Spyro and the Rock Python's Second Encounter

The scuffing of feet against the firm moist dirt that carpeted the Jungle's ground bearing minerals and nutrients for the neighbouring plants to gather with their entangling roots, one of which scrapped by the claw of a wandering purple foot that aimlessly walked deeper into the Jungle. A rather depressed looking figure, watching as the dirt formed tiny clouds in the air as his sore aching feet kicked into the unsuspecting earth. Even after resting them by throwing his troubles into the great gushing waterfall that he stood boldly in front of, watching as the gushing water fell into the blue void below, blessing the waters with an array of crystal white bubbles before continuing its journey downstream, never looking back. The same way the young mindless purple figure had ran further away his troubles, his betrayal and his new found sorrow.

Spyro, a young grape-purple coloured dragon-whelp with a towering humanoid figure, a crimson red loincloth wrapped over the fellow shallows of his lower body and dangled down only allowing the two thin sticks of legs and his swaying playful tail to thrust from its silky textures and the shade it provided.  Two towering shaded gold horns, stuck out of Spyro's crown with a row of spines, that slithered down Spyro's body up to the very end of his tail.

Confound and confused, the young whelping eagerly seeking rest and refuge after his long tiring sprint and trek through the lonely hollows of the Jungle. Only a few hours he had awoken to a glorious day, the endless dreams of him living with his new best friend still joyfully tinging in his mind only to be crushed a few hours later. Was because of the band of Rhynocs that kidnapped him and brought him before their power-hungry queen, or had Sparx, one of the dragonflies he had been raised beside who took it upon himself to take Spyro to the safety of the dragon-village, finally corrupted Hunter's mind, that the so-called s great and powerful dragon-hating creature named Ripto was going to kill him, simply to ease his ever-vengeful hate against dragons.

Spyro sighed as he walked over the mossy surface of a fallen log, holding his arm to support his balance, before leaping from it back onto the all-familiar crumbling dirt that stuck like glue to soles of Spyro's feet, only making his footsteps heavier and more painful. He remember when he first met Hunter, the energetic, laid back yet fun and loyal Cheetah who had become a new father figure ever since Spyro swiped him in the nose and in return got a lesson on how to fight in the wild, Spyro never wanted those bruises to go away, but they did and now the sorrowful dragon was glad they were, glad that he might never see that deceiving pussy-cat ever again, only the sounds of the Jungle were his friend now, the sounds of foreshadowing birds singing in the trees, the chirps of monkeys and the rustling of leaves, evening the rippling waves the now out of sight stream kept him company, but all in all Spyro was alone, so very alone and so very tired…his feet nearly giving way, but the sight of a large tree root coaxed him in, it was too great to resist as Spyro perched his behind in the smooth pain erasing root, letting his soles suspend in the air for a few moments before grounding them again, wiping off a trail of sweat from his forehead and slumping into a curve, his head resting in his palms, staring down out the ground, seeing the reflection of his golden-crested horns in a puddle of rain-water, still resisting the might suck of gravity pulling it into the damp earth below. Merely half a minute had gone by before Spyro ever-lasting loneliness was broken by a familiar yet unwanted appearance.

Something unmistakable familiar gripped him by the loincloth, wrapped a single loop around the whelping's stomach, before the young dragon could even respond with a "huh?" Now carried high into the Jungle canopy, where the hungering eyes of a long, long rock python greeted the unsuspecting dragon-cub with a focused stare, but as soon as the dragon's eyes identified the creature before him, he let out a gasp and a small reign of terror took hold over him…

"KAA" Spyro yelped "It's You!" His darted down where his loincloth should be, instead it was replaced by a mighty coil that cushioned around him, that's the first thing that had to go. After the first encounter he ever had with the striking and unforgettable coils that splashed off the dragon's body like wave against a rock, as he returned from his trance, discovering what the snake had done to him, never wanting to find himself within the portable dungeon ever again.

"Yessss Dragon-Cub, so nice to see you again" Kaa chuckled admiring the very dragon he had almost got away with before, nearly got him descending down the hatch, but that interfering dragonfly had slammed Kaa's head into the branch above, freeing Spyro from his grip and gave him enough time to dismiss Kaa with a mighty kick to the coils, anchoring him off of the tree and into a pit of hissing and anger. But this time the Dragon-cub is alone and one glare away from becoming his once again.

