Alice Meets the Naga

Alice Meets the Naga

(Warning there are hints of kidnapping, blood and a few other not nice things, You’ve been warned,)

“Damn it, damn the brat’s parents for leaving us high and dry!”  In the darkness a young seven year old girl by the name of Alice laid curled up under a dirty blanket, cringing when the man’s angry voice shook the small closest which she was confined.
“What use do we have for this worthless runt now?”  The girl whimpered softly in fright, a shift kick against the door and a curse in her rough direction caused her to draw silent.
“We could sell her, there always some old sick chump who wants a bitty little thing like her.”  The woman’s voice spoke though the darkness, a charming soft voice.  Alice hid her head under her arm at that voice, the one that had led her away from the people she no longer could give name or a face to.  That woman was mean; she pitched at her arms and pulled on her hair when Alice didn’t do as she was told.  Alice was sure she did it just to hurt her even when she wasn’t doing anything wrong, then the woman would say to her of how disappointed she had made Mama and Papa feel with her and that was why they hurt her.
She couldn’t remember anyone other than these two now, she could no longer remember a life beyond the dark room.  In her head they were the only two people in the world now, they had taken the place of her real mother and father the day they had kidnapped her and suppressed her real life into nothing but pleasant dreams, which came less and less with each day that passed.
Again she heard Papa’s voice from behind the door.
“It’s too risky; the police are always on the lookout for that sort of thing.  I know! We could get a lot for her on the black market, I bet those pretty little teeth of hers would make a fabulous necklace.”  Harsh laughter from him, Papa was the worst, the cruellest one, always quick to kick and hit her and yell.  
“It would take too long and there’s too much heat on us already from the last one we did that with, I’d say we just dump the brat in the desert just like that albino kid, they’d never find any trace of her.”  Mama spoke in her soft, kind sounding voice, sometimes Alice could forget that she could be just as mean as Papa.
More laughter from the man.
“Perfect my dear! Leave her for the snakes!”

***

Half an hour after that Alice had been ripped from her little nest in the darkness by Papa, her whole world had been dark for the last six mouths.  She had only known a few harsh moments of light before she was thrown into a duffle bag with the threat of being beaten again if she so much as made a sound, from there her and the bag had been chucked into the back seat of a car.
For the next few hours she had been shaken as, blind the horrible people had driven her far away from the dim world she had known.
She stayed quiet like she was told as hours crept by, head tucked under her skinny arms in the one gesture of comfort she could give herself.
She couldn’t hear what Mama and Papa were saying most of the time though the thick denim she could barely breathe though.
There was one highlight though, through a gap where the zipper hadn’t been drawn all the way down she could catch glimpses of the world outside, and although the light hurt her eyes at first and she couldn’t see much of anything expect the side door and a fraction of the window; she could see the sky!  She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen such a wondrous thing.
Finally, even though the car still shook the bag around her she felt herself get lifted up.  She tried to wriggle free, the glimpse of the world outside her little peephole showed the back of the woman’s head as she drove, which meant it was the man who held her up.  The scene changed, and then she saw the slim inside of the open back window and the road rushing past her.  For just a moment she felt something hard bite into her hip, hearing only the sound of wind rushing over her, then weightlessness.

CRUNCH!

The air in her lungs rushed out of her, only to be replaced with a wail as her right arm seemed to be replaced entirely by pain.  She clawed at the gap, now dark as she tried to get away from the pain.  Only one arm moved now, the one that caused her such pain refused to even move a bit.  
Finally the zipper gave and she pulled herself from the duffle bag, gasping for fresh air but instead breathing in dust.
Surrounding her in all directions was a sprawling arid wasteland, broken up only by the occasion scrub or rock ridge, no sign of people in any direction expect for the narrow dirt road she stood beside.
Coughing and in pain she crawled to her bare feet, dust and dirt biting into her palms for the first time in mouths as the girl finally stood up in the light.  She was very pale from lack of light and looked a bit malnourished.  Her matted mess of hair, still rather pale like most young children of European descent was blond, although would likely change with age.  Bloodshot from the brightness of the sun her eyes were a rather pleasant blue.  
Coughing still, right arm limp and hanging by her side she stared blankly at the dirt road beside her, a cloud of dust in the distance the only indication of the kidnapper’s car.
A soft whine began to form in her throat as she watched the car, and the only two people she could remember disappearing into the distance.
Alone, arm numbing as shock set in she could only star bleakly around.
Finally, slowly she limped away from the road in search of shade as the heat started to set into the girl’s pale skin.
However there was little shade around at all in which she could take shelter with as the shrubs and rocks in her immediate vicinity were way too small to offer much.
There was a cropping of rocks that looked promising in the distance, looking like it wasn’t very far her inexperienced eye.

