Feathertail felt deeply betrayed. Sweeping her long, voluminous silver tail along behind her as she padded along, erasing her tracks in the soft, crumbly earth and leaves. The revelation that Tigerstar had always been the father of Hawkpaw and Mothpaw. To vent some of her frustration she marched deep into the forest, away from her clan mates. The silver she-cat stopped, raking her claws over the trunk of trees, bluntening her claws while she yowled loudly. Her exasperated cries were muffled by the evergreen foliage. Due to her sulking, Feathertail did not notice that the sky had darkened rapidly. Feathertail looked around, starting to panic. Whether she was angry at her clanmates and sibling or not, Feathertail HAD to return to her clan before nightfall.
"Sssalutationssss." A voice rasped behind Feathertail. Feathertail jumped and whipped around to see where or who the voice was coming from. She did not recognize the voice. In her haze, had she run into territory that did not belong to her clan? "I musssst ssssay, you're a beautiful sssspecimen. A real sssssnack. I'm ssssory for ssstartling you. My name issss Kaa. What's yoursss~" The boa constrictor was the largest that Feathertail had ever seen. Usually when she went hunting with Stormfur and her other treacherous clan mates, she only encountered small snakes that could be dispatched with the sweep of one paw.
The boa in question opened its eyes wide, dazzling Feathertail with yellow and pink swirls like nothing Feathertail had ever seen before. The reptile was brown like tree bark, splattered with darker patches of brown that reminded Feathertail of muddy puddles and dried leaves. Not helped by the sleek lack of definition of the boa's scales. However, Kaa did not strike at her. Instead, the boa constrictor circled the silver she-cat as if it was admiring her. A grin spread across the boa constrictor's face, exposing its dagger like fangs, as a plan formed in his head.
"Feathertail. My name is Feathertail."
"Feathertail? Feather-tail." Kaa repeated as if he was thinking deeply. "I couldn't help but noticccce, you sssseem to be quite alone, Misss Feathertail. Being alone issss dangeroussss."
"I don't want to talk to anyone right now." Feathertail mumbled. The she-cat did not notice that her exits were slowly being cut off by meters of coils as the circle tightened.
Kaa bobbed and weaved from side to side like a pendulum. It was a goofy sight to behold, but dare Feathertail say it, it was hypnotic. The silver she-cat sat down on the ground amongst the labyrinth of smooth, silky, scaled coils with a heavy sigh. If she was in danger, she could dash away to the safety of her clan. However, it was a clever ploy by Kaa to make her look into his eyes and let down her guard long enough to be caught.
"What happened?" Kaa hissed.
"There was some…bad news…from my clan. I don't know what to do. I feel so betrayed."
"Thatsss no good. A cat asss beautiful asss you dessservesss better than that." Kaa replied, petting Feathertail on the head with the tip of his tail as if comforting a kitten.
Feathertail started to purr as she relaxed. "Hmmn. Thank you."
"You're mossssst welcome." Kaa licked his lips. "How about we go ssssomewhere to get your mind off all that nassssty clan bussssinessss? You can go back oncccce you've relaxxxxxed."
"Maybe." Feathertail exhaled before standing back up. She started to walk away from Kaa. "No thank you, I should get going now. My clan will be missing me by now."
"Ssssuch a shshshame. I was sssstarting to have fun." Without Feathertail noticing, Kaa's strongest coils reached up and tightened around a branch high in the air.
"Hey! Wait a second. What are you doing?!" Feathertail struggled.
"Sssorry. I'm wrapping you up in my coilssss to protect you from the cold."
Before she could gasp or leap away, the sinister boa wrapped its lengthy loops around her midsection, heaved her up until her paws kicked, unable to contact the ground. Seconds later, Feathertail was dangling from the tree, cocooned in coils, with only her head poking out. Kaa dragged Feathertail up into the tree to be devoured.
From up in the fork in this tree, Kaa had a bird's eye view of the forest. That was how he noticed Feathertail. The trees had changed noticeably from a picturesque forest to a humid jungle. Feathertail couldn't see the impending danger from beneath the coils of glossy scales. His coils tightened around her midsection, paws and neck, squeezing every curve on her small body beneath the fur. Feathertail was a plump meal, indeed.
After one last gasp for air, Feathertail forgot to breathe with her jaw slack and warped into a stupefied grin. Her teeth clamped down into her own bushy tail. Her tail curled around her own body like a shawl. Her eyes swirling, entranced by Kaa. Her worries slipped away as Kaa opened his jaws. His tongue darted over her, one paw at a time. His forked tongue slowly twisting, savoring the scent and taste of Feathertail's silver and grey striped paws. She was lifted up once more before she was dropped into the gaping maw. Feathertail was so dazed that she did not reach out to grab onto Kaa's fangs. Feathertail did not even think about saving herself. Her eyes plunged into complete darkness accompanied by the pungent odor of his last meal and stomach acid.
Feathertail slid down headfirst, massaged by the muscles in Kaa's throat. Feathertail splashed down. The cold shock of the stomach acid snapped her out of her trance. Her claws sprung out. Feathertail kicked her legs, trying to find purchase on the bottom of Kaa's stomach. Her paws were unable to maintain a grip on the slippery, undulating muscles. She paddled until her muscles grew weary. The acid slowly dissolved her fur. She cried out for her brother to help her.
She did not have a conscious thought in her skull. Feathertail was acting on instinct. The burning sensation spread to Feathertail's skin. Her skin tingled like it was covered in lumps from insect bites. Hundreds of insect bites. She finally found something to climb and stand on. She tried not to let herself imagine whatever or whoever's remains she was standing on. Feathertail was no longer angry. The silver she-cat couldn't remember what she was angry about in the first place. Feathertail was fading in and out of consciousness. Shaking her body, trying to dry the stomach acid. She curled up and cried herself to sleep. In her half-asleep state she did not notice the stomach acid rising as the snake shifted to make himself comfortable as Kaa curled up to sleep.
"Ahhh, yessss. Delicioussss~" Kaa's stomach gargled to alert him that Feathertail was digested. Kaa lifted his enormous head. He burped, smacking his lips with the tip of his tail. Kaa then curled up on the fork in the tree branch and slept through the night with the lump shrinking in his stomach. No longer feeling starved.