"Just…go away and leave me alone!" Spyro responded, already forcing the coils off of him and leaping off of the living armchair the Python constructed for him. Only to nearly corner himself against the snake as placed slithered around and in front of the dragon-cub, hoping to catch him off guard.

"Let me look at you" He asked just as the dragon realised what the snake was up too and turned his head away "Let me see the twinkles in your eye, as they shine brilliantly in the warmth of the sun" he persisted, but the dragon continued to stare away from the needed eyes of the Serpent. You don't, want me to look at you? Then…you look at me" Kaa continued, his tail swiping Spyro's head and turning it towards his starving for entrancing the cub, only to have the dragon struggle from his grip, grab Kaa's tail and throw it back at him hastily.

"No sir, I know what you're trying to do…KAA!" Spyro yelped as the serpents tail caught the shin of his lavender shaded leg and yanked him back towards Kaa's expression changing face.

"You Do?" Kaa denied, playing a surprised performance to the dragon-cub's subtle choice of words.  His tail continuing to nuisance Spyro as the young dragon struggled to keep it away from his bony stick-like leg. "I mean…you don't trust me?"

"No" Spyro scolded, finally removing the tail from his leg only to have encase itself around his arm now, Spyro's frustration building as his eyes were now solely focused upon the tail itself, allowing Kaa to slip away from sight.

"Then there's nothing I can do to help!" The Pythons words echoed into the dragon-cubs ears, suddenly contradicting what the young dragon believed. The greedy hypnotic python, wanting to help him? Why? And How? Out of curiosity he couldn't help but respond to the Pythons seducing tongue.

"You want to help me?" Spyro questioned, finally catching the playful python's in his claws, only to release it again after jumping out of his skin from a powerful hiss from behind, forcing him to jump back a step and cover his eyes with his own arms, as the snake slithered its way around him. Spyro not looking out to peep for a second in fear of what the serpent can do once the dragon's eyes are his.

"SSsssssccertainly, I can see to it that you'll never have to leave this Jungle….never abandon the place you were brought up to live in, never leave the place that excites you, and fascinates you with its beauty, its mystery's and its welcoming charms.  Much, much better than any old village those fair-weather friends would drag you off to, you belong here and I'm the only creature that respects that, dragon-cub." Kaa played his words sly fully, slowly but surely luring the dragon into his trap.

"H….How can you do that?" Spyro again questioned out of curiosity, did the snake really want to help him? How could he though? Trap him in his coils and stay within them forever? Not going to happen.  Only lifting his arms a few millimetres opening a gap to peep at the python now towering before him, ready to snap shut in the event his eyes play their hypnotic trick again.

"Oh I have my own subtle little ways heh heh heh, but first we must TRUST each other" Kaa instructed, his coils forcing Spyro's eyes to dart right into his, but Spyro wasn't giving the snake the chance he was looking for.

"I don't trust anyone anymore" The dragon cub blurted out, pushing Kaa back and spitting out his forked lizard tongue one last time before he marches away, a vine carefully tucked in over by the very branch he stood upon only a metre away made a nice escape, but before he could even reach out to it, his eyes became shrouded in darkness.

"But I'm not like those fair-weather friends of yours…." Kaa replied, his coil wrapped around Spyro's head covering over his eyes, preventing him from seeing, from continuing his journey and preventing his escape. Spyro's hands reacting to first nature as they began to force the coil off of his head little realising what the snake had in store. "…You can believe in Me…." The coils lifted, and the first stroke of light to meet Spyro's eyes again wasn't the suns…. but a great rainbow of colours that spiralled in the eyes of the Rock Pythons….

"Trust in me"

Spyro's eye pupils quickly vanished, so did his thoughts, his feelings and his control… he wasn't Spyro anymore….he was a mindless puppet that was ready to be toyed with by its new master. Kaa had tricked Spyro, the dragon-cub was now his… from his head, to his toes, even the crimson red loin-cloth he wore, it all belonged to Kaa now…"

"Just in me, Shut your eyesss, trust in me…"

Kaa's tail, curved and curling, telling the dragon to follow it, and the cub obeyed, shutting his eyes and letting the pythons words direct him to his next destination…

"Hold still please"

Spyro halted, his foot about to step right off of the branch, Kaa's tail holding him back while the rest of the coils got to work and created a stairwell for Spyro to climb down, a stairwell downwards to peace and tranquillity, a place of pure relaxation…as the tail ceased and joined the construction Spyro began to scale it, every step filling him with more happiness then he could ever experience.

