Confounded Copperhead

your archetype is the warrior.

traits: purposeful, adaptable, loyal, aggressive, mindful, decisive, skillful, isolated, destroyer

the warrior is most commonly used to symbolize the victory of a war. raised in the image of their trainer, and at most times, their parental figure, the connection that is fundamental in building relationships is extremely weak. although warriors find it difficult to trust, once they do, it is a bind that lasts until death. while warriors are fiercely loyal, they are extremely wary of strangers. their greatest wish is to be credited in their achievements, and they tend to isolate themselves if they aren't validated, taking things personally. warriors tend to things for the greater good, and destroy to protect.

fictional characters that are warriors: arya stark, indiana jones, lisbeth salander, sirius black

…

“We’re quick enough, I’d wager.” It’s quite hard to calculate speed from the time it takes to travel a fair distance while you’re essentially rolling your eyes into the dirt. It’s much harder for creatures like Katherine, who don’t quite know the rules of physics, or even when they are violating them. “But we’ll never know.”

You see that pose? That’s Katherine saying ‘I either don’t care about your implicit threat, or it went right over my head, because I am (at most) 3 feet tall (discounting the fact that I need about half my body on the ground to stand up,) but I digress; what were we talking about again? Oh yes, snakes, and by extension, me.’

“Snakes are known for two, no, many things, but let’s focus on two. The first is, of course, health. Well, more precisely, healing and immortality. Wait, does that make this a list of three?” Pardon the snake, she tends to get a tad flustered while talking about snakes; pride and whatnot. Said flustered ‘words’ quickly devolve into loud hissing.

A bit too confused as to why Mika’s pronouncing her name like that, that being correctly, the snake sits stunned; still staring into the sunset.

“Ah, bird.” No, that’s not her answer. Bird is more like a fourth or fifth favorite food. “Of course I like tea, why do you ask?” Everyone around here likes tea, even oni like tea, they just prefer alcohol. “Did you bring tea and sweets?” Tengu, especially the younger ones, must love sugary treats, even plain fruit. And of course, what better to go with the bitter taste of tea then delectable desserts? At least, that’s what Katherine’s thinking. “Because I wouldn’t say no to some sweets.” Here, have a snake wrapping around your arm sluggishly. Pardon the clinginess, Katherine tends to get a tad lethargic when night rolls about. “It is a good evening, isn’t it?”

Now, I’m not going to say that Katherine lied thrice in a row because technically, technically, she did not lie at all. But, there are often statements that, despite being technically false, shed more light on the truth than a true statement. Such as:

Katherine the snake has been spotted by one very little shrine maiden! And what better thing to do after that than… a staring competition, considering the last time it happened said competition got cut short! She still doesn’t know snakes don’t have eyelids and can’t blink because of it: uh oh!

Look at this small human child, for she is looking at you, and to not look back would be rude. Clearly, this is a wise little human, seeing as she’s staring  at you as if she were a snake. What could she possibly be pondering while staring at you? The logical thing to do would be to make a guess based on your own thoughts. Quick, what are they?

According to all known laws of aviation, a shrine maiden should not be able to fly.

Astounding. Clearly, from her intense focus and the lack of flying common to shrine maidens, paired with your thoughts about her, she is pondering what it means to be a snake. Unrelenting, unwilling to retreat or give up her ground. Yet, always watching, always pondering when to strike, and what to strike with. This child embodied all of the traits you like about snakes in a particularly non-venomous package.

It has to be yours.

Of course, you’re not going to wrap yourself around the child and drag her into the forest. There are more pressing matters at hand, like pride! All those snake-like traits above pertain to you, and you are bound by law to stay and stare back. After all, the wise thing to do in most scenarios is to strike second.

And so, there is not enough time for doting, not a second to spare for hissing, no attention to grant to the larger shrine maiden…

There is only stare. 

And, you know, that tongue flicking thing that snakes do.

What do you mean this isn’t a kitty?

While Katherine could go with the ever so popular “scarf snake,” she was much more particular to taking circular forms. While the lap snake is inferior to the hoop snake in many stats, most noticeably mobility, the fact that the form allows her to emulate a cat makes it all worth it.

For you see, all great villains have a right hand cat. By three jumps of logic, this is the perfect opportunity to corrupt and eggling! So you see, Katherine is anything but foul tempered. She’s the pinnacle of-

Hold on, why do you have a brush? That’s for feathered and furred creatures only! You’re scratching the scales!

“I live!” Inspiration struck like a lighting bolt. It came quickly and out of the black, though it usually dissipates quickly. However, this fatal flaw was offset by the fact that lightning occurs in rapid succession during thunderstorms.

“And now, it is time to go... youkai watching!” With the sun shining brightly and the glorious morning dew still spread throughout the grass, there was nothing to stop her from committing the most dastardly of deeds. The idea hadn’t struck her until the pitter-patter of a summer rainstorm caused her heart to palpitate. But it just made so much sense. Between the over-hyped but novel cherry blossom viewing and the fair and familiar falling of leaves, there was a whole summer of nothing to do but sunbathe, drink, and get fat. But she’s not a tsuchinoko, no, she is a proud snake from the west. And there is only thing left for a westerner in the summer.

No, not imperialism. Worse.

Tourism.

The most dastardly of ideas occur during thunderstorms, spending a day stuck inside with nothing but noises of calming rain and destructive thunder leads to some bad decision making once the rain finally lets up.