TAKE A CHANCE ON ME | open, snake class

[CLEO R. C.]

CLEO ROUX-CIPHER

[color=#445544]"I'm holding a class on snakes."

It was all Cleo extended as she sat down, a well-concealed sigh drifting from now parted lips as the many snakes wrapped around her body disembarked and settled upon the ground. Only Eshe remained coiled around the bengal's neck, observing her kin through glowing golden eyes, a forked tongue escaping as she tasted the air. This was the first time her entire collection of various snakes would be revealed to her clanmates, boa constrictors and cobras alike all resting within inches of the undersized bengal. She'd pat one of their heads gently, a strangely affectionate gleam dancing within her sanguine gaze before she fixated her attention ahead.

Not many were fond of snakes, that much was true, but she hoped to perhaps shed a light on their more... gentler nature via means of this little class. She also had with her an abundance of dead mice, ideal food for her precious companions that would hopefully reveal that they were relatively low maintenance and caring for them was painfully simple. Snakes were good creatures that received the short end of the stick, Cleo was convinced. They did not at all harbor any sort of evilness to them nor did they carry an ulterior wickedness and lust for mayhem. They were merely snakes, misunderstood, beautiful snakes.  Cleo intended on showing her clanamtes just that.

Eshe had had her reservations towards all of this because, well, of course she did. She was not fond of interactions between feline and snake, wanting nothing more than to keep Cleo from her family and clanmates the best she could. It was why the captain's daughter was so withdrawn and quiet, always preoccupied by her dedication to the one snake that was relatively high maintenance. Cleo was so young, so easily manipulated, that she hadn't the faintest of ideas that Eshe was turning her into something vastly different than her divine intention, corrupting her very soul the more time they spent together.  It was a damn shame that they were inseparable.

Little mamba, Eshe hissed through their bond, that inexplicable dark feeling engulfing Cleo for a brief moment, Do not let any tragedy befall our family. A solemn nod from the bengal followed her snake's warning, a shaky breath inhaled the moment she realized that Eshe meant the snakes- not the Typhooners. [color=#445544]"Of course..." She whispered in response, [color=#445544]"I'll protect them... just like you taught me to."

© MADI

[ROSEMARY]

ROSEMARY ROUX

Rosemary never put much thought into keeping pets, but - as it seemed to grow in fashion - an increasing number of her fellow pirates claimed at least one cute bugger to their name. Rosemary, herself, was no exception to this; she got one of Kal's hatchlings, though she often left the piebald crocodile to bask in her treehouse during the day. She learned, through owning such a pet, that her academic knowledge didn't fully transfer to making her fit as a caregiver. While she knew what Eri needed, she didn't quite know how to deal with his emotional outbursts or her own desire to connect with him.

So, hearing Cleo's announcement for a class on snakes, Rosemary became interested; more knowledge can't possibly hurt anyone, and she needed to know more about reptiles, anyway. Flicking her forked tail, she wandered over and sat in front of her niece, though at a distance that put her out of striking range for any defensive snakes.

Her orange-amber eyes look at the various species, recognizing a boa constrictor or two, though she couldn't begin to guess all of their species or how they hunted. She had never bothered to learn too much about reptile species until she needed to, like when she got the tegu egg gift for Roxanne or decided to take a saltwater croc as a pet. Eventually, after she got a good look, her eyes drifted back to Cleo as she wordlessly waited for the bengal to start the lesson.

© MADI

[no more]

[align=center][div style="width: 230px; font-family: georgia; color: #7b8189; font-size: 10px; text-align: center;line-height: 110%; padding-top:10px; padding-bottom:10px"]i'll never get to heaven cause i don't know how

It seemed a great many had with them some creature they had deemed fit to live with them, caring for the well being of this companion they had chosen to take in, for some unlucky few it had been the other way around. Counted amongst those who had no such creature by their side Aita held little idea on what such a bond might offer, the comfort and companionship something she craved but never wanted to take for herself, content in her own company for the time being.

All the same it was a lonely way to go about life, the few of her family she cared for seemed faint ghosts in her memory, pushed aside too quickly for her to derive any sense of comfort from the memory of past interaction which had left her happy. Hadhi had done her work rather well and, though it was a slow, painful process, was removing each memory the child held of those around her, warping those she could not. Yet something about Cleo, a particular being which had piqued even the demi-god's interest upon first coming across her and the black snake draped about that thin body, was hard for either to forget.