"You can sssleep, safe and sound…"

Spyro nodded…Sleep…safe…sound, the only words he could think of…and he cherished them so much" As his steps on Kaa's silky-smooth scaly tail soon diminished, Kaa's very own head swerved into the scene with a trail of coils following, which Spyro stepped upon and continued the pilgrimage his master crafted…

"Knowing I, am…around…"

Spyro's head spun as the coils formed a complete circle and forced him to defy gravity itself as he walked inside a sphere, his head now his should be as he suddenly slipped and slid upon the smooth inviting coils that pampered him as he now lay upon a cradle, being gentle rocked from side to side. "Sleep….Sleep" the words becoming stronger in Spyro's mind, which was now in total peace, appreciating everything around him that had been catered for, by his new master.

"Slip in silent Slumber, Sail of a silver mist….Slowly and surely your senses will cease to resissst…"

Spyro had been lifted from his rocking cradle but the words still cradled him from inside "Slumber". Suddenly Spyro found himself sailing on a silver mist, to be caught by the very point Kaa's tail, balancing the dragon-cubs back, only to be best himself as Spyro sailed once again, this time to be caught by the head. Now fast asleep Spyro began to give a light snore, quickly picked upon by Kaa, tipping his own head upside to join his subject in his suspended slumber.

"You're snoring" Kaa pointed out, Spyro quick to react to his masters terms….as a very faint "Sorry" wiggled its way out of Spyro's throat. "So relaxed he could hardly speak anymore, time to put him to bed" Kaa thought to himself as he pulled away from Spyro and leaned his own head against the tree branch, his own lullaby was nearly putting himself to sleep.  Spyro was gentle flipped back the right way up and found himself resting upon an armchair just for him. His arms split from the sides of his body and rested upon the coils that welcomed them, only to fling Spyro into the air one last time.

"Trust in me….and Just in Me…."

Spyro found himself sliding down a long curly waterslide; it spun him around and around but instead of a pool of refreshing water to end his fall, he found himself being submerged in the coils the python had lied out for him. He slipped into it like a jacket, zipped up tightly around him ensuring that if he came to he would not ever be able to escape. His feet and tail stuck out of the bottom and his only just sticking out at the top. The coils so thick and tight….but so comfy and irremissible, though the cold-blooded serpent's coils were cold, it didn't take long for Spyro's body heat to be reflected back at him, smothering him in a great shield of warmth. If you told Spyro he was in heaven, if would believe it. His now silent snores were died out by the final words of Kaa's lullaby but this time; it wasn't only Spyro who heard them!

"Shut your eyes….and Trust in Me…"

Spyro was slowly lifted back to the tree branch that their entire encounter resided upon before the dragon-cub had finally fallen for the snake's cunning tricks. The shade of the restless leaves, swaying in the breath of the wind, sheltering the cocooned sleeping dragon-cub as his weight now the problem of the sturdy tree branches as his loin-cloth creased as his behind perched itself and his purple sticks, stuck out in front of him, as the coils took their place around the dragon-cub, tightly bounding him within. Kaa slithering beside the captive whelp, unable to contain his excitement, rubbing Spyro's head with his enjoying the textures of the fine-grained dragon scales coaxing against his own, reassuring Spyro back into his slumber should the transaction from the air to the branch disturbed him. But before he could even enjoy a minute of his hard earned pet, something pulled on his tail, twice, literally grabbing the attention of the unsuspecting python. Ever since Spyro had slid into the coils, Kaa had allowed his tail to dangle below unintentionally, swaying side to side like an excited puppy dog, only focusing on the slumbering whelp that now resigned in his cradling coils.

"Oh now what!" Kaa moaned under his breath, before shaking away his hostility and called in a friendly inviting tone "I'll be right down!"