Still in shock she didn’t register the sharp rocks she trode across nor the way they cut into the soft soles of her feet, all she could focus on was getting to the shade those rocks must surely have.
Young Alice lost all sense of time, forgot for a while how she had gotten here, forgot even the despair of her situation, all that mattered now was the shade as the heat drove everything else away.
The sun slowly inched across the cloudless sky as minutes started to fade into hours.
Gradually she struggled to lift her bloodied feet over the smallest of obstacles, soon her eyelids started to droop as tiredness swept though her.  All she wanted to do was sleep, only struggling onwards because on some deep level she knew she might never get up again if she stopped now.
Finally the rocks, so deceptively close they had seemed started to get bigger and bigger so they filled her entire vision, hidden behind them the midday sun struggled to be viewed from behind what turned out were huge rocky crags and cliffs.
She stubbled and crawled the last few feet it took to reach the tip of the massive shadow cast by this natural formation, torn up from the earth by ancient colossal tectonic activity long before her birth.
There she collapsed onto her belly, gasping in the dry air in great heaving movements that shook her small little body.
Alice laid there for an unaccountable amount of time, fading in and out of a half sleep/unconsciousness as the sun slowly moved in the sky, the cliff face defending her from most of the heat and the harshness of the sun.
There was something that the cliff couldn’t supply to her that soon started to drive the fog from her mind.

A sound reached her as she slept; of water, dripping and trickling away, waking her at last, more thirsty like she had never known before.  She licked her dry lips with a tongue that felt like it was made of sandpaper; her skin was cracked and dry in places, red and burnt in others.  Reluctantly she pulled herself to her feet once more, dizziness almost sweeping her back over.
Some of the shock from earlier was starting to fade by now and it now hurt Alice to walk, even harder to concentrate though the occasional spasm of pain her still useless arm would give off.
She could still hear the water dripping away; blindly she walked to the cliff face in search of where that sound was coming from.
Alice followed it till she reached the first hard rock surface, dry and hot to the touch; it offered none of the life giving water she needed.
Despair almost came to her then, the only thing that kept it at bay was that sound, louder now.
More determined she walked along the wall, eyes travelling over the rocks till finally a crack seemed to appear out of nowhere.
It had been partly hidden by a small rockslide sometime in the past, leaving it almost invisible from sight till you were right in front of it.
She stared at the large black hole blankly, it was large enough for a girl twice her size to fit through.
Inside she could hear the dripping, much louder than before.  Still, she hesitated as the darkness was very deep in there and she didn’t want to get lost.
At last Alice’s need won over her worry, and she stumbled into the little entrance, immediately moist air washed over her.   Alice rested her right arm against the warm rock face by her side, using it to steady herself as she stumbled though the darkness.
The further she went in the damper and muggier it got; soon she could feel water dripping off the walls.  

Licking her cracked lips of the condensation that was forming she continued on as gradually the temperature began to drop, till finally she stumbled down a slight slope and with SPLASH, found herself up to her knees in cool water.
Immediately she started scooping up big handfuls of it with her useful arm, bringing it to her lips to gulp down as quickly as she could till she felt sick.
Alice didn’t care.
With a great sigh, almost bigger then her whole body the young girl finally lifted her head, water trickling down her chin, a smile on her lips for the first time in weeks.
No longer thirsty, the coolness soothing her skin, away from those horrible people at last, she could only feel some strange sense of happiness at her current situation.
After a while Alice started to get a little cold and tired again.  She started to try and find her way back out of the cave, not wanting to lay down on the wet ground once she made it clear of the puddle she had been standing in, searching blindly for the wall that had guided her all this way.
In the absolute darkness she soon got turned entirely around, the young girl lost all sense of direction.
Alice, lost and disoriented continued on, sure for the time that she was heading the right way.
Finally she saw light in the distance.
Speeding up, excitement growing she soon knew for sure that she was almost out as the rocks surrounding were starting to warm up again.  She had to start climbing upwards as the slop got steeper and steeper.
When she finally reached the exit it never hit her that the cave entrance wasn’t the same shape anymore, or so small she had to squeeze through, or that the air that met her was fresh and sweet; not nearly as harsh as before.
It was only when she climbed over the lip of the hole and looked down at the sight below that she realised she was somewhere new.
“Wow...so pretty.”  She whispered as the sight of the oasis stretched below the small ledge she stood upon.
From her vantage point the oasis was roughly a large circle, surrounded by more rough cliff faces and giant rocky outcrops, completely inclosing the whole small green valley.  A large lake took up most of the room with six or seven smaller ponds of water littered around it.  There weren’t very many trees, a rough dozen from her point of view.  Everything else that was green seemed to be made up of water reeds, lots of very thick bushes, shrubs and ground dwelling vines.
It was almost overwhelming to the little girl, who couldn’t remember when she had last seen living plants and who had only known water as the dirty brown liquid that came out of the tiny sink in the dark laundry she had been kept.

