Silth and Slonk

Kitsune giggled a bit in her half-sleep and shifted a bit, trying to push away the piece of grass irritating her skin. It didn't work, and she could feel the annoying plant slithering across her side. She shifted again, but the irritant persisted.

Wait...grass doesn't slither.

Kitsune's eyes popped open, and all she could see was one bright yellow eye staring curiously at her. She shrieked like a banshee and jumped to her feet, throwing the creature off of her. The others sprang to their feet in sleepy confusion.

"Whazzgoinon?" Verte shouted, looking around with eyes red from exhaustion.

Kitsune pointed to where she had tossed the creature. Sitting in the grass were two small green snakes, writhing and watching them. The snakes each had an eye patch over one eye, one over the left and the other over the right. They each had a tiny black bandana tied around their necks. Verte smiled and chuckled, walking over and picking one up by the end of its tail.

"Did this frighten you, Kit? It's just a little snake." he said, amused.

"Watch who you're calling little, pal." the snake hissed at him, and he yelped and tossed it away from him in shock.

The snake hissed as it bounced a bit when it hit the grass.

"Sssstop throwing ussss!" it snapped at them as its fellow slithered over to it.

"Sorry, but most snakes don't talk." Verte replied, still confused.

"We aren't like mossst sssnakessss. We're reptiliansssss, but we were born with a mutation that made ussss look like sssnakessss." one of the snakes said in annoyance.

"Sorry about throwing you the first time. You startled me." Kitsune said, sitting down in front of the two serpents.

"Apology accepted. I ssshould not have been right in your face when you woke up." the snake's tone suddenly became very polite and proper, and it bowed respectfully.

"So, who are you two?" Borea asked as the rest of the group sat down in front of the strange new arrivals.

"I am Ssssilth, and thissss isss my twin brother." the snake with the eye patch over his right eye hissed.

"My name issss Ssslonk." the other serpent hissed, coiling into a ball.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two. I'm Kitsune, and these are my friends Borea, Torin, and Verte." Kitsune smiled at them, and they nodded back at her.

"What are the four of you doing out here, sssso closssse to the Cave of Mazessss?" Slonk hissed suspiciously.

"We're close to the Cave of Mazes?" Torin asked, looking at him in surprise.

"It'ssss only an hourssss walk from here for legged beingssss ssssuch asssss yourssselvessss."

"Excellent! We can head there in the morning!"

"Why?" Silth asked, slithering a bit closer to them.

"We're looking for the City of Many Truths." Borea replied with a small smile.

Silth and Slonk exchanged a quick look before returning their bright yellow gaze onto the hybrids before them.

"What busssinesssss do the lot of you have with the City of Many Truthssss?" Silth hissed, seeming apprehensive.

"We need their help to defeat The Knights of the Sky. We need them to help us fight." Verte answered, sensing the rising tension in the serpent's demeanor.

The two snakes turned to each other, looking somewhat upset.

"We don't approve of what the Knightssss are doing, but..." Slonk began hesitantly.

"But...?" Kitsune said encouragingly, watching as Silth and Slonk turned to look at them again.

"We can't let you into the cave. We are part of a group of reptiliansss ssset up to pretend to be banditssss, but our real job issss to protect the entrance to the cave. We don't want bad people getting to the city." Silth replied warily.

"So, what are you gonna do, bite us? You two are tiny." Torin scoffed at them.

"One bite from either of usss would leave you dead in a matter of minutessss, coon. We may be ssssmall, but we are extremely venomousssss." Slonk hissed back angrily. He opened his mouth wide to prove his point, flashing a pair of long, curved fangs.

"Please, you have to let us pass! If you don't, the Knights will kill everyone except themselves!" Kitsune begged desperately.

Silth and Slonk squirmed uncomfortably, looking around.

"We know, but even if we let you passsssss, the otherssss wouldn't approve. They would kill ussss for betraying them." Slonk whispered nervously.

"Then come with us. Please, we have to stop them. Silth, Slonk, please..."

The two serpents looked at her doubtfully, then slithered over to where they were out of earshot of the group. They hissed lowly at each other, glancing back at the group every once in a while. After a few minutes of heated debate, they returned to the group. They both looked worried, glancing around anxiously and flicking their forked tongues out to taste the air.

"I don't tasssste any of the othersssss around, Sssssilth. It'ssss sssssafe." Slonk whispered to him carefully.

"Good. Okay, we've decided to go with you. Usssually, there are two guardsss at the entrance to the cave. Tomorrow, Ssssslonk and I are the guardssss, but when we do it there hasss to be another reptilian with usssss assss well. We'll ssssssimply ussse a little bit of our venom to knock whoever it isssss out, then we'll ssssskeddadle. We'll have to hurry through the cave." Silth hissed quietly.

"Yessss, it won't take long for the otherssss to come after ussss." Slonk said with a nod.

"Okay. Thank you so much, guys!" Kitsune grinned at the brothers, and they nodded eagerly back at her.

Verte eyed them suspiciously, then shrugged and walked back over to where he had been sleeping. The others returned to their places as well, and soon everyone but Verte and the serpent twins had fallen asleep. Verte watched the serpents carefully, keeping his eyes barely open so they would not notice. Silth and Slonk slithered over to the group and coiled around themselves, and had soon nodded off to sleep.

Verte sighed to himself and rolled over and closed his eyes, exhausted by the events of the day. A cold breeze sent a shiver down his spine, and a feeling of foreboding crept into him. The snakes made him a little nervous, but something else was bothering him, something he didn't know how to express. He had this horrible feeling of dread, but didn't know what was causing it. He could only hope that it was just his imagination.