[Flashback]The Snake and the Spider(Iskessah)

[Volinir Orchid]

Naturally, trying to get as much spit on someone as possible meant employing a rather different technique than last night's. Volinir paused in his licking, frowning faintly. He had no qualms about announcing what he was. Even if being non human was dangerous in Ravok, his pride refused to let him disguise his identity. "I'm a Symenestra. What I did was bite you. Just relax for now; my spit will shut down my venom before it can start liquifying anything. The fatigue should go away soon after." Perhaps mentioning her neck could have turned into a meat smoothie wasn't the best form of reassurance, but honesty was better than lying... Most of the time. "I'm glad you're getting better," he said wearily, returning to the repetitive motions again. "My heart practically skipped a beat when I found out it was you I'd bit..." Volinir had chalked her shifting up to some sort of magic, it not being a subject he was well versed in, and didn't inquire about what she was in return, just kept doing his work. "... Sorry this isn't as nice as last time." he added wryly as an afterthought.

[Iskessah]

Iskessah wanted him to elaborate on his nature--she didn't like not knowing what her potential enemies might be capable of--but talking right now was too much effort. She spent the next half a bell or so silently sulking and fuming at her helpless state. How could she have been so foolish? In seducing the...Symenestra? ...she had herself been seduced, and then of all things, poisoned! The longer she lay beneath his slobber, the more she resenting him for putting her into this situation. She of course refused to blame herself for shifting in her sleep and accidentally revealing herself, though she would make a point in the future to make sure that never happened again. Finally, the strength slowly returned to her limbs. She sat up, testing her muscles by flexing her fingers and toes. She rubbed the back of her neck to wipe away the slime. Then, without warning, and quick as lightning, she struck out a quick jab to Volinir's chest. "That is for poisoning me," she said coolly, glancing at him sideways before standing up. Perhaps she would gather her clothes and leave before this creature could do her any more damage....

[Volinir Orchid]

It was fortunate that Volinir was wearing his armor at the moment, or that punch might have done quite a bit of damage indeed. As it was, he stumbled and fell back from the force of the blow, snatching angrily at Iskessah's wrist. Jet black nails burrowed into her skin as he yanked her down with him, attempting to knee her in the gut as she came down. He aimed too low, however, and all he succeeded in doing was half hitting, half rubbing his thigh against her groin. His other hand whipped towards her throat to press a sharp claw against the artery in her neck. "I didn't try to petching bite you, azo!" Volinir hissed, his bloodstained teeth visible for a tick. A very wrinkled, and very apathetic maid passed by the room, glancing over for a few ticks with a bemused expression before shutting the door and continuing down the hallway, muttering "Crazy foreigners..." to herself.

[Iskessah]

Iskessah wasn't sure what "azo" meant, but it sounded like an insult. That, and the sting of his fingernails (so mild compared to what she'd so recently suffered), recalled her to reality. Suddenly, she was no longer playing, at least, not playing nice. Like a whip, she snatched his claw away from her neck, bending the wrist backwards until shortly before it would snap. Pain and the threat of injury... something about this behavior was familiar to her... She leaned her face close above his, her hair falling haphazardly around them, and into his mouth. Her tongue flicked out to taste his nose, noting the musty flavor of damp earth that was his signature, overlaid by the sickeningly sweet scent of peaches. Her lips curls up slightly in a smile that didn't reach her eyes, and she leaned even closer to whisper in his ear. "Be very careful that what you bite, doesss not bite back." To teasingly illustrate her point, she nibbled gently on his ear for a moment, and then without warning, bite down hard enough to draw blood.

OOCIs it just me or is Kess starting to remember that torture exists? ^^;

[Volinir Orchid]

Volinir hissed in pain at the twist. He didn't think she'd be this strong, or this fast. He would be petched if he'd just roll over and take whatever she was dishing out at him, though. He was a Symenestra! He grinned angrily at her, clamping down on the hair in his mouth. The licking was certainly... Strange... Supposedly a side effect of turning into a snake. he ground his teeth slightly when she taunted him, and venom started to pour back into his fangs when she nibbled on his ear. A sharp yelp of pain tore from Volinir's throat as she bit down on him, and he immediately eyed her exposed neck. This would do nicely. When she inevitably stopped biting on his ear, Volinir's neck lunged forward, his fangs pressing lightly against the pulsing skin. With a bit of difficulty, he growled, "I so much as twitch... And you'll go limp as a boned fish before your insides turn to soup. Let go of my arm, and slowly get off me."

[Iskessah]

Iskessah's eyes flashed as she realized what a bad position she was in. Certainly, his bite had proven to be...undesirable. It could drop her in an instant and was no fun at all. Getting this close to his teeth had obviously been a mistake. But something in her rebelled against meekly surrendering. On the other hand, she wasn't stupid or suicidal; if surrender was the only route to survival, she'd take it. Fortunately for her pride, another option came to her. With a smile he couldn't see, she slowly released his wrist, as if she intended to comply. But then she whipped her hand to his neck and whispered, "The tick you begin to bite down, I will sssnap your neck. Do you think you're fassster than me? Do you want to risssk that? Or ssshall we talk?"

[Volinir Orchid]

Petch. Of course, she couldn't go down easily. No, she had to make him have to bite her. Of course, that was assuming he survived. He knew his venom acted fast, but she'd shown herself to be no less quick. If he had been a human, he might not have been too frightened, but being a Symenestra, his bones were fragile. Fragile enough that there was an unpleasant chance of her being able to make good on her threat. A big enough chance, at any rate, to give Volinir enough incentive to talk. "So... Why were you following me?" he decided to start off. Might as well get that out in the air first, before anything else. Today was certainly a strange day. Perhaps a little bit too strange for his liking. "Don't give me any of that 'swimming' shyke, either. I saw you tailing me from the moment we left the market." Her attempts stealth were almost laughable, really. He wasn't about to say that to the woman with her fingers around his neck, though.

