It was rather sudden and unexpected when Ryoma first gain two pets -without his parents' content- secretly and he was still thinking of a way to announce this to them. He wasn't sure how his parents would react and he did get quite attach to his pets, so he needed to plan everything carefully in order to achieve the results that he wanted. It all happened one day when he had traveled with his parents to a snowy mountain for skiing during the vacation.
Ryoma was off adventuring and exploring this new favorite hobby of his and he slid down the white slope. Ryoma, since young, was a fast learner and was able to master practically anything in a short span of time. Of course, skiing became one of them with no time at all. Tennis, of course, will always be his favorite sport and it will always be on Ryoma's mind. However, sometimes, Ryoma was in the mood for a change of air and want to try something he normally wouldn't do in order to find what his passions are outside of tennis.
His mother, along with his cousin Nanako, nagged him nonstop about being too obsessed with tennis and would spend his entire day on training, completely forgetting his daily task to eat. Tennis was what made him become too unfocused on what the current time is after all, and Rinko deemed tennis as something unnecessary in Ryoma's life. She decided that her son needed to try something different and this moment can be used to relax his mind and body. A change of scenery can serve as a positive thing and her family needs some family-bonding activity to boot. Moreover, too much of exercise was never a positive thing and Rinko was afraid that tennis would one day ruin Ryoma. In her opinion, tennis was dangerous due to various players using a dangerous play style and love to watch their opponents suffer in pain. That was one of the reason why she opposed her son to play the sport competitively, which may sounds too selfish, and it was enough that her husband was into this sport.
She sighed and feels that it was all worth it when it seems that at least Ryoma was enjoying skiing. It was worth all the pulling and persuasion the past week, trying to get Ryoma to agree to her plan. In addition, since her occupation is a lawyer, she is very good with her words and therefore, can be very persuasive. But in her son's case, her talent is basically useless. She had to use her mother card at the end to get what she wanted.
After she felt somewhat reassured about her son, she then scanned the snowy plain, looking for her idiotic husband. Where did Nanjiroh run off to? Suspicions rose in her chest and she felt that what she'll go through later is something she had experienced multiple times.
That Nanjiroh couldn't do something indecent again... right?
Rinko knew she couldn't trust that perverted monk, so she went to search for him, her mind momentarily stopped revolving around Ryoma.
Ryoma, on the other hand, kept skiing down the hill, going faster and faster each passing second. It was extremely fun and exciting at the same time. It was also quite nice as well. The cold and chilly breeze would graze past his cheeks as he traveled downwards, but at least the rest of his body didn't suffer the same fate. His cheeks were flush red from the cold and whenever he let out his breath, he can actually see it under this extremely freezing temperature.
Using his ski poles, Ryoma stick both poles into the deep snow, which serves as a break and ultimately, stopping the ride as well.
Ryoma take his ski goggles off, sliding them on top of his head. He looked around the area, which were devoid of the human population. There are only few animals lurking around.
"... Where am I?" He said after moments of silence. He looked behind, which was where he came from originally, but the falling snow made it too blurry for him to see anything, even with his sharp eyes. He soon gave up.
After reaching a conclusion, Ryoma decided to explore around and might as well see if he can take refuge somewhere for the time being. He couldn't possibly stay outside in the snow for long, could he?
Minutes later, Ryoma hate to admit but he was lost. Completely lost. Not only there wasn't any people around, which means Ryoma couldn't even seek for help, but the temperature was decreasing rapidly and his thick jacket, scarf, and boots couldn't help shield Ryoma from the cold entirely.
He shivered uncontrollably and he placed his hands enveloped with gloves on his face to help it regain back its warmth.
Ryoma walked on further. There must be somewhere where he can use as a shelter in this barren field.
He held onto this hope and continued moving. If he stay still, he'll freeze at a faster rate.
He stopped when he saw something on the ground that wasn't clear white from the precipitation. And he saw it twitched for a second. However, snow was soon piling upon this "object", completely covering the entire thing.
Somewhat curious, Ryoma shoveled closer and the snow crunched under his feet with each step he take.
He glanced closer at the pile of snow. Where was the thing?
Ah, there it was.
He reached over and pushed away the snow and uncovered a... brown snake.
Ryoma blinked in surprise. That was certainly unexpected. But at a closer look, the snake's tail was tangled with another tail and Ryoma concluded that it was another snake.
He quickly tried to help the other snake. Now there was two snakes: one brown, the other blue.
Ryoma wasn't quite sure what he should do at the moment. Should he just abandon these snakes and move on since he wasn't in a good situation to begin with, so there was no way he can aid someone else. But then again, these snakes looked like they were on the verge of death and kept shivering and wiggling, desperately trying to keep warm and stay alive. Even without seeing it, Ryoma can tell that the snakes' heart beat was slowing down and will completely stop if no help was offered soon.
He contemplated his options and decided to help these snakes. Maybe he can leave them in a refuge he'll settle in later?
He grabbed the two snakes, keeping in mind to not handle them roughly and harshly. The snakes squirmed and looked like they want to attack Ryoma, hissing weakly all the while.
Ryoma held the snakes away from his body once his natural instinct kicked in, in case the snakes were poisonous. "I don't want to harm you and just want to help. I promise I'll let you go once I found a place safe for you."
The snakes soon stopped struggling as if they understand Ryoma's words, which obviously couldn't be true.
Oh well, at least it made it easier for Ryoma.
Luck was on them when a cottage was in Ryoma's sight.
"Finally..."
Hurriedly, he ran to the cottage as fast as he can through the snow and quickly opened the door, closing it after.
