A past unwanted... (Solo)

[Lesh]

AV 511, Fall 21

The morning sun shone through the beams of an old wooden shack, it’s light outlining a shadowy figure that was seemingly sat at a broken, battered table. A woman with long auburn hair and strikingly cold, silver eyes gulped down the final drops of an expensive looking wine produce. Placing the empty bottle down hard on to the splintered table she would pick up a slab of sloppy raw meat and dangle it low above her mouth. Vreneralesh began to chew the meat, her fingers and lips stained with it’s juicy red content, before long her jaw grew tired and began to ache and after only a few moments of chewing she swallowed the chunk of soft meat whole. The woman hacked violently as the muscles in her human gullet barely managed to contract her meal down. Lesh groaned, three years she had had to imitate human society in order to stay hidden and eating habits were by far the hardest, chewing food before swallowing was still unfathomable to her.

A sudden knock at the door caused the Dhani to stand in alert, pausing silently as if in an attempt to stay hidden. A few moments passed and then another knock came “...Lesh...a-are you in there!?” Vreneralesh sighed and lowered her guard a little, she knew that voice all too well. She approached the door casually yet cautiously and pulled back slightly on the rusted handle, opening the shack door just enough to see her visitor. “L-lesh, long time no see... hehehe... keeping well now are we?” A short, fat man stood at her doorway his face was horribly deformed and he lurched over as if suffering from sort of chronic back pain.“...Vinel... can’t sssay I'm too pleasssed to sssee you, what are you doing here?” Lesh replied, her common largely accented. “Oh come now... how long have we known each other for, won’t you let in an old friend?” The Dhani ignored his comment but opened the door wide for the deformed man to enter.

A little while later~

“...Ssso the asSssasSsins guild hass ssstarted back up and they require my help? …Can’t sssay I’m interested, I’ve essscaped death’ss clutch far to many timesss to go out looking for it again...” Vinel laughed, a disgusting, husky noise that no living being in Mizahar should ever have to hear, his facial expression difficult to read under his distorted features. “...and so you will continue making a living from what? Selling your gob to a crazy herbalist that pays you in pocket money? Don’t make me laugh...” Vinel replied hysterically as he wiped the beads of sweat from his creased forehead. “How did you-” Lesh paused mid-sentence, it was obvious that the old assassins guild had kept tabs on her. “Either way I’m not interesssted, now get out...” The Dhani gestured for Vinel to leave with a wave of the hand. The deformed man frowned disappointingly and began to make his way toward the door of the shack, “You look like you could use a good meal, have you been eating well? Perhaps I should provide some food... you know-”, “You’re right, I haven't eaten anything decent in a while, perhaps a man of your consistency could satisfy my hunger? Now get out...” Lesh growled at Vinel, her expression stoic whilst pushing the wooden door to a close behind him. “If you change your mind you know where to find me... you were joking about that stuff of me satisfying your hunger, r-right?” Vinel seemed to ask worriedly but before he could get an answer the door was slammed shut on his face.

After a short while of contemplating what the deformed man had to say Lesh left her run down shack of a house and ventured out in to the city of Ravok.

[Lesh]

It was never hard to find the apothecary’s shack with it’s rusted iron signpost and hanging rags from the roof. Lesh placed her hand on the splintered wooden door and gave it a knock. When no one answered she clasped the rusted iron handle on the door and gave it a modest tug. The old hinges screamed in protest but it gave way none the less allowing Lesh to enter. The room was dimly lit as always and the taste and smell of herbs and chemicals were pungent in the air.

“Lesh... Lesh is that you!? … You know my eyes are not as good as they once were...” an elderly man was hunched over a workbench looking in her general direction. “It’sss me...” The Dhani responded in a hiss. “Oh, thank Rhysol himself! I’ve been getting far too many odd customers of late demanding this and that...” he croaked in his usual raspy voice.

“You know why I am here... cccertain othersss do to...” she would have to do something about those certain others relatively soon. “Of course, of course you sell I buy... everyone is happy!” The old man coughed violently into a sleeve, “...very well, let’s be done with it... now if you would be so kind as to-” Lesh had already slid out of her clothes and had left them in a pile on the floor as she walked as naked as on her name day toward the apothecary.

“Ah yes... quite...” he shied away slightly at her nudeness. “You... you have lost weight again. You haven't been eating well... have you?” It was true. Back in her earlier years of Ravok when she worked for the ‘Black Crows’ she had been able to literally eat her targets without so much as a second glance from the Ebonstryfe. After leaving the Black Crows it had become far too risky to attack citizens of Ravok and so she had resorted to consuming rats and stray cats along the canals. Even that seemed risky nowadays.

“That isss none of your concccern...” Lesh responded as her body began to change from human to snake. Arms fused to the side, hair sank in to the skin, bones cracked and transformed and legs became a tail. A fourteen foot rattler with gold and black scales had replaced the young human woman. The old man shuddered. “Ah... a wonderful yet terrible sight to behold... let me fetch my things!”

[Lesh]

...you cannot trust them... they are only food to you, nothing more... why do you continue to live this pathetic excuse for a life? ...You are the dominant species... they should bow down to you... consume them all...

Lesh awoke to the splash of icy cold water dripping onto her bare skin. The first thing she realized was that she was in humanoid form. Why was she in her humanoid form? She made an attempt at observing her surroundings. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the confined gloom within her vicinity. The Dhani’s first instinct was to revert into her reptilian origin, in her attempt however a shock of unknown forces rippled through her sending every muscle in her body in to a violent spasm.

With an amount of willpower known only to the Dhani themselves Lesh was somehow able to stop herself screaming out from the agonising pain. After a few moments of heavy breathing and general recovery Lesh attempted to take another look around. As her eyes adjusted and other senses gradually awoken Lesh immediately noticed two things. First, she was completely naked and second, she was chained to a stone wall, wrist and ankle by some oddly familiar looking shackles.

She gave the shacked a strong tug but the chain links only clattered together, echoing loudly off the stone walls. She made a second attempt yet to no avail. The Dhani kept at this for what seemed like hours until, gathering all the inhuman strength she could muster, gave one final, mighty pull... in vain. “Well, well, well... aren't we making quite the noise down here... hmm?” A short, fat, deformed individual stepped into the darkness, oil lamp in hand. “...Vinel... how... why?” Her voice croaked from clear symptoms of dehydration.

How long had she been locked down here, days, weeks? She tried to think back but it was no good, her mind was clouded. “I came to see how my little specimen was doing, hmm?” Vinel held the oil lamp forward and scanned her from head to toe. Saliva dripped seemingly uncontrollable from his mangled jaw. “...ssspecimen... what have you done... Vinel?” Lesh questioned him wearily. A horrible smirk crept up the side of his face as he said: “All will be explained in due time, until then you should get comfortable in your new home... oh and I wouldn’t try your little snake trick either. Those are special shackles from the ‘Black Crow’ order. They are especially designed for interrogating Kelvics and their like... any dramatic change in muscle or bone formation will set these things off sending a mass of charged magic through your veins. Sleep well now my lovely...” and with that Winel left leaving Lesh in utter darkness once more.