Dark ears perked and swivelled around, her head moving slower, seeking the origin of the voice. All too familiar it took only her voice to bring the bengal to her paws, though exhaustion tugged at her, sought to bring her down into the shade of the tree once more where she could curl up and sleep for a time, but she thought better of it. The snakes set before Cleo gave them momentary pause, a paw hovering above the ground as she looked upon them in their multitude of colours, speaking of the poisonous nature of some yet others hide it in dull tones, swallowing to wet her suddenly dry throat. There was no love shared between Aita and the reptiles before her, least of all the black mamba which they begrudgingly tolerated for the sake of her sister, and so she wondered briefly as to why she decided to approach.

“Ay sis, I uh... nice snakes...” Confusion edged her words yet she did her best to keep her voice from cracking, brow furrowed as she looked upon the snakes before her. Not wishing to be bitten and unfamiliar with how to even approach she thought better of getting too close and set herself a short distance from them, settling and wrapping her tail about her, the tip flicking every few seconds. “Sure ar' a lotta em, how'd ya keep em 'idden so long.” An idle inquiry made somewhat off-hand, their dark gaze moving between the snakes before lifting to Cleo, a look of feigned interest present for she had no wish to disappoint her or to seem she wasn't interested at all. In truth she was somewhat interested, the want to learn all she could, to gain any little scrap of knowledge upon each subject overpowering, but she was not one made to care for another life.

Noticing Rosemary's presence the dark child offered her a small, fleeting smile. She rather liked her aunt, a woman who seemed everything she might hope to be once she was grown, though to aspire to be the Soothsayer was likely not a good path to walk.

[got ninja'ed so sorry for the crappy little end bit]

the tyhpoon — minnow — tags

[coldblue]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 55%; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0px;"]Let's be honest: Coldblue can scarcely take care of himself, much less a pet. Or a companion, or whatever people like to call them. "No! They're not a pet! They're family!!!" Blech. A pet is a pet. They can't talk, they can't feed themselves, and they are basically a baby forever. It's a pet, and that's all Blue is willing to say on the matter. However, that is not to say that the young male is uninterested in possessing one of his own. Maybe Cleo will share one of her snakes? No, probably not. But a bird sounds cool. A crow, perhaps? Thoughts of acquiring a new avian or serpent companion dominate the youth's mind as he casually wanders over before plopping down next to his relatives.

The only reason why Coldblue is in the vicinity of Cleo's little class is because he likes to hang around Aunt Rosemary when he gets bored. Rose is second only to Goldie, which makes her among his favorite people. A feat which is difficult for most to accomplish. The boy does not trust easily, and it is easily broken.

Aita's question is amusing enough to capture the young bengal's attention. He loves to tease his little sisters, especially Cleo. Maybe because he whole "edgy snake lady" thing she's got going on reminds him of himself and his whole "I hate my dad and my life sucks" thing. "She probably swallows them and keeps them in a secret second stomach or something," he says nonchalantly, though those intense glacial blue eyes shimmer with a mischievous light. He say something like that in a horror movie once. There's nothing as disgusting as watching a bunch of creepy snakes slither from someone's mouth. He still has nightmares about it. In spite of his teasing, Blue seems genuinely interested in whatever Cleo has to say. "Do enlighten me, O Slithery One."

[CAESAR CIPHER.]

ALL ALONE HE TURNS TO STONE !

CAESAR CIPHER. MALE. THE TYPHOON. OFFICER.

Ah, snakes. Caesar was actually quite interested in them, although he was mostly interested on the snake that was always bound to Cleo. Eshe was an interesting creature, and she had a dark air surrounding her that he quite liked the feeling of. He couldn't see her aura unfortunately, but if he was able to, he was bound to find a dark aura - which would only make him want to be closer to Cleo just so he could be near Eshe. "They're snakes dumbass, they were probably just hiding somewhere in the jungle." Caesar snorted to Coldblue as he came over, rolling his eyes like a child. He took a seat next to Rosemary, his black gaze on Eshe.

#psychosocial.

[JUNIOR]

​

★★★

Snakes; back home, there hadn't been a ton of them, maybe in the forest that bordered town, but aside from that, they weren't really found in people's backyards, or anything. Junior had seen maybe one or two in his lifetime, and he had to say, he... wasn't fond of them. They were like super big, super scaly noodles that bit you; he didn't see anything positive about that, aside from the fact that you could eat them- if you could catch them. What was there to learn about snakes? Was she gonna be talking about, like, venomous and non-venomous ones, or something? He figured that could be pretty educational.

