Snake Gods (Michi No Sora/Falco n Delr)

[Michi No Sora]

The male knew he'd been followed. It was against their nature to be caught during these monthly rituals and most of the humans followed that and respected that. His people had kept that small village safe for decades. But one stupid human decided to watch and follow him. He'd smelt new humans in the area recently. They smelled of the outside world. It was probably one of them. He'd been picked to go collect the offered chickens and had been caught. No good could come of this.

He'd been picked because it was his coming of age. He'd shed his young scales and was an adult now. Shiny red scales covered his massive body from the waist down. His skin was pale as the moon, as was his under belly scales. He was a rather attractive young male and had many of the females attentions. Sadly, he was not interested in taking a mate at the moment. He was enjoying his freedom quite a bit. As a sign of his ranking, black silks from the towns people adorned his waist and gold chains sat around his neck and wrists. Those things made the females try harder for his attention despite his young age.

Slithering through the forest, he came to his home quickly and slipped inside one of the many openings to the pyramid around the tree. It was a wonderful home. Large and full of many places to hide. No human had set foot on these lands in a very long time. Once inside there were many of his own kind. Tall and strong creatures with the bodies of snakes. Some said that they were once humans and had evolved. They took the few chickens and scattered off to their hiding holes.

A slightly smaller male came up to him and hissed, "You were followed..." the male growled.

"I know. I'll take care of it," his strong tail pushed his body up into the large tree that was the center of their home. He hid himself in the leaves and waited. The other male slithered off just as the human poked it's pale face into the entrance. He hissed softly and curled his tail around a branch, lowering himself behind the human and bashing him in the back of the head.

With a smile, he thudded back to the ground and wrapped his strong coils around the slender human frame. They were so easy to snap in half, but he kept himself from doing that. Instead he carried the body into a near by hole and into his den.

 

[Falco n Delr]

Bloody puss-gutted hell.

His head was absolutely throbbing. He couldn't form more than choppy sentences in his head. If they were ones at all. Or thoughts. So for a few moments, he just lay there, eyed squeezed closed, breathing hard, waiting for the pain to ebb out of the swirling vortex of agony that was classified as his skull.

Slowly, slowly, it dulled to tolerable levels as the young man sighed. Allen Dalgon let out a second breath, wondering what had caused the pain in the first place. Did Sarah get him drinking again? He swore he told that woman a million times he was not very tolerant, and yet she still swapped his drinks, and before he realized that it wasn't Coke, he was out cold.

Damn woman. He'd just have to kick her ass when he got up. Opening his eyes, he sat up, about to start yelling - and then just sort of stared, noting that he was far from where he had thought he was.

This was some sort of.... cave? It certainly wasn't his tent. And where was his knife? It wasn't on him - a quick search testified to that.

Wait, he remembered now. The chickens, following, the sound, the -

.....

Oh. Dear. Sweet. God.

A sharp, pained breath stuck in his throat. No one had followed HIM, he was pretty sure of that. And the fact that he was in here now meant that either one of the villagers was pulling this on him....

Or that the nagas were real.

Slowly pushing himself up to his feet - okay no bad idea, back down to sitting we go, rubbing his head.

"Dear sweet lord," he finally said aloud, brushing pale green bangs out of his eyes.

 

[Michi No Sora]

The Naga got the human into his cave, not caring that some of the human's personal items (including a knife) were dropped during the dragging. He wondered what he was going to do with the human. He'd never really seen that many humans, just the occasional one that passed through the forest while he was out looking for food and such. A human had never made it back to their den before, at least not in his life time. He kind of wondered what he was supposed to do. Not only was this a human, but it was an outsider. If it had been one of the villagers, then it might not of been as big of a deal. But this was an outsider. A human that didn't know how to respect them and treat them. A human with a big mouth. The Nagas had heard of outsider humans before...they were always looking to bring more and more outsiders around.

With a hissing sigh, he laid the human out on the ground of his dark home and moved around to light a candle. Candles were another thing that the villagers gave them once in a while. If not for the current situation, he never would of lit the precious object that they had so few of. This was the closest he'd been to a human and he gave the human a quick look over. The human was obviously male due to the lack of breasts. The Naga found the male odd looking. It's hair was so...so...pale colored. Nearly the same color as it's skin. Very odd. And it's clothing was not only different from the silks that he wore, but much different from what the villagers wore. The boy almost looked like a female to the snake creature, at least with how it's hair was and the clothing.

"How odd..." he said softly as he coiled up and leaned back into his own tail to get comfortable while he thought over what to do with the human. The young creature knew that killing the human was the easiest option, but not really one he wanted to go with. He wasn't nearly as violent as some of the other males of his kind. He didn't get much time to think it over as the human was already starting to stir. Apparently he didn't hit the boy hard enough.

The lighting from the candle wasn't very good and he was sure that the human wouldn't be able to see him very well. His own eyes were much better than that of a human and even he was having trouble seeing, "Hello," he said softly. The Naga knew better than to play with his 'food' or prey, but he wasn't ready to go through with what he knew he had to do.

