Flashback [bronze wood] The Arts of Reimancy

[Taylani]

Time Stamp : 17 Summer 507

Syna shown brightly today, though in the outskirts of the Bronze wood the light is filtered from the leaves of the thick growth of the Deciduous trees that grew abundantly. The thick smell of moss and leaves clung to the air, and though Fall was still far away one can almost imagine the colors that these leaves would turn before they fell to the ground. Animals were plentiful, squirrels hopping from limb to limb, birds flying through the air. There was one who was not used to being here, a red head dancer that has not reached her full maturity.

Taylani sat against the trunk of a large tree, her plain skirts carelessly spread among the forest floor. In her lap was a pad of paper and a pencil and she wrote delicately across the pages, using a neat script. Occasionally she would look up, she did not like being outside the city walls at all. She preferred the safety to the openness, though thankfully the forest was not quite so open as other places. However her friend who had dared her to come up here was not here yet, and she was fast growing concerned for she was not suppose to be up here.

Not long, twelve year old Taylani decided, closing the notebook gently. She didn't like it up here and was eager to head back down to the safety of the city. Standing, brushing the debris from the forest that clung to her skirts, Taylani turned back toward Syliras proper before it got any later, fully intending on heading directly home.

edit infoOh for cripes sake, first I cant read and now I cant apparently do simple math LOL. Sorry about that, the age is corrected.

[Soshakuakamamushi]

It was another fine day in the Fortress City where Syna shone brightly, gracing the Woods just outside the Citadel with her warm light. This warm light was of course a favorite among cold-blooded creatures and Aka was no exception, the Dhani in human form had just exited the main gates, stretching her limbs as she felt her body being bathed with warmth. Ah~ I think I'll go hunting today! She hadn't eaten in a while and even though Dhani could go on for days without food similar to common snakes, they seemed to have bottomless stomach, Aka was always willing to grab a rabbit or two. Her Dhani appetite utterly betrayed her small human form.

She flexed her legs and ran out of the gates, swiftly moving to the Woods before her. Her long twin ponytails were trailing behind her back and her loose black robe flapping as she dashed through the air. There was almost no change to Aka's look, except for the glittering necklace on her neck. The silver necklace with a pendant shaped like a snake coiling and the snake itself held a piece of Garnet gem. It was a beautiful jewellery she got from a tall redhead girl named Taylani.

Aka met her yesterday when the girl was walking with her mother in the Stone Gardens. She was jealous of Taylani's height and build at first, she was a twelve years old girl and she was taller than both Aka and her mother. The girl was a giant. However, she warmed up to her significantly after the girl could be patient with her arrogant attitude and even crafted her a pendant, a very nice pendant. The Viper wouldn't mind if she stumbled upon the girl again that day.

Fate seemed to notice as on the way to the Woods, her scarlet slits noticed the unmistakably flowing red hair and tall body. It was Taylani! "Heeeey!" Aka ran to the girl and skidded to a halt just in front of her, the Dhani's shorter form made it look like a younger girl was running to the human where in truth, Aka was old enough to be her great-grandmother. "Taylani! It'sss good to sssee you again!" Aka grinned wide, deliberately showing off the pendant with her gesture. "I like the pendant! Hehe~"

The Dhani became curious though, what was a young girl like her doing out in the Woods? She felt rather guilty for thinking that for people often mistook her for a young girl too, she of all people should be the one not judging people based on their physical traits. However, Taylani was twelve years old and had no combat abilities whatsoever... or at least it held true in Aka's mind. Who knows, maybe the girl was secretly a master swordswoman or something. "Whatcha doing here? Where'sss your mother?" Great, now she looked like her worry wart little sister.

[Taylani]

Taylani allows her blue eyes to raise, and she sees the figure running toward her. At first she squints wondering if it was finally Millie, but it wasn't long before the girl recognized the Dhani. When she was with her mother safely behind city walls she was fine talking to the snake-woman, or at least able to pretend she was fine and not afraid. Now she was in a place she was not suppose to be, alone and already just a little frightened if she was truthful. Which she rarely was to herself anyway.

At first the young dancer looked as if she was going to dart away, her body tensing and poised ready to run until the other spoke. The tones, and the exotic hiss to her s's softening the other, and while Taylani didn't lose her fear all together she did shift her weight to where she was not so ready for flight.

Especially when the other asked about her mother. "I am not a kid!" Taylani insisted, "I am not always with Mama." Her chin lifted and her arms cross as she adamantly refused that she was a child. She couldn't tell the other that she wasn't suppose to be out here, as much as Taylani was scared of the woods and even mildly to be alone with Aka, she was more frightened of what her mother would do should she find out.

