Welcome to Gaia! ::

She held on so tight. When they fell, he wrapped his arms around her so they wouldn't be separated. He was expecting the worst, right before their landing was in the soft, crunchy, and surprisingly gooey mound. But it saved them from much worse. As she slowly let go, his head lifted. The lantern had fell with them in a loud clatter, shattering. But the light still remained on. In the flickering light, he saw them. Snakes. Snakes everywhere. And they were in a strange, disgusting smelling reddish goo. That had even more snakes slithering along side. And they sounded quite irritated that they were there. "You need to fly lass, fly straight out of here." He spoke quickly, but in hushed tones, not wanting to irritate the snakes any more if possible.

Her question registered as foolhardy, as the condition of his paeson was fairly moot in the obvious danger. He could be missing a limb and the more pressing issue would be getting away from the snakes. He didn't even mind the dropping of his title, as that too was very small in comparison to their situation. He moved very slowly off of her -though not particularly because he really wanted to- to sit beside her. No sudden movements. He bit back his own hiss as he moved a leg. Sprained, broken, cut? Taking stock of his injuries had to wait. In the flickering light, it was hard to tell what sort of snakes surrounded them. Were they harmless snakes that snuck in from the Jungle? Or a purposely laid poisonous trap?

"Aye, I be in one piece." His cool gaze flicked briefly over to the shetani. She was shaking like a leaf, fear in her voice. Slowly he reached up to put an arm around her. 'Comforting' wasnt exactly a hardened pirates forte, but he'd give it a shot. "I can't slice them all 'fore getting bit. Fell too far fer me to scuttle up. Ye have to fly up, warn me crew. Get a ladder for me. Soon they'll start shoutin down 'ere and piss off our friends even more."

She felt nice under his arm. Soft and warm. It was a shame when she slipped away, but like his leg, that had to wait. Die? Him? He chuckled softly. "I've danced from Davy Jones too much to visit him now." And so he watched her fly away.

And then, he took off his hat.

A bone popped under his skin before his entire body began to writhe. Nails sharpened, skin stretched, bone cracked. It wasn't often he had to do this, and his body ached in protest. But he didn't make a sound. Mere moments after she had left the Captain in the pit, there was no nymph to be seen. Instead, there was a Nile Crocodile, complete with a powerful tail and razor sharp claws, wearing his ripped garb. He lowered his softer belly down so it was his armored back exposed to the snakes.

Thicker skin, denser bone, and a higher tolerance to poison.

He knew that this had been a nasty idea. The instant he heard that click, he barreled past Craig and Dollir to get to them. But the trap had already been set, and they fell into darkness. He ordered the men to bring back a plank to test out the floor pieces before stepping on them to start making their way to their fallen captain.

How could this have happened? It should be him and the Captain down in that pit. Not Andromeda.

"Speak of the devil." His rough voice spoke as the shetani lifted above the dark hole. "Whats going on Slagathor?" He spoke quietly before giving a stern look behind him at the crew members. She was the only one who knew the captains situation, so he'd trust her word. And if anyone spoke up, he'd slit their throats personally.

He listened, and heard the crew rustle uncomfortably behind him. As much as they liked the Shetani, this was their captain. Why was she taking charge? Why not him, the first mate, as order dictated?

"Why can't we just, git sum fliers down there and fly him up?" A demon grunted out.

"Arrrgghhh. Or a pae-made ladder. Faster than goin' back to the ship." A fae quipped, meeting more nods.

"Or, we can shut yer flappin gums, and do what Slagathor says. This might be what the cap'n ordered, as it keeps the rest of ye sorry louts from gettin bit." At least, that was his thought. But he'd shoulder a bit of the orders, to keep the crew under control. So they weren't 'listening to a green stalk pirate'. "Kale, Tommygun, Vlad, ye three go back fer that rope. Rest of ye, git sticks from topside an start goin through the temple. In one group, same format as 'fore. Look for something that could be lowered to the cap'n, but no more than two rooms away." That way, there was a chance of saving the captain faster. He glanced back just in time to see the girl dip back into the pit. "Lets move ye bas***ds."

He kept very, very still after his transformation. He calmed his breathing, as the snakes wouldn't sense his distress. A few already had tried to bite him, but only a handful. He didn't know how successful they were at piercing his thick back plating. Cap'n? A voice softly called down, and he tried to turn his head to see. She brought a light with her, so instantly he could see who it was. Only, as a Nile Crocodile, his vocal cords were not of a pae. He tried to respond with a light hiss, but obviously it mixed with the snakes around him. What was she doing back?!

Time to be as gentle and non-hostile looking as a crocodile could be. He laid his belly close to the ground, head lowering as well as he kept his tail absolutely still.

She still freaked when she saw him.

Perhaps he should have told her about his power at some point during their couple months traveling? He slowly, very slowly used his snout to flip over the hat. It was his hat. He was wearing his old clothes even! Except they were in shreds, barely clinging onto him. She didn't think he ate...curses. He tensed slightly as he felt another snake try to bite him, angry that he moved. She shouldn't be down here, she didn't have armor like he did! Maybe he could scare her away. He opened his mouth wide, and made a much louder HISSSSS.

Don't back up, go UP up! He hissed again while taking a step towards her, trying to be more threatening. She could get bitten at any moment!

And then the wall suddenly turned. If he had eyebrows, he would have raised them. Instead, he made his own way towards the door, eager to leave the snakes behind. His leg though...It slowed him as he had to drag it. She didn't make it all that far however, before collapsing onto the cold hard floor. Should be far enough from those blasted scaled devils. With that, his bones began to pop again. His skin writhed as his body shuddered. Skin smoothed out, claws retracted. But not everything changed. A few moments, and it was quite obviously darias there. But his tail remained out, his skin still tougher, his teeth sharper. A half transformation, to slow any venom that might have gotten into his body. "Andromeda?" He hobbled towards her, his good hand on a wall to steady himself.

For once, he let her help. Though if a crew member showed up, he'd shove her aside. The shetani's cheeks still glistened in the flickering light of her lantern. Had she been crying over him? "More or less. Told ye Davy Jones wouldn't take me yet." He chuckled lightly as he leaned slightly against her. "Oh lass, it be so good to be away from those snakes. Thought I was shark bait. Or Snake bait."