Kairos had been unaware of her gargantuan shadow, the naivety of youth casting a pallor on common sense that could only be outgrown. Her entire being was focused on her exploration of the landscape, dark eyes drinking up her surroundings with both hunger and boredom, as if each new sight paled into insignificance mere moments after she set her gaze upon it. Every couple of paces she sneezed to rid her nostrils of the cloying scents that filled her head like slime, confusing her. If only that had been the reason that she disregarded the border posts. If only.

Nary a paw did she place beyond the heady line, however, before a voice forced its way into her conciousness and she paused. Her head turned on her neck in an unearthly, mechanical fashion and the muscles in her neck bulged as she strained them. The young, ungainly child fully expected to see the milk-giver standing behind her, commanding her home, but was instead greeted by the image of another female with which she was familiar. This creature, however, was neither protector nor giver of food, and she was not litter-mate either, so not to be hated or desired. No, she was simply a fly on the skin of Kairos' world, a presence that went largely unnoticed until its buzzing grew into annoyance.

At first the large stranger had proffered a single syllable, but now a torrent of fresh statements poured from her lips. Kairos watched her mutely, wondering if she could be as easily silenced as the bird which she had torn apart a few days prior. Probably not. The other waited, expecting an answer, and Kairos parted her lips to speak in that husky, sensuous voice which was to become her trademark, “What do you know about dying, sister? I have been dead and now I am alive again. I have seen red and black and heard the symphony of heaven play for the souls of the damned. There is nothing you can teach me, except how it feels to die, which I doubt even you know. I believe to experience that would be an awfully big adventure.”

She spoke strangely, almost whimsically, although her expression remained serious. Another may have been surprised by the whirlwind that poured from the jaws of the youngster, but one who shared her furian blood would probably not even twitch an ear. The pretty female watched Kairos before speaking again, faring no better than she had with her first warning, “I do not fear what they will do to me. In fact, it is they who should be afraid.” She turned at last to ease the ache that had begun in her neck, curious to see how her sister would react to her careless speech.

“Why do you do what the milk-giver says anyway?” A sincere question deserving of a genuine answer.