"I-I..." She faltered as she tried to think of a reason she was out here in the woods, alone. "I just ...I just wanted to see a bear." That sounded..feasible right? Taylani tries to think quickly, not wanting to admit that this was a dare and a very bad idea nor that she was frightened, but also wanting to make sure the snake woman knew she was not some baby. "A big big bear.."

[Soshakuakamamushi]

OOCSit down and drink some green tea.

"Eh..." Aka slightly tilted her head in suspicion as she noticed the slight fear emanating from the girl's body movements. Only a simpleton or a blind man couldn't see Taylani tensing her muscles as if preparing to scram from Aka. Of course the Viper was offended, who wouldn't be? She was in her human form and the redhead got intimidated, she could only wonder if Aka met her in her Dhani form. She bet Taylani would pass out with shock.

"...Oh hey, what'sss there to be afraid of?" This was rather absurd. In her human form, she had no fangs, no venom, and was actually weaker than the average men in terms of physical strength. There was not a single thing obviously intimidating about her appearance. Well, there was her slit pupils but surely they weren't that scary. Fortunately, the girl came to her senses and realize the Dhani in front of her was not trying to swallow her whole.

"Eh..." The girl seemed different today, the Viper didn't expect her to shot back at her. This reminded Aka of her own attitude, with all the chin lifting and arms crossing. Taylani insisted that she was not a child where the fact said otherwise. "You're twelve yearsss old, if you're not a child then I'm a thousand years old ancient being." The Dhani mused, hoping it would ease the girl, a rather poor joke but she didn't realize it as usual.

"Oh! A bear!" Aka beamed up, taking the girl's reason seriously. For a Viper Dhani reimancer like her, hunting a bear wasn't all that hard. She just needed to spit some lava to its face and voila! One dead bear with melted face. However, Taylani did say she wanted to see a bear, not hunt it. "I've got a better idea! How bout you and me hunt a bear, yesss? Hehe~ I can show you sssome awesssome ssstuff like my Dhani form and... fire abilitiesss, then we can eat bear meat together!"

If Taylani accepted, Aka would take her deeper into the Woods then she would transform into her Dhani form. If the girl declined, the Viper would just ask her what she really wanted.

[Taylani]

Taylani had already started to calm down with the other woman's calming words, the fact that the strange woman hadn't already somehow managed to turn -Taylani still didn't quite understand what happened when a Dhani or really any other shifting creature shifted- and do something truly horrible to her went a long way to ease her instinctive fear. The fact that she was out here in these woods without her mother and without a knight to be seen, however did not alleviate nor did it go away when the Dhani actually suggesting they hunt a bear.

Hunt a bear? Taylani was twelve and had no weapons! And this other small woman didn't seem to really be able to overpower a gigantic bear. Taylani had never actually seen a bear, but she expected that they were huge and scary. With teeth at least as long as her arm..if not longer! No, there was no way she and this other was actually going to go hunt for one. Surely not!

"How are we going to hunt a bear? They are huge! I don't even have a knife.." She wasn't really allowed to play with knives too much anyways except for cooking. She thinks her Papa might be afraid she would run off to do something foolish like join the knights if she learned a weapon. "How do you think we would be able to protect ourselves against a bear, let alone kill it.."

[Soshakuakamamushi]

The Viper put her hands to her waist, finding the girl acting like so many puny humans their age. They were afraid to face a simple wild animal such as a bear, kind of fitting since she was only twelve years old, a mere snakeling in terms of Dhani biological age. What she could observe from the general Syliran populace was that most of them didn't understand the glory of magic. Hunters always use bows, knifes, and all sorts of mundane weapons, giving themselves a harder time compared to just using magic.

"Hahaha! Knife? I don't have a knife on me either, sssee?" She gestured to herself. "In fact, I don't carry a single thing with me except my clothesss~" And my venom, fangs, and magic, but I'll tell you that later. The Dhani approached the taller girl, looked up and patted her left shoulder with her right hand. "Trussst me, It'll be alright, I'll ssshow you thingsss you can't even sssee in that ssstone coffin of a city." The human had demonstrated her ability in jewel crafting yesterday, it was Aka's turn to show Taylani her stuff.

"Bearsss are jussst big dogsss." The Viper shrugged. In all her life, she never witnessed a single wild animal capable of withstanding a spray of lava to the face. "Did you remember your quessstion regarding my venom? Well, it'sss a perfect time to show you my 'venom'." She wouldn't use her venom, no, she would show the redhead girl that body stature didn't matter in the face of magical prowess.

