Chapter 13:i am gonna ride till i can't no more!
Vira: "For your information, I wasn't scared of Woof."
Author: "Yeah, yeah, you just wanted to perform a backflip
And Also Woof?. What's up with that name? Your naming skills suck."
Vira, with a hint of teasing on his face, said, "Oh yeah? I have bad naming sense, and you have a great one, don't you?"
Author: "We're talking about you. Don't change the topic—let's start."
Fortunately, after his failed attempt at retreating, he wasn't bitten but was instead licked all over his small face.
The warmth of the dog's saliva helped calm his nerves, along with the kindness he sensed and the constant reminder from his heart that the creature in front of him meant no harm.
After steadying himself and also calming Viper—who had been darting toward them, ready to attack the insolent creature that dared to scare Vira—he finally took a proper look at the giant dog in front of him.
Of course, it wasn't actually a giant, but compared to himself and Viper, it seemed humongous. Viper was long, around 30–35 cm, while the dog stood at 40 cm tall. This might not seem like a big difference, but considering that one was a snake's length and the other was a dog's height, the contrast was striking.
Even then, if Vira hadn't stopped Viper, the snake would have leaped straight at the dog's nose and bitten it. Though, as an adder, its venom wouldn't do much beyond causing swelling. Still, this act showed how much love Vira received from Viper. An adder, which would usually choose to hide, had instead launched an attack on a creature multiple times its size and strength—something that would only happen if it were cornered to the brink of death.
After calming the aggressive Viper and letting him rest on his neck, Vira confidently reached out and touched Woof's head. He then attempted to communicate with it, just as he did with Viper, and to his joy, the dog responded with a lick.
Although he couldn't explain how it understood , he was overjoyed. It had been the same with Viper at first—the snake simply liked being with him and would follow his requests. Over time, as it remained close to him, it seemed to have gained intelligence, responding to Vira's emotional changes. Eventually, as their time together grew, Vira could get a general sense of what Viper was thinking. Though most of the time, Viper was either in a daze, simply happy, or distressed on his behalf, being able to understand him made Vira incredibly happy.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Vira asked the dog if it would help him.
He didn't have to wait long for an answer. Without even a second of hesitation, the dog responded with another lick to his face.
Overjoyed, he quickly asked the dog to come inside.
Woof responded immediately, slipping through the dog door with ease, as if he were used to doing this. This puzzled Vira slightly, but the constant drain on his body from hunger and slight blood loss was unforgiving. He couldn't afford to let his thoughts wander or let curiosity take over.
No matter what, he had to act.
Vira asked Woof to roll him in a bundle of clothes—the same ones he had slept in for the last two weeks. Once secured, he had the dog push him onto the sofa. Then, he instructed Woof to twist the handle of the always-unlocked door. As soon as it opened, a chilling wind rushed in.
Vira was fine, covered in layers of cloth, but Viper instantly felt the cold seep into his blood. Realizing his mistake, Vira felt a pang of guilt. He had forgotten how much warmth a snake needed to survive. Wanting to make up for it, he decided to let Viper use his body for warmth—but then an idea struck him.
He asked Woof to drag him to his previous room. Once there, he crawled out of his bundled clothes, then instructed Viper to pull a shirt over Woof. With all the strength he could muster, Vira tied the fabric securely around the dog, creating a makeshift pouch. He and Viper climbed inside, nestled in the bundled clothes.
He could only hope the fabric was tight enough to keep him from falling onto the freezing snow left behind by the night's snowfall.
With everything in place, he took a deep breath and gave his final request.
"Woof, take me to where the humans are."
Hearing Vira's words, Woof jolted forward, intending to sprint through the door—an entrance that now looked like a gateway to one of the eight cold hells. The garden floor was completely blanketed in snow, and the once vibrant plants and bushes stood bare and lifeless, their brown branches reaching skyward like skeletal fingers.
Of course, this desolate sight would change once summer arrived and spring breathed life back into the world. Unlike a true hell, this winter was temporary. But Vira didn't have the luxury of waiting for the seasons to change. If he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be stepping into a green wonderland—he'd be leaving as a corpse.
Summer was too far away. Even a few more hours in this freezing house would leave him unconscious on the cold ground, soon to be dead.
Fortunately, everything had gone well. He hadn't needed to set the house on fire or take any reckless risks. With Woof's arrival, his escape was secured.
However, Woof's sudden sprint caused an unexpected problem—Vira and Viper slipped from his back.
Thankfully, they didn't fall to the ground. Instead, they slid under Woof's stomach, still wrapped in the shirt. The position was precarious, but the shirt remained tied, preventing them from plunging into the snow.
Realizing this, Vira quickly called out, "Slow down a bit!" He wanted to avoid the worst-case scenario—getting dragged through the snow.
Luckily, Woof was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier with fairly long legs and a hunched back, which meant that although Vira was uncomfortably close to the freezing ground, he never actually touched it.
After a few minutes of painfully slow travel, Vira spotted a cart lying in the garden. It was fairly small, likely used for dragging gardening tools, seeds, or fertilizer. But to Vira, it seemed like exactly what he needed.
Excited, he quickly asked Woof to stop and approach it for a closer look.
It turned out to be a red plastic sled, now mostly covered by a thin layer of snow. The sled had slight elevation near the corners, a big tilt toward one side with some holes, and—most importantly—ropes tied to it.
Blooming with joy, Vira asked Viper to get out and untie the rope.
However, it seemed Vira had grown too accustomed to Viper effortlessly completing whatever he asked. As Viper slithered out of the bundled clothes and coiled around the tied shirt sleeves, nothing happened.
Of course, it wouldn't work. Vira had used a noose knot—one that was very difficult to untie unless the load was removed. And right now, he was still sitting in the shirt, his 13-pound body keeping the knot firmly in place.
Fortunately, after Viper struggled to untie the knot for a while, even after following Vira's instructions, he simply told Vira that it wasn't working.
That reminder finally made Vira realize that he needed to be out of the shirt for the knot to come loose.
Fumbling around, he managed to crawl out—only to hit his head directly into the snow.
Luckily, Woof reacted quickly, pulling his clothes to help him sit up from the fall.
After that, Vira simply asked Woof to take the clothes off instead of letting Viper untie it, while also instructing him to bite the sled and run around a bit to remove the snow layer.
Woof tilted his rear end and raised his legs to let the shirt fall off, then bit the sled ropes with his mouth and ran around.
However, unlike Vira who only wanted the snow to be removed, a scissor, sickle, and some frozen sticks were ejected from the sled. Fortunately, Vira and Viper were unharmed as the objects were launched in the opposite direction from them.
After making a makeshift bed on the sled, which was now free of snow, Vira lay on it with Viper and then asked Woof to continue on.
{if you are interested in reading woofs backstory as well as young and responsible andrews past where he spent his life with his loving wife }
[its on my patreon for only 1.99]
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(nah just kidding it will be there in the next chap)
(pls read the thing below)