Ramiah's Story

Ramiah uncoiled from the young moabi tree, disturbed by the many vibrations he could feel pricking his human skin. There were Damen in his home, running and shouting and tearing apart the foliage. Young, stupid Damen. With luck, they'd be gone soon. He rolled his tongue around the confines of his many teeth, erasing the antiseptic taste from the cotton swab lingering in his mouth. He could encourage them to leave. The idea was sound, but he abandoned it. It would probably make the scientists inordinately pleased if he killed everyone in his territory; they could draw conclusions without hypotheses and congratulate each other for conducting a brilliant experiment. And at the end of the day he wouldn't get a single mouse for his trouble.

He looked to the plexiglas wall, an incongruity in an otherwise seamless rainforest. The man who feared him was on the other side, conducting a LD50 with the saliva sample. The test mice were rapidly dying as the enzyme-rich liquid destroyed the proteins in their flesh. He watched, as he often did, obliquely aware a hunger stirred. The mice would be soft now, easily digestible, and very tender. Their pain and fear would release all sort of chemicals, ultimately making their meat a culinary delight instead of bland muscle. The scientists and technicians didn't care about the mice, only in testing his venom control. He couldn't produce venom in his human skin, but vipers have excellent control of the amount of venom they release, and they'd been training him to keep it in his mouth during transformation. Like a dog with a treat on its tongue it wasn't allowed to swallow until a command was given. If the LD50 value was lower than the day before, they'd let him have all of the test mice. If he'd failed the test, he'd get only one mouse: the participation award that was worth nothing. The human looked up at him, a box of dead mice and a plate of glass between them. The results looked good.

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He wound his way over and around steep buttressed teak roots and climbed a tangle of lianas, leaving the forest floor behind. The oldest lianas formed bridges between some of his favorite trees, fragile arboreal paths that kept him safely away from most predators. He wrapped an arm around a swaying liana and jettisoned away from the security of solid footing. A stretch of ligament, a twist of bone, and a series of minute shifts of balance and strength allowed him to suspend the self imposed limits humans set upon themselves. They didn't stretch too far away from safety, afraid of gravity, or falling, or more directly, of the pain and death that could destroy them from a simple misstep. Snakes knew how to move. Their entire form was moving bones, moving muscles, moving mouths, moving tongues. The straight rigid bones of humans were a hindrance he'd had to adjust to, but that was it. It required adjustment, it was not a limitation.

Though if he had a choice between the two, he'd pick snake. Every time.

Unfortunately, that wasn't an option today. Napping in his snake form was decidedly unsafe with two avian Damen on the loose. Plus, the technician had passed along the instruction that he wasn't to molt his human skin for 48 hours. They'd force him to shift back into a human if he defied the order. But -and this was what made the human skin bearable- the technician had also promised there would be a reward. If he could find it, it was all his.

He'd certainly found it. It was mildly insulting they'd implied a snake couldn't find a mouse in his own forest.

Ramiah dropped down the liana, hand under hand until his toes met silently with damp leaf litter. The pale thing was sweet, but not saccharine, not like the heady perfume of nectar but exactly like the berries staining her hands. She smelled of earth, warm fur, something more that stung his sinuses, reminding him of ozone lingering in the air after a lightning strike, scents intermingling and indistinguishable from all the places she'd wandered before he'd found her. She'd been frightened earlier today, but wasn't now. She was small even in her human skin. She was white, as white as his clothes, making them both conspicuous amid the colors of the rainforest. She was as white as any lab mouse he'd ever eaten.

Enough dawdling. She was liable to notice the warmth at her back and at this distance -or rather the lack thereof- her prey sense might be already alerting her to the danger. Fast as a viper strike, he pinned her in his arms. He preferred to hold his prey, but it was common for them to get away, only to be recaptured later when his venom caught up to the runners. "If you run -or shift- I might accidentally break your skin and slip venom into your bloodstream," he said, for her benefit, omitting that he was equally capable of breaking her, crushing the air from her lungs, as he felt it was redundant to list the numerous ways he could cripple her ability to escape, "To avoid a very unfortunate accident, I'd recommend complete compliance. You are, of course, free to ignore my advice." He'd learned his English from an Indian technician, and Oxford English had made his pronunciation excruciatingly clear, without the lisping hiss most expected from him. Ramiah doubted she'd appreciate the careful articulation.

Tina could feel the mouse telling her to run, that some kind of predator was near. As she had done for most of her time in the rainforest she shrugged it off as the mouse being paranoid. Every other person she had met was a "predator" to the mouse. well she was tired of it. She would sit here and prove to the mouse there was nothing to be afraid of.

