Boy's Journey

I had been meaning to redo Kaiten's story, so it'll go here.

Journey of a Boy: Part 1

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly. There was a cool breeze in the air. As usual, all was peaceful in the forest. The sound of the many birds among the treetops, as well as insects buzzing about permeated the air.

A large wooden log sailed through the air and collided with a large rock, forcing the log to splinter into pieces and the rock to tumble over. "He shoots, he scores! The new world champ is...is...aw who cares. Bleck." A booming voice echoed out from between the many trees. From between the mossy bark covered poles, a massive snake slithered out. Its scales were a bright emerald green with darker green stripes running down its back. Its underbelly was a bright yellow. Where its head would be though...a person's body began, and from the waist up no less!

Slowly slithering towards his target, the towering snake man's body rose up above the sea of trees. His belly was flat, devoid of any kind of fat and his ribs were quite easily visible under the gray, torn hooded T-shirt he was wearing. On the front of his shirt was a symbol, resembling both the sun and the moon.

Moving with a speed unexpected of someone of such massive size, he began to inspect the splintered remains of his thrown log, his shoulder length brown hair waving about in the wind. Lowering his head to examine the ground, he quickly brought it upwards again.

"Hmmm...Looks like my aim has improved! Now if only there was someone to share this victory with. Besides myself I mean. Bleh, I need a hobby." His monologue was quickly interrupted by the sounds of his stomach growling. "And some lunch..."

Rubbing his empty belly, the massive snake man looked around himself. Surely enough, there was nothing edible in the immediate area, save for some apples in a nearby tree, which the behemoth noted in disgust.

"You wonder why I don't love you anymore apples? As I grew, you didn't. Now I can't enjoy you! Stupid underdeveloped...gosh, you can't even talk, why the heck am I bothering?!" He stared at the small tree, half expecting an answer.

Hanging his head, half in shame, the other half in embarrassment, he lifted his head up high and inhaled through his nose, his heightened senses getting to work on finding something more substantial to fill him empty tummy with.

"I smell...something. Something besides myself! Gosh I need a bath." Despite rambling on, the giant slithered forth, following the scent burning in his nostrils, hoping for something, anything edible to cross his path.

After what felt like hours of moving forward along the dirt covered forest floor, he began to wipe his brow, the collective sweat falling off. Looking to the right, and then to the left, he began to scratch at a... "private area" as nobody was watching.

"Why can't food ever come to me? Life can't be that easy? Is that it life? Do you hate me or somethi-Oooo a deer!" His words had trailed off as he caught sight of a very familiar animal. One that had sustained him many a time, nearby and munching on some tall grass.

In no time at all, the deer had dashed off. Caught up in his own speech, he quickly realized his chance for a decent meal would soon be gone. As soon as this realization struck him he dove into action, moving faster than he had ever done in recent memory.

The deer was now moving. And fast! Faster than anything the man had seen in years. Deer were always a pain and this one was no different.

Slithering as fast as his gargantuan body would let him, he gave chase! He would not let this animal escape. So many had, he couldn't remember the last time his belly wasn't empty or near.

Something suddenly felt...different. It was hard to explain, but his body felt lighter. Better. But right now, this wasn't important. What was important was filling his stomach with deer meat. The stamina of these smaller critters was amazing! How the hell was it still running, even after all this time?

It was impossible to tell how long it was, but it felt like hours. With a loud gasp, the snake man practically fell to the ground. Watching the deer dash away, his face drooped to a depressed frown.

"Stupid deer! I didn't wanna eat you anyway! You probably taste like sweaty socks! And dirty feet! WHICH by the way are DISGUSTING!! Furthermore...errr...ummm. Where the heck am I?!" In an instant, he had gone from waving his fist in anger to curiously tilting his head.

What used to be forest with a cool breeze was now...different. The vegetation was much more varied, richer. The trees were towering over him and several new scents assaulted his nostrils. The ground...it felt strange. It was giving off a strange scent unbeknownst to him.

The sounds...so many new sounds. Small gurgling, loud roars, and what he assumed were the hisses of several foreign creatures. This...this wasn't home. No, it couldn't be. But if it wasn't the forest he had grown oh so accustomed to...just where was he?

