Snakecharmer chapter 1: chapter 2

Alexander had been traveling for hours, perhaps longer, all sense of time was warped in the thick forest. Heavy, menacing vines hung low over his head and each of them looked to be a mock noose from which the young vampire could have easily hung himself, and all as thick or thicker than a mans' arm. The trees grew close together and made it hard to get through them, ferns and thorns tugging and tearing his clothes as he passed through.


Around him was far too silent. The birds had fallen quiet some time ago and the forest was becoming noticeably more sinister. Almost all the plants were a deep green almost black color, the reeking stench of swamp drawing in the constant buzz of insects around his head, none of whom had any interest in a vampires' blood.


Quite suddenly, Alexander was having a harder time getting through between two trees he'd climbed over. As he went on, spiders webs made their appearance around his legs and arms, that became thicker and thicker until the webbing had caught him up and he was tangled tightly within the sticky strands.


The newborn vampire made a slightly frustrated sound as he tried to pull free, grimacing at how they only seemed to grow tighter even with his new strength. He twisted once more to try and pry himself free and made a soft but surprised yelp as he fell backwards to become stuck in more strands.

"God- " he cursed feeling tears of frustration come to his eyes as he tugged on his limbs and arched his back to try and get it free of the webbing, "Damn it!" He snapped as he thrashed uselessly.


“...Ooo what's this We caught this time?” asked a hoarse voice as the figure lurched into view out of the thorn-bushes to peer up at him.


The creature appeared to be some kind of hag, or something of the sort, but a male version. He had only three fingers plus the thumbs on each hand, and each were tipped with wickedly curved and dirty, yellowed nails. Dry lips pulled back to expose cracked teeth in a grin and the fiend hobbled closer to get a better look up at Alex through glazed white eyes from beneath shaggy and unkempt gray hair.


“A leetle vampire, that's what we have.” he told himself, reaching up to latch his fingers like a vice around the boys jaw to force his head at an angle to where he could see his face better, “a pretty leetle vampire”


The vampire jerked his head around a little bit, his the deep caramel pools widening in horror and disgust, "Get off of me-" He snapped, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice, "get off of me beast!" he snapped hearing his voice crack slightly and a couple of the pent up tears slid free as his hands twitched at his side to no avail.


All he got in response was a low hiss, which set off a string of eager drool down the old hag's chin. He pulled out a rusted, saw toothed knife and began to lift it towards Alexander's face, but paused when a second, far more feral and snake like hiss responded to his own, jerking around to see what had cause it.


The Naga could have descended from a story book, his upper half the sleek and tanned torso of an lithe human male while his lower was the seemingly endless tail of an anaconda, deep golden brown in color with a black pattern down his back and bronze belly scales. The eyes were black where they should have been white, and a blazing vermillion in the center with slitted black snake pupils. The Naga's hair flowed straight down to his mid back and was a deep olive and black color, a silver star like pendant with an oval red ruby laid in its center gleaming on his chest with several other necklaces of various expensive quality. Rings shown on fingers graced with long black nails, and near the end of the tail he'd placed three golden bands around the scaled muscle.


“Spine.” snarled the haggard male at the beautiful creature before it with a tad bit of nervousness flashing in milky eyes, “what are you doing out here? This isn't your territory...”


“This forest is mine. I let you live on this side because you have not bothered me these past few months.” replied the Naga in a smooth, almost purring tone that nonetheless held a great deal justified confidence and strength.


Alex made a small sound of distress from the weapon still so near his face but his eyes had grown distracted as he stared at the wash of glorious scales and the other half of the man that was made even more spectacular by the crusted and horrifying Hag. He found himself reminded of the small creature in his garden- creatures of sin or not... it had helped him, were all snakes the same...?

"Pl-" he started turning his head a bit more away from the dagger, "please." he said quietly, "please help me..."


Those unique snake eyes flicked back to the Vampire speculatively and the old creature below gave a growl as he pressed the dagger into the boys cheek just a little, its magic allowing it to pierce even the hardened skin of an Immortal.


“Silence!” he chirped, a bit more fear evident in his eyes as the Naga shifted in the edge of their vision.



