Just as quickly as Eleanor and Jake had fallen asleep, the sun had started to raise above the sand dunes and mountain ranges of the desert. Shadows of cacti and misplaced objects stretched across the land while the sunlight ruled it all. Eventually the sunlight stretched into the den of the two snakes, hitting Eleanor's face.

Disturbed by the rays, Eleanor groaned as she woke up, feeling a little upset about being woken up early on, but at the same time she knew she was gonna have to get used to it... eventually. She extended her body , only to feel constricted, specifically near her body. "Oh no..." she thought, knowing from her past experience it could be her worst nightmare. She turned around, dreading to see the problem, only to be greeted with her skin shedding off her body.

"Oh no! No, no, no, no, no!" Eleanor thought, feeling embarrassed to have her skin shed, especially on a day like this! She had to scratch this dead skin off before Jake wakes up, but how?! She franticly slithered out of the den and looked around for a rough surface to assist her. However, the only surface that could help her was the prickly surface of a cactus; as painful as it sounds, she had no choice but to go through with this plan. Placing her hat and her choker aside, Eleanor slithered towards the cactus and started rubbing herself against the spines and the rough texture of the desert plant. Much to her surprise, the cactus was surprisingly satisfying to rub against, especially when she was shedding. As pleasing as it feels, she has to hurry before Jake sees her in this embarrassing state.

"Kid?"

"Shoot...!" Eleanor muttered, trying to hurry up with shedding, but it was too late.

Jake slithered out of the den, hat and everything. "Kid, we need to hit the trail now, what are you-" he stopped mid sentence when he saw Eleanor hiding behind a cactus, slightly fidgeting to get the dead skin off of her body. Jake sighed, "How could I forget snakes your age shed twice as much as an adult does?"

"P-Please! Can I have a little- wait did you say snakes?" she asked.

"What are you deaf, yes I said snakes!"

"So, it's not a girl thing?"

"Kid, all snakes, scratch that, all reptiles shed their skin when they're growing or getting rid of parasites on their body," Jake explained.

"O-Oh," was all that could escape from Eleanor mouth.

"How long do you need?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm almost done, I just need my head and then I'll bury the skin," she explained.

"You don't need to bury your skin kid!"

"But it's embarrassing!"

"Fine, just hurry up!"


After Eleanor's shedding incident, the two snakes slithered away from their temporary den and off into the desert. Once they were on top of a sand dune, Jake stopped for moment to get an idea where the two should go.

"So how is my trial going to work? Aside from the desert throwing obstacles my way?" asked Eleanor.

"I'll be deciding a town we'll visit, on the way, your trials will appear as we travel. Once we reach our destination, I'll see if you're fit to be the next reaper," Jake explained.

"Got it," she responded, coiling up into a ball and waited for Jake to choose.

The decision making was put on hold once Jake saw what he assumed was a creature trashing about in the desert sands. "Kid," Jake murmured, grabbing the young snake's attention, "You see that person over there?" he whispered, pointing his gun in that said direction.

Eleanor looked at where Jake pointed, and he was right; there was someone, specifically a rabbit, thrashing about in the sands. Not only was the rabbit trashing about in the sand, he was also naked from head to toe. Sure she's seen many animals that were naked in the desert once or twice before, but she knew this rabbit was much different from the nudist she's seen in her area. "Quite the curious behavior," thought Eleanor as she tilted her head. "Is this behavior normal?" she asked Jake in a hushed tone.

"We're about to find out," he responded softly as he slithered quietly down the sand dune, with Eleanor following soon after. Once the two snakes were at level ground with the rabbit, Jake instructed her to lay low in the dried grasses of the plain. Once they were settled into the grass, the two snakes can hear incoherent words from the rabbit, at least that's what the two thought. That's when Jake knew this could be a dangerous situation not only for them, but for the whole desert. "See anything else abnormal about this guy?" he whispered, wondering if the kid can confirm his suspicion.

Eleanor squinted her eyes to try and get a better look at this stranger, nothing much stood out except for one thing. "There's some white foamy stuff coming out of his mouth," she responded in a hushed tone.

"Odd behavior, foam at the mouth, unable to talk properly; it's gotta be it," Jake thought. "Alright, I want you to coil around him, and hold him still. Avoid the teeth if you can and don't bite him," he instructed.

"Wait, shouldn't you at least tell me what's wrong with him?" Eleanor asked, a little nervous to go towards a stranger acting so... bizarrely.

"Less talking," Jake hissed as he rotated his gun into position, "More action, kid."

Eleanor groaned under her breath and slithered as slowly and as quietly as she could towards the rabbit, hiding herself in the sand should it be that the rabbit stares in her direction. When she felt she was close enough, she dug herself into the sand and throw a pebble to grab the rabbit's attention.

With the sound of the peddle echoing in his ears, the rabbit stumbled in Eleanor's direction, only to be pounced by the young snake. With his entire body bounded, the rabbit started thrashing harsher, even going as far as trying to bite Eleanor. Despite the rabbit's attempts, Eleanor would not let up.

"Heh, this is just like wrestling a hawk!" she thought as she adjusted herself to his thrashing.

"BETTER DUCK YOUR HEAD KID!" Jake commanded, getting ready to shoot the animal in the head.

Eleanor obeyed and tucked her head down behind the rabbit's back and tightened her grip as much as she could to prevent the rabbit from going anywhere else. Then when she least expected it, a squeak like scream escaped the rabbit as she tightened her grip, only for it to be silenced with a series of bullets shredded its head. The remains of the rabbit was now laying limp in Eleanor's coils, blood dripping onto her scales. She quickly throw the body off of her and looked at the damage done on this poor rabbit.

"Not bad for your first time," commented Jake, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Not bad? Not bad?! Wasn't this rabbit an innocent?!" Eleanor asked, obviously shook from the events that had unfolded.

"He was innocent yes, but he was suffering," Jake explained as he slithered around looking for something.

"Suffering? How?"

"The erratic behavior and that 'white stuff' coming out of his mouth means he was suffering from Rabies kid," he explained as he carried two planks of wood in his coils and slithered close to the rabbit

"Rabies?"

"Once a mammal gets Rabies they're beyond saving kid; you're only option is to kill them on sight or the desert will be infested with rabid mammals," he informed her as he placed the planks of wood over the rabbit's body. Once they were adjusted on, Jake backed off and took off his hat to pay respects to the rabbit.

Eleanor observed the old snake, keeping mental notes to herself while also taking off her hat and pay respects to the stranger, but how could she when all she could think about is the fact that if she does become the next reaper, how was she going to handle killing others just because they were infected by rabies?

"Don't think too much about it kid," Jake commented as he put his hat back onto his head, "The more you kill, the easier it'll be."

She gulped.

"Now move your tail, we're burning daylight," he commanded as slithered straight away from the rabbit's corpse.

"So, where are we going?"

"Mud."