Down by the river

[Lovely]

September 9, 2006


Food for thought. Food for play. Food for rot or damnit, just food. Venom flicked a stone on the path with his tail as he slithered his way down toward the river for a drink. He'd picked a bad day to hunt and was starving here in the upper world. His spice girl was nearly forgotten and he'd all but given up on Spite and Crash. They had girls and he was bored. And hungry. Something sweet near the river flowed over his tongue that flicked over his lip. What was that? Apples? Rabbits? It was warm and tart and made the air move ahead of him though there was no breeze. Venom lowered his upright form down to the wooded floor and flowed slowly over the nettles and clods in search of the tasty treat that had caught his attention.

One foot in the river as she scooped up a small bucket with the cool water to take back to her little 'picnic' in a clear spot under a nearby tree. Her spot, this was a small territory she'd begun to claim as her own and the tree, patch of grass and barely there path from it to the river were 'rightfully' hers now. Cyntheria's tongue flicked past her lips as it naturally did now and then even in human form, it was forked in this form as well, never shaping to appear as a human's would. She was dressed in faded, well worn jeans that where so soft from the use they'd been given, a bit tattered but she liked them just fine even if her mother wanted to dress her in silks -bah! A simple white sleevelss top, also torn to make it more comfortable stretched over her lean and curved torso. The girl stilled and tested the air with her tongue again, her eyes narrowing. She wasn't sure what was coming, perhaps more than one thing. She had apples and a few rabbits and other small animals she'd captured for the private picnic waiting for her in her spot of grass.. whatever was coming wasn't going to steal them! The animals had been knocked out and staked to the ground so they couldn't escape but would be fresh when she ate them, she swore she smelled snake.. Her tongue flicked again and she hissed out a warning, crouching down to hide herself in the taller grass as she started back to her tree with her bucket of water.

The hiss made him stop. He hadn't hissed and forgotten that he had, had he? Venom lurched up from the low path to gaze around. Ever since losing his one fang, his breath often wheezed on its own, but this was coming from somewhere else. It was probably Spite playing tricks. He always did that and made him mad. His brother wasn't showing himself today, though. The sound was between him and the water and the taste in the air was growing sweeter and warmer still. Rabbits... it was rabbits and something else. He hoped it wasn't one of his brothers' tricks as he started forward again slowly. He was getting thirsty now at the thought of a sleepy afternoon, dozing with a full belly of rabbits.

Cyn felt and heard the movement, stopping again to look around her, she thought she saw something pop up over the grass but it had ducked down again and she wasn't sure if she'd really seen it. She was almost to her little circle and she'd be able to look more carefully around and defend it against whatever was slinking in the woods today. She set the bucket down near her tree and crouched down, pulling an apple into her hand from the small pile. It could be used as a weapon to throw at whatever was coming or to eat if whatever it was changed direction.. though if it got too close.. like in her little circle around the tree, it was going to be in for a nasty surprise.

Crash liked trees too much and Al always seemed to be leaning on one. Thrash was no better, tossing acorns on his head and doing his sommersaults from branches when he was bored. Trees weren't friendly, so Venom took the path around between them, looking carefully to spy his brothers in their mirth. Surely they'd hissed at him in their laughter. They always did. Venom hissed, himself, angry now at the thoughts his brothers drove around in his mind. He wasn't their toy. They all had their own toys, all of them but him. Maybe it was more of a sigh, or just the hunger. He stopped at the water's edge, looking at his reflection there. What kind of demon pouted. What kind of demon had only one fang for piercing menacingly with only half the fervor his brothers could manage? His tail came around and slapped the water, rippling his reflection from view in his anger as he set his hand down to scoop a mouthful up to his scowl.

She heard the slap in the water and scowled herself, wondering more about what had avoided her circle. It was close though, down at the river where she'd just been and this was part of the territory she was claiming as her own. She hmphed and tossed her apple into the air, catching it in her hand as she walked down the path toward the river again. She was quiet and naturally stealthy in her movements and her feet were bare which also helped her to be quiet. What she saw as she approached had her stopping and staring -stunned. She almost forgot to be mad that he was trespassing, watching his shoulders ripple as he leaned and how long his tail was.. he wasn't a relative that she knew of. "Hey!" She spoke, trying to make her feminine voice sound gruff. "Who said you could drink in my river?" She was ready to throw her apple as soon as he turned.

