Welcome to Gaia! ::

Zach slithered his way into the bathroom that morning to down some medicine and suddenly wished he hadn't. While he'd been in the labs he hadn't been able to see for himself what had happened. It wasn't difficult to feel it, but now it was really starting to dawn on him what had happened. He'd left the eyepatch on. In all honesty he didn't want to see what was underneath it yet when he stood in front of the mirror that morning. What it couldn't cover up were the edges of some jagged scars from Lucas's claws. The remaining yellow eye of his looked away quickly enough.

On his way out of the duplex he clipped the unassuming little panic button to his belt, close enough to the medicine bag that it would be difficult to see. The small jar that held the dhole's eye was slipped into his medicine bag in place of the coins that normally jingled in it. He figured at some point or another he'd have to come across one of the violent islanders on the island, and any deterrent ought to stop them, at least for a day. The thought of losing his other eye was not an appealing one.

Self-consciousness was creeping into his thoughts over his lost eye. He probably looked stupid with the eyepatch. The painkillers made his appetite vanish completely, so he had no reason to stop by the cafeteria. Instead he meandered away from the village center and along the grassy edge between village and jungle. He wanted to get away from the possibility of running into anyone for now. It was only in very rare situations that he even approached it now. Out there lurked a dangerous killer. Annie was what every islander was potentially doomed to become if they couldn't control themselves. Didn't they realize it?

Hearing Thom's voice prompted him to look over suddenly from the trees. A prickling feeling went down the many cartilage spines on the side of his face as they quickly fanned with the clench of his jaw. He winced at hearing his last name. It was like an insult coming from someone like the cobra. His right hand immediately moved to his hip, though it hovered in the air rather than touch upon either the hidden bottle or the button.

"It's none of your business," he growled, aware his ability to run had been further impaired as of late. He'd been just barely capable of a short sprint without losing balance, but he was back to square one with the loss of his depth perception. He could still remember being nearly choked to death by Thom. Not only had the cobra grown significantly more tail, but his own neck was longer too. All the easier to be snapped or throttled if Thom moved too quickly. He was strongly tempted to just press the button right now and rid himself of a potentially problematic situation, but he couldn't. Thom hadn't actually threatened him. And regardless of how spiteful he was feeling at the sight of a man who had nearly killed him once, it would be far worse to abuse the privilege that Sabin had given him.

"Then you're asking for trouble." Why was he coming closer? Was he crazy? He must be crazy. Every single islander he came across lately was. His wings spread out a bit till they were three feet in each direction, only half of his wingspan. Well, Zach knew full well what had been done to the cobra before. Sabin had told him the details some time back. Maybe a reminder would serve to keep him away. He tried to make his voice sound as nonchalant as he could, but all outward signs pointed to him being very scared. "You don't want to be 'buried alive' again, do you?"

"They won't be trying again, so there's no point in asking." He was feeling sick now, from both the pain medication and the fact that the cobra was still after him. It was strange to be in such close proximity to someone who'd nearly taken his life before. Safety in numbers. Safety in numbers. Did he ever need those numbers... He kept walking though, even if his pace was slow. Maybe he could get away if he could shake the cobra off somehow. Zach couldn't help but go wide-eyed (with just the one) at mention of lab staff getting killed, and not by Annie. If the staff couldn't even protect themselves from him... what the hell was he supposed to do to protect himself? To that Zach said nothing, but tried to increase his pace a little more.

"Sounds like you're eager for there to be a next time," he remarked flatly, his eye darting between Thom and the ground ahead of him. There was something disturbing about the way Thom moved, what with appearing somewhat human above the tail. He was glad Thom was slithering along on his right side, and not in his blind spot on the left. He didn't want that snake out of his sight or there'd be no chance for survival.

"Who, you? Look, what do you even get out of this? If you want to find the guy who did this to me so badly, then take a look at this. It used to belong to him - until recently." Zach finally chose what he'd use to keep the cobra away, and that was what was in the medicine bag. He slipped the small jar out by the cap, claws barely holding onto it before he swapped it to his other hand for a better grip. He didn't shove it in Thom's face, but he made sure to stop suddenly once he had it in his grip so that the cobra wouldn't manage to reach it easily. The jar had just one thing of interest in it, and that was a lonely green eye that seemed suspended within it. His voice grew low and venomous. "So don't even think of trying. Dr. Duvert isn't going to let whatever you do go lightly. Things have changed."

"Did you think what he did to you before was bad? That was nothing. There's always worse if you go looking for it." There was a hint of sadism to his voice, almost as though he hoped Thom would try if only so he could find out what would happen to the snake. He'd lost his eye to a raging islander, that was enough. He didn't have to put up with this! All he wanted was for them to stop attacking him over the stupidest and simplest of things. They were blind to what was going on, he knew that, but until he could show them what they refused to see, he didn't want to be attacked. His tail whipped about irritably while he held the jar closer to himself. "You've still got a chance to turn around and crawl away. Take it."

Zach watched the cobra warily as he replaced the jar into the medicine bag. He didn't want to dignify Thom with even a one-word response. Beneath his gloating and vengeful exterior, the dragon was worried. Deep down he wanted to run, or fly, or do something to escape the threat of this situation and the closeness to a potential killer. There was no escape by any of those means, though. He was about to keep walking when Thom suddenly sprang up at him.

"Stay away from me!" He gave an involuntary hiss back at the sudden movement, taking an uneven step backward while his tail lashed. Thom was no longer a foot or so below his height but a little more than his, and baring his fangs as though in preparation to strike. Zach's blood turned to ice at the sight. And what would come next? The inevitable strike of those teeth. But wait! His fingers went straight to his side. It took him all of three seconds to find where he'd clipped the panic button, but once he did he pressed it without a second thought. He was feeling threatened, all right.

Zach didn't bother to wait around once the cobra dropped to the ground. The adrenaline was making him frantic to escape. He went around the body and toward the village center, still feeling chills and his heart beating frantically. His wings spread further and further behind him. It felt like he had just evaded a very nasty injury, which left him with mixed feelings of relief and worry. His wings were spread even further.

He'd used the button in self-defense, and that was it. It was justified. Everything he did was justified. But the most interesting thing about it, now that he was far enough away to think clearly, was that the little button had really worked.