It was safe to say Alice wanted to get closer and see more but, because of the slope she was on she couldn’t immediately do so.
The narrow ledge seemed isolated; it was only as she carefully walked around the edge did she find a single, narrow path she could take down.
Slowly, wincing with each slow, painful step the small girl started to descend into the tiny green valley, taking her time as the path quickly proved to be very unstable.
Moisture from the springs below had long ago seeped into the surrounding rock, causing it to crumble easily.  It was only because of Alice’s undernourished state that kept the rock from completely collapsing underneath her and sending her on a vicious slide down the rock littered slope.
It took about ten minutes to for the girl to finally reach level, solid ground and only a short walk to reach the fertile land; she knew exactly when she reached it when she felt the pleasant sensation of soft moss under her feet.
She had developed quite a bad limp by this stage, and now wherever she trod a she left a thin layer of blood in her path; the moss felt wonderfully soft and soothing to her damaged soles and absorbed the blood like a sponge.
Alice soon found herself engulfed in the cool foliage; the plants were taller than her pretty much everywhere and she easily vanished from sight.  The sounds of birds and small animals filled the natural silence of this place.
In the cool, fresh smelling shade of the shrubs and soft curling ferns the young girl lost what little tension she had left.
The young girl sighed in the pleasant air and was trailing a hand though the small steel green, slightly prickly leafs of a bush that was about hip height when a curious sound reached her ears.
A shifting, rustling sound, loud enough to carry over the birds, which had mysteriously gone silent.  Curious Alice strained her ears as she tried to figure out just where this sound was coming from.

What the girl didn’t know was something very large, very inhuman was close by, out in the open and away from the sheltering greens.
Something, a startling shade of bright red and black shifted in the late midday sun, sending off a faint scattering of ruby red light across the rock and sand.  Her eyes saw the red glint, in such a startling contrast to the surrounding green, and curious headed towards it, her steps muffled by the thick soft moss.
Under the shade of one of the few, towering palms she stopped and peeked though a small fan leafed plant.
Gingerly she sat on the balls of her heels and gasped in shock when she saw the source of such a colour.

Metres away from her sheltered little nook were one the biggest of the water pools she had seen from the ledge, the clear clean water glittering calmly in the slowly fading light.  By its side was a open patch of raised rock, flattened at the top like a stone plate.
It was what was on it that took her breath away.
In front of her very eyes a large being laid, curled up in the warming sun and seemingly fast asleep, occasionally shifting now and then in the sun.  He had the appearance of a man in his early thirties from the waist up, with tanned skin a light shade of bronze and long, tangled hair a light shade of brown and brass.
His face was that of a person of almost Arab or Egyptian ancestry, with sharp angled features softened gently in sleep.  From the waist down however his body underwent a very strange transformation.  She had to edge a little closer to be sure of just what she was seeing.
Where his hips would be was a long snake tall, so long that it disappeared from sight behind the rest of his body.  The light she had seen was from the sunlight reflecting off his gleaming red and black scales that started as a fine carpet from his back and shoulders, gradually thickening and getting larger the closer it got to that massive tail.  He had a bright yellow underbelly in ridge like scales down his entire tail.  He also had a ridge of black and red scales that seemed to stand up along his spine, looking very, very sharp to the young girl’s eyes.
Fascinated by the sight of the giant creature, whose real size and species escaped her Alice couldn’t take her eyes off the sleeping man.
She wanted to get closer and find out just how big he was, or how those scales felt, whether or not he was cold like a snake or warm like a person, all of these wants were simply the desires of a young child.
It was only because he seemed like he was sleeping so peacefully that stopped her.
Feeling a bit shy she stayed back as the large being slept on, taking a seat on the soft ground as she watched the unmoving form, waiting for him to awaken.
Time ticked by slowly from there for the inpatient little girl, not helped by the pain that would occasionally flare from her injured feet and dislocated arm, making it impossible for her to relax.  Anything began to take her attention from the strange being, a line of ants creeping by her feet kept her distracted for half an hour by simply watching them go by.
A stay breeze blew behind her, tossing her hair caused her attention to go sky would, where a bright coloured bird of red and green trilled into the air high in the branches.
In joy she tucked her knees under her chin to stop from giggling happily as it started to preen itself, not even noticing how her soles cracked and bleed a bit at the movement.
The same breeze that had drawn her attention to the animal, now rich with the scent of Alice and her blood also brushed over the still form of the snake like being.

