Perils in a Small World (SCREAMINGLOUDLY x xenophylia)

[xenophylia]

It was barely daylight when Dr. Alex Jenkins set out on his one man expedition. He was somewhat annoyed that none of the villagers would serve as his guide as he'd intended. Despite the almost humorous aspects of their superstition, there was definitely something about the creatures he was seeking that instilled fear in the primitives. “Snake men....several feet long” inhabiting the ruins of an ancient temple. The native insisted they were real. And dangerous, though none would tell him why.

He- a seasoned explorer and xenobiologist- feared nothing natural. He'd gone in search of hundreds of mythical creatures and debunked most of them. Only a few had some basis in reality. He certainly believed that something lived in the ruins. But for obvious reasons he did not believe in a race of tiny, sentient snake human hybrids. He intended to collect whatever species lived there. With luck it would be a species yet undiscovered by science. Yet another species for him to classify.

At age 26 , he'd discovered more than thirty previously unknown species. None of which were supernatural or lived up to their own colorful legends. He had no reason to expect this should be any different. After only an hour he saw the white pillars of the ruined temple on a distant hillside. He planned on collecting specimens and being back in the village before noon. As he got closer he could already see the creatures scattering. They'd been sunning themselves among the ruins. Now it was just a matter of capturing one and examining it up close. He withdrew a net and snake bag from his pack crept up to the temple.

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

Amaru was one of a few hundred small lamiae who took up residence in a ruined temple, a human construction that made for good shelter from rains, wind, and those who would attempt to sneak up on a snake sunning herself. Humans made useful things . . . but they themselves were nuisances. Loud, noisy, not prone to watching where they stepped. So, when one approached her home, her first instinct was to hide, and to convince her brood of mates to hide themselves in the lower levels.

The slender, serious serpent wasn't much of an obvious threat at first glance- a cute, if rather stern redhead from the hips up, and all below the hips was two feet of serpentine tail, and the tail was four times as long as the rest of her body. Anyone who knew snakes whatsoever might take pause at her tail's crimson-and-gold banded coloration, very similar to a deadly coral snake, but given how absolutely puny she was, they'd merely give Amaru her berth and move on if they didn't want to risk the venom. As for the six inches of feminine human form sat where the snake's head would go, she was tan, toned, and completely nude, her fiery cherry-red hair standing out starkly against her dark skin tone as another chromatic warning to potential predators. Without speaking a single word of her limited Spanish, English, or Quechua, she was able to convey all that she needed to; she was dangerous to approach, but incredibly strong and beautiful to male lamiae that were scarcely half her size. Like many such snakes, she had a mostly obedient harem that was always eager to please, including a few smaller females who took advantage of the sheer number of males Amaru attracted to sneakily get theirs and sneak off before the redhead caught wise.

As the human biologist approached, Amaru stood her ground as much as a lamia could stand- slithering sensually into the maw of a carved stone jaguar, putting her tail's vivid coloration on display. Effectively, a warning shot- anger her, and endure the consequences.

[xenophylia]

All but one of the tiny snakes had disappeared into the tiny cracks and crevasses in the stonework of the temple. But one vividly colored specimen remained. He approached the specimen. IT had taken up residence in the maw of a feline statue and seemed unafraid. Almost as if it were guarding the sacred ground.

He readied his net. The snake itself was beautiful. But what was mot unbelievable was that the upper body was indeed that of a human female. Not the crude visage of something mimicking a human. From the waist up, the snake was indeed a human, albeit a tiny one. This particular specimen had shining red hair. She wore no garments, and her perfect, tiny breast didn't go unnoticed by the scientist. “Hello, little one...” he said as he raised the net. Once he had captured her he could examine her up close which would reveal a lot more than just a superficial look ever could.

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

Amaru didn't recognize the tool this human brandished, but recognized it as some sort of threat- he was going on the aggressive. Not entirely familiar with the concept of a biologist, the crimson-haired lamia coiled low, hissing softly, giving the intruder a second warning. Any further approach would be construed as a threat, and she would have no qualms about biting him. "Aksu," she yelled, low and angry in tone- instinctively going for the language of the humans that had built this temple, language that had been passed down through generations. A warning, ordering this human go away. The abandoned temple was the sole domain of lamiae.

