Well, here it is! The first chapter to my revised fanfiction. I can't promise that i'll actually finish this, but i'll sure try. It'll depend on the feedback, I suppose. If you're new here, I warn you now... My writing was even worse back then than it is now, so if you try and find my old fic, I hope you can stomach some of those chapters if you decide to give it a read.
"Holy shit! Melvin, get your ass back here!"
Adina had awoken from her nap to the feel of fat, greasy fingers grab her around the middle. Emitting an instinctive hiss, she whipped her head around to see who the culprit was. The hand released her in an instant, but then went for her tail instead. She thrashed slightly as she was dragged towards the back door of the truck, but the man kept his hold on her. She didn't enjoy biting people at the best of times, as it often left her with a less than pleasant taste in her mouth, but in situations like this…she made exceptions… Hissing again, she struck towards the man's hand, but came up short when a second, more slender set of digits snatched her around the neck.
"Assholes…" She grunted to herself, doing her best to struggle as her tail was released. She went still for a moment, glaring when she came face to face with the taller man that had grabbed her by the neck. He offered her a snaggle-toothed grin and whistled low.
"Well, well! Looks like we had ourselves a stowaway this entire trip! That's a bigass snake right there, Earl." He chuckled. Seeing as she couldn't do anything at this point, all Adina could do really was glare in annoyance and listen as they spoke.
"What do ya think we should do with it, Mel? Ain't got a shovel to whack it with, but I might have a tire iron under the front seat." Adina cringed at the thought. That wouldn't be a quick death…
Seemingly thinking on the stouter man's words, Melvin gave a hum before shaking his head. "Nahh, we're runnin' late as it is… Tire iron would take forever." He looked at Adina again, who gave a sigh in relief, as that was not the way she wanted to go.. After a moment, he grunted once more. "Let's just drop it off here. Won't survive long in this heat anyway."
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank yoOOUUUUU-!" Adina's silent praises had turned into a squeal as she was suddenly spun and chucked into the brush like a damn lasso, the cackling of the fat man fading slightly in her ears before she landed in a dried up bush. Giving a low groan, she rolled upright in the dust and rubbed her head with the end of her tail, barely catching the fat man add in amusement, "Or get eatin' by a rattler!" as she glared back towards the road.
She snorted as the men climbed back into the truck and fired up the engine again, the gravel beneath their tires crunching as they pulled onto the highway. "You didn't have to throw me, jackass!" She called, lowering her tail with a huff before beginning to look around. ….Where the hell even was she?
Balancing on the lower sections of her coils with ease, she raised her body up as far as she could to get a good lay of the land, and possibly try to figure out where to go. Highway? That was out of the question… She'd had her fair share of motor vehicles for the day. Twisting around at a 180 degree angle, she squinted her eyes as she did her best to see as far into the vast desert as possible. So far, it didn't look promising, but at least it was away from people. Though, that was the only positive she took from it so far.
Lowering herself once again, Adina gave a long sigh as she turned fully towards the desert. She was…hesitant to move forward, to say the least, but she hadn't really been presented with a cornucopia of choices to begin with. She shifted a bit in the dirt, kicking up tiny clouds of dust as she did so. There was no going back now. She knew this well… She was alone, and her options were limited. However, she was sure she would die if she followed the road to wherever it may have led. The desert…she wasn't really sure what would become of her there. Sure, there were plenty of horrible options and scenarios she could easily come up with, but she digressed for the time being. She knew what she was going to do, but she was putting it off as long as she could, anyway. Though, after a time, she straightened up a bit, finally mustering enough courage to begin moving forward.
"Well…into the unknown it is..."
"Adina?"
"Adina!"
"ADINA!"
The black racer jerked sharply as a large splash of water was thrown in her face. Near instantly, she began to sputter and cough, as the attack had sent a great deal up her nostrils. She hissed and shook her head as she began to shift and sit upright, a groan leaving her as the fatigue from before returned, or was remembered, at least.
Standing below her, holding an empty bucket in one hand, a hairy pig was tapping his boot on the ground unhappily. He licked at one of his bent tusks and waited a moment for her to collect herself.
Coughing a final time as she cracked one eye open to look at him, Adina wiped the wet soil off her chin with her tail and offered him a look. "Do you really have to do that every time, Deacon?"
"That's the third time this week, Adina…"
"I was just taking five…" She mumbled, waiting for the slight nausea to ease.
"Ya passed out from heat exhaustion is what ya did." He snorted, shaking his head as he tossed the bucket aside and crossed his arms. "How many times I gotta tell ya, kid? Take it slow while ya get used to the climate, we're not on a deadline here. You keep pushin' yourself like this, you're gonna die from heatstroke!"
"Kid…? I'm like…27-"
"Are ya listenin' to me, ya limp noodle?! Take them straps off, yer done workin' for the day…" He grunted, stepping forward and beginning to unhitch her from the wagon of scrap she had been pulling across the yard.
"Aww…you do care." Adina crooned, cocking a brow in amusement as he cussed and fumbled with the straps before throwing them on the ground once she was free.
He looked at her, seeming genuinely concerned, "Of course I care! Dead employees don't do good for business, you know? And yer my strongest worker, it'd be a shame to lose ya this early when ya get so much done. So you go on along now, get some rest, and I'll see ya again tomorrow, bright and early." He waved her off before turning away, hobbling off towards his office where he had an unopened can of beans waiting for him. "I have other matters to see to…"
Adina gave a short laugh, calling after him with a smirk. "You should have your own line of inspirational greeting cards, sir! I'm getting all choked up over here." She bit back another laugh when he shot her a look, slamming the door to his office shut behind him. Shaking her head, she turned and headed for the gate leading out of the scrapyard and into town.