Much to her surprise the bird flew off in a startled flurry quite suddenly as well as every other avian in the oasis, squawking in alarm and fear. She turned on her knees, one useful hand resting on the tree trunk as Alice watch the flock of birds disappear over one of the valleys walls.  She listened to the feared sounds till they got too far away to be heard, leaving her in an eerie silence.  
That is, till she became aware of a new sound coming from above, that of something very, very large breathing and a massive shadow, darker than what the tree would cast fell over her little form.
Curiously she shuffled around, wondering what had blackened the sky so suddenly.  Not seeing anything behind her she scratched her head, only when a gust of warm air blew against her neck did she look up.
She found herself looking into the angry face of the brown haired man, glaring down at her, huge slitted amber eyes with such outrage that she let out a worried whimper.  It was only with his eyes open did she realise he had black markings under his eyes, spiking up at the corners of his eyelids.
His snake like body had crept up on her without a single sound, even managing to curl his entire length around the tree without her notice, so he was literally hanging right above her.
Up close he was far bigger then she had first thought, his head by itself was about the size of about a third of her whole body.  His human like torso was almost seven foot in height, far bigger then her, although in size that was nothing compared to his 24 foot long tail.
“My my my, what do we have here, a trespasser on my land?”  His voice was rather deep, with a strange buzz seemingly to underline his tone.  He sounded angry as well, and to her surprised eyes it seemed that he was shaking a bit, his massive hands, big enough to circle her waist were clenched tight against the trunk, tendons showing though skin.
“Mister, why are you shaking?”  Alice asked softly, reaching out to touch one of those hands without a thought other then concern.
This earned a violent hiss from the being, who recoiled back from her touch like he had been burned.
“You shouldn’t be worrying about that human.”  He hissed, banishing the white claws she had somehow over looked till now.  “You should be more worried about yourself!”  Suddenly the tip of his tail, which had crept behind her wrapped around Alice, lifting her clear off the ground and up to his face.  The sudden movement jolted her sore arm and a small gasp of pain escaped her.
“How many of you do I have to kill before you get the message?” He snarled, baring teeth, he had snake fangs in place of normal incisors.  
“What message?”  Alice asked softly when she got her breath back from the pain, staring into his face unblinkingly, which he didn’t seem to like.
“Don’t act like you don’t know human, you disrupt my peace, taint this place with you scent.”  He smirked evilly and unkindly. “I should crush the life out of your weedy little body or, perhaps you’d be better off as a snack, you’re so small you’d go down easy.” He smirked wider, opening his mouth to show the girl the inside of his jaws.

The young girl felt no fear though, finding the brief glint of sharp teeth a little interesting.  
“Why?”  She asked in her most innocent voice; the threat having no effect in her.  Curiously she tilted her head. “What did I do?”  
He leered at her disbelievingly.
“You know what you did you little trespasser, I should-”
“What does trespasser mean?”  She asked, smiling a bit because she thought meant something great.
“Eh-“His fierce look was briefly replaced by confusion. “It’s not a good a good thing, girl.” Apparently he noticed her smile.
“It isn’t...does that mean I did something bad?”  Her little face crumbled up in sadness.  
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it; please don’t be mad at me; it was an accident.”  She cried out, looking so ashamed that the larger being dropped his tail a bit.
“You don’t even know what you did.”  Annoyance had replaced anger for the time, that and confusion.
“Mama told me I do everything wrong and that I’m too dumb to ever know why.”  She said simply, repeating the words clearly, almost like it had been rehearsed into her by how much it had been said.
The being blinked at her, face blank.
“You’re trying to fool me, aren’t you?”  He finally asked, sounding like he hated himself for asking.  Alice shook her head, smiling a bit sadly.
“No, Mama always mean, not as bad as Papa, he threw me out of the car today while we went driving, didn’t even stop first. But I don’t think he meant it.”  Again she earned another blank look.
“Your parents threw you out of one of those metal heaps that you little humans use to race along the wastes?  And you don’t think they meant to...”  He asked, suspicious.
‘’No silly, Mama and Papa did it, and I’m pretty sure it was an accident.”  He massaged the bridge of his nose as a headache started to form.
“Isn’t that what you apes call you parents?”  She shook her head violently. “Their Mama and Papa, that’s what they told me and, what are apes?”
“That’s none of your concern girl, tell you what.  Just tell me who showed you how to get into this place and I don’t end up turning you into dinner, how’s that.”  The harshness returned to his voice, tightening his coil around the little girl a fraction.  Alice flinched a bit when her sore arm was squeezed.

