

"Fiiiiine. Speaking of driving, we're clearly travelling away from the city where I'm wanted as a criminal and you're posted as a missing person, but do you have a plan aside from that? If not, now might be a good idea to try and make one."

Her ears pricked forward, and she considered her plan... or rather, the fact that she didn't have a plan further than what he'd just outlined. Just getting away from there, getting somewhere new had seemed like a good idea. "Well, no. I don't have much of a plan in mind. But it'll be a good idea to get to another city."

He was just a passenger in this adventure... both figuratively and literally. He shrugged and settled with his head laying over the shoulder of the car seat, where he could nuzzle against her neck. "That sounds like plan enough for me... Kalokin can probably hash out the finer details. Hey, that Jackie Blue Jay girl, where does she live? She seemed to like me well enough, and she clearly has a little influence. Perhaps she might be willing to do us a favor."

She relaxed a bit and leaned her head against his, grateful for the contact. His words procured a questioning smile from her lips as she shouldered him playfully. "Why? So you can eat her? I mean, according to you, she looks delicious." It was said with an affectionate huff, as she finally managed to get the car to sputter to life. Moments later she was out of the parking lot and back on the highway.

"Well she did! I'm allowed to make casual observations, aren't I? Besides, she seems to have an interest in the unusual. You and I are going to have to tell the world about ourselves someday, unless you plan on moving to the desert. If she's the newsie who tells our story, it will make her famous instantly. I think she might be a little open minded."

Shou was less optimistic. Though it was years ago, and Shou had been given her first lead. She knew most people who had done any sort of reporting work, she was put in the limelight enough. Jackie herself had been doing a bit of work on the side to get extra cash to fund her little ghost-hunting hobby, and it ended up being a not nice interview. Even by a reporter's standards, Jackie had put Shou's reputation through the wringer. The paper had ran for weeks, calling her a chubby sellout. Suggesting she had done favors to get the position.

"I do know where she lives, though how willing she might be to help I dunno... We've... crossed paths before." The thought still flushed her cheeks with shame and elicited a disgruntled grumble from her. "And I'm not chubby..."

He felt the wavering self-confidence as much as he heard her tone. It was hard work, learning the nuances of the common tongue, but he'd learned enough to know that now was the time to remind her how beautiful she was. He wrapped his arms around both her and the seat and licked her cheek before speaking.

"Nowhere near chubby. Speaking of which, I'm glad you didn't take up Kalokin's offer to make you thinner... I like a girl who's large enough to squeeze. Don't you even think about comparing yourself to that bird either, she is would snap like a twig if I tried to hug her."

She was still miffed over the bad memories, but his tickling tongue had a way of lifting her spirits, and his arms had a way of squeezing her in all the ways she wanted to be squeezed. "Thank you, love... the reason I decided in the end not to change anything was because you said you liked me how I am. Figured I'd try to learn to see me the way you see me."

I could help you with that, you know... not while driving, of course, but swapping you two's visual neurosensory feeds would be easy. Would be hilarious too, you'd both be effectively blind if either of you looked away.

Kalokin's "voice" resounded in their minds as he flowed into their souls like water through gravel, and though Shou couldn't call herself an expert, he already felt just as strong as he'd been before... before he'd gotten hurt. Not only that, he sounded completely normal: a bright baritone resonance that sounded like he was permanently smirking. He still felt a little shaky and strained, but his voice lacked the androgynous, or sometimes downright feminine tone that it took when... things got out of control. Khaesho noticed that also, and voiced the question.

"Kalokin, I think that is a record for how quickly you've healed after hurting yourself. What did you do?"

He was silent for several moments before replying.

I... I'd rather not say. It wasn't pretty.

Shou's warm smile soured at that. She was willing to keep an open mind about him, and she could even see herself forgiving him if there was a good reason behind his actions. That did not mean she was willing to smile and nod like a bobble head while he kept secrets from them both. There was more than a little steel in her voice when she asked, "Kalokin... what did you do?"

It's nothing.

