Flashback Unwinding your coils. [Solo]

[Zharaizuran]

Timestamp:Winter of 508, day 21st Location:Zinrah, Falyndar Zuran’s age: 101. ADVISORY: May contain mature content.

The slitted eyes of the Dhani slowly opened to the noises of early morning life in the caverns, a low, continuous scraping of scales against hard rock broke the silence of the single cave that was his home as he unfurled his coils, rising from his rest as he stretches his upper body and arms. As he slithered out, the full length of his serpentine body revealed, a visible lump could be seen; remnants of his rather successful hunt from the night before, a wild boar. A grim smile crept across his face as he remembered how it’d struggled just before it realized it’s grave mistake, entering the trap of his coils as he’d slowly but steadily compressed it’s body before consuming it, still alive through broken bones and tears along it’s flesh.
The passing of a female snapped him out of his reminiscing, posture straightened as he looked after her when she slithered past. Barely into his adulthood though, he doubted she’d payed him much attention. He might be one of the largest males in the nest, but actions meant more than anything.

As he finally peeled his eyes off of her contours when the last of her tail had vanished into one of the many caves, Zuran slithered on in the opposite direction. He might still be digesting his catch, but there was still work to do inside the nest. And work, especially the physical kind, was a welcome warm-up. He’d taken a chore and turned it into exercise; replacing old and spent glowstones, carrying them back to the pools to soak up more light from the ketomoss, only to carry new ones back with him.

Sure it wasn’t as thrilling as a hunt for prey, or the pleasure of a female, but it kept him in shape, and that, meant more of both. Zuran knew he was big, and he meant for everyone to know it too.

Carrying with him two baskets tied to opposite ends of a pole, Zuran piled the depleted glowstones into each basket, taking his time as other Dhani passed him, males, barely his size, shook their heads and laughed once they’d passed by. Zuran did the same, for a little while after, a group of females, some his age, some older, hard to tell in the dim light, but this was what he’d waited for. As they neared, Zuran filled the rest of both baskets, taking only the largest stones he could fit in there.
As they passed by him, barely giving him but a glance, his muscles tensed as he lifted, at first with one arm, nearing his waist until he put both hands on it and lifted the massive load onto his broad shoulders, bowing his head at the females, their attention now peeved, still they maintained their air of superiorty and only showed him with their eyes that it’d worked as intended, causing another smirk to crawl across his face as he slithered off, the females once again headed in the opposite direction, though, unaware to Zuran, a few eyes lingered on his back for a while before they moved on.
The encounter with the females had made the morning all the better for him as he neared the pools of ketomoss, he emptied the load into the pool, replacing it with fresh stones. This time, he lifted it slowly but controlled, repeating the motion, smaller and younger Dhani giving him curious looks as they stopped to watch. Zuran payed little attention, what mattered was the next hunt, the next wrestling match, the next female.

Zuran repeated his lifting of the stones until he felt it in his arms, barely lifting the heavy load onto his shoulders, carrying it off. This was his workout aside from the wrestling pits or training with his weapons, this was why he’d asked for such a tedious duty, it had hardened him further, and he enjoyed it.

[Zharaizuran]

Having gone through his day until noon replacing the glowstones, Zuran made his way through the caverns, the thick trunk of his tail slithering behind him as he entered the training gallery, rolling his shoulders as he lets his eyes scan across the room, observing the younglings as well as the competition, his tongue flicking out to taste the air, looking ahead as he catches the eyes of a young female, one from the group earlier this morning. She looks at him, eyes briefly going up his rather massive frame, Zuran actually lifting himself higher than he’d regularily do, smirking back for a moment before she looks away and approaches another female, paying him no more attention, though her friend shoots him a brief glance.

This was the proving grounds alright. Zuran loved this place. He was in his element here, able to throw his weight around. Sliding past the two talking females, his ego and want to impress setting him straight for another male. Zuran’s size might be imposing, but it meant he had to double his efforts. Size making his effort seem lessened when paired against a male such as the one he was now staring down.

Nodding behind him, towards the now observing females. “Let’s give them a show?” he crosses his massive arms, claws tapping against his scaled skin. The male leans to the side, lifting himself slightly as well in order to look past Zuran’s large frame before looking back to the larger male. “If you think you can accomplish it.” The smaller male smirks, unrolling his coils, opening his arms.

