The sky may as well have been falling, as fat drops of water poured from the sky. Thunder roared as Thrax lead Kellayenasifarel through the jungle brush. It only took a few seconds after the rain started for them both to be thoroughly soaked and it didn't look like it would be letting up any time in the near future. The ground was getting muddy and difficult to walk in.
They had been on this trek for weeks, and their guide through the desert had set them up with a contact who had given them a map to what they were looking for. The Golden Temple. It had cost Kell a rather significant amount to get all the information he had been able to gather, most of it through less than over the table means, but things have never gone wrong before, and the payout was significant.
The Treeline broke, and the two found themselves standing atop a rather tall bluff, a muddy river swirling rapidly down below as the rains turned everything up. They could see further into the jungle, scanning the treetops, but not a flicker of gold flashed in the distance.
Thrax huffed from exertion; this ill-conceived expedition was going to be the death of him. He had never even been to the jungle before, and he told his employer as much. So what had possessed the two of them to go anyway and with nobody else?
"I'm beginning to think this temple of yours doesn't even exist," the big, wet gnoll complained with a grumpy frown. The combination made him look rather ridiculous, like a dog left out in a storm.
"What the fuck is this!" Kell said after they broke through the trees and he looked at the scenery ahead, normally? Beautiful. Right now? A steep drop into a river was the last thing he wanted to see. His ears pinned down in his displeasure and he wiped his face of the rain before he cast a glance at Thrax, his tail waving before he looked away and back at the river, "I'm starting to think this thing doesn't exist either."
The wool pulled over his eyes. It sunk in that maps into unknown places were probably lies. "Think there's a way around...?" Kell said quietly, leaning to look over the edge and shaking his head, "I'm not keen on climbing down and then figuring a way back up."
"If there is another way, we'll lose a day backtracking to find it. At least," the gnoll complained.
He was beginning to think that they should just slink back to civilization with their tails between their legs. He liked adventure, not pointless slogs through the wet, hot jungle. Gnolls weren't built for the jungle.
"We can't climb down that steep rise until the rain stops. Might as well squat here." He dropped to a seated position with a thud. "Unless you saw a cave on the way up."
The world seemed to want the two to know that no one was listening as thunder roared out. Somehow the rain got worse as the sun seemed to be going down. At least, the sky was getting darker and darker the more they spoke. The river continued it's violent roiling down below. Thrax sat on the ground near the bluff in his own frustration, and a second later there was the unmistakable sound of stone cracking.
Before either could move the crack turned into a roar as a massive chunk of the bluff collapsed, massive stones tumbling off the sheer drop of the bluff. Anyone caught in it would have certainly died in the fall, if not from the sudden impact into the water and the proceeding drowning, or getting crushed by the stones.
Thrax's leg dangled off the new edge of the bluff and his eyes stared at where ground used to be. With the ground gone, an opening was revealed. A knowledgeable eye could tell the stone around the small gap was much different than the rest of the stone. Like it was placed there on purpose. The gap large enough for the both of them to fit rather nicely, if they were both willing to climb down.
The thundering above echoed the thundering below and Kell was quick to grab his companions shoulder. Whether it was steady himself, his companion or make sure neither of them fell was unknown. His ears flattened down and he looked around, shifting ever so slightly and calmed once the rocks fell and nothing went with them.
"You okay?" His voice was low, like speaking loudly would make the rocks angry again. He peaked over the edge and frowned, not keen on wanting to follow them down to their new home.
It caught his eye then, and he blinked a few times to make sure it wasn't the rain. The darkening day did it's best to hide it, but he saw something. "Who the fuck puts an entrance on a cliff side," Kell complained to nothing, looking skyward like the clouds had an answer.
"Might be monsters in there but it seems dry. Not too far from the ledge so climbing up won't be too bad." He glanced at Thrax before he slung his bag off his shoulder and shimmied to the ledge on his belly, ready to toss it into the entrance.
Thrax was wide-eyed, contemplating his near demise. It wasn't until Kell spoke that he came back to the moment. He nodded slowly before climbing down after him.
