Kalikekeztra dreamt she was on a giant leaf in a big pond. She felt the cool breeze on her face and heard the gentle lapping of waves. It was all so calm and peaceful. Tranquility was a foreign thing to a demon and especially an Asura, but it was not unknown to her. Her patchwork memory recalled a brief interlude in the past when everything seemed right, even amidst Abaddon's smoking pits and sludge filled pools. Though she welcomed the respite, her nature was that of conflict and suffering. She knew this would not last.

As Keke became more centered, more aware of her surroundings, her leaf grew smaller. Realizing that it was all a dream and that she had to awaken soon, she sighed and tried to sort out her jumbled thoughts. To begin with she pictured the events that lead her here. She remembered that sniveling prince working her over with a cold iron cudgel, the warrior woman that came out of nowhere, and the old man that choked slam her through the war galley's hull. She dredged up the image of her 'friend' Selexia and the weasly Rakshasa Vik running for their lives, abandoning her, and she remembered losing holy Sampada which she had trapped inside some magic bottle. She could picture the military disaster on Rahu's day, the man with the shark toothed blade, and losing her scimitar.

Her scimitar…..

Keke's eyes sprang open, as she was overcome with anger, rage, and purpose. She gasped as she shot painfully up from her prone position. Her sudden movement rocked the small boat she was on violently and almost sent her tumbling into the water.

"Careful now, " said a calm husky voice. "You are safe."

Keke's eyes darted around, surveying her situation. Instead of floating on a pond, she was on the ocean, under the mid-day beating sun with no land in sight. She was in a canoe of some sort connected to another smaller covered one, possibly for balance. The tall warrior woman in her dreams was there too, seated opposite to her, with her spear on her lap, and a crossbow peaking behind her. Neither was pointed at her, but both were cautiously at the ready. The woman was dressed in partial chain and leather armor, in a more Thyatian style than that of the Vinraji sarai she sported, and she had a strong athletic look about her.

What was more surprising to Keke was that her own wounds were healed. After the working over she suffered from Prince Vleda's iron cudgel, she was sure she would be crippled, albeit temporarily, from broken and fractured bones, but remarkably there were no signs of injury on her, not even scars. While she was one of the more resilient species from the lower planes, demons in general were not known for their ability to rapidly heal. It was true they could recover faster than most mortals, but sneaky powers such as fast healing and regeneration were saved for their lesser brethren or even their arch rivals the Baatezu of the great pit. Still, regardless of what superior qualities she possessed, she was in a mortal's form and suffered from mortal limits. Though admittedly her demonic infused flesh was more powerful than that of a normal woman's it was greatly limited compared to her normal physical capabilities.

"Did you heal me?" asked Keke as she flexed and tested her rejuvenated limbs. As she did so, Keke's enthusiasm was curbed as she noticed her shackles were still in place. Though they were severed, heavy iron clamps were still attached to her arms and legs.

"Aye, I cured your injuries," replied her maybe captor cautiously.

"Why are these still on me?" asked Keke as she raised her shackles. "If you had the power to rescue me from those bastards than you could at least remove these. That old guy is a lot tougher than he looks, which means you must be more than you appear as well if you managed to slip past him."

"I did not defeat the man in the yellow robes. At best I could only counter his magic. My betro...my companion, however managed to injure him though, although I am not sure how," replied the warrior woman. "As for your shackles, they are beyond my ability to break. A skilled magician like my brother might stand more of a chance."

Keke grinned. Even though the chains were still on her, the old man was still alive. That meant she would have another chance to face him. While she was soundly thrashed the first time, she welcomed the challenge for a rematch. Not bound in this weak body, but in her full demonic glory wielding all of her glorious weapons. She relished the idea of blinding the geezer with her poison censer, pinning him with her spear, as she sliced his neck wide open with her soon to be recovered scimitar.

"Where are we?"

The tall woman motioned her head back towards a vast expanse of ocean. "After I freed you, I used a spell to teleport back to the island. A contingency I prepared in case I needed a quick escape. The tribesman and gripplis that I rescued hid us, but your Khanian captors must have suspected that we escaped by sea, and I suspect they pursued the ship I arrived here on rather than scour the island for us. There was no sign of wreckage, so I assume that my companions escaped with the small Khanian fleet in pursuit. For my efforts, the tribesman gave me this ocean going kayak so I could rendezvous with my friends. "

Keke cared not for what predicament her rescuer or her companions were in, she just wanted to go home. This entire expedition had been a fiasco. From Bey Javindar giving her the slip, to getting defeated by the man in yellow, to watching Selexia abandon her. If that Succubus needed her help, she would be on her own now. She was done. Though she was still in the Sea of Dawn, an area of uncertain magical properties, Keke attempted a greater teleport spell back to Vinraj.