Kalokin was a great liar, which only made it more worrying that Shou and Khaesho didn't even need suspicion to know that he was lying; his soul trembled as if he was fighting to keep a memory suppressed. Shou growled softly, but kept her tone even and calm... as if she were talking to a child.

"Kalokin... really, the point of having us around is so you can trust us with things. We're bonded to you, until we die, so it isn't like we'll run away screaming. So take a deep breath, figuratively speaking, and spill the beans."

Trying to focus on her worry for the God while driving wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but she managed. They were moving at a good clip; it wouldn't be more than half an hour to Red River, perhaps another fifteen minutes after that to get to the suburbs Jackie lived in. Kalokin pulled a form together, a modestly sized feral blue racer that coiled up on her dashboard and gave her what looked like an attempt at a condescending glance.

"No, really Shou, I'm fine. There are plenty of things Khaesho doesn't know about how I work, I just needed a little pick me up. After I'd regained my energy, I just- VESSEL OF MONSTROSITIES DAMN YOU KHAESHO, STOP THINKING THAT! I'm not some mortal that I'll crack like an egg under the slightest pressure, okay?!? I'm stronger than that... you don't... don't need to coddle me..."

His fury faded as swiftly as it had appeared, his voice cracked and broken by the end of his tirade. Khaesho gave half a glance to Shou before simply extended his arm. Kalokin looked at them for a moment as anger and depression warred within him, but his need to be held overwhelmed his pride. He threw himself forwards, spiraled rapidly up Khaesho's arm, and coiled around both their necks, sobbing.

"I swear, I didn't mean to, I didn't know. I was just so hungry... gods forgive my soul, you don't know the ache, the mind-dulling need to make the pain stop at any price. I swear, I didn't want to hurt him... I swear it..."

His words were punctured by gasping sobs that wracked his small body. Overwhelmed with pity mixed with a knowledgeable sense of dread, Khaesho stroked the small form tenderly. He suspected something of what had happened... but after all that Shou had been through for their sakes, she deserved to hear the story from him, without Khaesho interrupting.

"Calm down Kalokin, start from the beginning. What happened, what didn't you mean to do?"

He squeezed their necks slightly but kept his face buried in the soft fur at Shou's collarbone.

"I... I needed fear, needed it to heal, to grow stronger again. There wasn't enough fear for me to grow strong quickly enough, and I was hungry, oh I was starving. I had to make more, but I didn't want to hurt anyone, really, I didn't. I whispered to them in their sleep, in their dreams, and I pulled their worst fears from their hearts. Then I took those fears and I twisted their dreams into nightmares. I fed fell off of their dream-fueled terror, but they would quickly awake gasping; once they did, they realized it was all just a dream, and the fear disintegrated. It was never enough... they awoke too quickly, calmed down too suddenly... it was like getting to lick a fine steak only to have it snatched from your jaws. I needed more... it's like the hunger for food with the compulsion of a drug addiction... the need eliminates everything else. I wanted more. Always more. The dreams grew worse and worse, and as I fed, I forgot that the moon remained full. It worked wonderfully, encouraging her, helping me to devour panic deep within their souls... but I took too much."

He gave a small cough, and lifted his head from Shou's neck.

"He was a Crow, no more than fifteen, barely more than a child. I had been feeding all night, but the hunger never sleeps. I whispered dark horrors into his mind, twisted his dreams into black nightmares of such cruel savagery... it damaged his soul, a little. Not a lot... souls can take quite a beating... but a little. For a while, he was nothing more than a beast driven wild by panic, and I drank deep from his fear. I kept him asleep, kept him afraid, until the adrenaline shooting through his veins forced his mind awake despite the sleep I was forcing upon him. I don't know how... maybe I was too deep, too close... but he could feel me, could feel my presence. His eyes opened and he stared right into mine, and I could see it in his eyes... he could see me... he knew I was there. He saw a demon of fear and pain hovering over him, teeth deep in his soul, and then he realized that the nightmare was real. There was no waking up from this. Fear inundated his mind like a flash flood, and I felt the exact moment when he snapped. His mind shattered into pieces like cheap pottery, nothing but fragments soaked in terror... and he screamed. His parents rushed in, tried to calm him, but he was babbling nonsense mixing shrieks with words about the monster that was killing him. I backed off, got a little distance... and he slowly calmed down. After a while, he just sat there and sobbed: Five minutes... ten... fifteen... it was like he didn't even know his parents were there. He just sobbed and shook. They called for a healer, an ambulance, and then his parents just sat there, holding him as he cried."

