A snake in Central Park (Open)

For him and his daughter, the move from Steel to Jump was easily the best choice he had ever made for his Daughter. Originally when Naga slithered into the area he wanted to avoid Jump due to his appearance and all of the heroes of the city 'Jumping' to conclusions. But after a few weeks in Steel City, it was no place for his daughter at all. She needed the possible peace of a cleaner city. Damn the self danger, he would see his precious child safe and healthy no matter the self sacrifice.

But getting through Jump City without being spotted was very hard. With so many people and so many heroes on patrol Naga was one lucky reptile. He in fact came very close to being seen by a crowd, but a simple back robbery pulled the populaces attention away long enough for the massive snake to slither by. And now he had brought his daughter to the one place she needed more then anything in this stage of her life.

A park.

As the large snake man stopped in a massive overgrowth of trees near on of Central parks many small play areas for children, he lifted his little girl off of his shoulder and placed her gently on the ground. The small child looked up to her father questionably as he spoke. "As long as you stay where I can see you, you can go and play with all the children and equipment here as much as you want Rose......" With a small squeak of pure glee the small child bolted, small rabbit stuffy toy in hand as she ran about the park playing with the other small children. This went on for hours, the small Rose having nearly boundless energy. It was in the after noon when slowly one by one the children began to leave with their parents, leaving Rose all by herself who was still quite content to playing with the sand and swings.

And Naga still kept his eyes on her from his hiding place in the trees, hidden from all thanks to his reptilian skin.

Vene walked through the park, taking in all the fresh air, enjoying the green grass and the huge trees. She looked through the branches, and wondered why there were no birds. "That's weird. There are always birds here..." she mumbled to herself.

She walked over to the playground, and sat on the bench. She saw a little girl, playing all by herself. And, her parents were nowhere to be seen. Vene suddenly got worried. What if something bad were to happen to the little girl? She got up and began walking over to her, not knowing that the little girl was in fact being watched.

Naga's eyes hardened to slits at the new arrival approaching his daughter at such a pace. He was eying her like a snake eyes a mouse, food. 'If she tries anything..... I'll eat her....' He thought to himself, his rapt attention locked on Vene.

However Rose was just a cute, and rather well educated five year old girl with a stuffed rabbit. And when Vene approached her she just smiled. "Hi there pretty lady! My names Rose, whats yours?" She questioned eagerly as she stood up. She was clearly a quite happy child, although the fact that there was no parental figure around whatsoever and that she didn't seem to mind at all would probably unnerve most people.

She then bolted over too the swing-set with her little rabbit toy in tow and began to swing back and forth. "So why you here, everybody else went home......"

Vene smiled. "Oh, uh, I noticed your parents aren't anywhere around here...Do you know where they are?" she asked, looking around. She had the strangest feeling she was being watched...

She looked back at Rose, who was on the swings.

Naga's eyes narrowed as he continued to silently, his body tensing up and ready to strike.

At the words parents the small child stopped swinging, gravity slowing her to a halt as she just sat there. A small frown on her face as she spoke sadly. "I don't know where my mom is...... Some mean people chased her away from me and daddy....." She gave the older woman as small sad smile. "My daddy's not far, in fact he's been watching me the whole time." She looked over to where her father was hiding and waved. "Daddy's a little shy about how he looks, I don't know why though he's really nice!"

Vene was confused. Rose said her father was watching, but pointed at a tree. "Is..your father in that tree? I don't see him..." Vene looked at the tree. No one was there..but then she saw something that sent chills down her spine...Two, cold reptilian eyes. Slowly, Vene began to understand.

"You're father..is different, I'm assuming. But he doesn't have to worry, because I'm different too. Why don't you call your dad over here, and I can properly meet him?" She waved at the tree Rose's father was hiding, too.

Rose looked about quickly, looking to see if there was anybody else other then Vene, her and her father. After confirming they were the only ones there, she dashed over to where her father was hiding in the bushes. She took hold of one of his massive talons and began to tug and try to lead him out to meet the nice lady. Now there was no way in all possibility that she would be able to move her fathers massive frame, but he did trust his daughter. If she trusted someone, he usually could too.

