Kenneth had been used to being treated with suspicion, with everyone staring and keeping away back at Laoli.

  It had taken a bit of time, but he had gotten used to everyone looking with interest as if he were some sort of local celebrity here. However, now, everyone turned or walked away, their voices becoming silent as if snuffed.

  Most everyone's eyes were gathered on Nokoovo, but those who noticed Kenenth looked a bit longer, eventually turning away like the rest.

  “Did you want to talk more about healing? I do find those conversations enjoyable,” Kenneth said in a chipper tone.

  Nokoovo looked at him for a moment before turning her head slightly away, “Umm... no. I wanted to ask if I could become your student like Nokset.”

  “Well, certainly, I’d love a student who’d show some enthusiasm for learning,” Kenneth said, gladly smiling at her, forgetting he had a mask on. “But I hope you don’t mind my asking, but why didn’t you just show up to class today? If anyone had had an interest in what I had to teach, I would have guessed you?”

  “I didn’t know if I would be welcome,” She replied.

  “Why wouldn’t you?” Kenneth questioned.

  She turned her gaze, half looking at him, half on the ground, “You truly don’t know anything about me, do you? That is why you aren’t like the rest.”

  “I’ve been told you pollute the water, apparently,” Kenneth shrugged in a nonchalant manner. “And I’ve heard you fight without honor as if there is any honor in fighting.”

  “You don’t care about it? What I do? Or how do I fight?”

  “Erh... I wouldn’t say I don’t care about that fighting stuff. I’ve seen what one bad punch can do to a person, and it ain't pretty,” He said with some melancholy. “That said, I won’t be a hypocrite and say I haven’t done the same when my back was against the wall.”

  “That was how it started for me, on my back and a punch to the side,” Nokoovo explained. “At first, I didn’t understand why one part of the body hurt more when hit, but it made me wonder, and I continued doing it until I had a reputation for it. Not that I have fought with anyone in years.”

  “Good for you. My father once said any fight you avoid is the best victory by far.”

  “Do you still want me as an apprentice?” She asked.

  Kenneth replied calmly, “Not the word I would have used, but sure. Hey, why don’t you come back to class with me? Nokset is probably still angrily trying to sew while my bodyguard is keeping him there.”

  For a brief moment, Nokoovo had what could be considered a smile, but it was a quick flash if it had been a smile at all. “...no, I...”

  ‘Is this the part where she leaves?’ Kenneth wondered.

  It felt like it, certainly, but she didn’t. Instead, she stopped all of a sudden, “...I would like to, but... I want to show you something first.”

  “What?”

  “I would like not to say,” she quickly replied, leading the way in a rather quick tempo.

  It was one Kenneth could easily keep up with, but in the back of his mind, he did have some doubts that stemmed from the first time she’d interacted with him.

  ‘She isn’t just luring me away to open me up and, as she said, take out an organ?’ Kenneth wondered as he discreetly glanced her way, noticing her expression change slightly. ‘Does she look afraid?’

  Over the course of his imprisonment and eventually his promotion to guest, Kenneth had gotten to see a wide array of facial expressions, some instinctively recognizable and others alien. He had made strides to identify the complexity of each more easily, but still, many eluded him, or he could mistake one for another.

  Now, he still wasn't sure what this was, but so far, Nokoovo had shown to be friendly and someone to talk to intellectually about healing and biology.

  Even if it was a mistake in one manner or another, he would choose to give her an honest chance, and if not, he was prepared to keep his hand tightly around Kolu’s and another in his pocket, grasping a means of defense.

  It wasn’t all that long before they arrived at their destination, the great pyramid, but it left him wondering, ‘Why here? Does she want to talk to Nokuji or someone else?’

  By now, it was mostly vacant, with only a couple of people here and there. While he had seen a lot of it by now, there were still more, as Nokoovo led him to a closed door, where inside, there was a staircase leading down.

  “I didn’t know the building had a basement,” Kenneth mentioned as they descended the stairs, and as he looked around, it looked like a fairly normal, well-lived home with furniture and sand-covered floors. “Are you sure it’s okay to be here?”

  “Yes,” she answered him quietly, leading the way.

  They passed many different rooms: the living room, kitchen, two indoor swimming pools, what could only be described as a neon sex dungeon, and a couple more closed rooms that Kenneth dared not to think what was behind if the other rooms didn’t even have doors.

  Yet it was at one of those very doors that Nokoovo came to a stop, her hand resting on the iron handle. With her back turned, she seemed hesitant to open the door; however, that hesitation lasted for only a moment or perhaps longer as she seemed to struggle to open it, the stone grinding against the floor and sand.

  Once it was open, she walked inside as silently as before.

  ‘I’ve followed her so far, but still, this is a bit creepy,’ Kenneth thought as he held Kolu closer and slowly approached and entered the room.