Zuran hissed, spreading his own arms out, rearing back on the trunk of his tail, the smaller male quickly following as he returns the hiss, then, like flashes of green and brown, their coils entwine as they clash, trunks coiled around each other as they both try to get the upper hand, hands locking as Zuran opens his mouth with a loud hiss, pushing his mouth towards the other, the smaller male’s eyes widen as he leans his back to escape the vicious fangs reaching for his shoulder as his coils slowly squeeze around the smaller males waist, where his snake trunk gives way for the humanoid upper body.

Zuran slowly starting to push down the other’s arms, the distraction of his fangs snapping at his neck causing the other to turn his head, diverting him from the real trouble; Zuran’s coils wrapping around his own, robbing him of any chance to return the favor, Zuran increasing the pressure around his waist as he stares at the now lesser male, eyes clearly showing a predatory and savage joy in the pain his crushing coils were causing.

“Give.” He hisses, squeezing his coils around his chest, the other male cringing from the pain, hissing back in response as Zuran stares into his eyes. “Give!” he maintains his crushing hold on the lesser male even as he opens his mouth, gasping for air. Zuran’s eyes flashed with joy at the pain and thrill of his own muscle power, leaning closer, as if expecting to hear him surrender, the male wheezing for breath as he nods. “I giv-..” he coughs as Zuran cruelly puts on the pressure. “I give, I give!”

Zuran’s face breaks in a wide smirk, laughing as he coils around the male, letting go of his arms as he places his own hands on the other males shoulders, slowly he uncoils himself from his opponent, pushing the male away with a triumphant hiss, slowly slithering his trunk into a coil underneath him, arms crossed as the smaller male looks to the females, noticing their attention is elsewhere he raises himself upright and silently leaves Zuran behind.
Zuran’s eyes leave the weaker male as he catches the eyes of the other females, who, as tactful as ever simply smile at him, though he receives a wink from one of them as they both slowly turn, sauntering out, slithering around the corner, certainly knowing how to tease. Zuran rolls his shoulders, invigorated after the wrestling match, follows, ready for another favorite game of his.

[Zharaizuran]

Zuran quietly slithered along the caverns, stretching his arms after the strain from his morning duties and his little playtime in the training gallery. The females from before were ahead, and he knew where they were going, and thinking about it made him smirk, an odd expression on his scaled and otherwise reptilian face. He rounded another cave entrance, stopping as he’d lost sight of the females from earlier, but this was the nearest exit, so this meant they knew he followed.

The steambaths were a welcome change in atmosphere, and the display of Dhani was almost never short, especially not at this hour. Zuran let his gaze following individuals enjoying the warm waters. He remembered why he was here and slithered forward again, head waving from side to side to find the two he was looking for.

He didn’t have to look long.

Turning his eyes away from a group of relaxing females, the young Dhani almost knocked over the younger of the two females from before, pushed up on her tail to be on his eye level. “I saw you earlier this morning.” She spoke, running a finger up along his chest, running along his collarbone as her hand came to a rest on his shoulder “And in the gallery just now..” she smiled, to others, it would’ve been like watching the hungry look on a predator before it consumes you, but for Zuran it was beauty.

Returning the smile, he reached up for the wrist of her hand on his shoulder, gently lifting it off. “Oh, I thought you were interested in the other male.” He smirked as she reeled back as if disgusted, wether it was an act or true didn’t matter to him. “That worm? No.. Now, someone like you.” She coiled around his back once before coming back to his front. “You.. I could be interested in you.” She lifted his chin with a clawed finger, tightening her coils for a moment, which made Zuran’s smirk widen as he brought his own hands up, holding onto her wrists as he pulled her away, though her tail remained in it’s coil around his.

“And what about your friend?” Zuran asked, the thick trunk of his own tail starting to entwine with hers. “Oh, she won’t mind, I think she’s already busy..” the female smiled as she pulled her hands free of Zuran’s grasp, not so much by force but because Zuran knew better. Slowly she uncoiled herself from him, letting her whole tail slither around his trunk as she moved into an unoccupied niche in the steambath. Zuran followed all too eagerly as the thick steam consumed the last of their tails.

[Zharaizuran]

Timestamp: Winter of 508, day 22nd

The dry sound of scales slithering on scales broke the silence, Zuran opening his green slitted eyes to meet the eyes of the female as she looked down on him from her raised position, slowly untangling from his coils as she caressed his chest. “Morning, Zuran.” She smiled at him as he rose up to sit off the ground, she moved back, her finger now under his chin as he leaned forward to follow it, placing another hand on his chest as he tried to reach for her. “You have work to do.” She trailed one hand down along his muscled arm. “The city needs one like you..” she smiled again, that teasing smile that edged him on so, drove him to great lengths to impress.

