Hani inhaled sharply as he woke up and remembered the previous day. This, as it turned out, was somewhat of a mistake as he ended up with a lungful of sand from the dry ground upon which he was lying.

"Fucking hell," he heard someone exclaim in the background before a hand thumped down hard on his back, causing Hani to jerk in surprise before whipping round with a vicious glare.

"I inhaled sand you idiot," he croaked up at a far too awake looking Levi, "hitting me isn't going to help."

"Helped me," Levi muttered under his breath before stalking back over to his side of the burnt out fire. A scorch mark of black ash scarred the arid grassland of the clearing in which they had made camp for the night. Hani shivered slightly as the morning sun broke through the branches above and heated up his skin. He wondered how cold it actually had grown during the night?

"I got us breakfast," Levi announced, gesturing to a pile of bulbous, fleshy roots lying on a piece of torn fabric.

Hani grimaced at the tubers, they were Tazalaj roots and he knew from experience that they tasted like how sunburn felt. Muna and Hani had always avoided the noxious but nutritious sources of protein when they had been in the desert, instead preferring to capture mice and rats to roast.

"You need to eat," Levi stated bluntly, squinting over at Hani's lanky form as if assessing him. Hani bristled under the scrutiny, shaking his head stubbornly.

"No - I need to figure out what the hell is going on here."

Levi sighed as if he had grown weary of explaining the situation to Hani, "I already told you didn't I kid? Your sister made me swear by Seprimo that I'd take you to the lost city of Alack."

"Why though?" Hani snapped in frustration.

"Beats me," Levi replied bitterly before lying back against a log and shielding his eyes from the sun. The older man huffed loudly a moment later, "Look, she said something about how the Kaiaya could be made up of both light and dark magic."

"Yeah," Hani replied, still not understanding, "I know the myth - Muna used to tell it to me when we were younger."

"Well what she might have left out," Levi cleared his throat, "is that the Kaiaya also were rumoured to have come up with a way of turning someone fully dark into half and half."

Hani screwed up his face in a frown, "that's such bullshit. There's no way Muna would have thrown her life away for a fairytale like that."

"Well from the looks of her magic, it's not like she had much life left to live anyway, kitten," Levi shrugged. His eyes widened as Hani let out an angry cry and launched himself at the other man.

Hani felt, much to his satisfaction, his untrimmed nails embed themselves in the flesh of Levi's right shoulder, scratching down his arm to leave livid red marks.

"Fucking hell!" Levi shouted, frozen for a moment in shock before snapping into action and turning Hani round to pin him against the ground.

"Get off me," Hani hissed, writhing angrily underneath the larger man's weight. There were rocks and stones beneath him that were digging in uncomfortably, and every breath allowed more puffs of dirt to clog his nostrils and throat.

"Only if you stop trying to scratch my eyes out and behave," Levi said in low, threatening growl. Hani thrashed a bit more before finally giving up and relenting. The younger boy nodded tersely before stilling his struggling limbs.

"Alright," Levi murmured softly. His tone irritated Hani. It was as if Levi was trying to coax some kind of wild animal into behaving.

"Fuck you," Hani coughed, scrambling backwards and spitting out sand onto the grass. There were a few moments silence as Hani continued to hawk up dirt, wiping his mouth gingerly and trying to ignore the curious way Levi was looking at him.

"Fairytale or not," Levi stated quietly, "your sister believed in it. She died trying to do right by you. That's got to mean something no?"

Hani narrowed his eyes over at Levi, the other man looked somewhat uncomfortable, his own eyes not quite meeting Hani's. Hani drooped as he realised this was probably Levi's version of an apology. Levi seemed to sense the change in the atmosphere and continued talking, sounding slightly more upbeat now.

"Look, I'll get you to Alack and whether or not the device is there - it's what your sister wanted you to do okay? She wouldn't have sacrificed a chance at more time with her brother for no good reason."

"What happens if I refuse to go to Alack with you?" Hani asked darkly, rubbing the back of his neck as the sun started to rise powerfully in the sky.

"You know what a Seprimo seal is Hani?" Levi cocked an eyebrow at the younger man. Hani shrugged, he had heard of them before.

"A magical way of sealing promises," Hani replied, his eyes drifting down to the burn marks on Levi's wrist.

"That's part of it," Levi nodded, "are you aware of what happens if the recipient of the scars doesn't carry out their promise?"

