Alice was starting to get light-headed as she continued to struggle for the surface of the water, pain from her head wound disorienting her sense of direction, her small body sinking into the deluge of water surrounding her. She grasped at her mouth as her air supply grew short, trying to stop opening her mouth and inhaling the surrounding water, her lungs were seriously starting to hurt with each beat of her quickly oxygen deprived heart.
A whine filled her ears, surprising her slightly as she hadn’t heard anything past the denseness of the water in her ears. She heard the whine each time her lungs would ache.
She soon realised that the whine was hers.
With her eyes tightly clenched Alice didn’t notice her sight steadily blackening around the edges, but in a sense her mind had already grasped the reality of the situation. For a moment she thought she heard something break the water’s surface from above but wasn’t sure, thinking maybe it was her mind playing a trick on her.
She struggled one last time, trying to get her arms and legs to shift the water surrounding them, trying to somehow find some sort of purchase that would help her get back to the air.
‘No…I cant…no…I have..to…need air!’ She struggled to even think clearly through the black haze in her mind. She felt her back come to rest on the floor of the water pool, soft sand shifting up in a cloud around her for a moment.
Her eyes drifted open surprise at the feeling, eyes blurry and stinging from the water. Above she could make out the glittering of the sun on the water’s surface.
‘…pretty…its so pretty…’ Was her immediate thought, despite the situation and her fading sight.
‘The…sun…its not so bright…down here…and the blue…and…red…?’ Her eyes widened slightly as a massive dark shadow passed over her, something so big coming close enough to shift her slightly from the floor, body floating just a few inches off the sand.
Next thing she knew it she had been grabbed around the middle, startling a gasp from her. Even before she begun to choke what had grabbed her had propelled upwards.
When the large naga had awoken that day he hadn’t expected it to turn out quite like this, his days only ever started one of three ways. Sluggish and content from a recent meal; feverish and almost feral from hunger, or almost hungry, achy and tired, that was how his day had started.
‘Why isn’t she coming up?’ Fort thought when he made it to the water’s edge, rocks still tumbling down and churning the water from the shattered cliff face. He was ready to scold, threaten and rave at the little human the moment she resurfaced, angry at the destruction she had accidentally caused and the stupidity of what she had done trying to get down. Couldn’t she have seen that it wasn’t a safe path to go down?
However, what anger he felt was quickly being replaced with worry the longer time stretched by without any sign of her, expect some bubbles that got stirred up by the fall. He edged forward, scaled hide sliding through the shallow water at the edge with ease, water beading up and sliding down his smooth waterproof scales.
The rocks had turned up loose sand from the bottom of the water pool, making it impossible for the naga to see just what had happened or where the little girl was.
He wove his long body further into the water, cold water lapping at his yellow ridged underbelly, unease quickly settling.
Surely the girl should have resurfaced by now, right? How long could humans hold their breath anyway?
Then, he caught the faint scent of blood.
He dove completely into the water before it even had a chance to clear; he had a sinking feeling in his gut that something was wrong.
He ducked his head under, flexing his body to help propel him deeper, the many muscles from his head to the tip of his tail helping him slide and slip beneath the water with hardly a ripple. He blinked, his second pair of eyelids coming over his eyes so the water and dirt didn’t damage them.
His dread was confirmed, spotting the tiny form at the bottom of the water, little hands clasped against her mouth tight, eyes clenched as her face turned blue from lack of oxygen, a small cloud of faintly red water trailing from her forehead.
He swum down towards her, body looping behind him, blocking the light out with his bright reflective scales.
Any doubt that the child couldn’t survive underwater for long like he could completely vanished when his presence caused her to open her eyes, they were listless and dull, and it was a wonder if she could even register anything with them.
Wasting no more time he dived those last few feet, grabbing the small child and quickly swimming back to the surface, feeling the little form choke and gurgle in his grasp.
In barely a moment his head broke the water, quickly lifting up the girl so her head was clear as well, smiling thinly in relief when she started gasping and choking in gulps of air.
Again the smell of blood assaulted his senses as he slowly swum back to the shallows, allowing the little one to catch her breath. Glancing at her he frowned at the sight of bright red staining her forehead. He wasn’t too worried at the severity, head wounds always bled heavily, plus she was soaking wet, the water was spreading it out and probably making it look like she was bleeding far worse than she was.
He still didn’t like it either way; he’d have to sort it out as soon as possible.
Alice on her part was still a little stunned by the injury and had yet to gather her thoughts together as the naga lifted her clear of the water, hanging more or less limp from the crook of his arm as her dazed and confused mind tried to sort itself back together.
Once the water she had inhaled had been expelled and her breathing started to even out Fortitude had stopped a few metres from the water, slowly curling up his long body into a loose pile, partly wrapping his humanlike torso within them.
She weakly raised her head as the naga resettled the small girl in the lye of a warm coil, pressing her in place gently with the very tip of his tail so she wouldn’t slip off the smooth scales.
“Are you alright, feeling dizzy, nauseous?” The naga finally asked, peering at the graze on her forehead. She blinked at him slowly, seeming not to see him clearly for a moment, which made him uneasy.
