Story Notes:
Sorry about the massive submission. Meant to get this done five days earlier, but I failed.Ok, so I'm nervous. I have no damn clue if what I wrote serves as an okay writing style. I've been fighting this pressure for a very long time but I don't get any feedback about my work to know if I'm doing well or not. Is this enough detail, too little, too much? Should there be more complex descriptions, more big vocabulary words to make me sound ridiculously extravagantly smart, or is that not even required for a good story? Or how about less dialogue or should there be more? Those are just a few things I ask myself every second I type. Lately writing has been very stressful because whenever I read a good story I think â��If I need people to appreciate my hard work then I should write like that.â�a33; I shouldn't think like that but since I'm left in the dark I can't help it. Am I good enough, or do I suck at some areas? What makes a good story? You tell me readers, please. Help me, I really need it.
Chapter 4
The young fraxure groggily staggered through the gun gray shaded hallway making his way to the kitchen with less coordination than a zigzagoon. Walking into the room he suddenly flashed his paw in front of his face to block off the red beam that showed through the open double-hung window facing the hedges outside. Drake had decided to join the golden orb by rising with it to patrol the pear fields. He dragged his feet over to the cabinet next to the door that led out to the fields and picked up his dense, smooth rock where he surveyed the stone now regretting getting up early. He turned around with the rock in hand and fell against a chair, the poor dragon nearly falling asleep standing, but once he found some energy and groaned he lazily brought the rock over one of his tusks to slide it over the sharp edge. Still leaning on the chair he inattentively continued to repeat the swipe. After repeating enough forceful passes he whined from feeling several micro notches and chips on his tusk after running a claw past the edge. His warm orange, tired eyes rolled from the lagging frustrating routine. The sun light completely came over the counter top and burnt into his half lidded eyes annoying him further letting him know the sun was moving faster than him. He continued to absentmindedly sharpen his other tusk with the silence almost boring him to sleep.
"Drake!"
The little dragon jolted towards the sudden yell-"Aaaaahh! Arceus damn it!" Drake yelped from failing to notice his heavy rock slip out his grasp resulting in him now hopping on one foot. "What! What do you want!" Drake screamed in pain as he fell on his bottom to massage his sore, throbbing foot, "Aaah, ow! Sarah, you made me smash my foot!" Serperior still had her head in the window still lightly chuckling at Drake. However, Drake jolted again but this time from the sound of a light switch tapping on a few halls behind him. He turned to see light from another hall spanned across the rug in the living room "Get the hell out of here, my owner!" he forcefully gritted quietly. Serperior ducked away from the window and quickly slid for the nearest brush. "Okay...Easy Now..." Drake meanwhile lightly set his foot down before staggering up to his feet. Taking deep breaths as his foot seared, he casually loosened himself up with a smile as his owner rounded the hall.
As Serperior hid in the tall hedges that faced the house Drake finally came out of the kitchen and closed the door behind him. "Over here, Drake!" The fraxure turned to find Serperior's head poking out near his orchard.
"This better be an emergency if you're going to be sneaking into my ranch!" he scolded as he limped over to her, "Doesn't look like fire is eating up my earth."
"Your foot better be better." Drake's routine smirk dropped when he heard the slight assertive tone she presented. "You're taillow friend...he's in danger!"
"What the--" Before Drake could completely respond both pokémon heard the kitchen door swing open. Serperior quickly darted back to completely conceal herself as Drake moved about normally as his owner walked out. "Be at the pear field," Drake ordered while pretending to peer through the hedges to get his owner to smile at his loyal work, "I'll follow in five minutes and I want to see you clear in that field!"
Just like Drake spoke, he passed through the hedge brush that fenced off the column of the moderate sized pear trees. "I said clear in the field!" Drake yelled almost losing his normal demeanor from the urgent situation that's been worrying him for the last few minutes.
"I'm right here, don't worry!" Serperior called. Drake ran to the other side of the field to see her poking through the hedge that separated the orchard from the surrounding forest along with her hive.
"Don't worry? You said Colton is in danger! What the hell happened!" he fumed.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake his emergency contact up early in the morning for this! I'm hiding because your owner already rode way out here," Serperior spoke back with subtle agitation.