The spectacular creature reared himself up a little and his gaze turned to chilled rage, the eyes narrowed and dangerous as a black, wet forked tongue flicked from between dark lips to scent the air in his growing agitation, “Release the boy.”


“He's mine-”



“This is MY territory, and he has asked for MY assistance. You are also in my forest, and by those right, both of you are my possessions. I will be taking the boy back with me now, release him.” The second order was said a little less patiently, and the hag visibly quaked beneath his glare, taking a few steps back so he could face the naga and held the knife out towards him instead.


A foolish mistake, and the last one the beast ever made.


The regal serpent rose and then struck faster than a heart could manage a beat, twisting his head away from the cruel edge of the knife and receiving only a nick across his cheekbone as the jaw unhinged and the mouth opened to reveal growing fangs. The teeth sank deep into the putrid smelling throat, and within only a few seconds the Naga had wrapped his body tightly around the smaller creature, closing the gap a little more each time it breathed out until ribs were cracking in the heavy air and blood was beginning to drip from between coils. The one hand that was still visible let go of the knife and began to twitch for a release that would never come.



The hand disappeared as the body was crunched in tighter, pushed until it was a suitable size to fit within the Naga's widened mouth, and the serpent swallowed it whole. When the fiend was gone, the Naga swallowed a few more times to make sure it stayed down and turned to face Alexander, picking up the knife from the ground as it approached the vampire at a languid pace.


"W-wait-" he started regretting his decision to ask him to help for a moment, this creature was just as horrifying, regardless of how much more beautiful he was, "I didn't know that the forest was yours- I can go." he promised quickly, "Thank you for killing him but I will just go and not bother you." He tried, thinking about how painful it would be to be crushed like that in the coils... and felt a bit embarrassed when he realized that when he thought of the coils around him he wasn't afraid- if anything he was the exact opposite...



The naga tilted his head a little in an expression that was probably more curiosity than anything else, lifting the blade up and pushed it near Alexander's arm into the webbing. With a few deft cuts, the webbing came free and the Naga wound an arm around the boy to lift him away from the trap, setting him gently on his feet in the grass and tossed the knife away with a snort of disgust at its crudeness. When his gaze returned to Alex, it was to flick his tongue lightly at the boy's cheek to smell him and decide what exactly it was he wanted to do with him.



“Don't be afraid...” he said with a reassuring and charming smile, “I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm not angry at you for being here. You asked for my help after all, and so my help is what I will grant for you, what's your name?”


"A....Alexander." he explained as he felt the heat rise to his face as he stared at the naga's lips now and waited for a moment before he finally caught another sight of the snake like tongue, "oh-" he started to himself then looked back up at him, slowly letting his heart rate slow. "...Your name is Spine?" he asked then regretted letting himself calm, that only let in the memories of why he was there in the first place. The memory made him ill and he put his hand over his mouth as he tried to quell the thoughts of how delicious his mentors blood had tasted.


“Yes, that's my name.” Spine agreed, watching Alexander closely for a few more seconds, then sighed and reached out to once again pick him up. He cradled the vampire to his chest, holding him bridal style as he turned and began to slither back into the forest, effortlessly sliding over the obstacles that had hindered Alexander so much the first time, “I do not feel I'm done helping you yet.”


Alexander mumbled something through the hand currently holding his mouth closed as he shook his head a little bit, but there wasn't much he could do. Even if he could do something, what would he do after that? He had no where to go... He adjusted himself slightly and his legs moving up to expose that his feet were bare, and showed how oddly dainty they were. "...sounds nice." he finally whispered having been lulling himself with the sound of the scales over the forest ground that was a soothing sort of slither to his new sensitive ears.


Spine took the vampire boy deeper into the forest, where the greens were now vibrant and beautiful, the ground always a soft deep moss and far less thorns than there had been in the first area. When he came to a massive redwood, Spine reared and wrapped himself around it, climbing up in a spiral and reached out with one hand to hook his nails into a latch above, pushing through and came up in a wide living room of sorts. The tree house was huge, spanning over several trees with vine bridges connecting each of the separate rooms, and they were in the largest of all of them. The walls were hung with jade velvet with a matching curtain draped in a doorway to another room on their right, an open doorway leading to a kitchen ahead of them, and an enormous cushion in the center of this room, surrounded by a nest of various blankets and soft pillows. It was on this cushion that Spine laid Alexander down, then coiled himself into a neat set of rings near the boy with the end of his tail resting on the others thigh.