After a few moments she was about to get up and wallow in her sucess over the mouse when she felt herself restrained by a boy's arms. Still believing in her newfound bravery she asumed it was Mason or the other bird damen trying to scare her. That is untill she heard him speak. "If you run -or shift- I might accidentally break your skin and slip venom into your bloodstream," he said very seriously into her ear. Birds don't have venom she thought fear rushing back to her. This guy was a predator, and not a predator like hope where he was a slave to instinct, no this guy was a cold blooded killer. He wanted to kill her.

He had told her not to do exactly what she wanted to do, shift and run away. Run run run run run the mouse repeated in her head and she regretted not listening to it. No she would die running if she didn't do it right she thought as an icy determination she had't known she had overcame her. She screamed as loud as she could to anounce to every other damen in the forest that she was once again in trouble. He told her not to shift or run but he didn't say anything about screaming. Despite his warnings she seized his surprise and shifted before his eyes. She darted away dodging as the clothes fell in the plac she was just in. She didn't know exactly where she was running to but she decided to trust the mouse to outsmart the predator.

Hope listened to Mason. So he needed help hunting? She really hadn't noticed any rodents other than mouse girl, so hunting for him would be trouble. Then again, rodents came out at night, and she also remembered owls being nocturnal. "We will have to wait....until night time, but for now I can get you...fish to eat if you want. There is some..." She cut off, her ear twitching. Her sensitive ears picked up something. A scream? "hold on, or come with me if you can." She sprinted off toward the sound, maneuvering through the brush. she leapt over some logs and crawled under a tree. She skidded to a stop as she saw a snake chasing after mouse girl (I assume Ramiah is in snake form). She gave a low somewhat hissing growl from her throat, and her claws dug into earth as she pushed off from the ground, leaping forward through the air. She managed to catch him with one of her paws, but not for long as he slipped away. She flicked her tail and instead ran in between mouse girl and the snake, growling. "Leave her alone. She is a Damen like you," she said, her eyes narrowed.

Hope gave the snake one last growl, and then she sprinted off in the direction she had seen mason go. She reached the pond and already there were fish on the ground. That was odd. She had never heard of an owl catching fish. She stuck her paw in and popped her claws out the moment she felt something brush against her fur. She pulled out a decent sized fish and gobbled it up. "So where is mouse girl?" She asked, picking food out of her teeth with her claw. She trotted over to a sun spot and decided to lie down. Her eyes lazily drooped halfway, full, sleepy, and content.

Tina nodded as Alice gave what she assumed was her name. She could tell that Alice wasn't great at talking in animal form and she was okay with that. Tina herself had taken a long time to learn how to speak as confidently as she did now. At first she refused to speak feeling too embarrassed at her high squeaky voice despite the scientist pressuring her. They usually made her be in mouse form during their examinations seeing that she couldn't hurt them that way not that she would anyway. She figured that Alice wouldn't change until she had some clothes or at least something to cover herself. She thought about making some clothes like she had before but didn't know if she could find the leaves in this area. Then she remembered that she had an extra pair of clothes that she had made for the rabbit Damen. She could go get those and then Alice should have no problem changing. Unless she was like Mason and had some issues becoming human. No mason is just weird she said making her decision. "I know where I can find some clothes. I'll get them if you want." she offered before scurrying off without waiting for an answer. She rushed to the clothes but not without caution figuring that Hope didn't have the heart to kill the snake damen and he was still on the loose. She would hardly turn a corner without using every sense she had to make sure it was clear for danger. She smelled the scent of her berry bush nearby and shivered knowing the danger of the snake was higher than ever. Taking a deep breath she forged on to her destination.

