Summer 16, 427 AV
Just after her 20th birthday, the young snakeling is out with her sister, Sirinsenice, trying very hard to shift into her Dhani form. She is struggling with it, moreso than her brothers and sisters of the same clutch who have already learned and nearly mastered the ability. She sighs with frustration, flicking her tail over the small mark of favor the Goddess Siku gave her. "I have been marked for a reason," she thinks to herself over and over again, trying not to become too discouraged. Her sister Senice tries to show her again, making the 30 second shift in front of her once more, and cooing to her in her melodic voice "Come on, Xayrisa, you can do it. I know you can." Sirinxayrisa looks toward her sister with admiration before concentrating on her transformation once more. She's ready. She closes her eyes and exhales, relaxing her long, muscled body and imagining herself in her Dhani form. A warm feeling washes over her, and her sides start to tingle pleasantly just below her head. "This is it." she thinks briefly, before remembering not to break concentration. She focuses on the sensation of stretching, separating, and shifting, tingling of hair growth.
After a few minutes she opens her eyes, blinking through long lashes, a new experience for her. Her eyes grow wide with joy as she looks down to survey her body; a long and beautiful tail, her scales remaining the wonderful pattern they had been in her snake form, arms that are long and slender, delicately muscled with soft fleshy skin attached to palms and digits to grasp and manipulate things with. She notices weird little lumps of fatty flesh on her chest sitting over her heart and lungs. She reaches her arms up to her hair, and takes it between her fingers, the soft curls of a deep brown and black, much like a burnt tree, wrapping around them effortlessly. She feels her face with these new hands of hers, and feels a protrusion from the center, and finds she can breathe from it. Underneath is a soft set of pillowy lips lining the opening of her mouth, much like her sister's, which conceals a tongue and teeth. She clumsily traces her digits upward to feel the bone protruding above her eyes, and the soft lines of hair there, before moving her hands tot he sides of her head, feeling the ears, much different than the holes in her skull she uses as a snake, jutting out from the side of her head. She smiles, or at least tries to manipulate her features into one, because her sister starts laughing at her wonderment.
"Do you have a mirror?" she attempts to ask, knowing only what the words mean, but not necessarily how to make the sounds from watching other Dhani and humans. Her sister nods and pulls one from her backpack, anticipating the question. Sirinxayrisa grasps the mirror and looks at herself, moving her lips into a smile. She looks up at her sister and notices a glazed look in her eyes. "What is wrong?" she asks an turns toward the direction her sister is looking. She sees a group of her brothers and sisters, carrying a piece of leather with what appears to be a snake on it. She slithers closer, still smiling and exclaims to her siblings "Look everyone! I learned to shift! Where's mother so I can show her! She was with you all hunting, right?" and looks at them expecting a "She'll be at the nest shortly." or "She's making sure none of the little ones got lost." but all she gets are glazed over stares. She furrows her brow and glances again at the crude stretcher, confused, until she sees the dark brown scales with tan and black patterning.
Her eyes immediately shoot open, start stinging, and fill with water. Crying is new to her, and she immediately dislikes it. She tries to shift back into her snake form but can't focus enough because of seeing her mother's lifeless tail hang so limp from the leather held by her siblings. She slithers away quickly into the nest, going to her home and curling up in her unfurled bedroll.