“what do you require of me, Alexander?” he asked smoothly.


Alexander turned his head to the side a little bit and blushed faintly as he looked back at the scales before he looked up at him carefully, "No... If you had something for me to read... I could do that and I wouldn't be a bother to you." he murmured even as he felt the pressure behind his eyes again, then put his palm against one of them as he suppressed the growing depression.


Spine moved again, but to go and get him anything. Instead, he wrapped his thick tail numerous times around Alexander and pulled the vampire a little bit closer to settle him against his heated chest, as a serpent body radiated more warmth than a human would, and set his hand gently on the soft brown strands of hair to stroke his head soothingly. He didn't say anything- didn't ask what had happened or why Alexander was out in the middle of the forest alone, or why he smelled of blood... He only held him gently but securely in the tail that had only an hour previously killed another living creature.


Alexander let out a faint gasp of surprise as he stared at the mans skin twisting a little bit around the coils and even made a faint squeak when his hand brushed over the graceful scales before he finally settled and he bowed his head a little bit, "Mo..." he mumbled thinking back on the priest but he couldn't even say his name before he felt the tears pool over and he shuddered and fell into soft sobs moving his arms up to bury his face there and not entirely on his chest.


The Naga bowed his head against Alexanders', hugging him a little more securely and rocking them just a little. His deep green hair fell like ribbons on either side of them, a curtain that would block out more of Alexander's surrounding, had he been looking, like a protective curtain. Spine released his tongue once and tasted the salty tang of tears, so closed his own eyes and stayed the silent sentinel. If Alexander wished to talk, then he would listen, but until then he would simply be there.


Alexander finally opened his eyes and stared at the tan skin contrasted to his own soft peach color, he had never gotten very tan; since he had gone to the church he'd stayed inside and read most of the time... "thank you master Spine..." he said as he pulled back, "I won't keep you up any longer by my nonsense...


Spine's arms loosened to let the brunette pull away and the somewhat enchanting eyes slid into view once more, “nothing that makes such a pretty thing like you sad is nonsense by any means. Stay here... Stay with me a while until you feel better.”

Alex searched over his face for a moment, drawn into the hypnotic gaze, then recalled it with vague irony what that vampire had called him, 'snake charmer' seemed to be the other way around now, didn't it? but with a bit further coaxing he relented and reached up to slowly wrap his arms around his neck and rested his head against his chest again, "I don't know if I'll ever get better..." he admitted.


“Then I do believe I should make my room a bit more vampire friendly,” the Naga rumbled back playfully as he embraced him just as willingly as he had before and smiled to himself. It was nice to have someone in the house with him, and nice that the boy seemed to be so very accepting. Most people that Spine met usually turned tail and ran screaming shortly after they got over the shock, “because you may be here a while.”


"I don't have anything to repay you with.... I don't even have shoes." he admitted with that realization and furrowed his brow a little bit as he turned his eyes to look down at his feet again and then pulled back a little bit to look at him more, "I couldn't.... I don't even know how to adapt to these powers yet, I might bite you..." he realized though the thought of blood wasn't very appealing at the moment he knew he was bound to lose control whether he wanted to or not.


“It wouldn't be the first time, I assure you, and I somewhat doubt it'll be the last.” a breathy chuckle escaped his lips and his shoulders trembled with mirth, “stay, and let the reprieve of my loneliness be your payment, for I will not ask anything else of you. We'll find you some shoes while we're at it as well, a bit silly to be running around the forest with no shoes even if you do have very lovely feet.”


The vampire was a bit confused by the oddly place compliment and he felt his lip twitch in the attempt at a smile but didn't quite make it even though his eyes had lightened a fraction, "Th...thank you." was all he could really say he supposed... then slowly nodded as he accepted the terms of this agreement, didn't think it would be all that bad, would it?....