Once closer, he cracked a grinning smirk. "Monsters? Pssh! I once broke a cliff with my ass!"
Fair.
Kell looked over his shoulder and smirked before looked back and second thought the whole 'toss backpacks' into the hole plan. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. He stood and rolled his shoulders, flexed his toes and took a deep breath. "I thought we could toss our bags down there," He leaned to look, "But I don't trust my aim and we'd lose a lot of shit if I tossed it into the river."
And then he was gone. Scurried over the edge like the lizard he was. The climb was atrocious and he was terrified of falling but... His aim was true and his foot stepped on... Nothing. Which was terrifying.
Kell climbed into the hole and quickly scooted into it, sliding along the ground on his belly and taking a deep steadying breath. Maybe he'd try to find another way up when they finally left.
The slightly larger Gnoll took the climb slowly and carefully. There had never been much of a use for climbing on the Serha Plains, so he didn't have much confidence in his footing. When he finally reached the hole, he breathed a sigh of relief.
That was, until he realized just how tight a fit it was going to be for his broad gnoll shoulders. He took a deep breath and crawled in after Kell.
I am the king of bad decisions.
The two managed to crawl into the opening with relative ease, the darkness of the cave looming in until a faint blue light started to emanate from the pillars around the room. The walls looked old, worn in carvings on every surface. It was hard to make much of it out as time had taken it's toll, but it wasn't very difficult to see they had found themselves in a large rotunda of some kind, with a figure standing in the middle of the room.
The figure was stood on a pedestal, gold trinkets and gems piled at their feet, wearing a minimalist outfit of draped sheer cloth that would have been rather attractive had it not adorn a mummified corpse of a reptilian being of some kind. In it's hands was a book that it looked to be reading, but otherwise the room was empty.
Thrax's eyes were first drawn to the pile of treasure, gazing upon it with desire. Then his attention drifted up to the mummy, which was... less appealing. His voice trembled a little nervously as he said, "Uhh... Kell? W-what is that?"
He drew his axe, just in case, as he stepped forward.
"Oh."
Kell said looking up and taking in the sight of... the dried corpse.
"A priestess or something maybe?" He looked her over again, taking note of the sheer cloth, "Maybe a beloved concubine?"
He set his pack down to take his lantern out, struck a match against the dried ground and lit it. Lantern bright and aflame, he held it up and looked at the adorn lizard-mummy with curiosity. Sure the gold and treasures were interesting but Kell was more interested in information and he greedily snapped the book away from the dried fingers, tail wagging in a smooth wave.
"Hm, I think I'll have to decipher this. Unless you can read this?" He held the book behind him towards Thrax while still examining the dried out lady.
As the two looked over the body, the room seemed to grow slightly colder when the book was removed from the hands, and as Kell looked at the book, it was hard to believe. It was written in Thanati, and half of the page was blank. The top of the page read "Light Once Again" and it read:
After so long left in darkness with nothing more to watch and marvel for uncountable days, light returned. Khelena's story did not end in darkness, renewed as Onyx, Kellayenasifarel to the Thanati, and Thraxion Swordbreaker crawled through from the outside long forgotten. They explored, laying eyes on the body of the Avatar within these walls, unsure of what to make of her. Kellayenasifarel to the Thanati took the book, severing the Avatar's connection to it's cairn, plunging what remaining awareness she had into complete darkness.
More words continued to be written, describing each action taken by the two as if from the perspective of the body that stood right before them. The lights waivered, and there was an odd thrum of power settling from the book.
"How can we be in this book?" he asked, in a near whisper, for some reason.
Then he felt the growing magic, and he snatched the book, slamming it shut. "Old magic, bad to keep reading. There's no knowing what it could do."
He just hoped that he noticed soon enough.
Magic?
Kell made a face and let it be slammed shut. He frowned at the book. Who was Khelena? Taking the book from Thrax he kept it closed but looked at the front and back of it, his ears twitching in his discomfort before he moved closer.