“What does nauseous mean?” She finally asked, finally seeming to focus properly.
“Sick, it’s another word asking if you feel sick.” He grumbled, sighing once she seemed to come back to herself. Slowly she shook her head, wincing and touching her sore forehead at the movement, seeming quite disgruntled when her fingertips came back stained red. Her face blanched and she started shaking.
“I think I feel dizzy and sick now...” She whispered softly.
Fortitude reached out and eased her hand down, forcing her to stop looking at the blood.
“Don’t worry little one, I’ll fix it up.” He muttered softly, moving his face closer to the wound to peer at it intently.
Alice was confused as he did this, feeling on his very warm breath gusting against her forehead for a few moments.
Then, she let out a quiet squeak when the naga suddenly flicked out his wide, flat tongue and licked the wound and a fair bit of the surrounding skin, cleaning away the blood. The hot, damp and slightly sticky sensation it left behind brought about quite an amusing change in the young girl.
“Eww-eww-eww-eww!” Alice cried out, wriggling franticly. Fortitude pulled back, smiling in amusement, Alice’s grossed out look causing him to laugh quietly. However when she tried to wipe her face he was quick to capture both her hands in his to prevent her.
“Ah-ah, I know it’s not pleasant but just wait a minute, trust me on this little one.” He tried to sooth, but he couldn’t help but smirk at her still disgusted little face.
“Why did you do that, it’s really gross to lick people, it’s not nice!?” She blubbered, pouting quite cutely despite how unhappy she was. All of a sudden she noticed a faint tingling where he had licked her skin, faint to begin with, and then it intensified.
“My head feels all weird...” His smile grew at her sudden confusion.
“I know, but it doesn’t hurt now does it?” He asked, although he knew well the answer.
“What’s happening? Why is my head all tingly?” She questioned, trying to raise her hands up again, although this time it was only to feel the cut, although Fortitude wouldn’t let her have her hands back yet.
He had noticed that her palms were quite scratched up, quite recently done by the angry shade of pink that the surrounding skin had become.
“How about I show you little one? I won’t lick this time if it’s so unpleasant for you.” He questioned, switching his hold on them till he lightly held the wrists of both in just one of his.
She looked confused, not sure exactly. The wound on her forehead was starting to tingle less now, but it certainly hurt a lot less, she could barely feel it actually. Slowly she nodded, more curious than ever.
He grinned slowly, opening his mouth slightly and drawing the back of his free hand’s index finger against his tongue.
He felt her cringe and her look of disgust come back as he lifted up her hands, before drawing the back of the digit against one of her scratched up palms.
“Eww! Grosss!” She whined, getting another chuckle from the large naga as he repeated the process with the other hand, holding them both still till Alice calmed down, the tingling sensation starting up on her palms caused her to go still and wild-eyed. He finally let her have her hands back then, watching her face intently as she stared at them.
Alice stuck her tongue out in disgust at her saliva covered palms, shuddering slightly at the warm, wet, sticky fluid. She resisted the urge to wide her hands off on her shirt, instead she just stared intently at her hands, waiting for something to happen.
Alice watched her hands in fascination as it started to tingle, which quickly started to intensify. The skin on her hands, before a bright angry red were starting to change back to their normal colour, as well as the scratches. She could almost swear that the scrapes were shrinking and closing over...
She gasped and thrush her hands away from her, eyes going wide, almost scared at what she was seeing. Fortitude chuckled, enwrapping his tail around the girl and setting her down on the ground.
“You can wash your hands and face; that should have done its work by now.” He said, slowly uncoiling himself. The little girl, without further a due rushed to the water to do just that.
The naga came up behind her as the girl was vigorously scrubbing her forehead; now that the worry was fading he was starting to revert to his previous mindset, particularly when he cast his gaze back at the cliff face and the sight of her bag, still quite safely sitting where she had left it part way down.
His lips were curling back into his unnaturally wide snarl when the girl finished.
Alice sighed, shaking some water from her hair, much like a pup might. She delicately touched her forehead, finding the graze, or what was left of it. Her skin was a little tender to the touch, otherwise there seemed to have completely closed.
“How did you do that?” She asked, turning around to stare up into Fortitude’s looming face, seeming not to notice the cruel look in his eyes.
He faltered slightly, the unafraid look in her eyes causing him to pause.
Before he had a chance to recover the girl suddenly rushed forward, staring at his face.
“I think your mouth is broken! That must hurt.” She gasped, never actually taking note of that scary trait of his the last time.
He grunted in surprise at her concern, even if he didn’t understand her alarm at all. The snarl faded from his lips, causing the little girl to sigh in relief.
He raised a hand to his cheek, checking the smooth, deceptively elastic skin there.
‘Did it rip? No, I haven’t eaten yet, maybe my jaw’s askew?’
The girl watched in confusion as the naga checked his jaw, gasping when his suddenly gaped his mouth impossibly wide, two cracks sounding in the air as he dislocated his jaw and snapped it back into place a moment later.
