Master Viper spent almost all of her life training to become a master of the Snake Style of Kung Fu. This meant her slender body could slither anywhere and through anything. Yet, it could not slither out of the shackles holding her back, no matter how hard she struggled. Shen and Wolf Boss wasted no effort in dragging her away from her village and off toward an unknown destination. The poor snake considered screaming for help and hoping someone would come and help her... but her voice could not reach the village at this distance. If she was to be taken prisoner, she would at least keep her dignity and not give this disgusting peacock the satisfaction of hearing her beg.
"Here we are," announced the peacock in question.
Viper indeed realized that while she got lost in her thoughts, the three of them arrived to a set of three ships - she recognized them as the ones Shen used during the battle of Gongmen City with the cannons and red sun symbols on the sheets. This sight alone sufficed to bring a wave of pain and guilt into Viper's heart. Even after six months, the pain of her memories did not ease in the slightest.
Shen pulled on the upper shackle to make his prisoner move forward. "Come on, snake woman. We don't have all day."
Knowing that resisting would be useless, Viper accepted her fate and slithered along the wooden board leading onto the ship. After Wolf Boss gave his fellow wolves the order to set the ships to leave, he and his boss dragged Viper over to the center of the ship's desk where some sort of wooden board with three metal shackles laid. Seeing how the three shackles were aligned in an I formation, Viper almost instantly guessed it was destined for her.
"Lay there, serpent woman," Shen ordered in a low yet firm tone. Not having other choices, Viper slithered onto the board and laid on her back. Wolf Boss proceeded to remove her two current leash shackles before closing the three other ones on her. The upper one held down her neck level, the middle one wrapped itself around the middle of her stomach, and the bottom held down the bottom of her body near the tip of her tail. Shen looked at Viper's immobilized figure and grinned in satisfaction. "Comfortable there, my little prisoner?"
"As much as it looks," she sarcastically replied.
"Well, I hope it is good enough for you. Because you will remain there until we get back to Gongmen City." He leaned toward her ear with a grin. "And believe me; it is far from here."
Viper suddenly snapped her jaw toward him, barely missing his long white neck. "You should be more careful around me; I could plant my fangs into your neck and fill it with venom until you suffer a terrible death," she threatened.
Shen did not seem intimidated enough. He gave a look at the snake, taking her chin in his wing, and giving her a grin "Do you think I'm an idiot, serpent woman? Everybody knows that Master Viper, daughter of Greatmaster Viper, and shame of her clan, was born with no fangs." He grinned even further. "And no fangs means no venom. In other words, you are no threat to me."
Viper's eyes widened. So he knew her weakness. She had no way to fight back against him. The fresh wind of the river brushed against her body as the ship departed away from her village. Her home.
"This is going to be a long journey..."
The drive took around two days to cross the country toward Gongmen City. During that time, Shen personally took care of feeding Viper and making sure the shackles were not too tight. Not that he really cared about her well-being, but a malnourished slave with shackle marks on her body would not look good in his harem. As the Emperor of China, he deserved the most gorgeous women in the world. This snake woman would be beautiful, she would entertain him, and satisfy his... needs.
On the morning of the second day since their departure, the white peacock left his quarters to get on the ship's desk where his prisoner remained. Still shackled to the wooden board, her eyes closed, she slept despite the discomfort of her bonds. Shen asked Wolf Boss to bring her a blanket and pillow to help her rest and protect her from the river's cold wind. The last thing he wanted was a tired and sick prisoner in his harem.
Shen approached the shackled snake, his metal talons clicking on the wooden floor. Ever since he was a teenager, he always had some sort of attraction toward snakes like her. He did prefer beautiful female peahens with gracious tail feathers and elegant figures... but the way snakes could undulate their bodies and charm others seductively (he mostly read from it in the few Arabian books his family owned) always brought a warm feeling inside his cold body. And now, he had a female snake all to himself to just do that.
"Wake up, my little prisoner," he softly said with stroking Viper's cheek with his wing. "The day has come where we arrive to your new home."
Viper blinked her turquoise eyes a few times before being able to see properly. She managed to hear what the peacock just said and gave a little scoff. "My new home? Don't you mean my new prison?"
"It all depends on how you see the thing. Residing in a prison is not very enjoyable. Residing in my palace, however...," he smirked at Viper, "... could be enjoyable for you. Depending on how you behave."
Soon, Gongmen City came into view. The sun rose behind the glorious buildings, bathing them all in its beautiful sunlight. And yet, even such majestic sight didn't warm Viper's heart. She could still remember all the efforts she and her friends put into entering this city without getting detected by the enemy. How they got into the prison to rescue Master Ox and Croc who did not want to help. How they reached the Tower of Sacred Flames and faced Lord Shen in person... but all of this did not matter because in the end, they failed... and Po died along with all remaining hope.
The three ships stopped at Gongmen City's dock and Viper finally got released from her shackles. Of course, it only lasted a few seconds before Shen and Wolf Boss placed the leash shackles onto her once again. With that being done, they stepped down from the ship and started walking into the city. As she slithered alongside her new owner and his guards, Viper couldn't help but see how the inhabitants of the city looked terrified and unhappy. Oh, how she wished she could help them...but what could a captured snake do?
"Bring back memories?" Shen asked in a mocking tone. Viper gave him a mad glare indicating she would gladly break his neck if she wasn't tied like this. "Don't look at me like that. I'm simply asking a question."
After many long minutes of walking, they finally reached the Tower of Sacred Flames that served as Shen's residence. The snake did not expect the skyscraper to be in such a good state after getting destroyed by Shen's destructive weapons, six months ago. She could only guess that he forced his workers to get on the job 24/7 under threat of torture to rebuild it in such a short extend of time. What a heartless monster!
As they crossed the entrance ground leading to the tower, they came across a familiar item. A huge Warhammer firmly planted into the end of a long crater with a red ribbon elegantly flowing in the wind tied to it. The serpent woman sighed in sadness. Master Thundering Rhino's famous Warhammer. Planted right at the place where he died. The first victim to Shen's deadly weapon.
The climb up the stairs to get to the tower's highest floor lasted longer than in Viper's memory. Of course, back then, she might have been shackled up, but her friends were at her sides and they had a plan to defeat Shen in his own palace. Po almost succeeded... but for reasons she never managed to understand, he allowed the peacock to escape despite having a golden opportunity to stop him. The rest is history.
They arrived at the gate leading to the throne room and Shen smirked, turning to his prisoner. "My little snake, welcome to my humble home." And with that, he pulled the gates open to reveal the throne room. Viper did not lose much time in seeing the difference from the other tower. The throne now laid at the end of the room instead of the middle, large sheets of Shen under different angles decorated the walls (what a show-off!). But the most curious aspects Viper noticed were the many pillows decorating most of the ground near the throne and all over the room too. She never saw any Chinese residence having such architecture.
CLING! CLING!
To Viper's surprise, Shen unlocked the shackles from her body, finally letting her free after two long days, and then pointed a wing toward a large red pillow laying near his throne. "Lay there, I am sure you need to rest after this long travel. I have to take care of a few things with my men; I'll be back in a few hours. In the mean time, I will send two of my assisting ladies to clean and make sure you are ready for my return."
"What? B-But ready for what?"
Shen gave the snake a smirk. "Ready for dancing..."
Author's note: Shen brought the first woman to his harem and has plans for her. Are you willing to try and guess how nasty they will be? Depending on what he will do with her, I might have to switch the rating from T to M. Don't forget to leave your review and let me know your thoughts; I'm open to every opinion.
