Curse of the Snake Demons
Chapter 10: A Dark Dream
Author: Well here's another chapter x3 I really do love this fan fiction but I do have distractions… like school xD;;; Anyway hope you all enjoy this chapter~
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.
Jake was looking at Claudia with a worried look as she laid in the bed in her room with a small towel on her forehead. Her face was flushed red and was breathing heavily with a face that showed pain. She had been like this ever since she was bitten only an hour ago, he worried if this was going to kill her… that he would really lose her this time.
The doctor said that she had broken out into a fever and it seemed that the venom from the bite was highly poisonous. He said that her body was trying to fight it off, which was why she broke out into a fever so suddenly. This caused him to be even more worried since his venom wasn't like that, it killed his opponent instantly. Then again she WAS a human… maybe her body treated venom differently but still she might not survive the injection.
Looking to her he saw her shift again in a position that caused her sheets to fall away and she was almost off the bed. That was when he used his nose to nudge her gently back into the bed before grabbing the blankets/sheets with his mouth and put them back over her body. The more he stayed with her the more he realized that she was very fragile right now and he had to take VERY good care of her.
"How is she?" Rango's voice asked as he came into the room; Jake looked at him, bringing back his outlaw personality and not his caring one.
"Still in a fever and shiftin' all over the place; damn woman won't sit still" he said with a snort. But this was just a façade, he was very worried about her… but not like he was going to be showing that in front of people, especially the sheriff.
"I wouldn't doubt she would, Doc said that her body was fightin' off the venom. Likely she's shiftin' because she's uncomfortable, or perhaps even in pain from the injection" he explained. This caused Jake to look away from him and back to Claudia… she was in pain and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. She took care of him but he couldn't take care of her, hell he couldn't even PROTECT her! But he wouldn't give up… no he would do his best to make sure she lived even if he had to die!
'…Do I really want to MAKE that sort of sacrifice? To a lone human woman?!' he asked himself when he realized that he was thinking of making such a though of getting himself killed to protect her… to save her. But he already knew the answer as the beating of his heart every time he saw her happy face and the anger at the thought of someone attempting to hurt her. He realized he cared for her greatly… maybe he cared about her more than anything else. Maybe… 'Maybe… I've actually fallen in love with her… hehe what a stupid thought' he said to himself. He was the outlaw known as Rattelsnake Jake… why would he fall in love? With a human no less! Yet he couldn't deny his own feelings when it came to the thought of her leaving this world forever.
"Uh Jake…" Rango's voice said, piercing Jake's thoughts and causing him to snap his head at him with an annoyed expression.
"What?" he said sternly
"W-well… are you alright? You've been starin' at Miss Claudia… f-for sometime… a-are you that concerned for her safety?" he asked him. Immediately Jake put up an act when asked that question, he wasn't going to let ANYONE even THINK that he would care for her… right now it was kind of embarrassing.
"You really think I'd be WORRIED about her?! I'm just waitin' for her to wake up is all, she can handle it, and it's just a fever. Humans have them all the time" he told him angrily. Actually he was pretty sure they didn't but it was a good enough excuse to make Rango think twice about what he was thinking. And, of course, it worked as the sheriff put his hands up
"Alright alright, I understand I won't question yer motives for stayin' with her. I was just wonderin' was all" he said. He didn't want to get on Jake's bad side, he DID have a town to protect and uphold the law in. Besides he had a feeling that Jake was just pretending he didn't… if he really didn't care for her he wouldn't be sitting there now and watching her. Also he happened to be a brilliant actor, and he can tell when someone was acting. Of course he couldn't help but see the playfulness he showed earlier that day with her, both him and Beans saw it.
'He may be denying it… but he truly cares. Why I bet he's even fallen in love with her' he thought to himself with a smile. This, unfortunately, was noticed by Jake who gave him a disapproving frown
"And what are you smilin' at?" he asked him
"Oh nothing, just a nice thought is all" Rango said to him. The snake eyed him suspiciously as he wasn't sure if maybe he was thinking about himself and Claudia. "Anyway, I gotta go and patrol the town… I'll leave the both of ya alone" he told him as he started to leave the room when another shift was heard, with a grunt.