Satisfied that nothing was wrong he turned a confused look on the girl, noticing that she was staring at him with wide, shocked eyes.
“D-didn’t that hurt? It sounded like you broke something!” She stammered, more than a little concerned now, thinking something was really wrong with his mouth.
It took a moment for Fortitude to realise what she was talking about.
“Ah, that’s right. You human’s have weird, fixed jaws. It’s normal for me, you shouldn’t worry about it.” Then a familiar evil look came over his eyes. He suddenly ducked down at her, flexing his claws at her and being rewarded with the little girl quickly giving a little jump of surprise.
“Actually I think you should worry. Remember last time I was debating whether I should devour you, swallow you alive? That little trait of mine would let me easily.” He sneered, advancing slowly on the girl, trying to look as menacingly as he could.
“bearing in mind that you came back here I might have to consider it, I really shouldn’t just let a tasty little morsel like you get away again, I haven’t eaten in a couple of weeks now either.” He sneered evilly, revealing several sharp teeth as he did.
Alice, although a little startled for a moment gave him a rather puzzled look, not moving even when he started his approach.
“Your being silly Mr Fort, I was worried you hurt yourself, but your just being silly.” She scolded, quite suddenly beating a finger sharply on the tip of his nose, just as he started to open his mouth wide when he had gotten close to the small little girl. He had been trying to intimidate the little kid, trying to scare her with his open maw and the many sharp teeth it held.
He recoiled with a loud breath at the poke however, ending up resting a hand over the middle of his face and staring, completely stunned at the little girl, still scowling at him. Such a small strike, if it even could be called that hadn’t hurt in the least, just the fact she had done that, heck anyone could have dared do that simply stupefied him.
“I could rip you in half for that.” He grumbled quietly, still shocked, in the past he would seriously have considered doing just that, although back then anyone trying to strike him would have actually been trying to harm him, even he could tell Alice had only done to reprimand him, although that was almost as shocking as the tiny strike.
Alice humph, crossing her arms in a clearly annoyed gesture. She didn’t like being scared.
“I was worried about you, then you go scare me, you’re acting like Mama and Papa did! You’re just a big meanie.” She half yelled, wiping hurt tears from her eyes, turning on her heels and heading back towards the cliff, refusing even to look at the large naga.
That stunned Fortitude even more, and it surprised him that her words actually hurt a bit.
He sighed, slowly following after the young girl as she stormed to the cliff face, stopping and watching as she started trying to find something on the crumbling rock.
It would have been easy to snatch up the small girl like he threatened, especially with her back turned; he had devoured far bigger things then her whole before, even his smaller storage stomach could contain something her size incredibly easily.
But he wouldn’t allow himself to think of doing such a thing, the poor little girl had gone through enough without a trip to a naga’s insides added to the mix.
He always felt ill at the idea of swallowing living, moving creatures, especially sentient ones who screamed and thrashed in fear if he chose to do such a thing, large amount of movement tended to make him feel very, very queasy and ill.
It was almost unnatural for his kind but Fortitude had been born with a rather delicate system, he couldn’t overeat or he’d be sick, not eat enough and he would stiffen up, and he simply couldn’t hold down meals that thrashed or moved to violently, the only things he could eat alive were fish and small rodents, the latter just wasn’t worth it.
He was curious about what she was trying to do, and paid careful attention to try and distract himself from his current thoughts.
He had been telling the truth about not having eaten for a while, he wasn’t starving but the familiar ache preceding it was there, and it wasn’t wise to dwell on it, lest his original fear for the girl went and reared its head. He didn’t want to come back to his senses and find his claws bloody, and the girl lost to oblivion. The very thought made him feel ill regardless.
Alice was trying to find a way to get her bag down from the ledge, still feeling upset. She really had felt quite worried that Fort had hurt himself somehow. Again his threat hadn’t registered, she wasn’t afraid of him at all, but he had surprised her.
She finally found a foothold in the rock and a place to sink her fingers into, using it to try and pull herself up. The rock was still soft and worn. After putting her weight on it the stone gave way, causing her to gasp and fall onto her rear.
Alice grunted, pulling herself shakily to her feet and trying again, and again, and again.
Fortitude stretched himself out on the ground near her, laying sideways and supporting himself up on his elbow, a heavy sigh escaping him. His tail looped somewhat around him.
He was getting rather bemused as he watched the girl repeat her little falls over and over.
“You must be starting to feel very tender, hmm?” He finally asked after the fifth time she fell. He wasn’t worried; he knew the rock wouldn’t support her enough to get to a dangerous height to fall.
She sniffed, pulling herself up gingerly, not looking at Fort yet, still a bit upset.
“I left my bag up there, it’s got my water and lunch in there, I don’t want to lose it.” She muttered, forcing herself to go back to the wall. Before she could touch it again a firm weight pressed itself around her belly, Fortitude’s tail tip had wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her back away from the worn out stone.
“You’ll hurt yourself if you keep up like that, don’t want any more rocks falling on you now; I won’t patch you up a second time.” He grumbled, lifting her up and over to him. Again, Alice refused to look at him, tucking her face up against the warm coil that held her, effectively making him feel worse.
