Mylyna considered and said, "I have no proof to give you. You can enter or not, it's up to you. It's the only shelter I've found in this boring place, feel free to keep looking for someplace else if you're too good for my cave." With that the figure backed into the cave and disappeared.
Tonya shrugs. "That's fine. Let's move, Yelenn."
Looking at the shadows to which the woman retreated Yelenn considers their options. On one hand, someone trying to lure them in would probably try a little harder, being unlikely to give up as soon as their offer was rejected, but on the other hand after they day they'd had, facing some other attack wasn't something she was in any hurry to encourage. "Yeah, I'm in no hurry to fight anything else. It might be worth coming back in the daylight though."
From within the cave Mylyna disappeared into came her voice again as she listened to them prepare to leave. She was lonely and bored and she really didn't want these people to leave her here alone. "Look, I'm lonely and bored, please at least come in for the night. I have no weapons and you're the first people I've seen since I killed the bastard who got me stuck here. I have no reason to fight you or to hurt you and I suspect that you are more than a match for me if it came to a fight."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Tonya sighs. "At least show me who - or what - you are. Then maybe. Honestly, bored isn't helping your case, since I have had the unpleasant experience of seeing what a real sadist can do because they're bored."
There came a sigh from within the cave and Mylyna said, "Fine, if that's what it takes." The shape of the woman appeared again but there was something strange about her gait. It became obvious what the strangeness was when she just kept coming out of the cave. By the time she was done the woman, at least from the waist up, would have likely stood about five foot four, she was very beautiful, proportioned about like a human would have been excepting larger hips and butt, and had a collar around her neck. From the waist down things changed however as she had the red scaled coils of a thirty six foot long constrictor. The coils were thickly muscled and could crush what she captured in them. She wore nothing on her body other than the collar. She shook her red hair out, it was long enough to reach her waist, and asked petulantly, "There, happy now?" Her human face with pointed ears, like and elf would have, looked down at them as her coils brought her torso up to stand roughly eight feet from the ground.
The auction is a silent affair and invite only, with the physical bids being collected over and the winner receiving their prize. Although pampered in the parlor palace the event takes place in the losers are not refunded their bid, leaving them little recourse except shame and quiet rage, which works out in the Harridan's favor, for how do you inform the populace of your lands that you just spent half the kingdom's coffers on a concubine? Let alone on a concubine that you did not even win?
Tonya looks Mylyna, shrugs, and extends a hand. "Name's Tonya. What's yours?"
Yelenn's eyes widen for a moment before she arches an eyebrow in thought. Nice to meet you, I've never met a Shaybarisi Lamae before."
Seemingly relieved that the two weren't going to turn on her the serpeantine woman lowered herself down within her coils and said, "I'm Mylyna. I would say it's a pleasure to meet you but, well, we haven't gotten that far have we?" As she spoke she shifted and slithered forward some, her torso moved by the powerful coils so she could lean close to each of them and attempt to place a kiss on their cheeks in greeting.
Tonya tenses as the lamae approaches, but when she sees she means no harm she takes off her helmet as a courtesy. She blushes slightly when Mylyna kisses her cheek, but it soon fades. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting on receiving this warm of a greeting when we washed ashore. Can't say I'm complaining, though."
As Mylyna kisses her cheek, Yelenn's face flushes a bit as well, the almost palpable sensuality of the serpent woman slightly overwhelming. "Very true, given what we survived just to make it to the island this is a welcome well beyond anything we were expecting at this point."
Slihtering back and away from the two women Mylyna began to go back to her cave and said, "Now that we're acquainted, come on in." With that she slithered to the cavern, her butt wriggling enticingly, as she went.
Tonya shrugs, looking at Yelenn. "Eh, if this is a trap, I can think of worse ways to die." She follows Mylyna into her cave, doing her best not to stare at the shapely snakewoman.
"Heh, very true." Yelenn replies following Mylyna into the cave and enjoying the view.
As they followed Mylyna to the entrance to the cave they could see a crudely lettered sign hammered into the ground. It was made of driftwood and the letters in charcoal said, Mann hatrsss grotto. No menn allowd! On the top of the sign was a human skull. A short downward sloped tunnel led into a fair sized cave, one certainly big enough for the three of them and then some, with a large fire near the entrance that let the smoke exit through the entrance way. There was a good sized pool of fresh water at the back, likely fed by a spring of some kind. Mylyna had curled herself up along the backside of the fire, as closely as she could without getting singed, and had lain her torso down across the coils, using them like a sort of mattress. She smiled at the two and said, "I'm glad you came. I don't have much food but there's plenty of water," the tip of her tail gestured at the pond, "and at the top of the cliff are some fruit trees I've been gathering from when I need to eat."
The sign causes Yelenn to raise an eyebrow in wry amusement, considering how lucky they were that none of the men that had been on the ship with them had ended up as part of their little group, the skull reminding her not to completely drop her guard.
