Bonding

 17. Bonding

As we get back to the others, they look surprised and fearful. Susie is covered in the snakes´ blood after all.

Oh yeah, I guess I have a big snake with me too.

“Everything is alright. We were only practicing with Susie and these snakes. Charles do you want to cook the snake?”

Charles comes and nods while taking the mangled corpse of the snake from my hand.

The other snake tries to struggle but I keep it under control. The children look at the snakes with fear.

“We will start encountering a lot of snakes from now on. There are small ones and big ones and they could be in the trees or holes in the ground. Get used to them since I might not be able to keep an eye out for everyone.”

The lizard kids look even more scared now. So does Lillie. Charles doesn’t seem any different while the cat girls look the same.

Susie looks angry. I hope she can keep her emotions under control.

“If it´s those little snakes then I can deal with them by myself.”

Sarah says lazily.

“You can’t burn down the forest though.”

“Then you can deal with the snakes. You had no problems with the giant one.”

“I can kill them, but I might not notice them. It´s better if the children can fight against them by themselves so there will be no accidents.”

“Do what you want.”

“So, in the morning we will have some fighting practice. I will protect you while you do it, so you won’t be in any danger.”

Hmm, I should make some wooden swords, so they have something to fight with. The black sword is too dangerous to be handled by a kid. Susie is an exception. Maybe I should take the sword away from her now that I think about it.

She is attached to it and she will probably get really upset about it but if she goes wild after seeing snakes then I can’t really trust her with it. I will wait and see how things go in the morning.

Charles has already separated the meat from the skin and organs and started to cook them in the fire.

“You will protect me, right?”

I look down and see Anna look at me tearfully. I smile and pat her head.

“I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Anna smiles too. The snake starts struggling even harder.

“Go eat some meat with the others. I need to keep the snake under control so it might be better if you stay a bit further away from me during the night.”

Hmm, I should take away the snakes’ fangs just in case. I am sure it will survive over night even if it bleeds a little.

The morning practice will be safer that way too. I look around and see that the children are gathered around Charles and watching the meat cook.

I turn my back on them, so they won’t see this. I pull the snakes head, but it is wrapped around me tightly. Fine I will just turn my head enough to see it from the side. I look at the snakes’ head that is resting on top of my shoulder and use the hand that is keeping it in place to open its mouth.

I use my other hand to hold one of its fangs and then I pull it out quickly. The snake starts struggling fiercely and it tries to close it mouth as hard as it can.

I take the other fang and pull it out. My hand is slimy and bloody now. The snake is trying to squeeze me with all its strength, but it has already tried that, and it isn’t effective. I kind of feel bad for it, it must be in so much pain.

I still need to make sure that the children are safe. I pat the snake. It is all I can do to help it.

It keeps struggling but eventually it starts losing strength. I keep patting it and soon it stops moving. It doesn’t even have the strength to hold on to my body and it unwraps itself.

Now it´s just hanging from my shoulder. I take its head with my hands and sit down.

I put it on my lap and start patting it again.

I might be getting too attached to it. I don’t really understand why. It is not that cute; it is big too. If I let it go it would probably attack the children.

I hear some footsteps behind me. I turn my head and see that it´s Sarah with a meat piece.

“Is that your new pet snake?”

… I don’t want to say no.

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter. I brought you some meat since it is dangerous for the kids to be near the snake.”

“Thank you.”

She glances at the fangs that are on the ground.

“Can I have one of those?”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“Does it matter?”

“I am curious.”

“Fine, I will make a weapon from it. Or just use it as it is if I don’t manage to make a weapon out of it.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t burn down the forest. I also need to prepare in case there are monsters that handle fire well.”

“Alright, you can take it, but I might want you to lend it to the children if needed.”

“You really want to make them a group of killers, don’t you?”

“I just want them to have the skills to survive on their own.”

“I can survive on my own, can I leave?”

“You can’t so no.”

“You let the bat kid leave.”

“That’s different.”

“How is it different?”

“It just is. Besides he might survive on his own. You wouldn’t.”

She starts crying.

I sigh.

“Go to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow, lots of snakes and other things.”

She grabs the fang off the ground and silently walks to the side in the darkness.

I care about her, so I don’t want to lose her. Is that wrong?

Chapter sixteen Chapter eighteen