Ethan sat in the holding bay with his eyes closed just thinking. He had just finished his third battle against the facilities' supply of animals. He hadn't taken a scratch but it took alot out of him to make his clones that many times in a row without a break. He was breathing deeply and was trying to calm himself before the scientist came back in. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing that their test hurt him. As he often did when he couldn't think about anything else he started to think of his sister. I wonder what she's doing now he wondered imagining the smiling face of a four year old. He found it kind of sad that he was constantly putting himself in danger for someone he hadn't seen since over a decade ago but he knew he would keep doing it if it meant that she was safe. It would probably hurt him even more to see her in the building where they tortured so many innocent people.
His thoughts were interrupted by the droning of a voice in his ear. "Exit the cage, We are ready for you now." it demanded failing at sounding friendly. Ethan sighed but he knew better than to refuse. Mentally he cursed that voice that emanated from the chip they had placed in his ear just beyond his reach. As he exited the cage he came out to see a group of scientist waiting there. It surprised him although he wouldn't let them see that. He was reasonably sure that everyone here had seen him in battle and knew exactly what he was capable of even while still in human form. That they would put themselves out here so vulnerably let Ethan know something was up. "Are your ready for your next test?" asked a man with the same annoying voice that came from Ethan's chip.
"Oh I have a choice now do I?" He asked sarcastically leaning against the wall that housed his cage. It may have looked like he was making himself vulnerable but he could easily kick off the wall and attack the wall if necessary. They seemed to know this because at his movement a dozen of the men reached to their side telling him that the carried tranquilizers.
Giving a small smile at Ethan's sarcasm he continued. "It's not another battle in case you are wondering in fact we are sending you on a hunt. Your target is another damen, Ramiah by name, not that it matters." he continued on droning on about Ramiah's apearance in snake form and human, his attack strategies etc. but stopped when he noticed Ethan's disinterest. Ethan wasn't interested because all of this didn't really matter as it was just another game the scientist wanted to play. Also things like how he looked wouldn't help him catch his scent. "If you need added incentive Ramiah also has a target by the name of," he flipped through the pages of his clipboard mindlessly. "Tina Vanhaskan." He finished smugly obviously trying to hide his fear at how Ethan would react. This was right of him because as soon as Ethan heard his sister's name he charged the group forgetting his training in an instant. As soon as he charged Ethan felt the sting as tranquilizers hit him all over. He swung a few clumsy blows before falling to the ground asleep.

Ethan awoke and felt himself become instantly alert taking in his surroundings. He did a check to make sure he was safe before trying to remember why he was here. He wished he had paid more attention to the scientist when he was explaining the mission for it would have given him something to remember right now. He caught brief flashes of the briefing but it was enough to set him back on his task. "Hunt" "Ramiah" "Target" "Tina".
"You best hurry. Ramiah found her once and he will soon find her again." said the voice matter-of-factly sending him into another torrent of rage. He changed into a rat darting out of the way before his black jumpsuit could fall on him. H looked back at the suit and contemplated whether or not he should bring it with him. It would definately slow him down if he reamined in rat form and he wouldn't be able to follow a scent in human form. On the other hand if he needed to talk to anyone (though he doubted he would) he would need it to cover his body when he changed back. With a sigh he changed back and stashed it before shifting yet again and searching for a scent. He could detect the scent of mouse and decided it was his best lead. No doubt if Ramiah had found the scent he would follow it too making a trail for Ethan to follow. Ethan looked around making a mental image of where his clothes were before darting off in pursuit of the scent aware for danger all the while.
He rushed after the scent knowing that the sooner he handled Ramiah the sooner he could find his sister. The thought of her defenseless in this forest with a snake on the loose sent shivers down his spine. He shook himself knowing he couldn't let anything get in the way of his mission.

((Wrong assumption Haas. Ramiah's lab tech mandated 48 hours as a human, remember?))

She screamed. The sort of ear piercing shriek only young girls are capable of, and he immediately released her, clapping his hands to his ears. It hurt. He wanted to kill her. She shifted and his hands were heft holding woven leaves. That most certainly was shifting, and he had most certainly told her not to do that, and now he most certainly would have to chase her and throttle her and teach her, in most certain terms, not to annoy him. He'd run after her, unhappy about needing human speed to do so. His snake didn't move fast unless to strike because it didn't need to waste energy that way. Hunting was easy when his quarry had a little venom in them. He didn't have to run, then. He could take his time -take hours- and find supper waiting for him, dying and unable to resist. His mouse was very lucky she had gotten away unscathed, that he hadn't broken her skin in his surprise.

Being throttled by a leopard didn't factor into his plans. He ignored the Damen's shouts. She was young, and didn't seem to mind eating Damen herself, if her fish breath was anything to go by. It was her claws that finally distracted him and he lost sight of his little mouse.

The big cat's claws had slashed across his arm and chest, the jagged tears readily becoming red and inflamed. He'd never been able to bargain for first aid supplies or medical care, as the scientists kept expecting him to heal himself. There had to be incentive to learn, or so their logic dictated. As far as he was aware, he couldn't heal himself. At all. It had taken months of experimentation for both the scientists and himself to draw the same conclusion, but they continued to ignore the outstanding evidence because of the venom incident. He was hesitant to wash off the blood, knowing the water the fish were in wasn't sanitary. But it was staining his vest, which irked. The clothes had been nice. More than nice. The things he had done to obtain them, well, none of it was something you'd speak of. A lot of pride had been set aside for this small bit of vanity. If he believed in souls, he probably had traded his. His fingers traced the rips in the fabric before he abruptly dropped his hand, worried about fraying the material. He needed to get the blood out before it stained. There was another outfit, almost as nicely tailored, but he wasn't going to retrieve it. The intruding "roommates" would probably wreck that one as well. They were a destructive lot. This was his garden, and they were trampling all over it. No respect for its oldest tenant.