“No one did, I found it all by myself.”  She smiled at her accomplishment, before another wince of pain crossed her features as the coil tightened again.
“Liar, no little human could find their way here alone, the closest road is miles away, you would have perished long ago by yourself.  Was it that blasted ranger, always poking her head around the waterways?  It’s her isn’t it?”  Alice tilted her head again, expression similar to the puppy like gesture.
“What do Miles, Waterways and Ranger mean?” This earned a glare.
“Will you stop asking stupid questions constantly?!”  He snapped.  
“But you asking things I don’t understand.”  She pointed out, pouting a bit. “I don’t know much stuff yet...”
“Are you some sort of idiot girl?”  He grumbled, once more losing some of his composer, seeming more annoyed then angry again.
“No mister, I learn things at school, just haven’t gone for a long, long time.”  He looked at her evenly, seeming to be taking careful attention to her this time, from her matted hair down to her bloodied feet.
“How old are you?”  He asked softly, starting to look a bit confused and unsure.  Alice blinked, thinking a moment before the number came to mind.
“I’m seven years old, that’s this many fingers!” She smiled in delight, holding up the corresponding number of digits.
“Seven, you just a hatchling aren’t you...”  He muttered, looking away from the tiny girl in his coils.  Alice thought he looked upset.
“Sir... you okay?”  Alice asked again, softer than before, gently stroking the tail that held her with her one good hand.
He froze, turning his head back to watch the girl gently patting his tail, finding the sensation rather strange.
“Why do you care?”  He finally asked, lifting the tiny girl up a bit closer to his face.
“You look a bit sad; I don’t want you to feel sad.”  She replied with a kind smile, and then rested her cheek against the scales that held her.  “I like your tail; it’s very pretty and warm.”
The man stared at her, stunned at the young girl’s words, although he did puff his chest up slightly at the compliment to his scales.
“You’re actually not scared of me?”  He asked, gentling his grip on the girl.
“No, you look really nice, I like you.”  The man started, looking incredulous.
“I’m a giant snake tailed monster and I’ve threatened you, I could crush, maim or swallow you whole, and you say you like me?  I was right you are an idiot child!”  With that he dropped her on her backside, darting off the tree as a red blur and disappeared into the undergrowth with a crash.

Alice laid there stunned for a few moments, wincing slightly from her bruised tailbone and listening for a while to ruckus the man was making, crushing and smashing of branches and wood, till it eventually died down.  The place went silent again, not even a hesitated twit from any birds brave enough to open their beaks.
Gingerly Alice crawled to her feet, wincing in pain as her shoulder twinged and her soles cracked.
Tiredly she followed in the rough direction the snake man had gone, having no idea what else to do.  
He was easy to follow for a little while as he had left a trail of destruction in his path, broken branches, missing patches of moss or ground.  It didn’t take very for her to make it to the next water pool, despite having to stumble painfully over several half hidden roots and stones.  This was where the trail ended though; there was no sign that he had come this way.  She continued on, not thinking to retrace her steps.
She came to a wall of water reeds, which effectively brought her to a stop when she tried to wade through them.  Their roots and old broken stalks were sharp and bit into her foot the moment she tried to take a step.  
Alice sighed softly as she tried to find a break in the stems, finally settling down to rest by a small inlet of water that crept out of the blockade of reeds.  By her back was a small uprise of earth and stone, giving her a little shelter along with a thick carpet of moss that had thrived there with the extra bit of shade. The moss was soft, and to the weary child felt like heaven to sit upon, then to finally lie on, almost like a natural blanket.  With a wall of reeds by one side, thick shrubs and bracken to the other, a narrow band of earth by her back, the soft trickling of water masking her breathing; it took a while before the man found her again.
She was starting to dose a bit when she came aware of a soft sliding sound, coming towards her.   Alice blinked when the sound stopped periodically, constantly shifting till a flash of red catch her attention, moving out of her sight when she sat up and turned her head.

“Ah, there you are.”  The man’s voice echoed around her, startling her a bit from its suddenness.
“Mister...where are you, are you hiding?”  She asked softly, glancing around till her gaze found a pair of large dark amber ones staring right at her from the reeds.
“Why would I hide from a little human girl like you, I have my pride.”  He snapped back, not moving from his spot despite his words.
“It looks like your hiding, how did you get over there?”  This earned a hiss. “I climbed, are you that stupid?” Although in all honestly she had picked a place to rest that was tricky for him to reach without going through the shallow water pool.
Alice frowned, drawing her knees up to her chest.
“Mama always says that...maybe I am.”  She muttered softly to herself, staring at the small water pool by her feet and not at the snake man’s eyes.  He moved slowly closer to the defenceless child, weaving his long body through the reeds, eyes softened slightly at her distress.
He had been reflecting on her words just after he had dropped her at the base of that tree, trying to find fault in her honest words and trying to find any of the other scents that surrounded her in his oasis using his sense of smell, far greater then a human’s.
As far as he could tell there were just two other people that had had any contact with her at all for a long time, which were likely the man and woman she spoke of, other than that she smelt of dust and mildew.
Despite her calling them parental titles he knew from a whiff that they weren’t related in the slightest.
They didn’t smell very pleasant either, almost like a faded whiff of rotten durian fruit, unlike her, the girl had more of a subtle sweet, flowery scent, like lemon thyme.
Judging by their reek he was glad that those people weren’t in his home, although it made it more likely that her tale of being abandoned was true which made everything far more complicated.
The snake like being wove past the last few stalks, hardened scales of his underside stopping the sharp roots from damaging his body to stand above the small huddled form, seemingly quite affected by his words.  He was still trying to get over her own words!  The girl had to be insane; nothing could like a monster like him.
Honestly he was sure the little girl wasn’t very bright because of this, certainly not that intelligent to think of strangers as her mother and father either, but she still very young and could be excused for that, although it escaped him how she wasn’t scared.  

