ORIGIN - Here I am again

How many times had she come back here? She was beginning to lose count. There was something about Polaris that kept pulling her back. Was it because she hatched here? Or because of all the magicka? She didn't use magic very often, so she had no idea why that would be the case. Either way, she was more comfortable here, among the gems and the stones. Perhaps, then, she should cease her wandering and take up residence? She didn't know if she wanted to go that far, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

She slid along the room, her tongue flicking for danger, but there was none. After a while of mindless wandering, she realized that she was getting a little sleepy. She hadn't rested for a while. And she might as well hunt too. She began scanning the area with her senses, trying to pick up any scent or sign of prey, but the area seemed so empty. She could barely pick up anything at all. She stopped trying after a few minutes. She could hunt later.

A few more moments of travelling and she found a nice collection of boulders filled with cracks and crevices. This would be perfect. She spotted one little hole that would probably fit her nicely. She raised herself and slid into it until she hit the end and circled back. She fit nice and snug, her head resting on the tip of her tail, right on the edge of the rock. She steadied her breathing and let her eyesight go foggy as she drifted off to sleep.

When I speak.

When I think.

@Desire

The little snake had once again wandered into unfamiliar territory. All around her strange plants and fungi glowed with their own bioluminescence. She was absorbed by the uniqueness of it all, awed, even - or so she thought - until she looked up at the ceiling. Tiny lights shone all over, glimmering as she slid through the stones and fungi. Desire stopped, if only to stare at a particularly sparkling patch of the ceiling high above. She sighed, relaxing among the glow of life around her.

She continued on. Eventually before her appeared a patch of boulders, far bigger than herself, covered in fungal growth and decorated with all kinds of little cracks. Desire wondered if there had been some force able to crack this stone, if there was some that could shatter it; why else would it have so many crevices? Something had to...she squinted and flicked out her tongue. Something white was sticking out of one such crevice, and it was alive. Excitement bubbled in the snake. She'd had only positive experiences among those she had met, and it was quickly overriding her natural cautiousness and warnings heeded about becoming someone's meal. Quickly she slithered over to the rock, tongue flicking out as she tried her best to smell it for what it was. Eventually she raised herself up, ruby eyes mere inches from this stranger. "Oh," Desire said aloud. Not only was this creature white, was scaly and seemed long - like her! Curiously she came nearer, flicking her tongue until it accidentally brushed against the stranger. Desire pulled back nervously at her potential slight, and watched.

@Winter

Winter didn't notice the stranger at first. After all, she was asleep. However, in her drifting unconsciousness, she thought she heard a voice, just a small word, somewhere along the tide of wakefulness. It wasn't until she felt a small thing brush against her head was she pulled back into the world. Sight clouded back into her eyes as her consciousness was restored.

She stared forward, at first unsure of why she had awoken, but then remembered the soft flick against her head. She looked around and immediately spotted a white noodle. In her haze of sleepiness, nothing really occurred to her.

But then full wakefulness slammed against her mind and she stared at the noodle with shock. A noodle, a snake. Like her. A white snake. She had never met a snake before, but she was pretty sure that they weren't supposed to be white. This one also had red eyes, which she found strange. No creature in the caves, at least that she had met, had red eyes. She wondered why.

She pulled herself forward, letting her body slide to the ground, just in front of the snake. Her tongue was flicking, catching scents off the thing. They were larger then her, longer, and definitely heavier. She wondered if they had venom too, but she didn't notice venom sacs on their cheeks. Maybe not. Then how did they catch prey? Maybe their body weight did something? Not for striking but for squeezing? It was a weird concept.

She then realized that she had been silent for a while, just staring at the young snake. "Uh, hello!" she said, a little too fast. She was very excited. Meeting another snake was really something else. "Sorry, I've never met another snake before. Who are you?"

When I speak.

When I think.

@Desire

Desire stiffened as the thing awoke, eyes opening sleepily and then - staring. The little python pulled back a bit, watching cautiously as the stranger slithered down from the rocks, tongue flicking, still staring. Desire nearly flinched when it finally spoke; the silence had grown tense and had been broken in a moment. She listened, and then it was her turn to stare, thought it would not be for so long. "So you are a snake," she breathed, eyes widening. Are all of us the same color, I wonder? She looked down at her own scales, then at the stranger's. It took her a moment to realize she'd been asked something. "Oh - um - yes. Desire. My name is Desire. What's yours?"

A certain excitement had built up inside her from the moment she saw the scaly white thing between the rocks, and it had only multiplied since. A snake! Another snake! And a white one, at that, just like her. No legs had been concealed in the shadow of the stone; it was a no-legged scaly white thing with a flicking tongue and it seemed nice, maybe they could be friends? Friends with another snake! Imagine that!