A careful breath and he moved to put the book back. He didn't look at the pages, but he opened the book and placed it back in the naked lizard ladies hands. "Think we're cursed now?" He huffed out, taking a few steps back after balancing the book where he'd found it, "Also, should we go? I think we should go." the sound of outside echoed down in the tunnel and Kell glanced towards the woman and then back at Thrax, "after the rain? maybe?"
Nothing happened immediately after the book was returned. The feel of power filling the air like a mild static never went away, until the hands moved. The sound of dried flesh ripping as the hands moved for the first time in gods only knew how long. Then the body jerked and started shaking as it's mouth opened in a soundless scream. Then the blue lights went out.
The body then illuminated the room itself with a similar blue light as it caught fire, collapsing off it's pedestal and tumbling down the gold and jewels piled around it. The fire moved across the body, leaving scaled flesh where it burned away the dried death. She writhed on the ground as her face was restored, and her clawed hands scratched at her neck as blue light emanated from her mouth and she finally let out a loud moaning gasp.
She collapsed once again to her hands and knees, and the blue light from the pillars began to come back as she panted loudly. Magic crackled in the air like electricity, when she looked up at the two, her eyes wild and bloodshot.
"What have you done?" She asked, pushing herself up to her knees and staring at her hands. Her eyes shifted to the book, which was face down and smoking. "No..." She whispered, her shoulders dropping in resignation.
Thrax watched as the mummy returned to life, torn between awe and fear. Conditioned by his primitive roots, fear won and he put the smaller Kell between him and the m-m-m-mummy. Then it spoke.
He gulped, but then he realized what it was she actually said and relaxed. He stepped out from behind Kell as if he hadn't just thrown his employer to the wolves and said, "A thousand apologies, great spirit. We meant no disrespect."
Wait, was she a lich? Were they about to die?
Kell frowned, holding an arm out after Thrax moved behind him. He'd looked at the book, which meant that he could deal with the consequences of this slowly coming to life mummy.
His heart pounded in his ears and he took a step back, golden eyes wide when... She got meaty?
"Uh," was all he could manage out when asked what they'd done. "Are you... Alive?" Kell crouched down and he reached out to touch the rehydrated womans arm. The smoking book forgotten for the time being in favor of the newest distraction.
"Am I Ali..." The woman asked, letting the question die as her face curled up with notable confusion despite the very reptilian features. She took up her book in her arms and stood up, brushing dust from her front and knees, her tail sweeping low to the ground before arcing up into a slight flick. "I am certainly not dead, am I?" She asked pointedly as she looked around the room. "Unless you are some new, pathetic deities that somehow replaced Xokagi."
The woman didn't wait for the question to be answered, taking a few steps towards the opening they had made, then turning back to the two. "With my book destroyed, I have no way of knowing how long I was an avatar for. Since you two seem to have something to do with that, I am going to ask you help me reorient myself and set myself back onto my proper story," She said, her voice not giving the impression she was even asking a question. "I am Grand Librarian Khelena Het'Ladaren..." She said, her eyes narrowing a little, "But you may refer to me as Grand Librarian."
Thrax bowed a little too theatrically. He may not know what exactly was happening, but that was hardly an excuse to be boring. Besides, he was totally into his fellow animalistic non-human, even the scaley ones. This one even... no, bad Thrax.
"Stormsinger Thraxion Swordbreaker," the wet gnoll said with a smile, kissing her hand as if anyone would believe that he was a gentleman, "But you can call me Thrax."
Kell grew hesitant and suspicious. His arms crossed over his torso and while Thrax offered his full name to the mostly naked lizard lady, the non-furred adventurer did not. Golden eyes looked between the Librarian and Thrax and he wrinkled his nose.
"Don't put your mouth on that, you don't know where it's been!" Kell grabbed Thrax's shoulder to pull him away a little bit. Things didn't just come back to life. That wasn't how it worked. That wasn't how anything worked.
This librarian was undead. She must be. "I'm Onyx," his tone was clipped and he felt his options closing in on him, "I'll do what I can to make amends but all we did was touch a book - if that ruins your whole damn existence they should have put you in a tighter box."