Alice blinked when a deeper shadow enveloped her.  Looking up she was quite surprised to find the man standing above her, if sitting upright on his large tail would be counted as standing.
“You’re really big; I’ve never met anyone as big as you.”
“And you’re tiny as a mouse, but let’s avoid such terms around me.”  He grumbled in a soft voice, looking tense and unsure about something.
“Wh-”
“Ask me why, what or where... one more time... and I’ll bite your little head off!”  He snapped, having quite enough of her endless questions.  She went to open her mouth to ask why he would do that, saw his glare and shut it again, simply nodding in response.
“Good girl.”  He said.  “Stay quiet like that while I think about what just to do with you.”  He curled his tail around the girl as best he could in the small space, not touching her but making it impossible for her to try and escape, although that was far from her mind.
“Don’t try to run, or my coils will get a lot tighter than this.”  He hissed, resting his arms and upper body on his own tail overlapped.

Alice stared at the black and red scales as they shifted, fascinated because of how hard they looked, yet they moved and bent with ease with the rest of the tail.
“Your tail is really, really pretty.”  She said again as she stared, almost entranced by the plate like scales, most as big if not bigger then her own head!
“You’re just saying that so I won’t eat you.”  He murmured, looking away from the girl with a touch of a smile on his face, so faint it was almost impossible to tell.  
“No I mean it mister, their like gems, so shiny and the red is so bright and nice.”  She said with a large smile, just looking up in time to see the pride he felt at the compliment, before he wiped it away when he realised the girl was looking at him.  He cleared his throat uncomfortably, not liking nor used to the attention, certainly any expression other then loathing or terror towards him seemed unnatural.

Alice thought he looked uncomfortable and, having no idea why decided to try and get him talking.
“It’s nice to meet you mister, I’m Alice, what’s your name?”  She asked sweetly, remembering dimly that that was how she was taught.  He merely gave her a sidelong glance before crossing his arms and looking in the distance, seemingly in thought.
“So what’s your name mister?”  She asked again, a bit more loudly, thinking he didn’t hear her.  Again he ignored her.
“WHAT”S YOUR NAME MISTER?!”  She shouted at the top of her lungs.  He started, looking down with wide surprised eyes at the girl as his ears rung.
“I can hear you just you know!”  He snapped, rubbing his sensitive ears, grimacing.
“I’m sorry; you weren’t answering so I thought you didn’t hear me.”  She apologised, worry in her soft voice at his pained expression.
“Well I did, so please keep your voice down, my hearing is very sensitive.  And remember what I said about questions.”  He grumbled, even if he was angry now he had lost the nasty attitude back then she had first talked to him in that tree.
“Okay mister, I’ll be quiet...so, what’s your name?”  He grunted, resting his head in his hand, that headache coming back, keeping silent just wasn’t going to work.
He was reluctant to reveal too much, if he let her live the better it was for her to know little.  After a few moments he mentally shrugged, just a name right?
“Fine, fine...my name... is Fortitude, are you happy now?”  He grumbled, glaring at the girl.  “I trust, that will be all?  It better be.”
“I like that name, Fort-iadu, Forta-lud, Fort-titlude... I can’t say it... can I call you something else instead?”  A stern look from the man.  “My name is Fortitude, just that.”
Alice frowned and tried again and again to say the strange name, trying to make her tongue shape it correctly, failing part way though each attempt.
Fortitude, as this was indeed his name watched her for a time, trying to tune out her horrible attempts of his name.  Finally he had enough.
“Look, call me whatever you will, just stop already.”  He growled, baring his teeth in a gesture he already knew would be lost completely on the girl.
“Oh... OK! Thank you mister... Fort!”  The smile she gave him then was full of warmth, making the snake like being far more uncomfortable.
“Not the worst thing I’ve been called.”  He murmured under his breath, not really intending for Alice to hear him.

