[video] SNAKES ON A M_F_in' SHIP

[snake_dreamer]

[The camera pans wildly, showing the interior of the ship, and an open pod.  Snake's not used to video technology like this. Oh, Center had its call screen but nothing this small and compact. 

[That she'd seen of course. But obviously she's in Center. Somehow.  Center, at last, when she least needed them.]

[But she wouldn't break her silence just for nothing.  She's awoken from her pod, crawled out and found what looks to be a battered leather case, with several large--empty--compartments, and another compartment crowded with boxes, pouches and vials.]. 

Where are my snakes? 

[She sounds halfway between angry and frightened. ]

Comments

[Video]

[evervarying]

Your what?

[Ashley's expression is one of unfeigned confusion.]

I think my translator must've glitched. What are you looking for?

[Video]

[snake_dreamer]

[There's a moment of startlement. Yes, she made a broadcast but is surprised that anyone responded. It's new tech, so the image swings around for a moment before finding her face.]

Snakes. Two of them. An albino python and a rattler.

[Video]

[evervarying]

[Okay, so she hadn't misheard. That's a wee bit unnerving.]

Cargo bay?

[It's a guess, not a direction.]

There are a few non-native animals around, but no one's actually mentioned where they found them. If you can get ahold of Indrani, she might be able to tell you.

[Video]

[snake_dreamer]

Cargo bay?

[Ships have cargo bays.]

Am I not in Center?

Please. Tell this Indrani not to hurt them.

Or go near them. [Sort of an important afterthought.]

[Video]

[evervarying]

No. You're on a planet called Verdana, just outside a settlement called the Old City. Original, I know, but it fits. The ship you just woke up on crashed here about a hundred years ago - most of the passengers are human, with a few aliens.

It's a lot to take in, I know. The locals have some space set up for people like us to bunk down until we've found our feet. It might be easier to digest everything over a drink and a hot meal.

[Video] *facepalm* I meant cobra, not python. /bad at snakes

[snake_dreamer]

I...I don't remember them coming after me.

[They must have. North, or the Center citizens. They must have kidnapped her.]

I always dreamed of going off world. Funny how the moment I don't want it anymore... .[She spreads her hands. Here she is. 'Verdana' apparently.]

I can't, until I've found my snakes.

[Video] /handwaves cobra in

[evervarying]

No one does. How we got on the ship is one of the big mysteries right now.

[She pauses, frowning slightly.]

Do they actually have space travel where you're from? Most of the people here are from pre-spaceflight societies. Or pre-FTL, which is pretty much the same thing.

[Video]

[snake_dreamer]

We. There are others, brought here.

[That means...] Is there a little girl here? Melissa? She-- [She's disfigured with scars, but Snake doesn't want that to be the thing Melissa is known for. Not after what they've gone through together. ]

She likes horses.

The protected cities have ports, and off-worlders. That's what they've told us, at any rate. There's a lot they told us that isn't true.

[And how that lack of knowledge has hurt so many people, so needlessly.]

[Video]

[evervarying]

About forty of us awake. There's a hell of a lot more if you count the people still asleep on the ship.

How old? There aren't many kids here, and most of 'em are teenagers. I haven't seen anyone younger than ten who wasn't local.

text;

[akito]

I could try to help you look for them.
What do they look like?

video

[snake_dreamer]

[She hasn't seen text before, and she hesitates, debating finding if her device had a text function. But the other person clearly heard her video broadcast. So for now, she'll go with that.]

They're large. One is a rattlesnake, about this big.

[She holds her hands wide--Sand can wrap himself around her waist.]

The other--Mist--is larger. And white.

text;

[akito]

Mist the white snake.
What is the rattlesnake's name?

[snake_dreamer]

Sand.

They can be dangerous if provoked. Please be careful.

[She went through all this because she foolishly lost Grass. She can't bear to lose another.]

[akito]

Snakes can't hurt me
Unless they are spirits too??
I am going to ask the winds if they know where they are.

[snake_dreamer]

Are you a healer, too?

[That's the only way she knows to be immune to snake venom.]

No, they're snakes. They help me in my craft.

You speak to the winds?

text;

[akito]

I can't heal other people, no.
I speak to and shepherd the winds, yes!
The ones here are different than the ones at home
But they are still winds.

And Sand and Mist are between the ship and the western mountains.
What temperature should they stay at?
I can make sure they stay safe until you can reach them.

[snake_dreamer]

But you are immune to poisons? How is that?

[She presumes it's like how she speaks to her snakes--a polite translation, a partnership.]

[There's a rustling and juggling of the device as she moves, grabbing her snake case.]

The cooler they are the less agitated they will be.

[And then the motion stops.]

Is. There a way off this ship?

[Good start, right?]

[Audio]

[professorwolf]

[Lyall is working, but he also knows the sound of someone frightened and upset, and knows generally calmness helps. So he sticks to audio, so he can keep his hands free for the paperwork, and responds:]

There are not many snakes in the area, miss, so if they are particularly large or striking snakes, they should not be difficult to find. Have you been awake long?

[Audio]

[snake_dreamer]

They are both: large and unique.

[A white cobra? Fairly unique even back among the healers.]

No. I must find my snakes. [She won't sleep, or eat, until she has them again. ]

[Audio]

[professorwolf]

[Calm down, miss... Lyall goes for patient and soothing as he explains.]

What I mean is, if you have not been awake long, it is likely neither have they. Pets, in the past, have often been in the same sleep as we were, so if you have not been awake long, they likely have not gone far.

[Audio]

[snake_dreamer]

[She has a dreamsnake. She can still feel it wriggling in her shirt pocket. But still, she needs Mist and Sand, or else she is hampered in her craft.]

I am more afraid for those that might stumble upon them.

[Half truth. She still remembers the villagers who killed Grass. But a cobra and a rattler...could take care of themselves.]

[Audio]

[professorwolf]

Mmm, poisonous, are they?

[Lyall sighs a bit and sets down his pen. Duty calls, apparently.]

I can go look for them, if you like. I have a supernatural sense of smell, and snakes are rare enough here that I imagine yours would stand out.

[Audio]

[snake_dreamer]

To others, yes.

[Not to her. She's been trained to be immune.]

There is one, a wind spirit here, who says they are near the western mountains.

[Audio]

[professorwolf]

That's rather a ways off....

[Maybe they woke up a little earlier? Hmm. Lyall picks up the miniature aethographer and goes to get his hat from the stand by the door. He accepts the wind spirit bit, assuming she means Jack.]

I suppose I can meet you outside the ship, unless your wind spirit can already lead you there?

[Audio]

[snake_dreamer]

Is it? One named Akito is the one who located them.

[It's a request for confirmation: is this Akito to be trusted?]

I'd be glad for any guide. I have a feeling what awaits me outside this place--the ship--will be no less unfamiliar.