Drake kept himself at bay as he pinched his nostrils in frustration before taking a deep breath, "Okay, I didn't mean to snap, but just please tell me what happened."
"I found your friend stuck near Seviper's den," Serperior urgently explained, "Looks like Seviper and his friend stole some adhesive fiber from the neighboring sewaddle to use as traps for flyers. I need you to get him to stay calm as we get him out before he becomes breakfast."
"Show me where," he nodded.
Serperior nodded back before twisting within the shrubs to quickly slither off. "Follow my rustling, and just try to keep up," she informed with a teasing undertone.
"Oh, why you..."
Drake jumped into the hedge sprinting past the thick vegetation while keeping an ear open for Serperior's activity ahead. Drake was fully awake now that his adrenaline was kicked up by the fact that he may have to fight an enemy and ensure his close friend can fly another day. Serperior kept the vigor of her winding past the mess of branches before her. Drake's worry increased as he followed however. His scales were already pricking up from the intensity; his chest just wouldn't relax from the pounding. The thought of Colton gone stung him deeply so he just pushed those thoughts away as he ran.
By now the morning illuminated the mist golden in the mid spring air just as the two rescuers arrived at their destination. Drake slowed to a stop between a pair of bushes upon seeing Serperior's head wind upward into his view as she was within the adjacent flora. That's when she pointed her muzzle through the line of branches ahead causing Drake to follow her view. Drake breathed a sigh of relief once he saw his friend perched up high on one of the evergreen trees before them still conscious and aware of the trouble he was in as he was trying to flap away. The sticky resin that layered the branched kept his feet tethered. As Colton grew distressed struggling to flap away he heard some crunching nearby but he didn't look assuming and fearing whatever was crawling through the bush to be the worst. After beating at the air for seconds he grunted sharply in agitation looking towards the noise to only find the fraxure.
"Drake, get me out!" he panicked, "Look out, he's right next to you!"
"Shhhh! Shut up!" Drake nearly yelled but controlled it into a forced whisper, "'She' is with me," he then pointed over to the insulted serperior, "You're near the real predator!"
Colton saw Drake point over to the large hole in the ground a fair distance away from the tree. "Oh, ya think!" Colton whispered back, "Just get me out, please!"
"Uh... 'He'?" Serperior blankly recalled, "Do I look like a 'he'!"
"Son of a...How do I get him down that tree? It's too high! I can't just shoot the branch down," Drake informed Serperior.
"Don't worry. I'm more then capable of getting him down. I just needed you to be beside me so he could know I'm here to help," she smirked.
"Really, you're going to get him down?" Drake inquired.
"Mmhmm," she smiled, "Got a problem with that idea?"
"Ha, how can you even climb up that tree? Bet us getting here was the most activity you've had in months!" Drake laughed suddenly feeling the time to joke around was appropriate.
"Oh, haha," she mimicked, "I'm getting really tired of your jokes, Drake! Just watch me save the day," she pouted before slowly beginning to slither out.
"Ok, ok, it's not the fact that I know you don't have any limbs to climb. It's that you...you..."
Serperior ignored his taunts as she completely slid out from the vegetation revealing all of her green pride. She meandered forth lifting her upper quarter back to glare at Drake. "What, first time you've seen all of this before eh? I'd like to see you underestimate me after this!"
"Holy Palkia, Sarah..." the young dragon observed her complete form slither out in broad day light showing her entire serpentine body glisten for the first time to his eyes which were magnified to her body at the moment. Even as she slithered away the morning breeze blew her sweet fragrance towards his downwind direction acting as a drug that kicked up his heart rate.