He turned to see that he and Jake were watching Claudia, who was clutching the sheets so hard her knuckles went white. Her face was also crunching up and teeth clenched, showing pain as her head went from left to right. Looking closer one could see that black veins started to spread slowly from her wound and through her body. They hadn't gone far, only about a few inches… but it extremely worried Jake as what it could mean. Rango was going to say something but… well he figured that Jake would want to be alone with her right now so he kept silent before leaving the room.
"She looks like she is in much pain, doesn't she?" asked a female voice, causing Jake to turn around with a scowl at the source for intruding when wanted to be left alone with Claudia. He couldn't see much of the woman cause of the long and dense veil around her, causing her long black hair to be the only thing clearly visible.
"Why are you here? This ain't any of yer business" Jake snarled, not really wanting to have company other than Claudia right now. He didn't know this woman, but he didn't care, just being alone with the human girl was all he wanted right now, not anyone trying to put pity on him and/or her.
"Perhaps, but this girl is in great pain and she is going through a trial that will decide her fate" the woman simply said, causing the rattlesnake to come up to her with an intimidating look and a growl deep in his throat.
"You better not be sayin' that her fate is to DIE, because that's somethin' I am NOT goin' to tolerate" he hissed, causing the woman to shake her head slightly.
"No of course not her fate will be decided by herself and how she handles this situation. I am glad you are here to watch over her, I'm sure she'll be happy to know that you truly love her so much to stay by her side" she said happily, causing him to sneer.
"I never said I loved her, I'm just watchin' over her because it's my job!" he told her, rattling his tail a little.
"Actions speak louder than words, my friend" she simply said, knowing he was in denial about it right now. He scoffed at her angrily, getting annoyed at her presence
"Yer words mean nothin' to me, so why don't you just leave?!" he asked her.
"Alright… just remember that she needs you, and that she cares about you deeply; don't disappoint her just because of your pride" she told him. She then, as quickly as she came, left with no trace of her that was left behind; causing Jake to huff.
"Freaky woman, she has no idea what she's talkin' about" he said to himself before looking back to Claudia. She really did look like she was in pain, and it didn't help that the black stuff was spreading with every minute that passed. But all Jake could do was sit there… sit and hope that she would be able to overcome this… to wake up by opening those beautiful blue eyes of hers.
After feeling a burning sensation near her shoulder Claudia saw herself stationed in some place that was like a black and cold medieval castle or something.
"The hell am I?" she asked herself as she looked around, confused as to where she had gone now, but she felt she needed to get out of there, and fast. Walking around she couldn't help but feel like something was watching her… something that was dark and waiting for her. She didn't like it; it felt like temptation was trying to get her to its side… it begged her to go for it and talk to her; to get her. "First things first… time to find the front door and get out of here" she said, looking around to see where she could start.
She looked around for a window, perhaps to get her bearing to where she was in this place and then work her way from there… but that was easier said than done since there was none where she was at the moment. She was about to move when her shoulder started to get pain, making her grunt a bit. She looked to it and peeled away the shirt a bit to see that her shoulder was oozing black goo that was bubbling at the open wound. Below it and under the skin the infection was going under her skin, slowly spreading through her body, if she didn't find a way to stop it, it would over take her and she was afraid on what would happen if that took place. "First get out of here and THEN deal with this problem" she said to herself before she started to move around.
The whole place seemed like a maze, the stairs were everywhere and even upside down… kind of like the Goblin King's castle in Labyrinth except it didn't feel so… demonic like. "I really don't like this feeling I'm getting" she said as she walked around "And it feels like I'm going in circles" she added as she went down a flight of stairs. She stopped as she cried again, and looked to her shoulder and removed her shirt a bit. The bubbly puss of blackness was still there, but the strings of said darkness had spread was and was now to her chest area, heading upward and downward so that it could spread all through her body.
