[PRP] With a lead pipe (Sukurys, Ejderha & Tarakona)

[Princess_Feylin]

Sukurys was unaware of it, but there was blood drying on his left elbow. It was because of the blood that he was leading a loopy parade of flies. He could not help but be aware of the flies. Their buzzing and tickling was the worst sort of nuisance, and his reflexes were not up to the task of cutting short their already miserably short lives. His snapping jaws closed on air, and his slapping paws struck only his own striped hide.

He looked up to the clouds in the sky, seeking direction as he frequently did. His family believed that the future could be read in the clouds and whenever he was not sure of what to do, or sought answers of any sort, his first instinct was to glance upward for guidance and answers. Today the clouds offered no clues about the flies, or suggestions for direction. There were none to be seen at all, which was a sign in itself, of course, but not one he could easily interpret.

It should be noted that walking while looking up is rarely wise, even for a lion.  

[mouselet]

"Yowch!"

Of all the things Ejderha had expected for today, being jarred out of her nap by having someone step on her was not one of them. Reacting instinctively, and in the way anyone who had to spend all their time with her brother would, the dark blue snake acted quickly and bit down hard on the offender's foot.

As her fangs pierced the mammal's flesh, the snake came fully awake.

Well. This was awkward. She appeared to have a mouthful of lion. She might not be as friendly as her brother, but this was still not how she preferred to meet people.



Tarakona had been sleeping curled up nearby, sucking on his tailtip as he dreamed. At the unexpected yell, he nearly swallowed his other end. Coughing his way into wakefulness, the paler snake realized that the shadow blocking out his sun was not a passing cloud but in fact a lion. A big one. Who appeared to be standing on his sister. Who was now wrapped around his leg and biting his foot.

'Kona blinked and stared at the bizarre tableau before him.

"Ej...I thought you said we shouldn't bite people?" he asked hazily.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Sukurys let out a yelp which was not particularly leonine, but deeply heartfelt. He had been bitten!

A downward glance, made rather reluctantly, told him that he had not only been bitten, but he had been bitten by a snake, that the snake was blue, and worst of all, not alone. Or maybe the worst part was that the snake was still hanging onto him. That was pretty awful, too.

It took a massive effort on his part not to wave his wounded paw around wildly in an attempt to dislodge the still-attached snake. He wasn't sure it would even work, while he was completely convinced that doing so would bring upon him the wrath of the bitey snake's companion.

"I'm terribly sorry," he said, indifferent to preserving the pride of his species by refusing to apologize to something that didn't even have legs. At the moment, the fact that its teeth were lodged in his foot meant that having legs wasn't really all that much of an advantage.

"You aren't stuck, are you? If you aren't, I'd appreciate it if you'd let go." He didn't know where all these calm-sounding words were coming from, since he was still completely freaked out by the whole situation.  

[mouselet]

Under most circumstances, the darker snake would have spat out the furred foot with a moue of distate. However, the lion's politeness helped her to reconsider her instinctive first choice, which was rather unusual in and of itself.

So Ejderha released the lion's foot as gently as she could, withdrawing fangs and loosening her coils.

"Apology accepted," the snake replied. "I did not mean to bite you, but really, you should look before you step. Another snake might be poisonous," she added ominously.

The effect was somewhat spoiled by an immediate turn to face her brother and glare at him.

"And no, we shouldn't bite people. But that's also why people shouldn't step on us." This last was punctuated by a redirection of the glare upwards to the lion.

'Kona blinked slowly as he watched the scene with mild disinterest. It wasn't unusual for Ej to berate someone other than him, so seeing her chide a big lion was, honestly, expected.

"Why would somebody step on somebody?" the paler snake wondered aloud. Clearly, he wasn't properly awake yet. Then his purple eyes opened wide.

"Wait, you stepped on my sister? I ought to bite you myself!"  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Right," Sukurys agreed, not quite certain what he was agreeing to. He was pretty sure that he was going into shock. There was no other explanation for this calm that was settling over him. Unless he had been poisoned! The snake hadn't actually said their bite wasn't poisonous.

