Flashback A Simple Hunt (Isollana, Svan)

[Iskessah]

Spring 57, 434 AV This was going to be great. Ssrasshiskessah was finally old enough to take a stab at raising one of the younglings--only one, as her mother and mother's sister did not yet trust her with a whole clutch at a time. But that suited Iskessah just fine, since a whole clutch might have some males in it, and she could not imagine having to deal with anything so useless. But one of her mother's sister's daughters wanted to go hunting, and Iskessah was more than willing to take her. She could just imagine how excellent it would be to have a protege, someone looking to her for wisdom and guidance. Someone who she could mold to her own ideal of what Dhani should be. She expected the young Trahasiisollana would take to her right away, hanging on every word that dripped like venom from Iskessah's fangs. She met the promising younger Dhani just outside the rattler den, wearing her snake form as it was the most natural and agile for hunting. Trying to seem cool and mature, she simply said, "Let's go," before slithering away into the forest. They could chat and Isollana see how awesome Iskessah was once they were away from the ever-judging eyes of their mothers.

[Trahasiisollana]

Spring 57, 434 AV Location: The Northern Reaches Trahasiisollana waited eagerly for her older cousin to arrive; they were going to go out hunting together. Isollana had only hunted once before, and it had been with her mother. Lame was not nearly a strong enough term of description. Everything that day had been rules, rules, and more rules. Isollana could still hear her mother's rambles slithering around within her skull, "Don't try to eat something twice your size. Don't stick your fangs where they can't release venom. Don't whack your prey into the mud..." The list had gone on and on. Today was going to be different though. Her cousin, Ssrasshiskessah, was young and fun-loving just like her. Their personalities would click in an instant! At least, that is what Isollana’s mother had told her, for they had never actually met. Nevertheless, Isollana could just imagine how awesome the other must be and what a magnificent time they were surely going to have. There was one thing of which she was certain: they were going to spend the entire day in their Dhani forms. After all, nothing could be more exciting in Isollana's eyes. She had only recently discovered her second form, and loved it like any child loves a new toy. Just the sight of her long, tanned arms brought a smile to her lips. Indeed, if Iskessah was to impress Isollana at all, than she wouldn't so much as utter the word snake. A soft brushing sound was heard from a little ways away. As it grew louder, Isollana clenched her fists with excitement. Suddenly, out of the grasses rose a large grey rattler with brown diamonds spotting its back. Iskessah. Isollana was instantly ordered to follow the other, and did so with just the slightest hint of disappointment; it wasn't exactly the greeting that she'd hoped to receive. Stubborn as ever, Isollana did not switch into her snake form and instead dragged behind at the somewhat slow pace of a dhani. Before long they were deep within the forest.

[Iskessah]

When they were out of earshot of their mothers, Iskessah turned to the youngling and hissed, “What are you doing in that form? Take your first form; it’s better for hunting.” If asked to explain why this was so, the Dhani might have difficulty. She only knew that it was the form she preferred, and so was naturally the obvious choice. She was a little annoyed her cousin had not picked up on this naturally, but she supposed she must make allowances for the follies of youth, to a point. They could be so oblivious sometimes, and if one needed a bit of gentle encouragement in the right direction, that was no great difficulty. She kept her head low as she slithered through the woods, but from the sound of rustling branched behind her, Isollana was not following her example. Just how dense was the youngling? There were limits to what was allowable. Trying to pretend she had an ounce of patience, she whispered, “Keep your head down, unless you want to advertise our presence to prey and threat alike. If you ever want to be a competent hunter, follow my example!” In her frustration, she unknowingly increased her pace, and soon was slithering at an almost reckless speed. The rustling sound just kept getting more annoying, and if Iskessah didn’t know better, she’d say it was getting louder with every grating second. Finally, she could stand it no longer, and she spun around to cut Isollana off, raising herself up to equal the fool girl’s height. What she was too distracted to realize was that she had chanced to turn around at the edge of a cliff, and what she’d thought was the rustling of leaves was actually the rushing of a river far below. Unless Isollana’s reflexes were unbelievably good, both Dhani would wind up over the cliff’s edge.

[Licearsvansan]

It wasn't a crush.

At least thats was telling himself.

As he stalked the her.

