Minds and bodies are taken over when a horrendous parasite takes over the minds of regular Alvads
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Considered one of the most mysterious cities in Mizahar, Alvadas is called The City of Illusions. It is the home of Ionu and the notorious Inverted. This city sits on one of the main crossroads through The Region of Kalea.
A figure, barely recognisable as Ssanya to any that knew of the small, hazel-skinned woman, strode with churning guts along a deserted street in the early light of Alvadas' bright, clear morning. A few stars still hung, rich and twinkling in the sky. But her head was down, her teeth clamped shut and her eyes pinpricks of burning embers as she scanned the worn cobbles obsessively. She was unrecognisable because she stood tall, taller than most. She was even less distinguishable as herself because she strode with purpose in the fearsome skin of the Dhani that ultimately she was.
There was a time, seasons ago now, where she had stepped on illusioned, shifting desert sands and spoken with one of her own, in the same guise she was in now. But all thoughts of that time, back then, were lost to the crazed brain of the maledictor. She was seized with a new purpose. A thing of hatred and malice that somehow crept its way into the hearts of her fellow Alvads. Ssanya wasn't aware of the tiny parasite that hid somewhere in her body. She didn't realise that it was affecting her just as much as it was, because the utterly primal need to find someone, anyone and attack them was clenched around her skull like a warrior's metal fist.
Like the others, Ssanya had fought with the need. It was a sudden thing that made no sense. For a day she had grappled silently with dread in her belly, fearing that she had finally gone mad and feeling the urge insidiously creep through every fibre of her body until it took over. In a way she was now maddened. The Ssanya that punished the ground with every forceful step was not the same one that had smiled at the hyena with laughter on her lips, nor the same one that had sat and watched a play in admiration... or even the one that had a friend in which she shared her every, deepest secrets.
She was a monster.
The street curved, walls stained honey with the rising sun, and ended. The snake-woman stopped abruptly, and raised her head slowly. She tilted her head, and flicked a forked tongue past her lips. Some scent was in the air, a clear, calm kind of smell. It spoke of water, somewhere ahead. She almost missed the scent of the person, for they blended in with the surroundings. Her heart quickened, and her feet pressed onwards. Now she stalked, as quietly as her huge form would enable her. Her tail slipped quietly over the tiny woodland's floor. Water trickled peacefully from somewhere ahead.
Then there was the waterfall, and the pool. It sparkled in the dips of sunlight falling through the trees. A woman stood there too, hair russet in the light. Her back was turned, and Ssanya's stomach twisted uncomfortably. Her hands quivered, and somewhere inside she clawed and scratched trying to stop the inevitable. Something appeared to work. Her lips parted, and she scratched out, "Ssssuch a pretty ssssssight..." And although the tone was scathing, and the malice clear, the sane part of her hoped it would help the stranger who stood at the precipice of what was to come.
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All 's' sounds are hissed in Ssanya's speech. Resolve score - 30/100
Aster whistled for Navi to heel as she walked through the streets, and the dog obediently came to her side. Things had been peaceable and quiet for awhile; those that had been ill due to the insects had almost all suddenly found their lasting symptoms alleviated. The incessant, constant smell of damp earth and foliage after the rain had finally faded; while it was a smell she always loved, Aster had missed the scent of other things, and it seemed everything was back to normal in that regard.
Then over the past few days, things had taken a sudden turn for the worse. Violence had broken out across Alvadas overnight; people were getting into fights, yelling at each other, stealing and breaking things. It was as if half the city's population had gone mad. So Aster had left early that morning to try and find somewhere quiet to spend the day with Navi, away from the violence of the city.
She kept close to the sides of buildings as she walked, hurrying her pace and keeping her head ducked whenever she heard shouting, until she found herself near the outer walls of the city. The buildings ended rather abruptly, and Aster found herself in front of a copse of trees with a clearing in the middle; it didn't look overly large, yet when she peered between the trees she couldn't see anything but green. She could faintly hear the sound of running water.
Stepping from cobblestone to grass, it was as if the outside world became muted. She could still hear the city behind her, but it seemed somewhat distant. A squirrel streaked across her path suddenly, and Navi gave a loud bark before bounding after it. Aster watched her barrel through the treeline with equal parts amusement and concern; but the dog could usually fend for herself fine. I really need to work on her training, though.
