Within The Serpent’s Coil [Alar/Nico]
@pudicitiam
Alar considered himself unusually lucky for most of his life; when it came down to it, he always had a knack with things going his way. He never had a want for money these last number of years, and he’d managed to slip out of every situation he’d thrown himself dangerously into with very little consequence.
Maybe it was the cat in him; the whole nine lives thing and all that.
Clearly, though, today was not his day, and the thought crossed through his mind as he was backing up and away as slow as he could from a rather pissed off sea serpent, an arm slung to his side near his hip where a fresh tear in his clothing rested (not to mention blood). He had only come out for a walk, and as many times as he’d walked around the lake to clear his head and watch the bugs, he’d never entered the territory of this particular serpent. Maybe it was new? Already agitated? Usually the Guild kept a good watch for these things (and he certainly wouldn’t blame them for this).
He had cloaked a number of minutes prior, but every time he’d moved he had been attacked, though he couldn’t particularly get away what with the wall of water blocking him off and everything. He didn’t know much about serpents, so he’d assumed that it was sensing his presence with the water.
–Keep absolutely still, its vision is based on movement–
At least he’d done a number on it before getting put into this state; it limped around trying to find him and there were a number of blemishes across its scaly body (evidence that Alar was indeed armed). He’d learned to be still, and was instead glancing his eyes around, hoping for any moment to leave.
The commotion was hopefully enough that any passerby would see it, perhaps enough to draw someone in to help.
The week had been exceptionally uneventful for Nico. There hadn’t been any majorly malicious characters during his daily patrol around the city, nor had anyone been in need of healing or curse breaking. Suddenly his comfortable routine had become suffocating and the need to get out of the bustling city set his nerves on fire.
He had waited until the first ray of sunlight lit up the saturday morning sky, splashing the atmosphere in soft pinks and bright oranges. The city had yet to awaken and it made for a perfect opportunity to take to the sky in his true form. With a burst of energy he took off into the sky, cantering on his own paved route into the clouds and tossing his head back with a rejuvenated bray.
That had been hours ago and his canter dwindled into a relaxed glide as he rode the winds amongst the clouds. He was circling across the lake when a distant explosion thundered through the air. He whinnied in confusion as he spotted a young sea serpent go rampant, blasting jets of water around the banks and roaring in anger.
The guild had already labeled the serpent as harmless after one of their members had deemed it friendly after an encounter with it, but now that he was watching the reptile thrash around he couldn’t but snort in disbelief. He knew it was a bad idea sending the one adventurer that could charm nearly anyone or anything to do a danger check.