“Alright, I might have overdone it a bit back there.” He admitted with a weary sigh, pushing himself off the ground and lifting the small girl to his face again. Alice nodded against the warm scales, still refusing to lift her head. He gave an annoyed huff, reaching out he placed his index and middle finger under her chin, gently making her look up. She refused even then, scrunching up her eyelids tight.
“Now you’re being ridiculous.” He growled, placing her back on the ground. Alice, seeing only the darkness at the back of her eyelids was confused when all she heard next was a mass of shifting; rattling sounds which quickly started to become fainter as it moved further away.
Alice peeked open an eye, opening them both when she realised Fortitude was gone. She scrambled to her feet in panic, turning her head around franticly. She was bit annoyed at Fort; she didn’t want him to go away though!
Out of nowhere her bag dropped down right in front of her, causing the girl to gasp in surprise and step back involuntarily.
“One minute you want that, next minute you’re acting like it’s poisonous, I don’t get humans.” Came the naga’s rumbling voice from above her. Looking up she stared wide-eyed at the sight of the naga, hanging partway over the side of the cliff, the bright sun was caught on his red scales, almost blindingly so.
“How did you get up there Mr Fort?” She questioned as the naga started slithering along the ledge.
He pointed ahead of him, although she couldn’t see what he was pointing at from her angle. Before she could question it the naga suddenly slipped most of his tail over, causing her to gasp in fear when he dropped like a stone. He landed with a heavy thud, long body coiling and flattening for a moment before he slithered back over to the girl with merely a grunt, the fall not hurting him in the least.
“This ledge connects to a slope that way; if you had bothered to look you would have seen it instead of going down the actual cliff. All the cliffs and slopes surrounding this place are unsafe to climb.” He pointed at the place he had gotten up, not noticing her little gasp.
“I still wonder how in the world you got here the first time, especially in your condition at the time.” He grew a bit sombre at the thought.
Alice didn’t answer; instead she picked up her bag, hugging it to her chest.
“Thank you for getting my bag, I’m sorry for calling you a meanie...” She whispered apologetically, her eyes wide and sad looking.
He immediately softened at that look.
“I don’t blame you, I see why you did, you were worried and I shouldn’t have threatened at that time.” He said simply, giving that bag of hers a long glance.
“I don’t get why you wanted that so much, there’s nothing important in there, all it would do is slow you down.” He commented as Alice opened it up, satisfied everything was there.
“It’s a gift from Mr and Mrs Aperman, its special because of that.” She merely replied, hugging it closer.
The naga frowned, laying on his belly so their heads were closer to the same height.
“And those people are?” He asked, watching her face intently. The last couple she had told him about had mistreated the child horribly and he a touch worried. He was also highly curious; the girl had only ever called those two Mama and Papa. He hadn’t heard a real name given to the two yet, if he ever caught those, he hesitated to call them people, he wanted a name to associate with the people he was going to render limb from limb, he knew their scent at least, it was by far enough for the large creature to go by.
Alice smiled warmly, not noticing the dark look that had come over his eyes at the thought of her old kidnappers.
“They’re a really nice couple of people. They’ve been looking after me since I woke up in the hospital, they’re the ones who looked after me and helped me get well again.” She chimed in, a sweet, genuine smile on her lips as she remembered how kind the two were.
“It’s good that couple are taking good care of you but, it’s been a while now, shouldn’t you be back with your parent’s by now? “ ‘And shouldn’t you be miles away from this place? Surrounded by friends and family, safe from those people...and things like me.’ He continued on in his mind, feeling saddened at the mere thought.
He immediately regretted his words.
Alice’s happy face crumbled, wrapping her arms tight around herself. The little one seemed to shrink down on herself even more.
“My...mummy and daddy, no one can find my mummy and daddy...they’ve been gone a long...long time...I can’t even remember their faces anymore...so Mr and Mrs Aperman take care of me now...” She whispered, eyes bright and shiny, like she was about to cry.
She was momentarily surprised when a large hand gently stroked her head. She looked up into Fort’s face, a kind and sympathetic in his features, it almost didn’t seem right on his face.
For Fortitude it didn’t feel right either, yet the emotions had still come.
“Shh...It’s alright Alice, just forget I asked.” He said softly, the use of her name felt odd to do, he always hesitated to use someone’s real name however he felt she needed some sort of familiarity right then, even if it was simply someone calling her by name.
‘But, why should I even care that a little human is upset?’ He wondered, even as the girl gave him a weak little smile.
“I’m alright, thank you Mr Fort” She smiled hugely, although still with unshed tears in her eyes it didn’t look quite as genuine as it once did.
“Will you stop calling me that? I detest those human analogies.” He growled, earning a perplexed look.
“What does a-nnag-goies mean?” She struggled with the word. He rested his head in his hands, groaning.
“Let’s not go through this again, I can’t stand anymore questions.” Fortitude grumbled, lifting himself off the ground, his face hardening again.
“I was just curious...” Alice muttered, dwarfed in the naga’s massive shadow.