As Dr. Jenkins approached, his boots landed on something soft, instead of just hard stone- abandoned, tattered human clothing. No remains, no obvious tears from violence . . . but a few years out of fashion, and dusty with disuse. Just a tattered old outfit . . . but a sane human being would back off with the growing unease that permeated the dark, ruined stone temple.

Amaru, meanwhile, stayed coiled and ready, tense and aggressive. The human had yet to back off, so neither would the lamia. She had a harem and a clutch of eggs here . . . she could not easily afford to leave.

[xenophylia]

The tiny lamia hung from the statue and hissed. Jenkins however was not impressed, and he found her defiance amusing. “Awww...you look so cute, so agitated like that. I'm not gonna hurt you...just relax.” Then she spoke, and his expression changed. Was she...intelligent? It sounded almost like human speech. If this species was sentient it would complicate things greatly.

“Did you just say something?” he asked? “I didn't understand you...typically snakes don't have vocal chords. Can you understand me?”

It was then that he felt his foot brush something. Looking down, it appeared to be clothes strewn over the ground. There were no bones or anything indicating it was human remains. Just clothes. He bent down and examined the garments, momentarily forgetting the angry lamia. They looked to have been here awhile. But there was no sign of a campsite. He briefly pondered their significance. Then he looked up at the still hissing lamia. If she could speak, he had so many questions he didn't know where to start.

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

Amaru's grasp of English was limited, but she was definitely able to recognize the language by sound. "Leave. Before I bite," she shouted, this time in heavily accented English. "No humans here." The lamia angrily coiled tighter, definitely agitated. From what Dr. Jenkins was able to see, the lamia was being aggressively territorial, trying her hardest to intimidate him into leaving the temple as a whole.

At the biologist's questioning, the lamia's eyes narrowed. "The tongue of outsiders is . . . strange. Humans have many ways to speak. Lamiae share just one. We learn human tongues to tell humans to leave," the lamia continued, her tone low. "Now leave."

She put herself in a position to display every indication of hostility- coiling low, narrowing her eyes, putting her arms in front of her in an attempt to box, softly hissing, even displaying her venomous fangs. One more step, and she'd do it. All of Dr. Jenkins's exposed skin made easy targets for a solid bite . . .

[xenophylia]

After she began speaking English Jenkins knew he'd have to capture a live specimen, for no other reason than the fact that no one in the world would believe him. The tiny creature did her best to be threatening, but rather than generate fear Alan was merely amused. “Stop it, I'm not gonna hurt you, little one...” he said somewhat condescendingly. It was kind of cute watching the little thing acting so fiercely to defend its territory. Cute but futile. The creature did actually appear to have fangs, however. Probably no more potent than a bee sting, but there was no clear way to be sure. He briefly considered tranquilizing her, but her tiny size made it too easy to overdose her. Finally he decided on a course of action. He needed her alive.

He reached into his pack and donned a pair of kevlar gloves meant for handling venomous species. He then reached out his hand, trying to distract her while his second hand went for her neck. As with any snake other than the largest constrictors, once the head was under control so was the snake. He waved his hand in front of her- a distraction, bringing up the other hand to grab her by the back of the neck. It was a method he'd used before. The key was not to hesitate...

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

Unfortunately for the biologist wishing to study her, Amaru was considerably more intelligent than your average snake. Just the presence of higher human brain function gave the lamia a better sense of object permanence, meaning that she was able to recognize both of Dr. Jenkins' hands as separate threats. As he approached ever closer, ever more inhinherently discomforting. "Leave! Now!" She shouted, definitely not listening at this point . . . before pouncing forward, fangs extended, and lunging directly for his exposed flesh.

In the spare few moments between her lunge and contact, Amaru's mind analyzed how many times she'd need to bite- five times? Six? Seven? Like many smaller venomous snakes, lamiae were hyperaggressive, needing to inject venom multiple times to take down bigger aggressors.

