4 Something about barks and dogs?

Aaaaaaah!

Please don't be poisoning, please I beg you! Aaaaaaah!

My mind, I see pictures within my mind that I have never seen before. I can see stars and constellations changing forms, taking on shapes of strange symbols that I have never seen before. I can't, I can't...

I'm going to fe .... t.

...

...

...

Ummm, where am I?

Why's-what is happening?

"... Up... "

What? Who is there?!

What is this place, I am soooo confused. I was, yes, I was reborn as a snake and then... The pain? how did I get into this room? Is it right to call it a room tho? There is nothing but white all around. Where ever I look there is nothing, complete nothingness.

Did I die again?

No that doesn't seem right, unless this is heaven, hmmm maybe.

But where are the beautiful angel girls I can spend my time with, where are the harps and the bouncy clouds? I never knew heaven would be this boring...

If this is heaven, I wonder what is hell like.

"... ke up..."

I take that back!

Phew, that voice scared me, but what is that? It sounds like it is trying to tell me something.

It sounds very warped tho and I can't even tell is it male or female that is saying it. But I feel like it is telling me something important...

"Wake Up!"

- - -

*cough* *cough* *cough*

I couldn't breathe. That thing I drank, it made my body morph into a pretzel from the piercing headache that it caused.

Right!

The pictures I saw before ending up in that room. A dancing night sky, swarming with stars of many colours. The dance the stars performed many shapes some of which looked nothing like anything that I've seen before, some not even appearing three dimensional.

Whatever that sweet liquid was, it sure had nothing to do with water.

But I feel like there is more new knowledge inside my head. Things I shouldn't know, the things that make sense yet seem unreal, mystical. Like fog disappearing into the back of my mind as soon as I try to think about it.

Ughhh!

If I try to force it my brain starts experiencing a soul stabbing pain, and the pain spreads all over my body.

Wait, I feel like something new is inside my body...

I can feel it but I can't point my tail at it... It doesn't feel like a physical change. No, I would be able to feel it through my scales using the touch of my tail.

The more I think about this the more confused I get. My mind is starting to repeat itself.

Let's think positive.

I'm still alive!

This is the only thing going for me right now. I'm stuck in this cave surrounded by snakes, even though I'm one of them. Weird tremors keep occurring, the fountain somehow "healed" itself, probably has something to do with that liquid starlight...

Liquid starlight?

Where did that thought come from?

Ouch!

Don't think about it, don't think about it!

This is getting me nowhere.

Hmmm. How long was I out of it? It couldn't be for days, right? That would mean that every single sibling out there is at least four times bigger than me, no?

Might as well take a peek.

While taking a peek outside I notice that the number of my siblings is so low at this point that I should be able to sneak past them and get through that mysterious hole that appeared out of nowhere.

Wait, why are my sibling only a bit bigger than me now, while they were much bigger than that during the murder fest a while back?

Could it be our freakishly fast metabolism? That should be handy, at least I won't need to worry about becoming a balloon from eating too much...

Heh, it just now crossed my mind, but whenever I read about a character in the novels that eats monsters or something along those lines, they usually either chew them or straight up absorb them, but I, as a snake, don't have these options. I can't chew, I can't turn into a puddle of slime and absorb them, I can only stuff them into my belly and wait for some time. Thank god I don't need to wait for weeks as I should if I were a snake from my previous life.

One needs to be grateful for any fortune that comes his or her way.

Hmm, one, two, three,...

Thirteen.

How low we have fallen, there are only thirteen, well fourteen snakes inside this cave at the moment with myself included. As the cave is rather spacious there is a pretty wide gap between all of us, seems like they started avoiding me as much as they are avoiding each other right now.

Is it because of the starlight thing?

See, once the dice starts rolling in your favour, the good things start piling up.

*sniff*

O, hey, the air in here stopped being so stale and smelly. That hole probably leads to the outside, but the question is, am I strong enough to battle my way through any dangers that might come my way because I don't think a baby snake looks too scary to things that might lurk beyond the darkness of that hole.

There shouldn't be much thinking about it though, there are only two options by the way I see it right now. Option one, stay and starve or get eaten; or option two, go and maybe get eaten while maybe starving...

Option two sounds fine I guess. Lemme just pack my things and set out.

Well, have nothing to pack but Its one of the things I always wanted to say, well, think in this case...

What if I find humans outside, how should I go about that, it just struck me that I have basically no way of communicating with them the way I am right now if I try to use my body to spell words letter by letter, they will probably kill me way before I even get the message across if they can even understand the letters from my previous world. I don't see that as a likely outcome. I will need to avoid humans, and other humanoids at that if there are any...