  It was a little more than a bedroom with only the aforementioned bed, which looked more like a sandbox, and a table with some chalk and charcoal on it. However, that was only the second thing that briefly caught his eye, as the first and much more interesting was the walls.

  Plastered across walls were pieces upon pieces of paper, so spread out and across the room, it was practically wallpaper.

  He looked to Nokoovo, who, with her back still turned, just stood near the end of the room, “Is this some sort of art room or other?”

  “…”

  “…Look closer,” Nokoovo told him.

  It was pretty much a scene out of a horror movie. The logical thing would be to bail out and leave, but Kenneth didn’t do that. Instead, he kept an eye on her for any sudden movement as he glanced at the papers on the wall.

  The room wasn’t that illuminated, but as he got a little closer, he could make out that something was drawn on each and every one of them and…

  “Huh… is that what I think this is?” Kenneth questioned in surprise and awe.

  “Yes, it’s my life's work, hidden away where no one dares to look,” Nokoovo replied.

  A bit entrapped by the sight, Kenneth walked closer and inspected the drawings. Not everyone was of equal quality. Some were definitely better than others, but even the worst drawing caught his eye as each depicted either Aki or Sil so lifelike, as well as their internal structure.

  Organs for themselves with words written, skeletal structure, and the revelation that Sil barely had any.

  “This is… this is amazing,” Kenneth let out. “It’s like im looking at a medical book that’s been glued to the wall.”

  Nokoovo turned around and just stared at him with the same expression as the other two times she’d had before walking away from him. However, this time, she walked closer.

  “Y-you… like this?” She hesitantly questioned.

  “Well, yes. I’ve never quite seen anything like this, I mean, diagrams of the body and Aki's internal organs and structure. Yes, but I’ve never seen a Sil’s, and I could never draw something this good,” Kenneth chuckled.

  With a somewhat cute hiss, she looked around like a little puppy looking for its toy, walking up to the wall and searching somewhat feverishly on it until she pulled a particular piece of paper from it, “Try to have a look at this, then.”

  She held up the paper to the light. On it was a complete and impressive drawing of a full-body Sil with a particular focus on its worm-like tongue fully extended from its body, easily being a meter. Of interest was the end of it, which had been drawn in corners only a bit bigger and more detailed.

  The hard, sharp tip Kenneth was familiar with was showing to be only a hard protective shell, where at the tip, a needle poked out. He had already surmised as much, but to see it drawn as this was nevertheless impressive.

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  “Oh my.”

  “I know this one is bad, but I don’t remember where some of my good ones are,” she said, almost sounding panicked.

  Kenneth quickly elaborated, “Nono! This is really good. It must have taken you a long time.”

  “Not… that long,” she responded, avoiding eye contact.

  “How long did it take you to get such detail on something like this?” Kenneth pointed to a drawing of a Nok kidney that possessed such unparalleled detail and care.

  “…It was a pain, but I don't know; when I work, time passes by so fast.”

  “What about the writing? Could you tell me what it says? I can’t really read your language myself.”

  “Oh, but you seemed so smart, I thought…” she said, scratching her chin. “It doesn’t say much, only what you can see. “Ingoing tube, stretchy, not needed to live, outgoing tube. It is only short notes so I remember.”

  “Always a good idea to write this stuff down; I do so myself; otherwise, I’d probably confuse an organ from an Aki or Nok with humans,” Kenneth chuckled.

  “I wouldn’t say it’s that impressive; it is just a simple organ like the brain or lungs. There are so many more I don’t know what they are for and do,” Nokoovo said with equal parts frustration and excitement.

  Kenneth smiled, “Well, if you had shown up to class today like my other students, you would have gotten a fairly detailed but brief overview of the internal structure and organs. A shame, but how about we rectify that?”

  For a moment, her eyes widened. “You still want me as a student?”

  “Someone with your passion for this is a rare find,” Kenneth replied in a light tone of voice. “Now, why don’t you find another organ, and I can tell you what I know, and maybe we can learn together. I actually haven’t opened up a dead Sil before and seen how they are inside, so this can be a learning experience for the both of us.”

  Almost immediately, Nokoovo got to work finding drawings after drawing and ripping them off the wall to show him.

  “This one is tiny; I wondered if it was only there to fill space or something,” she said, pointing to a drawing of what Kenneth most likely deduced to be a gallbladder.

  “While some organs aren’t needed to maintain a healthy and long life, that doesn’t mean they don’t serve a purpose. This one, for instance, produces an acid that helps digest fats, but with your two livers, I doubt it’ll be a concern if you ever lose it.

  “I have two livers,” Nokoovo said in gleeful surprise.

  And on they went, one drawing after another, as Kenneth explained and elaborated on what each individual organ did and what purpose they served.

