Serpentine Musings (Rhyus)

[Tinnok]

Serpentine Musings
3rd of Spring, 515 A.V.

Tinnok was not quite a day's journey out from Zinrah, to the west of the city to better avoid the blockade. She hadn't been sure if it was more to hunt, to clear her head, or to simply escape the sometimes suffocating quality of Zinrah's caverns. The idea of leaving the jungle, despite the fact that it would take quite a journey to actually leave it, left a strange knot in the half breed's stomach. She found herself up in the crook of a tree, staring up at the thick canopy, the way the light filtered down through the leaves, paying special attention to the birds, frogs, and insects as they flitted by. Her fingers brushed the bark casually, thoughtfully, and sometimes she even found her eyes watering up, though never did a tear actually separate itself from the moisture and find its way down her scaled features.

The idea of leaving, though the decision made, seemed practically unfathomable...yet, there is was, made. Tsuya even seemed to like the idea, the travelling, the ability to see new plants and animals, part of the reason for Tinnok's own desire to leave, and yet...not only was Caiyha the Mother figure she never had, but so too was the jungle itself. The branches of century old trees were loving arms, the constant cacophony lullabies and familiar songs. What did the world look and feel like outside of this place? Who would comfort and protect her when she had left its embrace.

They were questions that wouldn't be answered for some time, and she realized, were not so healthy to dwell on at present. Shaking herself from her reverie, Tinnok sat up, and slowly began to lower herself from her lofty perch, hopping down one branch at a time until there were no more, and then after a moment of focus, guiding her djed down to her toes and fingertips in order to form the claws that helped her scale the great jungle trees when there were no branches in reach.

About 10 feet off the ground the half breed let the djed she had been holding release, and pushed herself off of the tree, landing with knees bent and rolling backwards, to push herself back upon her feet and pivot, studying the jungle around her. Her bow had been thrown crooked by the maneuver and she straightened it, setting off into the jungle in search of something to bring back to the nest, or at the very least for her and Tsuya to eat for dinner.

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[Rhyus]

Slithering through the underbrush, Ssacarirhyuss made his through the underbrush of the jungle. Moving a large palm leaf away with his hand, Rhyus noticed a clearing in the underbrush. With his short bow in hand, the Dhani waited a chime and listened for any signs of activity in the vicinity. Before he ventured out into the clearing. All he could hear was loud monkeys in the trees and the sounds of mosquitoes buzzing a around his head. However, the longer that he stood in one spot. He could smell a pungent odor coming from the middle of the clearing. Slithering to the middle of the clearing, he noticed the clearing must have been made recently because the underbrush around it was still green. Reaching down, he touched one of the broken ends of the steams were still wet. When he reached the middle of the clearing, the origin of the smell was as clear as day. There was about six large balls of feces laying in the middle of the clearing. Rhyus looked closer at the poop and noticed that they were dropped in a line. The Dhani wasn't quite sure what kind of animal could make this amount of feces, but it had to be big beast. Looking around him, Rhyus saw the broken and trampled underbrush made almost a trail through the jungle. A part of wished that he paid more attention to his tracking instructor, so he could follow it. However, he needed to try, so at least, he can tell Sissicillys sisters about this animal. If the size of the feces balls tells him about the size of the animal, it must be huge. Rhyus looked at the trail to his left, and he noticed it was going downhill into a shallow ravine. With the thick tree cover, the canopy blocked out enough of the sun to not have as much underbrush. When the viper looked to right, he saw the underbrush around the beast's trail was thicker because the tree weren't as dense, so the underbrush had enough sunlight to grow. He figured if he was a massive animal. He would go in the direction of the food. Deciding to pick his path, the hunter decided to go right into the trail with the underbrush. Looking at the openness of area, Ssacarirhyuss decided that it might be safer if he took a much smaller form. If his Dhani form wasn't so large, he would stay in it; however, he might be a day away from Zinrah, so Myrian patrols might be scouting deeper into jungles away from the Zinrah ruins. Putting his lower body into a tight coil, Rhyus set down his short bow, unstrapped his sword scabbard and water skin from his waist, and placed them on the ground. Reaching behind him, he took off his backpack, unstrapped his quiver, and placed them on the ground besides the sword and water skin. When he was finished, he will his body to start the transformation from a Dhani to human. Relaxing on his coil, Rhyus watched his long tail start to shrink when it got closer to his torso. The tail split and morphed into to human legs. When his tail finished morphing into legs, he watched the colorful scales start to disappear on his skin and turn into a soft human skin. When the color of his skin turned tan, he could feel black hair starting to sprout from his bare skin until his long black hair reached his the bottom of his shoulders. When Rhyus felt like the transformation was complete, he stood up, reached into his backpack, and took out a clean, boots, loin cloth, and bandana. Rhyus started to dress into his jungle attire. Lastly, he tied back his hair and tied the bandana around the top of his head. When he finished putting on the gear from the ground, the hunter started to walk in the direction of the thick underbrush and the beast. As Rhyus continued down the trail, he started to wonder if it was good idea to follow on the path of the beast. What if someone was tracking it already? However, when he looked around him, the only clear path through the brush was the beasts trail. Besides all he needed was to step on or brush up against something poisonous or cause him to have allergic reaction. In the jungle, it would mean his certain death. Also dangerous animals could be lurking in the brush too, so it might be better to stay on the path. All in all, Rhyus kept a hand on his bastard sword just in case.

[Tinnok]

As far as the half breed could tell, it was a peaceful day in the jungle. The normal cacophony was at its peak in the humid daytime, and though she wasn't finding any clear signs of tracks or life, every step and smell the half breed was attempting to treasure, so she didn't let the lack of game get her down.

She had only been walking for a handful of chimes when she heard a movement in the trees, the subtle shifting of foliage under one's feet, and something, larger than a bird or frog or insect moving over the ground. Instantly Tinnok dropped down into a crouch, drawing a dagger and moving forward at a much more measured pace, trying to slow her breathing, even if only so slightly in order to cut down on her own noise within the thick jungle.

It took only a few moments to see a form exposed in a section of a quite lack of foliage. He was walking on a trail, probably made by a Tskanna, since there were not many things large enough to actually move the jungle around them when they walked. At first because he appeared humanoid Tinnok froze, assuming he was a Myrian. She paused and waited, watching him follow the trail, assuming that his fang mates were nearby. She was doing a fairly good job of being quiet, following him from behind and observing his movements, but her eyes were too focused on his person, trying to ascertain his identity so she missed a very obvious root in her way, and instead of stepping over it, got her foot caught under it, sending her crashing quite noisily over Rhyus's right shoulder a few yards back face first into the ground.

She swore loudly, since any form of stealth had been lost and jumped up with a dagger in her hand.

"Are you a Myrian?" She asked this in Myrian, so that the person's identity could be resolved fairly quickly, then in her broken grasp of Common she spoke as well. "I live in Zinrah, am Tinnok."

Her fear and paranoia had lessened somewhat in seeing that this man seemed to be alone, but her guard was not all the way down. News traveled fast around the small nest, so she hoped her Phylonura marked arm and name might send off bells if the male was a Dhani from the nest.
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