Ruby woke up several hours later, alone in her bed.

Her newly fixed bed- Half laying on her stomach with the covers tucked firmly around her shoulders and turned over onto her side and stretched a little bit and looked around her room. A frown crossing her face as she noted that there wasn't any sign of anyone else having been there. Yet she was so sure that she had heard snoring and had talked to someone after waking up to find three people in bed with her.

Had it been a dream? Was she so desperate for rest that she had dreamt up someone laying next to her snoring? She wondered as she slowly pushed herself up on one elbow for a second before rolling herself out of bed and going about her normal morning routines.

She brushed her made her bed, brushed her teeth, and dug out some clean clothes to wear and set them on her bed then walked into the bathroom to take a shower.

(*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Throttle stood under the spray watching the soap suds slide down his bare legs towards the drain and mentally went over what he and his bros had to do today. First thing was first, they needed to shower and cleaned up so that they would look more presentable when they went back to their shal-la's room to fix her something for breakfast.

Secondly, they needed to talk to her about the life debt that they owed her. Hopefully in a way that she would understand and figure out what she wanted them to do. They already knew that she may simply wave them off even if they explained things so that she understood. And while there was nothing totally wrong with that reaction, they wouldn't be able to leave it alone because their lives were literally on the line here.

Third of all once they got the green light from her, they had to plan the Oath Exchange ceremony...

And Throttle was pretty sure that Ruby would balk when she noticed the similarities that the Oath Exchange ceremony had to human weddings.

Both parts of the ritual were eerily similar to human weddings for several reasons. 1)The formal attire that both the shal-la and the nag-la-rou wore. The shal-la was expected to be dressed in shimmery white silk with a lace veil and flowers. The purpose for this was so that the ones witnessing the exchange would see the shal-la as an offering as much as they would see the nag-la-rou as an offering.

The meaning was meant to go both ways. A nag-la-rou's oath to serve gave the sha-la control over their heart, mind, body, and soul. And just like the shal-la had control of those things; a shal-la was like wise pledging herself and was made responsible for their happiness, health, and general well being.

It also gave the nag-la-rou a measure of the same control their shal-la had. Though not as much.

2)They would exchange a piece of themselves with their shal-la, using either a piece of flesh, fur, or one of their family heirlooms.

And 3) To finish the first part of the ceremony, they sealed the Oath Exchange with a kiss.

The second part of the ceremony was what the human's referred too as the honeymoon.

The nag-la-rou's would take their shal-la to a room that had a large bed that had been decorated in white silk curtains and sheets with plump comfortable pillows and would bed the shal-la to establish a deeper bond and to better learn what pleased their shal-la.

They would stay in the room for a few weeks, at least until their shal-la was used to them and their habits during which time, the nag-la-rou's would spend their every waking moment taking care of their shal-la's every need, no matter how big or small or embarrassing.

He closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself standing with Ruby in front of the alter of the high temple, the once Cathedral sized place where his people went to worship their gods- His breathing hitched a little bit as he imagined what Ruby would look like wearing the ceremonial dress and lace veil.

His heart quickened in his chest as he imagined doing the exchange with his own blood.

Just a small amount, a simple cut on his finger would do. He could smear it on her bottom lip and then kiss her to seal his oath to her.

He imagined tasting himself on her lips and shuddered as he slowly sank to his knees under the warm water and tried to suppress the strangely dizzying sensation building in his mind and jumped when he heard someone bang on the bathroom door a second before Modo's worried voice called out to him.

"Throttle, bro are you okay? You've been in there for a long time! Do you need someone to check on you?"

He quickly regained his senses and stood back up, not terribly surprised that he still felt a little bit dizzy and shut off the water. "I'm fine." He called back hoping that Modo would stop banging on the door and sounding worried.

Twenty minutes later Throttle, Modo and Vinny walked out of their room and started back to their shal-la's room to see if she was awake. The three had showered and dressed with meticulous care so that they would make a good impression on their shal-la in the light of day. When she wasn't emotionally distraught, or exhausted.

They had far too much to speak with her about for her not to pay attention.