These thoughts plagued the skinny man's mind as he began to move forward, crossing his arms and shivering at the thought. In the distance, within the shrubs, he noticed what looked like a cat. Strange thing was...there were plants popping out of its back! Moss, mushrooms, what appeared to be a variety of strange materials. It was at this point that he decided maybe it would be best to get his bearings. Figure something out about this strange place.

Slithering forth, he couldn't help but feel this was a very bad place. So many odd sounds...he felt so out of place here, it wasn't even funny.

It felt like it was forever. Just moving forth. And then...it stopped. Before he could even realize it, he had stopped moving. Something was holding him still. Looking downwards, the snake man could not move. He saw a sticky white substance holding him still.

"W-Web?! Holy crud holy crud holy crud!!! Gigantic spiders?! Where am I?! What the heck is going on!! Somebody! Anybody, please help me!!" Realizing nobody was near, the hood wearing man let his body go limp. He was tired, and there was no more use if it would only entangle him further.

It was unnerving. He saw nothing moving. Just the mass vegetation being gently bristled by the wind. It would have been calming under any other circumstances. A small thumping sound quickly caught his attention as his breathing began to speed up.

"Ho-Holy! Spider...man?" What began as a scream quickly diminished to a small squeak. In front of him was a spider, but...where it's head should have begun, a man's body started! Dark skinned and muscular, he had bright red hair.

"A naga? Well well, this is my lucky day!" The spider had spoken in a hearty voice, clearly pleased by this revelation.

"N-Ni...You're not only scary, but you'd use such a horrid word?! What's wrong with you?!"

"Naga?" The man was clearly confused as he tilted his head.

"Oh naga. My mistake, I thought you said...aw well it's not important. What's a naga?"

"Oh. I get it. You're new. A naga is a snake person like you." The talking spider said as he began to unravel the naga from the webbing that entangled him so.

"And...ummm...what are you?" He asked as he fell from the webs to the dust.

"A dridder. My name is Dwayne. And yours?" The tall dridder spoke as he offered a helping hand.

"M-My name is Kaiten. Did I shrink or something? I was huge before." He frightfully asked as he was pulled upwards, obviously amazed that someone else was actually taller than him.

"Odds are you're just as big as you ever were. Shame you ended up here though shorty."

Standing at his full height now, the reality of what Dwayne said kicked in. He was truly massive compared to him. Just what was going on...?

"Dwayne? Ummmm...what now?"

"I'm gonna take you to someone who can help you. She likes doing stuff like this. Now, word to the wise, the only reason I'm letting you go is because you're a newcomer, you're not used to stuff like this. Any other day, you'd be lunch. So try and be careful from now on." He stated near nonchalantly as his many hair covered legs carried him forward, leading the way to some unknown destination.

Though he didn't really want to go with this strange man, he knew he didn't have a choice. He had no idea where he was, he was hungry and tired, and he was pretty sure he had to pee. Not knowing what may jump out and bite him should he expose himself, he decided to keep his shirt down and follow the massive dridder.

Noticing that the naga was staring at his bottom half, Dwayne couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. "Stop staring my junk Kaiten. Or...are you into that sort of thing?"

"Why are you a spider? Did you mess yourself up too?"

"I was born this way thank you very much. "

"Why are you thanking me?"

"It's a figure of speech."

"What's that mean?"

It was at this point that Dwayne stopped walking and looked into Kaiten's face. Surely enough, he was sucking in his bottom lip and just staring.

"Just...follow me. My sister will make everything clear for you. Yeesh..."

In what felt like no time at all, a strange smell began to fill the air. It was a familiar one. That of melted wax, or incense. "Here ya go Kaiten. She's right through here." He spoke as he pointed towards a large mass of clumped together trees, gesturing him to enter.

Slithering forward yet again, Kaiten noticed what appeared to be a purple canopy hanging overhead among the trees.

"Please, come in." A woman's voice spoke from within. Sliding inside, the small naga saw another dridder, much like Dwayne. She had dark skin, lime green hair, and was wearing a green top and a green skirt, exposing a good amount of her slightly chubby stomach. As well, her spider half was a dark brown color.

"Ummmm. Hi. Can you tell me why I'm here miss...? I'm c-confused." The snaky man said as he looked away from her slightly, his face turning a bright red.

