Some people claimed that Kassa was as cold as his blood. Some, he knew, thought that he was aloof, arrogant, or just plain cruel. In truth, he was few of those things, but what he was, was bored. It stank, he thought to himself while meandering around the Plains, to have a brain as complicated as his, and be trapped in a body like this. At least his psionics made for some entertaining moments.

Kassa was cruel. That, he knew. He wasn't arrogant - he knew there were plenty of people who were smarter, stronger, prettier, or more psionically powerful than he, and he admired them just like anyone else. He knew that he could handle himself, keep himself alive alone - and that's how he preferred life too, alone.

He just wished that he had access to some computers, or a television, or something. Anything. As it was, he kept going over multiplication tables and inventing new ways of doing stupid math problems, to while away the time as his latest kill struggled for its shelter. He followed the small antelope at a reasonable distance: aware that there were some Hyaena kin in the area, but knowing too - once they saw the condition of the animal's wounds, they would not bother. Even they wouldn't eat a Komodo kill, and their stomachs were known for being able to break down bone, tooth and all.

He didn't speak with the Hyaenas, but the knew he was there, and he knew where their huts were. He didn't want anything they had - they weren't good at trading, so he'd have to have stolen it anyway, and they were even less adept at fine tooling things, so he'd have to find another tribe of crafters to bother.

What did he want anyway? Well, a spyglass, binoculars or even a telescope, that would be a good start. He had a small sack which he snugged onto his back, while traveling like this, and it was filled with assorted goodies that kept him busy when he'd eaten his fill and was ready to snooze.

But his last spyglass had been broken when one of those fool sables - well they weren't truly sable antelope but they looked like them, big hoofstock with equally big horns, and taller than every other antelope on the plains - had kicked at him as he was dodging. He heard the ominous crack from the satchel, and his heart sank.

By the time the sun was setting, the antelope he'd bitten was making nasty noises and kicking at the air, in its little bush shelter. He absently wondered whether that was how Kin antelope died, too, or if they were a little more graceful about it. Perhaps he'd ask the Hyaena. They were known to kill other Kin, though Kassa had never done so and hoped really not to. A thief he was, a murderer he was not.

Because he knew his body would take care of itself, he wouldn't need to bask after a meal anyway, Kassa approached the almost dead antelope and began to tear at its flesh. It probably didn't even feel it, after all the bacteria running around in its thickened blood had affected its brain almost immediately. Neurotoxins were just one of the fancy side-effects of Komodo spit.

It was much easier to eat on all fours, unlike many other Kin who sat up and were 'polite' about things. He was in the middle of nowhere, who cared? Sitting for him was a difficult prospect anyway, since his hips weren't really much designed to let his tail go the wrong direction. He cursed the creators, for not having developed proper swiveling tail sockets.

By the time he finished eating fully, it was late at night. He slept where he was, the ground was still warm, and he knew that the sun would grace this area with morning light and keep him warmer yet.

He woke to the sounds of people, speaking in low voices nearby. Had they seen him? Likely, given that he left a bit of a mess where he'd eaten. The sun was up, but barely, and he was quite full and slow.

"I'm not even certain it's Kin," a female of some furry variety said, "reps are so hard to tell."

"Well, it's Kin, and it's eaten recently so it's not going after either of us," said a male, equally furry. Kassa opened his eyes and tried to find the people, easily done since they were standing nearby... They were higher up, he could easily see them.

They were sitting on something, but he was sure that there hadn't been a big rock there last night. So as he roused, Kassa tried to remember the terrain. Nope, flat, bushes and grass, and that one stupid looking half-bent umbrella tree...

But now there was a big blurry brownish colored lump, which two Cheetah Kin were seated on. In the light, it looked like a golden molten rock but as Kassa woke, he realized it was a mixture of red, gold, yellow and orange - all sunset shades, and ... it wasn't a rock.

It was a ...

"What is that?" Kassa said, squinting into the morning sun to see the object under the Cheetahs more clearly.