Svan found himself in the middle of the woods following the two female dhani out on their little hunting trip. He had been out wandering the forests in an attempt to hide from the other dhani of the nest, when he came across the two. The brown haired dhani had wanted to go and greet them, but Svan, shy as always, decided instead to stay far out of sight instead. At this point Svan was even struggleing to keep sight of them with his thermal vision.

Now let me set things straight. It wasn't Iskessah that Svan was following, it was Isollana. Being the sweet hearted snake that he was, Svan was often abused by the other members of dhani society. Neither Iskessah nor Issollana were kind to Svan, but among all the dhani that tortured, manipulated, and teased the poor snake-boy, Issollana was one of his favorites. When others abused Svan, it would always be in the cruelest fashions, and they had a way of making Svan feel less than human. However, with Isollana there was something different. When she picked on Svan there wasn't that feeling of pure condecencion that accompanied Svan's other tormentor's teasings. It seemed to him that she was more playful in her tricks than the others. Because of this, when she teased Svan he would often imagine it as her inviting him to be part of her game. Sure he would always get the short end of the stick, but at least he got to be included in her fun.

And now he was stalking her. Talk about desperate.

As he glided over the forest floor with his snake head close to the ground he began to wish he had the courage to greet the pair. Sadly, Svan was no fan of Iskessah and approaching one meant meeting the other. Maybe they will see me? Then I won't have to go up there myself. They will come to me! The snake thought to himself, But what if they ask me why I was near them in the first place?! I'll have to tell them I was following them. I can't lie. I'm horrible at it! Svan began to slow his pace. He considered turning around immediately, but was stopped by a terrible thought, What if Iskessah already saw me? If I leave now she will think I'm running away. She would take it as an admission of my guilt and when she returns to the nest she will hunt me down and- Oh Gods not again! I have to go now, greet them before I look suspicious. Svan moved faster for a moment but stopped himself as fear of talking to the two dhani washed over him again. It was hopeless. It would take a force of nature for Svan to get the courage to go greet the pair. Desperate, Svan prayed to every god he had ever heard of to give him the chance to get closer to Isollana. Well every god except Siku. The last thing Svan wanted to do was alert Siku to his cowardice.

Only moments later Svan heard the light rush of river water sliding over the soil ahead. The snake child had been to this part of the forest before and knew that there was a well disguised cliff not far from where the other two were. At first Svan pushed the idea of the dhani being foolish enough to fall over the edge from his mind, but as the others continued foreward they drew dangerously near the ledge. Fearing for their safety, Svan slithered closer to the others so that he could get a better view. Sure enough, Iskessah and Isollana where busy focusing on one another, instead of the nearby ledge. Svan had always doubted that any god other than Siku would hear his pleas, but it seemed that someone had answered his prayers because Svan was now headed towards to other two at the fastest speed his snake body could manage. He was determined to save Isollana even if she had to learn that he had been following her. Perhaps if he could catch her in time she would ignore his stalking of her and even begin to consider him a friend.

No sooner did Svan reach the two than both dhani tumble over the ledge. Thinking as fast as he could, Svan whipped his tail around the base of a tree and shot his neck out towards the falling Dhani. The young snake boy pinched his eyes closed and opened his mouth wide. He didn't want to see what he was going to have to do next. With only the slightest hesitation Svan clamped his mouth shut over a scaly tail and held tight. Lukewarm blood filled his mouth, and the snake appologized profusely in his mind. Confident in his grip on the dhani Svan twisted and coiled his body to pull his snake friend back onto the ledge. Once she was finally back to safety Svan opened his mouth, and prepared to deliver a litany of appologies for biting Isollana. No words came out though. There was no use for such word now because Svan had only been prepared to appologize to Isollana, but the snake that stood before him was Iskessah.

Apperently the other gods did hear the Svan's prayers, and it was now quite clear that they HATED him.

[Iskessah]