"Do you even know where you are?" She asked, a slight slur evident in her rather sultry voice.

"Ummmm...your home?" He sheepishly asked, still looking away from her.

"I swear Dwayne does this all the time. You must be an offworlder."

"I'm pretty sure I don't know what that is. All I wanna know is where in the six or seven hecks am I?"

"Felarya." She spoke as calmly as could be expected.

"No, I mean where am I? How do I get back home? I was in my forest, and then I was here and then I met Dwayne and then it was now and that's all I remember."

"You can't get home boy. This is another world."

"Country you mean."

"Pardon?"

"I must have slithered beyond the border into uncharted territory! That explains it! How do I get back to the Shilyon forest?" He nervously laughed as he asked.

"Look, why don't you tell me your name? Also, feel free to look at me. I don't bite unless you're cute. I'm Sheska. "

"I'm Kaiten. I'm also confused, tired, scared, and hungry." His viewpoint did not change, even at her suggestion.

"Let me explain in detail Kaiten. This place is called Felarya. People from all kinds of places end up here. People from other worlds. Judging by the sounds of it, you were just unlucky. Odds are you're not going to be able to go home. So you might as well get comfortable."

"O-Oh. I can't go back home? Eh, not a big deal. Not much back there for me anyway. Can you tell me why you're so big? Did you get into an accident too?"

"I was born this way Kaiten."

"I see...Also, why do you have a roof? It looks awfully out of place here."

"To keep customers comfortable. I'm a fortune teller see. Hold on." Stopping her little speech, she reached down beside her to a large clay jug, lifted it up to her lips and began to gulp down whatever fluid was contained within. "Nothing like a good drink. Want some?"

"I can smell it from here. No thanks. My dad always used to drink that crud. It made him loud and annoying."

"Ah. A bad drunk. I know the type. Fun to hang out with though!" Her happy declaration was interrupted by a loud grumbling sound coming from the naga's belly. "With how skinny you look, I imagined you would sound something like this. Just a second, I'll get you fixed right up."

"W-what do you mean?"

"Dwayne? Dwayne! Get back here! I need you to do me a favour!" As though he were there all along, Dwayne burst from the shadow.

"What do you want? I was gonna take a nap."

"Kaiten here is hungry and new to the place. Do go take him to get something to eat."

"Fine fine. Hurry up Kaiten, follow me. And Sheska, please have Jessica ready by the time I'm back. I wanna get it over with."

Rising as fast as he could, Kaiten realized a small human woman had been sitting there calmly the entire while. Clad in thick camouflage clothing and with long brown hair. "Who's she?"

"Jessica. A customer of mine. And ahead of time, no. You cannot eat her."

"E-Eat her?! Why the heck would I do that?!" He was flabbergasted! Eating humans...who would ever do that?

"You're certainly an odd one." Sheska punctuated this with a giggle.

"Hurry up!" Dwayne's impatient call erupted from nearby, prompting Kaiten to slither as fast as he could.

"I'm sorry about that. So what did you mean by that? "Have her ready by the time I get back". I don't quite get it." Kaiten curiously tilted his head as he looked forth at the taller man.

"Sheska and I run a business. While she gets the customers, I bring them back home as a sort of escort service. To ensure they survive and spread the word."

"Escort? Why would they need an escort? Is this place dangerous?"

"Seriously? Wow you're ignorant. Stay close to me is all I can say. This place is VERY dangerous. You'd be lucky to last a few days here. Especially with the shape you're in."

"What do you mean the shape I'm in?! I'll have you know I'm a manly manly man!" These words were quickly accompanied by the flailing of his arms.

"Geez, relax. All I mean is, you're really skinny. And kind of short. Truthishly, you don't look very healthy."

"Oh. Yeah...I don't really eat as much as I should. I'm not really a good hunter." This was accompanied by the hanging of his head.

"I'll get you something for now so ya don't starve to death. Wait right here." Dwayne's spidery body quickly led him up a large moss covered tree, much faster than Kaiten could believe!

"Holy mole! He's fast! Maybe even faster than me. He's awesome. I wanna be like him. Wait...why aren't I telling him?"

