~ Look before you leap, for snakes among sweet flowers do creep. - German Proverb ~

A long time ago, in a quaint village, lived a little boy who wanted everything. The sun, the moon, and every twinkling star. He dreamed of pirates and riches, knights and lavish castles. There were no limits to what he could do, at least inside his own mind.

"Go away!" he yelled, swiping a stick at a rather large obese rat that was eating away at the slop thrown out onto the street. The small orphan boy sighed in relief and picked up the driest bits of moldy bread, even though they were still soaked with whatever was mixed in that several days old slop. Even the village's rodents ate better than a lost and unwanted child. Alfred didn't care though. The people in the village were suspicious of nearly everything. Who knows what kind of misfortunes an orphan could bring to ones household..

The boy couldn't really remember his parents. He was only an infant when the fire destroyed everything. After that, his grandmother had taken Alfred and his twin brother into her home, but sadly she died of the deadly epidemic this past winter. Matthew, the beautiful violet eyed boy, was luckily adopted and taken away by a well-to-do French family. He wasn't at all envious of his brother's new family or of the warm bed, the precious food... Alfred coughed and gripped his stomach, painfully heaving up what little he had eaten. No, he was happy that Matthew didn't have to suffer like this, that he didn't have to plead to the heavens just to live another day, in hopes of something better.

When Alfred wasn't wandering about for food or exploring the nearby caves, he would curl himself up in his basket and use a ragged brown cloth as a blanket. Sometimes, he even liked to carry his basket out to a clearing and fall asleep under the starry sky.

Finally feeling a little better, the boy stood up and stumbled over to his basket. "I'm gonna go be a famous explorer!" he exclaimed, taking a hold of his basket and dragging it behind him. The market streets were bustling were people who were buying and selling this and that. Arguments and random chaos were seemingly on every corner, frightening the young child. He picked up his pace, almost leaving his little mobile home behind.

The one thing the little boy loved the most was the deep green forest that surrounded the village. It was so big and mysterious. His eyes widened, as he took in every tree, every brightly colored bird that flew overhead. It was almost magical. He paused at the entrance of the forest and peered up at the trees, trying to capture their full height. "..So big," he whispered in awe. "I wish I could be that tall.."

Alfred felt a strong sense of adventure come over him and he continued forward through the thickness of the trees. The forest smelled so fresh and so brand new compared to the filth of the overcrowded village. Maybe this was like heaven. The only noises he heard were of birds and the rustling leaves from the light, gentle wind that had just started to blow. As far as he knew, there were no dangers here, only peace and serenity.

Time quickly passed and soon the sun began to set over the horizon. Alfred was having so much fun leaping to tree to tree, plucking pretty wildflowers and placing them inside his basket. Every now and then a deer or some other kind of animal would cross his path, not taking much interest in the child's presence. He watched in sheer amazement as the animals would wander off and disappear into the distance. As long as he could remember, he always loved animals of every kind. Although he never had a pet of his own, it was something he always wanted.

Alfred grunted and tugged at his basket, struggling to pull it over some fallen trees and jagged rocks on the the forest floor. Just a few feet ahead of him was a small clearing, though oddly enough it was encircled by large stones, each arranged too perfectly for it to be a natural occurrence. Anyone else would have been suspicious, but Alfred was still so carefree and didn't think much of it. Carefully, he picked up his basket and carried it over the stones to the center of the clearing. By that time, the sun was almost hidden from view, which meant total darkness would soon swallow up the forest and the lonely little boy who tucked himself to bed inside his makeshift bed.

When the sun had finally risen the next morning, Alfred awoke to a pair of deep emerald green eyes staring down intensely at him. These weren't normal eyes of a human. They looked exactly like the eyes of a serpent. His tiny body was frozen in fear and he was completely terrified at first. It wasn't a snake, or at least not the familiar looking ones he had seen before in the village. The creature that surrounded little Alfred's basket had the top half of a man and the rest of him was a body of a snake. Alfred was now completely fascinated. The snake man had golden blond hair that only complimented his mysterious, and yet devious eyes. His eyebrows looked kind of funny though, he thought. Maybe he had some caterpillar connections in him or something.

"Ah, it looks like breakfast has been delivered to me this morning.. You look like a tasty tart," hissed the hybrid, tightening his squeeze on the basket with his body. "Much better than the measly rabbits I've been eating lately."

"What's your name?" asked the child, as if he didn't hear the other talk about eating him for breakfast like he would any other kind of forest animal.

The being narrowed his eyes in confusion. No one ever asked him his name before. Most would instantly turn to run or even try to kill him, but this kid didn't do anything except stare at him with his big sea blue eyes and ask silly questions.

...What's your name?

Hmph.

A/N: This has been published before, but I wasn't completely satisfied with it.