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 Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:23 am
A Brief Introduction to our Slithery Friends
[ All I See / Thoushalt ] 
At first she had thought maybe a baby, it would be easier to tame, but it was the cool, steady slither of the fully-growns that caught her eye - so much so that the first golden tones of sunset had already started to fall across the swamp by the time she finally begin to slip out of her reverie, gazing over the glistening scales of the prey-seeking snakes, enough to realise from the barely perceptible sounds not far beyond her that she was not entirely alone, as she'd hitherto believed.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:28 pm
"It ate all of your eggs? Didn't leave even one?" Thoushalt was kneeling next to the roots of a mangrove tree, his tail wrapped gently around him as he spoke to a small snake that lay curled in front of him, its head raised and its tongue flicking in and out as it watched the buck. Thou shook his head slowly as if in response to something the snake had said, although of course if anyone else had been there they would not have heard anything at all. "That's such a shame, and it your first clutch too. I'm sorry to hear it. But there will be more, of course, and you'll just have to lay them in a safer place next time...I'd be happy to help you search, if you like."
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:45 pm
Voices, she thought - but, no. Just one voice, with gaps and pauses more appropriate for a conversation than a monologue. What on earth? The logical thing would have been to leave unsighted - no good for a girl like her to be seen in a place like this - but...
She had never been good at denying her desires (quite the opposite, in fact); very quietly, she pushed through the foliage to see a purple buck - a handsome one at that, she noted, an appreciative glance over the strange leafed horns - talking to...a snake.
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:41 pm
Thoushalt was a little affronted when the snake he was speaking with -- quite politely, he thought -- opened her mouth and hissed, showing her fangs, before suddenly slithering under a tree root and disappearing into the undergrowth. "Hey now, what was that for?" he exclaimed, frowning. "I was just offering to help!"
There was a soft rustle in the bushes behind him and Thou turned his head over his shoulder, his eyes glowing softly in the dim light under the trees. It took him a moment to register the doe's presence as the reason the snake had fled, but in that time he had risen hastily to his hooves and turned towards her, tilting his head to see her better through the branches.
"Are you lost, miss?" the purple buck asked, his voice deeper and significantly more proper sounding than when he had been talking to the snake. His physical demeanor had changed also, his body language stiffer and more restrained.
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 12:28 pm
Her initial verdict had been touched, a pity for such a handsome buck - but to her surprise, everything changed as he unfolded in the gloom. An excellent mask; she could approve, she knew all about masks - even as she'd registered the differences in his form, she'd rippled into her own, eyes that bit wider, head slightly lowered, hindlegs canted just so to suggest that hint of fragility. A second to weigh up her answer...but, why not? In this state he seemed suitable company - and he did have a way, for better or worse, with the beautiful beasts she still had half an eye on. Now to see how best to accomplish her desires.
"Y-yes," she said, voice soft, with an edge of distress, "I was looking for a berry patch but...it started getting dark, and now - now I'm not sure where I am. I didn't mean to come here - I...I'm a little afraid of -" and here, she jumped at the rustle of a slender body slipping through the mire, "...snakes."
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:11 am
The purple buck ducked under the overhanging branches of the tree he had been kneeling under and took a few steps toward the doe, struggling to look both kind and austere. "There's no need to worry, miss," he replied, tilting his head downward a bit towards the doe and letting a slight smile to pull at the corner of his mouth. "None of the snakes in this place are poisonous, and they would only bite you if you tried to attack them...or take their eggs," he added as an afterthought. "Here, look," he turned to the nearest bush and bent his head down, whispering something unintelligible into the brush. A moment later there was a soft rustling noise, and a small watersnake slithered out of the brambles and wrapped itself softly around one of Thoushalt's horns. He stood slowly and turned back to the doe, smiling. "They are more than willing to befriend you if you take the time," he continued, flicking an ear.
A moment later the buck's stern facial expression returned, coupled with a hint of surprised embarrassment in his glowing eyes. "But where are my manners?" he exclaimed, bowing rather hastily to the doe. "My name is Thoushalt. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss." He raised his head, the snake that was curled around his horn flicking its tongue out to smell the air as he did so. "I would be honored to help escort you back to ... wherever you would like to go ... if you need assistance."
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:29 am
First she recoiled to affect the appropriate response as he emerged from the green with the snake, then she craned forward, letting her eyes sparkle as she watched the creature move - the transition wasn't as smooth as she would usually have made it, but this time she could hardly wait; the eagerness in her gaze was genuine.
"I'm All-I-See," she replied as he bowed, never breaking sight of the gleaming scales, "but you can call me See. Do...do snakes make very good friends?" She let his offer slide 'forgotten' in the wondering curiousity of her voice - there was too much she could learn from him of her objects of desire to leave now!
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 5:15 pm
"See...thank you," the purple buck replied, tilting his head sideways a bit, as if in thought. Then, after a moment, "You may call me Thou, if you wish."
Thou bent back towards the bush and let the snake slither gently off his head, watching See as he did so. She seemed rather eager to learn about watersnakes for one who had just moments ago professed her fear of the creatures, but he was hardly one to judge. And she definitely seemed kind; surely a snake would come to no harm in her company.
