[Khonsu & Reshep Doodle]

"That's why I'm going to tell you the story of Osiris and Apep. Are you interested?"

She had definitely caught Zephyr's attention, and he nodded.

"Good!" The old lady leaned forward slightly. "Now I'm certain you're wondering why there's only one giant cobra in all of Akhsemhat, and I don't mean the common King Cobra. I'm speaking of your friend Apep, a true Giant, the Grand Cobra."

Zephyr watched her with his calm green eyes, still nibbling on the bread he held.

"Well, it all happened many years ago, on a quiet Akhsemhat day, when Reshep was caught snoozing at his post. SNOOZING can you believe it?!"

She waved her arms hysterically in the air, catching Zephyr by surprise for a moment. She coughed and caught her breath, as her body wasn't built for those sudden outbursts of energy.

"That's right, our guardian of the city found himself snoozing on what was the most important day one shouldn't be caught snoozing on, especially as a guardian, for a sinister being had been making plans to get into the city. He had a black nose, black scales, and fierce maroon eyes. Can you guess who I'm speaking of?"

Zephyr knew who it was and nodded in acknowledgment, waiting for her to go on.

"Yes, it was the bad beast Apep himself, and he desperately wanted into this city. You see, he wasn't always a friendly cobra. In fact, the walls of this city were built so high to keep him out, as he had a taste for our farm animals, and the scent of all these farm animals just walking about carefree in the walls made him interested in an easy meal. But the problem was, it wasn't an easy meal yet. He had a huge wall he needed to get past, and he couldn't get past it, not with Reshep on the lookout."

She took a palm stick near her and drew a few pictures in the sand in front of her and Zephyr.

"Now look here, this was his plan. He knew Reshep needed to sleep eventually, so the grand cobra positioned himself right outside the wall, refusing to leave. This made Reshep nervous; The Tiger didn't know what the cobra was planning. Should he make the first move and strike? Nope, it would do no good, as he had already attempted to take down the beast, but nothing could pierce through the black scales of Apep."

Zephyr bit into his bread loaf, now a third of the way through it before speaking.

"Then what could he do?"

"Well, there was nothing he could do." She answered the olive-haired male.

"He could wait for the beast to sleep, but here's the tricky bit about snakes; They don't close their eyes when they nap. Reshep would have no way to tell if the snake was just lying in wait to lure him in closer, or if he was actually asleep. There was too much risk."

The old lady paused briefly to recheck her oven bread.

"So he did the only thing he could, and that was to wait him out, but eventually he became drained. In fact, it took only three days before Reshep completely fell into a slumber after constantly watching the beast, and with no one to make sure the gate mechanism stay activated and the walls of the city electrified, Apep saw his opportunity, and he slipped right through the gate, grabbing part of it with his strong jaws and tearing the non-electrified wood open. If you're thinking the wood splinters would get to him, then you're mistaken. Not even small wood splinters can get through his tough scales."

"What happened next?" Zephyr questioned. He was no longer worried about the group discovering that he had snuck out, he just wanted to hear more of the story, and where it led to.

"Well now that the beast was in the city, there was a bit of panic, and at the sound of distress, Reshep had awoken. He jumped from his station on the wall to meet the cobra king, but the grand snake hissed at him, riling the city-goers who knew there was nothing that Reshep could possibly do to stop him. It was then Apep demanded that he be worshipped as a god, and in exchange, he wouldn't eat any of Akhsemhat's citizens. Part of the worship included him taking whatever farm animals he wanted to eat, and when the citizens refused, and spat at them, saying he'd bring earthquakes, eternal night and storms with no end-"

The lady suddenly stood up to pull her bread from the oven, patting them and listening for a hollow sound.

"I'd say these need about 20 more minutes," She mumbled and placed them back over the fire, taking her seat back in front of Zephyr, who was watching her with those glassy green eyes.

"Where was I? Ah! So those were his terms," She continued on.

"And the citizens of Akhsemhat had to get used to losing their livestock every day. It was weeks later that they began to realize that they were running out of sheep to give, and once there were no more sheep, who's to say Apep wouldn't begin plucking them to eat instead. Eventually, there was only one sheep left, and it was offered to Apep. It was by some miracle that the last sheep had something with it, hidden under its tummy wool, something Apep wasn't supposed to ingest, and once he gulped it down, it was only hours later when he came down with a terrible bellyache. He retreated from the city to his cavern far from the metropolis, and for days there was no Apep to be seen. Some say there was only one man who would be crafty enough to trick the beast like that, and that man was the White Wolf himself; Osiris."

"So Osiris poisoned him?" Zephyr asked intrigued.

"Not truly poisoned, just strapped a particular bundle of herbs to the belly of the sheep that would give the snake a stomach ache if swallowed, even in a small amount. But now that the snake had retired and was nowhere to be seen, the White Wolf thought he'd pay him a visit. Osiris might be the God of the Dead, but he doesn't seek to cause death, and knew the cobra might need some medical aid, though the herbs would never actually kill him. He took a journey across the desert to the cavern, and sure enough, he found the cobra coiled in a ball from his sickness. The snake hissed at the White Wolf, threatening to eat him if he didn't leave, but Osiris knew he wouldn't move from his coiled posture, and instead held out some plants to him, promising that they would cure his ailment."