“Good, as long as we agree then. Now, most of my serpent ancestors may or may not care to constrict such a beastly creature to death, but I'm afraid its left me feeling filthy and in need of a bath. You seem to be in a similar boat, so why don't we head to the river and get washed up before bed, hm?” Spine suggested as he picked a bit of bramble out of Alexander's hair and flicked it away.


"oh?" he asked glancing up at the piece as he tossed it away and then looked down at himself and made a grunt of agreement, he was right... he was filthy, covered in blood dirt and spiderwebs... "Yes..." he agreed quietly as he still tried to get over his own state, Moriel always seemed to dislike it when he was unclean, not even for any Holy reason, he just liked being as clean as he could manage.


Spine's hair swayed over his shoulders as he moved off the cushion and turned his back to Alexander, reaching up to sweep all his long hair over one shoulder out of the way, “climb onto my back, you'll be more comfortable that way and I can use my arms going down the tree.”


Alex blinked then agreed sliding up onto his back with his arms still around the long throat and made another small noise when his feet had to slide off of the scales before he finally wrapped his legs around his waist, burying his face into the dark hair to get himself to calm down again. Why did snake scales do such a thing to him... it was rather disgraceful, at least that's what he'd been told...


The naga had turned his head just a little at the noise, revealing one of his slightly pointed ears and the two golden cuffs along the shell of it, but put the moment aside for later consideration and made for the trap door in the floor. He dangled out of it above the ground then reached out and caught the tree with his nails, pulling himself to it to spiral back the way he had initially come. Once all of him was on level ground, Spine turned and slithered off across the moss, traveling only a short ways before coming to rest by a slow, crystal clear river. It wasn't all that deep, even in the center it was only about four feet high, and the rocks were visible through the water even in semi darkness. Spine stopped on the rocky bank and lowered so that Alexander could climb off his back, then drifted into the water, curling in his tail like an eel to sink under enough to get his hair thoroughly wet. When he rose again, the water poured over the plans of his chest and dripped from his bangs, glistening in the ghostly moonlight above them.


Alexander tried not to stare to obviously as his new eyes took in every detail that the dim light cast before he glanced back at the water and reminded himself of his condition and pulled the shirt up over his head before he rid himself of the rest of his clothes, moon causing the smooth skin to almost consume its light and made it give off a soft glow before he moved closer into the chill water before he shivered once and sank down as he started to scrub at his arms reverently to clean himself.


“ne...” Spine said after a time, just a small, idle sort of sound to get his attention, “You have not been a vampire very long, and from what I know of vampires- which is little I would be willing to admit- you are going to need to feed soon, yes?”


Alexander tensed at this statement and he stared at his arms for a long moment before he slowly started to clean them again, "I already fed....not to long ago. I don't know how often I have to feed each time." he added, wondering if that's what he had meant, if that were the case it wasn't right for him to get so upset...


“Newborns usually feed once or twice every twenty four hours.” Spine mused, mostly to himself it seemed, like it was a lost bit of information he was only just now retrieving from his vast experiences, “try to pay attention to that, and when you feel the Thirst beginning to rise let me know so I can get you fed.”


"okay..." he mumbled a bit smaller than he had meant as he sank further into the water and finally sunk his head down so that he could get his hair wet and reached up his hand to get the liquid through his hair easier and flipped his head back when he had finished, the long dark brown bangs streaked with black pushed out of the way of his forehead and revealed the full view of his soft face.



Spine was a great deal closer by the time the boy came up, and blinked in surprise when a few drops hit his face from Alexander's hair and startled him. He reached up and set his warm hand on the boys shoulders, nudging him just a little, “turn around, I'll wash your hair out for you.”


Alex glanced up at him and blinked the water droplets out of the long lashes before he nodded and he turned around, finding a rock high enough in the water to sit on and bowed his head so that the naga had easier access to his hair and closed his eyes most of the way to wait.