"Shit" she said as the stinging sensation kept on where the wound was. She could feel the dark power starting to infect her being; if she didn't do anything then she was going to turn into one of those freaks! "Need to get… out of here…" she said as she kept going, trying to find her way out, unfortunately though she ended up where she started. "God dammit!" she cursed "I just went around in a damn circle for who knows how long!" she cried. "Agh!" she cried again, her shoulder was burning once more, God this infection was going through her body quickly, it was even to her neck and legs now! "Great I have less time now then I had bef—" she started before she put her hand on her head and grunted. A voice echoed through her brain
"Come to me, little girl, come to me…" it said, giving tempting and soothing words to her ears. Even though she didn't want to listen to it, she felt compelled to go where it wanted her to. She did realize, though, that the presence of the voice and her pain were about the same… was it the source? She wasn't sure if it was but… it was the only thing she had to get out of this place so she kind of had no choice. She sighed as she began to walk to where the source was at.
As she walked she couldn't help she was feeling like she was watched… though she guessed that was the presence making sure that she did what she was told, still it was creepy. Hearing a shift Claudia looked to the corner of her eye and saw a dark shadow, causing her to turn that direction. Only for a second was it there before it darted away, leaving her stumped on what it was. Even if she was able to see the figure for a second longer she wouldn't be able to tell what it was because it was dark, which might mean trouble for her later.
For around ten minutes she seemed to just be going around in circles or just in the wrong direction before she finally got to a door. She opened the iron black door to see an orange glow from whatever it was below, and she could tell the source was down there.
"Let's just pray they are friendly… even though I really doubt it isn't" she said to herself. She went down the spiral stairs to where the source was at its brightest and strongest down in the room that was in the basement/cellar/dungeon. When she came down there was nothing much to see other than a fire place and a… hissing sound. "…Jake?" she asked herself, but she had a feeling it wasn't him… no she knew his hissing when she heard it and that hiss didn't belong to the outlaw. "Who's there? Show yourself!" she called, wondering who or what was in the same room with her even if she was a bit frightened by the presence.
"Sssso, you've come to at lasssst" said a hissing voice; one that she knew was one she should not trust. A then small and black snake came out from the darkness and in front of the fire. "I am sssso pleassssed that you came to my calling child" it said
"Who the hell are you and why did you call me?" she asked him, causing the snake to chuckle, putting his tail over his mouth.
"I am that massster of thosssse who wear the robessss of red. I am the Prince of Darknessss that wassss mentioned by my loyal worsssshiperssss, and I am the one ressssponssssible for the transsssformation you are undergoing" he said. Causing her to snear at him
"YOU are the asshole who put me under that damn ritual because people worshiped you?! Do you REALIZE how much pain I went through?!" she asked
"Of courssss I do, I sssspecifically told them how to make otherssss be like me and them, to give them a piece of my own power by giving them my demonssss that are affinity towardssss mysssslef" he explained, but she still was pissed off about what she had to go through.
"That is a HORRIBLE way to make people go through that kind of shit, YOU should not be hurting people—"
"SSSSILENCE" yelled the snake, causing him to grow huge and wrap his coils around her body tightly as the hood around his neck opened up; this snake was a cobra! "You, little girl, have no right to be ordering the likessss of me around, I am the Prince of Darknessss" he told her.
"I… I could care less" she said, intimidated "I'm not going to let the likes of you turn me into a freak-!" she started to say before yelling; squirming around in his coils. He then chuckled at her
"You cannot resssit the temptation girl. The darknessss issss already sssspreading through your body; the moment it coverssss the whitessss of your eyessss you will become a part of my power" he told her. The darkness was now up to her head and across to her other arm; she was feeling it course through her body, making her will weak. She hated it… that and the fact that it felt so WRONG and… gooey as it went through her veins. The coils around her squeezed, causing the air in her lungs to start to suffocate… this was almost like the time Jake was choking her… except it was only around her neck. "Give in, and become mine" he commanded… and a part of her wanted to, to obey him so badly… it was almost overwhelming.
"No, I can't… I could never…" she started to say before being squeezed more
"Yessss you can, CAVE into your dessssiressss mortal let your need to worsssship me over ride your ssssenssssessss (senses)…" he said as he got closer to her face, and to her ear. "Become mine~~" he whispered, causing her to pulsate, the darkness quickly going through her body, filling up one of her whites before starting to fill the other one.