[xenophylia]

The lamia lunged forward, hitting him on the forearm just above his glove. “Ouch!” he yelled as her fangs made contact. There was a mild burning sensation, clearly indicating to him she did indeed have some kind of venom. He held his arm out hoping she'd release on her own, and eventually she did, falling off his arm and to the ground. He looked at the bite. Two small fang marks. Probably the biggest risk was having an anaphylactic reaction to the bite. Fortunately he had an epi-pen in his backpack. He looked for the lamia, which had apparently scurried into the brush and disappeared. And that's when he noticed his vision was starting to blur. “Shit!” was the last thing he was able to say.

His head began to spin and the sudden sense of vertigo was overwhelming. He had the feeling of falling yet he was still standing. He closed his eyes to see if the feeling went away. Then the blackness took him.

When he regained consciousness his arm was still stinging. Opening his eyes, things looked wrong. He was lying in front of an immense stone structure. The trees had been replaced by single bladed plants that towered over his head. To one side was a large cloth structure that looked like a deflated circus tent. His vision was still blurry, and it took him a moment to make sense of what he was seeing.

Then he glanced up. The stone structure was made in the semblance of a jungle cat. It looked familiar, and it took him a moment to place it. “What....the....fuck...” he said to himself. He pinched himself. Some kind of hallucination? What he was seeing was impossible. The stone structure was the statue that the lamia had perched on. The strange foliage were simply blades of grass. The tent like structure was part of his clothes, as well as the clothes that he had found abandoned earlier. He'd been shrunk. It was the only explanation. Beneath the tent like garment he could see the outline of his boots. His physical body had been reduced to the size of an insect while his clothes remained full size. Worst of all, he was totally naked. “This...this can't be happening....” he said, glancing around. He ducked under the folds of his now gigantic pants, trying to hide himself. Suddenly he felt very exposed. All of his supplies were useless now. He couldn't even use his radio to summon help. The only remedy would be to wait out the effects of the venom. Assuming they weren't permanent, of course...

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

Amaru had opted for seven injections of her potent venom, and slithered away into the darkness to wait for it to take effect. It was always delightful to watch something big and threatening dwindle helplessly, smaller and smaller until Amaru was the bigger, stronger one. No feeling quite compared to always being able to make herself bigger than anything that would threaten her . . . it was always nearly enough to give her cravings. She held off for now, though . . . she didn't want to call her harem of mates out of hiding quite yet.

Each injection of venom would cut the human's height roughly in half . . . lamiae could go years on one meal, given how their venom worked, cutting the size of a much larger creature down, down, down to be easily swallowed whole. Then, after the "first", human-like stomach made sure that the captured creature was rendered unable to cause harm, they would slowly regrow over the course of months in order to continually satisfy her actual stomach.

So, it was with great eagerness that Amaru slid back out into the open . . . Two feet of serpentine tail and six inches of human head and torso was small and pathetic to a normal human, but to a person reduced to 1/128th their normal size, or approximately half an inch tall, would be towered over. A helpless bug before a titanic, elegant beauty. Gleaming, fiery red hair hung down to the small of Amaru's back, her torso was fit and moderately curvy, her eyes a lair of predatory amber slits . . . and her red-and-gold striped tail created a prison that it was unlikely Dr. Jenkins would escape alive. "You were told to leave," she murmured.

[xenophylia]

The lamia he'd almost caught with his hand now slithered into the clearing in front of the pile of clothes in which he now hid. Her human portion was not the same as his. But her serpentine tail was probably equivalent to at least a 20 foot python compared to his current size. Her thickest coils were large than his waist. He knew he was a fool to think she didn't know he was there- snakes primarily hunted by smell and heat signatures. But he cowered anyway, simply hoping she'd go away.

If he could simply wait things out, maybe he'd metabolize the venom and slowly return to his former self. At his current size he could make out more details about her. He'd always had a thing for redheads, and her human portion was stunningly beautiful. As was her serpentine portion. Her scales glistened in the sun as if wet and the colors danced before him. And the way she moved. So effortlessly she glided, he many muscles propelling her forward. But it was those same muscles he had to fear. He venom hadn't been deadly. So she probably constricted her prey. And he knew he didn't have the strength or size to risk getting into her coils. He remained silent, waiting to see what she did.

