'What now? What now? What now?' And endless stream of the same question followed Yvie as she swam under the moonlight, with nothing but the ocean surrounding her.
'I didn't know snakes could swim…' A new thought surprised her. She felt her sanity slowly coming back. Despite the fuzziness her brain felt slightly clearer. As she realized this, the fogginess slowly got less and less until she finally felt like her mind was clear enough to actually think properly.
She tried to process the things that had happened. Something that had taken place merely minutes ago, but now felt like an eternity away. Yvie noticed a feeling of freedom. The feeling slowly hugged her entire body, as she felt a weird calmness despite the trauma she had just lived through.
'I'm still me' Yvie concluded, deciding this was enough for the time being.
'I need to find land…' Despite her body being able to slither through the water for much longer, her mind needed peace to collect itself. Collecting the fragmented thoughts and experiences was her first course of action, as she swam a bit around, looking for a surface she could rest on.
A little pile of sand in the middle of nothing got her attention. It was a weird size, but Yvie didn't mind. She was weird too.
Within a few minutes, she finally reached it, laying flat on it, collecting herself.
'Stupid cage' Yvie thought to herself as the first thing, as she felt herself transform back to a girl.
"Stupid parent's" Yvie screamed out over the ocean, finally letting the reality hit her. Tears mixed with the salty water around her, as she sat in the middle of nowhere, all alone. As she started to freeze, as she didn't have any clothes in the middle of the night, she turned back to a snake.
'At least I have control over my turning' She thought, as she send a glare towards the moon, that usually had a part in her NOT having that control. However, the moon looked beautiful, and her glare slowly turned into admiration.
'It looks like my skin' She thought, staring directly into the light of the glowing orb, following it down towards the surface it reflected from.
'Looking at it like this, it's almost as if I'm swimming in light' Yvie observed, looking around her. Not only did the moon feel like it shone on her directly, but the surface of the water around her illuminated as if she, herself, was the moon. Her bright white skin tried to compete, holding it's own against the mighty competitor.
'What now?' Yvie found herself returning to the question that still didn't have an answer. Where should she even begin? She couldn't go home. She didn't WANT to go home. But could she really survive on her own? She didn't know much about the world. She never really spoke much with other people. She didn't know the basics of society, as she had been isolated from that as well.
'The beach is all I know' Yvie told herself, trying to convince herself of something she didn't quite know what was.
'Should I live as a snake?' She finally thought, but she didn't like that as much as she thought she would. She wasn't tired. The night was young. The full moon shone brightly. But none of it felt good enough.
'I need answers' Yvie concluded, thinking it all through.
'I need to know why my parent's hate the curse, and why I got it in the first place' This was the first time Yvie had ever felt determined to find answers. She noticed another shed skin lying near her, making her once again realize that things was changing. That things, and her, HAD to change.
'A shame I didn't get my necklace with me…' She thought to herself as she snuggled up to the new skin, being even more beautiful than the one in the cage.
'It's like I'm growing every time I shed' She realized, thinking a bit back. Not only her body as a snake got bigger, but she felt like she, as a person as well, got bigger. Emotionally as well as mentally. She tried to figure things out. She wanted to figure things out.
The cage her parent's had used to suppress her was now no more. She had broken out. She would never go back to that place again. She would never let herself be locked up again.
'I just never realized I had a choice' Yvie found this thought especially to be surprising. How could she have been so blind? She had just taken it as something that was bound to happen. Even though she had hated every second of being in it, she hadn't thought about not being in it in the first place.
'I feel so stupid' she hissed in a chuckling way at herself, as she let herself relax.
'Does realizing I'm stupid, make me less stupid?' Yvie seriously wondered, as she put her tail into the water, splashing it a bit, creating waves in the light as well as the water.
The ripples floated out for a little while, as Yvie stared intently at them, almost hypnotized.
'What now?' The question she had asked most, which still had no real answer other than a goal, finally felt like a real question. Not something she asked out of desperation. Nor something she just asked, hoping someone else would answer. There was still no answer, but she felt content for now.
'Now what?' She chuckled internally as she realized her question could change it's form just like her, while still retaining the same meaning.
'I should keep moving' She decided, not knowing if her parents would come after her, or if they were happy to have finally gotten rid of her.
Even though she didn't know how she currently felt about them, it hurt a bit to think that they might be happy she was gone. For now, however, that wasn't of importance.
She got down from her little pile, starting to swim again, feeling like the light around her followed her.
'Slither, slither' She thought in an amusing tune to herself as she swam through the big ocean, feeling a bit more tranquil, as she created ripples in the fabric of the water, she effortlessly moved in.
'Slither, slither' She continued, using it as a chant to calm her nerves, trying not to worry too much. This was only just the start. As a fool, she had been isolated, not thinking for herself.
However, now, she had finally started a journey.