Taking a few steps forward, Aster discovered the source of the sound she'd heard; a pond sat in front of her, a small waterfall trickling into it from a wall of rocks at the opposite end. The water was a startling shade of brilliant green, yet still clear. Despite this, Aster couldn't make out the bottom. Something about the pond made shivers run down her spine, the hair on her arms rising up. It was beautiful, but eerily so. Still, it seemed her wish for a quiet place to spend the day had been granted.
She stood by the edge of the pond, watching the rays of the morning sun dapple across the smooth surface of the water. The weather was cooling slightly as the season passed the midway point, but was still delightfully warm. Lost in her thoughts, gazing at the pond, she failed to hear the approach of someone behind her.
"Ssssuch a pretty ssssssight..." The sibilant voice rasped from behind her, but despite the words, the tone was harsh and laced heavily with malice. Aster whirled around in surprise, taking a step back, then realizing her mistake when she felt the very edge of her heel hang over the lip of the pond.
Aster took in the woman before her; though perhaps 'creature' would be more apt, given the huge, snake-like appearance she held. She had never seen a Dhani before, and the strange mixture between a snake and a human likely would have fascinated her at any other point in time; but the expression on the Dhani's face was what she was focusing on. It was decidedly unfriendly, her jaw tensed. Ridges along her brow shadowed the woman's eyes, but they still glinted in the light with a sort of madness that chilled Aster's blood.
Swallowing hard, Aster felt appropriately intimidated by the sheer difference in size between them. "Are you alright?" She asked, carefully, though really she already knew the answer to that. The tense lines of the other woman's body spoke of aggression, and the way her hands shook almost imperceptibly caused fear to pool in Aster's stomach. Hesitantly and slowly her hand drifted to her hip, to where she'd taken to fastening her dagger to her belt, despite the fact that she had no idea how to use it. It hovered over the hilt, not quite touching it yet. She had no idea what she planned to do with it if the other woman attacked her.
She wanted to whistle for Navi, but she had no idea if the dog would hear her, or was even still nearby, and she feared that the sudden sharp sound might trigger the woman towering above her into some sort of action. Aster moved to take another step back, then stopped abruptly as she felt her heel shift over emptiness; she was hardly in an advantageous position.
Moving slowly and cautiously, the tension thick in the air and ready to snap at any moment, Aster pivoted slightly so that her back no longer faced the pond straight-on. Her eyes darted to the opening between the trees, where she'd come from. There was still ample space between the treeline and the Dhani, perhaps she would be best off simply trying to slip past her and leaving.
The snake-woman had yet to take her burning gaze off of Asterope. Warning bells were going off in her head, and a deep-seated instinct was screaming at her to simply run. She could feel a muscle in her legs twitch with the suppressed urge. Standing as she was with only the pond and forest behind her, Aster felt like a cornered rabbit that the snake in front of her was ready to devour.
She took a deep breath in through her nose, trying to calm herself. Still moving carefully and slowly, she took a step away from the pond, angling towards her escape route, but never taking her gaze away or turning her back. Aster said nothing, even her breathing shallow, time seeming to slow as her heart hammered in her chest.
They watched each other, predator and prey. The soft light of the early sky barely reached the two figures through the dappled ceiling of trees. They seemed to shift in an imaginary breeze, like the two shadows were underwater. In that dim light, it took the snake a moment to register the gently gleaming horns and the elegant stature of the autumn-haired woman. An astonished hiss softly left her lips, but the demon in her bent and twisted her tongue so that the hiss gradually flickered into something sinister and threatening.
The strange lady was gradually moving. Her question still hung in the air between them, but Ssanya barely registered it. She wasn't alright... but she felt good, in a vicious kind of way. The need to hurt the woman flared, but something skittered beside her, spitting up pine needles and the loam of the woodland floor, and the Dhani swung her tail out and blindly lashed with her knuckles clenched. Something whimpered, a dog, but it didn't appear hurt.
Too bad.
Now the spell had been broken, the snake woman sprung forwards, aiming for the stately Ethaefal. The cloud had been descending for too long, and she could no longer keep her own spirit bolstered by her defiance. Now the illness reigned her bones and muscles, and they wanted to damage and to tear and to disturb whatever got in her way.
Ssanya ran forwards, with only her own clumsiness stopping her from falling into the very pool that the woman had just left behind her. As it was, she fell gracelessly before the utterly still waters. Disturbed by her hard landing, a single acorn rolled almost nonchalantly into the inky pool. A ripple spread, and Ssanya stared with a distracted mind as it grew larger and longer until it had affected every single reflection of the water. She almost forgot the terrified woman... almost.