Isollana's reflexes were not good, and Iskessah was rapidly becoming disenchanted with the idea of training such an inept charge. Both Dhani went tumbling over the cliff. Iskessah had just enough time to blame the younger Dhani for this misfortune before she felt the sharp pain of two fangs sinking into her tail. Sollana fell toward the river below as Iskessah was pulled back up the the top of the cliff. She hissed angrily at the pain, but realized that it was perhaps preferable to tumbling to an uncertain fate. She struggled to twist her body in some way that would allow her to find purchase on something, so that the Dhani coming to her aid would be able to release her tail. Unfortunately, despite her twisting and stretching, there was not a lot she could do, dangling over the cliff as she was. And so she had to wait impatiently for the other Dhani to pull her up. By the time he got her onto solid ground, Iskessah'd had a chance to recognizes the youngling's scent. The pain and humiliation of being rescued by this particular Dhani put her in a slightly worse mood than usual. As soon as she was sure she would not fall again, she violently whipped her tail until he released it, then raised her head and upper body until she could look down on him. "Well well, if it isn't the Dhani who is not a Dhani," she hissed. Of anyone who could have rescued her, it had to be Licearsvansan, the most pathetic excuse for a Dhani she had ever met. Really, it was a stain on their whole race (not to mention mother Siku) that he was such a weakling. An idea occurred to her then. She had set out this morning to teach a youngling to hunt like a Dhani. She might have been expecting to take Isollana, but perhaps Siku was telling her that Licearsvansan was in more dire need of help. At least this youngling had the sense to hunt in the right form. As if she expected Svansan to know what had just gone through her head, she began instructing him. She flicked her tongue, catching the scent of a few possible victims in the forest around them. "What do you smell?" she asked imperiously, thinking she would be generous and let him decide what sort of hunt he wanted to pursue.

[Licearsvansan]

Svan wasn't sure if he could go any lower. His head was already touching the ground and he looked up at Iskessah in the most submissive manner imaginable. He wasn't sure why, but she was angrier than usual and that was quite rarely a good sign. He held his tail over his head, partially to rub his wounded head, and partially to defend against any further attacks. He whispered a meager "I'm sorry." to the woman, unsure of what else to say.

He had to wonder what kind of poor luck he had to possess to catch Iskessah of all people. He told himself that he was glad he had done so. While she was still fairly young, she was still a valued member of the Dhani nest, and Svan believed that even her hateful life was worth saving. Still, he lamented that it might be Isollana's body now lying dead at the bottom of the riverbed instead of this witch of a woman. A darker part of him that he tried his best to ignore even silently wished that he had accidentally let his venom flow when he bit her.

"Well well, if it isn't the Dhani who is not a Dhani," THe woman hissed to him.

"I hope you're alright." Svan replied with mostly honestly.

Suddenly the woman began to flick her tongue and Svan could tell something was on her mind. Had he not been sincere enough? Was she planning something horrible for him? Was she looking to see if there would be any witnesses to his untimely demise?

"What do you smell?"

"No one..." Svan said, half expecting to be killed having witnessed Iskessah's blunder. No one to hear me scream he thought to himself. Then it struck him. She was asking him to smell for animals to hunt. The snake rose his head and quickly started to correct himself. "Oh, um I smell-" Svan let his tongue flick out and as he withdrew it a barrage of smells hit him. "-a boar. It smells bloody, maybe its wounded?"

The snake gave Iskessah the most confident smile he could manage as he pretended to be happy about his situation, but inside he could help but envy Isollana right now.

[Iskessah]

Iskessah was vaguely surprised. So far, the young male was turning out to be a much better student than Isollana. Still, his choice of prey said plenty. There were several beasts within range, and he chose the wounded one. So, either he was sensible, or a coward. It was too early to tell which one it was, but though cowardice was in Svansan's nature, Iskessah was inclined to the optimistically of the younger Dhani, since she tended toward sensible choices herself. It did not occur to her to voice her approval. Naturally, her student should be aware of her feelings without her having to explain them. As a result, what she said next may have come off more sarcastic than she had intended. "Well, since you're so smart, perhaps you'd like to show me how you plan to stalk this wounded prey." Iskessah planned to let Svansan show what he could do right up until the point where he did something wrong. She didn't want to waste her time teaching him the basics that every hatchling should know, but she fully expected him to flinch at the moment of the kill, if he didn't screw up before then. She couldn't let her optimism get the better of her. Svansan had a reputation. Though, if she could teach the fang-less Dhani to hunt properly... well, that would be a pretty impressive feat.

[Licearsvansan]

Svan ducked like an abused child when Iskessah spit out her words. He hadn't been so hopeful as to expect praise, but he was at least expecting her not to be quite this venomous. With a sorry expression on his face Svan placed his head upon the ground and whisper a quiet "okay" before heading off in the direction of the prey. The brown Dhani kept his body low to the ground as he traveled. Hit tail tapped a tree once or twice and he slid over a leaf that was slightly too dry every so often, but other than that Svan was nearly silent. One part of this was simple predatory instinct, but it was mostly due to fear. Svan wanted horribly to disappear right now and with each crunch of a leaf he was reminded of his current situation. Being forced by some psychopathic snake to hunt a boar that was just as big as him.