He continued to watch Serperior meander towards the targeted tree. For the first time he took in her appearance. What bothered Drake however was that he wasn't giving a glance he was giving a whole stare towards her. She attracted his gaze; the reason was unknown to him. He was continuously distracted by her neck holding up her head that sprouted from between the long boughs that curved at the tips by her side. He's seen them before but only the tips, he never got to see how the prongs created her interesting upper body structure. What scared him further was that her glistening, winding form was more than just an average serpent. The cool looping yellow patterns that literally glowed around her mid section decorated her thoughtfully and were complemented by the three leaf bunches by her tail. He continued to involuntarily study the new look: how her under belly was a lighter feminine green then her back, how the inside of her boughs that split from her chest were lemon in color along with the interior of her long ears, how the spear head patterned scales on her chest topped it all off. She is a serpent, yet she was more than appealing. For a limbless creature he never knew they could be so interestingâ�"scratch that. He couldn't hold back the thoughts anymore. Ever since she was a servine he's played with his own latter thoughts about her being a cute pokémon. Her young smile that's found most of the day multiplies her adoring look; he couldn't prevent it. Her having the simplistic yet elegant appearance plus her being a perky female equaled a young newly evolved beautiful serperior. No arms, no legs, and yet her patterns, her prongs, her ears, and her lively expression did more than compensate.
Drake quickly shook his head. "Why did I just think of all of this cheesy crap! She doesn't even have a body," he quietly blushed before shakily yelling out in a desperate attempt to deny his infatuation, "Hah...you d-don't even have a body!" He stepped out with a grin to top off his taunt. The insecurities she's been feeling lately however cause to whip him from the great distance at the base of his tail in a jolting strike. Drake jumped with a loud yelp from her attack before cuddling his tail rubbing the sting out. "Jeez, Drake, you've never yelped that loud before when she whipped you all those times. It's like you're completely sensitive to her now. Get a hold of yourself!" his conscious yelled.
"What's going on? Please, tell me you two haven't forgotten about me!" Colton reminded his rescuers.
Serperior placed herself under the branch. She looked back at Drake before teasingly sticking her long narrow slit tongue out to taunt him as she lashed out a Vine Whip towards the branch above her. She looked back with a contented smile when she saw both vines wrap around her desired branch and anchor into a knot. From there she uses the power from within her boughs to pull her weight up. Keeping her dangling body loose from muscle tension to reduce any dead weight she continued to strain and grunt where Drake's jaw dropped from the excessive feat she was accomplishing. After a few seconds of pulling she finally made it up to the high branch making the last pull to coil her head and neck around the limb followed by her midsection and tail where she faced the little taillow close up.
"Aaaah!" Colton instantly screamed from the close encounter. "I hope Drake knows what he's doing!"
"Yeah," Serperior casually replied as she released her vines from the branches grip, "Me too."
Still spiraled around the branch she wrapped her vines firmly around the small avian. There she continued to tug and tug at his body, and with one final force she was able to detach the taillow's feet from the piece of sticky fiber. Suspended in the air Colton began trembling with his eyes shut until he felt the vines loosen up where he was forced to flap his wings in flight. He opened his eyes to peek at his savior where she lively smiled with a small giggle. Colton exhaled sharply from the ordeal before gliding down to hover over Drake. Serperior uncoiled herself from the branch to rappel safely back down before slithering towards the two.
"Drake, I want you to get those two out now!" Colton demanded, "Bastards still have me shaking!"
"Good, that means you can't fly away yet. Sorry about the misunderstandings," a voice hissed.
"Aw, no..." Drake winced as he turned towards the black serpent emerging from his den while he found Ledian swooping down to land next to his companion.
"This is not a hunting ground, Seviper! You and Ledian both need to get out, now!" Serperior exacted which greatly opened Drake's eyes.
The fraxure then smiled suddenly feeling confident being next to Serperior and even got by her side to back her up. "This is not your land period! So why don't you two just go back from the way you came!"
"Heh, I didn't mean to threaten and eat any of your family," Seviper chuckled.
"Listen, we also have to eat too. I mean that sounds like a nice and fair trade right?" Ledian added, "If it makes you feel any better I wasn't planning to eat your friend 'cause that's nasty."
"Screw nice and fair trade!" Colton suddenly spoke up feeling a surge of frustration grab him, "My owner has a gun that he won't hesitate to use, so piss off!"
Drake eyes dilated further from his friend's outburst. "Jeez, what is in the air that is causing everyone to suddenly grow a pair, strong pesticide?"
"But, Serpervisor--"
"'Serperior' you inconsiderate idiot!" Serperior snapped.