With a bestial half-snarl, half-hiss, the Dhani pushed herself to standing again and began to hunt. It was fun, more fun than she cared to admit. Her prey hadn't gone far, of that she was sure. The dog was nowhere to be seen either, no easy catch for her. That suited her just fine. If she had to work hard, there would be more enjoyment at the end. The thoughts tumbled and turned like churning milk, sour and bitter, unpleasantly delightful. Suddenly, she spotted a flicker of movement nearer to the waterfall. It was the woman, of that she was sure.
She set off with a run in that direction, sniffing indelicately in huge gusts. In any other state she might have tried to track her movements in the forest floor, but she didn't. Too many other things were fighting inside her to notice the subtleties of this art of tracking. Instead, she tried to find her through sheer willpower. Her eyes widened until she felt like her eyeballs might fall from their sockets. Through the brightening gloom, for the sun was beginning to rise further into the sky, she noticed a human-shaped shadow projecting onto the nearby pool.
Ssanya skidded to a halt. Something compelled her to speak, and she mangled out a few words before brazenly walking forwards, almost sure she had the Ethaefal cornered. "Do I sssscare you? Ssssurely not, horn."
OOC :
I. Am. So. Sorry for the delay! In other news, if you'd prefer I didn't take control of your (absolutely adorable) dog then please say so and I can edit accordingly.
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All 's' sounds are hissed in Ssanya's speech. Resolve score - 30/100
The woman hissed, malicious but soft, and with her breath held Aster was beginning to hope that she may be able to make it out unscathed. But the tense silence was broken when Navi came barreling out of the treeline. The mutt had a snarl on her face, bounding towards the snake-woman, but her reflexes seemed to kick in. A heavy tail hit Navi in the chest with a dull thud, sending the dog rolling with a whimper.
Aster let out a small, wordless cry, a mixture of protest and concern as she took a step towards her companion; but the dog seemed fine, rolling onto her feet with ears down and tail tucked between her legs. "Navi, go!" She yelled, sharply, now that the spell had been broken. A guard dog she may be, but against such a foe Aster feared the worst; and she didn't want to hurt the woman too badly either, aggressive as she was.
It was hard to say of course, but her behaviour seemed off and her movements just bordering sluggish, almost like she was in a stupor. Given the recent turn of events in the city, Aster was inclined to say she was being influenced by something or other. Of course, that didn't make the danger any less real.
Navi fled just as the Dhani lunged at her. Aster reeled back, but whatever was causing the other to act out had impaired her, and her clumsy movements caused her to fall near the edge of the pond. She went very still suddenly, and after a heartbeat of not moving, she used the lull in her attacker's actions to her advantage.
Aster ran, not caring where, bounding over a rock and nearly tripping in doing so, barely managing to right herself as her feet hit the ground. She sprinted down the side of the pond towards the waterfall, footfalls muffled by the thick, lush carpet of grass. She was forced to skitter to a halt much sooner than she would have liked; she'd picked the worst possible direction to go.
She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and whipped around, loose pebbles sliding beneath her feet as she backed up, tumbling with a strange silence into the pond that was once again mere inches from her feet. The Dhani had her cornered, and the woman seemed to realize the fact, approaching slowly. Fumbling at her waist, Aster unsheathed her dagger.
Oh, Syna, please don't make me have to use this, she whispered in her mind. She didn't want to hurt the snake-woman, but more than that, she had no idea how to use the blade in her hand. The hilt felt alien in her grip, and she held the dagger out awkwardly in front of her. She wasn't expecting the snake-woman to speak.
"Do I sssscare you? Ssssurely not, horn."
"No," the word caught in her throat, sticky and thick like molasses, a bold-faced lie. The scent of fear surrounded the Eth like a cloud of perfume. "I don't want to have to hurt you. Stay back, please." Her voice broke as she pleaded with the creature before her, but she could tell it was useless. She was running out of options.
Her gaze flickered to the brilliant green water near her feet, still and calm as if it was any other peaceful day. The pond, deceptively placid, made the hairs on the back of Aster's neck rise. Something about it screamed danger, but was it of a sort that was less imminent and pressing than a giant snake-woman who seemed to want her dead?
Asterope was tense, eyes flickering between the water and the Dhani, the outstretched hand that gripped the dagger trembling slightly. If her attacker decided to lunge at her again, to come at her in any way, she would swing wildly and hope for the best. In the end, whether the woman moved to strike again or not, Aster ducked down low and attempted to dart past her, feet sliding on the loose stones that littered the ground near the waterfall, making her teeter dangerously on the lip of the pond.