[Iskessah]

Iskessah's first instinct was to lie, but that had proven futile already. "I wasss, er....practisssing..." She coughed lightly, embarrassed. "You looked...more interesssting to follow than other Ravokiansss." She had to get off this line of questioning, and fast. But what could she talk about? She had never met anyone like him before; someone whose poison was even more powerful than her own. Heh, if Mattieu had still been alive, and gotten his hand on this... what had he called himself? "My turn," she hissed. "What isss a Ssssymenessstra? You are not human, and you are not Dhani. What are you capable of? What are your weaknessssssssessss?" It did not immediately occur to her that someone whose throat she had her hand on might not be keen to tell her how to kill them more easily. But from her perspective, it was simply self-preservation; he had proven to be a potential threat, and her best chance at survival lay with understanding that threat, as thoroughly as possible.

[Volinir Orchid]

"Practicing sneaking?" Volinir shrugged. "I guess you need it." He'd have smirked, if he didn't have his jaws around the Dhani's neck. "I don't know if I should feel flattered or frightened..." Naturally, she decided to change the topic. "I'll tell you, if you tell me what a Dhani is." he continued, "A Symenestra is what I am. We're people of Kalinor, a most beautiful city in the far West of Kalea. Our city is the safest in Mizahar, weaves the most exquisite fabric and produces the loveliest areal art style... Perhaps you might see it one day." Volinir hadn't forgotten his original mission, and at the moment, seeing her die of a violent birth was quite the pleasant thought. "The houses there are like great glowing pears clinging to a cavern ceiling, the roads are all reams of the finest silk, and our people the friendliest and most educated in the world. We worship Viratas, the god of the essence, life, and connection. As such, our community is stronger than any other, and we will not suffer threats to our family. That does not mean we are cruel, though. Wanton bloodshed is an easy way to irk Viratas' anger." He spoke of the god with an easy and fond air. Soon though, he moved on to what Iskessah was actually after. "Our bite, as you can see, is quite potent; it can get even stronger when we're hungry, or... Aroused." again, a 'smile.' "You were fortunate. If you had shifted right afterwards, we likely wouldn't be having this conversation. We can also see in darkness as easily as if Syna was directly overhead, are able to climb up vertical surfaces, and, for the stronger among us, roofs as easily as you climb a ladder, and have light bones that allows us to go where others are simply unable to. It makes us faster, too. It's really quite the boon..." He'd implied what his weakness was. There wasn't any need to tell her explicitly, now was there? "All right. That's what a Symenestra is. Now tell me what you are."

[Iskessah]

Iskessah was not particularly impressed with the description of the Symenestra culture. Artists and weavers? Hardly pursuits that were worthy of note. They sounded like they could be wiped out by a sneeze. She rolled her eyes at his flowery description of his home, not that he was in a position to see. And Viratas sounded like no fun at all. Wanton bloodshed was the best kind. She paid more attention when he got to the bit about his poison. The potency of the poison seemed to be determined in much the same was as Dhani poison, though the effects were slightly different. Symenestra poison had had a paralyzing effect, where Dhani poison just dissolved organs. His ability to climb was interesting. After some thought, it occured to her that climbing would allow him to easily go places few would think to look, rooftops for example. If one did not expect that there would be someone perched on a wall above one's head, one would not bother to look up. It gave the Symenestra a decided tactical advantage. Iskessah would have to get into the habit of looking up more often. When he had finished, she realized it was her turn to speak. She hesitated, her hand almost tightening on his throat Did she really want to do this? Give an outsider information that could potentially be used against her? But she felt his fangs on her neck, and remembered the terrible agony she had suffered not long before. She began slowly, not sure entirely what to say, and still trying to minimize her need for 's' sounds. She decided to start with what he already knew. "I am Dhani. A rattler Dhani; there are other typesss, but they are hardly worth dissscusssssing. I can change into two other formsss, the one you sssaw earlier, and a hybrid of that and my human sshape. Like you, I have poissson, and I am ssstronger and fassster than humansss." She debated what to tell him about her senses. They were better in her other forms, but she saw no reason he should need to know that her human form had any non-obvious weaknesses. If he were clever, he should just assume that such things were obviously part of her other forms. Though there was one sense which did not diminish in this shape, and in the spirit of good faith (and perhaps a bit of fun), she decided to infrom him of it anyway. "I alssso have a sssuperior sssenssse of tassste," she said with a smirk in her voice, as she licked his ear to demonstrate. "For exssample, you tassste of...ugh...fruit. How can you eat that ssshyke...." What else was there to tell? she had covered the basics of her abilities. When he'd explained the Symenestra, he had also given details about culture, their deity, their religion. "I worssship Ssssiku, the mother of Dhani and other ssserpentsss. Ssiku iss not like your god. Ssshe takesss pleasssure in the sssuffering of othersss. We sshow our love to her by ssspreading havoc and pain." The mere thought of such things was making her feel giddy, and that feeling was coming through in her voice. Thoughts of Siku alwys improved her mood. They made her feel... less alone... As her thoughts returned to her home, her her voice took on a harder edge. "My home liesss a great dissstance that way," she said, pointing unerringly to the west. "I can sstill feel it there, waiting... but I can barely remember it. I have been gone too long. I sssometimess wonder if I am even ssstill Dhani. I... cannot remember... what filled my daysss before I... came to Ravok." Her voice had grown quieter, and she was speaking through what a perceptive person might have described as a lump in her throat. It seemed almost as though she had forgotten the Symenestra was there, though her grip on his throat did not slacken.