Open A Look at Leth

[Ssafiracitlali]

Content to prowl forward in as much silence as she could muster, the female Dhani happily kept to herself; unable and unwilling to communicate with the child with her guardian so close, so observant and empowered. Instead, her swaying body, propelled by her slithering and the grasp of her strong fingers in the natural grooves worn into the old stone, and then dirt, was alert for the sound of an approaching Myrian patrol. She expected them. She expected the halfbreed to communicate with them, and then for the inevitable bloodshed that would occur.

As the ticks rolled by, Citlali came to the realisation that there was to be no Myrians as of yet. Finding that frustrating, in the smallest degree, she couldn't resist letting her lidless eyes focus upon the child periodically. What else was there to look at?

It was for this reason that Citlali was aware of the moment the halfbreed dropped behind, realising it as an opportunity. She focused her attention on the girl at her side, greater interest in her piqued with the obvious lack of a guardian.

"Male," Citlali hissed to the slithering form before her. "Speak to this child for me, and tell me what she says and what she has been saying." The female Dhani might have preferred to have it be done with and get rid of the girl, but she devoured the desire with the hunger for something more than food. Information? The gratification of a savage child in distress?

[Tinnok]

It would seem that Tinnok's paranoia was entirely unfounded, at least at first. As the two serpents and Tsuya drew away, the sound of their bodies slowly fading and being replaced with the natural thrum of the jungle, just as awake at night as it was during the day, the half breed sighed, fairly relieved that there was nothing after them, creature or Myrian.

With one more glance around the clearing she turned to make her way back to the group when she heard a very definite and nearby shift of the foliage. Her bow was half nocked in her grip as she spun around, eyes squinting in the faint light to glimpse a serpentine form who had hissed slightly to gain her attention.

Though there was an expanded hood and a raised body, Tinnok sensed no hostility from the serpent, nor...did she sense the creatures thoughts as she would through her Phylonura mark, making the individual a Dhani. As her slitted eyes broadened due to the lack of light, becoming almost spherical in shape, she was able to make out more of the Dhani's features.

"Xen?" His size would indicate he was a viper Dhani, and she had encountered him once before in a strange twist of events. A rather even tempered Dhani she had found. If he confirmed his identity in any way Tinnok's mouth would creep into a small smile. "We go to see pretty moon." It was as close as her broken Common was going to get to an explanation, but then she would turn and start to return to the group.

Meanwhile, though Citlali was unaware of precisely what the child was spewing forth from her mouth, Tsuya had been chattering up quite a storm, though at the very least in a hushed tone, as Tinnok had stressed being quiet in the jungle. That being said, the green haired girl didn't often get a chance to converse with other Dhani (nor did they like conversing with her) so having two individuals whose attention in some way had to be on her as they journeyed was a wonderful treat.

She pointed out the names of frog, insect, and bird noises as they came up that Tinnok had taught her, and asked Nilyss questions about the moon.

"What does it mean if Leth is like that? Why does he hide sometimes, and why don't he and Syna get to be together forever?" Nilyss was hard put to even get much of a word in between her questions, and they mostly went unanswered. When Citlali asked the male to translate, Tsuya looked up at her with bright curious eyes. "You don't speak Common do you?"

"No she doessn't, child. She isss assking me to transslate ssso she can better undersstand what you are ssaying." Nilyss explained, rather patiently in fact. He relayed, if a bit condensed everything the child had been chattering about on their short journey, and then began the game of Tsuya saying things and making sure Nilyss had spoken them so Citlali could understand.

"Have you always lived in Zinrah? Is that why you don't speak Common? Do you have any slaves? What is your favorite animal? Do you like Leth? What do you do for a job?"

Nilyss was more than a bit relieved when the three of them began to climb up a slightly steeper incline. He put a clawed hand on the girl's shoulder and gestured forward. Up a short climb there was a clearing that would hold all of them quite comfortably in addition to Xen and Tinnok and broke through the thick canopy of the forest in order to glimpse a magnificent black blanket of sky dotted with Zintila's work. In the very center of the night tapestry sat a massively fat moon, a mixture of orange and yellow that stood out so starkly from the monochromatic palette around him.

Tsuya, was finally struck speechless, never having seen Leth as he was tonight, and Nilyss simply looked fondly up into the night sky.