Spine curled his tail around Alexanders legs and the rock as a sort of anchor for himself, then listed his hands from the water to carefully beginning washing the bits of trees, webs and blood from the soft brown mane. His fingers massaged the other boy's head as he did so to further relax him, the nails not once getting in the way or nicking the ears that he occasionally brushed over, “you have lovely hair, Alexander.”



"Thank you..." he murmured though his voice had wavered as he stared through the water at his tail and he reached out to smooth his hands below the surface over the scales and he bit his lip- forgetting about his new fangs- so this caused a bit of blood to escape from the wound he had caused and it was enough of a distraction to calm himself down as he wiped at his mouth quickly.


“Are you alright?” Spine asked in genuine concern, but he was beginning to see a pattern to this behavior.. and the pattern led him to two different possibilities. In the end, he decided it best to go with the worst possibility first in case the other disturbed the boy, “does my tail bother you, Alexander? Should I move it?”


"it- no, well it doesn't bother me it's just..." he started then ducked his head in embarrassment, "I've... I guess I've always liked the way snakes feel... too much." he added at the end and glanced up at him in the corner of his eye a bead of blood pooling up again before the wound managed to heal itself.


Spine clicked his tongue, furrowing his brow but it had nothing to do with Alexander's words, for his eyes were on the vampires' lips. He raised a hand and carefully wiped the bead away with his thumb, then thought about what had actually been said- so he had been correct on the second theory after all, “too much... my scales cause enjoyment in you?”


The vampire felt the heat rise in his face again as he bowed his head a little bit and blushed again, "Y...yes, that's a way to put it." he agreed, "enjoyment..." he repeated as his hands twitched a little bit.



“Pleasure?” asked the curious snake, his tongue whipping out on the 's' and tickled on Alexander's earlobe unintentionally- the tongue would often react in ways that the naga wasn't fully conscious of, so it was purely coincidence that it happened now of all times.


Alex jumped a little bit his hand going to cover his ear quickly as he bowed his head and bit into his lip again and easily ignored the bleeding this time and closed his eyes for a moment before he started to mentally sure apologies, to be having these sort of thoughts so soon after their deaths, it was a stain on their memory wasn't it? after a moment he relaxed and slowly looked back at him as he wiped off his mouth a few more times.


“I'm sorry... you're in pain and I'm making it worse.” Spine realized, releasing Alexander from his grip and slipped deeper into the water to give the boy some space, smiling at him in a way as if to say that no harm was done. Actually he was incredibly flattered by such a peculiar fetish this vampire just so happened to have, but being the gentleman he was, the Naga would do nothing about it if Alexander was hurting as he was.


"I'm sorry..." the boy responded though it was hard to say exactly who he was speaking to when he said it, maybe more than one... he washed the blood off his hand then got to his feet again shaking his hair out a little bit before he pulled his clothes on to show that he was finished with his bath, though he didn't want to go back into the dirty clothes, he didn't have any more and he doubted by the sight of him that the naga had any clothes either...


“leave them off.”Spine suggested with a slight shrug, “no one else is around, if your modest, and I rather dislike clothes anyway. Most of the time they are more hassle than they are worth... leave them off, and we'll find you some new clothes tomorrow.”


He considered this for a moment though his instinct said no, especially not after just admitting what the naga did to him but he couldn't deny how gross he felt wearing those clothes so he pulled the shirt off again and scrubbed at his still damp arms to get the feeling to go away before he crossed his arms over his stomach vaguely, "Then... if you're ready... I'm ready to go back now..." he admitted.


Spine nodded and returned to the shore, twisting his hair to drain out a majority of the water and left it over that shoulder, leaning to again pick Alexander up, this time with the boys back against the naga's chest to preserve the boys modesty if he wished, making his way back to the tree house. Once inside, Spine turned and went through the curtain to the right, the floor dropping in a steep ramp to a sunken room, the floor of which was all pillows and blankets. Jade hangings dangled from the ceiling like the vines outside, a hundred candles stood mostly unlit along the walls with special coverings on each to prevent anything from catching fire. The naga set Alexander down and found a blanket to wrap him up in soon after, slithering through the room until he was comfortably tangled within the den, his body heat filling the room with warmth.


“Tomorrow we will work on getting you anything you need...”