“What else have people called you?”  She asked, curiosity in her eyes.  The snake man, cringed, realising he had spoken to loud.
“It’s none of your business...”  He turned his head slowly then, looking at her with blank eyes.  “Actually... it might be.”  He hissed, like a real snake as an evil smile crossed his lips, changing in an instinct back to the man that had first threatened her.
“Do you believe in monsters girl?”  He shifted till he loomed over her, resting his clawed hands either side of small little girl, leaning over the tiny form, teeth bared in that unnerving smile as he looked down on that tiny face.
Alice looked back up into his eyes, confused by the man’s sudden change.
“No, I don’t believe in monsters. why?”  She asked in a soft voice, confused.  
“Well you better start believing girl; cause ones looking right at you.”  He whispered, baring his teeth, lips stretching back in a way a human’s never could.
Alice tilted her head again, not quite understanding what he meant till she thought it over very carefully.
She still didn’t quite get it though.
“But, mister Fort, you’re not a monster.”  Stunned silence from the man followed this statement.
Slowly he shifted, bending down till their faces where only inches apart.
“Are you insane girl, what else could I possibly be.”  He stated, eyes narrowed as if he couldn’t possibly believe this child could be as dumb as she seemed to be.
“I was always told monsters were bad, no good in them.  But, everyone has some good in them, right? So there’s no such thing as monsters then.”  She then reached up, resting her fingertips for a second against his cheek.
“You’re nice, I can tell so you’re not a monster, your different that’s all.” She smiled brightly at this, tracing her fingertips lightly against his warm skin.  Fortitude stared at her blankly for a moment, frozen at her touch as much as her words. Suddenly, as if awaking he recoiled at her touch with a violent hiss, rearing up on his tail with so much force that the girl was knocked down by accident as his tail flexed hard behind her back.
Alice cried out as she tumbled onto her useless right arm, crying out as it abruptly flared in sharp pain and didn’t stop, a small clicking sound coming with the movement.

The snake man stilled at the sound, eyes fastening on the cringing girl, gripping at the limb in question, eyes closed as little mews of distress escaped her lips.  
He felt guilty when he realised he had hurt the girl with his rashness, although his pride wouldn’t allowing him to apologise directly didn’t stop him from trying to make up for injuring the little child further.
Slowly he bent down to her level again, eyes reflecting sympathy when he realised that there was something wrong with that arm, noticing its limpness.
“That must hurt; let me have a look at that.”  He said quietly, not even giving her the choice as he placed a large hand over her injured shoulder, pressing down lightly with a finger into her shoulder socket, ignoring her little cry of pain.
There was a click as he felt the bone shift and strained muscle spam.
“I think it’s just dislocated little one, I can make it better if you want, and it won’t hurt as much then.”  He said, pressing one more time against the injury.
She groaned softly, wincing at the pain.  After a few minutes she nodded slowly, tears straining her eyes from it the pain.
“It will hurt a bit; it might not as much if you can think of something else while I do this, okay?”  She whined, shaking her head.
“Try to, how about you tell me about those two people you know, Mama and Papa you said they got you to call them?  Tell me what they look like, what they did to you.”  As he spoke he coiled further around the girl, moving his hand down to grip her forearm while the other went to its place on her shoulder.  
“okay...I’ll try...”  She whispered painfully, explaining from there in short paragraphs what she could remember about being locked in the dark room, and her life these last six months of her still rather new life and how she couldn’t remember most of it.
He listened intensely as she described everything that the two had done to the small girl; how they beat her and starved her, how they talked about trying to sell the kid to anyone willing to pay.  As she spoke she failed to see the anger cross though his eyes, particularly at that part of her tale.
During each of her little paragraphs he’d apply pressure on the dislocated joint, easing it slowly into place.
As she explained lastly the appearance of the two, like how the woman always wore fancy green suits and how the man had a little black mole on the side of his face did he finally fully snap her arm back into place, a predatory look to his eyes now he had a fair idea what the two looked like.
Alice cried out as the bone went back into place, sobbing softly as she fell back against his scales the moment Fortitude let go.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay little one, it will stop hurting soon.”  He whispered as the angry look rapidly faded from his eyes, laying himself down next to her, sadness now in his gaze at the innocent girl’s pain.
She continued to cry softly for a little while, curled up around her arm.  Carefully the naga reached out and pried the arm away from her side, lifting it up.
“Try to move your fingers.”  He told her sternly, holding her arm up at a painful angle.
Weakly the fingers twitched, and then slowly curled up, only then did he gently lower it back down to her side.
After a time passed Alice felt some of the pain fade a bit, only then did she relax a little, raising her tear stained face to peer up at Fortitude.
“T-thank you...”  She said, so softly he almost didn’t hear her.
“Please don’t thank me, just my way of apologising for how I’ve treated you, something like me deservers no thanks.”  He answered crisply, reaching out with a clawed hand and gently brushing it over her head, mindful of his claws.
Alice’s eyes betrayed curiosity as he did.
“W-why not, you helped me, i-it hurt but you still helped me.”  She stammered, trailing a hand against the warm scales cradling her.
“Despite your words I’m still a Naga, a monster that devours people, crushed the life from everything they touch.  So what if I do something randomly nice here and there, it doesn’t change that.”  That he mostly uttered to himself, continuing to lightly stroke Alice’s hair almost wistfully.
Alice frowned, sitting up, looking right into his face.
“D-do you still want to, huh crush me? Or eat me like you said earlier?”  She asked softly, still with her fearless gaze, even reddened by tears it’s strength startled the naga.
“Of course not...I never had any intention to hurt you.”  He admittedly sighed, stroking her hair gently.  “And honestly after what you’ve told me I lost my appetite anyway.”  He joked with a touch of a smile.
“So mister Fort, you can’t be a monster, you would have hurt me if you were.”  Alice smiled at him tiredly, wincingly wrapping both arms as far around the coil that held her in a hug, that lacked the strength to be felt though the warm scales at her cheek.

