I slithered towards the barracks while Viper followed me. She kept on talking about how she would enjoy the experience of training me through the abilities of a snake. Obviously she was enjoying this more than I was.

"...And then I could show you how to use a hissing warning against a hostile enemy, how to crush a tree trunk with your body, and blah blah blah blah"...

I kind of blocked her out as she kept droning on throughout her little speech. Not that I wasn't appreciating the effort she was putting in for me, far from it, but with the way she's going on and on and on and on, it sounds like it's going to be taking up a lot of my free time. What else could I do though? Might as well take the sweet with the sour as the old saying goes.

I went ahead into my own room as Yinshen wasn't using it for the time being. Nothing had really been taken over apart from Yinshens blue dress in the cupboard. I put back my weapons while I could as I realized that Viper had now stopped her little introduction session or whatever it was she was talking about.

"Okay, so what's first on the list of snake things to do"? I asked with little sense.

"I suppose we should move onto balancing acts"...

"That doesn't sound so bad".

"... By standing on the tip of your tail".

Damn it, I think I just went and jinxed myself.

"That sounds painful".

"It is. It takes some time to get used to the feeling of your bones being pushed to the limit and being in serious pain".

"How very nice". I groaned.

Only ten minutes of break were given to me by the great instructor herself. Needless to say I felt a little annoyed over starting so early with the session seeing how everybody else has another fifty minutes. You could only imagine how much enthusiasm was bursting out of me at this point. Let me give you a hint. None at all!

Back to the training hall we went. As we did, I noticed that Viper was carrying a scroll on her back. God only knows what it contains. As far as I'm aware, it could have been anything from a checklist to a poem. I tried not to think too much about it and entered the training hall.

"Alright, are you ready"? Viper asked as she looked at the scroll.

"Sure. Let's do it". I claimed as Viper led me back to the middle of the training arena so that I could practise my balancing act, and most likely fail at once.

First I had to watch Viper perform it so that I could get a grip on what I needed to do. She simply nearly threw the upper half of her body up into the air, using the lower half to push herself up until she was almost standing on the tip of her tail, holding it for a few seconds and landing back down.

"Exactly what was this meant to cover"? I asked as soon as she had finished.

"Balance agility and stealth". Was my response. "Want to give it a go"?

"No harm in trying I suppose".

It was there that I quickly discovered that the exact opposite was true. There IS much harm in trying as I attempted to do what Viper had done only to fall back down and land heavily on my snout.

Still, it didn't keep me from having a few more goes. It was extremely hard to pull off and I was nowhere near successful. I repeated the same procedure of jumping, flying, falling and nearly cracking my skull more than enough times. Thank goodness the floor was made of sand otherwise I'd be seeing my own brain by now.

"Maybe we should take a break". Viper suggested as she helped me back up after another bad attempt. I just nodded, feeling like my fangs would fall out of my mouth if I tried speaking.

"Are you feeling alright Mike? You did seem to be a little in pain".

I decided to speak this time.

"Yeah, no I'm fine. Thanks Vipes. Just... maybe we can start off with another skill before tackling the more... advanced stuff"?

"I wouldn't have called a balancing act advanced". She smiled.

"It is when you nearly end up with a bloody snout after crashing into the ground for the umpteenth time".

Viper let loose a small giggle at my words. I just rolled my eyes.

"So what would you like to try next"? She asked.

"Well, I thought it'd be nice to try out these". I spoke pointing to the two fangs stuck to the top of my mouth.

"You mean biting"?

"I was thinking more along the lines of injecting venom, if you don't mind"?

"Oh... sure".

The change in attitude was easily noticable. Viper had quickly gone from giggling like a school girl to an emotionless shell.

"Viper"?

"It's nothing".

I decided to ignore it and ask about it another time. Right now I just helped her out by dragging along a straw stuffed dummy in the shape of a wolf in order to understand exactly where I would need to bite a victim and how much venom needed to be injected. The seriousness could have been anything from being only slightly woozy to death in thirty minutes. I really needed to pay attention this time.

The dummy was quickly reinforced with some wood to prevent it from falling over when I lunge at it. Viper went over the different points of where a bite would be most effective. She even showed me how an old master learnt how to use snake fangs to hit an enemy's pressure points and even cause paralysis without the need to inject venom.

I found it all interesting but I couldn't stop looking at Viper who seemed to have something on her mind. Whatever it was, it seemed to be having a negative effect on her.

"Vipes"? I called out softly, getting her attention at once.

"Sorry, sorry. I just got distracted for a second. It's nothing".

I raised an eye.

"Something was up before and you brushed it off. Is there something I need to know"?

"Mike, it's nothing. Really".

No, I wasn't just going to let this drop. Something was bothering her and I was going to find out what. It's my turn to be the persistant one.

"Viper. Please, just tell me".

Viper didn't open up much. Only enough to admit that there was something wrong but nothing else.

"I can't". She muttered, looking away. I just slithered over to her and slowly pulled her head back over with my tail.

"Viper. Please".

I just stared at her with my curious eyes. She gave a sigh and nodded.

"Okay then".

She grabbed my tail and gently pulled it down from her face. She didn't let go and just let it sink into the sandy floor, holding on tightly.

"When I was born, I didn't have fangs. And without fangs, I had no venom which meant I had no defence against thieves, so I couldn't fight. My father was known greatly for his lethal venom which could stop even the most ruthless kung fu master. Years went by and still I had no fangs. My father was still the only one who could protect our village. Eventually when I proved that I didn't need venom to fight, my fangs finally begun to show. It didn't take long until I wanted to prove how strong I could be. When I had the chance to prove that strength, it failed me. I could bite, but that was as far as my limits went. I was still unable to produce venom. Not then, not ever".

I felt sorry for Viper. I must have really done some damage getting her to bring up such a dark moment in her past.

"Viper. I'm sorry, I should have known better than to"-

"It's okay Mike. Really".

It was hard to tell what she was feeling at this moment. But I doubted that it was anything positive. Even though she said that everything was okay, it wasn't. And it was my fault that she was now like this. Now I was the one who felt depressed. Viper quickly picked up on it.

"Mike, I know what you're thinking. Please don't think it's your fault. You were only trying to help".

"... Yeah. I tried".

Tried and made things worse. A moment of silence passed.

"I'm sorry". Viper said right to me. I tilted my head.

"Why are you sorry"? I asked confused.

"For not telling you about this before. I mean, a snake without venom isn't very"-

"Don't say it". I cut her off before she could even think about saying what she was about to say.

"You must think th"-

"I don't". I looked at her right in the eye. "I don't care if you have venom or not Viper, I love you for who you are, not what you can do. I always will".

At least I saw a smile on her face. A small one but at least it showed that she felt a little better. From there, she leaned into my neck and just hugged me tightly. I responded in the same manner and hugged back.

"Thank you". Was all she said.

I gave my own smile.

"You're welcome Vipes".

...

Glad to have this one up quickly.

Okay, I've been thinking about maybe increasing the story a little bit up to as many chapters as I can write, I know I keep talking about through the last few chapters but I really can't decide and I'm sorry for it. I'll see what happens after the main part of the story is finished. Cheerio!