"Safe!" He placed the snakes down and scram to find something he can use. He did find some matches and luckily, there were some wood in the hearth, so Ryoma quickly swipe the match across the surface and it was lit up. He then threw it into the wood and soon, a large fire was formed.
Ryoma take off his coat and boots, placing them near the fire to dry. He glanced at the snakes and saw them still shivering.
He felt bad despite the fact that he didn't cause it. He moved the snakes closer to the fire. "Feel better?"
The snakes of course didn't respond, which was expected.
Ryoma sighed. How long will he stay here? He really want to go back home.
After sitting there for awhile, he grabbed his coat and spread it on the floor, wrapping himself with it as he go to sleep. Today was a tiring day after all.
"Please, find my son! Please!" Rinko begged as she grabbed onto the workers, who was in charge of rescuing people that was lost in this snowy mountain.
"Of course, ma'am. Don't worry."
They tried to reassure her, but no words can persuade Rinko that her son was safe until she saw Ryoma safe and sound right infront of her. She knew that Ryoma wasn't that good with directions, since chances are, he wouldn't be able to get back here. That said, Rinko needs to rely on these people in hopes of finding her precious son.
She desperately wanted to find Ryoma herself, but right now the snow is getting thicker and thicker, making traveling more difficult as it is. With the strong wind blowing the snow, it was extremely challenging to be able to see anything and so Rinko has no chances of navigating her way around.
Rinko gripped her hair in frustration. Just how long will she be tortured like this? Just how long can she see her son once more?
All these thoughts took over Rinko's mind as tears flow uncontrollably down her chin.
"Rinko..." Nanjiroh said, reaching for her wife.
Rinko shake her head. Even her husband couldn't do anything to make her feel better.
Ryoma stirred as he felt something cold touch his skin. He turned his head to the side and wrapped his coat tighter around his slim body.
However, he still felt the coldness surrounding his body and so he opened an eye to see what was the cause of this coldness.
It was totally astonishing to see two snakes slithering into his sweater, with their heads poking out from the sweater, and their eyes directly in contact with Ryoma's.
"What...?"
The snakes continued to move around and eventually wrapped themselves around Ryoma's neck. For a second, Ryoma thought that the snakes will suffocate him but apparently, that wasn't the case. The snakes seemed content on where they were located and Ryoma was totally fine with it if not for the fact that it is getting itchy with the snakes' scales rubbing against his skin. He tried to control the urge to scratch his neck.
Ryoma looked down at the snakes and hesitantly touched their heads. After making sure that the snakes wouldn't attack him for this "disrespect", Ryoma continued to pet them as if right in front of him was his cat Karupin. Speaking of Karupin, he was starting to miss his beloved cat and was wondering if Karupin also misses her owner as well.
"Karupin..."
Ryoma strained his ears once again to make sure he wasn't imagining the voices of people. He walked to the window and rubbed the glass to make the condensed water disappear.
And there he saw it. There was a bunch of people, all carrying flashlights and were yelling Ryoma's name loudly.
Ryoma opened the cottage's door screaming, "I'm here!"
That was how he was rescued. The people make sure Ryoma was in a good condition with no injuries nor illness and they kindly asked Ryoma to get his belongings so they can immediately depart and head back to the hotel where the rest of the guests were located, including Ryoma's parents.
Ryoma went back to get his coat when he noticed that the two snakes were missing. He looked every nook and cranny in the cottage and still couldn't find the snakes.
"Hurry up, kid!" One of the people said, impatience present in his voice.
Hurriedly, Ryoma put on his coat and on his way, he glanced back at the cottage for one last time.
After the tear some reunion with his parents, Ryoma was finally released and was able to go back to his room.
He sat on his bed with a huff and his mind traveled back to the snakes.
Where did they go?
Few days later, the Echizen family went back to their house, away from the snowy mountain. And the family probably wouldn't go back to any snowy mountains for awhile; they had enough of seeing snow and experiencing heart attacks due to the Ryoma's disappearance again.
The first thing that Ryoma do as soon as he get back home was to take a bath. He always love taking baths for several reasons and he really need to relax after the whole ordeal. He shed his clothing and sink into the lukewarm water once the tub was filled almost entirely.
He leaned back and closed his eyes, planning to sit there and do nothing.
"... Paradise..." Ryoma murmured as he dump his head in the water and shake his head to wet his hair.
Once he was finished, he tilted his head to dump the water that entered his ear when he was underwater. Finally, Ryoma can hear the sounds clearly again.
Thump.
Ryoma glanced at the door, eyebrows raised. What was that?
Thump.
"Karupin? Is that you?" Ryoma expected to hear his cat meowing in response, however, that didn't happen.
Thump.
Now Ryoma couldn't ignore whoever was making sounds using the door. He grabbed a towel and tied it around his waist, then opened the door.
There was no one there and Ryoma was very confused until he felt something touch his feet.
He looked down and lo and behold, the snakes were there; the exact same snakes he was looking for awhile back.
"Kami, where are you hiding the whole time?" The snakes only wiggle their body more as a response.
"Here, this will be your 'home' for now," Ryoma said as he placed his old clothes underneath his bed to make a nice, little nest for the snakes.
"Good night," and Ryoma shut the light.
In the darkness, the blue snake sent his thoughts toward his friend, Ne, Syu, should we show Ryoma our human form? It's getting very boring how we couldn't speak to him in our snake form.
The brown snake shake his head, Not yet Sei. Soon, we'll. For now, we'll have to wait patiently. Though I can't wait to see how he'll react once he knows that we are demons and not just regular snakes.
Yeah, can't wait indeed.