"I don't think most lions intend to step on snakes when it happens," he said, pulling his bitten paw up to his chest and cradling it there. It throbbed a little, but not nearly as badly as he would have expected, to be honest. Maybe he hadn't been poisoned.

"I'm certainly sorry that I did though," he concluded. "And I'd appreciate it if no one else bit me."  

[mouselet]

"Hold it, 'Kona," the darker snake hissed before turning her attention back to the lion. He was probably the most polite individual they'd come across in some time, and she did appreciate that.

"Apology accepted," she informed him. "I think we can promise that no one else will bite you today...right?" This last was directed towards her brother with yet another sharp glare. She appreciated that he wanted to look out for her, but Tarakona could be a fool and easily ruin relationships if she let him get out of her verbal coils.

"But-!" the paler snake got a good look at his sister's eyes before subsiding. Ej did know how to make his life miserable when he disobeyed her, so it seemed best to just do as she said. Even though he really wanted to bite the lion now.

Though...the lion was apologizing. So that was good. Well, maybe Ejderha was right about not biting being the better idea.

"Yes Ej," he sighed obediently to her Look. It's a shame that snakes didn't have the powers that some attributed to them. Ej's Look could kill if they did.  

[Princess_Feylin]

At the darker snake's words Sukurys could not help but smile a little, despite the alarming nature of his situation in general. As a lion who believed in prophecy and fate, he well understood that it was impossible for the darker snake...Ej?...to make him a promise that no one else would bite him today. Not unless she had some clairvoyant ability. After all, nearly anything was possible in this world.

"I would like that," he said, electing not to wax eloquent on his theories of predestination and making predictions about the future without guidance from a sound, reliable source, like the cloud formations his people used for scrying.

"My name is Sukurys," he added in a non sequiter. They had been talking long enough that it seemed odd to go on without introductions. "Will you tell me yours?"  

[mouselet]

Ah yes, the niceties. This was a very polite lion indeed, and the female snake could certainly appreciate that. Straightening herself a bit, she looked up at Sukurys.

"I am Ejderha," the dark snake informed him. Her tailtip twitched to point at her brother. "He is Tarakona. It is a pleasure to meet you." And really, aside from being stepped on and biting him, this was going quite well.

"Otherwise known as the fun one, me," the lighter snake chimed in, pointing his tailtip at himself and then redirecting it towards his sister. "And the party pooper there, her." 'Kona grinned up at the lion.

"She really doesn't like it when people have fun," he confided in a hoarse not-whisper.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Sukurys nodded at each snake in turn, and smiled at Tarakona's assessment of their roles in each other's lives. He'd had family members like that, before. Both the fun and fun-spoiling types. He missed them.

It was while he was looking down at the snakes that he realized one of his paws was bloody. But not the one Ejderha had bitten. The other one. How had that happened?

"I'm glad to know you both," he said politely. "But I wouldn't like to interfere with your plans any more than I already have done."

Which was his extremely polite way of saying he didn't know what else to say to the pair, and would like to escape from this regrettable situation to get the blood off his one paw and baby the other one until it stopped hurting.  

[mouselet]

Ejderha snorted. Like or not, her plans for napping in the sun all day had already been spoiled thanks to the mammal who seemed incapable of watching where he was placing his paws. However, given that he wasn't Tarakona and that he had been relatively polite other than the misstep, it would be rude of her to point it out.

"Likewise. Come on 'Kona," she gestured with her tailtip indicating that her brother should follow. Now. Away from the lion.

"But Ej...!" the paler snake complained as he obediently began slithering after his sister. She always wanted to spoil his fun just as things were getting good. And now that no one was stepping on either of them and there was no more biting and they knew Sukurys' name, shouldn't there be fun now?

Crap, she was getting further and further away the more he sat thinking! Hissing urgently to himself, 'Kona followed in the darker snake's tracks. She'd never let him live it down if he lost her.