Twill Forest - Central Valley

  Late Evening

  For Jerik, being alone in the wild was proving to be an arduous lifestyle indeed. A runaway slave has nearly no resources, and even fewer friends. Still, he had managed to survive thus far, and for that, he thanked none other than a survival guide that had been lost on a dirt road, probably by some brave, or foolhardy, traveller of some sort. The guide was moderate in size and covered the basics, like shelter and foraging for herbs or food. Not a day would pass where he didn't feel fortunate to have been taught how to read. He had not yet finished the entire contents of the book, but when boredom strikes, as it often does, he would read a section or two every so often.

  However, today was not proving to be a boring day. The forest was brimming with bandits and monsters, and one is sure to meet a swift end if they are not careful... or lucky.

  It just so happened that Jerik was currently hiding in a thick brush, completely shrouded with leaves and foilage, waiting for the group to pass him by. Bandits. They were loud and boisterous, and it was hard not to eavesdrop on their conversation.

  "I'm telling you, it was around here somewhere!" a nameless bandit insisted, impatience present in his voice, "I swear she can't have gone far!"

  "Fenin, why do you have to be such a good bloody shot with that bow? I'm impressed with your accuracy, but hitting targets this far away makes searching for them such a damn pain in the arse," grumbled another bandit.

  "Are ye sure it were a snakewoman?" a grizzly voice asked.

  "They're called Naga, and yes, I'm sure," Fenin replied, "we could probably turn her corpse in for a hefty profit. Those monsters are always fetching a price at the Warrior's Guild, just gotta prove you killed one and they'll practically throw you a month's pay. Er maybe a week's worth of ale," he laughed.

  The voices of the bandits continued on, growing ever more distant. Jerik eventually exited the brush, until he heard commotion coming from behind, closer to the rocky cliffside on the edge of the valley.

  Jerik crouched, and quietly snuck towards the sound, because to him, it wasn't natural. It sounded like a human grunting in pain. Well, he was half right. Because what he saw seemed half human: A beautiful girl who seemed to be nearly his own age, with a pearlescent colored snake tail growing where her legs should have been. She wasn't very big, maybe a foot shorter than he was in total. A young Naga, with an arrow piercing the broad middle section of her tail.

  A twig snapped underfoot while Jerik was getting a closer look, causing the Naga girl to whip her head around and stare at him, wide-eyed. She made a wheezing sound, and started to flail away, in a pitiful attempt to crawl using only her hands. Her tail was her main source of mobility, and it was proving too painful to rely on any longer.

  "A-ah! I'm not going to hurt you," Jerik quickly spoke, raising his hands in surrender and taking a short step backwards.

  The Naga quit trying to escape, but continued to stare at Jerik as if he were the Grim Reaper itself. 

  Circumstances aside, Jerik realized he found her to be quite beautiful. He was only fifteen years of age, and she seemed to be a lass who could pass for fourteen. She had radiant blonde hair, framing her head in a wavy cascade a little past her shoulders. Her eyes were the strangest of all, they appeared human, but the irises achieved a color no human could seem to match. They both appeared to share the same characteristics as her tail-- like pearls, they slightly adjusted color depending on the surrounding amount of light, or direction they were being viewed from. From purple to pink, and everything in between.

  "Can you speak? Can you understand me?" Jerik asked.

  The Naga did not answer, nor did she make any attempt of recognition to what he had just said. She did not nod her head, nor twitch a muscle. The only thing she kept doing was flickering her eyes back and forth to the commoner's blade at Jerik's side.

  "O-oh!" Jerik looked to his hip, and realized she was focusing on his dagger. Another relic he was fortunate to have found in his stay in the wild. He unfastened his belt, and it fell to the ground along with his weapon, which he then kicked to the side. It was now out of reach, but not completely too far to retrieve after he was done with what he planned to do next.

  The Naga seemed to relax slightly, and returned her focus to Jerik. She was beginning to sweat, obviously in distress, and began to pull at the arrow in her lower waist.

  "P-please wait!" Jerik announced in a hushed, urgent tone.

  Jerik slowly reached behind himself, and produced a small satchel.

  "I'd like to help," Jerik offered, and continued to approach the Naga, attempting to display his most disarming smile he could manage.

  Despite seeming to be mute, the Naga was not ignorant, and realized Jerik was not an enemy. His eyes were focused on the arrow in her tail, and she allowed him to approach.

  "Thank you," Jerik said once he finally reached her.

  Jerik got to work on removing the arrow, despite not knowing the anatomy of a Naga, he knew that an arrow wasn't supposed to be growing out of her tail, and needed to be removed somehow. It wasn't going to be easy work, but he had a makeshift herbal sedative to help ease the pain when applied to the wound entrypoint.

