Young Writers Society

This is a story I wrote a while ago and the second in my series about Nassir the friendly hypno-snake. I hope you enjoy.

It had been less than three months since Nassir had become Amaya’s pet and moved into the man village.

For now, the villagers were still very nervous about having him in the village. So, he slept in the tree overlooking the small lake just outside the village.

Nassir was relaxing in his tree when he smelled a familiar scent and slithered down the tree.

“Now what do we have here? A pretty little girl cub has come to see this poor old snake?” He asked, lowering himself in front of her and chuckling. He loved greeting Amaya this way.

She smiled and stroked the scales on his neck.

“Hi Nassir. I was going to go for a walk in the jungle, but mommy and daddy can’t come with me today. Would you keep me company?” She asked sweetly, giving him a small piece of meat from the large package Mowgli had given her for the snake.

“Ssssscertainly.” Nassir said exaggerating his lisp slightly and smiling as he enjoyed the piece of meat. Amaya laughed.

“Thank you, sir snake. I will feel so much safer with you at my side.” She said with a slight bow before walking down the forest path. Nassir followed her, staying in the trees above flitting in and out of sight.

“I was wondering Nassir. Are their other snakes that are as nice as you?” Amaya asked. Nassir thought about it for a moment.

“There might be a few that would rather play with their catch than actually eat them” He said thoughtfully. “But none of them have any trouble eating any prey they come across as long as it fits into their mouths. Including you my sweet little friend.”

“Hmm. What about the other animals? Do you think I could make friends with some of them as well?” Amaya asked.

“Well, there are probably a few that would love to make friends with you. As for whether they would do so with goo intentions I’m not so sure. They may just want to use you or take you away to eat you later. While there are some animals who won’t touch man cubs because they fear the repercussions, there are others who would do anything to get their hands on one.” Nassir replied.

“My daddy says that the wolves were friendly, and he was also friends with many different animals like bears and panthers. But he also says that if I see a wolf or bear, they might try to eat me. Why is that?” She asked.

Nassir would have shrugged if he could have.

“It’s the way of the jungle little cub. If it isn’t a predator then it’s probably prey, and everyone needs to eat. I’ve eaten many other animals. In fact, if you didn’t have that meat when I found you, and if you weren’t so warm and darn cute, I might have eaten you myself,” He hissed jokingly.

Amaya giggled, not realising that he was only half joking.

“You wouldn’t do that Nassir. You’re a nice snake. Besides, I did have snacks and I am cute, so it doesn’t really matter right? And if I’m so cute, then maybe I can make some more friends like you. I just have to be sure to keep some extra meat with me, right?” She said holding up the package of meat for Nassir.

Suddenly she couldn’t see Nassir anywhere.

“Nassir? Where did you go? I hope you aren’t ignoring me because if you-”

Arrrrragh!” Amaya yelped as a wolf suddenly leaped out of the bushes along the side of the path with its claws outstretched and its jaws wide open.

Then suddenly a single coil dropped down from the canopy and caught like a hanging vine under the wolf’s throat. The wolf’s hungry growl turned into a choked yelp as its head was yanked back. In a split-second Nassir had plucked the wolf out of thin air. Then spun the wolf around, coiling it in less than a three seconds. Then he brought the wolf up face to face with him.

Still in shock and gasping for breath, the wolf couldn’t even comprehend what had happened. Then he was suddenly staring into the spiraling eyes of a furious python. His own widened in fear as he tried to resist the spirals weakening his mind, the two actions were contradictory however and soon it was impossible to look away.

Nassir stared into the wolf’s eyes as its pupils shrank and were slowly replaced by his colors. He could feel his mind slowly connecting to the wolf’s as it started to relax in his coils despite its best efforts.

“Be calm. Be free of fear and worry. Just relax in my coilssss. You have made a big mistake going after thisss girl cub. A very ssssserioussss missstake,” He hissed as he constricted the wolf to the point that its bones groaned in protest.

His lisp always grew stronger when he was hypnotising or emotional, and right now, he was both.

As he was hypnotising his new catch, he flicked out his tongue. Wolves rarely traveled alone and this one was no more than a cub. The rest of the pack would surely be nearby, but he couldn’t smell anything. In his search he had loosened his grip just enough for the wolf cub to breathe.

Nassir heard a slight sigh as the wolf cub stopped resisting. His mind was nearly completely submissive. Now Nassir could enter the cub’s mind and look into his memories to find out where the rest of his pack was.

The first thing he found was the cub’s name. That was always the first thing he found. Most of the time knowing his prey’s name was annoying because it made him feel more connected to them. Even so, knowing their name made it much easier to put his prey deep under his spell.

