Angela turned in her sleep. Her eyes twitched from a dream that haunted her. "Ebony, no, I'm sorry. Please, get up," her head jerked to the side, "I don't want to be alone." She let out a quiet yell of pain at the thoughts, then her hands flew to her head and she sprang up. Sweat began to build on her as she stared into the dark jungle. She slowly pulled her hand to feel the scars across her eye, and when she felt they were there, her body sunk sadly. Sure she was relieved that everything she saw wasn't happening, but it destroyed her knowing that it had happened already.
A neko that was sleeping on her snake half watched her, and he patted her scales gently. "What's wrong Angela?" he said, not taking his eyes off the back of her head.
She didn't even turn around, she just stared down into the dirt and whispered, "Nothing."
He looked at her with concern and then turned to the other twenty four shining eyes of the neko that were woken up by her mumbling. The other seven neko, five humans, and one young naga somehow slept soundly. The first neko looked back to her shape in the dark, "It's not nothing, what hap -"
"Please," Angela cut in, still sadly quiet, "Just go back to sleep." She heard him sigh and lay back down into his sleeping bag, along with the others that were awake.
The darkness looked so inviting. To be consumed by the blank surroundings would be great, more than great, a wonderful escape from herself. From everything. She would be able to forget all the terrible events and the things she had done. She thought that just as the darkness, another true friend could cover the pain, but the feeling of replacing her best friend was just too much for her to take. In a deep sigh, she leaned against the cave wall beside her, and let herself be taken by sleep once more.
********************
When she opened her eyes, she was still leaning against her wall. She looked behind and there was no one resting on her anymore, so she rubbed her sore shoulder and turned towards the opening to her cave. The darkness wasn't there anymore, only the bright green and brown of the jungle. It somewhat cheered her up knowing that the day was new, but most happy thoughts were crushed with the knowledge that she was still herself.
Her dream before she woke this time was of her best friend and her playful attitude, instead of her horrible death. Angela thought that today she was reminded heavily because it was the exact day that everything had happened. Even now, she still felt the weight of what she had done leaning over her shoulders and keeping her down. It wouldn't be right unless she paid her respects.
Angela started the long trip by wiping her face from sleep and slithering out onto the damp dirt. She was hungry, but food was the last thing on her mind. She hardly even looked down while she passed a few humans, trying to pack everything they could before they were noticed. Usually she would pick them up before they even had a chance to run, but this time she only watched while they quickly shut their truck doors and drove away.
She passed by one of her favorite ruins on the way. It was a large tower that once housed someone who was said to be a powerful wizard, but now it only slowly crumbled under the weight of its own majesty. The bottom was indeed sturdy enough to support the entire structure for its old age, being a cylinder of two meter thick stone walls, and having an internal metal skeleton that equaled the mechanical brilliance of a giant human tank. Though its structural mistake was that the top half of the home was made of wood, because it was far cheaper then stone at the time, and the nature in it absorbed magic even more then the walls that were designed to do so. This was beginning to weaken, and the large metal roof would most likely take the entire lower half with it when it fell.
Angela hoped that she wouldn't have a hand inside when it toppled, though she hardly ever inspected the building too long, since all the openings were made small, even for the wizard. He apparently thought that it would protect him even more if enemies couldn't get in, though he must not have been the brightest human, because he was taken when monsters burrowed through the wood of the upper half. Humans are so flawed, she thought, remembering how they build cities even in this predator infested jungle. When will they ever learn, was the only thing she thought after that, but countered that with the realization that they have lived here far before she was even born. They must have some secret, like an underground city where they retreat to, or something in the sky that predators couldn't reach.
