Kairos felt the unfamiliar way the words curled from her lips, sultry and commanding, almost devilish in their utterance. Despite her self-proclaimed greatness, even she was not able to fight the desire to emulate her elders, the instinct too strong within her to be ignored. The male writhed in reply, his blood growing warmer beneath the pads of her paws and, when she went for his ear, he was swift to grasp her fur in reply. Two became one in that moment, although not in the traditional sense, as they tasted each other, felt each other's souls beat against their tongues. It was a heady few moments, pulsing with adrenaline and sharp with the scent of blood, both bat and wolf. Perhaps what they engaged in was wrong, perhaps not, but to them it was merely an innocent puppyish game, devoid of more sinister nuances, although one day the seed planted in the caves would grow inside each of them.

When the tension grew too oppressive and Kairos felt she would burst, she pulled her flesh from the jaws of her captor, leaving behind a bouquet of white fur between his teeth. He rolled fluidly to his paws, and she was given to admiring the sudden lack of child-like, uncoordinated movements as she caught a glimpse of the desirable overlord he was one day to become. As though sensing her unabashed appraisal of him, he lost himself in his own mind and the darkness around them, inspiring her to draw him back with a question. Her words were loud in the veil of blackness, echoing and re-echoing off the cave walls until they were lost to even Kairos' keen ears. The stranger replied evenly, rolling his shoulder and beginning to approach her once more, head-tilted with the same curiosity she felt. Although at other times she may have rebuffed him, something about the newcomer, Elohim, made her feel a kinship with him almost as strong as the bond she shared with Zagan, and so she allowed him to approach.

And approach he did.

With the same hesitancy as before, the creature came close to the white, black and red female, hovering before her like a gnat so that she fought the urge to snap at him. Just as she was about to lose the battle, he spoke, distracting her from the tongue that flicked out from between alabaster incisors, grazing her teeth and coming away flecked with red. Startled, Kairos pulled back, but the tepid tattoo remained on her cheek and she stood for a moment in silence, savouring the closeness. Finally she opened again her two, cold blue eyes to meet his pair of fiery ones, her voice firm and yet warmer than it had been before, “I am Kairos.” and then, noticing his departure from her and hearing the next words he uttered, she smiled, “It was good. More is also good. I think I hear some over there at the very back.”

With that she set off at a brisk trot, passing Elohim and disappearing into the murky depths at the very rear of the cavern, unsure what she would find there but untroubled also. She only hoped her companion would be as bold.