Kalokin's utter desolation deepened to the point that he couldn't even hold the small manifestation anymore. He dissolved like so much smoke, but they could feel him. His normally grand soul enveloped them most of the time, but now he felt small and weak, a ghost sheltered between them.

I... I tried to put him back together, I did. I thought I could take all the pieces and make him whole... but the moment I touched him he started screaming again. I didn't know what to do... I couldn't help him, was only making him worse... all I ever do is make things worse... I ran to my safe place for the rest of the night, and I stayed there until that thrice damned Dark Moon had set.

Shou had done her best to focus on the road while she had an upset God crying against her fur, but after a few moments, she just gave up. One exit was as good as the next; she pulled off and rolled into a rest stop so she could focus on him. In the back of her mind, she noticed that it was one of those "Scenic Rest Stops" with history about the state and a small park... the kind that everyone saw, but few actually took the time to explore.

"Oh Kalokin..."

Her ears drooped as he recounted his tale... of weakness... of addiction... her eyes softened in sorrow that only deepened as he continued. She felt the sudden need to hug her mate, so she clambered into the back seat to press herself close against him. He finally reached a quivering end, his soul compacted into a thimble of misery that hovered between their beating hearts.

"Kalokin, darling, calm down... It's alright. Well, it isn't, but it will be. We will find some way to do something, to fix it. And if we can't fix it, we'll find someone who can. If it means begging, favors from someone else... one of your siblings must know of something that can be done. Dear heart, do not lament... what is done is done, and now we must look to how to fix it. Leaving the child alone for now is best. Medical science may not be able to heal his spirit, but they can do wonders to help his body. And he may yet start to heal a little on his own once there is nothing there to frighten him. See to his dreams, that nothing bad happens, and keep out of sight - and we may yet be able to fix this..."

She didn't know how much of what she said was hopeless wishing, or if it could be done, or if it was even plausible, but she tried. It highlighted her ignorance about the finer workings of spirits and souls, but she did her best.

Khaesho gave her a worried glance that spoke volumes... Kalokin tended towards melodrama during the dark moon, but never before had he sounded so... defeated. The broken god continued to tremble, but he managed an answer.

I can't... He can sense my presence, somehow. If I approach him, even in his dreams, it would only make matters worse... any disguise I wore, any alteration I made, he'd know it was my hand, and he'd fear it even if nothing went amiss. His dreams are nothing but nightmares now anyways; he has too much fear... I wouldn't be able to explain anything at all.

But Khaesho was thinking... Kalokin had explained how it worked to him long ago, but he'd explained it in the Serpent's tongue then. A few things seemed to have been lost in the translation, but once or twice, Kalokin had said that he literally consumed fear. What if the problem was its own solution?

"Kalokin, what happens when you eat someone's fear?"

I... wha?

"You feed on emotion, on fear. Is it possible for you to literally eat all of his fear, until he stops being afraid?"

Fear is just the medium... when I feed, I steal strength from a mortal's soul.

He'd stopped sobbing, but his voice still wavered. Khaesho ignored that, and plowed forwards anyways.

"But it's his spirit that's broken, right? His spirit, not his soul... A spirit for intellectual thought, for memories and structuring magic, and a Soul for emotion and energy, for fueling magic. If you drain his soul of fear, of energy, would that calm him down enough to piece his spirit back together? If it works, you'd get a feast such that you wouldn't need to feed for months, and he could start healing..."

Khaesho... I... that could just as well kill him as heal him. It's impossible for his soul to be 100% completely fear... but at the same time, the other emotions, other colors of his soul would be so muted and minimized that in trying to drain his soul, I could just as easily destroy it entirely. Not a single mortal has survived such an ordeal... its theoretically possible, but that shock has killed people b-.