What if there are elves in this world, man, that would be sweet!

I could maybe try to become some cute elf girls familiar or something like that, hehehe. What am I thinking about?

You. Are. A. Monster.

Why would anyone of the humanoid races give me a chance to show that I'm not hostile?

They would probably skewer me the moment they see me. What a curse it is to have such beautiful scales. *exhale*

Wait, were my scales not grey in colour when I left the egg? Maybe this is my natural pigment that just didn't appear because I was freshly hatched?

But that doesn't explain why my siblings didn't change colour...

They remain the same grey, some having a few spots of darker or lighter but grey none the less, while I, I'm black like a nightless sky!

There is too much about this world that I don't understand, trying to understand from the apparition like fragments, so that leaves me at literally zero clues about what is happening to me and in this world.

You see, usually, when the main character of a novel gets stranded in a world he knows nothing about, he gets some form of an informant, like an ancient being trapped inside some artifact, or they get a system like the power that works like an encyclopedia about everything they need to know in order to become overpowered.

But what about me? I have been reborn, turned into a monster, even if I am cute, how will that help me from not being killed? Will I look at those that attack me with my googly eyes and hope they spare me? No!

With my pride as a snake, I must become stronger!

It is true that I have not the faintest idea about what is happening and I'm pretty certain that I made that fact clear quite a few times now.

I am definitely not stalling because I'm scared to leave my trusty hidey-hole. Pfffft what do you think of me, that I am some kind of scaredy-cat? We all know that can't be, I'm not a cat! I'm a... Scaredy snake...

But being cold-blooded really makes me think with a cool head. I wonder if that is some species trait, or if all monsters have that, the only difference being that I actually can think rationally with logic while they, from observing my siblings, only think about eating and not being eaten.

*shhh*

Hehe, I'm not nervous, you are nervous. That sound must have been... The wind! Yes, there is a draft in the cave now since that charred hole in the wall leads outside.

Hahahaha, there is no such thing as whispering in here, hehehe~.

"Are you sure about that?"

AAAAAAAAAAAAH!

"Wow, never saw one that has so much monologue inside its head, others usually only think about eating but you, you are definitely different."

Where, where, where is that voice coming from! That is it, I'm going insane, I've lost it.

"And it still keeps going, what an interesting one indeed~"

W-who are you? The voice, is it a girl? It sounds so tiny yet feminine...

"Jeez, maybe because I Am a girl, genius?"

Right... But who are you, how can I hear you but not see you anywhere in this cave?

"Well about that, you see, you can't see me because I'm not really here, you know, can you wrap that tiny brain of yours around that? And who I am is not important right now, what is important, however, who are You?"

I, ah...

Wait, I can't remember my name!?

How is that possible?

" So you had a name before, meaning you really aren't just a newborn snake... What were you before becoming like this, and how did you turn into a snake? "

I was a human, then I died I guess and now I'm like this, there is nothing else meaningful to say...

Can you help me?

" A human you say... They are the kind that can't be trusted, why don't I just kill you right now to save myself the trouble? "

Sure, go ahead.

"That is right, be scared... You said what now?"

I am saying that you should give it your best shot, were my thoughts too quiet for you?

"I, what, are you insane?"

What's the hold-up? You can't do it, can you? By the way, your flustered voice sounds kinda cute.

"..."

And that, folks, is how you deal with hauntings, just make the ghost be in a loss of words, and enjoy imagining its blushing face.

" Shut up!!! Your monologues are really beginning to annoy me! And I'm not a ghost, I'm the caretaker of this towe~v~! Ow~

Oh my, did she just stutter and bit herself by accident? How old is she?

" I, I'm not talking to you anymore, bleh! "

I will just ignore the fact that some shocking new revelation just crossed over my head and the fact that this voice acts like a child. Instead, I will begin on my new genius plant. Ehmm.

Please, oh great voice, I beg you to show mercy on this lost soul and enlighten me with your knowledge of this world so that I may not wander around like a headless snake!

"Wow, dramatic much?"

You are the one to talk...

"What was that?"

Oh Great voice, forgive this baby snake for its transgressions, I am still young and have lots to learn.

"It hurts to listen to how fake you sound..."

Is it that obvious, I thought I was doing a pretty decent job, especially since I am only limited to my tail for the dramatic gestures.

"Ahh, so how did you figure out that I can't kill you?"

I wasn't really sure but I have heard a saying that you should fear the dog that doesn't bark before biting more than the one that does bark. As if being all bark and no bite.

"I have never heard a more wrong interpretation of a saying in my life, and trust me I've had a decently long life."