Mari, now a woman of eighteen, was busy washing some clothes by the river. The chores were almost done and she wanted to just get it done. The colder seasons were coming in and this was a time when the village was at its busiest. She had helped her father repair the roof of the hut and working in the field, gathering produce for their family food stock. Mari finished wrenching a shirt of the water and put it back into the basket nearby. She heard a rustle from the brush near the jungle. She looked across the river. Nothing was there or moving. Shaking her head, she went back to her laundry basket. She was about to pick it up again till she heard someone chuckling and it was close by. Mari put down her basket and slipped her hand into the clean laundry. She pulled out a hunter's knife ready to use. She had gotten used to carrying it around. She held it high, ready to strike.
"I can see you haven't lost that spirit." An amused voice broke the eerie silence.
"Who's there?" Mari demanded as she held the knife close to her, receiving another chuckle.
Mari heard more rustling and turned to see man stepping out of the brush, she held her knife high. He looked familiar but she couldn't place his face.
"Ah, the girl-cub poised to look a dangerous wolf. Although you're not much of a cub anymore, nor dangerous. And I would know, especially all the times I've gotten you in my coils."
Mari's eyes widened as she realized who she was looking at. It couldn't be. He was a snake, not a man and yet he was right in front of her.
"Kaa!?"
Kaa smiled slyly and Mari held her ground. Her eyes narrowing to slits as he started to walk closer.
"Now, is that anyway to greet a fellow human?" He said teasingly.
"Due to the fact you tried to eat me doesn't make us friends. Human or not." Mari snarked.
"Too true." Kaa said as he leaned against the tree trunk. "However, as you can see, I am not what I used to be now so how can I really do anything to you at the moment?"
Mari knew he had a point. Sighing she dropped her weapon, but kept it out. She didn't trust him to not try anything even if he was no longer a snake.
"Dare I ask what happened to you?" She asked. Surprised to see the smile gone and was replaced with bitter annoyance.
"I apparently angered a shaman who I did not know existed and for punishment she turned me into this." He said waving his arms at himself. Causing Mari to smirk,
"The hunter became the hunted and got his butt handed to him. Fitting." Mari said with a smirk.
Kaa thought had a frown on his face, "And you find this hilarious."
"Yes, because after all the crap you did to me and all, I'd say it's time you got what you deserved." Mari said.
"I was just hunting." Kaa said, sounding like whining teenager.
"Yes, but it never mattered who you ate, just as long as you had someone." Mari said with a bit of anger coming back full force.
"I sssupossse." Kaa said, sounding a bit upset, but it didn't faze Mari.
Mari looked at him and knew that human or not, he couldn't survive in the jungle. Feeling her conscience kick in she sighed and said,
"Alright, look here," Kaa looked at her, "Since you have no idea what humans do to survive and all, you can stay in my hut, but that's only until you are back to normal. Try anything and I'll give a real reason to be scared of a human, especially a woman. Got it?"
Kaa looked at her shocked for a bit. He schooled his expression and gave her a wane smile as he said,
"I assscept your terms."
"Alright than, come along. I got this laundry to hang up to dry."
Kaa shrugged and stepped out from behind the jungle brush. Mari's eyes widened and she shielded her eyes away.
"What?" The man said amused and confused.
"Did it ever occur to you to put some pants on?!" Mari practically shouted.
It was than Kaa looked down and blushed as he realized he was not wearing any 'human undergarments'. As he called them.
"Ok first things first, we need to get you some clothes." Mari said.

-

"How do you humans stand wearing these pieces of cloth?" Kaa whined from behind the screen.
"Same way how you guys have your skin." Mari retorted, "You done?"
"Yesss, I'm done." Kaa said.
Mari watched as he came from behind the screen. Kaa wore no shirt, his hair wrapped in a red turban and brown pants with a piece of rope holding them up.
"Ok, that'll do till we get some others to wear."
"You wear more than this?" He asked, sounding actually curious.
"We do. Wear something too much than it starts to stink and you can't wear it anymore."
Kaa cocked his head to the side. He stepped out and followed Mari outside where she had her laundry basket out and was hanging her clothes over rope.
"What are you doing?"
"Laying the clothes to dry. We let them air out in the sun." Mari said as she took a bed sheet and draped it over the clothes line. "Now, since I gave you a place and clothes care to tell me who did this to you?" Mari said putting her hands on her hips.
"I really do not know. I never knew there was a female human out there who could do magic like this."
"But you said she was a shaman." Mari pointed out.
"I did yesss," Mari shivered a bit, she hated his hissing. It was still creepy whether he was a snake or human, "But again, I never heard of her before."
"Unless I know who she is, and where she is, I won't be able to find her."
"I don't know where she is either; she just appeared out of nowhere. But she found me when I was in a part of the jungle that nobody goesss to."
"Why's that?"
"It's rumored to have many dangerous animals. It's an area that Shere Khan won't even go to."
Mari snorted, "A place where even that tiger won't go to. Never thought I'd hear that."
Kaa watched as Mari continued hanging the laundry. His eyes traveled down to where her hips were swinging back and forth. Almost in a hypnotic dance. He wished he still had his long tail so he could wrap her up.
"Soon, I'll have you." He thought to himself and smirked briefly.
"Girl!"

Both Mari and Kaa turned and saw a man coming to her. He was a man in his fifties. Wore a gray shirt, and black pants complete with a purple turban. His face had seen many days in the sun.
"Buldaeo." Mari said.
"What did you do girl? I know it was you." Completely ignoring that someone else was with you.
"I don't know what you're talking about so how about you just tell me instead of spitting at my face." She said tartly.
"Don't play innocent with me. You've been making trouble ever since you came to this village. You let out my catches again."
Mari held her ground, she had dealt with this man before and he was not gonna rile her up. Kaa watched the interaction between Mari and this man.
"One of these days girl. I'll show them who you really are and you'll wish you had never come here."
"Whatever." Mari said, watching Buldaeo walking off in a huff.
Mari sighed as she went back to the laundry, "Men."
Kaa raised an eyebrow, "What wasss that about?"
"Buldaeo. The village hunter."
Kaa's eyes grew wide. "H-Hunter?"
"Yeah, but don't worry, he's just a man who thinks he can kill whatever he wants cause he has the gun to do. I just ignore him."
"He seemss to not like you. Why?"
Mari sighs as she placed a shirt on the clothing line, "He thinks that I'm sort of witch and gets angry because I have a bit of a vendetta when it comes to his hunting. I've let loose some of his catches because I didn't want to see them hurt. He always pins it on me because of the fact that I lived in the jungle. Doesn't help that most of the village agrees with him too." She added that last sentence in a whisper
Kaa was, dare he say it, shocked? He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't know the girl-cub was dealing with this here in the man-village.
"It seems there isss more to her than I thought." Kaa thought. "Which might work in my favor." He thought slyly.