It obliged, turning a wedge-shaped head toward him and sniffing at him from a distance.

"See I told you it was sentient," the male Cheetah said. His companion rolled her eyes and waved him off.

"This is Maaret," the female said, "she's a dragon. We were flying around making sure there were no wildfires this morning, and she insisted we stop here."

"She's not a dragon," Kassa said, and he would have smiled warmly if his face had really been flexible enough. "I'm a dragon. And why would she want to stop? To find me?"

"Apparently," the male cheetah said, "did you want a ride somewhere? I'm never sure what to make of folks living this far out away from people."

"There are Hyaena nearby," Kassa commented, and that caused the female to glance with worry around her.

"She says she'd like to bring you somewhere," the female said, peering at the dragon's face as though she were communicating with it. "A place where others have found partners. She says, partners in crime, but ..."

Kassa laughed, "well, that would be appropriate now wouldn't it..."

Ungainly though it was, Kassa climbed to the back of the dragon, and the male Cheetah opted to remain on the ground, he apparently had his own dragon-friend, and would summon it to return to his home. Meanwhile, Maaret flew - and then vanished into the Nexus.

Kassa didn't know what the Nexus was, but he was soon to find out... He wouldn't be bored much for a while, as he waited it out at the Bower...

There was something about the way these dragons walked, that reminded him of himself. Kassa chuckled, watching them scoot around with their wing-sails poking upwards by their sides. They'd clearly be more graceful in the air. Then again, he wasn't known for grace when he was walking, either.

You would like to find a friend here? Spoke a voice into his mind, and Kassa jumped. Well, he twitched. Jumping wasn't all that easy for someone of his configuration.

"I.... would?" He said, and looked around trying to figure out which of the many hatchlings had spoken. He knew it was a hatchling, the voice sounded 'young' to him.

Then you have found me, Numkehur is my name. She strode up, nose to nose with him as Kassa had been enjoying the warmth of the sands under his belly.

"Numkehur, that's a good name." Kassa said, and assumed a more or less seated position. "Will you like the beaches and the plains? I sometimes visit the waterline, my Kin are island-types."

The female hybrid held up her hind paw, I would love to visit the beach.

Maaret and Cuhsoyi met back up with Kassa, pleased that their sudden interest in the komodo had paid off. They flew the new pair back to Planet Twenty, and Kassa asked that they be put down toward the broken tropical marshes, instead of on the plains where he'd been found.

There, Numkehur had the chance to truly douse herself with proper water and swim around, joined by Kassa, who swam quite a lot better than anyone could expect. In fact he felt far more graceful in the water, though he couldn't really dive or hold his breath too long like Numkehur could.

I am cheating, Num said, I have magic for water you know.

"I know now!" Kassa laughed from the beach.

Over time, though, it was clear that Numkehur's magic didn't stop at breathing in water. She could create little things - clever things, like a light in the dark, heat when it was cold... Her shape could move a little too, becoming more Kintype, and less draconic. But the most important thing that they learned about her magic, was that she could create glass.

And there was plenty of sand. The warm grains under her paw turned hotter, until they were glowing. Kassa had gottan ahold of a metal pot which would serve nicely for holding such things, far too hot for his scaley hands. They then began to make new things with that glass - sculptures, a new spyglass or two or three, lenses and ornaments.

"We can sell these," Kassa said, "and I bet that people would like windows in their huts," he added as they passed a village below. He'd learned to ride with some difficulty, her hide was more than thick enough to cling to with his heavy claws, he did no damage to her with them. She didn't dare do any stunts while he was on her back, though... Unless she was feeling feisty and wanted to punish him for some imagined misdeed.

Thus Kassa went from thief to exile to trader in a matter of years. Their work could be customized, and soon enough they had folks actually brining them ground metals or older glass shards to include in projects.

Every once in a while, Numkehur would simply refuse to do anything, and Kassa would go along with that. It all balanced out, most people got what they wanted, and some had to wait. Life was good.

• Colours-Based Abilities:
• Can melt sand
• Can shape molten glass into anything