I think it’s fitting to start the Outtakes with the serpents’ “In the beginning” story. This expounds on the video I did way back when. I’ve always loved world building, so when I found a character trained in the oral traditions of his people, I pounced. Many of these stories will be true across all shapeshifter cultures, but these will be told through the serpent lens, because it’s the group I know best. This little bit is his people’s In the Beginning story, though not quite the origin of serpent-kin. That will come later, I’m sure.
Before the Beginning, there was Nothing. There was Everything. There was Balance. This is the ARE. Everything that ever would be, even BEING, or NOT BEING, tomorrow and yesterday, all was held in perfect Balance. And ARE was still.
In perfect Balance, there is harmony, but there is no growth. There is no change. There would never be bad, because there was no good. The ARE saw all these things in itself, and longed to set them free, so that there might be Dance.
Within itself, the ARE sent a stirring. It found Darkness, and the ARE cast it wide and far, and saw that it was good. Now there was Nothing, and Nothing seeks to be filled.
Without its companion, Light began to know Cold, for without its other half, Light suddenly knew who it was, and what it needed to be whole. But there is no Darkness in Light, there is no Cold, so all Light could find within itself for company was Heat. Just a small spark, but Light fed it until it grew and grew and grew, but still, it could not complete the hole that Darkness had left behind.
Just as Light had, Darkness too became aware of its lack. It recalled Light and and Fullness and it too took a piece of itself, just a spark, and tried to find Heat and comfort. Each fed their sparks, each in their own way, and as they grew, they drew the attention of the other. Light sough out Dark’s sphere, and Dark sough the Light, and thus the dance of Night and Day did come to grace the sky.
And still, the Orbs grew. Light and Dark fed their spheres, and thus began the waxing and waning of the Sun and the Moon. Together, began to dance, each growing or flowing, taking turns ruling the sky and learning how one glorified the other, and slowly they recalled what it was to be complete.
And the ARE saw all this, and smiled. Here was Balance, here was Harmony, but here also was Growth, and Change, and LIFE, and it was good. The ARE touched the Light, and touched the Dark, and from them sprung Fire and Ice, Wind and Water, Earth and Spirit, and suddenly the Universe was bursting with life and all was good.
Look to your parents, the ARE told the world. Look to that from which you came for the secrets of Balance and Harmony. And so the Fire, and Wind and Spirit turned to the Light, and the Ice and Water and Earth looked to the Darkness, and together the Light and the Dark taught the dance of balancing, indeed, the same dance with which we greet the Dawn, in honor of the first dance of Day and Night.
In Search of Asylum 