Waiting for what felt like hours, Kaiten observed his surroundings. Lush vegetation everywhere. The color green taking over his vision. The sun was setting overhead, leaving the sky a beautiful orange. A bird was hanging on a branch overhead and speaking of several things Kaiten had never even heard of. Almost as though it were having a conversation with somebody who wasn't even there. "Talking birds? What'll they think of next?"

"I'm back! Lookie what I brought ya!" Dwayne's voice rang out as he practically slid down the same tree, now holding a clump of large green rat looking creatures, all limp.

"Umm. What're these things?" Kaiten curiously inspected them, deeply inhaling their scent as he did.

"They're called Muris. They're pretty easy to snag. And to someone your size, they're a pretty good meal. Now eat up." Near instantly, Kaiten began snatching them out of Dwayne's hands and swallowing them whole.

"Not too bad. I could get used to these!"

"Kaiten, get behind me now!" Dwayne yelled, dropping all the Muris he was holding. The yelling had startled Kaiten as he dove behind his spidery companion.

In front of Dwayne stood two figures. They had an insect-like bottom half and their arms had incredibly sharp spines coming out of them, as well as antennae rising from the top of their heads. Both women, one thin and pretty, the other covered in scars and overweight, Kaiten could help but look away blushing from the taller women.

"D-Dwayne? Why are these girls nakers? Sheska wasn't...I mean, you are, but..."

"Sheska's different from most girls Kaiten. Many don't wear clothes...They're mantoids. Mantis people. They eat bigger people like us."

"A dridder and a naga? Not too bad!" The skinny mantoid had spoken in a playful tone.

"The naga is gonna be easy picking as far as I'm concerned. The dridder might be some trouble though." The scarred mantoid said in a bitter tone.

Keeping his eyes on the mantoids in front of him, Dwayne lowered his voice to a whisper. "Okay Kaiten, listen up. If we work together, we just might make it out of this alive. So do exactly what I tell you, and we'll be fine. Okay? Kaiten?" Turning back to look, he noticed Kaiten had quite obviously left. "Awww gay he's gone!"

"Come now big guy, you have a date!" The skinny mantoid spoke as she dove forward, her bladed arms cutting into Dwayne's stomach.
----------------------------------------------------------
"And that's what happened, we gotta do something! He's gonna die!" Kaiten was hysterical, his words had little meaning any longer as he blubbered on, making the small human nearby scootch away a bit closer to Sheska.

"First off...how long did it take you to get here and tell me this?" "Sheska asked, just as calm as she had before. It was unnerving in a way.

"Ummm...a while. I kinda got lost on the way." His words were interrupted by a heavy breathing from nearby.

Into the small clearing stepped Dwayne. His body had blood running down it at several points, as did his fists. Kaiten could have sworn he saw some dripping out of his mouth as well.

"I...I did it. I scared them both off. Barely...Ouch..." His eyes quickly connected with the shaking naga's and he lurched forward with a grunt of pain. "You little bastard! You left me to die! I'll kill you!"

Before he could wrap his hands around his throat, Kaiten had quickly slithered behind Sheska, visibly shivering.

"You're alive and well Dwayne, what's the point of hurting Kaiten? What would it change? He got scared and ran. Under the circumstances, I imagine many would have. You'll be fine and well in a couple of days. Those cuts don't look to be too deep." Her tone was, surprisingly, just as calm as it ever was.

"I got him food and tried to protect him. What thanks do I get? Oh no, he's not getting off the hook that easily!"

"Very well. I have a suggestion. You're obviously in a terrible mood about all of this. So why don't we have Kaiten take Jessica here back home for you this time instead hmm?"

"What?! Oh no, I don't even KNOW this guy! How can I trust him?!" The human woman had finally spoken up, clearly irritated by this revelation.

"I'll know deary. If he eats you, well...I have connections. I'll know. And if that happens, I'll gut him." Sheska's words, despite the tone that lie underneath gave everyone there shivers. "But for now, it's late. You and he will stay here. In the morning, I'll give him directions to Negav. And together, you'll be fine."

Dwayne stamped his spidery legs in anger and quickly stormed off. As far as Kaiten cared, it suited him just fine. Looking down to the small human nearby, he waved in as friendly a manner as he could. She just glared at him in return. Tomorrow was going to be a long day...