"Yeah, what about our last couple nights together," Seviper smirked.
"What is that, your wild card against me? Are you kidding me! Who would I want to be with a jerk like you?"
"And who would want to be with a wild bitch like you? 'Scuse my poison, I don't have a better term, but I was never into wild types to begin with. Even if you were in my team how can anyone fall for a frail serpent made of leaves!" Seviper ridiculed, "Let's go, Ledian! We're going to go to that city!"
"What?" Ledian inquired as he faced his friend, "But Seviper--"
"Now. Forget about your new life, and let's just get to a trainer who's willing to catch us!" Seviper turned to slide away from the group. The red insect reluctantly flew by his companion's side both disappearing into the shrubbery ahead.
"How odd. I never knew a pokémon really willing to be caught by a trainer before," Colton smiled as he faced Serperior, "I can't thank you enough for saving my feathers. I really appreciate you freeing me."
"It's no trouble. Can't imagine Drake crying over losing you so I can be merciful at times," she smiled innocently.
"Drake, I'll see you back at the ranch."
"Yeah...I'll be there," Drake fare welled allowing his friend to fly towards the canopy.
Drake allowed his conscience to walk along side his long time nemesis as she travelled back to her hive. There in silence his mind continued to wander off enough for him to forget she was beside him now completely in plain view. The one thing that nagged him most was why he was thinking about Serperior so much? He couldn't help it. He never knew this would happen, how he would want to feel her cottony appearing scales wash over his own. Her scent and her face capture him alone, and now he finds her serpentine form attractive? Why? He keeps yelling at his conscience by thinking he's suddenly attracted to a piece of rope now? She's longer than that seviper even. He doesn't even know how her system works yet he's practically vowing to put his time in to find out.
"What's on your mind?" Serperior asked breaking the silence.
Drake snaps his gaze up from the moving ground to face her large form seeing her head hang well above him but he quickly snapped away. "Nothing important." Serperior's gaze lowered from the answer, and from his peripherals Drake saw her frown slightly. "Other than the fact that I feel like I should've just taken on that seviper myself," he made up, "He must've been difficult to deal with."
Serperior smiled from seeing her dragon open up. "Mmhmm, just be glad that he's finally gone and out of our scales. Don't worry, I got over his insults."
"Yeah...listen, thank you for doing my job, and sorry for putting you through it," he finally told lifting a fraction of the lead of his shoulders, "It's just... how can he say all of that crap about you! I mean who doesn't like that sweet scent you wear every day?"
"My...my scent?" she shyly inquired at first before grinning mischievously seconds later, "What are you trying to say, Drake?"
"Oh get over yourself," he teased, "Otherwise, I got nothing else important to say."
"Fine, I'll share something then," she joked, "I remember those days you used to chase me down those fields," she suddenly reminisced causing Drake to smirk. "I really found those times fun."
Drake glanced up at her due to her last statement. Serperior continued to face forward as she crawled but her lips curved up more once a rosewood eye facing his side met his own where she saw him quickly twist forward to imitate her sight. That's when Drake really, really felt off character himself being next to someone who he considered beautiful despite past feuds and her simplistic "meh" form. Suddenly, her smile had him think that maybe she might actually like him not as a friend, not as a buddy, not even as an enemy, but something more than those combined. That's when the dragon wobbled his head to force out the stupid thoughts. "Argh, something in my eye," he covered up continuing to shake his head, "And no I never thought those days were fun. I hated wasting my time."
Serperior tutted before chuckling, "Oh come on, don't be such a sore tail about it."
Before Drake could think of a quick come back he glanced over and caught her tail wrapping around a fresh berry above the two. She quickly retracted her tail down pulling the pink berry down in her coiled grip before swiftly whipping on the tail again.
"Oww!" he yelped as loud as last time too busy hugging his tail to see Serperior slipping away with the berry. Her noisy kicking of the twigs and her playful laughter evoked him into recomposing to quickly fall into pursuit and obtain the captured piece of fruit, even though it didn't even belong to his owner. "Hey! Get back here!"