Fort frowned, bending down to peer at her curiously.
“What are you doing there?”  He asked as the girl, to his eyes appeared to be trying to crush his tail.
“*yawn* I’m hugging you, but your skin’s very hard.”  She sighed, closing her eyes and smuggling against the warm coils.
“Of course they are, their scales, not skin.”  He tutted, glancing up at the sky, confirming it was starting to get dark.  “Tired little one?”  He muttered, lying back beside her.
“Yes...I’m very sleepy...but I don’t want to go to sleep.”  She whispered, opening her eyes to slits, for the first time that day to the naga, she looked a bit scared.
“Why?” Fortitude couldn’t help but ask.
“Because I’m scared I’ll wake up back in the dark room and Mama and Papa will hurt me again...”
“I won’t let them get you, I know somewhere nice and safe for you where they will never think to find you.  And if they come, well, let me take care of them.”  The last bit he smiled darkly to himself, that predatory look creeping back into his eyes.
“Can I stay here with you?”  She asked, shutting her eyes again, her worn out body finally giving in.  The last thing she heard was his strained voice, sounding far away.
“I’m sorry little one... you need to be with your own kind. Sleep now, and try and forget this nightmare.”
“Goodnight Fort...” she whispered, not knowing if he heard her, or if it as her imagination that made it sound like he had wished her the same, as sleep bore her away into dreams.


~


Alice sighed, feeling warm and safe as she slumbered lightly, covered in something light and soft.  She nuzzled into it, curling herself up tighter within it, jolting awake when she rolled onto her sore arm.  She opened her eyes and sat up slowly, staring about the sunlit room she found herself in.  She was sitting in the middle of a small bed, with a light yellow blanket and lots of pillows she had been laying her head on.  Alice was surprised to find herself in a small pair of plain orange pyjamas which felt nice and warm to her. She found her arm was done up in a sling and held close to her chest, she could barely move it.
The room was rather small, with two windows, one on the wall across from her and other to the wall on its right, and a wooden door on the left wall.  
Just then the door opened and a man with dark brown hair and black rimmed glasses poked his head though, his hazel eyes widening when he saw her awake.
“Ah, I see our mystery patient is feeling better.”  He said with a cheery smile, coming in with a small note board.
“Where am I?”  Alice asked, glancing around the small, sun lit room, confused.
“You’re at the medical centre; I have to say you had us worried there.”  He sat on the edge of the bed, as the room lacked enough space for chairs.
“How did I get here?”  She wondered, looking into the man’s wide and open face.
“Well, I was hoping you’d tell us that yourself.  I found you by the front door late last night, heavily dehydrated with heavy lacerations to your feet, as well as a heavily strained arm.”  He said with worry.
Right then another person peeked through the door, this time a woman of about the same age with dyed red hair.
“Dear, leave the poor thing alone, she’s only just woke up and I don’t she’s eaten anything at all for days, look at all those bones.”  The woman tutted before leaving in a huff.  The man saw the young girl’s confusion and laughed lightly.
“That was my wife Maria, and my name is Lawrence Aperman, we run this whole place.  She’s right, let’s get you all fixed up and then will sort this all out.”  He got up, drawing a pen from the inside of his white coat.
“May I ask your name sweetheart?”  He asked, eyes kind like his smile.  She felt scared for a moment; the last man who had that smile had been cruel in the end.  The she remembered the mysterious one, the one with the tangled hair and the slitted eyes, the long red tail and the claws.
She smiled slightly, feeling braver as she remembered how Fort had told her that she was going to be safe, no one cruel would get her anymore.
It took a few minutes for Alice to realise this, and the man was just turning away with a sad smile when he heard her tiny voice pip up hesitantly.
“My n-name is Alice, Alice Creed, nice to meet you!”