"What do you sssay?" The Viper offered the taller girl her right hand, gesturing Taylani to take it. "Come with me?"

[Taylani]

Taylani shrinks back just from the idea of actually going deeper in the forest. She was starting to feel very sorry that she had taken that dare, and if a bear didn't gobble her up she was going to make Millie pay for not coming out here to meet her. Clutching her pad to her chest, the young dancer looked back toward the city and then back into the forest.

The other seemed so sure of herself that Taylani bit her lower lip, she had backed herself into a corner here. She was either going to have to fess up or go with her, or just prove that she was a coward which she wasn't. She was more then capable of handling herself, so she straightens her shoulders and lifts her chin.

"Fine. Just a little though, I am suppose to be home by dinner." She tried to speak as nonchalantly as she could, as if going for a stroll in the woods was something she did every day. She turned toward the path that would lead them into the wood even deeper, continuing to clutch her pad tightly. "Are you going to...you know..." She asked, wondering if she was going to shift to her Dhani form since she mentioned posions.

[Soshakuakamamushi]

The girl hesitated at first, but finally accepted her offer. Whether it was forced or not, Aka didn't really care, the important thing was the girl deciding to come with her. The Viper hissed in happiness and immediately took the girl's hand then led her deeper into the woods as Aka's legs ran swiftly, but not too fast or the human might fall. "Dinner? Pfft!" She found it amusing, the purpose of this hunt was for them to get dinner, it would be bear steak. "We're going to eat the bear, not sssure if you will have enough room for more dinner." The girl may be taller than her, but surely a human's stomach couldn't match up to a Dhani.

"I'll transssform when we are deeper, don't want to ssspook sssomeone now." She was fine in showing everyone her snake or human form, but Dhani? No unless the person agreed to it in the first place, the Dhani form was the most intimidating and scariest form of the three. She could end up being chased by an angry mob for fear of the half-human half-snake monster slithering through their precious city. Quite racist, but Aka didn't expect better from the simple-minded and short-lived race.

After about fifteen chimes of journeying, they both stopped on a small clearing. It was a perfect location to make a campfire which they would need to roast the bear's meat. Aka didn't mind in eating it raw, but the human probably did. The Viper then released Taylani's hand and looked into her eyes. "I'm going to ssswitch now. Don't be ssscared, okay?" Nodding, Aka walked a few steps then took off her clothes. She folded her simple black robe together with her red sash and put it on top of a flat rock, she also took off her necklace and hid in between the folds of her robe. Giving a final glance to Taylani, Aka began her transformation. Her form grew as her legs fused into a tail, crimson scales with black patterns spawned from her pale skin, her long black hair receded into her head as it turned from humanoid to serpentine. Thirty ticks later, a serpentine creature bigger than Taylani replaced the small girl.

"Sss~" Aka in Dhani form hissed in pleasure at the cathartic transformation process. She eased her muscles a few times before slithering to Taylani. "Ssso, thisss isss my Dhani form." Aka gestured to her scaly body, even in this form, she was still lacking on the chest. She opened her jaw and revealed her pair of long venomous fangs. "You don't find me ssscary, right?" She snickered, but if the girl was brave enough to see a bear, she was brave enough to see her Dhani form.

"Now, let'sss go hunting!" The Viper Dhani glanced into the wilderness then lapped the air with her tongue, taking in scent. She also focused her other keen senses to locate other warm-blooded creatures other than the human female beside her. "Come..." Aka gestured as she slithered even deeper into the Woods. Hopefully, a bear would show up and if not, she could settle for a deer. It wouldn't be as satisfying as killing a bear, but a kill nonetheless.

OOCIf you want to bring something to them, feel free to do so!

[Taylani]

Taylani was surprised at Aka's words, as much as she disliked being reminded of it the real reason she needed to be back by dinner was that her parents did not worry. Her parents would be vexed with her if she was late but before she could say anything of the sort the Dhani grabbed her hand and started running into the forest.

Taylani was not as quick as a Dhani, the vipers possessing speed much greater then humans, but she was lithe and nimble thanks to her instructions. So she was able to keep up with Aka without too much trouble, occasionally hopping over any debris that might have littered the pathway.

When they finally stopped the dance was huffing just a little, and her fair cheeks were reddened but that was not an indicator of exertion since her fair coloring reddens easily. If she had been older, more mature when a Dhani first shifted to Dhani form, she might not have been so rude. However she was amazed by the transformation, and her eyes widened as she stared openly at the other. She had been mildly embarrassed when Aka had began to disrobe but she understood now why she had.