His attention was drawn to the bush his mouse had been eating from. As a snake, he sometimes slept in that bush. Most live mice loved it, could find it as easily as if it was lit up in grand neon lights, and that had generally been reason enough to spend hours there. He needed to get his mouse back. After he cleaned up. But very soon, before someone ate her. He didn't want to find her in an owl pellet, for example. Finding her there would severely dampen any pleasure he'd felt at getting such a big prize for so little work. Plus, he'd have to figure out how to kill an owl. Avians were a challenge, even for an arboreal snake. He'd leave off contemplating his vengeance on the leopard for another day, when he didn't have to conserve his venom.

But first things first.

Ramiah unbuttoned and shucked off the vest and peeled the shirt underneath away from where it stuck to his blood. Damage was worse than he'd thought. They needed to be treated and dry cleaned. And then thrown away. The shirt sleeve needed to be replaced, and it would take some clever redesigning to disguise the damage around the breastpocket. It would be cheaper to replace them. Only he wasn't sure he could. The scientists were like dealing with a bad sexual partner. Once you'd said yes, they didn't think you had the right to say no. The professionalism of bargaining had provided a measure of protection, since his willing cooperation had a price attached. And after obtaining this outfit, he'd said no a lot, trying -unsuccessfully- to give himself time to recover from their most unsavory experiments. Doing it again had a high potential for cheapening his value. It wasn't worth risking becoming their whore. Or at least not their unpaid one.

So he sighed at the loss and made his nimble way back up into the hanging lianas, determined to spot treat the bloody items in a bromeliad pool, where he was sure bacteria wouldn't fester his inflamed injuries if he washed off the blood.

He was wholly unaware of the scientists' game and the rat seeking him out. It was a game they seemed to like to play with him. A few months back, it had been a mongoose, not a rat. He should have suspected it, but he thought he was already playing with the mouse, uncomprehending the game had grown more complex.

Tina took off running as soon as she hit the ground. The mouse in it's frenzy of fear had control of her limbs and was making a huge effort to escape her captor. It was relishing this head start because it knew the predator could easily catch up with it. The mouse didn't mind the darkness instead switching to his other senses to navigate. It was just that in the darkness the rat had the advantage because it's white fur made it stick out like a lit flare. Plus he has a whole pack to support him it thought not knowing of the illusion. It just knew that a whole pack of rats were after him hiding under the cover of darkness. The mouse only kept running desperately through the forest.

Tina was lost in her thoughts as her legs carried her further into unfamiliar territory. She was still shocked at how she had escaped the damen. I bit him she thought disbelievingly. Tina was a pacifist and had never before hit another human being. When someone was her size it was best to implement brains over brawn and that was exactly what she had done. Even with the scientist constantly trying their painful test on her she had never once felt the urge to hit them. She and the mouse both agreed it was better to be afraid of them. She never planned on being completely submissive however and often made the scientist annoyed at how easily she could outsmart them. For example they had put her in a maze like one you would put a lab rat in. But I guess to them she was their lab rat. Anyway instead of running through the maze as easy as that would have been she had hidden in the one spot the camera wouldn't see her. They didn't approve of constantly being outsmarted by an experiment so the test became increasingly dangerous every time she tried something like that. As much as she would have liked to go into these memories she was ignoring the point at hand. She had hurt another human she repeated recalling the taste of the boy's flesh and blood in her mouth. Why did predators get such a kick of this she wondered attempting to spit out the salty after taste of blood. She made a point that she would apologize to the damen when he calmed down and stopped chasing her.

Finally she felt strong enough to regain control of her body and looked around while she continued to run. What the heck the mouse had carried her back to the berry bush! Did it not remember that she had been attacked here or did it hope that the rat would stop to eat berries while she went away? Actually reconsidering it the latter was a pretty good idea so she plucked a few of the low lying berries from the tree and waited. She couldn't help but be wary of the predator being about so she pushed herself into the bush to hide. She could feel berries bursting against her fur releasing their strong scent along with blue coloring. Well I guess that this will disguise my scent at least she thought on the bright side. The sticky berry juices trickled down her spine and she shivered at the unpleasantness. To add to that it was dark. She didn't like this situation one bit but nonetheless she sat in the bush waiting.