 

[Falco n Delr]

Okay. So he could barely see. This was already working out fabulously, sigh. Allen rubbed his eyes gently, forcing his still pained head into obedience. Okay. Dark cave. Barely any lighting. No matches, or any of your supplies, because you either dropped them during the run chasing what you were hoping was a naga, or dropped them when whoever hit you dragged you in here.

He felt like a fucking genius, really.

Exhaling, he had to think. First things first, his eyes had to adjust to the lighting of the candle that whoever had brought him in here had thoughtfully lit. Probably so much for their own benefit as his, if said kidnappers were human. Of course, if they weren't....

He was pretty much screwed anyway.

So he would try not to think about that, and instead focus on-

"Hello," came a soft, strange voice from elsewhere in the room.

Allen's head snapped towards the direction of the voice, though being unadjusted to the light - and with the light already being so poor - the best detail he could make out were the other's eyes. Though he could make out some very vague, blurry shapes. If he didn't know better he'd say...

"Hello," he replied, turning to face the other. Just because he was kidnapped and likely at this person's mercy didn't mean he had to be rude - it was probably better NOT to be. Might end up saving his life.

"Am I to assume you're the one that brought me here?"

 

[Michi No Sora]

He was glad to hear that the human could respond to him, that meant he didn't sustain any lasting damage from the head bashing, "You could ssssay that. Though it'sss really your own fault for following me," he snickered and hissed, "I'm sssure the villagersss warned you about thisss," all of them knew the ritual. The objects to be given to them were left out and no human was to watch or try to follow them. For the villagers obedience, the Nagas kept the area safe. This outsider was stupid enough to not heed their warnings, "You ssshould have listened to them."

He relaxed back into his coils, watching the human curiously. They were interesting creatures to say the least. This one was nothing like the villagers, "Now...what to do with you? I can't let you go. The othersss would be angry if I did that. I could kill you. The meat from your bonesss would feed us all for at least a month," he hissed out, wondering if the other male could see him yet or not. He wondered if Nagas were in other areas of the world and if they were treated the way the villagers treated them, "But I've heard that human meat isn't that tasty. Food isss food when there is a lack of it to go around," the surrounding area was lacking in animals lately. That happened every few years and it was something their people had to deal with.

"Maybe we could dismember your body and ssscatter your partsss around the village as a better warning to you outsidersss. Teach you to listen to the onesss that know what to do," he ran his hand through his ruby red hair, the color matching that of his scales. The Naga was nearly towering over the human due to the height that his coils gave him. He must of looked like a giant in the bad lighting, "How doesss that sssound?"

 

[Falco n Delr]

....it had to be. It had to be. The hissing lisp could have been from a villager, if he was still caught, but there was just something in Allen that made him realize that this was no trick. He had followed a real naga, and had been caught. He was sitting in a cave with one, and from what shapes he could see, it was huge.

"Maybe I should have," he said, slowly. "But I couldn't. I had to see for myself if your kind really existed. I wouldn't have been able to leave unless I had proof one way or another."

He felt his entire body stiffen, swallowing dryly as his heart rate jumped up. Oh god. He should have expected this - should have realized it was possible - but it had been entirely spur of the moment when the chase had started. He hadn't thought at all, except that he couldn't lose it.

And now he was paying for it. Gritting his teeth, he tried to keep the fear down as the naga casually explained some of the various things that could be done to him. God in Heaven....

"That sounds... terrifying and horrible," he said honestly, a nervous smile coming across his face. If there was a benevolent being watching over him, let him get out of this alive....

"I don't want to die. In any way. There has to be... something I can do to survive this, isn't there?"

 

[Michi No Sora]

The creature chuckled lightly as the human male tried to find a way to spare his own life. So far he didn't see what was so wrong with having a human around, but he knew that the others would demand his death. It was better for this boy to die by his hands than to suffer whatever the whole clan would come up with, "Don't worry. It'll be ssswift and painless. I promise. I'll even leave your body intact and return it to the village so the other outsiders may take care of it in your traditional manner," he said softly and let his tail curl out some to wrap around the human's leg and hoist him into the air, "It'sss a ssshame. You're not half bad looking for a human."

"May I have your name? You're the first human to come here in...well...probably centuriesss. I'm sssure the othersss will want to know what your name wasss," his eyes flickered some in the light of the candle as he looked over the pale stomach of the human. His own skin was pale, but different from Allen's, "I'll even let you know my name. It's Sssekhmet," it was against their laws to give out their names as their people believed that names had power, but Sekhmet felt that was the least he could give the human that had been so eager to see one of them.

That was another thing that confused him. The villagers knew of Nagas and openly told the world of them, so why did this human seem so surprised to see him? Didn't he have to pay tribute to the Nagas of his own village? Sekhmet thought that there were Nagas everywhere. Maybe their laws were different and the Nagas there were allowed to be seen around and by the humans, "Do the Nagasss of your village allow you to get this close to them? Isss that why you thought it would be okay to follow me?" if so, he would have to bring that up at the next gathering. Sekhmet felt that if other Naga tribes were in the world and allowed human interaction, then they should too. It made no sense to him that the humans weren't allowed to see them. Sekhmet had always been interested in humans, even if they were lower beings.