“Careful, curiosity killed the varsssh.” He hissed, that strange buzz that just underlined his tone becoming very noticeable for a moment, before he moved away from the child and into the surrounding greenery. Alice stilled a moment, bewildered by the sound he had made, not even sure it was a word or a hiss. After a minute she shook her head, realising the naga had vanished again.
She sat there for a moment, confused at why he had gone. Alice gentled her grip on her bag before swinging it with difficulty onto her back, checking the straps before struggling to her feet under the added weight. The little girl quickly rushed to the edge of the foliage that marked where the slim barrenness of the water’s edge ended, her wide blue eyes searching for the giant naga.
‘Where did he go? His, scales? Their so red, why is it so hard to see them?’ She wondered, stepping onto the soft moss, not knowing that red light couldn’t travel well through green.
She shivered when she walked under the canopy, the shade chilling her still damp cloths from her fall into the waterpool. After hugging her arms around herself, trying to capture as much warmth as possible as she went on, looking for her friend.
Unlike the last time she was there and had tried to follow the large naga he hadn’t left a trail of destruction in his wake, taking into account he had done so in a rage that time.
She had hoped that his long tail had left a trail in the soft dirt and soil. However, there weren’t too many patches of earth exposed, the moss was everywhere. This didn’t help either, the moss, while spongy tended to spring back into shape with each step.
She paused for a moment, noticing this and testing it by pressing down on her heel, eyes glittering with childish glee when she felt the moss push back.
She kneeled down onto it, pushing her hand into the thick moss, giggling when her fingers were enveloped, yet she was fascinated by how she felt it push back on her palm. She had almost forgot how soft the moss had been when she had first come to this place, how soothing it had been to her bleeding soles.
It would have been easy for the eight year old to lose track of time there, she could become distracted rather easily by the simplest of things.
But it was too chilly there, with her damp cloths; soon she was shivering and wanting the warmth of the sun again. Tucking her hands under her arms Alice kept on, ducking under branches and climbing over slippery rocks, covered in lichen.
It didn’t take long for her to see a break in the foliage just ahead.
She sighed happily when she stumbled into direct sunlight, the heat chasing away the chill. In front of the girl was the largest of the waterpools. The water glittered calmly in the steady light, a thin beach of course sand and pebbles surrounded it. Opposite her, on the other side was a large, raised outcrop of stone, dish shaped and flattened out like it had been carved into that shape.
She remembered this spot, the first time she had ever seen Fort was on that rock, sun bathing and oblivious to the little intruder in his home.
He was there when she emerged, laying on his back on top of the outcropping, eyes closed and looking, to all the world like he was sleeping with his hands behind his head, looking quite comfortable even though he was laying on rock.
As she came over to him, being careful not to slip on the smooth little pebbles she couldn’t help but smile at how relaxed he looked laying there in the sun.
His tail seemed too long to curl up around him on the stone plate; instead it was draped in varying degrees over and around the stone, the full 21 foot length of it simply to massive.
She paused to wonder at the contrast. Above his waist he looked like a normal person of some sort of foreign descent, maybe Egyptian or Arab by the set of his face. His skin was highly tanned, a striking light bronze. His hair was an interesting shade of brown and brass, it almost looked red depending on where the light hit.
He looked so much like a human, a 7 foot tall, heavily muscled one without legs whose upper arm was as thick as Alice was, and nearly as long.
As she reached him she gingerly touched the smooth scales of his tail, the immense warmth that radiated off of it seemed so odd. She had always thought snakes were cool to the touch.
It was that tail that drew the eye most, the human part was easy enough to excuse. His wide and pointed scales were the colour of fresh blood, with black tips down his entire length; his underbelly had ridge like scales a bright yellow. It wasn’t till she could see his entire length like now did she realise that she didn’t really see the slight scattering of much smaller scales on his elbows, one long single on one on each of his forearms, shoulders, and now that she thought about it he had them almost completely covering his back as well.
Alice found him just as interesting as the first time she had saw him, the inhuman aspects of the creature before her just didn’t scare the little girl, even when she first saw his fangs and eyes, and she didn’t really ever see his claws either.
She started to climb up beside him on the shelf, using part of his draped tail to climb up. It was hard with how smooth the scales were, but if she concentrated, and dug her fingers into the slight ridges where one scale overlapped the over she found that she could get enough leverage to climb up, it was only a short distance to climb anyway.
Even if someone told her that he was something to be scared of, if someone told her that he could hurt, even kill her she wouldn’t have believed them. In her mind’s eye he had done nothing to deserve fear, she only feared those who had earned it, and only two people had ever been rewarded with her terror, only two people haunted her nightmares and waking dreams.
When she saw Fortitude she wasn’t afraid, or unease, she trusted that he wouldn’t hurt her, somehow, she knew he wouldn’t.
That’s why, when she finally crawled up onto the rock she happily sat down by his side, taking off her bag and laying it down.