"N-no… I-I can't" she started to say as she was struggling, but the darkness slowly but surely was covering her whites, it was only a matter of time before she turned into his trusted follower. The snake chuckled as he watched intently with a sadistic smile, waiting for the girl to become his loyal follower. "S-Selena-sama…G-Go—d…" she whispered, hoping that someone would aid her… someone who could help her overcome the urges that are overpowering her own will.
'T'nod evig pu retsis, I lliw emocrevo eht nomed taht snetaerht er'uoy efil' said a voice familiar to her. Her back arched as she looked up as her vision was getting blured and dark, causing her not to be able to see the dark figure clearly. But she saw the darkness swiftly go to her being and a dark light went in front of her. But suddenly it turned to white, a light that caused the snake to cry in pain
"Agggsssssg! Cursssse you damn white light!" it cried
"Daughter do not fear, I am here" said a female voice "Come and touch the light or else you will be doomed to become a minion of this darkness" she told her.
"I rather die than be with this bastard!" she said as she, unhesitantly, reached for the light.
"NO sssshe will be mine!" cried the cobra before he chomped down on the girl's arm, causing her to scream in pain as the blackness started to make her skin turned black, her nails getting long in sharp along with her fangs. She was turning into one of those black demon snakes; she had to get to the light fast if she wanted to save herself!
"I…I…I… I can't let you overcome me!" she cried while she tried to use her other arm only to feel that it was tightly put against her body by the cobra's coils. This meant she was to use the arm that the cobra had a hold of already 'Dammit I have to… reach… light' she thought to herself. She stretched her hand towards the ball of light as much as she could but it was just out of her reach. The cobra chopped down harder, causing her to cry in pain as she was starting to black out, she was going to turn into one of them! "J-just a little closer… just move the ball…a…a little closer" she said to herself which, amazingly, caused the ball of light to move closer by her own will.
The moment her finger's tip touched the glowing orb it sprung into action, filling the room of light and transporting her into a white room with a white table and an orb in the middle that had a swirl of colors going around inside it.
"Where… am I?" she questioned, not sure where in the hell she was at right now
"You are in a safe place, Daughter" the woman voice said, causing Claudia to turn around to see a woman in white with a white veil over her head. "Because of your will to not be controlled by the darkness you were able to escape the Prince of Darkness and come to this place. But your journey is not over yet, you have to get rid of the poison darkness that still is inside your body" she told her.
"But why? The source is gone, Selena-sama, shouldn't the darkness…go…away…?" she started to say as she heard that her voice was now getting distorted. Selena-sama shook her head
"No, he was just merely advancing your transformation faster than it was already going… as well as to make you succumb to it that much more quickly since you were proving to be resisting" she explained. She then went to the table with the orb "Do you feel pain, Daughter?" she asked, causing Claudia to begin to answer before grunting painfully. She was squirming around
"Why-! Why do I feel like my blood in on fire?!" she asked
"Because your body is changing and trying to cope with/counter/destroy the dark poison that is currently in your body. If you want to overcome this, you must accept what your body is trying to do"
"How?!"
"Drink this" She said, causing Claudia to look to her as the woman held a white chalice with a rainbow liquid within, just like the inside of the orb. "Drinking this you can stay yourself and you will gain something that will prove to be its advantage over your foes" she told her. Claudia did take it but looking in the liquid she wondered if this was really it and that maybe it might kill her to release her from this pain and darkness. But she knew Selena-sama… or at least knew she wouldn't do something as cruel as to let her die instead of being over taken by darkness.
Even though she was a bit nervous, Claudia knew that if she didn't drink this she might as well be dead since she would be like a zombie, following darkness wherever it went. So she clutched the chalice gently before putting it to her mouth and lifting it, letting the liquid go into her mouth and enter her body. The liquid was warm and soft, going gently down in her body with no trouble at all, it was like she was drinking the light of the world.
