12-04-2019, 03:38 PM
Rarely did the spider step into a scene that gave him pause.
Metaphorically, of course - caution in movement was important, since there could be traps anywhere, or poisonous creatures hiding in overgrowth, or any number of things that you had to stop and identify so you didn't get yourself into too much trouble. This, however, gave him pause mentally, making him stop in his tracks and wait, as if listening for someone to whisper him the answer. The pause didn't last long; he was quick on the uptake, after all, and he could figure things out given a modicum of time and/or evidence.
There was a black snake with a knife nearby. That was the scene - it seemed a little silly, to be temporarily stumped by something like that, but... well, its subtle weirdness threw him off his groove, truly. He had been in the clan for naught but a few days now, and he had seen some weird things, and this was relatively mundane. But still, it threw him off. He felt like he was messing up some painting, or some ritual, like he was stepping into a scene that he didn't know the lines to.
Slowly, the spider walked a full lap around the snake, watching it, trying to figure out if it was sapient or not - or hell, if it was alive at all or not. He was not privy to the grand drama that had led to the snake's presence, nor the snake's identity, so all he had to work with was the simple fact that the snake was there. Quietly, he decided to disregard the knife, and moved to the side of the coiled serpent that its head was at.
"Greetings," he said, feeling rather silly. He sure hoped this was a person, and not just an odd feral snake that he crossed paths with by pure happenstance. After speaking his mind, he waited and listened for the snake to respond, only slightly tempted to reach out a pedipalp and poke it.
He didn't, of course, but he did want to, to see how it would react. For science, you know?
Metaphorically, of course - caution in movement was important, since there could be traps anywhere, or poisonous creatures hiding in overgrowth, or any number of things that you had to stop and identify so you didn't get yourself into too much trouble. This, however, gave him pause mentally, making him stop in his tracks and wait, as if listening for someone to whisper him the answer. The pause didn't last long; he was quick on the uptake, after all, and he could figure things out given a modicum of time and/or evidence.
There was a black snake with a knife nearby. That was the scene - it seemed a little silly, to be temporarily stumped by something like that, but... well, its subtle weirdness threw him off his groove, truly. He had been in the clan for naught but a few days now, and he had seen some weird things, and this was relatively mundane. But still, it threw him off. He felt like he was messing up some painting, or some ritual, like he was stepping into a scene that he didn't know the lines to.
Slowly, the spider walked a full lap around the snake, watching it, trying to figure out if it was sapient or not - or hell, if it was alive at all or not. He was not privy to the grand drama that had led to the snake's presence, nor the snake's identity, so all he had to work with was the simple fact that the snake was there. Quietly, he decided to disregard the knife, and moved to the side of the coiled serpent that its head was at.
"Greetings," he said, feeling rather silly. He sure hoped this was a person, and not just an odd feral snake that he crossed paths with by pure happenstance. After speaking his mind, he waited and listened for the snake to respond, only slightly tempted to reach out a pedipalp and poke it.
He didn't, of course, but he did want to, to see how it would react. For science, you know?
tags - "speech"