Word Count: 694
OOC :
No worries at all! I went AWOL myself for a bit haha. And you're fine, so long as no animals were harmed in the making of this thread. Also, by all means, feel free to make Aster take a bath if you'd like.
Their encounter glimmered with the unspoken more than the few words they exchanged on the surface. Each of them, either snake monster or horned woman, were thinking. True, Asterope's thoughts were more coherent than the Dhani's. Whereas she thought of escape, Ssanya's were a broiling mass of confusion and sheer, predatory instinct and the confusion was now beaten down so much that it was almost impossible to wrench back control of her own self. The fact that the beautiful stranger poised with quavering blade spoke with such bravery whilst smelling so sweetly of fear... It made her stomach growl. She gazed at her with glazed, hungry eyes, and in anticipation her fangs extended past her lips.
There were no words now. In those few ticks before everything shifted, Ssanya could almost feel the thing inside her as it clenched around her muscles, bunching up and preparing her for the death lunge. The prey opposite her began to move, too, and then time released and Ssanya lurched forwards to grasp at the empty space where Asterope had once been. With a desperate hiss, she twisted around and didn't look as she reached, reaching for the scent of blood that she knew hid below the surface of the horned woman's pretty skin. She found purchase, an ankle, but she had not paid attention to the ground on which they stood. Tiny pebbles, grey and round and treacherous, rolled into the disturbingly still pond and neither of them could stop the fall into the cool water.
The dhani woman did not immediately let go of her prey. Now that she at least had a grip of her, she didn't want to let go, even in the face of drowning. But as she floundered and sank ever further, and as water threatened to pour into her greedy mouth, she finally let go with a panicked, human gasp of panic and shock. The build up of the hunt was broken. Ssanya could not swim.
"Petc..-" She stopped trying to speak as bitter water flooded her nose and she began to choke. Water filmed across her eyes, and the absolute chill of it made her sluggish. Oh gods, oh Siku, oh mother, whatwhatwhatwhat-! Her arms windmilled. She was sure Ionu was laughing, wherever he was, an almighty, terrifying snake woman reduced to swearing, wanting her mother, and flailing about like a toddler. But even if it could be hilarious to someone out there, humour was the furthest thing from Ssanya's mind. Instead, as she barely kept her head above the surface, she tried to pull herself to safety.
But the pond was surprisingly deep. There didn't appear to be any kind of floor to stand on, not on their edge. The pond walls, so calm, had seemed safe before. Now, they were like mountain, providing nothing in the way of help. Experimentally she kicked her legs like she knew you were supposed to, but this unbalanced her and her head dropped underwater, and then everything was green. The murk gradually faded down, down into an unknown depth where everything was black. Terror encased her as she looked downwards. There, in the endless darkness, were a pair of eyes. They were green and unblinking and they were growing larger and more defined and more full of wicked malice with each tick. She blinked wildly and closed her mouth and tried not to breathe... Or scream. HELP ME. The plea remained in her head and she struggled, fighting for her life, absolutely terrified of whatever creature hid in the Emerald Pond. She may be a Dhani, but there was nothing she could do against whatever that was. The shimmering surface of the pond gleamed invitingly above, and she strived with all her might towards it as her muscles burned and her brain screamed and her mouth pleaded for air.
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All 's' sounds are hissed in Ssanya's speech. Resolve score - 30/100
Aster sprang forward at the same moment Ssanya did.
A desperate leap for freedom and a lunge for prey, all at once. The snake woman's form flew past her, and for a breathless moment she thought she had made it. But then a hand gripped her ankle tightly, halting her movement mid-stride, making her stumble.
Quiet splashes filled the air as the loose pebbles beneath the two women slid into the pond, shifting dangerously beneath their feet. Aster didn't know who lost their purchase first, but quite suddenly she was falling.
Green enveloped her vision. Bubbles flew up past her face; the water was strikingly clear despite its emerald hue, and shockingly cold. Fingers were still tight around her ankle, and she desperately kicked out, twisting in the other woman's grasp until finally she felt it disappear.
Aster's head broke the surface and she gasped in a breath of air. She clumsily struck out for the edge of the pond, kicking her feet hard beneath the water. She glanced down as she made her way towards the edge. The pond seemed endless, and deep down in the darker depths of it, she could have sworn she saw something; two gleaming, glittering eyes glowing a vivid, poisonous green.