The cave was definitely an improvement over the rocks and open beach, especially when she thought about what was in the water. Mylyna had clearly made herself as at Home as could be given the circumstances, and warm as dry was a hell of a lot more than she was expecting.
Her eyes shifted again to their hostess,, practically lounging by the fire, smiling at them both as if genuinely happy to have company. If this was a trap....well it was a bloody well baited one. "Water is definitely a major bonus, and I'm sure given time there's additional sources of food to be found. Thank you Mylyna, for your hospitality."
She gave Tonya a sidelong glance to see what she made of it all.
Tonya arches an eyebrow as she sees the sign as well, but makes no comment until the trio reaches Mylyna's abode. She sighs as the warmth of the hearth reaches her and leans against one of the cave walls, gradually sinking to the ground. "I have to say, this is definitely a welcome surprise. I was expecting to have to start killing more fish monsters the moment we washed ashore. Although, I have to ask, what's with the sign?" As she speaks, Tonya begins the long, arduous process of doffing her armor, although both woman notice that she does it rather hesitantly.
Mylyna smiled at Yelen and said, "You're welcome." Her gaze shifted to Tonya and she said, "Men suck and are only good to @#$%. That one was the reason I'm stuck here, stupid dead ex-master." She pouted slightly and grumbled a bit more but otherwise watched Tonya and Yelen settle in.
"Ah. If I were to guess, you were this guy's slave and people collectively lost their s+#& when you fought back and thought you were possessed or something." With some difficulty, Tonya manages to slide the arms of her armor off, and it's soon easy to see why she was eager to doff it. Her arms are significantly rounder and softer than what the plate was designed to cover, her muscles lost beneath a layer of fat. Upon closer inspection, her face uncovered by her helm is also somewhat plump, with the beginnings of a double chin forming. She sighs in relief, then blushes and continues to unbuckle the rest of her armor. "Going to have to make some adjustments soon. Thought I had more time before the curse started progressing."
Tonya's grey skin is covered in dark red lines of an obviously magical sort.
The look Yelenn gives Tonya is one of compassion, mixes with some sort of steely resolve as she takes in the effect of Tonya's curse. While the excess body fat wasn't in any way unattractive on her, it was clearly at odds with the level of physical condition she displayed.
Turning back to look at Mylyna she studies the skull for a moment. "Well if he was enslaving you and using you, then the bastard got what he deserved. If he was in a position of power, that wouldn't have mattered though, they'd have taken it out on you."
Mylyna rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, they took it out on him too. He ended up here with me. Some wizard showed up and spelled us both, when we came to we were on the beach." Her tone of voice was one of the mortally offended as she said, "I would have submitted to the wizard if it kept me from this hellhole but nooooo," the sarcasm was venomous, "he saw me like the rest, a corrupting influence on their Lord who would lead them all to damnation. She had risen up and seemed rather indignant now, her coils unlooping as she did. She realized she was agitated when she bumped her head against the roof and lowered back down saying, "Ow!" She looped her coils again and managed to relax, "So, once we woke up here I enticed him to a good screw and crushed him to death at the end. Some scavengers cleaned off the bones and I made the sign with his skull." She seemed smug and self satisfied at the ending of her story, though her face quickly fell, "Sometimes I think I should have just made him my slave, I've been lonely and bored without him."
Tonya ignores Mylyna's comment about Avery as she struggles with her leg armor, attributing it to the culture she was raised in. "Great. There are religious nuts on this island, too?" She finally pulls the armor apart, revealing leather trousers that would be loose on the likes of Yelenn, but seem like they're about to rip open from the strain of holding Tonya's legs. She then begins to pull her breastplate off with some trepidation.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Do you need help Tonya?" Yelenn asks getting up and walking towards where the warrior sits. As she does she nods in understanding to Mylyna. "Intelligent species aren't meant to be alone for long stretches of time, that's why they send us here. The one's they hate so much that killing is too good for us, they sentence us to live in solitude."
Tonya nods tersely. "Thanks. Hope you get used to this, if the demon has its way it'll only get worse." With Yelenn's help, she quickly gets her breastplate and the rest of her armor off. Her stomach spills out onto her lap slightly, releasing an embarrassing grumble. "Oh, um, sorry. Don't worry about it, I can take care of it. I think." Her face screwed up in intense concentration, smoke begins billowing in her lap, before dissipating and revealing a plate of chicken and baked potatoes, and she begins to dig in. "Been awhile since I've done this. And don't bother, if anybody else eats it it rots in their mouth."
"Happy to help. We've all got pretty much no one else but each other now." Yelenn says with a smile. "I guess since I know both your stories now, I should share mine."