And soon Drake was in a full sprint to catch the serpent. Little did he know a contented smile formed across his muzzle as he ran for the serpent. Serperior disappeared into a wall of shrubbery but he was quick to catch her flailing tail get swallowed up before she completely got away. With mirth he dove through the hedge now landing in the pear field to see Serperior unwearyingly waiting with a smirk.
"Looks like you've hadn't had any activity since oh...last year!" she laughed.
"Oh, now you're asking for it, Sarah," Drake snarled teasingly as he shot forward causing the serpent to slither back with a hiss.
Between the pear tree columns they sprinted. Through an aisle of bushes he ran with her sliding in the lead. Amongst the grid of produce Serperior was wise enough through the chase to use her new colors to disappear and mend her form with the blanketing bushes that she would occasionally hide in to thwart her long cub-hood friend. Once Drake was done scratching his noggin at times, Serperior would leap out with a sharp hiss backed with a hysterical grin before slithering away again with the berry in her vine's grasp, and that's how she played the game which was how he did his job.
"You can't keep this up forever! I'm just enjoying a jog!" Drake laughed as he ran after the speedy reptile.
Serperior giggled as she peeked back at his sprinting form. "Heads up!" At a great speed but with extraordinary agility she made a quick sharp bound to the side.
"What!" Drake saw her thick form whip out of the way for a solid tree to come into his view that he was about to collide into. "Whoa!" Drake exclaimed barely side stepping enough to clip his shoulder against the trunk but still causing him to lose grip on the soil and slide out where he stopped on all fours. Panting and almost losing his balance he faced Serperior with a competitive smirk.
"I have more traction now, silly woobat!" she giggled while pitching the berry up to catch with her other vine tauntingly.
Drake heard her and almost lost his composure as he held his position. Her taunting joke prefixed by a rather adoring adjective while spoken with a perky tone nearly had him slip and fall from his loose footing. Does he now realize who he's been chasing all along since last year? "Okay, now you're gonna get it!"
Once again Drake pounced into a run. Serperior twisted around and fled through hedges. She kept her pace a little slower intentionally so she wouldn't spoil the fun for Drake as they both punched through a series of bushes. The close pair eventually made it to the last aisle that bordered the naked fields near Pinwheel forest. A smirk sported Serperior's muzzle as she looked above the tall boundary of trees she neared. With the berry in vine she curved her whip back and lashed her grip forth without hesitation. Drake skidded to a stop when he saw the berry fly well above the trees and into the wide open land beyond. Serperior halted as well and laughed from the shock expression the fraxure presented.
"Race ya to the top!" she beamed before winding forward to quickly sleep past the wall of flora.
"I can't believe you went there!" he ran after her. Competition feeding him, he nudged through the bushes to appear before the low bluffs of the emerald fields. He caught the serpent from the distance already slithering through the tall patches of grass around the hills. Drake ran up the low slope seeing the messy patches of tall grass scattered across the landscape up to his horizon. He stepped through the shorter follicles feeling the height of the grass grow to tickle beyond his legs as he went in. "Great, now how am I going to find that berry? I think it was a pecha."
Using his keen perception he kneeled low to all fours. Prior conditions from his job taking over, he took a small whiff of the soil trying to identify the sole scent of a sweet, tart fruit. Taking a few more whiffs his head followed the slightly sweet trail. Meanwhile, Serperior camouflaged herself with the green surroundings and stealthily advanced towards the area using her forked tongue to taste the sweet air. Drake continued to follow different paths that lead to his pecha berry. Eventually his nose fell strongly to the sweet scent where he grew confident that he was closing in. Parting grass blades away his eyes fell on the berry making both of his paws reach out for the pink orb. His relief was substituted however when he saw his crimson claws grip onto a dark green appendage that cork-screwed around the berry. That's when the light breathing from his nostrils unintentionally gathered the potent natural aroma of Serperior's that lingered over the leafy flesh. His paws were clasped around the very end of her tail, and shortly after that discovery he felt a shadow lurk over him. He looked up and found Serperior's upper body hanging over head. She was wearing an ecstatic expression. There he caught the full intensity of her sweet smell forcing restricted thoughts to resurface. Within seconds he found himself lost in the unique features of her decorated upper body. The two large leaves at her sides nearly resembling refined arms, the yellow streaming patterns below them, and the dark green barb pattern stamped to her chest that went through the edges of her sprouting boughs that encased her neck gripped his attention. Above all like a characteristic of superiority was her naturally sophisticated visage. Looking up at her unique facial profile his optics became fixated on the rosewood, blazing red gradient that colored her elliptic eyes, which surrounded that exotic dark slit. Her fully erect ears showed her own awareness of his apparent actions that she has spent many long moments trying to acquire. The young dragon couldn't completely grasp the reason why his senses were so touched by the feminine serpent. Though he enjoys the feeling he's receiving he still couldn't prevent the twinge of shame that came about, but it was so viscous it took time to completely consume him. With her sweet fragrance still over his nostrils, directly streaming down from her body above, he lost his cool nature he normally possessed and instead found himself blushing, quivering, and most importantly unable to taunt her initial simplistic form.
