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The unassuming den of the Constrictor Dhani, it is truly a pit of snakes. Travelers should take care, because the Dhani are always hungry... [Lore]
Mamuro slithered his way through the dark tunnels of the nest towards one of the many exits where Syna's bright light awaited him on the other side. It was a blinding light as it was high in the day and where most dhani wouldn't dare step outside of the nest for fear of the Myrians watching them near-by. But for Mamuro, this was no threat, not when he could morph himself or even cast illusions to make himself appear as one of his enemies. The dhani stopped just inside the entrance, where the light from outside just barely reached him.
He started to morph into his human form, bones popping and muscles ripping as he contorted and reformed his shape to that of a much smaller size, a human size. 30 seconds later, Mamuro stood tall in his human form with only a simple cloth around his pelvis to cover the area. Long thick, silk-like black hair coursed down his back and over his shoulders, and loose strains fell across his face where hard shadows covered his features.
The dhani knelled on the ground and rested his hands over his pale knees and closed his eyes. He cleared his thoughts, calling only to his memories and of the many Myrians that he had seen. This wouldn't be an easy shift, and he didn't have a particular face in mind. They were all meat to him, and over time he had seen many Myrians with all sorts of facial and body tattoos, and even some with bones sticking out of their noses. Too many faces and not even focus on just one.
Mamuro meditated for a while longer, possibly a full bell before he would finally get up. There was a calm in the tunnel, silence reigning from behind him as the world filled with sounds and smells reached into the tunnel from the world outside. Once he was ready, the dhani stood up and called upon the djed from within him to rise and focused it first into his feet. There a subtle change beginning to happen, skin darken and a slight change in shape followed. The transformation continued upward towards the hips where the first of tattooed markings started to appear.
Mamuro couldn't think of one simple plain of skin from a human to use and so he used whatever came into thought. Strange patterns became to appear, some more accurate and others a mix of shapes and slashes. He continued to morph, continued to concentrate into the shift, creating smaller but not less muscular shoulders. His facial features changed, eyes becoming dark as night and a round jaw line to fit with the shorter, thicker neck. The last to change was the hair, the long flowing mane coiling back into his skull and leaving only a thin brown strip from the middle of his head and down the back.
The morph would take more time since he didn't have a model but it was done, and the dhani now appeared as the savages did who were lurking around some place outside. He reached down and picked up the naginata that he had placed at his side and stepped into the light of day.
Last edited by Kalesserimamoru on June 10th, 2013, 3:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mamuro would hunt on this day, and he would do it as the humans did, in the day light. The dhani stepped out of the hole in the ground and moved into the forest. The trees were alive with noises from birds and other animals, and in the mist of the bushes he could hear other things moving around. It was different hunting in the light of day when all was in open sight and the shadows were confined to the small spaces under thick bushes. Mamuro walked through the jungle, light steps to muffle his movements. Walking was a lot more noisy then slithering about, but it was only in this form that he could hunt during the day.
He walked a steady path, looking around and stopping from time to time to allow his ears to pick up on anything nearby. Then he heard a sound, a rustling in the brushes not too far from where he stood. Mamuro bent his knees and slowly walked in the direction of the sound. He held his weapon up and almost level with his shoulder in case he saw a chance for a quick strike.
The sound continued, and the dhani stepped closer and once he was close enough, he took a quick step forward, and stabbed the naginata into the bushes. Nothing happened, no sound or cry, no meaty flesh being ripped into, nothing but the sound of the blade slamming into dirt.
"Flamesss!"
He looked around, his dark eyes narrowing as he sought out the source once again. He would hear it again, a pitter patter of steps, as if something had just rushed off and into the bushes further ahead. Mamuro hissed and side stepped the bush and moved on towards the next spot. He was careful as he did so, knowing that Myrians could have traps set up in the area.
Mamuro bent his knees again and stepped lightly on his toes as he moved across the ground, even turning his feet inward to overstep loose twigs and small rocks on the path. This time he didn't wait until he was close enough for a quick strike, instead, the dhani took a few quick steps forward, dug his heels into the ground and launched the naginata through the air to where it landed awkwardly in the bushes ahead. Again, there was no sound, not one that he had hoped for at least.
Mamuro was confused now, there was something, there had to be. He heard noises, saw the brushes shiver, something was there. The dhani stood silently for a moment while he thought over the recent display of events in his head. Then suddenly something dropped from the sky, a small pebble that fell into the bush in front of him. The dhani looked down first and then up high into the tree, there was something there, above the green leaves that continued to move about.
"SSomething iss up there..but what?"
The question was answered soon after, when a dark-furred primate peeked out at him from above. Some sort of monkey it seemed, but it was a lot easier to see it during the day. Mamuro looked at the animal closely, haven't only seen a few in his entire life time. Despite the difference in species, the animal looked and moved a lot like humans did. Mamuro stared upward into the trees just as the animal stared downward at him.
