(an SRP between my Tala and Tezcacoatl)
She wasn’t wandering too far from the den, because or else she might get in trouble. Tala wasn’t really fond of rules, due to a bit of an early rebellious streak, but she still obeyed them! So she stalked about around a few bushes, pouncing at moths and the like. That’s the sort of things cub did, and all. Most cubs, however, did not stumble upon ailing snakes.
Tala did that day.
Usually a cub would flee from a snake immediately, certainly having learned that they were dangerous. Tala wasn’t much different, and immediately took a step back. The problem was, her eyes were perfectly capable of sight and… well, the snake was, quite honestly, not going to be a problem. “What happened to you?” She asked dumbly, not even sure snakes could talk.
Evidently they could. “What happened to you?” The creature hissed irritably, imitating her voice. He failed, of course, because a snake successfully imitating a lion would be rather weird. “What does it look like?”
The red cub considered this for a few moments. She couldn’t see the entire thing, but the snake appeared to be tangled up in a piece of thorny bush, and then had a rock placed on it. Hardly seemed like it would be something accidental. Perhaps someone had trapped it, afraid of it. Or it had been in a thorny bush, then some creature tripped on it and dragged it around a bit. Or something. Honestly, she didn’t know. “Looks like something got you there. Stepped on you, or something.”
The snake seemed to stare at her for a few seconds, but, really, snake eyes were so weird. “Wildebeest tripped all over my bush, I got tangled up.” It said eventually, sounding rather grumpy. “Might be dead by now.”
Tala gulped, but still inched closer, curiously. “So… so that means you’re poisonous.”
If a snake could snort, it might have. Instead, its tongue just shot out at her, and the reptile looked disdainful. “Yes, I am venomous. So stay back.” Obediently Tala took a step back, but didn’t leave entirely.
“Um… why don’t you just slither out of there?” Weren’t snakes supposed to be able to do that? If you have a long body all your life, you should probably be good at untangling yourself!
That seemed to hit a sour spot, and the snake glared at her. “Tangled too tight in some parts. Think a few thorns got in, so it hurts to move.” Well, at least it hadn’t refused to talk to her altogether. “Now go away.” It said dismissively, and she imagined him making some sort of body movement, but couldn’t really see much more than the creature’s head, and a faint glittering of scales inside the bush. She frowned, because the snake was quite rude!
“Don’t you want me to help you?” She asked moodily, setting her jaw and scowling down at the snake, suddenly forgetting that if she got too close, and it bit her, she would probably die. The snake turned its head and for a moment she thought it looked surprised at her audacity.
That’s when she remembered he was poisonous, and her ears folded back. Oops.
Fortunately, though, the snake didn’t seem exactly angry. “You help me?” It raised its head as far as it could, as if it were capable of looking down at her. “And how would you do that?”
Since she had brought it up in the first place, Tala had no choice but to follow through with her suggestion. Even if she hadn’t even really thought about it. “Well I could… Roll the rock off, first. Then pull the bush apart. And then you’d be free.” She raised her paws, as if to show that simply having them meant she could do this job. The snake didn’t seem to appreciate that, and looked at her, unimpressed.
… But it seemed to conclude this was better than nothing. “Very well. Do it, then.” The challenge in his voice made Tala quickly take a step closer, but she stopped mid-way. “What?” The red cub eyes the snake suspiciously.
“But first you have to promise not to bite me.”
The reptile rolled its little blue eyes. “Oh for crying out loud! I wouldn’t be so stupid!” It hissed irritably. But that wasn’t good enough for Tala, because she was a skeptical little cub and wouldn’t take any less than an honest promise. He seemed to catch on to that. “… Alright. I, Tezcacoatl, promise I will not bite you.” Tala quirked a brow. “Ever. Is that good enough for you?”
She smiled and nodded, then finished making her way over to the snake. Gently she rolled the rock off the bush, and the reptile may as well have sighed in release. She felt the tension fade slightly as she began to work on the bush. “So your name is Tezc…Tezcakuh…”
“Tezcacoatl.” The snake supplied helpfully.
“Tezcacoatl.” Tala repeated, to make sure she could say such a name. “I’m Tala. Nice to meet you.” She said politely, and noticed that the snake stared at her from the corner of her eyes. Maybe saying that to a snake was weird. But Tala had been told she should be polite and say that when she met someone.
“Er… yes, equally.” The snake said awkwardly. Then, it said “Ouch! Watch it with the thorns!” She had grown distracted with the introductions, and glanced at her paws, then winced. Indeed, the snake had been pierced by a couple thorns, and a bit of blood was oozing out over his scales. She might have mused over how weird snake blood was, if she weren’t so busy.
“I’m sorry.” She said with a frown, and began to work more gently.
It didn’t actually take too long to free the snake up enough for him to slither out of the bush, though there was a moment when a thorn caught on one of his open wounds and he did the snake-version of crying out in pain. Tala was quick to aid him again, and soon enough the snake was out on the yellow grass.
He was long, actually. Perhaps as long as her mom was tall. Which for a cub was pretty long. Long enough for Tala to dumbly state the obvious. “You’re pretty long.”
Tezcacoatl didn’t seem to mind, and he even uncoiled a bit more. He might even have a little smile on his snake-y lips. “Yesss, I am long for my age! And I will be even longer! My mother was very long. As long as two lions, maybe more.” Okay, that was pretty long. Tala gaped at him, which only seemed to please the snake even further.
“Wow! That is cool.”
The brown snake nodded, then glanced at the cub. “Yes, yes it is… anyways, I am indebted to you, Tala. ”
She wasn’t so sure what indebted meant. But she kind of had an idea that it was kind of like a complicated version of ‘I owe you one’. “You’re welcome. Hey, do you want to come home with me, at least until you’re all better?” The question was blurted out without much thought, but Tala thought this snake was pretty cool.
It stared at her like she was stupid, then seemed to soften a bit. Perhaps the holes in his side made him want a bit of comfort. “Strange offer. What about your parents?”
Right, Tala hadn’t thought about them. But she shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ll handle it.”
Tezcacoatl considered this for a few moments, then nodded. “Very well, I accept your offer.” Without really giving her much warning, the snake slithered over, around a front leg, then somehow managed to loop around and settled, most of his body coiled over her shoulders. That had startled Tala into staying very still, because she hadn’t expected him to just climb on her like that!
Even though Tezcacoatl was much longer than she was, he wasn’t exactly very heavy. “I am ready.” He sounded very comfortable. Tala was mostly just bewildered, but eventually started moving back in the direction of her den.
She didn’t feel quite as ready to talk to her parents as Tezcacoatl was.