He wasn't sure why Iskessah was made at him, but he imagined that it had something to do with his choice of prey. Svan had chosen the boar because it would provide both a filling meal, and it was likely weakened considerably. However, choosing the weak prey was cowardly, and obviously Iskessah hated him for doing so. As the two Dhani slithered their way over to the boar Svan reminded himself again and again of how pathetic he was. By the time they reached the bloody creature Svan's self esteem was so low that 'nonexistent' would be and understatement. As the scent of the blood grew stronger Svan slowed down and grew even more wary of his surroundings. peaking through the foliage with his heat pits Svan could see the bright red aura of the boar. It was wounded to the point that it was walking with a limp, and there was a small trail of blood behind it that hinted that the wound it carried was either fresh or very severe.

Now came the plan of attack. Svan normally would have been excited by this part, having inherited his mothers sharp wit, Svan was capable of creating very detailed and impressive plots. However, because of his lowly status Svan's plans were rarely ever considered, and that was assuming Svan could muster up the courage to even speak his opinion. Svan considered his options. He could charge straight forward and try a bold yet suicidal assault in hopes of showing Iskessah how brave he was, or he could try something clever but cowardly. The second was obviously most appealing, but what if this was some sort of test for Svan. Perhaps Iskessah was simply giving him a chance to redeem himself after choosing such a weakened prey. The thought of the woman's fury far outweighed the threat of being inpaled by the boar's tusks, and Svan decided on a straight forward attack more so out of fer than bravery. At the last moment before he burst from the cover of the foliage, Svan had another thought. What would happen if Svan was wounded by this boar in such a reckless attack? Would Iskessah dare risk her reputation by bringing back an injured Svan and chance incurring the wrath of his mother? No, of course not. She would leave him to die out here like the worthless pile of snake shyke he was. The thought angered Svan. He knew he was worthless, but there was something about realizing just how little value his life was to her that ticked him off. He would never abandon her like that, but if Svan became a hindrance to her he had no doubt that she would leave him. But what was he going to do, strike at her in rage? He barely had the courage to even be angry with her. He couldn't kill her, he couldn't even bring himself to hurt her...

Intentionally.

In his usual meek voice Svan whispered, "I have a plan. stay here please." He quickly turned himself and began to slither in a circle around the boar. He continued to keep out of sight until finally the boar was in position between him and Iskessah. Then Svan began his plan. He slithered forward just enough so that the boar could see him if it looked at him, and then he began to rattle his tail. He started slowly at first as to not scare the boar, but quickly picked up the speed until it was clear that Svan meant business. The snake took a defensive stance and gave the best his he could possibly make. The boar nearly jumped when it had heard the snake hissing, but didn't run. Instead it turned itself to face the rattling snake and snorted loudly. It clopped on hoof against the ground as if readying to charge, but another hiss from Svan seemed to change its mind. Slowly the beast began to back away, and the hazel eyed Dhani could have cheered with joy. In alerting the boar to his presence and taking a defensive stance Svan had tricked the boar into believing that he merely wanted to be left alone, and so the boar was backing away to give the snake the space it wanted. However, what the boar didn't know was that it was slowly backing into Iskessah. All she needed to do was give it one good strike to the head with her tail and the weakened beast would be on the floor. It was a simple plan with one small difficulty. While it would be within range, the boars head was at the front of its body and Iskessah was at its back. Of course any real Dhani could make such a shot with ease so there was obviously not threat since Iskessah was such a master.

As said earlier, Svan could never do anything to Iskessah. However, that didn't mean he couldn't endanger her so long as it was unlikely for her to get hurt. After all, if she got hurt because of her own incompetence then it really couldn't be counted as "intentional" now could it?