And in the distance that viewed the field was Serperior's trustworthy assistant sitting on a sturdy branch next to her new friend. "Awww, look at the two matured younglings! So beautiful, so rare to find a potential couple like those two."
"Yeah, it is something, ain't it?" Leavanny's new ledian mate agreed in bliss as she set her head gently on top his shoulder, "Heh, you must be happy for her."
"Yep, she is making progress, finally," Leavanny mused before adding impishly, "And we should do some more progress making too! You didn't come back for nothing after all, am I right?"
"That's right!" the Ledian smiled as he wrapped a pair of arms around her bringing her in for affection, but that wasn't enough for the fully matured leavanny. Pouncing her mate completely off the branch and into the bushes below was what she added which got the two to passionately kiss without another word.
Back to the young and preoccupied pokémon, a small giggle escaped Serperior's muzzle as Drake was completely oblivious to his long action of staring flinging it further appealing that she was able to get proud Drake to lose his focus completely. But before she could get completely sidetracked within the orange sea in his eyes herself, she lightly flicked him on the paw with a vine playfully. The sting had Drake flinch free from her looks releasing the berry as well. However he blinked a couple times coming to the realization that Serperior was fleeing away with the berry in her tail's grip. Chuckling, he trailed her through the thick grass while keeping her tail in sight at all times. Once the two emerged from the tall grass patch Serperior peeked back with a smile but was surprised by seeing Drake flying midair towards her. She couldn't react soon enough so Drake was able to grab and wrap around her neck which caused Serperior to lose her balance and tumble back down the slope with Drake still hanging on. However, they were on a steeper slope this time but the two didn't notice enough to care through their rough but innocent topple. Within seconds the two hollered out both screams and laughs as they quickly rolled down the incline together with Drake having no will of letting go for their safety's sake.
Serperior countered Drake's grip against her by completely wrapping both her vines tightly around him and herself now tucking the two together in a way of playful retaliation. Only a storm of giggles came from the two now. Still, at the end of this slight incline was a precipice followed by a sea of trees several feet below. The playing pair didn't notice the cliff until they both felt the brisk of air rushing past their forms along with their stomachs clenching in reflex, which replaced all laughter with sudden yells as gravity took its course on their combined weight. Drake failed to flail about in fright due to Serperior's stiffened vines as they saw the canopy below closing in. Luckily the two collapsed through a cushioned bundle of leaves but the soft landing changed with loud and painful crashes through several layers of branches.
As they fell and bounced off the thick appendages together, the force managed to loosen up Serperior's vines around the two but only to get caught around the broken limbs as they fell through the tall tree. Both Serperior and Drake grunted and got the wind knocked out of them as the vines around the two got intricately and sloppily entangled around the entire height of tree.
Once the two come to complete stop within the tree their pains and soreness disappeared as they both broke into hysterical laughter. It was a painful but fun display to them and the soreness they had were buffered by their game. Drake cackled until he tried to touch the ground with his feet. His laugh slowly stopped when he looked down to see his vision zoom out of focus from the great height they were at. "Aaah, Sarah! I'm stuck, get me down!" Drake almost panicked and flailed as he tried to yank himself free from Serperior's vines, but his limbs were too spread for him to do any easy movement. He looked around and found that only her vines supported him in the air being wrapped around both his arms, streaming messily around his torso, and bunched up around his legs.
