==Hi, everyone! It's been a week. Time to post it. I've been thinking of making this story my "update once a week" one. It sounded pretty reasonable to me. If I miss a week, it's probably because of writer's block or something. If you're wondering if I'm neglecting my other story, I'm not. That next chapter is just super duper long compared to this one. It's almost time for me to be in full swing mode on this site and I cannot wait! I've been focusing on my AP tests and graduation lately. Until then, I'm tied down. But it's getting close!==
Sander van Doorn - "No Words" feat. Belle Humble
Sometimes there are no words left to speak.
Collateral Damage
Chapter 1:
Two Younglings, One Path
Deep within the Hypnobrai Tomb, snakes were scattered in their nests for the night. Some contained individuals, others contained mates, and more contained families. Not a single creature was awake in the bleak silence that capsuled the Hypnobrai Tribe every day.
One particular nest held expectant parents. The blue Serpentine snuggled intimately with the presence of the severely swollen abdomen obstructing their personal space. It had been more than eight months since they found out about the news of their pregnancy, and their adventure of parenthood was about to begin.
The pregnant female suddenly stirred because of the feeling of a tightness resonating from her uterus. It squeezed harder, causing her to slightly groan.
Her mate immediately awakened in response. "Elapidae?" he whispered, instinctively cradling their unborn youngling.
"It'sss time," she hissed, sitting up in a panic. "I'm not ready. We're not ready, Sssoren."
"Why do you sssay that? We knew it would be time sssoon. Our nessst isss the proper sssize, and Velsssuki knowsss about your conditttion." Soren rested his scaly hand on the center of her back. "It'll be okay."
Elapidae lowered her gaze but didn't protest as he beckoned her to her feet. Her back ached from the weight of her abdomen and her feet were puffy from the pregnancy itself. It was obvious she was physically uncomfortable. With that in mind, the two of them dodged surrounding nests to reach the crevice of the tribe's medicine snake's den. Their nocturnal lenses adjusted to the lack of light along the way.
She suddenly halted as another contraction commenced. Soren pressed her snout against his shoulder to block out her groan. One hypnobrai lifted his head, but they continued walking until the great dark fissure in the wall of ice came into view. The male poked his head inside. "Velsssuki?" he voiced, not wanting to be too loud.
Very slowly, something in a nest rustled and removed itself. He saw how a mound of sleeping Serpentine remained in their place. Eventually, Velsuki, with her glossy yellow-and-black scales stretched by her own pregnancy, met Soren at the entrance of her establishment for medicinal care. "Isss it time?" she sleepily inquired.
"Yesss."
"Come thisss way."
They both entered in past her. Elapidae made her way into an adjoining cavern where an empty nest was placed for patients. Soren momentarily got a closer look at Velsuki's family: Her mate, Morisol, was at the bottom of a tangled cluster of bodies, which was their four sons. The sight was amusing. He clearly wasn't bothered by the weight as long as they didn't squirm.
Velsuki motioned for Soren to join his mate. "Do you think thisss one with be a female?" he quietly asked the medicine snake, looking at her pregnant belly.
"We'll know sssomeday, but not today," she replied. "Pleassse, lay down with Elapidae. My duty isss to deliver your youngling. Yoursss is to be her sssupport."
It had only been a few short hours since the labor began, but things were moving quickly. Elapidae rapidly inhaled and exhaled because of the excruciating pain in her body. Soren supported her back, trying his best to ease the pressure in her pelvis. Velsuki grabbed more herbs from her supply before positioning herself at Elapidae's feet. "You're doing well," she assured her, meticulously mixing the leaves and stems in her hand. "We'll ssstart pussshesss sssoon."
She relaxed in his arms when the contraction subsided. "I-I need to pusssh," she communicated, the intense pressure still hurting her.
"Not until the next contractttion," Velsuki insisted. "It helpsss move thingsss along."
Soren brushed the back of his fingertips along his mate's snout but was interrupted by the next contraction. She groaned loudly.
"Okay, here we go, Elapidae. Big pusssh," Velsuki coached, applying her handful of smushed herbs to her patient's scales to ease the birthing process. Soren quickly propped her up farther and felt her tense up and bear down. After a few seconds of silence, she exhaled and collapsed against him. "One more time, Elapidae. You're doing very well," Velsuki continued.
She pushed again, but harder. "I AM NEVER DOING THISSS AGAIN, SSSOREN!" she strongly guaranteed.
Although feeling guilty about putting her through this, Soren didn't say anything to let her concentrate on her body.
Elapidae suddenly yelled and groaned, squirming to somewhat find a solution to stop the pain. "Oh!" Velsuki sounded with surprise, launching her hands down to catch something.
Soren looked away. He didn't want to see anything.
"One more big pusssh," Velsuki indicated. Regardless of the absence of a contraction, Elapidae squeezed her abdominal muscles to their limit one final time. Her abdomen seemed to have deflated in the blink of an eye. Soren supported her body weight when she relaxed, but he heard a little hissing sound at the exact same time.
The medicine snake held the youngling against the curve of her chest as she cleared its airways with a stiff stem poking into its nostrils and mouth. She then handed the new mother her offspring and proceeded to use soft leaves to clean off the bodily substances.