This close she was in awe at how huge the man was. Alice herself was only about three and a half feet tall, rather small for her age. Fortitude, at the depth of his chest was about the same, while the thickest part of his tail was closer to five. Not even standing she had to look up at him, even while he laid down as he was. She could see his massive chest rising and falling with each breath, not even registering how much oxygen he was taking in with each of those intakes of air. When he didn’t open his eyes Alice grew curious, not even sure he was awake. Lightly the youth ran a hand over the warm, smooth stone beneath her, likely worn down to its current state all by the sharp scales of the naga. With a tilt of her head she carefully laid back like he was, however, once she felt the warmth on her back from the heated stone, as well as the sun she stretched out as much as she could then curled up on her side, still a bit chilled from her damp cloths.
Fort heard her approaching, the crunching of her shoes against the water smoothed pebbles easy to hear. He resisted the urge to glance at the girl when he felt her climb up beside him onto the stone shelf, using his tail to steady herself.
For a while he heard nothing once she had settled down at his side, only hearing her steady breaths and the faintest murmur of her young healthy heart.
He was warm blooded, despite his appearance, on average his body temperature was close to 45 degrees Celsius, but there was nothing more he liked better then to stretch out and soak in the sun. The warmth helped to relax his muscles, help get the stress out. That was part of the reason why he had slithered off; he wasn’t in the mood for questions. He had been on edge since he caught the scent of human earlier. It hadn’t mattered that he recognised most of it as the little girl’s scent; it had been the ones that underlined hers. Before the little one had only had two scents underlining hers. Both were unpleasant, rotting smells that sickened his stomachs, however there were far more now.
When he had heard a rockslide earlier it had made him far more uneasy, when he caught sight of that little dirty blond head of Alice’s it had confirmed his fears that somehow he had been found.
That was why, when he had made sure she couldn’t run away he had gone through her bag, since he couldn’t see anyone else, or hear them he had to make sure there weren’t any sort of tracking device on her person.
After a little he opened an eye to peer at the little girl by his side, one of his rare, fleeting smiles crossing his lips at the sight of the curled up little form, back facing away, her little feather light breaths showing that she was quite alive and seemingly rather peaceful and calm.
“What are you doing?” He asked in amusement, brow raised.
Alice stirred slightly, having begun to doze off a little. The little girl opened her eyes, smiling sweetly at the naga, having to sit up to see his face beyond the side of his arm and his thick chest.
“The heat’s nice, it’s a little chilly and it looked like you really liked the sun, so I thought I try what you’re doing.”
“The heat is nice, warms the heart, aids the digestion, and clears the mind...yes, the heat is nice; I adore it.” He sighed deeply, shifting a little before gingerly sitting up beside the tiny girl, looking down at the human sitting alongside him
“But a little soft skinned person like yourself would find it harmful after a short while, but you already know that.” The little girl blushed faintly when she realised what he was talking about, her skin had been badly burned the last time.
“I was careful this time; I have sunscreen on so I don’t get burned.” A strange look came over his face, a cross between confusion and revulsion.
“Is that the nasty tasting stuff that’s on your skin? I noticed with when I fixed up the cut on your head, I wouldn’t keep putting that stuff on, tasted horrible and wrong.” Alice giggled at his expression.
“You’re not meant to eat it silly, you wear it and it stops you getting sunburn.”
“I still think it’s not good to have on your skin, if it tastes bad it is bad, it’s like you plastering slow acting poison to yourself.” He muttered, stretching himself upright with a groan, whatever the sunscreen thing was he didn’t like it in the least, very unappetizing.
‘But...it’s not a bad thing right now I guess, not when I’m so close to hunger.’ He thought to himself, looking down at the tiny, defenceless girl so easily within his reach.
At that moment he heard a growl, and in amusement he watched the little girl hug her belly, blushing.
“I guess I’m still hungry, my tummy’s all rumblely.” Alice giggled, pulling her bag around and fishing out the last of her sandwiches, all a little squashed from its earlier fall.
“I’ve got my lunch though so it’s all good.” He leaned over to look at the odd packages she had taken out, sniffing the air. He remembered smelling those when he had found her again, the scent was edible but not something he was used to.
She noticed him lean over to look.
“Would you like one? Mrs Aperman always makes too many for me to eat all by myself.” She asked, holding up one of the small packages. He gave it a long glance; the small wrapped bundle looked very unappetizing.
“Thanks, but I might decline...that doesn’t look very tasty.” She frowned.
“But you haven’t even tried one yet, Mrs Aperman makes them herself and their really tasty, she taught me to an-ana-analii-ze the taste of everything.” She struggled with the word.
“Sounds like she’s quite the Chef, but I don’t eat that sort of thing.” Alice frowned.
“She’s not a chef, she told me she’s Italian. What do you eat M- I mean Fort? Can’t be as good as these?” He had to force himself to not laugh; evidently the kid didn’t quite grasp nationalities yet.
“Alright-alright, I’ll try one, first though, what are they?” He quickly dodged her question, not wishing to talk about his rather, snake like diet. Her eyes went bright.
“You’ve never had a sandwich before? Their real nice! You have two pieces of bread and you can put whatever you want in them.” She pointed out the layers.