"Haha, you look like a stringed puppet!" Serperior cracked up as she found herself free from her vines and safely coiled around a branch, "Ooh, let me try something!"
"Sarah, I'm serious," Drake pleaded as he peered down where he felt his gut nearly jump out his mouth once he regrettably saw how far down the ground was, "I wanna...get me down! I can't move--" Drake paused one he saw his leg suddenly jerk up followed shortly by his whole body. He looked up at Serperior and noticed she was retracting her vines back enough hoisting him upward due to both her vines being anchored around a branch above . She kept pulling until Drake managed to stand on a branch but was still bounded up. "Sarah, that's it! Keep pulling."
"Just a sec..." Serperior tugged a single vine causing Drake's legs to jump up as his opposite arm flicked outward. Smiling giddily, she repeatedly tugged and alternated her vines resulting in the fraxure's feet to bounce around over the branch as his arms randomly swayed side to side. "Haha, dance my little puppet, dance!"
"Sarah...this isn't funny," Drake told with a shamed expression as his legs continued to bounce.
"Okay, sorry, sorry."
"Let go!"
Serperior attempted to manipulate the tips of her vines but felt that they were bounded and knotted around Drake's body. "I can't tug through. My vines are knotted!"
"Just pull that one vine up there," he looked towards the vine anchored around the branch above.
"Okay," she smiled as she retracted the vine causing him to fall forward where he screamed as he felt he was only held by his ankles leaving him elevating upside down. "Oh shoot, hold on! I can free one of my vines now."
Drake growled at the upside down image of her. She carefully winded a vine around another branch paying extra careful to the result. As Drake lightly swung upside down he saw the vines anchored above her fall around their position. "No, what are-just move this one up!"
"Wait I got it!" she exclaimed as she uncoiled herself to get a better angle of the mess around her but her remaining grip slipped off the branch causing to fall which violently tugged Drake upward by his feet.
The dragon shrieked as he swung over a branch and sling-shot downwards which got the loose vines around his ankles to get caught around more branches. The traction slowed him to stop and swing around upside down until he bumped into the now suspended and giggling Serperior. "I told you so," he mocked as he saw she was still elevated correctly.
"Oh, shut up. I didn't see that there," she came back.
"Just let me direct you now. Okay weave that vine over that branch," he pointed with his muzzle.
"Whateverrrr..." she compiled jokingly, but within seconds a vine fell off a branch to which she retracted back to cut any loose length.
"Now pull yourself up and over that branch!" She began pulling her weight above the dragon. Drake smiled when she was about to reach the closest branch until he saw stress cracks forming around the branches anchoring her vines. "Wait!"
The branch severed causing Serperior to scream in surprise when she dropped a few feet. The friction from the caught vines around her continued to abruptly stop her descent but Drake was getting bounced around continuously. Just when the movement stopped between them another branch broke away causing Serperior to dive lower and Drake to ascend higher. Another crash was heard causing Drake to suddenly rocket towards Serperior. His face was smothered firmly against her lower body as gravity kept tugging the two against each other.
"Aaah! That tickles!" Serperior thrashed.
Drake's voice was muffled by her underside and before he could attempt to pull away her scent had washed over his nostrils with a force of a torrent. Heart rate now pounding his face radiated with a mix of attraction and shame and Serperior's constant thrashing and giggles from Drake's rubbing did not help one bit as his face constantly bumped along her velvet underside. The texture was completely unexpected, almost no texture that showed a sign of rough scales, and a smooth, cottony feeling that was just too overpowering. Then another branch fractured away causing Serperior to lower down to his level. There they were suspended face to face and eye to eye with one completely upside down and irritated. Both of their expressions casted surprise from the sudden awkward but interesting position they were caught in as their muzzles nearly touched. If things couldn't get any worse for Drake, he heard another twig break and that force kicked him forward which closed off the remaining space between them. In a split second where the stars must've aligned for what was to come their muzzles met firmly, which furiously got both pair of eyes to expand agape in utter alarm as lips met one another. Not another second passed before the centripetal swing pulled them apart. Drake tried to look away but their eyes widened again when another branch broke this time freeing all of Serperior's vines at once.
