How? How is this even possible?
Is this really me? Wasn't I... you know... handsome and... let me think, A HUMAN!?
Takeru thought, staring at the pitch-black, scaly face with pure blue eyes and two horns on its head, staring back at him.
Did I really become a... snake?
His reflection revealed something other than a human. Yet he wasn't sad or disappointed—he was more interested in what species of snake he was and what face Hiro would make if he saw him now.
His heart pounded with excitement, trying to guess what type of snake he could be.
He thought, Maybe I'm a Horned Viper, but these black scales suggest that I'm a Black Mamba. No... or am I a Cobra... but these blue eyes?
He thought of every snake species he knew, but he still couldn't figure out what he was. Yet the excitement wouldn't leave his mind—an excitement that he had never experienced in his past life.
After making guesses for a few minutes, he calmed down.
I'll just name my species Snake... yep... that sounds pretty cool, he thought before turning his head to stare at his long and slender body.
To survive, I first need to figure out how to move with this body.
How do snakes normally move? He tried wiggling his tail. Like this? The lower part of his tail started to move, wiggling left and right. No... maybe more like this. He tried moving both his upper and lower parts. He looked more like a fish out of water, flapping around.
After a while of struggling to move, a clue—or more like a hint—popped into his mind. He remembered his pet snake, Shiro, and tried mimicking how he moved. It worked.
"Yes! I did it!" he tried saying, but only a hissing sound came out as he celebrated by moving in a circle, coiling up.
Now that I know how to move, let's figure out where I am.
Shifting his eyes all around the cave, he saw an area of orange, like an outline of sorts.
Huh? Is this how snakes normally see? I know some snakes have a type of infrared vision, but I can see both heat and cold? Is this normal? Takeru thought, his eyes focused on the single point.
He squinted, trying to make out what it could be. He knew it was a smaller animal—probably a rat or mouse.
But how did he know exactly what that creature was? He came back to his senses when he noticed his tongue flicking outside his mouth. Not only that, but he could taste something. He instantly knew what was happening.
From studying snakes for more than a few years, he knew all about their hunting habits. If a snake was flicking its tongue, that meant it was tasting the air for food, which meant he was beginning to lose energy. And when a snake loses energy, they become slower and slower.
Now's the time to hunt. I don't have a choice... but can I eat something as disgusting as a raw rat? A chill went through his body as he thought about the taste of a... rodent.
He shook his head, throwing away that thought, before narrowing his eyes, ready to hunt.
He uncoiled himself and slowly, sneakily slithered towards what he thought was a rat behind a giant rock. He slithered around it, his whole body wrapping around the rock before he had eyes on a... purple rat?
The rat was eating some berries that were scattered around it on the ground, its back turned to the predator stalking it.
Takeru menacingly stared at the rat's every move. What now? Do I just attack it, or should I wait?
Wait! Why am I, a natural predator, scared of some filthy rat!? I should just attack—what's the worst that can happen? It just runs away, heh! He chuckled to himself and moved closer.
He was now a few inches away from the rat, and with a fluid, quick motion, he launched forward with lightning speed, biting the rat with his fangs. As the rat was clutched in his jaw, it wiggled, squeaking, desperately trying to get out.
Takeru found this strange. If he was a poisonous snake, the rat would already be dead, so why was it still alive?
No! Poison, work, please work! he thought, his jaws tightly clenched together.
This wasn't just because he wanted to get it over with—he was starting to lose energy. His grip on the rat was slowly but surely weakening. Damn it! Venom, work!
As soon as he thought this, he could feel a warm, fluid energy flow throughout his body, concentrating at his fangs before leaving them. A pitch-black fluid entered the rat, flowing through its wounds.
It's still wiggling, was the poison not strong enough? He thought before the rat stopped.
In an instant, the rat fell limp, its body lifeless in Takeru's mouth. What happened!? Did the poison work? he unclenched his jaw, allowing the rat's body to fall out of it.
The rat was dead. It didn't even twitch once. Takeru inspected the rat, circling around it to make sure that it was fully dead. He lightly pushed it with his head.
It's dead, right? he thought before fully realizing that it was indeed dead. He immediately tried eating his meal... but how would he do that?
Should I just swallow it now? I always saw Shiro eat like that... but— his face filled with disgust, although it was barely visible.
He first licked the rat with his tongue, trying to taste it. It tastes like... nothing?
He was surprised. Although he knew snakes had almost no sense of taste... this was like tasting clear air. He was happy that he wouldn't have to experience the taste of a rat's raw meat, but what about other stuff? Like barbecued meat or even fruits? He sighed, thinking of all the delicious food out there. Then he looked back at what he was about to eat with a sour look.
Takeru, be brave. Just think of it as a glass filled with blended fruit, he thought, swallowing nothing before readying himself to partake in his food.
Bon appétit!!! He opened his mouth, scooping up the dead rat before closing it and beginning to swallow, he kept his eyes closed the whole time.
As he thought of beef, sushi, and all kinds of good food, he felt the rat moving lower towards his stomach, growing smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely in a matter of seconds.
Takeru opened his eyes, feeling slightly stronger, but other than that, everything else was the same.
He tilted his head in confusion. Shouldn't my stomach feel full? he turned his head to look at his stomach.
It was completely empty—no bulge. This wasn't normal unless his metabolism was that high.
A snake's bodily systems don't work like this... or am I stupid?
As soon as he thought these words, he heard a bell ring, and a strange black star appeared above his head. But that wasn't the least of his worries—more rats were approaching him. He could see all the orange outlines, numbering in the thousands. And there was also one red outline among the army of rats that was both larger and taller than him. As soon as he saw this "thing" his body started to shiver, as though all his senses were warning him to run away.
He knew he had to run. Without a second thought, he rushed toward the giant, old, leafless tree behind him, not looking back as the heat signatures started rushing toward him, trying to catch up to his quick movements.
Finally, he arrived in the vicinity of the tree, but to get to its trunk, he had to cross a lake.
No! No! No! This is impossible! he stared down at what seemed like an endless pit filled with water, then back at the death plague running toward him with their red eyes and sharp buck teeth.
He looked back down at the water. Yep! I'd rather drown... Goodbye, cruel world, I won't be missing you.
He slithered into the water, his body disappearing into the cold depths, never to be seen agai—
Waaaait!!! Can't some snakes swim? he thought as he started floating up toward the water's surface.