The tall feline stepped forth next, badly-masked caution upon striped features as he searched for a place to sit, sparing the snakes on the ground before them all an uneasy glance as he neared. With them all there, right in front of him... he decided he liked snakes a lot less than he thought he had. The boy ended up placing himself at the very edge of the small crowd, by Caesar, which probably wasn't the best decision on his part- he just hoped the serval wouldn't say anything fucking stupid and set him off - he really wasn't liking the guy, and he'd hardly been here more than two weeks -, but this didn't seem like it could possibly be a very touchy subject, at least on his [art.

[color=#5B81AE]"speech"

[ARGUS]

ʜɪᴅᴅᴇɴ sᴄʀᴏʟʟɪɴɢ

//do mind me i got a little... exsesive. Last two paragraphs are important! //

Argus was actually very knowledgeable about snakes. In that one of their old... acquaintances used to favor them greatly. Like most animals they could bee seen this or that way. Cold blooded creatures that liked sunbathing and curing deep under the wings of Argus' form just to stay warm. In fact too they were glad that the gaping hole in the center of the chest wasn't an problem then, just thinking about it now gave them violent shivers. Still, the scent of scales was unmistakable to them. And the encroaching scent of it near camp had been alarming slightly at first. Giant anaconda's were common in the area and a very horrid way to die for any of their smaller classmates. It was only meeting cleo that kept Argus from investigating it further- hunting and killing whatever it was they found. Cleo was fond of them, and while Argus wasn't going to favor the child if they were a threat so far no missing animal reports were made yet so argus assumed they were cleos.

While yes- snakes were innocent little creatures when they were feral- very docile and more likely to run than they ever would attack. They were still dangerous, very much so. Argus had grown up next to cottonmouths and pitt vipers all the same. Rattlesnakes biting at their heels was the first kind of enemy they faced at four moons old, and the first actual meat they ever ate when abandoned at the age. They learned how to suck the venom out of their bites and create anti-toxins from venom until they needn't to anymore. Till their venom was as lethal as two pinpricks on an ankle and they could hunt without fear. They could eat a snake hole without worry of the venom dissolving the back of their throat. Yes- eventually that included black mamba's, and the only reason it took so long to get used to the venom was the fact of how rare they were in the desert Argus was born into.

There was a reason snakes were seen as sly and silver tongued. They lie in the shade and wait to strike, curling around their prey like a constrictor holding it secure and snug into it's victim realized it was choking. They swim in the shallows and wait for paws- their fangs were barely detectable until the venom was in you and you were already dead by then. Snakes were docile and mellow, unless they were on the hunt. Then they were as dangerous as any lion or tiger, and twice as swift- twice as lethal. There was a reason so many people compared other's to snakes. Lethal liars with venomous words. Sly speaking until they tricked you into doing their deeds.

Argus had companions, two badgers fully grown and rabbid with every fiber of their being. Furry little monsters, but they were with Argus sense they were kits. Now fully grown- they were more distant than usual, which was fine. They hunted on their own and they gathered things for Argus in return of more exotic tastes. They were more companions than anything. It would be sad if they left- sure. But argus didn't need them, and they didn't need argus. So they stayed out of sight and out of mind unless Argus had a task for them or they were running low on food and came to beg. Until they were dead that was the way it would be. Argus would not stand to have "pets" similar to the way others would. They would be useful or they would be trophies. They were argus' pets, and they could stand no other crewmate. They did not curl and cuddle when argus needed it- they did not whisper protect protect protect protect u s.

Unlike caesar, Argus had always been aware of aura's the way most people weren't, not just the aura's but the souls that they surrounded. It is what Argus kept eyes on- what changes with influence. Pincher's body was not the only change since he came back from dying, and it did not suprise them at all when someone so close with snakes- smelled like them and always had one near them would have the same aura of one. Closely bound- entwined closely with their aura. It wasn't strange, if it was a little troubling. Because companions were not meant to communicate with their masters. And intelligent snakes were snakes in ever sense of the word. They were manipulative on a keener level than argus was now. SO something to keep an eye on, at least.

Dull red eyes watched the group gather with a blank expression. Their posture and emotion fixed on cleo- on her companion in an unnerving way that was meant to unsettle. Something that only ever really happened with Luca's joining or... what did dimitri go by now? Kazutski? There wasn't any amusement or good natured humor in the quartermaster's tone that was usually there when they spoke.  "Hmm, I'm familiar with them, what is your favorite breed of snake, cleo?" Argus asked, a humm to their tone that sounded droll to their own ears. "Used to live with a bunch of them, when i was little. There isn't any shortages of the lethal one's in the desert."

I LEARNED THE VOICES DIED WITH ME