She quickly retracted her vines but tumbled down the short height that was left crashing roughly to the soil below followed by Drake who landed roughly flat on his stomach next to her.
They both slowly recomposed with Drake looking around and finding her vines were finally free from his limbs. Serperior flipped upward to look at Drake as Drake looked back towards her. Once their eyes met their heads snapped away faster than their fall. Both clearly felt embarrassed and even overwhelmed from their little incidental kiss.
"A...are you okay? Sorry about the fall..." Serperior questioned.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he quickly replied as he faced away from her while he rushed to dust himself off.
"What's wrong? You look like you got hurt!" she worried.
"No, no I'm good. I just remembered I have to hurry back to my owner and report to him!"
"But--"
"I'm sorry, I really am but I have to go!" he told before sprinting away from under the tree, "Bye!" he called back as he rushed away unknowingly leaving a disappointed Serperior in return.
Once Drake slowed to a walking pace near the orchard he doubled over in fatigue. Feeling so very confused about why he just apologized to a pest for leaving he sharply sighed. "Damn it..." he spoke glaring straight down. "Why? She doesn't even have a body! So what's with... this?" he fumed as he looked towards his feet. "Oh...oh who am I kidding? She may not have an hour glass figure but damn it her body is like no one else's, and her scent..."
Once walking further away from that spot he sat on his bottom against one of the bases of the trees that bordered the orchard. He never had any intention of going back home; he just needed to get away fast. Something about her entire, overall look, her eyes, her unique face, her damn smell; it was all an irresistible discovery for him. She has scales, he has scales, and they have the same eye type. Can they really form a successful bond? As he pondered he heard light rustling next to him before seeing movement in the bushes but he was too exhausted to get up and check. Looking up once a shadow fell over him he saw Leavanny before his feet. "Leilani?"
"Good afternoon, lover male," she sang.
"Lover male...oh you mean me and...no way! Nothing is happening between us so you can forget about calling me that," he argued. He desperately wanted to cover up the fact that he had a mysterious, uncanny, and unexplainable yet mystical attraction towards Sarah.
"Right and you expect me to believe your change in attitude around her is just coincidence, right? You liked that little kiss you got, I saw that, oh... hard dilemma you had afterwards," she teased.
"How did you know? You were spying on us!" Drake told snapping to his feet.
"And you just proved my point!"
Drake slumped back down before sighing before her. "Don't tell her at all..." he mumbled, "She doesn't even have a...a-body like you and I so I shouldn't feel this way. It's just weird."
"Now don't be so hasty. Who's gonna judge you around here, plus who cares in general public? You can't fight what you feel. I saw your little dilemma," she giggled in conclusion.
"Little?"
"Just because Sarah has a Serpentine body does not mean she can't be beautiful in other ways. 'Sides, serpents need love too you know."
"Yeah, well, she's beautiful in looks too; that's the real problem. I like a serpent," he told with worry, "A limbless female. Why? She doesn't have a round ass, no two bulges on her chest but yet...I don't even know myself why."
"It's the curves--"
"What curves?" he interrupted.
"Her whole curvature filled body, dummy," she laughed, "I know males are attracted to fluidity and she's the exact definition of fluid...ness."
"Heh? Shoot...I think you might be right. I can't look away from those things around her neck, her ears are awesome, those curved patterns are cool, and her face just tops it off. Leilani, whenever she crawls I tend to stare. It just...makes me want to--"
"Whoa, not when I'm here, lover male," Leavanny teased.
"Shut up," Drake groaned," Promise you won't say a word about this. This is all between you and me, Leilani?"
"Oh, I promise!" she declared without toning down her voice causing Drake's eyes to sharpen towards her. "Oh relax, she's not around. And I have your secret safely tucked away. I'm not the one to gossip after all." Drake crossed his arms as he lied down on the tree trunk letting out a deep sigh. He felt Leilani sit next to his lying form. "Want me to help clear up any more confusion you're feeling, Drake?"
"Please...please do."
To Be Continued