She uttered the words under her breath…..but nothing. While she didn't expect a perfect execution of the spell, she was surprised when her wrists and ankles were once again wracked in pain by holy magic.

"Those shackles should not be trifled with," warned the warrior woman as she motioned her spear towards Keke's wrists.

"I..I wasn't trying to attack you," said Keke as she futilely rubbed her wrists and ankles to ease her pain.

"…I know, that was a teleport spell. I know enough of spell craft to identify that spell," said the woman.

"Yet you still aim your spear at me…" said Keke as she judged the distance between herself and her 'rescuer'.

Keke eyed the woman with narrowed eyes. The warrior woman gripped her weapon firmly, ready to strike, or at least bring it to bear. Keke figured she could clear the distance to the other side of the canoe in a second, but would most likely be impaled in the process, or even shot by her crossbow, she still remembered that. Though she was confident that even her mortal shackled body could rip the woman in shreds, she was in no condition to fight… at least not yet.

The pair eyed each other tensely.

Instead of a battle though, the woman lowered her weapon and bowed first. "Forgive me. I have treated you poorly. You must be frightened and confused right now, and I've done nothing to alleviate your fear," explained the warrior woman. "Let's start again. My name is Whelp."

"Ke…ke…" she said as she raised her shackles once again.

"I can assure you, I spoke the truth. I cannot break those bonds," sighed Whelp. "They are of a unique design, similar to artifacts that I've seen from the lands of the Emerald Throne far to the east. If I attempted to break them..they might…."

"No need for your excuses. You don't trust me, I get it. If you can zap around from the ship to the island, and you can go toe to toe with old yellow robe, and you can obviously do the detect alignment thing, like those self-righteous paladins," snorted Keke with a smug grin. "Don't deny it. You read my alignment, and that's why you got off the island away from those tribesman and grippos or whatever they are before I woke up, because you don't trust me around them. So stop trying to act like the nice constable with this exchanging name niceties, and skewer me now …if you have the guts."

Whelp looked shocked at the accusation. Keke wondered if she went too far in goading her, as she prepared herself for the death blow that was sure to follow. She wasn't sure if her shackles would interfere with her ability to reform back on the abyss, but at this point she didn't care. She wasn't about to exchange being a prisoner of that worm Vleda, to this Whelp woman's captive.

Instead of a quick thrust to the chest or a bolt between her eyes, Whelp bowed her head and put down her spear into the canoe. "I humbly apologize. You are correct that I detected your alignment when you were unconscious, and based on that alone I took you away from the island."

Keke was surprised at her reaction but simply shrugged. "Well, that's what I would have done. You know the whole, don't let the wolf in with the sheep thing, but really you don't have to apologize for being safe. "

Whelp shook her head and then pointed at Keke's head. Keke wasn't sure what she was doing, was she casting another spell or accusing her of something, but then realized her hair had parted and her small tiefling horns were revealed. Though she was in a mortal guise, she couldn't assume a completely human form, she could only take on something that looked …mostly human.

"I apologize because I should know better than to judge one simply because a spell tells me they are good or evil. I've known good men that have done horrible things, and evil men that have done righteous deeds. My faith teaches a man or woman should be judged on their actions and I've failed in that regard. All I know is that you were a prisoner of those Khanians, that you've fought against them, and they shackled you with power magics. In return I judged you only on your race. I did not free you simply to execute you, and I apologize if I gave you that impression…."

Keke did not expect this reaction and her cheeks grew red at Whelp's humility. "Aww, c'mon. You're embarrassing me. Look err….I'm a ….umm…half breed. I admit it. My people have done bad things so it's natural that you assume the worse from me. So it's okay if you take extra precautions because…"

"No..it is not acceptable," interrupted Whelp. "I of all people should know that lower planar blood interferes with alignment detection spells. I judged you based on your race and One of my mentors was a tiefling, a part demon if you like, and she was as much a paragon of good as any saint or holy woman. My behaviour has been an insult to her teachings."

"A tiefling really? You were taught by a tiefling?" asked Keke in amazement.

"In the mastery of divine magic. Her tutelage was as great as any guru from Vinraj."

