The Snake in the Ice

" It shall be so"

Once you were bathed and dried you were brought some clean clothing that more fitted the Outhraddi lifestyle. Your ZucI apparel had only consisted of wrappings that covered your breast and crotch parts. With a shawl wrapped around your shoulders for comfort.

This one covered more of your body and was made out of a harder leather material rather than soft silk-like cloth. You did not like it, it was tight and suffocating, even in the areas that were not it rubbed against your scars painfully.

When you were all fitted Togul took you to another room where some food was waiting for you. Back at your home village, every meal was a mix of meats, fruit, and vegetables. Almost everything that was right here though was various jungle meats.

Togul did not eat, instead, he paced around the room with his hands behind his back. His eyes never once leaving you, and his smile never once ceasing. You glared at him the entire time, but it only made his smile grow.

You did not really eat. You did not have the stomach for it. Not after being separated from Y/S/N, meeting your cousin again and then finding out she had murdered your father.

No, You only took small nibbles of the grand feast. Even that made you feel the need to empty it all back onto the platter. Addily was nowhere to be seen during dinner, which you were not complaining.

You swallowed the last bite you intended to take from this meal. Setting your hands on your lap and pushing the wooden platter away from you. Togul stopped pacing right behind you, bending over slightly to get a better look at you. He was closer to your blind side so you really had to crane your neck backward to look at him.

" I want to see my snake." You commanded him. He threw his head back and let out a burst of roaring laughter. A sinister cackle that echoed out of the room carved into the side of the temple.

" You will not see your beloved snake until Karribou says you can. It might be tonight, it might be never again!" He smiled at seeing your tortured expression. Just the thought of never seeing her again made tears well up in your eyes.

The shaman kneeled down next to you, raising a large hand and brushing the tears away while shushing you gently. It took everything in you to not lurch forward and bite the finger in two. His warning still very clear in your mind.

" Every time you act out will be another cut on her beautiful snow scales." The memory repeated itself over and or again. They would hurt her if you disobeyed or hurt him in the slightest.

So you kept quiet and still as he ran his hand over the scarred flesh of your face. His finger running over the slithering scar underneath your blind eye, the scar that made the tribespeople bring you to the ZucI in the first place.

There was flapping at the window and you glanced up to see the Shaman's snow-white Vulture. Togul looked up at his companion as well. Standing you up and making you come along with him as he made his way towards the exit.

" Zanili says that it is time for this evening's event to begin. I have a feeling you might enjoy this." He hissed down at you. He was not carrying you this time, but making you walk in front of him with one hand on your shoulder and the other on your neck.

He pushed you up the steps and to the top of the grand temple. You were at the base of the colossal tree. Though you had not seen this side of it yet. There was a large crowd of Outhradii, all of them, heavily painted in white and red. Many had various kinds of birds. Mostly predator type birds, some had parrots, and you even saw a crane.

Set up almost right up against the wood of the tree was a stone table of some type, it looked almost exactly like the one your father's corpse had been hanging from. The sight made you blanch and dig your feet into the stone.