"No one wants to play with me, father." Typhia says. She is disappointed that even her own siblings shun her.

"It is only because you are quite strong and quick, quicker than they are." Virus tells her. It is the truth, but also another truth is that she needs a little work in the control department.

Virus takes time with his middle daughter - teaching her how to recognize stages of her own development in a body - and how to preserve certain portions of those stages when she requires it.

Within a week, Typhia begins to understand that the method Virus likes best is a subtle one - and she can emulate that. Certainly. Because some bodies are so able to live with her cells inside it. Shedding into their water system and their waste.

Babies are just reeking with her. But she tells her cells to delay - to wait it out. Perhaps in ten years, or twenty, but not today. Not today.

Today, there is a picnic outside, with lots of healthy people.

(back)

When later, much later, almost all of her siblings have bonded and returned to their home with a lovely dragon, Typhia hears tell of a place hosting of all things, water dragons.

"I will go there," she says to her father, "I have found my place, I think. It is at this Healing Den place. I have heard of it, the others speak of it."

"They speak highly of it, but be careful," Virus warns his daughter, "the woman running that place is very strong and very very clever. And much older than I. She will spot tricks played on her or her people, immediately. So be very subtle."

"I will think of it as a test, father," she promises him. He and Henshuth take her to the wild, rocky coastline where the Den's Swim is being held, and he leaves her without greeting anyone. If someone were to see them, they would know immediately what was up...

***

And of course. It didn't happen. She watched as her other siblings - even the youngest among them from another 'mother' - went out and came back with dragons. She, like her half-sibling Amanita, grew bitter and angry with time. Lots of time. Too much of it.

But she too remained calm, took her father's instruction to heart. It was best to infect, not murder outright. That way, eventually... Everyone would have a little bit of herself inside them.

But also like Amanita, she was shunted toward not only Carramba High and Twoarth, but to this other Earth: the Rookery. There, it would be where she'd find a 'friend'. * See below for their current situation.

Dragon

Name: Louie Louie (this is a massive brutalization of Vietnamese 'lay loi' meaning swampy ground) He doesn't answer to much, but he will respond to this grudgingly mostly because he does like musical things
Gender: Male
Size/Shoulder/Length: Medium-Small 10' s / 43' l / wingless
Colors: belly from chin to tail pale grey green; middle faded green-grey; feet slightly more minty green; back area darkre grey-green, with dark spots, all mixed in bubbly edges with spotty markings; fins and claws slate grey, eyes violet
Features: Aquatic wingless, with a narrow eel like overall shape but large and long strong legs, 4 heavily clawed toes with opposing thumbs on all feet, fin from head to tail tip, gills, ears with fin ends, gills and nostrils (semi-aquatic, not amphibious), very wide mouth with a massive amount of teeth (unseen in image); he has skin, not scales, and it is similar to an eel's though when he goes out of water it can feel much more like a frog's. Egg layer, he is not capable of siring other types of dragons, and must have a compatible water-born species for breeding.
Powers: Aquatic Movement, Louie is extremely talented in water, liquids of all types actually, and is able to squirm about in loose dirt, mud, sand, and other solids easily. He appears to be able to vibrate himself into sand or mud, and immerse himself very quickly. Though his feet are not webbed, he propels himself with powerful sideways sinuous motion, and uses his tail to reach remarkable speeds in open water. He cannot keep this pace up, he's used to ambushing things and calling it done, but he can swim for around 2 miles rather quickly (quick enough to outrun Hunters).
Semi-Aquatic Lifestyle, because he has both lungs and gills, Louie is capable of remaining underwater indefinitely, though he prefers shorelines to lurking under water. He does require a wet environment, which suits Typhia just fine, so she makes sure that wherever they go will be appropriate to his needs. He can remain outside of actual liquid just as indefinitely as under it, but the air must be moist, or he needs to be sprayed down to keep his hide from drying out. He has a preference for fresh water, claiming that salt water makes his skin itch.
Telepathy and Speech, Louie does speak, just not to you. Normally he relies on telepathic communication with his bond only, but he can in a pinch ping other nearby Vortal minds (magical, psionic, any will do as long as they're capable of hearing his mind). Yes he can sing. If you ask him to, he will eat you.
Toxic Blood and Spit, like some eels, Louie's blood is deadly toxin to mammal species. It can be used as a weapon if he feels like donating it, in fact. A single injection of his blood into a mammal (or likely other non-similar dragon types) can cause almost instant paralysis in anything human-sized, death coming within an hour at most - thus, using his blood or his equally awful saliva on the Combine has become a priority. His spit is normally used to numb and paralyze much larger creatures, so it is considerably more potent, but must be suspended in water to work properly. As a shoreline predator, obviously this is not an issue, but in the field finding a wet delivery system has been a little tough.
Parentage: unknown
Origin: Adopted from and art by St0nedG0at on Deviantart
Other Info: Louie and Typhia make a very good team, though they must stick around waterways - and that means they absolutely cannot be trusted to remain in Black Mesa proper in any way. Water being too precious a resource to literally pollute as his spit would most certainly drift through their reservoir. They remain on hand at North Aperture but outside the facility. There is ample water near Lake Michigan, and in order to keep it that way for future Human use, they've been tasked to keep the Combine from setting up in any larger bodies of water around the Aperture location.