Kell refused to be blamed for this. hmph.
Khelena didn't fight Thrax as he took her hand and kissed it. Neither did she seemed perturbed, or even concerned at the large gnoll approaching her so quickly. As Thrax bent down to kiss her hand, Kell could see the realization of opportunity flash across Khelena's eyes.
"Thraxsss..." Khelena hissed slowly, lowering her muzzle just a touch to look up at the gnoll with her eyes. Her tail swooped around silently and began a feather light coil up his leg, starting just over Thrax's knee. "What a gentle gn-" She started when Kell yanked Thrax away from her, her tail flicking back behind her. She then shot Kell a glare when he referred to her like some gutter in the street.
The glare only lasted a fraction of a second, before Khelena allowed her features to express hurt and discomfort, taking a quick step forward and hugging Thrax's arm tightly between her breasts, almost hiding herself from Kell in the process. She was cold to the touch, but her scaled skin was soft and her chest filled with air with each breath she took. "Your friend doesn't need to be so mean..." She pouted, leaning her head on the Gnoll's shoulder. "All this is very sudden, I didn't ask to be released. I haven't done anything to deserve that, have I?" She asked, looking up at him with her eyes again.
Well, he was certainly lost as an ally.
Thrax was confused at first by the attention, but he was under the spell of her wiles by time she cradled his arm with her unexpectedly shapely bosom. He gave Kell a disapproving glare, with just a hint of satisfaction. What? He was a bard.
"Seriously Kell, she's hardly dead now. Besides, it's your fault for taking the book that she's even alive."
He knew something was off about that statement, but he was too enamored to put it together.
What in the world.
"Inima save me," Kell looked up at the ceiling after receiving Thrax's glare and pressed his black scaled hand to his face. A glare. What had he done to receive a glare!
"Librarian is undead now," He waved his hand to the empty spot her dried out husk had been moments before, "Don't you remember! Thrax! Get your head out of the tits! A literal magical book just brought this thing back to life and then lit its self on fire! How is that not a big alarm!" Kell moved over to put himself farther away from the new pair and close.
Kell frowned and looked towards the lizard lady, "What exactly are you after? What do you mean by 'reorient' yourself."
"Kell, Kell, Kell. No undead has breasts like this this lovely creature," he chided, "Besides, I'll have you know that my arm is what's in the tits."
"And they're glorious."
Khelena stood there as Thrax defended her... Aliveness from Kell's suspicion and doubts, and looked at Kell as he again tried to justify how she was nothing more than a monster in all likelyhood. Who knew, maybe the definition of monster had changed since she had been gone. Though, she was pleased to know that she had pegged Thrax correctly.
Khelena looked at Kell as he started to address her with his question about what she meant. She opened her maw to answer when Thrax inturrupted her to defend the honor of her... breasts. She closed her mouth for a moment, opened it to speak, then closed it again as she reconsidered. Then she took a slight step to the side, and gave Thrax a smile. "And you can be back in them, once you dry off. You are cold to the touch, and I am not a fan," She said, before turning back to Kell. "Such a Tegram, he's adorable," She said as she let out a sigh to release some tension.
"As for your question," Khelena started, waving to the room at large. "I have been trapped in this room for Xokagi knows how long. I would know, but my book is destroyed. I cannot reference the stories it wrote, and so I am blind to time," She explained, bringing her hands together and giving Kell a look of intense concern. "So I am in a strange time, which has likely turned a once familiar place into a strange one, after having been dead and resurrected in the presence of two complete strangers, as... idiotically charming one may be, accused of being undead," She said, her look growing more and more intense as she spoke. "If you think you would not be disoriented in that situation, I applaud your self confidence and suggest you volunteer for the Arena. It might take you rather far."
Xokagi.
Kell tucked the name into the back of his head and watched the woman, still suspicious. Arms crossed over his chest, his own tail flicked in a wave like motion with his irritation. "The arena?" Maybe she was from Essyrn? "With the gladiators?" He had spoken quietly to his self before wrinkling his nose at the idea, not much one for bloodshed before he moved a hand to rub at his eyes.