  Nokoovo was like a kid in a candy store wanting more and more, ripping more papers off the wall to show until she’d amassed a stack so high that it slipped from her grasp and rained down like snow.

  She began picking them up, whereupon Kenneth squatted down and began to help, “Maybe you should slow down a bit; I’ve barely gotten through explaining about the organs on ten pages, and you've got about a hundred more to go. I mean, we got time.”

  “I… I know, but I’ve had so many questions and only gotten so few answers my entire life,” She said, sitting down on the sand-covered floor and looking through the papers on it. “I want to know everything and discover even more.”

  “I understand fully, but let’s not overindulge and take it one step at a time, shall we?” Kenneth recommended joining her on the floor.

  While down there, he noticed a couple more papers in the midst of the sea of others with organs, Sil shells, and testicles; there were a few that depicted other Nok anatomy with drawings of Nok scales, both kinds of genitalia, and one with the skin on the wrist opened up, revealing the veins underneath.

  Slowing down a bit, though clearly still as excited as before, Nokoovo picked up another paper, this one having illustrations of nerves, arteries, and blood vessels.

  “Well, blood vessels are just used for circulating blood around the body, and nerves are what allow any creature to move its body,” Kenneth explained, though he did go into a bit more detail.

  As he did, he noticed Kolu moving to his side. It was barely noticeable, but he was looking at some of the papers on the floor, and the sight brought a bit of peace.

  He looked at the illustrations of a Sil and Nok with such wonder and awe that he was practically sparkling. It had been such a long time since Kenneth had seen Kolu in any other mood than sad.

  It truly warmed his heart to know that the childlike part of him that desired to discover and learn, to be intrigued by other creatures and meet them with a smile, hadn’t been fully snuffed from him.

  “Oh, where did I come to?” Kenneth asked in slight embarrassment, only now having discovered he’d stopped speaking out of nowhere.

  Nokoovo looked not the slightest bit bothered. “You explained how the brain makes us move and how we don’t notice it.”

  “Oh, right, guess that basically covers it. What next?”

  This time, she didn’t hold up or hand him a paper but instead peeled some scales, “Why does this happen and how… and-and why is it weaker than the ones still on me?”

  “I can answer the why. Biology and evolution, but as for the how. Do you remember what I told you about cell division?”

  “I remember, but I don’t understand. Not fully, at least.”

  “Well, to put it simply, all of us, every living creature, are made up of an uncountable number of tiny creatures called cells, and as I said, they divide and multiply,” Kenneth recounted. “When they do, the older cells eventually die, and the body naturally gets rid of them in the form of shedding scales in a continuous cycle. Of course, it isn’t just the scales; there are a lot more.”

  “How many more, and does the body get rid of them in other ways?”

  Sitting there and listening intently to him, Kenneth explained and went into great detail about cells. And as he did something about Nokoovo had begun to change little by little, so gradually in the dim crystal light, he hadn’t noticed the scales, which had once been the purest white like ivory, had turned into a soft orange… no red, like the evening sun that had nearly set.

  ‘Wait, can she change her scale color like those others who can turn invisible?’ Kenneth wondered. ‘Or can she? Hers seems to just be getting darker like everyone else’s.’

  He was about to finish up his explanation on cells and ask her about her sudden change when suddenly.

  “Black Beak!”

  Shocked, Kenneth twisted his head back to see Nokuji standing in the doorway, her scales paler than normal.

  “Umm… yes, Lord Commander,” he said, unsure if he had made her mad by going off with Nokoovo without telling anyone.

  Yet just as he was about to stand, Nokoovo beat him to it, “What do you want?”

  Nokuji looked at Nokoovo for a moment, her eyes looking up and down her, “Daughter…?”

  “Yes, Mother,” She said respectfully but coldly. “Now tell me what it is; we were in the middle of something.”

  Looking completely bewildered, Nokuji was unable to respond for a moment as her eyes locked on who turned out to be her own daughter and ran across her body.

  “Why are you wearing my clothes?” Nokuji said in a frigid tone.

  “They aren’t yours,” Nokoovo responded, her scales immediately going back to white. “They are grandmother’s, and she doesn’t need them anymore, so I wanted to wear something… else.”

  “Take it off and put it back where you found it,” She said commandingly, shifting her gaze to Kenneth. “Black Beak, get up. Whatever this is… “hiss…” Whatever. Come with me!.”

  “You can’t take my teacher,” Nokoovo objected.

  Once more, Nokuji paused and said with disdain, “We will speak later; now get proper and join us for dinner, both of you. We have guests.”

  “…”

  Nokoovo silently began to undress.

  Kenneth quickly got on his feet and grabbed Kolu to give her some privacy and hopefully escape that tense situation.