The parents watched their youngling breathe its first breaths of air as it complained about its journey into the world. Soren stroked his rough palm across its crinkled head and counted all of its fingers and toes. Nothing was wrong with it. Their youngling was perfect. Its skull would fuse together in some areas and straighten itself after some time, and it would look normal.
"That wasss cccertainly one of the fassstessst birthsss I've had in a while," Velsuki humorously commented. "You did a ssspectacular job, Elapidae."
She conscientiously laid her hands on the youngling she just gave birth to. The last thing she wanted was to do something wrong, but it hissed without faltering like it was supposed to. A sense of needing to provide protection overwhelmed her. This was her offspring. It was so little and vulnerable. She once felt it nudge from time to time, and then felt kicks periodically. Now she could physically touch its thin, fragile scales and cradle it in her arms.
Almost as if it could read her thoughts, the youngling opened its eyes in the darkness, probably unable to make anything out. "Aw, look, Sssoren," Elapidae cooed, rubbing its nose to make it blink with confusion.
Velsuki briefly lifted its leg. "You have a ssson," she translated, nipping the umbilical cord to break it painlessly. "Do you have a name yet?"
Elapidae gazed up at her mate in anticipation. "Gorgan," he concluded.
The new parents were left alone once everything was cleaned up and settled down. Soren refused to sleep. He wanted Elapidae to rest as he kept an eye on their newborn son.
Gorgan's tiny forked tongue slipped out from between his lips every minute or so. Soren cradled him as he peacefully slept, but it wasn't long until Velsuki's den was full of noise from one of the four rambunctious adolescent males.
"But I want to sssee the youngling!" one of them pleaded.
"The youngling isss sssleeping, Korei," Velsuki groggily reasoned. "You need to sssleep, too."
"But I'm tired of sssleeping!"
"Korei, lay down and go to sssleep," Morisol chimed in.
Soren kept his eye on the opening into the small cavern. He thought Korei, the youngest of his brothers, would come charging in rebelliously, but there was nothing to be seen. In fact, it fell silent throughout the den once more.
He laid back with the undisturbed Gorgan, feeling the lack of sleep pull down on his eyelids.
When Soren woke up from the sounds of voices again, the first thing he noticed was the absence of Gorgan's weight on his chest. The initial response of panic almost immediately fizzled out of his nerves when he observed Elapidae holding Gorgan instead. Korei was sitting in front of her in the nest, his white nubs for fangs beginning to poke out from his mouth. The little stinker disobeyed his parents, but she didn't seem to be bothered by the company.
"Can I touch him?" Korei politely asked.
"Of courssse you can." She held out the youngling as he reached out and carefully brushed his stubby fingers down his arm. "Hisss name isss Gorgan."
Morisol unexpectedly stuck his cobra-like head through the opening of the cavern. "Korei, what did your mother and I tell you not to do?" he frustratedly questioned.
"He'sss okay, Morisssol," Elapidae assured him. "He'sss about to be a big brother, after all."
Velsuki's mate didn't respond straight away. Instead, he pointed at his eyes before pointing at his son, making him giggle. "If you upssset that youngling-"
"Ugh...Morisssol," Velsuki groaned from the other side.
The joking nature of Morisol suddenly disappeared as he too disappeared. "The youngling isss coming?!" his muffled voice reiterated. He returned to the cavern in a state of controlled panic to snatch Korei. "Trampa, take your brothersss out to play," he enforced to the oldest of his offspring.
Elapidae worriedly gazed at Soren, so he took it upon himself to find out what they should do. He climbed out of the nest and stood at the cavern's opening. "Do we need to leave, Morisssol?" he asked, not taking a look at what was going on.
"No, no!" he reassured him, abruptly pushing past him to gather the same herbs used for Elapidae earlier. "Your mate ssshouldn't be on her feet for a few more hoursss. Don't worry about usss." When he counted the plants and went through his mental list, he reverted around and went to tend to Velsuki.
Soren hesitantly approached Elapidae again. "What do you want to do?"
"Well...if I'm not sssupposssed to be walking yet, then I ssshouldn't be walking," she answered, readjusting her hold on Gorgan.
The sleeping youngling wailed out of the blue, making Elapidae question her innocent decision. When she moved him back, Gorgan continued to complain with his infant sounds. Soren joined in to see if he could help figure out what their son needed to appease him.
"I-I don't know what I did," Elapidae admitted, stressed from no experience as a parent.
"I don't believe you did anything wrong, Love," he reasoned, prodding Gorgan. "We haven't fed him yet...Do you want to try that?"
Gorgan didn't show any signs of calming down as Elapidae gently bounced him. "Pleassse," she replied.
Soren quickly hopped out of the nest and left the cavern to find Velsuki fighting through a powerful contraction in her family's nest with Morisol at her side. He didn't falter in his stride to find the pile of prey somewhere in the Tomb.
The morning sunlight streamed in through thin ice in the tall ceiling, sparking the busy atmosphere of the tribe. A group of warriors in training passed by him to go search for prey. Some nests were occupied with mothers preparing their younglings for the day, and one mother noticed he was out and about by himself.