He could be accommodating. And just because this person was undead didn't mean they didn't deserve to at least have some footing on when they were. The Librarian had a point when she'd brought up that she was disoriented.
"Well, I'm from Thanatos. We're currently in the Kishahn Jungle in a hole? tunnel? temple? in the side of a cliff." Kell looked her up and down, "You won't like... Disintegrate from water right? You're really all alive again?"
Thanx, the traitor, was not addressed and all he got from Kell was a slicing golden glance and another irritated tail flick in his general direction.
When she brought attention to his wetness, he moved off to the side to shake some water away. There, he continued to listen.
She thinks I'm charming? Ye--wait a minute... Hey!
"Also, more importantly, am I the idiot?"
"Yes," Khelena said to Kell's whispered question. "The one with the gladiators," She said, crossing her arms over her chest with a mildly annoyed look. "However, you are continuing to make my point. I have no idea what those name are. Us being in a Jungle right now, should not be correct, but you say we are and so I must believe you," She sighed, turning to look back out the gap. "I can't see much with the rain. Which will not kill me what do you think I am? Fragile?" She asked when Thrax asked his question.
She had tried to ignore the spray of water from when he shook off while she was talking. it was difficult but she managed. Then she brought her hands up to her muzzle in contemplation. "Thrax, I am very sore after so much time standing. Would you like to rub my legs when we have a chance to sit and relax?" She asked, ignoring his question.
Thrax perked up. That would be... wait, wait, bad idea. He wasn't an idiot. He couldn't just accept being called one. But, then again, they were nice legs. Maybe he could play along anyway. Yeah, just go with the flow.
"I would like nothing more than to please m'lady."
Idiot.
Not you too.
"I think you're actually a mummified corpse that's going to disintegrate in the rain." Kell snapped while rolling his eyes, wiggling his fingers at her body, "You're clearly not fragile." He then moved over and reached out to grab Thrax's shoulder before he thought better of it and kept his hands to himself.
Was he enchanted? Kell veered off to the side to continue keeping his distance away from the tall reptilian woman.
"Look," Kell said, his voice getting gravely with his frustration. "Magical Book Librarian, if you don't know either of those names and you weren't entombed in a jungle, then you've been in here for several millennia. What about Adela? Serendipity? If none of those names are familiar I don't think anything still standing is going to be."
"Good Thrax," Khelena said with a smile, "I can't wait to feel how good you are with those hands," She purred before turning back to Kell. "And with that, I can focus on you again," She said, starting to pick at her claws with her thumb. "Honestly, I don't know if I'm impressed or concerned. If this is how you think mummified corpses look, your people have gotten very good at preservation, or your preferences are... Interesting," She said with a coy smile. Her tail flicked over her head in a wide arc as she turned and cocked her hip out. "I might be convinced to entertain your desires. You do look warm..." She teased.
"Regardless," She said, dropping the coy demeanor. "You're right, I likely know nothing about anything standing so far. Bringing back the point that I will need to reorient myself," She said, taking a more serious tone. "And it's Grand Librarian. I did not go through everything that I have to be called anything less. You may not respect it Kallayenasifarel but continuing to mock it will only end poorly," She snapped, walking away to examine the pile of gold.
Oh, I'm very good with my hands.
Thrax stepped up beside Kell with a self-satisfied smirk. When Khelena was far enough away, he whispered, "Level of deadness aside, does she seem trustworthy? I mean, this her story seems weird. Why would anyone entomb a librarian?"
So, not ensorcelled, just lecherous.
Kell klicked his teeth inside his mouth and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Was she trying to seduce him? Thrax seemed well seduced already but was she going after him next? The immediate jump on his preferences had him on high alert and he shifted his stance slightly, adjusting his backpack before looking from her to Thrax again.
He eyed Thrax before his face snapped back to the awoken woman. Kell's eyes going wide and his lips parting when she said his name. His whole name.
