caimans, komodos, and cobras, oh my!

The young shaman was far from home and familiarity. She'd decided to wander away, just for a little bit. How that had turned into a venture across the continent was a mystery. Regardless, she was here now. All gawky limbs and youthful idiocy, she had made the swim to a strange looking island.

As soon as she'd made landfall, something was off. First of all, this whole place was way too hot. With the sun blazing high in the sky, her spine was on fire. Ever since leaving, her sunburn had begun to resurface with a vengeance. The ground beneath her feet was mostly loose rock, and burned her paws. She looked around pensively. It wasn't too late to turn around and continue her exploration somewhere else...

Ssssss... Something was behind her, and it didn't sound happy. Whirling around, her tail tucked, she was face to face with a big snake. It was twisted into a wavering S-shape, hissing at her. The pale youth was not familiar with snakes of this size. The only kind she'd ever encountered were lowly garter snakes- nothing as threatening as this. Yelping her acquiesce to the giant serpent, she skittered away from the beach like her ass was on fire. It wasn't until she was well into the centre of the island that she felt safe.

At least, until she saw some honest to Zhibog dragons. Safety clearly wasn't in the picture on this island. "Великие создатели, где я? Это подземный мир?" She breathed, absolutely baffled. The massive, scaly beasts were snarling and snapping over a mangled piece of carrion. It wasn't even recognizable as an animal. What if it was another wolf? One of them swung its great head in her direction, and let loose a guttural hiss. Time to go!

Cantering in a direction that was going away from both the dragons and the demon snake, she hoped she could make it back to the mainland with her heart firmly lodged in her throat. There was a slender archipelago extending away from the island, and towards the mainland. Perfect! A launch point for her return to safety. Breath ragged, she slowed to a cautious trot. Looking around, she couldn't see anything coming closer. No dragons or giant serpents. This was one of Veles' hells, for sure. Only the horned god could come up with such horrible looking beasts.

Something was hissing, really low, and really scary sounding. Where was it? On all sides, she could only see rocks. Anxiety pooled in her gut, and squeezed like a vice on her lungs. No sooner had the noise stopped, oh so suddenly, then something moved. Too quick to react.

Agony tripped up her spine, white hot. She screeched, her entire hind end ablaze with pain. Her paws moved, claws catching on the muddy ground to move her forward. The child couldn't move. She was trapped, horribly. Something was holding her in place. Mismatched eyes rolled in her skull, desperately trying to get a glimpse of what it was.

In no uncertain terms, a monster. Scaly and armed with jaws like she'd never seen. Those great big jaws and their spike shaped teeth were locked firmly on her tail. Its hiss reverberated up her spine, the tip of its nose far too close to her body for comfort. It was now or never. Yellow eyes were blinking open all around her. Slithering close. The champagne child gritted her teeth, bunched her muscles, and pushed with all her might against the slick ground.

Pop! She flew forward. Oversized paws slammed awkwardly into the ground, and she couldn't spare a moment to think about what must have just happened. Instead, she ran as hard and fast as she could. The ocean spread itself before her, and she leapt graciously into its embrace.

-

Everything else was a blur. All of the sudden, her feet brushed against sand. Her legs ached, and she was choking on seawater. Oh, that wasn't good. Wherever she'd just been, it was bad. Penance for leaving home without telling anyone, maybe? She flopped heavily onto the soggy beach, with the tide lapping gently at her flanks.

walk "Talk" think