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

Amaru looked down at Dr. Jenkins, watching his height slowly ebb away . . . he was still roughly the same size as her human torso, but he should be much smaller by now. She knew, vaguely, that prey that wasn't excited or afraid would shrink slower, and a biologist would be able to explain that it mostly relied on the venom reaching the heart multiple times to allow for the speedy shrinking she needed. The trade-off for her higher intelligence and size-reducing venom was the human jaw anatomy . . . even when unhinged, she needed to wait for prey to be half the width of her body or less to fit. "There is no escape," she murmured, slithering around him in circles in a method meant to be intimidating . . . swiveling her hips and holding her arms to her sides, trying to keep eye contact for as long as possible while she maintained her approach.

As she moved, though, she made the circle she slithered in tighter, closer, faster. A biologist like Dr. Jenkins would be able to see that she was preparing to coil around him . . . she hoped he didn't realize he was still slowly losing size.

[xenophylia]

Actually Jenkins didn't realize he was still shrinking, although the rate had clearly reduced itself as the venom cleared his system. In any case, the threatening lamia looked huge. He didn't know what her movements meant, but they definitely gave off a predatory vibe. She was sentient. Surely she wouldn't prey upon another sentient creature. Would she?

“Look....I'm sorry for trying to capture you. It's just that you're such a unique creature. I wouldn't have harmed you. Just did a few tests and taken a few pictures. I'm just a scientist, not a hunter. My name is Alan. What is yours?”

He extended a hand as he rotated in circles trying to keep an eye on her. Maybe if she saw him as an individual rather than just another victim she'd spare him. But the circles she was making around him appeared to be getting smaller and he was quickly running out of space.

“You are a beautiful creature, you know. I'm only curious about you and your kind...”

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

"I am Amaru, and my harem lives in this temple. They are mine, and the duty to protect them is mine, as well," the redhead murmured, watching slowly and carefully as Jenkins continued to shrink smaller . . . because he was staying relatively calm, he was still eight inches tall in total, when she needed him to be down about six. "While I know not what a picture is, I can promise you that even if I had one, you would not be allowed to take it," she explained, solemn anger written on her face. With her words and expression, she confirmed her nature as the top of lamia society, and even a guardian of sorts; mercy was unlikely to be in her pedigree.

"As for my beauty . . . I pride myself on it," she continued, finally closing the circle in too tight for Jenkins to attempt to escape . . . a few more revolutions, and she'd start coiling around him, squeezing his breath away. As for now, his legs were trapped in her coils from the knee down. He was well and truly pinned. "As Mistress of a harem, and mother to a brood, my beauty is second only to my strength among my virtues . . ." she murmured arrogantly.

[xenophylia]

There was now little question on what she was doing as her coils trapped his legs. But he knew better than to run. The only weapon he had with which to defend himself were his words, and the rather arrogant lamia didn't seem much affected by them. Her coils were smooth and soft against his legs, but he could feel the hint of the deadly muscle beneath.

"Uhhhh...what is it you think you're doing? If I go missing, others will come. There is a satellite phone in my backpack that will reveal my location. You and your harem will be discovered, and when they find out what you've done you will all be captured or wiped out. To harm me would be a terrible mistake on your part. I don't want to see that happen. I came here only to learn about your kind, Surely that can be forgiven."

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

Amaru hesitated for a few moments as Jenkins explained himself, pausing in her careful revolutions around his standing form . . . A second wrap of her tail now covered his body from the waist down, so at the very least she could be assured of his inability to escape. "Humans will be able to find you through your bag?" She definitely prioritized the safety of her harem, so hearing of a large group of humans might be coming was definitely enough to give her pause. However, she couldn't allow intrusion to go unpunished . . . she was a guardian of her harem, and the place where her many mates and relatives rested was not a place anyone could be allowed to enter, let alone snoop around to learn about them. The only reason a large, predatory population like humans would want to learn about lamiae would be to eat them- that was how Amaru saw things.

She couldn't kill him without calling down the wrath of other humans, but she couldn't let him live and expect her family to survive . . . it seemed an inescapable puzzle. "I cannot allow either," the lamia murmured, looking down at the man she'd imprisoned in her taut, powerful coils. "Can you be trusted to leave, and keep silent about what you found?" She asked softly.