@Winter

Winter couldn't help but let out a small giggle. She was starting to get so excited. After all of her time struggling to get through the caves as a snake, facing hatred and prejudice because of who she was, hating herself for the creature she had to be, this was the first time that she was content being a snake, if only to share in the sameness with someone. It was funny that the other snake hadn't figured it out so quickly. Then again, despite their similarities, they did look different. Different shaped faces, different lengths, and different eyes.

"Yes, I'm a snake," she replied with amusement. "It's nice to meet you, Desire.
I'm Winter!" The tip of her tail flicked back and forth with happiness. But she didn't know what to do now. They were both snakes and they were both white. Now what? What would they do? Were they friends now? What would they talk about? Winter couldn't think of much to do with snakes that didn't involve terrible birds and rude cats. Perhaps she would wait for what Desire had to say. She was simply at lost for words.

When I speak.

When I think.

@Desire

"Yes, I'm a snake." The words chimed joyous like a songbird for Desire; in the caves she had encountered so many strange creatures but none of them were like her. Khloros was the only reason she even knew she was a "snake," but no one else seemed to be able to provide any information beyond that. She was overjoyed to meet another of her kind. She wanted to know everything about this snake, about Winter. Were they really so alike? They practically looked the same! What did she eat? How did she eat? Her mouth overflowed with questions as her mind did.

"So - so - so - what kind of things do you eat? How do you eat? Do you swallow your food whole? I do that. How do you hunt? Do you have to hide from scary animals? Can you fight them? I have to hide. I'm too small. You're bigger than me though. Do you think I'll get bigger? We're not the same kind of snake, are we? I don't have that thing around my head. What is it for?" she paused to catch her breath, raring to go with more questions, but she held back, hoping for answers to everything so she could ask even more.

@Winter

Winter stared at the snake with shock when questions started pouring out of her mouth. However, she managed to keep up with them just fine in her excitement. With just as much vigor and joy, she answered them back quickly. "I eat mice, mostly, most other things are too big right now. However, I've gotten down rats before and once a squirrel, but the tail got caught and it tasted nasty. Of course I swallow my food whole, it's hard not to without teeth. I would guess you do, I'm pretty sure that's a snake thing. I hunt using my venom. I bite my prey and it gets paralyzed and dies and then I eat it, but I don't get hurt by my venom, probably because its mine."

She took a deep breath, her eyes sparkling, before she continued. "I hide when I can, but I once had to fight a goose and I tried to bite it to get venom in, but I'd rather not do it again. I hope I don't have to fight bigger things. And I think you'll get bigger, I've gotten bigger since I hatched. I think you'll get bigger then me, probably! And the things around my head is where my venom is. When I bite I can inject it in my prey and they stop moving. So if you can't do that, we're probably different." She paused for a moment before she started asking questions of her own.

"What about you? How do you hunt without venom? And how do you hide when you're all white? I have so much trouble with that. Especially in the forest cave. Are you fast or slow? Can you blink? Do you curl up like I do? Do you have a hood to scare away big things? What kind of things do you eat? Are you warm at all or do you need that from the outside?"

When I speak.

When I think.

@Desire

Giddiness grew in Desire as Winter answered her outpouring of questions in stride. I'm pretty sure that's a snake thing.
A snake thing! Wow - wow! "A snake thing," she whispered amidst Winter's words. There was something that could be alike between all of them. Were there more, really? The sheer amount of information was nearly overwhelming, but Desire clung to each word as best she could - each was precious, each told her more about this snake and helped her to think that maybe there were more snakes about in the caves. She had to ask Winter. But there was so much more to listen for.

Venom? That was different. Venom was different, their sizes were different - would get more different, we're probably different. The giddiness that still cushioned Desire's heart was undermined by a dull disappointment, not enough to dampen her spirits but enough for her to notice. They had looked so alike at first, but it seemed as if they could be worlds apart in differences. She pushed the thought from her head. They were snakes. Almost the same.

Then Winter had questions of her own. Desire tried her best to keep up, as Winter had done with her. There were so many things about them that could be different - but there was also the chance that they were exactly the same, or almost. When Winter was done, Desire began. "I sneak up on things and squeeze them until they die. Then I eat. I don't need to bite them usually. I usually just go in bushes and really thick green things to hide. I don't like other parts of the cave because everyone can see me. I like the cave with all the plants the best," she paused for a breath, then continued. "I'm slow most of the time, but I can be fast when I hunt. I can't blink - can you? I can curl up but it keeps getting harder to make myself taller. I'm getting heavier, I think. I don't have a hood. What does that look like? I eat things that don't speak and are tiny that I can catch and squeeze. Like mice! And everywhere seems so cold. I have to find hot places when I can." She stopped, thinking about everything she could ask Winter, everything else there was to know about snakes. But there was something more important, something she wanted to know above all others. What was it, what was it...? Oh! "Have you ever met another snake?"

@Winter