Fear gripped her suddenly, and she was glad to finally reach the bank of the pond. She pulled herself out, dropping her dagger into the grass, and turned back, uncertain as to where her attacker was.
It wasn't hard to spot her. She was thrashing in the water, head bobbing up and down, above and then beneath the surface as she gasped. It was obvious that the snake woman couldn't swim. "Oh, no. No, no, no. Shyke," Aster hissed, surprising even herself with the sudden curse.
The woman disappeared beneath the water. Aster swallowed hard, grit her teeth, and then dove back in. Soft, malicious laughter tickled her ears as she swam forward, already panicking. She could barely swim herself; in fact, saying she could swim was generous. She could keep herself afloat and move in a general direction without drowning. How in the stars was she going to get both herself and the much bigger snake woman safely back onto land?
Below her, Aster could see the green glow beginning again, but she steadfastly ignored it. Perhaps by a miracle, just as she reached the spot where Ssanya had gone under, the woman resurfaced, her head just barely breaking the surface. Aster hoped dearly the other woman's survival instinct was stronger than her urge to attack and that she would cooperate.
Looping one of her arms around Ssanya, Aster began the laborious task of trying to make her way back to the grass with the snake woman in tow. She was kicking doubly hard, her dress hampering the movement of her legs, and using her free arm to clumsily cut through the water in an attempt to drag them both forward, but the other woman was heavy.
"Kick your legs," Aster ordered, coughing and spitting out a mouthful of bitter pond water that made its way through her lips. Below her, she could swear the green glow was getting brighter. She was already chilled from the water, but a shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature ran down her spine."Come on, hurry!" Her own head was beginning to dip beneath the surface of the water, and already she was tired, but the bank of the pond was so close...she just needed to make it a little bit further.
Ssanya wasn't thinking as the horned woman dived back in and half-dragged, half-pleaded Ssanya back to the side of the pond. She was just about kicking, her arms seeking the comfort of the very woman she had been attacking just moments before. They both landed on the shore, and she lay coughing and spluttering and trying to rid her body of the unending, uncontrollable shudders running through her body. Ssanya's eyes were closed but it was painfully obvious she was still alive as her chest rose and fell erratically. They had survived. For now, she didn't let herself think at all, letting the image of the vicious green eyes fade and the sounds of the water and the woods soothe her like a balm to her tortured soul.
However, as she began to normalise her breathing, she could feel the warm probing of the huntress once again snaking through her brain. It was mindless, and she was beginning to suspect deadly too. In desperation and anger and herself, she cried out and let the tears fall. The stranger had been nothing but helpful, nothing but kind, and Ssanya's only way to repay her was to think once more of the delight in killing her. But she still had some small grasp of the situation, and she spoke from her foetal position on the lip of the evergreen pond.
"I dangerous right now. You be ssafe, go away. Thank you for sssaving me from the pond. Don't trust..- the eyess." She pointed with her gaze and then found herself looking deeper into the pond, searching for the presence she was sure she'd felt. It was utterly still once more, despite her recent thrashing about. The water was clear and peaceful, and she could see her reflection gently wavering back at her. Asterope's too. She looked so strongly of prey that she almost salivated, and her claws dug into the soil, leaving little rake marks.
"You're sssuch a pretty thing." The words shuddered out of her, and though her eyes spoke of danger and shame, her mouth curved upwards into a fanged grimace of a smile. "Your flessh lookss ssso sssweet and pure, a fine delicacy." She pushed herself upwards. Ssanya was still weak, and her lungs ached, but she began pushing herself across the ground towards the other woman. The dog barked roughly in protection, but didn't draw closer. The knife lay on the earth between her and the Ethaefal, and Ssanya glanced down at in in amusement. "I'll let you get a chance at me if you let me hurt you, pretty horn."
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All 's' sounds are hissed in Ssanya's speech. Resolve score - 30/100
✧Location: The Emerald Pond ✧Dhani: Snake-people ✧Planning: Choosing between fight or flight ✧Subterfuge: Using a blatant lie ✧Asterope: Doesn't like to fight ✧The Emerald Pond: Hides a dark secret ✧Swimming: Staying afloat while holding onto someone else
Thank you for your patience! As always, please edit or delete your request in the grading queue; and if you have any questions or concerns about your grades, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me!
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In other news, if you'd prefer I didn't take control of your (absolutely adorable) dog then please say so and I can edit accordingly. 
Also, by all means, feel free to make Aster take a bath if you'd like. 