[Lovely]

He could have choked if his throat had been able to close tightly against the gasp when he was startled not by his brothers' voices, but by one distinctly from.. "A girl is yelling ... at me? Oh this is rich. Can my day get better?" Golden-green scales accented his neat auburn tuft atop his head, all seemingly ablaze in indignance as he lurched up onto his tail and turned to face her. "Ain't your river any more than it's the humans' who trip all over this damned hellhole. Except today... M*th**f*-....." he trailed off, not caring how he sounded to anyone now.

Her eyes blazed and slitted as he got all uppity with her, the apple went flying with all the force she could muster -aimed at his shoulder. His face was too nice to throw an apple at, at least he hadn't made her that mad yet. "It is too my river! This is my territory.. and you're on it.. and where do you get off talking to me like that? Wake up on the wrong side of the nest this morning, sweetheart?"

"Where do I get off?" V laughed out loud, long and heartily. The apple bounced off his shoulder and although clipping the edge of a scale, he wasn't any more upset than he'd already been. "Anywhere, way or time I want to. This is no-man's land - or woman... or demon," he surmised, looking her over as she got upset. "Not that any creature worth his fangs would want this forsaken... " A string of unsavory descriptions for her new 'acquisition' followed in another murmur as he made himself angry all over again, though he'd been the one commenting on fangs himself.

"It's MINE!" She huffed at him, nearly hissing the words as she got even more angry and upset as he then went on to insult her private little piece of forest. "There's nothing wrong with it.. you're just a jerk, like my stupid brothers!" This time she kicked a rock and it popped up in the air sailing towards him. "Maybe that's why I want this piece.. cause they don't come here and I LIKE it! It has my favorite tree, apples, and good water, and nice fat juicy rabbits! And if you think it sucks so much.. GET OUT!"

"Ow, hey, quit it. Apples are one thing, but rocks? What's your b*tch, lady? You think you can drink this whole river yourself? Doubt it. Although my mom set it on fire once. I liked it a lot then. It just sucks cos SOMebody... got all the damn rabbits," he said, wandering closer when he saw the lumps of fur staked to the ground. V wiped the bit of drool from his lip. "I'm not getting out and I'm hungry, so I think you're sharing whether you like it or not."

"Because this is my spot!" She almost whined this time, he wasn't taking her seriously at all, maybe he thought he was all bad cause he was half snake. "My spot means my rabbits.. means I get to get them." She was fast and agile even in this form, her spine supple still and she darted to try to get in front of him and keep him away from her lunch. "It's my picnic.. you weren't invited.. and if you want someone to share, you shouldn't insult them." She landed in her circle under the tree, pouting a little as she unbuttoned her jeans and reached to pull her shirt off.

"I'm here, the rabbits are here, you're here. Looks like I just got invited and I wasn't insulting you. Who do you think you are, anyway? Get ripped over a couple of balls of fur and some tree rot? Geez and I thought I had issues," he chuckled, watching her, admiring the view as she got tough in front of him. "I mean, you called -me- sweetheart, sweetheart. You got some chocolates in there or something instead? Some valentines candy? Oh I know, how about I just take one of these and kiss you goodnight?" She was fast getting between him and the bounty of meat, but he was a little bigger and probably just as fast, definitely not lethargic from eating too much, that was certain.

[Lovely]

The pants dropped to the ground and so did the shirt, she was bare underneath them but not for long as the red and yellow scales began to quickly cover her, though they acted like another skin not clothes. The small set of spikes sprouted from the back of her shoulders as did the larger slightly curved horns from the sides of her face, running back and out behind her head. She retained a womanly torso and her legs became one long strong tail that curled and flicked behind her. "It may only be a couple balls of fur and tree rot to you, but it's my favorite place to come and get away from stupid jerk brothers who think it's funny to pick on me because I'm the only girl my father didn't eat and because I'm younger than they are.. so there.. that's why I like it so much.. and you made fun of it, so why should I share with you now? .. and I called you sweetheart before you totally insulted my favorite place." She folded her arms, resting hands with long sharp claws on them over each arm. "..and.. I'm Cyn.. princess Cyntheria.." She mumbled the last more formal introduction.

"You're 'Sin'?" He repeated it as it made sense to him at first and laughed again. He knew his brothers, sisters and cousins and she wasn't one. He was actually thankful for that, especially seeing her forms before and after. Once it made sense that it was Cyn and not 'Sin', he seemed a little upset. "So you're just a princess demon, not really one of us, then. That's really too bad."

"Just a princess demon? just? Are you serious? I have to try and hide what I am all the time and you say.. just a princess demon as if it's nothing.. you try being the only princess left of the Shakti.. yeah.. it's a great time.. what do you mean by one of you.. what are you?"