“I rather enjoyed your company..” she pulled away, slowly turning to give him one last, tantalizing smile before she left his cave. Leaving Zuran behind, his own serpentine face twisted into a wide, satisfied smirk.

He uncoiled himself, putting on his symbol to the great Siku; Two snakes circling eachother, hanging from a leather cord around his neck, the bronze reflecting what light it could catch in the caves. His tongue flicked out to taste the morning, changing slowly, his form diminished now as he took on the form of a human instead, the transformation was slow and controlled, Zuran still in the process of learning how to shift faster.

He dropped to his feet and hands, slowly lifting himself up repeatedly. He might be a Dhani, but from what his elders had told him, there were times were the human form was needed, however weak it was. Zuran did not like that word. ‘Weak’ nor did he plan to be, no matter what form he chose. And he knew full well the rewards of a well kept body, yesterday and this morning alone was enough motivation to keep him going till he had to hunt again, continuing his push-ups, eyes focusing on the symbol dangling from his neck.

Siku favored the strong, the cunning, not the weak and the witless.

Back on his feet, spending but an hour in his cave, though it was perhaps an hour too long, despite his workout. Zuran frowned as he looked upon the armbands now resting against his wrists, too big for this frail body. He sighed as he let his form revert into his more familiar body, the trunk of his tail slithered behind him as he left his cave behind to continue on with his work and routines.

He would hunt soon enough.

Flashback concluded.

[Schism]

Zuran would return to his typical site. He knew by routine that the stones would need to be swapped out soon before the lights grew too dim. Human eyes would be blind then. How shocked he must have been to find his work place in total disarray. The stones were scattered across the cavern floor, the chamber veiled in darkness. Someone had been here and jealously made a mess for him. Even the pools were relatively dark, the majority of the ketomoss clinging to the stones rather than the sides of the springs. Who would do such a thing? Across the way in the fading darkness, there stood a male, or maybe two, three? It was too dark to tell, and their skin blended into the heat signatures of the cave. The steam only made things more difficult to make out. What was distinct was the violent hissing that echoed across the cave. Had Zuran insulted him? Was that his mate, perhaps? So many possibilities presented themselves. Zuran had established a rivalry for himself though. That much was sure. The thick scales tore across the rocky bottom of the floor further back until the group was out of sight. The final taunt, a live glowstone was thrown from across the cave, a massive one. The stone arched over and pegged the blind and unsuspecting Zuran on the shoulder. No amount of hissing would stop the pain, and he could not possibly win a fight against three in his present condition. It would serve as motivation surely. Zuran was still at work, and he had a mess to clean up. The most difficult task would be trying to figure out the live and dead glowstones as the faintest lights began to vanish. It couldn’t have been all bad, having reason to push one’s self harder, faster, to become stronger…

[Schism]

Are you ready for this? Zuran: Skill(s): Body Building +2 Hunting +1 Intimidation +1 Observation +1 Seduction +2 Wrestling +1 Lore(s): Hard Labor and the Pragmatic Approach The Ladies are Always Watching Playing Coy Identifying Live, Dead, and Near-dead Glowstones Note(s): Just some tips of things I noticed Ketomoss – the glowstones all have the moss. It recharges in the steam baths. There are not pools of moss. Wrestling – for more points, give me the gritty details. Don’t be afraid to lose either. Some techniques can be observed even in defeat…learned, repeated. Maybe he will always win. Who knows. We’ll just have to see. Verb tense in story telling – this thread read like a screen play in some parts. Try to stick to a single tense and Point Of View (POV). I recommend 3rd person POV, past tense Females are huge… so Zuran knocking one over is unlikely unless she’s off balance. Double check the Dhani anatomy and sexual dimorphism within the race. It’s a small thing, I just get the pet peeves, lol. Shifting always 30 sec – you’ll no go faster than this; it’s just not physically possible. Similarly, it’s 30 between all forms once they are “mastered.” More of this in Dhani lore. Give me more, and I can reward you more. In all, a solid understanding of some base concepts to Dhani society. I look forward to your PC’s evolution in the domain. Also, fix that last time stamp for the 22nd when you can! The year is off. Lastly, that stone wouldn't have done more than bruised him. He should be good to go unleess you want to give him some aching pain in recent days after the incident. PM me with any concerns!