Closed [Kam] Of Snakes and Water Women

[Sophia Sunshore]

"Speech"

Sophia waited for Kamilla’s answer, golden eyes fixed on her newly-Konti friends lovely face. She was not sure why she was so eager to know more about turning into a giant snake, for the form she was currently stuck in was bad enough, but the simple fact that it was possible intrigued her. Instead of being horrified by the prospect, she realised she was actually curious to know what it felt like. Perhaps if she could take on the guise of a real snake, she might be able to understand what it truly felt like to be a part of the jungle, to be connected to it.

Kamilla’s face softened before she spoke, the delicate Konti features lending themselves to more empathy than she had seen on her friend’s face before. At the reply, Sophia titled her head in curiosity, the gesture not too far from comical on such a serpentine figure. The creature - the Dhani - had taken thirty ticks or so to change its form. So it clearly was not instantaneous like a Kelvic shift was.

She nodded along with Kamilla’s next response. She seemed to be thinking along similar lines - as long as she didn’t give anyone a reason to attack her, in theory she should be okay. It wasn’t a complete comfort, but it was something to start with. And it was true that Syka was welcoming, more so than anywhere she had been before. She had yet to see the founders greet anyone with anything less than a smile.

Sophia didn’t miss the words Kamilla stumbled over, her brow narrowing briefly. She itched to ask what her friend had been about to say but resisted. If she had wanted to tell the Svefra… Dhani, she would.
“You’re right, there isss no point in panicking. Perhapss I will sssee if I can find one of them on my way back and ask them if they know what happened.”

She stilled as Kamilla stepped closer, having to tip her head to look down at the Konti-Kamilla. This new form really was quite tall. Her friends lavender eyes roamed over the golden scales, and Sophia had to stop herself from smiling as she realised she was being studied, as she understood Kamilla loved to do. When Kamilla spoke however, the words were not what she was expecting to hear, and her brow rose in surprise.

"Do you have… venom? If so would you mind if I collected some?"
“Uh… I don’t know.” Sophia paused as she thought. The Svefra knew little about snakes, though she assumed wrongly or rightly, that they all had venom. “Don’t all sssnakes? How would I tell?” The second question then registered and the serpents head tilted again, golden eyes fixed on her friend.
“How on Mizahar would you collect it if I did?” It sounded alarming. Would it hurt? Of course she would let Kamilla have some if it was possible, perhaps she could even take some for herself in the hopes it might help her understand this new form.
“If… if I do, and you know how to take it, then sssure, go ahead.”

No matter what Kamilla did next, Sophia would present her with a question that had popped into her mind earlier in their conversation.
“Kamilla, why… why do you hide your magic from everyone? Isss it because you think they will all react like I did?” She didn’t mean to probe, but she was genuinely curious, and she hoped that her friend could tell. Kamilla had been intent on making sure that Sophia understood it was a useful too, not a weapon, that it puzzled her as to why she wouldn’t even tell the founders.
“I just mean, sssurely it could be useful for the sssettlement? Sssomeone with magic I mean.”

WC: 634

[Kamilla]

Kamilla was glad that Sophia seemed to see reason, even in her current form, it seemed unlikely that any of the settlement's residents would simply attack her unprovoked. The obvious exception was Ken, who l vehemently hated snakes, a fact she'd learned when they'd encountered the monstrous Dhani and he'd opted to charge in for the attack, rather than do the logical thing… flee. "Just keep an eye out for Ken… he's got bright red hair and a beard in case you haven't met him… though I suppose he might look entirely different right now too. Just be careful."

Kamilla phrase for a moment as Sophia told her she didn't know whether she had venom, and that she thought all snakes did. A look of confusion appeared on the Konti's face, she was certain that snakes came in both venomous and non-venomous varieties, she'd worked for a ghost maledictor after all and she distinctly remembered Erikus words during one of her days in his underground lab of horrors, "stop whimpering and just grab it, it's not even venomous." A small snake had escaped from its cage and the ghost had been eager to butcher it, with Kamilla's hesitancy to simply touch the cornered reptile working on the ghost's nerves. Of course, in the end the ghost had simply ended up possessing her and doing it itself. What confused Kamilla though, was the fact that Sophia didn't seem to know much about snakes, at all.

"What do you mean? Aren't you marked by the goddess of nature?" She genuinely did not understand. "I guess I just assumed that you would know because of your mark… I still don't really understand how these blessings work." she recalled that Finn's mark enabled him to tell when there was sea life within a certain distance from him, she wondered if the svefra turned Dhani could do the same.

Taking a step back and placing her hands on her hips, Kamilla eyed get friend's new fangs, contemplating the logic behind it. "I really don't know much about snakes either, but I'm pretty sure we can figure it out between the two of us." Lavender eyes wandered aimlessly as Kamilla bit into her soft pink lip, deep in thought. "I suppose you could just try biting into something…" It made sense to her, Kamilla already moving across her home to retrieve a juicy mango from a bowl of collected fruit and offering it to her Dhani friend, instinctively keeping her distance just close enough to pass on the fruit.

Once the mango was taken from her, Kamilla would wait expectantly for Sophia's bite, but instead, she received a completely unexpected question. The Konti was unsure of whether the surprise had reached all the way to her facial features, but she was far more interested in why Sophia would ask such a question. "I… yes, it's that. As you know, people generally don't understand magic and that leads them to fear it." The Dhani's next question was a surprisingly good one, "You know, you're right. It probably could help… but Syka seems to be a place unlike any other I've been to. I've already met two other reimancers that live here and they don't seem to make any effort to hide their abilities…" She paused for a moment, recalling the savage Quzon as well as the blind yet wise Duncan. "I suppose it's just become habit for me after so many years." She finished off with a shrug, hoping what felt like a subtle interrogation was over.

If Sophia did eventually bite into the mango, Kamilla would watch and eagerly await any news of the sensation, a glass at the ready to collect the venom if it were possible, though she still had no idea what she would do with such a thing.

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