Unbuckling her swordbelt, she sits on the ground crosslegged, laying the weapon across her lap. "For centuries, my family has retrieved and collected weapons and tools used by evil to rule or dominate those weaker than they were. Not warriors mostly, but scholars who understood that there items were better kept by those who understood their power and would do whatever was necessary to keep them out of the wrong hands."
"Turns out the reckless daughter and keeper in training who ventured down into the forbidden wing on a dare, might have been exactly the wrong hands." she says with a self deprecating chuckle. "I barely remeber reaching for the sword......but now I couldn't part with it if I tried, and gods know I've tried. Everywhere I go, death follows,"
Tonya hisses through her teeth. "Sounds like you've had a rougher lot than me. At least I managed to have a nice, happy life for a few years after getting my curse."
"Twenty people in my home town turned up drowned at the same time, all inexplainable. Including people I love....." Yelenn replies with a sigh. "When we went into the water, a part of me wondered if it would happen here too."
Tonya opens her mouth as if to speak, but closes it, thinking of no words that could possibly assuage Yelenn that her companion hadn't already heard, and dismiss. Every time she remembered the caves, she couldn't shake the feeling of guilt and self-loathing for days.
Mylyna shook her head and replied, "Nope, the religious nuts were before the island. Ever since I killed the Ass I haven't seen anyone here until the two of you." She listened then to the stories of the other two as she lay atop her coils. "Such sad and troublesome stories. At least we've found company here. Maybe we can use your respective skills to survive here, maybe even become queens of this prison island."
Tonya smirks. "Eh, I'm fairly certain there's not much to be queens over, anyways. More concerned with just finding a way to reduce the impact of the curse." She continues munching on her meal, then stops and glares at the food, dismissing it. "This is why I don't use this that often. It's tricksy, the meal constantly replenishes itself, and until I stop I don't register that I'm full."
"Wow. Easy to forget yourself and keep going." Yelenn comments. "Well queens or not, it's definitely better to survive together than alone. Even though you haven't seen anyone since you got here Mylyna, I'd feel more comfortable if we kept a watch. I can take the first since you've already taken your armor off Tonya, and you look all comfortable Mylyna." the arcane scholar says with a smile.
Tonya nods. "Sounds good. I'll work on getting my armor refitted, then I'll hit the dirt. I'll take third watch." She then works on getting her armor adjusted for her plump frame, frowning as her limited tools make her job rather difficult.
The exhaustion from the day finally catching up to them the two new arrivals and Mylyna drift off to a blank sleep in the snake woman's cave. No pleasant dreams. No stirring nightmares. A dead sleep helps them pass the rest of the night.
Morning comes and along with it the winds from the sea whistling into the cave. The whistling like a poor man's bird song also carries with it the acrid smell of salt... and distinct traces of rotting fish.
Tonya stretches as she is awakened by the whistling wind. Her mind still somewhat clouded by sleep, she doesn't question the breakfast already laid out for her, and only after a few minutes of inhaling the food does she realize it's replenishing itself. Growling, she dismisses it with a wave of her hand, and waits for Yelenn and Mylyna to awaken.
Slowly drifting into wakefulness, Yelenn sits up from the spot on the grounds where she'd eventually fallen into an exhausted slumber after he watch. On instinct, her hand reaches out to take hold of her sword beside her where she'd left it, alongside her armor and pack. Sitting up, she gathers her bearings, the torn white blouse and black breeches she wore underneath now crusted with salt.
"Well looks like we all survived the night. Ugh. Based on the smell, I'm almost afraid to see what the beach looks like this morning."
Mylyna had, at some point, shifted where she was to be right in front of the cave entrance and wrapped around the pit where the fire had been. She didn't seem like she would be moving anytime soon and was coiled up in a very tight ball. She was breathing but otherwise unmoving.
"Mmm. At least I'm feeling a lot better. Well, I'm no longer bleeding profusely from multiple locations, and my joints aren't dislocated," Tonya rolls her shoulders. "Do you want to wake the cranky snake lady up, or should I?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"I'll do it." Yelenn says with a chuckle. "Guess she's not all that much of a morning person. Hope she remembers inviting company."
Getting up, she moves over to where Mylyna lies sleeping, gazing at her admiringly for a moment before reaching out to gently shake her shoulder. "Mylyna....good morning."
The only response Yelenn got out of Mylyna was a softly mumbled, "Few more minutes." Her shoulder was cold to the touch though she did seem to shift ever so slightly towards the warmth of Yelen's hand.
Given what she remembered from her studies of serpentine anatomy and nature, Yelenn quickly understood the reaction, though the slight shift into the warmth of her touch made her smile.
"Okay," she says softly, heading back over to where Tonya sat.
"Being cold blooded, she's likely to be lethargic until it warms up a bit." she explained.
Tonya shrugs. "Eh. I guess we're just gonna have to wait, then." She laughs harshly. "If there's one good thing about this humiliation is that all this blubber makes it easier to stay warm."