The Hydra's Curse

Chapter 4 - Shadowcats

One advantage of sleeping in the cave was the sun didn't wake her up to early. The past couple days she had stayed up a bit into the night and having woke at sunrise had left Sasha tired. It was only midday when the sun shone from the south and into her new den that she was awoken.

Yawning and rubbing her eyes a bit, she pulled her serpent half off from on top of her and stretched. The cave ceiling was nearly 20 feet high too, posing no problems when she stretched out, rearing up high in the process. She smacked her lips a few times, still not hungry and looked down at the exit far below her. It felt strange, situating herself this high, strange and great- she loved the height. Why couldn't a dragon have burned her? Flying would have been awesome.

She flicked her tongue out for the first time that morning, taking in the scents of the cave. Nothing strong, there was still a hint of that strange presence but the air itself was different today as well. Lowering herself and poking her head outside, the source of the strange taste in the air was made clear. Thunderheads were forming to the south and threatening to rain in the near future. Interesting how the weather changed the air so drastically. But yet again, there was that strange scent again- along with something new this time. And unlike in her little cave it was quite powerful out here.

"Come out goddamnit!

She brought her snakes into an active state and constantly scanned for the source. Having heard it outside the cave last night had kind of freaked her out- especially when she couldn't control it with hypnosis. Sasha had absolutely no idea what to expect. She poked around in the bush for a while, trying to get a bearing on what was stalking her. Obviously she didn't find anything, whatever it was, it was beyond sneaky. It was a goddamn ghost.

She was just about to give up when she saw something directly behind her- movement in a sunbeam poking through the canopy. It was the strangest thing; Sasha should have been able to see exactly what it was in this light, but her eye shied away from it. Without hesitation and knowing it might be her only opportunity she did was snakes did best: struck at lighting speed. In a fraction of a second Sasha had turned her human half and sent herself straight at the movement.

Sasha didn't know what she was aiming at, but she knew where to aim. Arms outstretched, she collided with a body in the sunbeam and carried it probably another ten feet before crashing to the ground. Sasha didn't even stop to think, as they were hitting the ground she kept her grip and rolled, coiling around her stalker all in one smooth motion. In less that a two seconds she had managed to turn, lash out, grab something with her human half and pass it down to the serpent to ensnare. Resting on the ground in a hands-and-knees position she rightened herself and turned to face her captive. At some point in that her hair snakes had gone back to an inactive state and she didn't see who it was until she actually laid her eyes on them.

It was a shadowcat morph by the looks of it- a young woman of average height with black fur covering her body. Gold-green eyes stared back at her, sharp teeth bared and the tail lashing back and forth. Her legs also looked deformed at first glance as well, stuck somewhere between cat and human and offering the ability to move on two or all four limbs. Sasha was opening her mouth to speak when she was hit from behind by something.

No not hit- something had jumped on her. Claws raked against her skin, drawing blood despite the fact that it was stronger and thicker now. Screaming in pain, Sasha's first reaction to deal with the thing behind her was to make her snakes attack it. Nearly a hundred snake vipers lashed out, biting and spitting at the thing on her back. It looked like a smaller shadowcat morph, perhaps the larger ones child? The serpents attack bought Sasha just enough reprieve from the claws to pull it off her back, over her head and stare it in the eye.