When she was finished she gave the chalice to Selena-sama before feeling something… some power going through her. She looked to her body and saw the darkness under her skin was getting sucked away by… white veins that were branching from her neck and through her whole body. She no longer felt temptation to follow the Prince of Darkness and, instead, she felt freedom that she should never give into his temptations again.
"What…" she was going to say but stopped since she couldn't describe what kind of feeling, causing the woman to smile gently.
"Go back to the world now, Daughter, for the one who loves you the most is waiting for you to awaken from your deep sleep" she told her. Then Claudia fell down as the room spun around… and then she woke up.
Jake stayed at her bedside for so long, for hours he stayed by her side, unmoving because of how worried he was for her. Of course if you asked him he'd snap at you, but it was to cover up how he really felt for her.
"I hope yer right about usin' my venom to help counter the poison in her body" he said to Rango, looking on the edge of snapping because he would be really pissed if the venom of his actually won't help or it would kill her instead.
"D-don't worry Jake, I can guarantee that yer venom will help out!" he said, though you could see a bit of nervousness. It was the only advice he could give "What is that?!" Rango suddenly said, pointing to the human girl and causing Jake to look to her. His eyes were wide as he saw the darkness that was covering her skin go away and replaced with white veins.
"Unnn" a grown came from Claudia as she was finally waking up from the fever she had been suffering for the night to the morning. Jake got closer to her as she started to awaken
"I-I'll go and tell everyone she's awakening!" Rango said as she ran out of the room. That was the actual reason why he left, but he also left because he figured Jake would want to be alone with her when she was awake.
"Oh God… I feel like there's a ton of bricks on my chest" he said, coughing a little bit; Jake chuckled.
"Well you were in bed for about a day fightin' off that venom with the wounds you received from that Naaga or whatever" he said to her.
"Oh that's right the wounds!" she said as she looked on her shoulder to see how it was… but the wound wasn't there, there wasn't even a scar! "It's gone… well I guess that's one less thing to worry about" she said with a sigh
"Really?" Jake asked as his head was right next to her.
"Y-you don't have to be so close!" she said after realizing how close his head was to her, scooting over a bit with a little bit of a blush. He smiled and chuckled at her reaction before nudging her gently with small push
"I'm just makin' sure you ain't hurt or anythin' it's my job after all to look after yer sorry soul whether I want to or not" he told her. She puffed her cheeks up
"Really? Well considering you pushing me you don't seem too concerned for my well being considering I just got went through hell" she told him, causing him to laugh, shaking his tail with delight.
"Yer all getting' worked up 'bout that little nudge?" he asked her with a sly smile that looked… a bit playful and got closer to her "Then how 'bout this?" he asked. He then started to nudge his head against her body, humming deeply, causing her to feel the vibration as his mouth went against her body.
"J-Jake knock it off!" she told him causing him to deeply chuckle but stop, looking at her
"What? I'm just tryin' to make sure yer alright" he told her
"That's a load of bull, I feel heavy right now; I need rest from all the shit that I just went through" she said to him. He smiled, happy that she was okay; so happy…
"I know and till you get better I'm not lettin' you leave this here bed" he said with a nod. She just snorted, causing him to chuckle and then rubbed against her softly… almost lovingly. It caused her to blush and be a bit confused… was Jake really that worried about her? Did he really care so much for her? Why did he feel this way? She couldn't figure it out and, hell, he didn't know either. All he knew was that he didn't care for someone so much as he cared for Claudia, especially ever since her life was threatened and she was about to die.
This was just the beginning of two species who come together in harmony and who understand each other. This is also the beginning of a love between a human woman and a male snake whom both have yet to realize that they are in love. Let's just pray that they will survive long enough to know their feelings.
Author: GOOOOOD I FEEL LIKE AN ASSHOLE! I've kept you all waiting for so long, I'm sorry Dx. In order to get this chapter done quickly I decided to move one confrontation to another chapter at a later date. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I was putting the dream thing off which is why I had not posted anything in so long, but maybe I'll get going again, I still need to think what kind of things I can have in the next chapter. Anyway I'll see you all later, Bai Bi~