This wolf cub’s name was Onchu. He quickly found the last time Onchu had been with his pack. They had gone out hunting and he had been unable to catch anything, even the dumb jungle birds had evaded him.

His sister Cona had caught three birds and tossed one at his feet with a huff.

“You just can’t catch anything can you? How will you ever become a true male if even your female can hunt better than you?” She scoffed.

Onchu knew she was just teasing but it still hurt to hear it. Then he puffed out his chest. “Fine then. I’ll catch the biggest prey you’ve ever seen. Just you wait!”

Then he bounded off into the jungle. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find any prey in his pack’s territory, so he decided to risk going beyond it and had gotten himself helplessly lost. Then his day went from bad to worse as he was caught and held in the air by a massive snake.

Nassir recognised the snake in his memories as Aspen. He was a hypno-snake and one of Nassir’s many siblings, but a little older and a lot crueler.

He would hypnotise his prey, but instead of making them feel good so they would relax and let themselves be eaten, he made them fear him and forced them into submission that way. He had always said that the taste of fear was delicious but once one of Nassir’s other brothers tried his methods and said they were disgusting, nobody else took up his methods. Nassir was very grateful for this.

Still, he couldn’t understand why Aspen had let this wolf cub escape. He continued to watch as the serpent hypnotised Onchu more and more. Just as the poor wolf’s mind was about to break a miracle happened.

A large and heavy fruit that had been hanging far above the helpless cub had come loose and dropped onto the snake far below, smacking him right between the eyes. Nassir watched with a slight chuckle as Aspen’s eyes crossed and a goofy grin appeared on his face for a split second before his eyes rolled up and he fell limp. The loosening of his coils and the impact of hitting the ground was enough to wake the poor wolf cub from his trance.

Onchu quickly freed himself from the remaining loose coils and bolted.

Ha! Served Aspen right. Nassir thought.

Their great ancestor Kaa had taught them never to try hunting beneath a tree where fruit could fall on them. That was one of the most important lessons the great snake had forced into their minds as hatchlings. Along with the lesson that one should never get involved with man cubs. But Nassir had happily choose to forget that particular lesson.

Then Nassir fast forwarded to just before their encounter. Onchu had been wandering for more than a full day without food. He hadn’t been able to catch enough to even feed himself. Then he spotted what looked like an easy meal. The girl cub looked soft and smelled delicious, or at least there was a delicious smell coming from her. He had jumped without a second thought which had once again landed him in the coils of a serpent.

Nassir finished going through Onchu’s story just as his mind finally gave in. A wide grin formed on his face as he stared off into space. Nassir shut off his spirals.

Amaya was calling for him down below. He didn’t really want to eat this wolf as he wasn’t very hungry, but he didn’t want Amaya to see his hypnosis powers either. If she told Mowgli he had the same powers as Kaa, he had no doubt the man cub would never let him near the man village again.

Then he had an idea.

“I’ll be right down in just a moment.” He said to Amaya.

Then he turned to Onchu as his eyes began spiraling again. Onchu’s eyes immediately locked onto his as his mind opened to any and all commands Nassir might give him.

“You don’t want to eat the girl cub anymore. You would much rather let her pet you instead. You won’t do anything to harm her. Also, you will know that I am a good snake, but you will remember everything about meeting that other snake. You will still know to fear him, but I am safe and friendly.” He hissed commandingly yet softly.

Onchu continued grinning broadly and nodded as much as he could in the snake’s coils.

“Good cub. Now…Wake!” He commanded as he lowered both himself and the wolf cub to the ground.

“Sorry to keep you waiting Amaya. I just had to be sure this wolf cub didn’t want to hurt you anymore.” He said, releasing Onchu, who stumbled for a bit shaking his head.

“What? I was… an-and then,” He stammered trying to make sense of what had happened. He blinked as the spirals disappeared from his eyes.

“My name is Nassir by the way wolf cub, and this is my girl cub friend Amaya.”

Onchu looked up at Nassir for moment then his eyes widened.

“You just…but then why didn’t you…?” He was still very confused, but he quickly forgot his confusion as his stomach growled loudly. He looked down embarrassed.

“Oh! Are you hungry little wolf? Here I have some extra snacks I brought along. You don’t mind sharing right Nassir?” Amaya asked, taking a few pieces of meat out of the sack that held the snacks Mowgli had given her for Nassir.

“Go ahead it looks like he needs it a lot more than I do.”

Amaya smiled and nodded as she offered the snacks to Onchu.