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[Xen]

The Stygian Serpent

“”

“ Yes!” Xen replies in Snake-tongue, but Tinnok would only hear a confirming hiss from his mouth. Xen dips down into the undergrowth, disappearing for a moment, and then reappears slithering across a thick tree root, which was as round as he was. The sight of someone he hadn't seen in a while brought his mind back to the loving arms of clarity, but the fear of returning back to that state of mind he had previously remained.

He did not want to lose himself again...

But he did not know how to control something so heavily embedded into his nature. Only hatchlings behaved on pure primal instinct, which remained with them until they reached a snakeling age or adulthood. However, it stayed with him and became stronger, nigh uncontrollable. There were times Xen wondered if something was wrong with him, if he was lacking some vital aspect of the mind that suppresses this force, urge or affliction. He would always have to do something to distract him from whatever this was, which compelled him to behave like some feral beast.

However, Xen knew he could not let anyone know of his problem.
Yet, he knew not what to do to stop it or how to sooth it entirely. This thing, which has been with him from birth, now threats to consume him. Xen did not want to be overwhelmed by primal instinct as he would lose himself, which was his greatest fear.

Xen slithers across the jungle floor and slithers towards Tinnok. Once he was close enough, he bumps her foot with his nose and raises his head off the ground to look upwards into her eyes. “ Please, carry me,” Xen says, but only “ Sss...Ss...ssssss,” would be heard by Tinnok. He assumed Tinnok knew snake-tongue, which was why he remained in his serpent form, and hoped that she would kindly give him her shoulder again. In a way Xen was using her as his happy medium to quell the internal turmoil he was experiencing at the moment.

But he would never tell her that directly because then he'd have to find the tallest tree in the jungle and jump out of it to escape embarrassment.

[Ssafiracitlali]

Citlali was quiet as Nilyss relayed to her what the child was saying, and though the words were painstakingly condensed, Citlali decided she didn't much like how much the little savage thing talked. It just didn't shut up. Frankly, Citlali disliked how kind the male was being to the child. She thought him backwards for it, or perhaps too lenient. The trait was a weakness.

"Thisss little thing talksss about a great deal of thingsss. I am weary of them already," Citlali said to Nilyss in the privacy of Snaketongue. She didn't wish the male to know her displeasure, or else she thought she would lose what assistance he currently granted her. The next she spoke were words to answer the questions the child rattled off, and of those there weren't few.

"Yesss, I've always been of Zinrah. I don't ssspeak Common becaussse I don't want to," and there she sounded petulant for a moment before continuing on. "I don't keep ssslaves, and my favourite animalsss are the tigersss of the Myrians." As they began to climb the incline towards the clearing, Citlali suffered the urge to just open her mouth and eat the little brat already. Her jaws ached to unhinge and embrace the girl, but the instinct was kept in check by that guiding hand Nilyss placed upon her back. The way that Citlali looked upon the male was lauded with disgust. "Leth isss a fine god, yesss. Asss for a job... well, I hunt for my city." She eyed the girl as if she'd definitely like to eat her, but couldn't decide if she actually wanted to go through the trouble (and then show the obvious signs of having fed when the girl's guardian appeared), or if she wanted to strike the child and throw her broken body from the path.

When the moon was fully in sight for the little trio to see, Citlali paid the moon little notice but for an initial passing glance. Her eyes were for the little girl, mostly, but she was cautious to the approach of Tinnok.

[Tinnok]

Now Tinnok had spent a fair amount of time amongst the Dhani of Zinrah now, but she still had not the slightest grasp on snake tongue. To her it all sounded quite the same, the difference in words or whole sentences hinged on the tiniest of differences in inflection and a different hissed consonant that she usually missed. Despite all of this, however, she was fairly certain whatever came out form between Xen's lips was some sort of affirmation.

He worked his way towards her, and Tinnok completely sheathed her weapons, smiling softly as she did so and examining his unique serpent form, as his snake type was not anything like the normal constrictors she was slowly growing used to.

He continued hissing and Tinnok's face scrunched up, trying her best to understand what he was saying, but he might have been saying anything about traveling as far as she could tell. When he did not move and stared expectantly up at her, torso and upper body extending as far as they could, she took the hint.