Several townsfolk paused to look at her when she slithered out onto the main road, most of them speeding up all the more to get to their destination, particularly the ones with small children. She didn't really mind it all that much, seeing as snakes seemed to be more of a problem than anything around these parts. It was only natural they'd be afraid. Still, it was hard to think that any predator could get anything malicious done in this heat… She wasn't a fan of it so far, but at least the nights were cool.
"Miss Adina!"
The black racer was snapped from her thoughts when a call to her right grabbed her attention. She turned to see the town's sheriff himself jog up to her, offering her a grin as his faithful deputy limped not far behind him. Rango was a major dweeb, if not offensive and clueless at the best of times, but he was friendly enough… She managed a small smile in return and offered a light salute with her tail. "Afternoon, sheriff. Wounded Bird. You'll be pleased to know I haven't eaten anyone yet."
The chameleon forced a chuckle that she knew meant well enough, and pointed a finger at her as he smirked. "Good one. I'll have to remember that for later." He placed his hands on his hips and sniffled distractedly. "Just got off work, I see. Deacon's keepin' you busy, I take it? Good, good… You're earnin' your keep easily so far."
"Well, yeah, the notion of being homeless and starving is a pretty good motivator…" She mused dryly.
Rango cleared his throat, rocking on his toes a bit as he nodded. "You make a fair point…" He stated, getting an almost distant look as he briefly pondered where he'd be if he hadn't become sheriff. Honestly, the thought was enough to make him cringe. Shaking his head, he looked up at her once again and asked, "So, how have the townsfolk taken to ya so far? Ya try talkin' to any of them like I suggested?"
"Uhhh, a couple of them…?" Adina replied, somewhat unsurely as she brushed at the back of her neck with her tail, refusing to meet his gaze. "Yeah, they seem…totally friendly. I think they're starting to warm up to me." She offered him a small, forced grin, which seemingly convinced the smaller lizard well enough, but Wounded Bird saw through it easily.
They all paused briefly when a dusty old ball suddenly bounced off the side of her coils. She, Wounded Bird, and Rango looked up to see a small group of kids running towards them, giggling and fooling around as they did. Upon spotting the massive snake, they all screeched to a halt as their eyes went wide, going stock still as their little knees began to knock slightly.
Adina blinked several times, not really sure what to do. Finally, she offered them a smile and picked up the ball lightly in her coils to toss it back to them, calling over in a friendly manner, "Hey, kids!"
The children blinked briefly themselves, at least until each of them let out a simultaneous scream and began to hightail it the opposite direction once again, leaving the two stunned reptiles and crow in the dust.
"…Awkward." Wounded Bird offered stoically.
"I even smiled that time!" Adina exclaimed, confusion written plain as day on her face.
After a moment, Rango let out a slow puff of air and brushed the top of his head, his hat dangling in his free hand, "Tough crowd…" he said. Still, he offered her pleasant, but meek smile after a moment and waved it off, "Just-just keep at it! I'm sure they'll come around eventually."
"Most probably won't." the older crow added, casually brushing a pebble off of his dusty poncho.
Rango sent the elder a slight look, then laughed forcefully and shook a finger at his deputy, "Wounded Bird… Always did love that sense of humor." He slapped his knee with his hat before placing it back onto his head, clearing his throat as he tipped the brim to the snake. "Welp! We should probably get goin'. Always work to be done, being a sheriff and all." He turned and began to walk away, offering the black racer a wave as he did, Wounded Bird offering a nod as well as he followed. "Have a good day, Miss Adina."
The serpent shook her head with a mild smile and offered the two another salute as they went about their business, sighing lightly as she began to make her way back to her…home, I suppose you could call it. There hadn't really been many places fit for a snake built in the town of Dirt, to be honest. The only one that seemed roomy enough was the old mayor's office, but Rango had made it clear on day one that it was being reserved for…some other reason. She hadn't been told what for, but she didn't think much of it, as the sheriff seemingly wanted to keep that a secret for a number of folk.
Pushing the thoughts from her mind for the time being, she let out a long, drowsy yawn as she approached the shabby, but spacy mill that she had been staying in for the past week. It wasn't anything special, but she found ways to make it cozy all the same.
"Welcome home…" She murmured to herself somewhat sarcastically.
Sliding open the door, she slipped inside and almost instantly found her bed to be more than an inviting sight. Her body seemed to ache for it all the more as she drew closer and closer. With a soft groan, she practically flopped into the nest of blankets and pillows and curled up cozily. True, she was still hot, but the spot was nice and comfortable. She knew she probably wouldn't be able to fully sleep until night fell, but she would find some way to distract herself until then.
For now, she rested her eyes and allowed her thoughts to drift back home. Though, now she remembered just how homesick she truly was. She missed the feel of cool grass under her scales. She missed the sound of the trees in a cool, afternoon breeze. She missed her family, and everything about them… Her brother's jokes, her mother's fussing and slithering about the hollow… The warmth of her father's voice whenever he had something encouraging to say… She would probably never even see them again, she reminded herself.
Curling up a bit tighter, she swallowed heavily as a terrible ache filled her chest, feeling more alone in that particular moment than she ever had in her life. She tried to force away her tears, muttering a broken curse as she failed to prevent them from falling. Sniffling a bit, she buried her head beneath her coils, remaining as silent as she possibly could through her sorrow.
"Welcome home…" she whispered.