His voice broke as he remembered everything he'd done, all in the name of vengeance. The shame radiating from him increased by another few degrees; it was clearly another topic that they clearly needed to talk to him about, but at another time. Kalokin's turmoil was apparently so great that it had drawn the attention of his sister, and her voice whispered through Shou's mind just before the sun rose on the deserts far to the west.

Back when you were... ill... Kalokin said something to me once. He was trying to convince me to help him heal you, but it was during the daytime, and I was being... difficult. He shouted something at me, an insult. He said that even without my guidance, he was going to try and heal your soul, and that even when he only made things worse, then at least he would be able to say he had done his best. Don't tell him that I told you to say this, but... remind him that sometimes the attempt matters more than the outcome. He's not evil, nor is he a coward... remind him of that? I think it would help... I can offer no guidance, but I wish the three of you good luck. The sun rises, and I am needed.

Shou's ears perked up in response to the "sound" of Shelandra's voice. She gave a small tilt of her head and nodded quietly, a small smile touching her lips. Shelandra had a good plan... and she was right. The Kalokin she knew didn't run away. He royally screwed things up, but he always did anything he could to make them better... even if he failed. She knew firsthand what his mistakes could cost a person, but she was happier now than she was before. It took a moment to gather her thoughts, then she spoke softly to her love.

"Kalokin, none of that matters. It doesn't matter what happens in the end... everyone dies eventually... would it be better to let him live on in suffering and fear, or attempt to help him? At the very least, it would give him the mercy of a swift death... but even then, you'd be able to hold your head high. You made a mistake, but make that mistake yours. Own it. Don't worry about the outcome, what matters is that you do what you did for me... try. You don't need to fix everything all perfect like it was before, you just need to try to make things better than they are now. You may just succeed, and even if you do not, at least you tried everything you could before you gave up. Do not lose hope so easily... You may yet save him."

Khaesho smiled softly as her words brought up the memories so recently laid to rest. A furious mob in a sand-choked city. A sandstorm of death in an attempt to reach the one life that mattered. An all or nothing gamble for the chance at a better tomorrow. He echoed Shou's words softly as he squeezed to show his gratitude. He spoke in the desert tongue, a flowing language that Shou was surprised to realize that she understood.

*She's right, you know... Own up to your mistake, and do what you can to remedy it. We are but mortals... our lives are fleeting arrows launched into the tumultuous sandstorm that is this world. Some arrows catch a gust and sail, others have their fletching stripped and fall, but all end buried in the sand. What matters is that, in a thousand years, you can look back on this moment without regret. Immortality is something that we can only dream of... you should not squander yours by filling your memories with regret that you had not acted.*

By now, Khaesho spoke Common well enough... but he still favored simple sentences and smaller words. This was the first time she'd understood him speaking his natural tongue, and it shocked Shouyousei somewhat to hear the passion in his voice, borne, clearly and eloquently with a grace that he simply couldn't reproduce when speaking her language.

Their combined efforts had an effect... they were right, and Kalokin knew it, yet one obstacle remained. But I... I'm scared... A spirit without a soul... they're not strong enough to journey to the afterlife without their souls... the only option then is to either let a spirit wither into nothing or... or shackle it... bind it to myself in the same way you would bind a slave. Even more than when you needed help, Shou... I'm scared of what my choice will be if I fail.

It was a rare emotion for him. He was too powerful to fear for his personal safety, and he rarely had such momentous occasions that he feared the outcome.

Shou gave a small huff, mildly irritated that he always insisted on being difficult. She smiled despite that though... his stubbornness was one of the reasons she liked him

"You just try, Kalokin, that's all you can do."

His soul finally stopped trembling and grew a little bit larger, comforted by their support. He didn't respond to her parting comment... he simply gathered himself up and slipped away from them, back out into cold, harsh reality. Khaesho held Shou close as Kalokin slid from their minds out into the real world and silence filled the beat up Junker.