"My snake tongue no good." She said apologetically, giving him an arm to easily slither onto and make himself comfortable around her shoulders. "Common no so good too, but Tsuya teach me. I think you have not met, yes?" She smiled, a bit ashamed of her poor understanding of two helpful languages to her in Zinrah, but at the same time not particularly worried what the viper would think of her. Despite the new wait Tinnok's strides were long in an effort to make up for lost time behind the rest of the group, her pupil's narrowing when she realized she had left Tsuya alone with two quite strangers of Dhani.

Meanwhile Nilyss communicated in a somewhat distracted manner, Citlali's questions to Tsuya, who drank up the answers. If she noticed the predatory and annoyed gleam in the female Constrictor's eyes and mouth movements, she gave no sign other than elation at finally having some Dhani who was willing to talk to her.

Nilyss was wearing an article of clothing that evening, something rather uncommon among those in Dhani form, but not uncommon for him. It was a deep Crimson sash, large when considering Dhani stature, and within its folds he kept his journal, charcoal, as well as a chalk like colored substance he uses to color his journal entries by dipping his fingers into the jars and coloring with them. This he begins to do, using yellow and orange colors to try to recreate the strange massive hanging entity.

Tsuya was given more questions from Citlali, one in particular was certainly bothering her, her face showing some measure of confusion.
"Your favorite animal is the Myrian Tigers? Tinnok says they hate Dhani, do you not hate them?" This made Nilyss pause in his drawing, his mouth pressed together thoughtfully as he stared at the child before relaying the questions to Citlali.

Only a few ticks later, Tinnok emerged from the underbrush with a serpent wrapped around her neck and shoulders. Tsuya glanced up, at first happy to see her mentor, then confused once more. Tinnok hurried to explain. "This is friend, Xen. He is Viper. Xen this Tsuya, and..." She trailed off, deciding the others could introduce themselves. Nilyss waved only the most tertiary of greetings before returning to his drawing and Tsuya beamed at Xen. "Vipers are the smaller Dhani? I have never seen one in snake form, you are so much smaller than Constrictors!" Tinnok made a face, not sure if such a statement from her charge would offend Xen or not. Tsuya looked at Tinnok, took a moment to realize what she had said then her smile got even wider if it was even possible. "You are much prettier than most of the Constrictors I've seen, except for you of course!" Tsuya gave a wink at Citlali.

If prodded Nilyss would translate everything for Citlali, though he left out the bit about Tsuya thinking the viper was prettier than most Constrictors.



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[Xen]

The Stygian Serpent

“”
“That's okay, my friend. We all have our faults,” While upon Tinnok's shoulder Xen pats her with his tail to console her. He too had a problem, which was more frightening in nature. He needed to learn how to control it, and if it had not been for Tinnok's presence, he'd still be searching for 'prey' that did not exist. Again this individual has helped him; once from a band of myrians and now from his greatest fear. He owed Tinnok two favors; Xen hopes that the good gods of the world bless and look upon her favorably.

“Tsuya? That name does no appear to be familiar,” Xen shook his head to say ¨no¨ in response
“Tsuya must be one of Tinnok's companions? I'd like to see this person,” Xen continued to say in his mind. He was now curious off the person named Tsuya, it's name sounded feminine, so on the spot he assumed it was female. But in the back of his mind the possibility of it being a male companion lingers. Xen for some reason did not like this. He disliked being around other males at times. Instinctively, he would become competitive with them when beautiful and strong females were around.

Yet, Xen does not feel as though he would dislike any companion of a person he considered a friend of his. “ A companion of my companion shall become my brethren,” Xen thought as he Tinnok traverses the jungle with him upon her shoulders. If he was to go insane, he'd know that at least one person in the world gave him kindness. Xen just hopes that the time he would stray from sanity never comes. When Tinnok steps through the brush, Xen notices immediately that he'd been included in an odd group of characters. “ Two constrictors, a mixed breed, and....is that a human?” Xen thought. Afterwards, he gave Tinnok a rather dubious gaze. This was a rather odd party to be included in. Xen became quite curious behind the purpose of their gathering.