[Iskessah]

No matter how polite Svansan sounded, Iskessah chaffed at even the hint of being ordered around. It caused her to automatically defy the younger Dhani's wishes, and while he was slithering around the clearing, Iskessah made her way up a tree. Her scales grabbed at the bark, which prevented her from slipping, making the journey up the trunk much less challenging than it might have been had she not been a snake. She watched Svansan's progress with increased puzzlement and frustration. What was he doing? Why, why, why did he just reveal his presence to his prey? What is the purpose of that? The more she watched, the more antsy she became. Why was she letting this runt have all the fun anyway? Even if he somehow miraculously got the kill, what would she get? Why did she ever think teaching younglings how to hunt was a good idea? She hadn't realized that it would mean she didn't get to kill anything if she had to let them do it. She should just teach by example, make them watch her and learn only if they were smart enough to pay attention. By the time she snapped out of her musings, the boar was backing slowly away from Svansan toward where Iskessah used to be. She flicked her tongue in disgust. Why hadn't he bitten his prey yet? The only excuse for not killing your prey quickly was if you wanted to have some fun with it first. But he wasn't even maiming the thing. Was he really just a coward after all? Had her faith in him been entirely misplaced, as she'd feared? Svansan was a failure of a Dhani, and she would have to take matters into her own fangs. She kept her tail coiled around a branch as she slowly lowered her head within reach of the retreating boar. She could smell the blood from its wounded hind leg, and she decided that poison directly injected into its bloodstream would be the most painful way to die. Such a merciful death as knocking it out with her rattle would not even have occurred to her. She waited quietly, biding her time until the boar was within reach. The moment she struck, the boar seemed to sense something, something that the two Dhani had been far too busy to notice. The boar lunged forward in an attempt to flee, throwing off Iskessah's aim. Far, far too late, a question occurred to Iskessah: If this boar is wounded, where is the thing that wounded it? She emptied her venom sacks into the boar's rump just as a towering form came into range of her heat-vision. Not far off, a Talderan grizzly bear was ambling toward them, apparently following the scent of the boar that it had almost gotten earlier. It hadn't spotted the two Dhani yet, but there was no telling what it would do when it noticed Svansan lying in the path.

[Licearsvansan]

Today was not a good day, but then again Svan didn't tend to have good days. This one however, sucked in particular.

Not only had Svan failed to save his crush from falling off a cliff, not only had he rescued the unthankful Iskessah, not only had he been forced to hunt with her, NOT ONLY had she failed to follow his plan, Dire sized grizzly bear had appeared on the scene. The only fortunate thing in Svan's day was that he had the misfortune of biting into the boar as it fled. Svan was now being dragged at nearly twenty miles an hour through the rough forest floor.

When Kessah had failed knock out the boar and instead risk biting it Svan had foolishly attacked it as it fled. He had hoped Kessah would keep her fangs on it and together the two of them would have halted its flight. Unfortunately, Svan had once again misjudged Kessah and he was now hitting every rock, root, and sharp twig the ground had to offer. He wanted to let go, but fear seized his movements and he could do little but continue bleeding his venom as the boar shook him to and fro in a pointless attempt to dislodge him. At first his muffled screams could be heard as he was dragged along, but eventually his throat became so filled with the boar's loosened blood that all he could do was gurgle. or was that his own blood? It was impossible to tell at this point, and it didn't matter to Svan. The way he saw it, he deserved this. He had tried to trick his fellow Dhani and this was his punishment. More importantly, he had tried to trick a female into injuring herself. He deserved to die.

Luckily, it didn't come to that. After a while the boar tripped over its own weakened legs and collapsed to the earth. It attempted to rise once but only succeed for a moment before its feet buckled beneath it. Stunned by the sudden stop Svan remained tightly fastened to the boar before his mouth suddenly fell open and he rolled onto the ground. He lay there, still dazed, as he tried to figure out just what had happened. After a moments pause Svan turned his head to the now rapidly dieing boar and noticed the blood pouring like water from it. Rattler venom was know to be lethal, but usually it took time before the poison could deal enough damage to the tissue to kill an animal. That being said, Rattler venom not only damaged tissue, but caused excessive bleeding. The animal had loosened its scabs in its escape and the venom had kept the wounds gushing blood. In short, the boar had bled to death. Despite oweing most of his wounds to this creature Svan couldn't help but feel bad for it. It had only wanted to live and Svan had to take that from it. He at least took solace that the extra dosage of venom he had added to it had given it a swifter death than the one Iskessah had hoped.

Then all at once he noticed something. The smell of bear was think on this creature, and it took mere seconds for Svan to realize that a grizzly was what had originally injured it. Quickly Svan tasted the air with his tongue, fearing that the bear was nearby waiting to strike. However, to his dismay Svan found two unsettling facts. The bear was far away from him.

And it was near Iskessah.