She hadn't been paying attention to where she was going and slithered straight off of a semi-deep drop, into a large hole of muddy water. She pushed herself up with her arms and wrapped the part of her snake half that was still on solid ground around a large tree. While she pulled herself back to the top of the rocky edge, she brushed the mud from her eyes and arms the best she could. When she could see clearly, she made motions across her body that looked like she was trying to wipe it, but didn't want to touch the mud. Suddenly the dirt started to follow her hand, leaving clean skin underneath. Whenever the clump of mud got too big, she would pull her hand away from her body and it would separate and fall to the jungle floor.
Again, she didn't mind where she headed, though this time she didn't wander into anything unpleasant, but the next section she would have to cross in order to get to where she wanted. She was completely clean, but would have to rub against the moss covered trees to get across "The Drop". It was a place where the ground ended and the tree roots grew over the unexpected open space, cascading like they were water. Angela looked down, and all she could see was the darkness lightly patted with white fog.
Out of the rolling white fluff came strange trees of a height that could not be determined, due to the unknown depth of the hole, and the dense and giant leaves that covered the top about two hundred feet above Angela, that didn't even allow an estimate to the height above the leaves. Green light escaped the covering and drenched everything in an odd looking blanket of the hue, and it glittered through the small raindrops that fell around the insignificant looking naga. Angela started off by reached out and grabbing one of the thousands of vines that seemed to connect each tree. It was cold and slimy, just as she had expected.
In the
five year period it took her to build enough courage to come back,
this place had not changed a bit. Angela would not be able wrap her
body around the trees for grip, she couldn't even completely encircle
one of them, but the odd surface of them helped her as she started to
pull the rest of her body to slither through the strange
trees.
The bark of them looked as though snakes had once writhed under it,
then froze suddenly, leaving ridges of moist wood covered in slippery
algae. One slip of her coils could send the remainder of her body
tumbling through what looked like a never ending hole. Despite the
danger, it was easier this way then to go around it. The diameter of
the hole could easily reach ten miles across, but it was
immeasurable, and not even humans had tried.
According to how the walls looked, one could determine that it bowled in the middle, leaving Angela to think that it is a giant crater. Though the thing that puzzled her was that from what she knew, it had the shape of a crescent. She theorized that a large rock had hit the side of a mountain and the loose dirt fell and filled most of the hole. Thoughts like this didn't come to her anymore, they are just remnants of the knowledge she gained from research when she was her old self. Now, such things were a nuisance that should be removed to make life easier, and as she moved through the thick vines and statue-like trees, she thought of how horrible they were for getting in her way.
Her natural serpent movements caused her to blend in with the surrounding, and she was further camouflaged by the algae and small insects that built on her body. Occasionally she would look down into the space under her to see a few birds flying, or human sized monkeys jumping from vine to vine. She wondered if it was an entirely different life down there, and that those creatures must be alien to her, but she would never go and see from the fact that there was no way back up and no clear way to even get down.
Angela looked up and grabbed a vine like she had done it a thousand times, but her grip was weakened by the molding plants over it, and she slipped. Her eyes widened and she screamed, knowing that even with her amazing healing ability, she couldn't keep herself from splattering across whatever was at the bottom. Though in that moment, it made her think about why she was really screaming. She thought that she wouldn't be leaving anybody alone, that probably no naga native to this land would miss her, and that she screamed only for someone to save her so that she could continue this life of regret and regular checking of the memories she wanted to desperately let go of. It seemed like an eternity that she was alone with these thoughts, and not falling through air that couldn't catch her.
She felt a sudden jerk, and everything returned to her. She was shaking, and her breathing was heavy, and she couldn't figure out why. The things she realized didn't seem so important that she would jump back to them in fear, but, she had saved herself regardless. A look around showed that her body was tightly wrapped around a vine and her arm clutched a smaller one for dear life. She waited for her body to calm before reaching forward and grabbing the next branch with a hand as trained as before.
And for about the next two hours, she slid through the trees, not even making one slight mistake. She turned her body around and stretched it to the land once it came into view, and once it was firmly wrapped around a tree stump, she began to slowly pull the upper half of her body from the trees. Finally she was free of the tangles and on solid ground, her second favorite thing about this moon. Her stomach growled loudly, but she ignored it and slithered forward. A little into her trip, she came across a small village, most likely human.