"Sssoren! How isss Elapidae?" she called, wrestling with her youngling to sit still.
"Ssshe isss doing well. We had our youngling thisss morning," he explained.
"That'sss wonderful newsss!"
"What'sss thisss I hear?" another hypnobrai questioned.
Soren glanced to see the young General Slithraa making his way to a place where warriors were waiting for a directive. His majestic yellow-and-black scales could catch the attention of any serpent who passed him. One hand held his snake-like golden staff as it displayed an ancient blue stone in its fanged mouth. What made this hypnobrai stand out among the rest was the thick, muscular tail that trailed behind him wherever he went. It was the identifying trait of the General of any Serpentine tribe. "General Ssslithraa," he respectively acknowledged. "My mate gave birth to our ssson thisss morning."
"A promisssing omen, I mussst sssay," he happily replied, raising his golden staff.
"Velsssuki isss alssso giving birth to her youngling asss we ssspeak."
He momentarily scratched at his broad fangs that hung from beneath his lip. "I will make a visssit thisss evening to greet the newessst membersss of our tribe," he promised, bowing his head. "Carry on, Sssoren."
"Yesss, General." When he slithered away, Soren traveled deeper into the Tomb until he came across the decent stock of freshly-killed prey. He picked a tiny mouse for Gorgan to chew on and a couple of plump rats for himself and Elapidae. His forked tongue flapped against his lips at the mouth-watering scent coming from their fur.
Holding each by the tail, he trotted back to Velsuki's den. The medicine snake still hadn't given birth yet, but her loud groans made it clear that it would probably be awhile compared to how fast Gorgan came.
Elapidae was relieved when Soren came in with the prey. "He ssstill hasssn't calmed down," she pointed out, feeling hopeless.
"Don't worry. I got him a moussse," he soothed, putting down the rats. When Gorgan was settled down onto the thin branches of the nest, Soren dangled the white mouse over his nose. His pitiful wails quieted when the tiny creature was placed in his mouth. Before their very eyes, he began to chew with his sharp microscopic teeth. "All better?" Soren cooed, rubbing his son's belly.
Elapidae leaned her head against her mate's. "Are you ready to do thisss?" she wondered.
The male held her scaly hand as he gazed down at the innocent youngling. "I've been ready."
Gorgan fell back asleep after consuming his mouse, leaving Soren and Elapidae time to themselves. Velsuki's yelps and groans were background noise as they intimately laid in the nest together. Elapidae picked at the overstretched scales beginning to flake off her abdomen. Her body would look normal again in a few days time, but the damaged scales showed how pregnancy affected it.
"Velsssuki sssaid you would molt your ssscalesss sssoon," Soren shared.
"I know...but I ssstill don't feel-"
"AH!" Velsuki screamed.
Silence followed. Soren and Elapidae listened carefully. Did she give birth? Where were the sounds of the new youngling? Soren curiously got up and poked his head into the den. Morisol and Velsuki were in the nest, not exchanging words.
"Did it happen?" Soren asked, feeling his heart sink.
Morisol gazed over. "I...I have a daughter!" he cheered, almost in disbelief.
Soren took a closer look. Velsuki was cradling the precious youngling underneath her chin as it quietly hissed.
Every hypnobrai gathered in the most expansive area of the Tomb for the routine announcements. Soren and Elapidae stood in the background with Morisol, Velsuki, and their four sons. The two newest members of the Hypnobrai Tribe both peacefully slept in the arms of their mothers. A ritual was underway to recognize the births. Everyone had seen it before. Slithraa stood in front of a mysterious pool of water when he spoke.
"It hasss been a promisssing week for the tribe," he hissed. "Prey hasss been plentiful, and two younglingsss have been born."
All who could hear the news let out an uproar of applause and cheers in celebration. Around that same time, Slithraa approached the pair of parents and took both younglings in each arm. "Gorgan isss of Sssoren and Elapidae. May he grow to be a fine warrior sssomeday," he prophesied, resting the now awake infant into the shallow pool of icy water. "Cleo isss of Morisssol and Velsssuki. May ssshe be able to compete with her brothersss when the time comesss." He also settled Cleo into the pool, where her eyes widened in surprise and her little arms jolted upwards due to the sudden temperature change. Morisol and Velsuki found humor in their daughter's reaction to the ritual.
Both younglings were simultaneously pulled out when additional celebrating summoned. As the water droplets fell from their scales, both Gorgan and Cleo curiously glanced around to see the blurry walls of the Tomb like any youngling their age would do. They shared the same birthday, the same birthplace, but little did they know that their futures would be even more intertwined than that.
Questions? Thoughts? Comments? Let me know! I loved making this chapter :) Thank you RandomDragon2.0, The Mayor of Ninjago City, and Steampunk Wilson for your kind reviews!
RandomDragon2.0 - Here's more! ;)
The Mayor of Ninjago City - Hi! I am, too :D
Steampunk Wilson - I'm glad you enjoyed, but unfortunately, Jay's mother will not be coming back in this story :( Feel free to stick around more, though!