The name he hadn't provided her.
Kell took Thrax's arm and placed himself between the Grand Librarian and the gnoll. Casting a glance up at the furred man after he whispered his question, hoping his expression, which while turned away from the reptilian woman, was not subtle nor hidden. An expression of 'are you seriously asking me that.'
Kell turned back to Khelena.
"We're leaving as soon as the rain lets up, you can follow us if you choose or stay in here and fix your book. You've brushed off both of my attempts to help you reorient yourself by trying to find some sort of familiar location or name -the ones you know could very well have been in history books. So I'm done now, enjoy your leg massage." Kell let go of Thrax's arm, gave a dismissive nod of his head to Khelena and Thrax before he moved towards the hole they entered in and sat down against the wall, turning his body to quietly rearrange his backpack.
Thrax looked back and forth between them. She was so very enticing, but Kell had almost become a friend over the long trip. So, with a pang of guilt, he groaned and went after the other man.
Grah! Stupid conscience!
"Look. I... I'm sorry, okay? I have a weakness for... let's say, exotic women. I've snapped out of it, I promise."
"Exotic," Kell didnt role his eyes but he couldn't quite believe that just came out of his companions mouth. "Look, I paid you for your muscles, but not all your muscles."
"Womem with snouts arent my type, but you do whatever you want with your time." He wrinkled his nose, trying to envision someone with a humanoid face like his kissing someone with a snout. Would he have to unhinge his jaw? Kell stared at the opposite wall before rubbing his forehead with his fist, trying to make the mental image go away.
He paused and raised his voice, "get all the rest you can get, Librarian. We can split the rations three ways after we climb back up. Though I imagine we can all hunt for our own food if need be." Kell put his own pack under his head and layed down, arms crossed over his chest, and tried to nap. He didnt feel safe around this newest creature and had questions and concerns, but he needed rest more than he needed answers.
It was a fitful rest but the rain was soothing on his brain. A thing to both focus on and tune out. So it was the absence of the rain that had him wake up, weird bird calls and weirder animal calls. Kell didnt look behind him when he made his way to the hole, a quick stretch and like his ancestors before him, he crawled and scurried his way up the cliff side.
"Never climbing into weird unknown holes again," he grumbled to himself, rubbing his sore fingertips together before taking a deep breath of fresh air. He had meant to readjust his backpack, but instead he layed on the ground on his belly in the dirt with his eyes closed.
Thrax groaned as he pulled himself up a few minutes later. He paused, resting with his hands on his knees. "I... really hate climbing."
He walked over to a tree and tied the rope that they should have used before around it. Returning to the cliff, he tossed the free end down to the hole. Leaning over the edge, he called down, "Your chariot awaits!"
Khelena had spent the night humming idly to herself, looking over he hands just a little obsessively. In fact, she was rather infatuated with herself basically the entire night. For instance, she spent a solid hour on her back, her legs up on the pedestal so she could move them around while looking at them without holding them up herself. She also spent quite some time just dangling her tail over her head by her face, taking it all in.
The morning came, or at least, what she believed to be the morning, and she just watched as the two men got everything ready, and watched as they both struggled to climb up the bluff. Then the rope was lowered. She regarded it for a moment, a let out a soft sigh. She then grabbed hold of the rock, her claws finding the cracks and crevices with ease. It took her moments to climb up with the help of her large taloned feet and claws, climbing over the edge and brushing herself off of dirt and dust.
"Thank you for the rope," Khelena smiled at Thrax, her tongue slipping out and dragging across her muzzle before getting pulled back in. "Very considerate of you. Shall we start towards whatever civilization you plan on heading too?" She asked, looking between Thrax and Kell.
Kell didn't want to move. He had to though. Or he'd just get eaten by bugs and random jungle animals. Heaving a sigh, he got up from the ground, flicking chunks of mud and ground-bits that clung to him.
"Yes, hopefully we can find our way back."