"Don't be ssso quite. Answer my questionsss, Human," though it went over his head that he was kind of dominating the conversation and giving the boy little time to answer between questions, "Ssshow your respect for me and answer me," he hissed.

 

[Falco n Delr]

Allen's heart clenched as the snake creature laughed. No way out. He could only take the barest comfort in the naga's promise of a painless death - it was still death, even if it was a better death than being slowly crushed. And he guessed having his body not be, you know, eaten was probably very generous for these kind. But that didn't make this situation any better.

Especially not once he felt something coil around his leg, and found himself suddenly upside down. Giving a slight yelp at that, Allen sputtered a bit as part of his shirt got into his mouth, then adjusted it to where, at least, his face wasn't covered.

It felt.... strange to have the naga ask for his name, and even give his own. But Allen believed he sort of understood. So if he was going to die anyway, dammit, he was going to die polite and dignified.

"Sekhmet? That's a very graceful and powerful name," he said. "My own is far less impressive - it's Allen.

"Nagas of my...." The human paused. These beings didn't know? Well, they were out here...

"There are no Nagas where I come from," he answered. "In fact, there aren't any in many other parts of the world. The group I was traveling with have been looking for proof that you exist.

"You may be the only nagas left alive," he continued honestly. "And.... that's why I followed you.

"You could call me a snake..." He paused for the word that might make sense. "...lover. I've always been fascinated and loving of creatures like them, and I've even had a few I took care of at points. That's why I was here in the first place.

"If Nagas like you truly existed, I had to know. I had to see it for myself."

He gave a soft laugh.

"And I guess I'm paying for it now...."

 

[Michi No Sora]

Sekhmet assumed that the comment about his name was to try and have his life spared. As nice as the compliment was, he doubted it would save the boy's life. Though when he heard that there were no other Nagas in the world, something in his chest hurt. How could there not be any others? That just wasn't possible. All the elders always told them that the world was filled with their kind and that one day they would all be able to roam free like they once used to. But this human was saying something different. It had to be a lie, right? The human was just trying to distract him and save his own life. That was all. Sekhmet was sure of it, "Liar!" he growled, "There are Nagasss everywhere. We're the higher life form. You humansss are here to ssserve usss, just like the eldersss have sssaid. You lie," he hissed and snapped. He refused to believe that his clan were the only ones left in the world.

Sekhmet snapped his teeth a little bit out of frustration as he tried to calm himself down. He knew that getting overly emotional was a problem most of them had and he just had to calm down. It was near mating season and that always caused tensions to run high among them. The smallest things caused large outbursts of various emotions. He dropped the human to the ground, though not from very high up. He remembered that he wanted to hear everything he could before he had to kill the human off. The boy knew more of the outside world than he did, he had no right to just snap at him in such a way. Sekhmet was a little more tolerant than the others, he was also a little more patient.

"Maybe I won't kill you...at least not right now..." he didn't want to give the boy false hope of getting out of here alive, "I don't understand how there could not be more othersss like myself. Humansss must of killed them off. The eldersss used to sssay that the humansss started to fear usss and that isss why we went into hiding..." the thought of being one of the last of his kind in the world was a bit depressing. He didn't get along with many of his brethren here and had hoped to one day find a new clan to join into. That dream had just been crushed by Allen, "They could just be hiding..." giving himself false hope. He had no idea how much of the world humans had actually explored so far and that there was little place for his kind to hide anymore.

Sekhmet's tongue clicked lightly on the roof of his mouth as he thought, "A sssnake lover?" that wasn't something he'd heard of before, "You're a care taker," that made sense. Human's used to be in charge of taking care of them and it seemed that some still had the urge to do such a thing.

 

[Falco n Delr]

Well, crap. In retrospect, that was probably not the smartest thing to say, and Sekhmet was angry. Getting your future killer angry was not exactly a smart thing, as that could make your end a good deal more painful. But it was hard to think completely clearly while being held upside down with all the blood rushing to your face.

And then he hit the ground, which solved that problem. Well. Rubbing his face a bit, he righted himself, shaking his head as he settled into a sitting position once more. Okay... so time to do a bit of damage control here, or try to.

"I'm sorry," Allen said. "We haven't looked all around the world, but the places we have looked, we haven't even heard rumors of you. Sure, there was an occasional thing stumbled across while we were searching for something else, but.... even if you aren't the last, you're one of the last groups. The village that serves you was the first one like it we've found."

Shifting a bit, Allen pulled the tie out of his hair, keeping it held between his teeth (distorting his voice slightly) as he gathered up the pale locks.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that's what happened," he admitted sadly. "Mankind tends to be afraid of things they don't understand or can't control, so they end up killing it. Maybe there are more Nagas hiding elsewhere, but even if there are.... there aren't many of you left."

He paused to finish braiding, putting the tie at the end of said braid. There, that should make his hair behave for a bit.

"You could call me that," he said after another moment of thought. "I tended to take care of any snakes I came across if I could, so it's not inaccurate or any such thing. As I said before, that's why I had to know if you really existed."