OCtober 2021- Day 3: Duel
Takes place pre first Serpentine War with a hint of slow burn OC/Canon.
This wasn’t an uncommon practice for her kind. Her feet remained steady while the much taller was trying to intimidate her.
The serpentine hissed at her and charged. Determined as all the others, she thought and dodged him. She kept evading this serpentine man and waited. The moment an opening showed, she struck immediately.
The Venomari man was down instantaneously.
She shook her head at him and sighed. So many of them wanted her as their own. It became a practice for serpentine women, warriors and casters alike, to be won over in combat and wits. All of it took place in the slither pit where the strongest would come to face their opponents. It was all to make stronger hatchlings for war and survival. Some snakelets were hybrids and it looked like an advantage in evolution for them.
Another serpentine man came up. Light blue scales with gold markings and bright red eyes. His staff was set aside, held by his second in command for this. He picked up a shield and a pickaxe. Interesting choice, she thought.
He couldn’t help but stare at her. Her violet scales shone beautifully with her dark markings while they all contrasted her magenta eyes. He gave a low hiss and took stance, still studying her before deciding to slither up to her while remaining in stance.
He threw his pickaxe towards her, not aiming right at her, but close enough to surprise her. It did so and he slithered so fast to her, he slammed his shield up against her chest.
Some air wheezed right out of her and if she had legs in place of her tail, she’d be stumbling back. A crowd of gasps echoed and everyone watched them.
Belladonna was dazed for a moment before she finally caught her breath and gulped some air down her long neck. The Anacondrai woman looked up at the Hypnobrai general and gave a smirk.
‘Finally. Someone who’s smart and a fighter!’ She thought and swiped her tail at him. “Let’s see how long you can keep up, General Slithraa.” She hissed and he in turn gave a smirk on his snout back to her. “You’ll be surprised.”
“We shall see.” And so they began their duel. She noticed throughout the fight that he never sent anything lethal. It annoyed her a bit until she saw him look at her with interest more than the others had. The Anacondrai woman pulled back from the close-quarters-combat and for the first time in most of her fights, she brought her bow and arrow out.
An arrow whistled through the air and it landed on the shield, breaking through it a bit. One after another she kept going. She wanted to not panic but couldn’t stop. Finally she was out of them and now he was close. Close enough for her to use her bow and swing it on his head. It cut the hood a bit and caused him to stumble aside. She smacked across his form again and he fell, but not without using his tail to pull her along.
“Why do you persist?!” She yelled firmly and grabbed at his hood, holding his head up. He let out a hiss of pain and looked up at her.
“Because… you’re so beautiful.. you’re strong.. I like it.” She let go of him and pulled herself back up. ‘He likes it?’ She wondered. ‘Usually it’s more like it’s good for the next generation,’ which she can’t say was wrong exactly, but none of them fit for her. None of them actually surprised her.
However, she liked this one. She slithered for a bit and left him there for a moment before coming back with a pouch, a travel med kit if you will. She heaved his arm over her shoulders and carried him out while he was still dazed from the hits. “Come on. Get up.”
She slithered between the crowd of serpentine and could hear them. “Figures it’s a General that wins her.” One of them spoke loudly enough for her to purposely hear it. She ignored it all and kept going. ‘No he did not win.’ She knew that. No one ever did. Doing this didn’t mean she was won over.
