Chapter 2: Someone who cares

It had already been about a day since the little snake had been abandoned by his family. He tried to get himself food but fear kept him close to the den and there was no signs of life anywhere nearby. Even if there was an animal, he probably wouldn't be able to take its life due to his small size and lack of hunting knowledge. He coiled himself inside the den with the uncomfortable feeling of emptiness in his stomach. There wasn't much he could do. There will never be anything he can do.

The sun had fallen hours ago and the full moon dsplayed itself high in the sky, leaving a faint light down upon the flat desert landscape. A bit of light was able to flood the main room of the den. Meanwhile, the snake was asleep in the bedroom of the den, or was asleep. A faint sound woke him up. The snake rose its head slowly, trying to find out what was actually happening. It sounded like someone or something was moving around outside the den, almost like something being dragged, or sonething slithering around. He flicked his forked tongue in the air and recognized the scent. Another rattlesnake, but the scent didn't match his family's scent, it was a stranger. He immediatly got nervous, his coils slithered himself backwards until he hit the dirt wall that surrounded the room. He set his head on his coils, hoping the stranger didn't find the entrance to the den. The slithering was slow and it sounded like it came from all directions from outside the den, as if the stranger was going in circles. It was almost like it was teasing him. After what felt like forever, the slithering stopped. Confusion and fear filled his mind when it all stopped. Was it gone? Before he had his tongue check out the enviornment, a large shadow of a snake emerged from the entrance. It grew upon the ground and finally reached the back wall of the living room. The head of the shadow turned from side to side in a slow manner, flicking its tongue. Upon seeing this, the little snake hid his head in his coils and shivered violently, hoping the shadow's owner couldn't find him. The figure lowered its head and slithered through the living room and off to the left towards the kitchen. The sounds of objects being rumaged around had filled the silence.

The small snake didn't know what to do. He couldn't move his body or take his eyes off of the entrance to the bedroom. He couldn't run, he couldn't scream, he couldn't do anything, just like how he was from the very start. Helpless. He hid his face behind his coils and cried silently, it distracted him from the figure and the noises all together.

Even though he was still very young, he knew very well that he didn't live a long life. The day he was born and the days he was left alone explained a lot about what he really was. A monster, and thats what he'll ever be. A sick looking beast who know one loved or cared about. That was all he was.

His crying stopped abruptly when he heard a loud rattling sound in front of him. He peaked through his coils and finally saw what the shadow's owner looked like. In the entrance stood a tall diamondback rattlsnake. In the faint moonlight shining from behind, he could see that the scales were almost pitch black with white and silver scales tracing its diamond pattern. Its belly shined a bright grey color. It wore two belts on its coils, one containing what seemed to be a knife and a pistol, and the other containing amunition, there was also a rolled up piece of paper trapped between the belt and its body. The loud sound came from its silver rattle which shook violently from its tail. The only thing the moon couldn't shine its light on was its face. The figure had a large black cowboy hat on which fit its head almost perfectly, and just underneath the brim, two aqua colored eyes stared directly into the smaller snakes eyes. He hid his face even further in his coils.

The rattle stopped and the bigger snake slithered across the room, right in front of the smaller one. Upon seeing this, the young snake hid its entire head in his body, not wanting to know or see what the bigger snake was about to do. The rattlesnake then flicked its tongue in the air in front of the creature that sat before it. The scent was unrecognizable.

"Well, aren't you somethin' new?" The figure finally spoke in almost a low quiet voice.

The small creature kept its head in its coils and shivered.

"You're a scared little fella, aren't you? I don't blame ya." He chuckled to himself.

The small snake finally had the courage to peak his head further out of the coils. Able to see who was speaking in front of him, he was looking into the face of the infiltrator.

The rattlesnake's face was covered in smaller black scales with silver scales that covered the bottom of his snout in which it touches the underbelly. Under his nostrils almost looked like a mustache that was inprinted into his scales with the ends curving upwards. And glowing under the brim of his hat were two aqua iris' shining outside of the black scleras that color the rest of his eyes. From how he looked, he didn't seem like a bad guy, and well also due to his goofy grin.

"Never in my life would I thought to see something as special as you." He said looking at the snakes coils.

Wait. Did this normal snake just admire him? He never thought he would see or hear someone actually see him this way, considering what his parents had said about him long before. Slowly, the small snake completely lifted his head out of his coils to actually see the bigger one head on.

"Well look at you finally coming out of your shell." The rattlesnake said as he lifted his head higher, really giving the idea on how big he really is. This just made the smaller snake realize he was just crouched down to his level the whole time... The little snake just kept looking upwards in a curious manner, tilting his head from time to time. This made the rattlesnake realize how young the other snake really was. Hell, he couldn't even speak yet. But for some reason, it looks as if its actually understanding him. He decided to finally speak after a while.

"Listen kid, I don't know if yer able to understand me or not, but I'm going to need a place to stay fer the night. I can stay in the living room fer now if you want. I can leave early tomorrow morning." He said, slithering his way to the exit of the bedroom looking back at the creature. Of course, it said nothing and tilted its head in confusion.

"I'll take that as a yes." He slithered out into the living room and coiled himself up in the center leaving his head on the ground outside the coils. The faint moonlight had shone on his body through the entrance of the den. Just as he was about to fall asleep, his eyes shot open to the feeling of something rubbing against his neck. he turned to see the young fellow creature he had just met coiling up next to him and quickly drifting off to sleep. Despite just meeting it, he let him stay there, he felt bad for it after all. The poor thing had been alone for god knows how long. He turned his head towards the moonlight. He didn't know what to do with it though. Thoughts swarmed within his mind.

What should I do? Should I take him with me? No, I can't, I have other important matters coming up that I need to focus on. But the poor thing will die if he's left alone.

Then one thought made his final decision.

Fine, I'll take care of him for now once the time comes, he should be able to understand the world around him until then...

After finally making his plan, he was about to fall asleep, until one final thought crossed his mind.

How long has he been alone?

The thought was interuppted when he heard the faint sound of a stomach grumbling.

That explains it...

Sorry for people who are reading this during the time this is coming out, I've been just busy with school and sorting out the story. I might take long breaks every once in a while and once again, I'm sorry.

The new rattlesnake belongs to me Btw

The actual characters from rango won't come in until somewhat further into the story.