In the Stone

She laughs, " where I come from naga are sacred. I will teach you to survive the mountains and then you? You should return to your own people. There are others just like you out in the mountains. You can feel at home... loved with others like you. Perhaps even find yourself a pretty snake to marry." She smiles and leans back. During the travel she would tell him how to survive, how to make it. When they arrived she had a beautiful palace and he was escorted to his own room and adjoining bathroom
 
The one thing that remains completely intact of Evra's personality as his life turns 180 degrees around, is his seeking of approval and worth - oddly enough a trait that serves him well as he goes through the training of how to live off the natural environment under his mistress's kind instruction. He learns much more about the concept of himself deserving respect, let alone nagas being sacred, until his bearing shows more confidence by the time they get to the palace.

"Even if I do find my own people... and someone there to fit in with as good as you've been to me... I would still want to visit you as well," he confides while settling into his palace room.
 
She smiles and tugs his hair softly, " you are always welcome to visit. But I want you to go out there and see the world.... go out and meet the other people like you. You need to experience what has been robbed from you. I will always be here, this room will always be here"
 
Evra told his benefactor that the way she changed his whole world is tremendous, and that even with her training and attitude coaching he can hardly believe he's ready to go off on his own. "If I find nagas even slightly as good as you have been, it will be heaven," was his final moist-eyed parting before putting his new-gained skills to use, setting off.
 
She smiles and hugs him as he leaves.

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Stheno sat on the rocks, her father .... high chief of the Vipers was in council..... it seems that the non poisonous naga had been rising again.... those.... constrictors, she hissed inadvertently and her tail flicks. She was known for her temper, her sharp tongue, her skills as a fighter. Her poison was said to be more effective then any others. She looked into the lake and moves her red hair back, she was a great beauty and many suitors had come for her. She rejected them all. She wanted no man. She was too independant for a husband.
 
(( Rofl to "Those... constrictors!" I can hear the racial slur in my head. ))

Erza glided easily over the terrain, feeling and displaying himself almost completely confident in his movements after so much time to practice in open areas away from the cages and narrow, crowded human-city streets. Stheno's bold colors stood out like a beacon upon the landscape; even if the boy hadn't been searching and trying to keep alert for wilderness lore his eyes would still have been pulled straight towards her, framed on the other side of the lake. He rose up as high as he could possibly manage to lift and balance his increasingly heavy length. Then he waved before sinking his human torso back to slither height and starting forward around the length.

His heart pounded and his mouth went cottony. His savior had told him what to expect. But even though she wasn't like the humans who had manipulated and lied to him in the past, as kind as she was what if she were simply wrong?
 
She heard the branches snap, he may move with pride but not with stealth. She looks over... his scales were different then any scales she had ever seen before..... " Who are you? Of which tribe do you belong?Not of the viper... you don't match any of our tribesmen" her eyes narrow, maybe he was a hybrid.... one thing was for sure she didn't recognize him..... so he was a danger to her. She was a fighter, they were at war, suspicion would of course be her first reaction

(( lol I try ^^ ))
 
His eyes went wide. His mouth dropped open, showing his milk teeth. "I'm, I am a naga..." he answered in bewilderment, as if it were all the same unified world.

'It's like humans then,' he realized sadly a moment later. 'Everyone kind of out for themselves.' The boy spun in a large circle so he could rest his non-scaled torso on his hind section and sunk low in "don't hurt me" submission. "I'm not from here. I wish I had a family or a tribe," he admitted with a lonely note.
 
She listened and watched his movements , after a moment she slithers to him and looks at him closer, " you're still a kid... Well whatever the hell you are get up. C'mon it's dangerous out here" she looks at him with a shake of her head, she wasn't cruel after all
 
He nods gratefully and takes up a position alongside and a little behind the princess as he would have in the slavery days - so new to freedom that his instincts still screamed that pleasing his superiors was the only way not to get crushed underheel. "My name's Evra. Does it matter that I'm from the human city down on the plain - and completely by myself? And you are-?"
 
She arches a brow, " human city? How would you... why would you.... what were you doing with THEM?" She blinks at him confused, their people really dislikes humans..... " I am Stheno daughter of the Chieften of the Viper clan" her chest pops out proudly and she looks at him, " I wonder what clan you are from..."
 
"It was not by choice." That's Evra's best bet for explaining his situation without going out of his way to humiliate himself with 'They owned me.' "Stheno, it's a pleasure to meet you," and the phrase sounds deeply sincere, never just routine politeness when the ex-slave says it. Figuring he'd need to come clean about his ignorance rather than stumble into a faux pas later he admits, "You're the very first of US I'm fortunate enough to meet, Stheno. I'm just Evra." I don't even know if that's a real name in our culture! "And, do any families put out - you know, messages? - when little ones go missing? I'm twelve, so around twelve years ago..."
 
