Sunny-Jam
When a burst pipe leaves her family facing overwhelming debt, Marissa accepts a contract to pull scarroots buried in the East Texas terrain. What are scarrots: buried trash and corrupted magic compacted into a single rooted mass buried in the earth.
An elementalist by trade, Marissa accepts to do the least glamorous work but at least it pays better than her normal job. It's not dangerous, it's just exhausting. And joining her is a shapeshifter.
A SNAKE shapeshifter.
He doesn't introduce himself. In fact, he doesn't talk at all. He communicates mostly by standing too close, lifting heavy things without being asked, and watching her like a hawk - or in his case, a snake. To make matters worse, Marissa has a fear of snakes and would very much like for him to be gone.
As they travel across counties, handling Scarroots, Marissa finds herself enjoying and even relying on her scaly teammate. He's useful. He's respectful. Somewhere between long hours and shared labor, her fear starts to fade. And something else starts taking its place.