  “Are you hurt? Did she do anything to you?” Nokuji asked him, leading the way out.

  “Umm… no, we just talked. She wanted to show me her room as my student, that's all,” Kenneth answered her.

  She looked back at him as both ascended the stairs, “Guests have come. A merchant, and I expect you to be on your best behavior and not act so rudely at the table as you are.”

  Kenneth raised an eyebrow, “Umm… how am I rude?”

  “You do not take part in feasting, never even touching the food or sharing it. Worst of all, you expect others to give when you give nothing back.”

  “I’m not asking anyone to give me anything; they just do it,” Kenneth argued.

  “I won’t hear it!” She hissed at the top of the stairs turning around and poking him in the chest. “Now, you will act with manners, and you will serve the merchant and her daughters. Understand?”

  “Fine,” Kenneth rolled his eyes. “So, am I going to belly dance because I’m a bit out of practice?”

  “They heard of your ear cleaning and have become interested. Simply do that,” Nokuji commanded.

  Shrugging, Kenneth agreed, if nothing else, to avoid trouble and her temper, especially with Kolu beside him.

  In the mess hall, the dinner had yet to arrive, but it was already apparent as he walked inside that there were a few new faces around. Many had well-worn clothes in fabrics other than leather, mainly some fur-looking sweaters, silk shirts, and some with actual pants.

  In the short time he’d been around Nok, one thing had come to stand out about them. In comparison, Aki, back in Laoli, dressed far more modestly.

  As he walked through the room, predictably, heads began to turn at his arrival, making all too obvious who was part of the merchant’s men, with some making the others aware of him.

  Slowly, the noise in the room diminished in strength the further inside he walked.

  Laughter could still be heard from the large central table where the commanders sat, and now, a couple of new faces were present, with some others standing near, including Split.

  Beside Nokqotir sat a well-dressed, dark pink, rough-scaled woman in a fine, long, buttoned green robe with a blue and gold embroidered pattern. Underneath it was a curly-furred undershirt and thin, loose, dark brown pants.

  She had a hardy, deep laugh that almost bellowed as she seemed to reminisce with Nokqotir, oblivious to his approach.

  Beside the merchant sat two younger-looking women, probably her daughters.

  The one right beside her with dark eyes and yellow scales took after her mother, sharing a loud voice and dressed just as fancily as her mother, though with an obvious lack of anything underneath.

  The other daughter, who had light green scales, unlike her mother and sister, was a lot quieter and wore a simple dark silk shirt and brown leather pants, though to contrast this, she also had a flashy gold necklace.

  She, in fact, was the first of the three to notice him, her sight immediately locking onto him as her scales brightened.

  “I trust you have not grown bored in my absence,” Nokuji hissingly chuckled, her voice cutting through all the noise.

  The merchants' gaze shifted toward Nokuji and Kenneth. Immediately, she fell silent, staring at him, her scales for a moment flickering.

  “What, Noktrala, don’t tell me this little healer frightens you?” Nokuji laughed, walking around the table to take her seat. “He’s nothing to be scared of. Now enjoy yourself; you and your daughters were eager to feel his soft touch.”

  She didn’t respond, nor did the second daughter, as both stared at him.

  ‘Huh… been a while since my presence killed the mood,’ Kenneth thought as he felt something in the back of his mind stir.

  The one to break the silence was the first daughter with an eager smile, leaning forward on the table, “Why the stiffness, Beakie, I don’t bite.”

  ‘Let’s just get this over with,’ he internally sighed, walking around the table with a Q-tip in hand he got from the bag until he was behind the merchant's daughter. As always, he was gentle and thorough, slowly prodding, poking, and grazing, drawing hiss after hiss, her body twisting and turning in her chair, the loose robe slowly coming undone.

  He stopped before she was naked and left her in what looked like a state of euphoria.

  “Who’s next?”

  “Show me what you can do?” The second daughter said, glaring at her mother.

  As he got to work on the second daughter's ears, she didn’t react as physically as most others, barely moving, instead letting out elated hisses.

  Her mother watched intently until it was over, and it was her turn.

  “Get on with it.”

  She was a combination of her daughter hissing audibly, moving around, and shifting in her seat.

  “What? Noktrala, relax; Black Beak knows better than to be stupid. Enjoy it like Nokibaly,” Nokqotir said.

  ‘Noktrala, hmm… that sounds familiar. Have I heard it before?’ He wondered for a second before brushing it off, muttering, “Must be a common name.”

  Suddenly, he felt her tense. “That is fine.”

  Shrugging, Kenneth stepped back.

  “Fine work, Black Beak, now take a seat,” Nokuji said, gesturing to an empty seat on the other side of the table.

  ‘This is going to be a long night,’ Kenneth thought, doing as he was told while Kolu kept close, going under his chair.