"S-scared?" No, perhaps she had a little trepidation, but she wasn't frightened. If a person who could do this wanted to kill her, she probably wouldn't have had to find a time to do so alone. Aka had had plenty of opportunity to be nefarious.

"I am not scared..surprised...um..how do you..." She started to ask a question but thought better of it. She really barely understood how humans did that, let alone Dhani..She couldn't hide the embarrassed blush but she did follow. The woods were alive with sounds, though most were small. A squirrel darting up a tree, once Taylani thought she saw a rabbit but couldn't be sure.

After while though, signs of life stopped. Even the chirp of birds stopped, and the forest became ominously quiet. This actually scared Taylani more then anything and she reached out to grab the Dhani's arm, almost jerking her hand back when she felt the scales beneath her hand. It was a surprise reaction, not one of distaste though, and her hand remained. Before she could say anything she heard a chuffling sound, coming from the undergrowth to the right of them. The bushes rustled, and another grunting noise, when bursting from the undergrowth was a huge male hog.

Its body was scarred from battle, its tail stubbed by one predator or another, but the tusks that the boar sported were fully fleshed and ready. Curving up from its jowls ending in wicked points that could gut a man in a minute, or a child dancer.

[Soshakuakamamushi]

The Viper Dhani lead their little hunting trip with Taylani being the observer, she didn't look capable for combat. Aka accepted the gesture and held the girl's now-smaller left hand with her scaly right one. "Sssehehehe~ You got nothing to worry about, you got me~" She hissed in reassurance, Aka was sure there was nothing she couldn't handle.

The girl's apparent comfort in her Dhani form presence made Aka like Taylani even more, not many humans could genuinely look upon her for safety, let alone hold her hand. Aka eyed the tall girl with her scarlet lits, silently smiling at being taller than Taylani. Her tail leaving a trail on the ground as her tongue kept searching for scents. After a while, her keen smell and hearing detected something... blood along with the footsteps of an animal. The Dhani faced her head to the general direction of the voice, the smell of blood could mean many things, a wounded animal or a corpse, both of them were good for the Dhani.

A burst from the undergrowth and Aka immediately shielded Taylani with her body. Hsss~ Piggy! The Viper licked her mouth in hunger, a delicious-looking hairy pig was facing the duo. The animal was obviously not in a good mood. It regarded the large serpentine monster as a predator out to get it. The boar snorted angrily, preparing its tusks to gorge the monster. The aforementioned serpentine monster was more than willing to face it, but first... "Taylani, go climb a tree or hide or sssomething. I'll take care of thisss." The Dhani slightly pushed the girl back to drive her point home.

"Alright, you ssswine~" Aka prepared her tail to outmaneuver the boar while reddish slime began to form inside her mouth, coating her long fangs. The boar charged, its powerful legs carried it forward to the snake. Being in her Dhani form, Aka was at her strongest, she immediately sprang to the side with her tail, narrowly dodging the boar. The animal didn't expect its target to move so quickly and it crashed into a tree. Its tusks embedded into the bark, the boar was struggling to get itself free.

The Viper took the chance to spring forward, striking fast with the her inherent Viper agility and stabbed her res-coated sharp fangs to the side of its body. She used her hands to grab hold of the boar as it broke free of the tree and shook its body to wrench the snake free from its body. Aka's 'venom' immediately began to work as her res flowed from her fangs to the twin wounds on the boar's body. Aka released the boar and slithered away.

The boar felt something flowing inside its body, but ignored it as its anger dampened the pain. It prepared to charge again but its eyes suddenly went wide as... it squealed with all its might, dropping to the ground and rolling in extreme pain. Sizzling sound of cooked flesh began hissed out from its body as Aka commanded her res to turn into lava, fatally burning the boar from inside. The boar squealed some more before finally dropping to the ground, lifeless.

"Sssehehehe~" Aka hissed in delight, another successful hunt. Common hunters needed to use cumbersome ineffective weapons such as bow and arrow while she got her magic. quick, simple, and easy. The pleasurable feeling she got every time she cast was always welcome. Now she needed to clean up her mess, the Viper approached the boar and blew some gaseous res from her mouth to seep into the boar's body, then she transformed the lava inside into a pile of harmless dirt. The boar was ready to be consumed. Aka grabbed its legs and began dragging it to the previous clearing. "Taylaniiiii~ I got the pig! Let'sss cook and eat it!" Looks like the bear would have to come later.