The old lady stopped to stretch her back a bit before going on.

"It was many moments later, but eventually Apep did take the plants and became well again. He was so happy that his bellyache was cured, that he apologized and decided he wouldn't eat the city's animals anymore. In exchange, he wanted to know more about the power of these plants and how they cured his sickness, and that's when Osiris told him about the magical properties of some foliage, and how they can be explored through alchemy. Many years later, he's now an appreciated alchemist of this city, with Osiris' help, and he's been trying to give back after all the trouble he caused long ago."

"Did he ever make up for it?" Zephyr had finally nibbled his way to the end of the small bread loaf and only a few bronzed bites remained.

"Of course!" She exclaimed with a smile. "He's helped us countless time with our illnesses, even gave me something I can take for these joints."

The lady patted her knees, inferring those particular locking joints gave her trouble now and then.

"Did you say he had maroon eyes?"

Someone new joined the conversation, and he stood at the tented table behind the two, hands draped in front of him, tucked in his oversized charcoal black and gold sleeves. It was a younger male, though he seemed a bit older than Zephyr, and he displayed pale yellow gazelle horns and ears. His hair was long and braided into three broad strands, with pastel pink ribbon wrapping around the individual strands as a stylistic choice. The hair's color itself was a dark purple to light pink ombre, and his eyes were a sweet, peach hue.

"Because I thought they were golden."

"Now I was just getting to that," The lady held up her hand, and then she squinted her eyes, looking over Zephyr's shoulder to see who the newcomer was. She then shook her head.

"Oh, you're not the man here for the bread either. Where has that fellow gone off to?"

A moment of pause ensued before she went on, and she twirled the beads that were woven into her hair.

"Some other older folk will say the beast's eyes were golden, but I believe they were always maroon. I saw them myself, I was there you know."

"Hmm. It'd be wrong not to hear out other storytellers as well. Lots of other folk have their spins to it, and you'd be surprised at how different they can be," The Gazelle-eared male suggested. His hands were still tucked in his sleeves, as if it was a habit, but he did take a seat atop the table with a hop, his clothing draping neatly over his legs.

And then he spoke again.

"Some say the beast had at first been peaceful, roaming the land and going about his business, but something drove him mad."

"Hmm, so I've heard before," The lady stood up, patting the sand from her lower legs.

"Seems we all have some things to add to the story...and shoo! Off of my table!"

She waved her hands towards the Gazelle, who finally hopped off and back onto the sandy ground after she had further insisted.

"Now Khonsu," the Old Lady directed her voice to the Gazelle. It must have been his name.

"You know I'm happy with Apep's herbal medicine, so if you're trying to come back and get me to switch over to being your customer instead again-"

"Oh no, I figured after the last thirty times of asking you, surely the answer'd be no again. I was more interested in the story this time; I promise."

The lady made a long 'mm-hmmm' sound while the took her bread from the oven. It was warm, delicious smelling, and incredibly inviting, and she took a few of the loaves and placed them in a basket, bundling them together with red ribbon.

"But I'm also interested in who you are," Khonsu expressed as he knelt next to Zephyr, one of his knees touching the ground. He now held one of his braided hair strands in his hands, petting it.

"I haven't seen you around the city before."

The olive-haired male finished his last few bites of bread, not wanting to keep him waiting.

"I'm Zephyr."

"So you are," Khonsu replied, inspecting him.

"You have an interesting air about you, and it's something peculiar."

"You leave him alone Khonsu, he's not interested in any of your shop hodge-podge things," the lady scolded the Gazelle. Seemed he may have tried to "borrow" or "entice" some of the lady's storytime customers in the past.

"I'm not here to steal him away from you," Khonsu stood up from his knelt position, hands still in his sleeves, and looked to Zephyr.

"But if you want to learn more interesting things, consider coming over to my shop."

He pointed across the street to a building with an alchemy sign hanging over the door. It was fairly close-by, just a few walking paces.

"I'd love to have you there."

The old lady gave the Gazelle a look, as if she were a teacher reprimanding a schoolboy for misbehaving, and he took it as a cue to get going about his night. And soon after he did, skipping across the road to his shop and turning on the neon decor so his store windows could be better seen at this hour.

"He's a sweet boy, and he means no harm," The lady spoke into the open night air. She had been packing the loaves of bread into baskets all this time, and they were all ready to go for when her customer arrived.

"But boy does he have competition with Apep. Can you imagine the luck? Not one, but TWO alchemists in the same city, just a block from each other."

She watched Zephyr stand up, swiping the wayward sand off that had blown into his lap.

"Thank you for the bread, and the story ma'am."

"You're off to see that gazelle Khonsu?" She questioned, twirling the beads in her hair again.

"I think so. I want to learn more about what kinds of things he knows."

"Well alright," The lady expressed. "But don't let him convince you to buy anything you don't need. He gets enough good business as it is around here."

She half-chuckled to herself at the last part because Khonsu was quite popular with his unique aromatic remedies, and she watched Zephyr nod in understanding before he turned and passed the tented table, facing the street. The way appeared clear, and he decided now would be the best time to cross it, looking both ways as he did so in case of any sudden surprises.

Within minutes, the door to Khonsu's shop was within his reach, and he reached to open it, most curious to learn what he would find.