Onchu looked at her suspiciously for a moment before cautiously taking the meat from her hand. His eyes widened and he immediately snatched the next one, and the next. Soon he had eaten all the snacks Amaya had brought. He was still a little hungry, but he wasn’t starving at least. For some reason he didn’t want to eat the girl cub anymore. Instead he rubbed up against her side and when she started to pet him it felt like she was scratching an ich he never knew he had.

His tail started wagging helplessly and his tongue lolled out of his mouth as he closed his eyes and leaned into her ministrations.

“Well, aren’t you just the cutest little wolf. Aren’t you? Yes, you are,” Amaya giggled as she rubbed his soft fur and scratched him behind his ears.

Onchu could have stayed like that forever, but a soft chuckle reminded him of Nassir. He growled slightly as he remembered the other snake he had met recently. He hunkered down staring at the amused python.

“Oh, no need to fear me little cub. I’m just a friendly snake. You can trussst me. I had you in my coils and let you go after all,” Nassir said reasonably.

That was true and something deep within Onchu was telling him he could trust this snake. He seemed so different from that other cruel snake it was hard to believe they were the same species.

Onchu slowly relaxed again and Amaya, who had stopped petting him when he started growling, started petting him again.

“So, what’s your name little pup?” She asked.

“My name is Onchu, but I am no pup. I’m a full wolf now. I’m even old enough to hunt on my own.” Onchu replied proudly.

“Ok, Onchu. My name is Amaya and it’s nice to meet you.”

Onchu’s tail had started wagging again but he kept himself from falling into the bliss of her touch again. He was a proud wolf. He couldn’t let himself seem weak in front of these…what? Friends? Fellow animals? He couldn’t think of them as prey and he didn’t want to either. Nassir had let him go and Amaya had fed him and pet him. That made them friends, right?

“Thanks for the food but I really need to be getting home.” Onchu said moving away from the girl cub.

She stopped petting him with a sad sigh and he hesitated. He still longed for her touch, but he had to go. While he hesitated, Nassir spoke up.

“You don’t need to leave yet. Besides, do you even know how to get home from here?”

Onchu looked down. It was true that he didn’t, but he didn’t want to admit it either. Then Amaya spoke up.

“Do you know where his territory is Nassir?”

Nassir nodded. “But I can’t just abandon you here. What if some other hungry animal finds you?”

Amaya paused for a moment. “Why don’t we go back to the man village first? Then you and Onchu can travel back from there.” She suggested.

Onchu nodded eagerly. “Yes. That sounds good. Then I can mark a path back so I can see you again sometime.” He smiled. Then he realised what he had said. Even if he wanted to meet Amaya again, he doubted she would want to see him again after he had attacked and tried to eat her.

He tucked his tail between his legs and looked up at Amaya sheepishly.

“I mean…if you want to see me again.” He whimpered.

“Are you kidding? Of course, I want to see you again. Your fur is so soft and fluffy!” Amaya replied with a big smile.

Onchu’s face lit up and his tail started wagging again.

Nassir nodded knowingly. He knew exactly what she meant. He loved the feel of soft fur against his cold scales. It had been a long time since he had simply enjoyed the feeling of a soft, furry animal in his coils. Maybe he would try to catch something like that after this little adventure was over.

It didn’t take long for the group to reach the edge of the man village. Amaya said goodbye to Nassir and Onchu and headed into the man village.

Then Nassir began the long journey with Onchu back to his pack’s territory. They stopped every now and then so Onchu could mark the route. When they reached the edge of Onchu’s pack’s territory Nassir stopped.

“Farwell little cub. Try not to get yourself lost next time.” He chuckled.

Onchu sighed and accepted it. “Maybe not all snakes are terrible after all. I’ll come visit Amaya some day and maybe I’ll see you again too,” He said as he started to walk away.

“Just be careful cub. There are very few snakes as friendly as I am,” Nassir warned. Onchu stopped and looked back at him.

“I know. Thanks,” He yipped, before bounding off into his home. Nassir shook his head as he made his way back home.

What neither Onchu nor he realised however, was that someone else had been stalking them as they made the final leg of their journey.

Aspen was had been furious when he woke to find that his prey had escaped his coils. He wasn’t about to let a tiny wolf cub best him, and so, he had followed the wolf cub’s sent all day. Now he sat upwind of the two as they said their goodbyes.

“Oh, what will I do about this?” His deep voice cackled evilly. “Maybe I’ll give my naive little brother a visit one of these days. I can’t wait to see the look on everyone’s faces back home when they hear about this,” He hissed with a sinister and cruel smile. Things were about to get very interesting around here.