"Prince demon, Venom, spawn to Queen Alkonost. Thought everybody knew that. See?" He flashed the remaining shining dagger-like fang and offered his own brand of royal glare his father might even show pride to see.

"Ohhh.. I see." She rolled her eyes in a bored expression and slithered closer to him. "You're one of them.. think you're better than everyone else, just because of who you're mommy is.. well guess what.. I'm not impressed by who your mother is. You're not her." She shrugged. "My mother is Queen Tsipi and my father is King Ereskegal.. they know your mother, My father brought most of the litter before mine to her as dinner." She laughed a little and gave him a small smile. "I was lucky it wasn't me.. my dad was really mad when he tried to eat me and I split the bottom of his mouth open with my horns." Her eyes narrowed on him as she inched closer and her expression turned to one of curiosity. "Why do you only have.. one fang?"

His mouth closed quickly and he turned away, skirting around her and her horns. "War wound," he muttered, not wanting to explain how he'd had it kicked out by his own brother. "Happened in such a way that it won't regenerate when I'm like this, which I am most of the time. I don't like walking too much anyway. Takes too long."

She pouted a little and turned quickly to follow him as he went around her, curling her tail in front of him to try to stop him. "Venom.. I'm sorry.. I was only asking.. because mine grow right back and.. I thought maybe yours didn't and I was going to offer.. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

"You're what?" He stopped, stunned. Was she sincere suddenly after yelling at him to get away? He chuckled, not believing her as he turned, his laugh raking out in short hisses around the gap. "According to my brothers I don't have feelings, so what difference does it make? Thanks anyway. Guess I'll get off your land, princess."

"Sorry that I hurt your feelings.. Venom.. according to my brothers, my father should have eaten me! and I'm probably going to have to marry one of them. What do brothers know?" She hissed softly and slithered around to try to get in front of him.

"Nothing. Not a damned thing except... how to throw rocks and get their sisters married off to a***oles." He wasn't watching anything but the ground and suddenly saw red and yellow in front of him. "So don't marry your brother. Find a human if you want. What do you want me to say?" He couldn't look her in the eye now that she'd hit the one weakness that broke him every time.

[Lovely]

"I can't marry a human, besides they break in like five minutes and I don't feel like marrying a hundred of them.. I have to marry a snake.. and unfortunately the Shakti have this small issue with eating their young.. and well you get the picture." She sighed trying to get him to look at her though he didn't seem to want to. "I don't want you to say anything.. I just want you to know I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." She bent down and picked up a rock of decent size. "Put out your hand, okay." She lifted the rock up and swung it at her own face, slamming it into her mouth against one of her sharp fangs. She let out a small squeal of pain and the blood started to run from where her scales were pulled away as well as her mouth as she started to spit. The fang had come loose and she spit it along with some blood into her own hand, wiping it off a little and offering it to him.

V looked up at the thumping sound and the squeal, pulling his hand back that he almost offered. She was hitting herself? His mind roared in directions of excitement and panic, what a turn-on at the same time he was freaked. Was she doing this for him? "What? Hey, are you f*-ing nuts? Cyn... whatever you said it was... what are you doing? Th-... that's not right," he lisped out in a panic, nearly darting around in circles. The sound of the pain was music for him but man... her own fang?

She held it out to him again, watching him and almost giggling at how he reacted, she turned to spit a mouthful of blood to the ground next to them and motioned for him to take her fang. "It's for you... and maybe I am nuts.." She shrugged, listening to how her own words sounded different with her fang missing.

Taking the fang from her wasn't his only desire at the moment. The blood around him and the taste of her pain lingering in the air was like magic on him, not to mention the peep show moments before that wasn't lost entirely. He grinned, unsure of this creature and her own intentions, but if only to taste her blood he took the fang, holding it up for his senses to take in.

She smiled a little in return though her mouth was still bloody and she started to flick her tongue over her lips to clean them off. She let him take the fang and inspect it for a moment, she wondered if he still thought she was nuts for giving it to him. She slid closer to him, quietly watching him and waiting to see what he'd do with her gift.

V looked over the milky white tooth, smelled it, taking in its essence like a romantic would take a rose. Too much to bear in his hunger already, he licked the blood from it to whet his already raging appetite.

She bowed her head down a little and then peeked up at him with a bit of a smile. "Would you join my picnic Venom?" She motioned to the rabbits and apples and water that she'd tried to keep him away from. The rabbits and other small animals were still alive and would wake soon, squealing from the pain of their injuries and being staked to the ground by her.