She decided to think about food then, but first looked around the village for the tallest building, and when she found it she eyed the purple coin-like plate of wood that was attached to a metal pole. Angela knew this meant they were grouped with a naga, and that she could not eat any of them without first asking. Of course she could storm through it and take whatever she wanted with almost no objections from naga or humans, but she didn't even feel like dealing with an angry naga. She simply passed it while some of the humans looked out their window or watched from the street, hoping that she knew what the sign meant.
When she was clear of the village, she looked around lazily till she found a small hole in the ground, then she put her hand over it and closed her eyes. The world was now black as space to her, and the only life was the colorful outlines of anything living. She quickly made everything around her disappear and only focused on the colors that were right under her hand. She saw two moving shapes, like they were trying to dig deeper to get away from the thing covering their entrance. Though Angela hadn't used this ability for a long time, she focused all of her energy to the palm of her hand. The gravity around her hand began to change to pull towards where she concentrated, and after a few seconds, the two figures were lifted like they were attached to invisible strings, then caught.
Angela opened her eyes and immediately the gravity returned to normal and the dirt she had picked up fell to the ground. She lifted her hand and saw that she had caught two burrowing dridders. They hugged each other and stared at her with wide eyes. Angela licked her lips to wet them, and this made them start screaming.
One of them took one hand from the other and started to try and push her way out. When she realized it was useless, she looked up at Angela, "Wait naga! Don't eat us!"
Angela was amazed that they were most likely twins, since she had never seen that in person. "Just," she began calmly, "sit still and it won't be so bad."
The one that had already spoken covered the other, trying to save her."No! Don't!" Angela took her other hand and separated them, then brought the quiet one to her mouth and extended her tongue. "Naga, please!"
The dridder had her eyes closed tightly but screamed when she felt the wet tongue pressed against her belly. Angela took one finger and stuffed the rest inside, then began to lick the frightened girl till she was completely covered in saliva. Angela looked down at the other and swallowed, then tried not to giggle while the spider body tickled her throat. She was able to keep a straight face, but softened her expression when she saw the mixture of shock and sadness on the dridder. She was staring at Angela's neck, maybe to see if the other dridder would crawl back up or something.
Angela reached over and used her thumb to wipe away the tears that began to fall down the dridder's face. "See, it's not as bad as you think," Angela said, "It'll be over in a few minutes."
The dridder looked up and breathed a few times to get out her fear, then her face turned to hatred for the naga. "What makes you think," she took a shaky breath in, "that you can tell us that we won't die badly. What kind of monster looks into its prey's eyes and tells them that it'll only take a few minutes for them to die?"
Angela looked away, obviously struck by this statement. She closed her eyes and hummed a short breath, like she had been lightly hit, then turned back to the dridder. "I don't care whether you like it or not. A warning like that is rare for a predator to say. Now please, just sit still."
As asked, the dridder was still and quiet while she was stuck inside the large mouth and finished. Angela put her hand on her stomach after gulping a few more times to clear her mouth. She wondered why the second one went so easily, maybe the thought that she'll be with the other, or a relief from the thought that she won't be the same without the other, Angela will never know now. She felt slightly bad for them when she burped, but shrugged it off and continued forward.
She quickened her pace once she saw a large cave in the distance. Her face was odd once she came to it, like it was trying to show intense happyness, despair, and excitement at the same time. Finally her face was once again the straight and bored one. She ducked down and moved inside, looking at everything that was still in its place after little more than thirty years. There was the metal framed bed, now covered in rust and sunk in the middle of a barely recognizable feather mattress. A desk still held the near completely rotted money bag, still with a few cheap coins in it, though somebody had came in and taken the higher priced ones. Angela wished that she could find the one who did it, and teach them a harsh lesson, but they were probably long gone now, and the coins are probably already circulating.