She blinks at him, he was a strange little snake that's for sure...herself was 14 old enough to be a woman, no milk fangs. " they do but it is doubtful that undoing your home will happen... Twelve years ago was the purging, the humans... Smashed many of our eggs and three clans were brought into extinction. No one survived if the humans found their nests..... Perhaps that is why I don't recognize your colors, I was only two at the time" he could e quite rare indeed... Her father would want to meet him... But bringing a new naga to the village was tricky.... " would you mind I'd I claimed you as my guest when we arrive? There is safety that way"
 
His mouth gapes at the news, but not as aghast as one might expect. Used to being a species of one, he always had the idea that whatever reason his parents or other kin didn't have him, his future lied in forging brand new connections with his people.

He flushes with relief at Stheno's next words. This land may not be filled with biting winds and wild beasts that slay you in a day's time, but it's practically as much of a mystery as when he sat ignorant in the distant city cage. "I'd be honored to be your guest! Thank you!" He slithers on in thoughtful silence a moment. "I'm sorry to question you so much. If it's no trouble... What work do youngsters normally do, if they had a home? And... you make it sound very important what clan and color someone is, so is it?"
 
She looks at him, he seemed so lost.... she couldn't understand ...." Your clan is everything. Your color identifies you with your clan. The clans are at war, the clans.... hate each other. The rattlers, the vipers, the cobras and the..... constrictors" she hisses. " I am a viper. The poisonous ones. We are braver and stronger then all the others! You lay your honor on your clan, fight til the end for them" she smiles thinking it, " children are treated like adults.... you get a task and you do it. Depending on your skills"
 
No, no. NO. Evra halted and fought tears. War? Not his civilization, not his utopia. The mistress had convinced him to go... Instead of being greeted warmly as one of their own returned safely, or simply starting off neutrally in society at the bottom rung, he was dead meat for all the other nagas and anyone who would fight for him was already gone. The humans had been awful but at least they hadn't been trying to kill him! They'd let him live for some reason, hadn't they?

Years of self-control from when his master slept only feet from his investment had taught him to cry silently in the night. Instead of helpless sobs, only stronger than usual breaths. The tears themselves ended as quickly as the situation sunk in. "It's good that I'm your guest then. You're probably the only one who would keep me alive. If it were clear that I'm not a soldier, that I'm not harmful to the other sides, would I still...?" He stopped, feeling stupid. This girl wasn't that much older than he was, and she sounded and carried herself like she could take down any enemy. If all youths work, then probably every citizen was counted as a soldier.
 
She looks at him, " you do not belong in any of the clans I listed. Your color is wrong. I have claimed you. You are safe. Come, I am going to take you to see my father" she looks at him " put on a brave face" she nods at him and goes into a cave with a tarp in the doorway. Inside was a strong naga, one who looks just like her.... but stronger and scarier.... with scars all over him. He sees her and nods, seriousness in his eyes, " who is the boy? His colors....." his eyes darken, " no...." She glances behind her,

"Evra. He is my guest. " he knew the weight of her words and he nods, " boy.... where did you come from? Where is your kin?"
 
That stronger, scarier, scarred naga makes Evra feel like a ghost, a wisp of a figure. If it weren't for Stheno's words that drummed assurance into him he'd have serenely thought he was gazing upon his own death right there.

Evra squares his shoulders, stands on his length more like the other naga. "I just became free from human captivity. Their world is all I know - but I'll try very hard to bring honor to you. I'm twelve years old, so your great daughter thinks I was an egg from one of the destroyed clans." No biting his lip or quavering his voice at the loss - think only of joining the future.
 
He looks at the boy, he seemed..... lost...... " yes.... you..... you are a forest snake. You are not even from the area. All the clans closer to humankind have been wiped....." he can't believe his eyes, " you..... you will.... I .... he's yours Stheno. He is of our clan from here on out. Your responsibility. The books are in the archives. Of his people. Have him read them. Go" she nods, " Evra come,"

She leads him out and looks at him, " you did well"
 
He follows obediently, manners of both a slave and a diplomat. Thank goodness his freeing mistress had taught him reading in addition to environmental survival, one less failure in his way. A sigh makes his chest rise and fall. So many emotions right after each other like tumbling downhill and getting glimpses of sky, earth, sky, earth. Cage life had been dull and fearful but usually constant, and even these tremendous kindnesses made him feel like he was shedding a new skin every hour. "It would be amazing to read for a while. To make sense of - everything, our whole world. Stheno..." He chooses his words carefully. "Your father judges quickly and he's kind. Is it okay being in charge of me? What's it like growing up with him?"
 
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