“This one’s a ham sandwich, and this one’s potato salad and this one’s salami and lettuce. I had half a cheese and ham one as well but I think it fell out when you picked me up before. I’ve still got plenty though.” She held up each bundle as she spoke, although each looked the same as the last.
None looked particularly appealing to the naga.
“I have no idea what any of those are, look, those things aren’t my sort of thing to eat, just enjoy yourself.” Alice looked disappointed.
“What’s your thing to eat, Veg? Meat? I’ve got those.” She looked so earnest, and disappointed. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I thought my headache days were over...alright, which one has meat in it?” In answer the little girl passed the ham one, showing him how to unwrap it by demonstrating on the one she had picked, although after giving her a long look he sliced through the plastic with his claws instead.
As the girl started nibbling at hers the naga stared at his in distain, sniffing at the bread and turning up a corner to peer at the slightly pink pieces of ham within.
‘This is meat? What did they do to it?’ He tore off an edge and eyed it, before popping the tiny morsel in his mouth.
Alice looked up in time to see his face turn sour. For a few moments it looked like Fortitude was going to spit out the offending little piece. After a little he finally swallowed, although he did not look particularly pleased.
“What animal did that horrible salty stuff come from?” He groaned, clicking his tongue as he tried to dispel the taste. It wasn’t just the ham he wasn’t happy about, he didn’t like how the bread stuck to his palette.
“Umm...I think it came from a pig, I’m not sure though.” Alice mumbled, looking sad that he didn’t like the sandwich.
“Pig? That can’t be pig, pigs taste half decent.” He eyed what was left of the little (to him) snack, feeling reluctant to finish it. It was something the little kid had given him though, and it was food, however unpleasant, it would be a waste to throw out something edible.
With a weary sigh he opened his mouth and tossed what was left within, trying not to taste it before gulping it down quickly, wincing when the spongy bread dried out his throat a little.
Once the unpleasant task was done, cringing he glanced down to see how the kid was doing.
To the naga’s surprise the girl was staring at him with eyes as wide as saucers.
“Y-you shouldn’t eat your food like that, you need to chew your food first or you’ll choke.” She muttered, just waiting for Fort to clutch at his throat any second now. He raised an eyebrow in response.
“Choke? I haven’t choked on food since before I was even your age, doesn’t happen. And I don’t chew, don’t have the right teeth, neither do I see the point.” He grumbled, slowly uncoiling again. The girl, once she was sure she wasn’t about to see her friend choke to death tilted her head in curiosity, but let the questions buzzing in her head pass. Sadly Fortitude wasn’t the last to tell the little girl asked too many questions, she remembered that at rare moments.
“So, since you’re done eating, let’s talk about that whole being lost thing you shouted at me earlier.” He asked, slowly curling his body around the stone saucer, encircling the girl again. Alice blinked, remembering now that she had said something like that. She opened her bag and pulled out the watch, eyes widening when she saw it was almost half past two now, time had really flown by.
“I have to head back really soon or Mr and Mrs Aperman are going to be disappointed in me! B-but I don’t know how to get out of here.” She stammered, a slight panic growing. He could smell it.
”Why don’t you just go back the way you came, I showed you that path up to the ledge after all.”
Alice then told him all that had happened since entering the tunnel, how she fell and stumbled, blind through the darkness. She even told him her moment of panic, how she felt like she was back in the Dark Room, her tormentors a flimsy locked door away.
She went on from there to tell him about finding her way to the cliff face and her daring climb on the slim, crumbling cliff, following a bird.
His eyes went huge when she told him about her near miss with the collapsing cliff, confirming the sound he had heard earlier shortly before finding her on that ledge.
“How in the world are you still alive!” He burst out, looking at the girl in angry amazement. She startled, a bit worried by his outburst.
“Most of the cliffs and passages are unstable; you’re lucky you didn’t break your neck or fall into a water channel and drown!” He growled, looming angrily over the little girl.
“I went through a lot of effort and danger getting you to that town so you could live a normal life, why go risk it like this?” Alice, although startled didn’t get annoyed like the last time. She looked up at the livid face above, unable to see the worry and fear he felt, tears coming to her eyes.
“I just wanted to see you again...everyone tells me if I hadn’t been found at the medical centre I would never have woken up again, I woke up because you took me there...I wanted to thank you for helping me.” The little one looked down at her feet, tears rolling down her cheeks.
When her words registered that anger and fear he had felt faded, leaving behind shock and guilt in its stead.
Slowly he laid himself back down, dumbfounded and unable to come up with words, his molten dark amber eyes not leaving the hunched little child.
“I’ll show you the way out little one, although by all accounts I really shouldn’t let you leave, you’ve wondered here twice already.” He finally muttered, suddenly picking up the tiny girl under her arms, earning a little squeak of bewilderment from her once he got a more comfortable grip, tucking the girl smugly in his arms, similar to how he had carried her to the town all those months ago, picking up her bag as well. Once secure he moved off the stone, long body weaving in the shallow water for a moment before he slithered into the surrounding foliage.