"Something bad?" Hani hazarded as Levi let out a responding grim laugh.

"They burn you to death from the inside out," Levi informed him, "and they take their fucking time about it too. It's probably one of the most agonizing ways to leave the world of Nagimiotani."

"I see," Hani replied drily, understanding now why this shape shifting criminal was so desperate to keep his word to Muna. "So I'm guessing it wouldn't work out great for you if I refuse to go with you?"

A tense shadow passed across Levi's face as he shook his head, "not fucking likely, no." Levi sighed, reaching out for one of the Tazalaj roots and biting into it with a sharp grimace. Hani pulled a face in sympathy, gods he hated the taste of those things.

"But why the hell wouldn't you want to go?" Levi asked, pointing his half chewed root towards Hani. "You're born of dark magic kid, like your sister. Time's running out for you and evidently your sister believed something in Alack could help you."

"Why did she have to choose you as guide though?" Hani asked angrily, jumping to his feet. "There must be other people who know how to get to the city. People who aren't pathetic criminals that need someone to fight against sorcerers for them!"

"Don't be so sure," Levi growled in a low, guttural voice. "Most people don't even believe Alack still exists, let alone have any inkling of where the ruins could be. No, someone who's already been to Alack? That's like a drop of water in the desert, kitten."

"Don’t call me kitten," Hani hissed agitatedly, kicking out at the pile of Tazalaj roots and sending them scattering across the dry earth. Levi looked blank for a moment before letting out a surprised laugh.

"Didn't mean to offend you kid." he shrugged. "You and your sister just reminded me of wild desert cats."

"Yariyans?" Hani frowned, thinking of the small and slender felines that prowled the rocky outcrops of the central desert. Their coats varied between black, grey and brown, hooked canines over lower dark lips.

"Yeah," Levi nodded with a lopsided grin, before yawning widely. "The venomous balls of fluff that attack anything that moves."

"It's just a rumour that Yariyans have poison in their fangs and claws," Hani retorted, sitting back down and pulling his pack towards him.

"Damn well hope so," Levi mused thoughtfully.

Hani glanced up to see the other man running his own large, thick fingers down the crimson red scratches Hani had given him. Hani flushed uncomfortably before continuing to rummage in his pack.

He frowned before pulling out an unfamiliar scroll. The manuscript was on dark, weathered parchment that looked like it had been stained with tannin. The ink that had been used was a silvery green so as to show up on the shaded background. Hani guessed it must be one of Muna's history manuscripts but he had no idea what it was doing in his bag.

He unfurled the thick paper as a small handwritten note fell out, wafting down into his lap.

A scholar's translation from the original Alackai seals.

- Muna

Hani let out a gasp as he realised that Muna must have left this document intentionally in his pack. His eyes quickly scanned the page. It was in the traditional language of the western desert, but at least it was not still in Alackai, which Hani wouldn't have had a hope of understanding.

"You read Radem?" Levi asked loudly from where he had moved to peer over Hani's shoulder. Hani flinched, not having noticed the older man's presence there before.

"You don't?" Hani asked through gritted teeth.

"Never seen much use for it," Levi shrugged, kneeling down next to Hani, far too close for comfort. Hani could still smell the sickly odour of Tazalaj roots coming from Levi's breath. There was another scent there too, a spiced musk that reminded Hani of desert markets.

"It's the language of our people," Hani replied tersely, trying to ignore whatever familiar fumes Levi was giving off.

"Your people, kitten," Levi replied before rolling his eyes and chuckling at Hani's indignant expression, "Sorry, your people Hani."

"Where are you from then?" Hani frowned, taking in Levi's brown hair and pale, almost grey eyes.

"Here and there," Levi winked with a cheeky grin.

"Where do you live?" Hani sighed, determined to at least try to get a straight answer out of the criminal.

"I'm a nomad like yourself I believe," Levi replied, brushing the dust off of his clothes and standing back up to reach for a water flask. "I go wherever the jobs are."

"You mean criminal jobs," Hani interjected flatly.

"Where does a little brat born dark magic get off judging me?" Levi snorted. Hani could feel his own hackles rise, his shoulders set in a tense line.

"It doesn't matter whether you're born of light or dark magic," Hani replied coldly, "it doesn't equate to 'good' or 'bad'."

"Neither does my profession," Levi stated smugly.

Hani shook his head with an annoyed huff, "whatever, just shut up and let me read."