“The smallest and the greatest!” Xen sits upright with his head raised. The hiss he made was a triumphant and proud one. The appearance Xen displays reveals to Tsuya that he wasn't offended by what she said. But then that same appearance crumbles as Tsuya complements him “I'm... I...uh,” Xen bashfully hides his face underneath one of his coil. He was not good with nice compliments.
“Awww! Don't say that! Not while the constrictors are watching!” Xen thought as he hid his face. This was really embarrassing for Xen, the constrictors were ones to talk. If word got out about his, he'd be teased endlessly at work. That wouldn't be professional at all!

[Ssafiracitlali]

When the woman and the snake emerged towards the clearing, Citlali lowered the stance she'd acquired, one that would have given away her less than friendly attitude towards the human child. She withdrew, but not as if she had been caught . Ssafiracitlali knew when to look guilty and when to not, and she decided this was a moment to look least guilty of all. . . for a moment, at least. Until she could work around the obstacles presented her. For this, Citlali turned her attention to the snake, recognising the stature of one of the diminutive vipers before the familiar features.

With a lazy sort of realisation, Citlali recognised the viper as her masseuse once, and she hissed her own sort of greeting to him before eying his position with a strong measure of distaste. For all intents and purposes, the woman was at the level of the Myrians to Citlali, and yet it seemed as if Xen were to think differently. That failed to impress her, and when she heard the words that the viper hissed proudly, further was she unimpressed.

"One ssso lovely asss you should be locked up where you could be appreciated bessst," came her retort, whispered on the breath of a hiss as she leaned over to Xen and pat him, like she would agree with his words and those of the child with her actions while her words said something different only Nyliss and Xen would understand. "It's where pretty things belong."

She slid away, waving a greeting to Tinnok as she returned to Nyliss... and Tsuya,  whom had inquired about Citlali's love of tigers. In all senses, Citlali once feared the beasts with everything, perhaps unable to comprehend that they were just another animal in the jungle. Now that she knew better, and could overcome the fear they presented her, they were just another thing for her to eat.

And she loved the idea of eating a tiger, especially one of the Myrian beasts.

With a sort of elegance, she spoke of this to the little girl, and told her (through either the preoccupied Nyliss or the bold Xen) that she loved them for that reason.

And even though Citlali was little interested in what Nyliss was doing, she made a show of preferring him to the viper's company, as a further slight to send home the idea that she was unimpressed by the little viper... and that maybe her streak of pride had been wounded.

[Tinnok]

Tsuya just smiled at Xen, not understanding his words, but getting the idea of his proud posturing, his head and upper body posing before her. Tinnok flinched somewhat when Citlali drew forward to pet Xen, unsure of the exchange happening between Dhani, and Nilyss gave a lidded gaze towards the two different breeds of Dhani, rather done with the company that had come with him this evening. A Viper not of Zinrah, a human, a half breed, and a sinister female, it was all a bit much. That being said he did relay Citlali's reasoning of her 'love' of Myrian Tigers to Tsuya.

In that one instant the human child's demeanor entirely changed. Upon that entire trip child was the most apt word to describe her, bright, excited, and seemingly extremely naive it was all that could be applied to her, but upon hearing that the only love Citlali derived from Myrian Tigers was to potentially eat one of them and take something away from Myri, something darkened somewhat. There was still a smile upon her face in meeting Xen and reconnecting with Tinnok, but just as Citlali drew guiltily or not away form Tsuya, so too did she shy away from the female Constrictor, drawing up next to Tinnok, who was instinctively drawing up a defensive posture. Even if she didn't know the secret venom lying behind Citlali's words, she knew enough about female Dhani's treatment of males from her life with Myrians. She drew the shoulder to which Xen reared up from away form Citlali's hand without thinking, her arm coming out slightly to also dart in front of Tsuya.

"The moon is pretty." She said in her halting grasp of Common, though in truth she had barely glanced at the giant orange yellow globe. Nilyss only gave an affirmative huff, now entirely focused upon his art to grace the pages of his journal, and Tinnok looked as if she was preparing for battle ready to jump to the aid of Xen or Tsuya, though in reality Citlali probably had no intention of becoming openly hostile. Tsuya nodded in response to the half breeds comment, not picking up on the rather obvious lack of emotion in it.