All Alice could do was gasp, the sudden movement happening to fast to for her mind to grasp very well. Before she knew it Fortitude was already leaving the greenery and heading towards a path part way up a rocky incline, tucked up beside another, smaller waterpool. This one was different than the others she had seen. Instead of crystal clear water the water was a cloudy white, stream bellowing up from the murky surface. Thick reeds blanketed the area in patches, all the way up to the rock wall that surrounded the entire place.
It was a curious feeling being carried by someone who didn’t technically walk. The naga seemed to glide over the ground, he did have a rhythm to how he moved, Alice quickly learned.
He dipped downwards a few inches when his tail curved out behind him, the strong muscles curving back and through to propel his body onwards.
She looked up into the naga’s face, namely his jaw and chin from her angle, noticing that he was looking straight ahead, not even looking at her. Realising that he was fixated on whatever he was looking for she simply relaxed, allowing the massive amount of heat that came off of his skin to lure her into a gentle doze.
He smiled faintly when he felt her grow limp.
After a while he finally stilled by the stone wall, a small forest of reeds in front of him. Shifting the girl so he had a free arm, effectively stirring her from her doze, he used it to push aside some of the thick curtain, revealing the dark opening of a tunnel hidden behind.
“This cave goes straight to the little waterhole your adolescence people go to visit all the time. There are two tunnels further down, the one on the left sinks into a water channel while the left goes straight to that place. You have to be careful leaving it.”
He then looked at the little girl dead in the eyes.
“No one else must find out about me, I’ll be forced to leave this place if anymore of your kind finds me. Understand?” She solemnly nodded her head, scared at the thought of her friend going away. Satisfied he lightly placed the little one on the ground again, or tried to.
Before he could loosen his arm Alice turned, wrapping her little arms as far as she could around his neck. He went stiff at the hug, mind going blank.
After a minute she let go, kissing him on the forehead before hopping down from his stoke still arms.
“You’re not a monster or a nightmare Fort. You’re my friend, don’t forget that.” Her smile was pure happiness. She ran to the cave, turning to wave at the still stunned naga.
“Bye, see you again soon!” Alice called out one last time, before plunging into the darkness, leaving behind the astonished naga.
“farewell...little one...”
It was nearly fifteen minutes later when Alice sneaked a peek out behind a boulder, making sure there was no one around.
Satisfied that no one could see her Alice darted out from her hiding place, running along the tops of several large rocks before jumping down onto the ground, the sight of the little waterpool the other kids played in to her right.
Steeling herself up for the walk back she started on her way, but didn’t get very far.
She had just turned a corner the sight of a beaten old truck took up her sight, it hadn’t been there when she got there earlier.
She paused at the sight, knowing someone was around.
Alice felt a moment of shyness, worried that she might have been seem, till a black haired girl peeks out from underneath it, face grotty with oil stains.
Alice recognised the woman, actually one of the older kids that lived in town.
“Hi Zoey!” She called out to the eighteen year old, waving as she came over. The young woman flinched in surprise, turning to see the girl, ten years younger than the other making her way towards her, grinning at the happy look in that young face.
“Hey Alice, what are you doing out here? Did one of the older kids take you? She asked, wiping her stained hands with a equally stained cloth.
“Nope, I walked here all by myself, I did well.” Alice giggled. She liked Zoey, the two had a similar bright personality, despite the obvious age difference.
“You did, hey does the Doc’s know you’re out here?” She asked, giving the little girl an even look, before a big grin cracked her face.
“If you didn’t we can keep it our little secret.”
“I asked, silly Zoey. Mrs Aperman said I could, she even made me lunch. What are you doing out here?” She wondered.
“That’s a good girl, rules keep you safe.” She turned to look at the town in the distance, impressed the little girl had waked that far.
“My aunt asked me to pick some of the weeds that grow around the water, boring as anything but it gets me away from the stead.” She rapped a hand against the hood of her car.
“Then this old girl decided to have a fit, but I know I got her back on her feet. Want a ride back?”
Alice looked at the town, taking into account how long the walk was.
“Yes please.” She whispered shyly, earning a fond little laugh from Zoey.
“Come on then little one.” She helped the little girl into the passager seat, having to fight open with the door for it to open before climbing in through her open driver’s seat window.
“I swear if dad doesn’t get me a new car for my Bday I’m going to go mad.” The young woman groaned, earning a giggle from the younger girl.
“I like your car, its fun and silly, like you!” Zoey rolled her eyes, turning the key in the ignition.
It almost looked like the car wouldn’t start, the engine rattled and shuttered, before in a burst of exhaust smoke it came to life.
“My baby lives! Hold on tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” Alice, in response grabbed hold of her safety belt as the car started up, it was indeed very bumpy.
She turned in her seat one last time, eyes lingering on the place.
Alice lightly placed her fingertips against the warm glass, already missing her friend. Zoey noticed how quiet the usually rather cheerful girl had gone.
“Aww, sad that your day out is done already? Don’t be sad, it’s not that far away, you can come back anytime, that’s what me and my mates do.” Alice smiled faintly.
“Yeah, I'll come back..."