Without a further word, he glanced between the two before he started to walk, leading the way. The adventure effectively over, it wouldn't be too hard to retrace their steps - he'd taken to digging into the trees as they walked as a marker but... That was an easily missed marker. Kell was profoundly disappointed as he walked, looking for the signs for the fastest way back - which was still a few days.
Worst case scenario he could probably track their previous tracks. Look for scents. Still, the disappointment clawed at his throat at their find and his pace was languid with his tail occasionally dipping down so the tip of it dragged behind him.
Noting the body language of disappointment, Thrax quickened his pace to catch up. He settled into a position beside the person he hoped was still a friend and opened his mouth to say something, but for once, no words came.
Trying again, the gnoll said, "I know this expedition didn't work out, but we did find something rare and ancient. Think about all the lost knowledge she could possess. Surely she knows more than the walls of some temple could tell you."
Khelena listened to the two men talking the entire time they walked, getting the distinct idea they were looking for something important. "Gold?" Khelena asked, stopping in her tracks and pointing back towards where they had come from. "If you were looking for gold, you could have taken the gold in my temple. I wasn't going to stop you," She said, looking between the two. "I mean, I never had a use for it before, if you wanted it you could have just taken it."
Gold.
Kell sighed and tried to give a smile to Khelena. It was kind of her, possibly the first thing she'd done that hadn't annoyed him. He rubbed the back of his neck while they walked and he let his thoughts tumble around in his head.
"Not gold," he said softly, looking ahead, "It's something priceless that I'm looking for." His fingers moved to the scales at his neck and he glanced to Thrax and Khelena. "There was supposed to be some sort of... Item that knew all the answers... where we found you." His ears drooped then and Kell held his breath for a moment, "We'll get you to town, and get you some real clothes."
Kell looked from Thrax to Khelena before he picked up the pace, "Aren't you cold? I don't think they'll fit you but I have a spare set of clothes if you'd like."
Thrax chuckled uncomfortably. "Well, I wouldn't say no to gold. In fact, I kiiinda maybe helped myself." He tipped his pack to reveal the glint of a golden chalice within.
Turning to walk backwards ahead of them, he said, "And how could anyone be cold in this sweltering jungle? My short fur isn't that warm."
"Knew all the answers," Khelena said slowly as they walked, seeming largely unphased by the foliage. All in all she was rather light on her feet as she maintained a confident gait. "My book would have known everything that had happened around me," She offered, lazily hopping over a branch. "That was destroyed. Probably for the best, as knowing the answers to everything makes for a very boring story," She explained. "No one likes a know it all, and no one wants to read a story about one," She added.
"What answers do you want?" Khelena asked, hopping forward to walk next to Kell, ignoring Thrax's gold. "All the answers is a lot of answers. Very hard to sift through it. Are you struggling with a situation?" She asked, smiling back at Thrax. "Maybe he's struggling with issues of fancy?" She asked the Gnoll, before turning back to Kell. "Would explain why he has a problem with my nakedness, wouldn't it?" She asked mostly to the open air.
A moment to contemplate.
Kell looked at Thrax's chalice, regretted for a moment that he hadn't pilfered anything and then looked towards Khelena. Listened while she told him that knowing everything made a story boring. Frowned slightly when she made his disappointment about her and her nakedness.
He sighed again, running his hand over top his head and pulling his braid over his shoulder when he walked. His feet crunching twigs and slopping through small puddles left from the night before.
"That," he said over his shoulder, "is none of your business. You already know my name, that's all the private information you need about me." Kell flicked his ears and didnt press the issue about clothing, because it was true. He did have issue with her nakedness.
"What are you going to do once we reach civilization?" He started, changing the subject, "Thrax won't be in my employment anymore, perhaps you two can get somewhere nice after selling that cup and settle down." Kell gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Thrax rolled his eyes as Kell harped on his overactive libido yet again. His employer was proving to be much more of a prude than he had thought. Or maybe Kell still felt betrayed even though everything worked out fine.
"Okay, first of all, I already apologized for being tempted. Second, don't take it out on us that this expedition didn't pan out. It was lost before we set foot in that temple. Blame the guy who sold you that fictitious map."