She went to the back of the room and slowly wiped her hand across the rusted frame to an oval mirror. It still haunts her knowing that Ebony fixed Angela's hair in this a few days before she died. Angela looked down away from her reflection, then became angry and thrust her hand behind her. She had taken some roots from the nearby trees and bound a naga that tried to run when he saw her.
Angela turned quickly and brought her hand slowly to his throat, and root ends followed, their tips shedding wood to reveal razor sharp ends. She looked down at his blue-green eyes and yelled, "Was it you that stole those coins from that bag! Tell me or I'll puncture your windpipe!"
"Wait, wait!" he screamed, "It wasn't me, I swear!"
"Then who was it!"
"It was one of my friends! He said he found them and told me that there were more! He didn't sell them yet!"
"Well you tell him that if they aren't on that desk by the time I come back, I'll hang both of your heads over the cave to warn anybody else!"
"I got it, I got it! What's so important about them! They're old, they can't be spent! Are you after what they would sell for!?"
Angela growled and huffed a puff of fire, then lifted her hand and grabbed the part of hair over her face, tucking it behind her ear to show her face. "I want them back," she said, like she would kill him right here for just thinking about taking the rest.
All the color that was left in his face retreated at that moment. "A-Angela, what are you, doing here? Please, don't kill me! I'll do whatever you want!"
"Go!" she yelled, closing her hand and taking the roots back into the ground. The moment he regained his direction, he was gone faster than anything Angela had seen in a long time. So, she sighed and went back to normal. They were lucky she was in control now. Maybe five years earlier and she would've ripped his head off and hunted his friend to do the same to him.
She started off to the left of Ebony's cave. On the way, she passed the path that led to the naga market, but stopped to look at the tree that they used to climb when they were younger. It was weird for her to think that she used to climb on it and play body tag, and it was now only a little taller than she was. She lay down and traced the path they would run with her finger. She took her hand back when she came to the hole that was the "safe" spot, still with the gate of fabric that Ebony had woven, and the clicking device she made to count how long each was safe.
There was even the small carving that Angela had done of her and Ebony playing. Though the colors were faded to nothing, Ebony liked it so much, that she took a few markers to it at the time, saying it'll look even prettier. Angela wished that the candy they hid was still in there, it would've helped her mood immensely. After taking a deep breath, she got back up and began moving once more.
After about an hour, she came to an opening in the forest, with the remains of buildings covered in plants and a large part cleared of any tall vegetation. Angela slowly made her way to that part and leaned over it carefully. It was a patch of short vines over dirt, with barely noticeable white lumps in random places. But, the thing that stood out most was the golden necklace that had been laid over a small piece of wood. Angela knelt down and gently picked up the heart shape as far as it could go, since most of the chain was buried under the dirt.
There was some rust on it, but other than that, the gold and small crystals shone like new. Angela heated her finger and ran it across to kill any tiny bugs that crept in the small spaces. Then she reached back and unhooked a near invisible bag attached to one of her scales, then took out some things and began to polish the necklace. When she was done, she threw the bag into the bushes and set the necklace back on the wood block. She felt the huge weight began to lift, even though Ebony's bones were sitting underground just in front of her.
Angela bent over, put her hand above the necklace, and wiped slightly. She thrust her hand back and shivered when she felt something. When she finally looked down, there were four naga teeth showing from the ground, and only a small part of an upper jaw was visible. Angela wanted to thrust her hands in the ground and hold Ebony's head to hers like she used to do when either of them was sad, but it wasn't Ebony anymore, just a skull and a long pile of dried bones buried in the ground. Angela breathed sadly and waved her hand in the air, making the plants cover the exposed skeleton. This is the only reason Angela was happy that the people of this area viewed her as close to a demon, because they wouldn't dare go near this "cursed" land, thus giving Ebony and Angela's necklace a peaceful rest.