"I have never seen Leth so big or bright. Does he change color often?" To this Nilyss only offered an abrupt shake of his head.
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[Xen]

The Stygian Serpent

“”
“I expect nothing less from a companion of Tinnok, ” Xen thought as he nods his head once. Though, he was able to meet one of Tinnok's companions in person and converse with them, Xen felt a little disappointed with himself. He did not have any friends in the nest to introduce Tinnok to, considering how things were between him and some of the constrictors in the nest at times, establishing friendships was hard. His reclusive and cautious nature was also to blame, and this, combined with the deceptive, cruel, and manipulative tendencies of his race. The path of a loner was, inevitably, one Xen was to walk.

It was how life was for him that brought forth some disdain towards his current dwelling. Yet, how things were now also saddened him. To see that he could not trust, or bond with some his own kin. Xen understood that it was better to have one, and or, a few trustworthy persons he could consider his friend than an entire group of untrustworthy individuals, who would manipulate him for their own cruel and selfish gain. There was little Xen could do with his current self, but avoid said individuals by making the right decisions and obtaining strength he could rightfully call his own.

“ That's rare ” Xen thought upon seeing Citlali. He had never seen any of his clients after work before and never really developed an interest in their personal lives, or wanted to meet them again. Thanks to the encounters he's had with some of Zinrah's weird inhabitants. Though, Xen was glad to see that this client of his was healthy and active, but he didn't know her name.“ What is your na- ” Xen was about to ask Citlali for her name, but was interrupted by her comment.

“ ....Okay..... ” Xen thought, but his blank expression was one that asked ¨Did she just say that?. However, Xen replays Tsuya's words in his mind for a chime before he chuckled
“ So, it's like that, huh? ” Xen thought with a mischievous glint in his eyes; if he was in his human form, Xen would have been smiling right now. To think that a big constrictor, like Citlali, would behave this way. “True, but you'd be locked up with me too,” Xen said teasingly. However, judging by her demeanor, and the way she slithered off, she'd probably ignore his word: that much Xen assumed.

“ I haven't seen, or heard of a myrian tiger before, ” Xen thought while upon Tinnok's shoulder. Only the sudden change in Tinnok and Tsuya's behavior made him believe that the beast may have some personal value to them, which made him look at Citlali in a different light, and question her words a little. Xen had to embrace Tinnok with his body, due to his lack of hands, and does so lightly as to not to alarm his companion. He did not want to tumble off of her in case of a scuffle.

To Xen the atmosphere felt tense for a few chimes, but Tinnok spoke, breaking the ice. He nods in agreement as it was not too long ago that he was staring at the heavenly body.

[Tinnok]

Citlali made her way off into the wilderness, and Tinnok did not care to see where she was going, nor cared if she intended on returning. Neither, apparently, did Nilyss, who continued sketching, a somewhat respectful, and substantially more calm atmosphere falling over those that now were.

Tsuya moved her mouth to speak, and Tinnok placed a hand lightly on her charge's shoulder. "No talk, just watch Leth." Tsuya frowned thoughtfully, but stepped away from Tinnok towards Nilyss, silently, and seemingly content with watching him sketch the brightly colored moon and take notes.

Only then did the half breed seem to relax somewhat, the antagonistic Dhani gone and Tsuya calmed for the moment. Her shoulders relaxed, her weapon was no longer at the ready, and the Viper curled around her could feel every tense bit of her body uncoil as it were, even as he drew a bit more tightly around her. Though Tinnok was bothered by Dhani in some to many ways, she did not categorize Xen in any of the stereotypical ways of most Dhani. Of course this was based off of their first and only meeting, but he had been kind, respectful, and a worthy acquaintance, a thing she could not say of most Dhani she had met, even if more than a few had won her affection in one way or another. Perhaps he just hid it better than his compatriots, but Tinnok did not feel the need to be constantly on the defensive around the viper.

"Show if you want to go to ground." She said indicating the the ground. She knew Dhani were as comfortable in any form as much as the next, but was not sure if the Dhani would shift given the time they now had and the room. "Also tell if want go back to Zinrah." She smiled, more at her own haphazard go at Common, but it was friendly nevertheless. She glanced around for a moment, then found a gathering of rocks to sit upon and admire Leth's glow without standing, allowing Xen to make his way off of her if he so wished.

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