Kaa's lowered, from the canopy and back into the shadows of the carpet of earth and grass below, he's eyes darting back and forth trying to scour out his visitor. "Yes? Yes? Who is it….?" He called out, unable to detect his visitor at first glance, but the silence that followed was quickly broken.

"That would be me!" The mildly toned voice of a mood breaking male voice caused Kaa to shiver, as from behind a large moss coated tree, stepped out an orange skinned, dinosaur face creature, wearing an amethyst purple coat and cape, with a large red-gem hanging chained from his neck. In his hand, his fabled ruby-red sceptre and behind him followed two great beasts, one a sapphire blue carrying a wooden club, strong and sturdy, as if it had been recently plucked from a now branch-missing tree. The other, a dark emerald green, spiked braces on all feet, leaving large footsteps where it waked. Fear shot into Kaa's eyes, the mighty Ripto, the most feared predator in all the Jungle stood before him and a creature Ripto hated most, dragons, was sleeping up in Kaa's coils meaning if he was detected Kaa might lose more than just a meal, he had to do something he never would have thought he'd need to do, protect the dragon-cub. Kaa slithered forwards towards Ripto, the eyes of Crush & Gulp, the two minions of Ripto, staring him down as his cover up began.

"R…Ripto, my what a pleasent suprissse" Kaa babbled, swallowing the truth down his throat as nothing more but a swarm of lies was all that could save him and his pet from Ripto's wrath.

"Yes, isn't it" Ripto responded, un-amused by the snakes greeting as he spun his sceptre in his palm and settled in front of the Python. "I'd like word with you if you don't mind" he announced "I just thought I'd drop by, forgive if I've interrupting anything" he apologised, looking upwards into the tree, as if to speculate to Kaa that he's aware of what the Python was up to.

"Oh no, nothing at all" Kaa lied, trying to pull a faint smile at Ripto, but got nothing short of a frown back at him.

"Is that so? I thought you were entertaining someone up there in your coils?" Ripto questioned, eyes shifting upwards once again before returning fire at Kaa.

" Coils? Someone? Oh, I was just curling up for my siesta." Kaa replied, knitting another lie.
"But
you were singing to someone? Who is it Kaa?" Ripto continued to press, signalling to Crush, who's foot, living up to its owners name, was crushing one of Kaa's coils below it, only a short distance from Kaa's head. Kaa again gulped as he began to waddle on, adding more string to his web of lies.

"Uh, who? No I was just singing to…myself, yes….yes you see I have problems with my…sinuses". Kaa pleaded, trying to seem like the poor unfortunate Python, innocent yet charged with crime.

"What a pity" Ripto pitied, pulling a sad frown as if he felt symphony for the rock python.

"Oh you have no idea, it's simply torture, I can't eat, can't sleep, so I sing myself to sleep. You know, self-hypnosis, let me show you how it works" Kaa continued to plead, continuing his performace of sorrow to the un-amused audience around him. Suddenly picking himself up and stretching out towards Ripto's eyes.

"Trussssst in me…URRFFFF!" As soon as Kaa's eye lit up with their bright array of colours Ripto turned his head and gave the feisty python a good bash of the head with his gem-encrusted sceptre.

"I'm afraid we don't have time for, that nonsense" He excused watching  with a small smile of pleasure as the python recovered from the bash.

"Another time perhaps?" Kaa cried out from his pain, shaking the pain off his skull, returning to the situation.

"Perhaps, but at the moment I'm searching for a dragon-cub" Ripto announced, his eyes watching Kaa carefully as he paced a few steps to his left.

"A dragon-cub? Here? In the Jungle? "Where?" Kaa responded, eyes glowing as if this was the first time he had ever heard such news.

"Where indeed?" Ripto asked, stopping a second in thought, if the Python was lying to him he was doing a good jump, Gulp seemed bored out of his mind, Crush only entertained by the snakes misery as he added more weight to his foot. "Where do you suppose he could be?"
"Search me." Kaa compiled a witty response, only to eat his words afterwards, now he's done it!