[xenophylia]

“I think you and your kind will be better off if I make the world aware of your species. This part of the jungle made into a sanctuary where your safety can be guaranteed. Otherwise its only a matter of time till someone else finds you. And they may not be nearly as benevolent as I am.”

His hands went to the coils around his waist. Her scales were remarkably soft as he touched her. She was indeed a beautiful creature and he almost couldn't take his eyes off of her.

“So how long does your venom last? I can't leave here in this state. Plus I think I'm still shrinking. Isn't that an odd effect for a venom to have? How does that benefit your kind. I would think either a deadly or paralyzing venom would be more useful. I'm going to study your kind while I remain here. I'd love it if you could show me around. The more I understand your kind the more I can help you.”

He wondered what she had intended to do to him had he been completely hostile. Kill him? Eat him? She was human enough that the idea of her eating a human seemed odd. But her initial reactions had seemed hostile enough. He was glad that she had enough sense to spare him- at least for now.

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

Amaru narrowed her eyes in suspicion of the small man's speech regarding spreading knowledge, but said nothing. Information in the wrong hands only meant disaster, the lamia was sure of it. "My venom," she murmured, "reduces larger, stronger animals to a size small enough to be safely swallowed," she explained carefully, "Then, over several months, the venom wears off slowly, keeping me satisfied with meals that nothing else my size would be able to eat . . . it also guarantees that whatever I decided to bite is not safe even if it gets away from me, and will never be able to threaten me or my harem again." The quiet confidence she expressed this with, the smirk upon her lips, it was very clear- despite her small size, the little lamia was an apex predator, overpowering and eating anything that would be aggressive enough to attack her.

Leaning down, pressing her now considerably larger face to Jenkins', the lamia bared her fangs again. "Now, we have gone on this long without humans knowing where we are . . . can I guarantee your silence?"

[xenophylia]

“So....let me get this straight...you were going to eat me? Really? Are your kind simply a bunch of savages? Then you pretty much deserve what I'm about to tell you. If the venom allows my body to regain its size over a month, then you're all pretty much screwed. Do you understand the term “screwed”? It's what you are. Right now. Unless you can find some way to reverse the effects of the venom,,,now. They will come for me. And when they leave, your kind will be history.”

Jenkins was rather pissed, despite the fact that he had part of an angry lamia wrapped around his lower body. He no longer cared if he angered her further. She'd done this herself. If her species was destroyed, it wouldn't be his fault. He could have kept them safe, and even if it came to his silence he could and would have done that to preserve her species. But she'd made that impossible. At his current size he could never make it back to the village, nor disable the satellite phone. The search party would find his clothes mingled with her past victims. And- without necessarily understanding- they would eliminate the threat.

“So that pile of clothes I stumbled on was another human...that you'd eaten? My god, you're a monster! Eat me if you must. I- as well as your past victims- will have our justice. And I hope you choke....”

He battered her coils with his fists angrily. Not that it made much difference.

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

"Hmmm. The last person to disturb our hiding place said similar. Called me a savage, assured me that our living place would be found and destroyed . . ." Amaru murmured contemplatively. "I still know not what a savage is, nor the meaning of screwed. I do know that most humans who find our hiding place are smart enough to avoid me, either leaving the temple or using their long legs to outpace me, do what they came to, and leave peacefully. It is only biologists and archaeologists, or the occasional drunken villager, who intentionally disturbs me when I threaten them," she explained with a quiet, overbearing arrogance, slowly tightening her crimson-and-gold coils . . . progressing from restraining to crushing, watching Dr. Jenkins begin to gasp. "Is a 'scientist' in any way like a 'biologist' or 'archaeologist'?" She asked while Dr. Jenkins was still able to breathe enough to speak. "The words sound similar . . ."

As he began to grow angry, his accelerated heart rate managed to bring the rate of shrinking up slightly . . . the hapless Alex Jenkins was now six inches tall in total, about as big as Amaru's upper body. He was very nearly small enough to pass through her mouth . . .