  The Naga gritted her teeth in pain through the procedure, but within several minutes, the 'operation' was complete. She would likely slowly heal over time, and--

  The wound sealed itself on its own. Moments after the arrow was gone, the Naga was nearly good as new.

  Jerik's eyes went wide with amazement.

  "Wow... um, I didn't expect that," Jerik admitted, "I overheard some outlaws were calling you a, uh, Naga? What's a Naga?"

  The Naga ran her fingers over her tail, seemingly satisfied with the wound being treated, and turned her stunning eyes back to meet Jerik's, causing him to become slightly flustered. Then, she smiled warmly at him.

  It hadn't really mattered up until this point, but Jerik finally realized she wasn't wearing any sort of clothing. She was uncovered, and it made him feel a little ashamed to look at her for too long.

  "Please, um, wear this," Jerik removed his ragged jacket, and placed it around the Naga's shoulders, attempting to donate some modesty.

  The Naga promptly shrugged the jacket off, and it fell to the ground.

  "I, uh, I see," Jerik noted, picking up the jacket and putting it back on, "not much into men's fashion, I guess."

  The Naga began to slide around, seeming to be agile as ever. She slid over to Jerik's belt and dagger, picked it up for him, brought it back, and placed it in his hands.

  "Ah, thank you! I suppose I have your trust now, miss... um, what's your name?" Jerik asked.

  The Naga didn't answer, but grabbed Jerik's hand and began to lead him towards the bottom of the cliff edge.

  "Okay, I guess I'll call you, uh... Charlotte? That sounds nice, I think," Jerik mused, "Where are we going, Charlotte?"

  Charlotte didn't answer, but the opening entrance to a cleverly hidden cavern did.

  "I see, is this your home?" Jerik asked, now a little intimidated by the dark cave. Maybe Charlotte was able to see in the dark better than he could, but it didn't ease his fears very much.

  Charlotte turned back to face Jerik, and had an angelic grin on her face.

  "You make a very convincing argument," Jerik joked. "You trusted me earlier, I guess I'll trust you if we're to be friends, Charlotte."

  Continuing to keep a modest hold of Jerik's hand and arm, Charlotte led him into the dark cavern.

  "Oop!" Jerik yelped and tripped over a rocky incline after a half minute inside.

  Charlotte helped him stand up, and gave him a pat on the head, and took his arm once more. This time, she moved a lot slower, making sure Jerik had sure footing going forward.

  "Yeah, I can't see in the dark like you, sorry," Jerik whispered, with a stifled chuckle. "Although the sun will be setting soon outside, so I guess it doesn't make too much of a difference anymore. You know I usually build a fire or something before bed, so--"

  Charlotte placed her right index finger over Jerik's lips, shushing him.

  "Sorry," Jerik quietly mumbled.

  Charlotte guided Jerik's hands downward, placing them on something soft.

  "A... is this a bedroll?" Jerik wondered aloud, though keeping his voice down as not to make too much noise in the cavern. 

  Charlotte helped guide him to lie on top of it. After weeks of sleeping on dirt or grass, it felt amazing to Jerik to once again feel something manmade cradle his spine.

  "Thank you very much, Charlotte. This is a wonderful gift, and I suppose I am a little bit sleepy. Will you help me exit the cave in the morning?" Jerik asked.

  Charlotte made no vocal indication as usual, but he could feel her eyes gazing at him.

  "O-kay... I'll assume that's a yes," Jerik decided. After all, she seemed to have taken a liking to him. Offering him a bedroll in a cave? Touching his arm? Making eye contact? There's no reason she would abandon him, or bring him all this way just to kill him, right?

  After a small deliberation, Jerik laid down and rested his eyes. There was no blanket, but he was used to having to forego such a luxury. Even though most nights would get rather cold.

  "Good night, Charlotte," Jerik whispered, before dozing off. Was he being careless? Maybe a little. But...

  When you crave a friend, a companion, so badly, you might take a risk or two. Jerik had decided Charlotte was a risk worth taking. Plus, her snake tail was cool, maybe even exotic. Whatever a Naga was, Jerik decided they can't be all bad. Nothing that can smile like that could be bad, right?

  The hours blazed by. Jerik slept rather soundly for once, although he knew he would likely awaken several hours later, shivering, as he did most on most nights without a blanket. Being slightly cold was always preferable to being a slave, he would reason with himself.

  He certainly did awaken around midnight, only to feel rather warmer than usual. He was completely surrounded with warmth.

  "What the--" Jerik started, before figuring it out.

  At some point that night (probably after watching him sleep for an hour), Charlotte had wrapped her tail around his lower half. She was sound asleep, with her upper half cuddling him; one arm behind his neck and one over his chest. A complete snake girl themed cuddle.

  "I didn't need a blanket. I guess I just needed a Naga," Jerik though to himself and smiled, before drifting back to sleep.