Family Ties

for a moment Aylin felt good about what was going on. Not that it was happening, but that she might be winning. She was heavy, and pressing her weight down attempting to force the other Lamia to submit. But she had forgotten something very important. Narraine's tail. Aylin hadn't noticed it poised and ready to strike till it was too late and it was wrapping around her chest. She had never been on the receiving end of a squeeze like this, that she could remember, but so far it was incredibly unpleasant. She could feel her ribs tightening as it became harder to breathe. Her own grip on Narraine's wrists loosened for a moment, and in a flash she was forced onto her back by the clever Lamia.

The squeezing continued as she was pinned down. It was almost impossible to breathe now. She needed to do something, to escape. She knew her own tail was strong, and that if this Lamia was like her then if she wanted to she could crush her in half. Aylin had been about to try and struggle free when she heard a loud crack and felt an incredible pain in her chest. One if not more of her ribs had broken under the tremendous pressure. She tried to scream out in pain but found that her voice no longer worked as the grasp around her tightened further.

In a flurry of movement that felt more like instinct than a proper response Aylin whipped her own tail into the woman's right side with everything she had left.

A sudden thought crossed Narraine's mind as she slowly crushed her sister. What was this going to achieve? What would this do to benefit them? Sure she was mad, but was hurting her sister really the right answer? Besides this felt too easy, The fights they had had in the past were much worse than this. Aylin was a fierce warrior, able to easily shut down groups of attackers. Very few of their sisters were able to match her one on one, and yet here she was beating Aylin with ease. This wasn't right.

Narraine had intended to release her grip, when out of no where Aylins tail smashed into her side. Aylin easily had almost two hundred pounds of weight more than Narraine, making the impact that much more devastating as it sent the white lamia reeling off to the side.

Narraine hit the ground with a dull thud and rolled several feet as her tail swung limply until she finally came to a stop. Never had Aylin ever lashed out at her like that, no matter how severe their fights had been she had never once attacked her in that way. Aylin had always been patient with her twin, waiting until she tired out before talking her down. But this was not right.

Narraine lifted herself off the ground, clutching her arm in pain. It was throbbing now. She looked down at her arm, and back to Aylin, a look of shock and confusion in her eyes. A few tears had begun to build up now as her confusion and pain grew.

"That.. That really hurt..."

Aylin gasped and coughed loudly choking on the air that now rushed into her lungs again. She rolled over slowly letting out a cry of pain as she clutched her chest. She felt terrible, her body hurt, and her head was spinning. She would compare it to being hit by a truck. Not far off she could hear the other woman moving around. What had happened? She was disoriented but things were coming back. She had done something. That's right. She had hit Narraine. She had whipped her with her tail, and clearly that had been good enough.

Aylin winced in pain as she got back up watching the other Lamia. Narraine looked confused, more so now than before? Was it because Aylin had hit her? What did she expect was going to happen? Maybe she had managed to knock some sense into her, or even knock the sense out of her. After a second the woman spoke, and Aylin's heart dropped. She sounded hurt. That was not what Aylin had expected or wanted to hear.

"Yeah... Well remember that next time you decide to pick a fight." Aylin had been trying to sound tough though it was hard to maintain a tough appearance while she clung so tightly to her ribs.

The tears began to fall much faster now as she slowly backed up. The pain in her arm was excruciating now as she held onto the battered appendage. It had easily been dislocated by the force of the impact. The injury itself was not that bad. In fact she had easily sustained much worse over her lifetime. Instead her pain seemed to stem more from inside. The turmoil associated with what had just happened. Maybe this act of not remembering wasn't an act after all. She had learned a great deal about the magic needed to send someone here, and it was possible that memories could be altered.

Still though. This and everything that had happened had gotten severely out of hand. At the moment she was unable to really figure out where the blame fell in this one. Perhaps it was her own fault for being so frustrated. Or maybe it was Aylins for lashing out. No that didn't seem right. Aylin was always patient. So if she lashed out like this there had to have been a good reason. "I.... I'm sorry" It was all she could muster up the power to say as she backed up further.

Without another word she took off slithering out of sight.

And just as fast as everything had started so to did it seem to end. This was hands down one of the worst experiences Aylin had had here on the Island. It was like for a moment all that was good in the world seemed to disappear making way for this chaotic confrontation that left her just as confused as she was bruised. Somehow despite her own lack of experience She had managed to survive this attack and drive away her attacker but at what cost.

Aylin tried to call out to the retreating Lamia, reaching out for her in a desperate attempt to get her to stop, but it was too late. Narraine had slipped away. For a moment all she could do was sit there clutching at her ribs, while trying to figure out what just happened. This woman, claimed to be her sister. They even looked similar. But could it really be true?

After a few moments Aylin too retreated for the safety of one of the common hangouts. Maybe someone there had a better idea of what was going on.