RP:A Fork in the Road

The Swampy Trail in Selen Island

Madigan stood deep in the swamp's mucky, rotten-smelling mud as near the dark river's water bank as she could. She stared down longingly at the vividly green algae, the color of which matched her eyes. A desire to return to this place had overcome her after her first visit; it'd been cut short when an orc started to show an interest in her unexpected companion, Merrien. Madigan blinked once at the memory, her eyes never moving from their focus. For a brief instance, she glanced to the other side of the river at the algae to see if perhaps she'd catch the algae swirling where an anaconda may have slipped through into the water. She hoped, at least. The red firelily near her right temple glowed with such life as her thoughts revisited memories of her youth in a wild, untamed environment much like the one she was surrounded by at that particular moment. She finally blinked and shifted, slowly crouching into the shin-deep mud to be closer to the ground where an anaconda would hopefully be. Perhaps if she mimicked the anaconda's behavior, one would come to her. The tail of her hem-tail skirt laid itself over the organic compost, dirtying the pristine white of the cloth. Her high ponytail of dreads swayed against her back as she leaned her upper body forward for better balance, brushing against the black tattoo of strange symbols running down the length of her spine and the crimson-inked phoenix motif on the right side of her back. That tattoo spanned from just below her armpit to below the waistline of her skirt.

Saiyah mused in piqued interest. She had only been on the island for no more than a day, and already was sneaking though the jungle to defend her territory. It was the sketchy mishap with Redhale's book that sent her crawling home, seeking the aid and comfort of her shoddy-little empire. Before she even had a chance to enjoy any of that, she'd have to take care of this first. With Junia's Malice drawn.. the crossbow carved from a particular dryad she killed months back.. Saiyah stalks both Madigan and her also-slithery companion. For now, she merely observes, studying the stranger above all else. In this world today, there was no telling who or what you could go against, be it friend or foe.

Madigan had not noticed the anaconda trailing behind her, its movements slow and soundless as it slithered closely behind her. She remained crouched, staring out at the water unwaveringly when the anaconda decided to slither up to her mud-sunken legs. She jumped in surprise when she noticed the movement passing from between her legs, her heart thrumming with excitement and intimidation as its massive size dwarfed her from below. The anaconda continued further ahead, making Madigan's stomach sink in disappointment as she assumed it was going into the waters to disappear. She reconciled herself with at least having the rare second sighting of the majestic creature. Madigan pressed her fingers lightly against the anaconda's exotically green scales, allowing the serpent to slither onward between her legs as its scales ran smoothly against her fingertips. She revered in the presence and feel of the illusive and sacred serpent of her homeland, thrilled to be graced with its presence a second time. Her heart throbbed hard against her chest as the snake curled its head around and came back toward her, a good portion of its length still running between her legs. Lifting itself up, it presses itself against Madigan's side and starts to curl around her waist and climb along her chest and around the back of her neck. Its tail curled around her leg and extended even further away, a thick imprint of its path marked in the mud, though the imprint was quickly fading from the fluidity of the swamp's mud. The anaconda's tongue slipped out and kissed her cheek as she watched it adoringly, unafraid and full of awe. Her lips hanged parted from how awestruck she was. The one leg that hadn't been bound by the serpent slipped deeper into the mud as she dropped it to her knee to support the anaconda's weight. Madigan grinned serenely at the olive green anaconda.

Saiyah watched the anaconda slither past, between and up around the woman, until finally it was coiled around her. Naturally, she was snickering with delight, half excited to see nature get the best of man. What she expected next, never came- there were no screams, snapped bones, or pleas for help, and because of this Saiyah was forced to press in. Slithering like a phantom, she weaved in and out of the thick trees, and over the muddy swamp. She moved with the ease that only a serpent was graced with, and soon came up behind the two. It was hard to tell if they knew about her or not which was twice the reason for Junia's Malice, still held firm. Quietly she knocked on the trunk of a tree, eying the anaconda the entire time.

The anaconda swiftly directed its attention from Madigan's eyes to the sound a little ways away and Madigan followed suit, only her reflexes were slower than the serpent's. It simply stuck its tongue out with a soft hiss but it wasn't in the least threatening. It simply watched the naga, and Madigan stared at the serpentine creature wide-eyed as well. She'd never seen such a creature before. Her heart seemed to swell with astonishment as her eyes glazed over with admiration. "Wow," she whispered almost inaudibly as the anaconda hissed softly near her ear. They twitched at the sound but the rest of her didn't seem to react to the sound. Reaching her hand out toward the serpentine creature, her eyes began to fill with tears and spill silently over her cheeks. The anaconda pressed itself more tightly around Madigan to slide itself more against her, making Madigan lose her balance. She drops her second knee as the anaconda wraps itself around her more, keeping its eyes on the naga all the while. It seemed to hiss at her, communicate to her, but what it said was unknown to Madigan. The dryad had never felt more blessed and uncertain in her two-hundred years of life, kneeling in the presence of two creatures of a sacred kind. Her heart felt ready to burst in her chest from the essence of her spiritual upbringing. Both hands extended toward the womanly serpent, tears still silently streaking her cheeks as her senses were overwhelmed with the spirit of worship and reverence. She spoke in an abrupt-sounding and deep foreign language, her words rushing out of her mouth quickly, a long-since memorized prayer. "To think they are so rare," she finally breathed in common, slower now. "It comes to me thrice, twice in its common form and a third time as a woman with a serpent's body. You must be the mother of all serpents, the bearer of the anaconda. A goddess," she uttered with wide eyes, her voice choked up with emotion. "My people have never expected you but they have been waiting for you." She gulped then, a ball of emotion twisting in her throat.