As Rose emerged from the shrubbery with her father in tow, the stark difference between the two both in size and species even would make most question the small girl. But the grin plastered on Roses face as she led her massive father over to meet Vene said that she was happy with her father. "Daddy.... This nice lady wanted to meet you, she said she's like you. But she doesn't look like you so I don't know...... But she's still nice!"

Naga's cold reptilian eyes gazed down at Vene from fifteen feet off the ground. This went on for nearly a minute, Rose getting nervous at what her father would do. The eyes softened as he spoke. "My daughter has taken a liking to you...."

Vene was nervous as she stared up at Rose's father. "Hello, sir. I'm Vene..." She eased when his gaze became less cold. "I guess so. You know, I'd show you why I was special, but...it's dangerous..."

Vene face-palmed, realized her comment would only make Rose want to know what Vene could do even more. She looked at Rose, resigned to what would happen next. "What's your name?" she asked, turning back the huge snake-man.

The large snake man's torso came closer to the ground, in order to hopefully calm Vene down a little bit. He still had to look down at her but instead of from fifteen feet his eyes were nine feet up. "I left my old name behind due to my rather extreme mutation.... However I do go by the name Naga, I thought it was rather fitting considering my current state....." Rose looked between Vene and her father with a smile. "Yay! Now you and daddy are friends!" Her large smile was quite infectious, her father even sporting a small smile on his reptilian face.

Rose was a little curious about what made Vene special, but when she said it was dangerous she knew to not ask about it. After Steel City she wanted safe and sound.

"Yeah, mutation does happen to get the best of people...me included." Vene said, smiling. "So, uh, where are you guys from? Did you just move here from somewhere?" Vene asked.

Naga nodded in confirmation. "I tried to live in Steel, but with all the violence there and the pollution...... I decided to come to Jump for the same reasons I avoided it at first...." The snake man looked down to his daughter, who was now sitting by her father, leaning against his massive body as she played with her little toy. "I feared that if the heroes of this city saw me with my daughter, they would assume I am a monster and try to 'save' her. But after being in Steel I would rather face the titans combined then the things that are allowed to happen in that cesspool."

His eyes looked back to Vene. "I now hope that the heroes of this city will give me a chance..... I lost my wife because of people thinking they were being heroes, I will not have the same happen to my daughter."

Vene felt sorry for Naga. "The same thing happens to me, when people find out about my powers...I know how you must feel." Vene remembered the countless times people had been unkind to her because of her abilities, and the rut those experiences had forced her into. "But a lot of people here in Jump are nicer than people would give them credit for. I'm sure that you and your daughter will be fine here," she said. She looked at Naga and Rose again. "If you both wanted to, you could spend the night at my little apartment. That is, if you have no place to stay."

(mind if I join in?)
Annabella watched from a tree.She had a baby rat snake slithering all over her hand and arm.She listened in on the conversation.She had been watching the child for a while.She wondered how much of the man she would be able to control and for how long.She also wondered if she could talk to him telepathicly like she could with normal snakes.

(You'll have to ask Deus if he's ok with it)

((not at all))

Naga frowned slightly, his eyes on his daughter. "A real roof over my daughters head would be a nice change for her, I sadly doubt your small apartment has enough space for my form." Bringing in to point he was basically an eighty foot long snake with arms. Rose looked a little sad, but she perked up. "Besides I like stars! They're so pretty......"

Naga looked between Rose and Vene. "You can understand how I feel about letting her out of my sight.... Although if your apartment is low or high enough, I can hide nearby. I'm not as bothered by the elements as one might think, well at least as long as it doesn't freeze over night....."

However when the wind shifted slightly, Naga rose up, his eyes scanning about. His tongue darting out of his mouth a few times. "We are not alone......" He had been able to catch a whiff of Annabella, letting him know she was here, but with the quick wind changes he couldn't pin-point her,