Khnurn let his eyes wander across the store as he waited for Zahra. The clothing was all so complicated, and there were so many pieces involved; he was rather proud that it hadn't taken them a whole day to figure out that single aspect of the modern world. He couldn't quite tell what time it was, but the moon and stars still dominated the sky when he peered out one of the grungy windows, which suggested it was very early morning at the latest.

As he heard the bathroom door squeal on its hinges once again, Khnurn turned to size up a newly emerged Zahra. Glancing down at himself again, he gave another satisfied grunt and led the way back out of the shop. He took a deep breath as they hit the outside again, ridding his nose of the plasticky smell of the tourist shop and taking in the more natural, albeit still dirty, scents of the dirt roads and market streets. Khnurn exhaled and in the same breath asked, "Now what? Map? Look for food...? Actually, now that I think about it, weren't there canopic jars in the tomb? Do we even need food?"

The implications that they had no lungs, GI tract, or anything else inside them was rather disturbing. His stomach sank -- did he even have a stomach? Clearing his throat, obviously uncomfortable, he quickly began talking again. "Um. A map is probably priority anyway."

It was a relief when the dog reappeared; Khnurn hadn't realized how tense he'd been. Some of the worry returned, though, at the continued absence of the others. The jackal-dog seemed unperturbed despite being the only guardian, but at Khnurn's questioning glance, the creature only shrugged. The young man turned away and began surveying their surroundings once more. The shop had only had clothes and touristy trinkets from what he had seen -- no maps in sight. But a tourist shop meant there had to be an attraction nearby, right? And attractions had maps. At least, that's what his mind was telling him.

"If we find a more popular entrance, we might find tour buses, or an information desk. They would have maps, I think," he said slowly. "I do not recall seeing a place like that around where we first came in, but there has to be more than one exit."

Khnurn began to wander down the road in the direction of the gambling tents again. It was far more lively there; if nothing else, they could ask someone where a map would be. He would have asked the shop owner, but it was too late for that now; Khnurn didn't want to go back inside and make the pair look more suspicious than they already did. His one hand clasped the keychain while the other had a firm grip on the backpack strap across his shoulder, both fists tightening as he continued forward.

Khnurn released another sigh of relief as the guardians' presence was mentioned. Gods; how many times was he going to do that? He was starting to sound like a dramatic child. He shook his head and ran a hand through his short dark hair in a quick attempt to tame it before entering the gambling tent. Instantly, he was blasted by the clash of smells and sounds. The lights were low, making it hard to see much besides the sparkling Wheel of Fortune, slot machines, and glittery attire of some of the patrons. It seemed that casual clothing dominated the tent, which was another small relief. Most of the people were engrossed in their tapping, spinning, shuffling, and subtle cheating, and did not notice -- or, at least, didn't acknowledge -- the presence of the two newcomers.

Khnurn let his eyes wander around the crowded area, and he finally spotted a small bar off to the side with brochures at one end. Or menus? He tapped Zahra and gestured to them, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly. Next to them, a bright yellow paper announced that drinking and gambling activities were reserved for those 21 or older, but nothing else that Khnurn noticed indicated that the folded papers couldn't be maps. Besides, even if they weren't, the bartender could always point them in the right direction. The vague thought briefly crossed his mind: how old were they, physically? Nobody was going to buy that the pair of them were born thousands of years ago, but, having no recollection of their time before waking in the tomb, Khnurn wasn't sure how old they had been. Ah, well. It was relatively unimportant.

He dismissed his mind's wanderings and moved around the milling men and women to get to the bar. The dark room hindered his ability to read the papers even from the shorter distance, but he was hesitant to speak to anyone. With a low grumble to Zahra, he muttered, "I am assuming brochures do not cost money here. I'm not even positive that those are brochures, but the bartender will be able to direct us, I think."

Khnurn's eyes fixed themselves upon the people busily shaking bottles and filling glasses with their pungent concoctions, but he made sure to watch the crowd in his periphery. While the entire situation was overwhelming and setting him on edge, there was nothing setting off alarm bells just yet. Besides, what were the odds of being confronted by a demon in such a public setting? Never zero, sure, but he thought it highly unlikely that a creature deemed supernatural by normal humans would waltz into the tent. Their adversary likely had spies out and about, though, and Khnurn was not so quick to dismiss that threat. The drunk woman dancing in the center of the room could have been one, for all he knew.

His suspicions were placed on hold as they reached the bar. A few folks had left in time to make room for the two ancients, and Khnurn excused himself to reach over one man and snag one of the pamphlets. At first, he was disappointed to find the front being an advertisement for Happy Hour at the bar, and the second flap was indeed a drink menu, but the third looked more promising as it boasted of nearby attractions, helplines, and information desks. Turning the entire pamphlet over, he found a map of the town as well as several locations to which the tour buses would drive. A spark of apprehension flashed through the young man as he noted the Valley of Kings marked as one of those spots.

"Grave robbing for vacation?" he muttered under his breath. Realistically, the tombs had probably been emptied long before the modern era, but the thought of so many foreigners waltzing around the sacred burial grounds of ancient pharaohs was uncomfortable, to say the least. He briefly wondered if his and Zahra's tomb had been explored before remembering the enchantments and how they had needed to unseal the door. Satisfied that nobody had been staring at their remains for the past couple thousand years, Khnurn handed the brochure to Zahra to look over. "It seems as though we are in a middle of nowhere, more centralized location to all the popular sites. Perhaps we could find some... older people at some of the city ruins? The old temples?"

"It is as good a plan as any," he said, nodding once. He ran two fingers along the lines marking the roads, feeling an odd tingling sensation as he did so. Although he had never visited any of the places listed, images of their former glories were now flooding his mind as though he had walked from that tent to the temples and tombs a thousand times over. Lowering his voice and leaning closer to Zahra, Khnurn added, "It doesn't look like any of these places are open to the public for a few more hours. It is still early morning; if we take the guardians, we may be able to get in and explore a little before we get too much company."

His dark eyes shifted towards the exit of the tent, for which he was suddenly very antsy to reach. While the raucous laughter and raised voices around them made it difficult for anyone to hear their own conversations, let alone someone else's, Khnurn didn't want to risk being overheard by servants of the Dark One. If he and Zahra could blend in as well as they did with such little recollection, then how much better would a demon do so after having bundreds of years to learn the ways of modernity? He couldn't help but feel watched, even if it was just by hiccuping loons in the tent corners. One of the bouncers was frowning at them, though, and Khnurn shifted his feet. "We should leave. I don't like talking to these new bumans."

He began to walk back in the direction they had come, Another man in more traditional -- but expensive -- desert apparel pushed past the two with a grunt and Khnurn wrinkled his nose. The air that swirled around them in the man's wake stank of decay, like vineyards left to rot during a rainy season. His guard was back up, one hand resting on the keychain that disguised his weapons. Surely that wasn't a natural scent, even for a slovenly place such as this? He sent a wary glance towards the young woman beside him and folded the map into his back pocket.

"Should we take a heavily trafficked road out of here, or do you think fewer people is better?" he asked quietly, moving his gaze back to where the man had disappeared. The guardians were close by; perhaps they would be able to tell them if the man was what he appeared to be or if he was indeed a chaos gremlin.