"That's fascinating actually, but really it's not a great slight. I'm used to not being trusted, and to be honest, I don't blame you. I'm not exactly a saint," said Keke with a toothy grin. "Regardless if you are my captor or not, I'm just glad I'm not getting an iron club to the ribs right now. In fact I shout be thankful that you've gotten me away from those sadists. Since we're in the middle of the ocean and these shackles prevent me from teleporting away, let's just get along until we reach civilization or something."

"Those terms are agreeable, though I must warn you. I'm currently on an urgent quest, so my path leads to Grom City. I know the general direction but not the exact route. If we pass by a port I can drop you off or if we meet a passing ship you are free to…"

Keke eyed Whelp carefully, as the woman seemed to let down her guard. Her heart almost skipped a beat, as blood lust began to fill her. Even half shackled and in her mortal form, she could still tear her 'rescuer' in half, especially with her guard down. A quick spring across the canoe before she could bring her weapons to bear, and a double axe handle blow to the head would give her all the advantage she needed. Keke could almost feel the thrill as she imagined holding Whelp's head under the briney waves, as the warrior's woman's thrashings became more feeble…. But….there was something curious about her. Was she really serious about her apology? Was she really trained by a half breed demon? Those things did not seem likely, but there was something very trustworthy about this woman.

Not that demons placed much stock in trust,honor or honesty, but even a demon like Kalikekeztra found those concepts useful once in a while. Though it was common belief that demons and Asura acted exclusively on chaos and impulse, that wasn't one hundred percent true. There were rules, not many, but some. The strong ruled the weak, the weak tried to get stronger to overthrow the strong, or…if that proved impossible, make alliances to defeat those that you could not defeat yourself. To accommodate such alliances, one needed to have a shred of honor and trustworthiness, though all demons were loathed to admit they had any of those traits in them and were more likely to break their word than to honor it. Even something like telling the truth often involved twisting one's words around. Still, they were traits that Keke grudgingly admired, regardless of how little she had of her own.

She guessed that was what motivated her to help Selexia, and even battle those Khanian's, though her own bloodlust and boredom probably had a little to do with it. Still, without even knowing her own terrible true form, this Whelp has decided to trust her and was even apologetic to her. This could have been scratched up to simply naivety on this warrior woman's part, but she did not seem like a fool to Keke. Also, Keke was intrigued by this woman. She fought the man in yellow to a draw for instance, claimed she wielded powerful spells, but for some reason Keke could not detect any sign of magic about her. While the shackles certainly hampered her eyes true sight ability, she was still able to detect that giant ball of scales and claws within the man in yellow. Could this Whelp be so powerfully versed in magic that she could hide her ability even from Keke's true sight eyes? Or was she simply the fool in believing all of what Whelp had said?

Keke was not sure, but was definitely intrigued.

While her ultimate goal was to recover her scimitar, she had no idea where Bey Javindar was at this moment. Even if she could convince this Whelp to cast divination spells to aid her, he had already given her the slip by changing boats, and she assumed he probably warded himself against such magics anyways. He was a cunning and slippery fellow after all. For now, all she knew was that Selexia and that weasel Vik were headed to Grom City, and that seemed a good a place to go as any. She wasn't going to kill her old 'friend' but she wasn't ruling it out either. She was betrayed, and punishment must be meted out. While she didn't fully know this Whelp person, she did save her and oddly enough trust her, and that put her one step above that fickle Succubus.

"Wait. Grom City?" Keke finally asked with a raised eyebrow. "I was on my way there before being bushwhacked. Maybe we can keep each other company for a while until you know….one of us decides to kill the other."

Whelp considered her offer and nodded. "Once again, your terms are agreeable. It is a long journey and I could use another rower. My path shall be yours for the time being it seems. "

Keke wasn't sure if she should shake her hand, or give her a hug or something, but Whelp didn't seem to mind. "Just one thing," added Keke. "I'm curious about something."

"Eh? " asked Whelp as she handed her an extra paddle.

"Is Whelp your real name? I mean c'mon…it seems so fake, especially for a big strapping girl like you," noted Keke.

Whelp paused, trying to act busy as she began rowing before finally answering. "Whelp is a nick name my father gave me. I..I prefer to use it."

Keke smiled as she clumsily began to row. Even if her truesight did not work on her, she didn't need it to tell that Whelp was only telling a partial truth. She wasn't out right lying, but was placing a little spin on her words.

For some reason this pleased Keke, and she grinned ear to ear at Whelp's answer. As a demon and an Asura, it was simply more reassuring to deal with someone that wasn't perfect than to deal with someone that was completely honest.