"What an excellent idea, you wouldn't mind showing us your coils now would you Kaa?" Ripto instructed as nicely and directly as he good, signalling to Crush to remove his foot much to Kaa's relief as he quickly slithered upwards to obtain safety of height.
"Uh, Certainly not" At that moment, Kaa's tail joined the quests down at the lobby, giving them a small wave as to signal a short hello, I've got nothing in me. "And nothing, in here" Kaa's mouth opening wide, tail now pointing inside it, nothing in there. But to Kaa's misfortune, his command had withered away and Spyro had begun to snore again from his bed of coils, though quiet it was loud enough for Ripto's ears to catch for a second, responding to it by wafting his ear closer, but Kaa had already reacted, tightening the coil around the slumbering cub's neck only temporarily but it did the job.  Quickly covering over the dragons near detection, Kaa made several pig-like snorts with his snout, blaming it on "My sinuses".

"In…deed" Ripto responded, but his mind quickly picked up on a new way he could corner the Python, "how about the middle?" A large smirk formed upon his face.

"The middle? Oh, the middle." Kaa gave a positive grim as he crafted a sneaky trick to fool the prosecution, that hoped he would give in and reveal the dragon-cub in his possession. Spyro found himself performing barrel-rolls in his dreams of flying over the rainbow infested jungles, though in reality, the coils around him were churning, new coils in, and old ones out. An arch of coils peered from shade of leaves above. Ripto gave a nod at Crush, who ran his monstrous palm over it, ensuring there were no bulges or signs of a devouring dragon-cub. Shrugging at Ripto when his search conjured up nothing but giggles from Kaa, "N…nothing in the middle". He chuckled, unable to contain is laughter.

"Hmmm...., in that case if you do ever happen to come across a dragon-cub…" Ripto's sceptre aimed straight into Kaa's eyes in a threatening manner "…you WILL, inform me first" he commanded the python who just gave a terrified nod back.

"I get the point" Kaa gulped, "Cross my heart, hope to die" he sputtered, forming a physical cross with his coils. Watching as Ripto gracefully mounted onto Gulp, frustrated that he had wasted his time with the Python, but instead of moaning, he kept to his, gentleman tone that he had pulled for the entire conversation.

"Good show, and now I must continue my search for the…helpless little whelp" Ripto's final mutterings before he & Gulp disappeared into the wilderness, soon followed by an earth quaking Crush. Kaa, now at the safety of his loneliness, begins to hiss out harmful terms at the very much hated Ripto…

"Ooh, who does he think he's fooling? The helpless little whelp" Kaa mumbled, pulling off an impression of the fear imposing, monstrous predator. "Ooooohhh but just you wait until you find that….the….dragon-cub is mine…in…my coils" Kaa mind raced back, he suddenly remembered the reason why he went through all that torture, the dragon-cub! Kaa lifted himself back into the canopy and he was still there, sleeping like a baby, still under the influence of his hypnotic powers…wrapped and trapped. Letting the scales of his coils feel the dragon's own covered over coat, feeling the warmth of his body, the silky loin-cloth that Kaa pondered about removing. To symbolise the dragon-cubs capture, as long as he stayed in the coils he wouldn't need it anyway, why does he wear it in the first place? Kaa gave a loud yawn, he was sleepy, it had been a very exciting and dramatic day for Kaa, the capture of the dragon-cub, the surprise visit from Ripto, his defence he pulled on to rescue the dragon-cub from Ripto's desire. Rescue…he did rescue the dragon-cub didn't he, even if it was for his own accords, Spyro was still alive because of him. Perhaps he could use this against the dragon-cub, he would eventually awake and when he does, Kaa will have a new battle to face, whether he can turn the dragon into his ally, turn him against his friends and persuade him that only the mighty Rock Python, Kaa was the dragon-cubs only friend and only key to staying in the Jungle.

Before Kaa knew it, his head was resting upon Spyro's, another yawn emerged and a very tired snake, had joined his new exotic pet who slept in his owners very own cage, magnificently crafted out of his owns twists and turns of his coils. Bound, wrapped trapped, anchored down to the branch by it weight even if Spyro awoke he would have no chance at escaping, only his head experienced the pleasure of the evening breeze, brushing past him. Maybe he shouldn't have ran away from Hunter, from Sparx, from the dragon-village fate that had haunted him since he exiled from his family of dragon-flies, out of fear that Ripto would kill him and all that sided with him. The two, captive and captor, both soundlessly asleep even as the sun waved good-bye and the world became covered in darkness, waiting for when the sun would rise again for the very next day….