He turned back to her. "I have been told they do, although I do not have one of my own -- my crane, Of Course, would probably not tolerate it...she declined to come here with me today because of her dislike of the creatures. But they are very interesting animals, and I do enjoy their company." Thoushalt cast a sidelong glance at the doe, worried that his serene demeanor was slipping in his praise of the animals. If it was, See seemed not to notice. She was a strikingly beautiful doe, he remarked suddenly, wondering how he had missed it before. The pale pink of her horns, scales, and hooves almost shone in the light of the setting sun, and Thou could just make out the most gorgeous faint green tinge along her back and hind legs.
Realizing he had been staring, Thoushalt coughed and looked away, stretching out his neck and trying to regain his strict composure, the purple glow of his eyes flashing off and on again as he blinked. "Would you like to meet some of them, See?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:03 am
Had he noticed her slip? Yes, he had, she could tell from his discreet eye as he let their visitor depart. But he did not comment, a forgiving kimeti, perhaps, which would be helpful - and she could also tell a moment after that her carefully maintained comeliness had finally caught up with his perception. She almost had to smile at how long it had taken: most bucks capable of being charmed by her looks hardly took ten lines to notice - what a good soul he must be!
"You have a crane..." she repeated, a note of awe in her voice that was not entirely feigned - cranes did not just come to anybody, his proficience with animals might exceed her reckoning quite intriguingly, "it must be very lovely, but, no, the snakes are probably glad she did not come. Cranes eat snakes."
"I was frightened by a watersnake as a filly," she continued, evenly, "and someone suggest I befriend a crane, that it would...take care of snakes for me - but I could not do that to a snake! They - they do scare me, but...I could still never help but think of them as...beautiful." That should cover her tracks. No more slip-ups, she commanded herself - the delights he proposed were invoking an almost girlish excitement in her, most strange, and she was finding it harder to remember her veils than she ever did. But - come now, this was second nature to her, and she would see it through to the end.
"So...if - if you would take me - then, yes, I would love to meet some...Thou."
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 9:27 pm
Thoushalt couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle at the doe's admiration of cranes. "She is indeed lovely, but she tends to pester more than expected," he replied, smiling, "and declined to come with me today more out of her own personal reasons than any of my own...she is definitely her own bird, and I make no assumptions as to my power over her... Though that is how it should be amongst all animals, I think."
Thou turned to See and cast a concerned eye on her. "Are you sure you want to come into the glade? There are quite a lot of snakes there, and although I assure you none will harm you if you give them no cause to, I understand how childhood impressions are difficult to break." He found himself worrying about this doe beyond the confines of his usual chivalrous, gentlemanly facade...and something inside him seemed to click into place at the gentle, almost tender way she said his name.
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 11:21 am
A gentleman through and through; she liked this one.
"A lot...?" her voice faltered, then she shook her head as if to shake off her fear, moving to stand close beside him, "as long as you're with me, everything will be fine...won't it?"
She looked up at him encouragingly, tilting her head lightly to indicate he should lead and she would follow.
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 3:11 pm
Thou let himself feel the swell of pride that rose up in his chest as See stepped closer to him -- she trusted him! -- and attempted an encouraging smile. "It will be fine, See," he replied, taking a few steps forward and leaning down to pick up the edge of the curtain of vines with his horns and head and hold them aside so the lady could pass through unhindered. "I'm sure they will be able to sense that you have no intention of harming them."
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Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 2:03 pm
Nodding gently to show her thanks, she stepped past the vines. At first, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, then -
"Oh!"
- her eyes grew wide as the subtle slithering of snakes, everywhere, finally registered to her vision. There were so many - all sorts, all colours - her heart skipped a beat in excitement. Would he...introduce her to them? She knew not the specifics of how he communicated with animals, but certainly he seemed to communicate somehow. She turned back to glance at Thou, eyes bright, and moved to be nearer to him again.
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 11:56 am
Thou tried not to smile too much as See stepped closer to him once more. Her eyes were bright with an excitement that made her even more beautiful than she already was. As he looked at the doe, admiring her coloring once more, something came to him.
"Oh!" he exclaimed softly, his eyes glittering with pleasant surprise at his memory. He turned away from All I See suddenly and cast his eyes over the writhing masses of snakes as if looking for one in particular. "I hope she's still here," he murmured to himself, stepping from one group of snakes to the next and leaning over them intently. "She was so pleasant, and good-natured, and -- ah!" His eyes lit up as he spotted his quarry and stood straight, turning back to See with a bright smile on his face. "Come, See, there is someone I'd like you to meet."
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:55 pm
As soon as the buck had turned away from her, she cast her gaze across the glade again, unable to keep her eyes on any one spot for long with all the sinuous lengths draped across so many branches competing for her attention. It was the hardest thing, to keep still in one place, reminding herself that she still had to feign wariness around these beautiful snakes - more difficult than anything, perhaps, she had ever done.
Thou's call came as a relief, finally allowing her to step deeper into the glade, closer to the incredible creatures she longed to study. ...Someone he'd like her to meet? Surely he couldn't mean...?
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