Curiosity.
Another ruffle of leaves, another squeak and there were two of them, both peering out at the dhani from high in the tree. Mamuro licked his dry lips, but otherwise stayed his blade and watched them more. They didn't stick around long, and soon rushed off through the trees, hoping from one branch to the other. The dhani followed by ground, racing through the jungle, while keeping his head high to watch the directions of the animals above.
They stopped after a while, and settled into a thick, long limbed tree with fruits and berries in the foliage. Mamuro wanted a closer look, wanted to observe them more before he decided he would eat them. He pushed himself against the tree and started to slowly climb up, it would be a challenge in doing so, even more while carrying a weapon. But he needed something to stab at them with unless he planned to lash out instead. Mamuro climbed higher, stretching his body as far as he needed to reach the upper branch and then pulled himself up, while using his legs to push against the tree trunk.
Climbing wasn't easy, not nearly as easy as the monkeys made it look. Mamuro shifted his body and latched on to the closest branch and tried to sway his legs around so that he could secure his position and claim the branch as his new sitting place.
He failed.
"Flamessss!"
The dhani hissed as his legs slipped, body dangled causing his grip to loosen, and finally sending him to the ground with a hard thump. He snarled as he rubbed his sore bum, and stood up again. But he wouldn't give up not like this. A moment later and the dhani was slamming himself against the tree a second time, lifting his arms to grasp onto the lowest branch and pull himself upward. He slipped again, but this time he was able to hold on long enough to get his legs around the branch that he had reached for the first time.
"Ahhaaa!"
Mamuro smirked and shifted his weight to allow him to slide up and sit on the branch. The first part was done, and from where he sat he could still see the monkeys in the tree across from him, but they hadn't noticed him yet. He slowly pushed himself up, trying to stand on the branch beneath him and steady his weight. The dhani righted himself, legs shaky but bent and he streched his arms out for balance. The moment that he did, he slipped, his body jerked and he went down...on the branch.
"Ohhhhhh....flamesss..."
Mamuro's eyes went crossed and his lips perked out and in a very slow motion, he tittered and slipped off the branch, weapon and all. Another thunk sounded his arrival on the ground once again where he landed a bit too closely to his sharp weapon. Mamuro sat up, dark eyes whirling inside his head before he could collect his focus again. The was a sound nearby, one that sounded a lot like laughter. There monkeys?
The dhani jumped up and grabbed his weapon, he wouldn't be outdone, or laughed at by monkeys. He was a Dhani, a hunter, and a much bigger creature than the ones hiding in the trees. He would get to them, he would find a way and wouldn't let anything stop him. Mamuro had his second wind now and again, pushed himself against the tree and started to climb up. He could already feel his arms tiring from constantly lifting his full weight, and a new burning in his thighs from the extra leg work.
"I'll get to you. Jusst wait...I'll learn your ssecretess, how you can move sso eassily in the tree topss.."
Mamuro hugged the side of the tree and glanced downward, he was about to the same height as he was before, when he fell off the first round up. He licked his lips, a new resolve in his eyes as he pushed himself up more and crawled around to sit on the branch a second time. Once he was settled and had the monkeys in his sight again, the dhani slowly rose up and started to crawl across the branch again. It wasn't safe for him to try and stand just yet, his balance was still shaky and the branch itself seemed weak.
He didn't go too far as first, only crawled close enough to get a better look at them. It seemed that there was no end to them, as now he looked upon three of them. All sitting together and picking bugs from the others back. They really were like humans, long fingers and toes, arms bent and extended the same way, and even their legs did so. Mamuro stayed as still as possible and watched them more, it was an interesting thing about these creatures, and he was sure that Myrians couldn't moved through the trees as fast and with as much ease.
He would have to watch them more to understand them better, but for now, he was hungry. Mamuro rose up a bit further and once again started to crawl slowly across the branch. Suddenly, the monkeys became aware of his presences which sent them into an up rage. They started to jump around and launched fruit and berries at him from the other tree. Mamuro hissed as he tried to cover his head, and just as before, he lost his balance and slipped off the branch. The dhani hissed louder and grappled at the tree branch while trying to hold himself up.
"I'll get you next time!" He threatened just before his hands slipped and he went tumbling to the ground a second time.
Firstly, impressive and evocative as that first post was, at a Novice level of Morphing, you'd simply be unable to create a convincing Myrian. The Skill Levels are there for a reason, after all, and while it might fool a Myrian at night and from a distance, during the day... probably not. Still, that's why you can progress...
Other than that, this was your usual pragmatic and impressive stuff. I like how you don't overplay your abilities (well, aside from the aforementioned example), and when you are a novice, you ACT like one. Good for you! All the more satisfying as you level up.