Saiyah quite honestly didn't expect this kind of reaction. Although she may have been reverred as an actual 'goddess' on this island, truth of the matter was.. she wasn't. Either this woman was for real, or she was merely screwing with her.. that was would have been more likely to believe it it wasn't for the anaconda. Tipping her head to the side, Saiyah lowered the crossbow and knitted her brows together. The thing is laid across her left shoulder, and her right arm crossed- striking a very feminine spy-esque pose. For the longest time, she just watched Madigan, not quite sure if she wanted to approach this any further or not; the last time she faced a group on their knees, she became immediate 'Queen and/or Goddess' of Selen island, with zero resistance. Something about carvings on a wall.. prophacies and such. Nonsense. She never replied to the anaconda-- the one and only creature she could actually communicate with --and instead just motioned with her chin for the woman to stand up. There was a confused look on her face that suggested she wanted answers, or questions.

The anaconda seemed to tighten around Madigan to keep her from standing. She would've struggled against it had the creature binding her been anything but a serpent, so instead she remained put and lifted her chin as a symbol of her intention to heed the serpentine woman's request. In the meantime, the anaconda lightly bumped its lips against Madigan repeatedly as if surveying her face. It occasionally hissed seeming to be having a conversation with itself. Madigan gently stroked the glistening olive green scales of the anaconda, impressed at its size and how little it made her seem - even to herself.

Saiyah let the crossbow crumble away, watching it break into splintering chunks of wood, and vine alike. It was the same dryad that tried to kill Kasyr and Saiyah, that slaughtered an entire pack of lycans deep in the Vailkrin forest- the same dryad the bow was made of. There had been an exchange, somewhere in the creatures death where she caught a piece of its essence; the same essence that was rich in spirit, giving the naga a crossbow of mysterious properties. With both arms free, she'd just slither back and press herself up against the same trunk she knocked on, and stared down at the two. She couldn't imagine what was going through the woman's head. A naga, something obviously sacred to her kind, in the flesh. She certainly fit the bill for something of a goddess-like image: Thick, beaded dreads, excessive jewelry-- some of which hung low around her neck covering everything that mattered --and what it didn't, was masked by layers of body paint. Between gauged ears, a plethora of tattoos, and exotic wraps around both hips and left arm, she couldn't argue against the woman's diety-esque assumption. To top things off, her lack of words couldn't be helping the situation none. Saiyah hissed at the anaconda.. as if trying to relay a message.

Madigan's eyes followed after the serpentine woman, her arms now wrapped against the thick body of the anaconda that had wrapped itself across her chest, burying her egyptian-esque collar beneath its skin. She turned to face the anaconda then, wondering if the two were speaking to each other. She watched the anaconda quietly as it swayed its head back and forth and for a while. It bopped its lips softly against the dryad's nose and her eyes seemed to lighten up at the gesture. A soft smile began to curl her lips, and ever so slowly, her eyes began to follow the anaconda's motion, as if she were starting to play a game with it. The anaconda hissed, its tongue tickling her lips, but perhaps it was responding to the serpentine woman.

Saiyah just shook her head; this stranger was nuts, and the anaconda for hanging around it (quite literally). One last hiss whispered from her thin, serpentine lips before she leaned up off the trunk, and started to slither away. It was clear this woman had no business here on this island, and if the wildlife wasn't going to kill her, the pygmies would. Or at least try- how threatening was little three-foot man? With a suggestion whispered for the snake, she took her leave. If Madigan wanted to follow, she wouldn't protest much, but if not- that was the end of this confrontation.

Madigan glanced toward the serpentine woman as she moved away from the two abruptly, worried to lose sight of her forever. Anacondas alone were rare enough to sight, and their mother would be more so difficult to find. She opened her mouth to protest but before she could get a sound out, the anaconda struck out at her tongue. A single fang latched onto the very center of the dryad's tongue, and when the anaconda snapped its head back away from Madigan, its fang tore right through the center of her tongue. A cry of shock rung out from the dryad's throat, but she didn't seem to be in pain. Her grip on the anaconda's body tightened at the sudden attack before she scrambled to let go of its body and cover her mouth to keep it from bleeding. It was no use, though. Blood flowed quickly and easily from her split tongue, filling her mouth and hands with bright red blood. She swallowed some blood and then started to spit it out, surprised at the amount of blood coming from herself. This day would be added to the dryad's collar, no doubt, the necklace's strings of beads each a symbolic representation of the wearer's experiences in their lifetime. She began hyperventilating, her vision tunneling into blackness, and then she was out. It was the first time in two-hundred years that the dryad had experienced shock. Another line of beads would be added for sure.

Saiyah half smiled and sighed quietly. 'That's what you get..' she thought to herself, obviously knowing little about what actually happened. It did get her mind thinking, just who was- and how did that stranger end up here? Only the few in Cabal, the pirates she worked with- and now Hanan knew about this island. Something to look into, no doubt.