After that, he was more careful whenever we went hiking near the caves. For me, I didn't want to get bit again as I ended up with my arm in a sling and covered in Infested and for Machiavelli, I think, he wanted to make sure that pill wasn't being counteracted by the spider's venom.
"Nathan, how does your arm feel?" Machiavelli asked me.
"A bit better, at least it's not sore, but I still got no feeling in my hand," I replied.
"At least you weren't allergic," he replied,
"and what's worse is that I can't turn into my dragon form until it heals," I replied. I headed to the couch and ate the lunch he made me, looking for a capsule beforehand.
"Nathan, I assure you there's no capsule in there," Machiavelli told me.
"Yeah, I'm starting to think the same thing," I replied. I then took a bite into the burger only to fall into that same slight trance I did when the pill first kicked in.
"Such a good taste, Where'd you find such a good tasing sauce for this?" I asked him as I focused on its taste.
"I had someone make it, just like I did your clothes," Machiavelli replied.
"Well, you're definitely a good cook," I replied as I finished it.
He then put a blanket around me and said: "thank you, I bet you're getting a bit cold why don't you cover up with this."
I grabbed the cover with my right arm, but as I did, I caught a whiff of the freshener he used, and I began to focus on that. "What freshener did you use? That smells really good," I said as I laid down.
"I know quite a bit of chemistry, so I made that. Now get up a little bit so I can put this under you," he told me. He then put a soft pad under me that began to heat up.
"That feels good. I think I'll take a quick nap," I told him as I closed my eyes.
"Yes, rest is what you need," I heard him say before I fell asleep.
I didn't realize how deep of sleep I fell into. I didn't feel him move me, hear the bustling of creatures through the ship, nor for a few hours hear the giant-sized snakes around my friends and me.
"Nathan, Nathan wake up," I heard Daniel say.
I open my eyes to find a giant snake surrounding us. "Daniel, what's going on?" I asked him. I saw the head of the snake on the inside of the coil looking at us. I went up to it, and it rubbed its nose against my chest. "Where are the others?" I asked him.
"probably surrounded by a different snake. Is your arm doing better, Nathan?" He asked me.
"I still got no feeling in my hand. It's my dominant one, too," I replied.
"Yeah, those spiders can be problematic for lefties," he replied.
I hugged the snake's head with my right arm, but as I did, it began to open its mouth. "Such a nice creature, practically a gentle giant," I said, not realizing that the snake was getting ready to swallow me.
"Umm, Nathan, you might want to pay attention," Daniel told me. I looked up to see tentacles coming out of the snake's mouth and pulling me in. "Nathan!" I heard him shout, but I wasn't paying attention to his cries as something got sprayed into my eyes and nose that caused me to listen to an unusual voice.
"Such a nice child," I heard something say as I was pulled into a pocket in the side of the snake.
"Is that the snake I'm hearing? This is such a cozy place for me to stay," I replied.
"All you need to know is you're going to have some fun today," It replied.
"What about Daniel?" I asked it.
"I'm sure he'll come around," it replied.
The tentacles then pulled the sling off of my shoulder. "I'm going to need that sling," I told the snake.
"Your arm's not broken, you won't need your arms for what we're doing anyhow," it replied. I was then secured to one side of the pocket and knocked out only to wake up inside of a leathery egg.
"What in the world did that snake just spit out?" I heard Daniel say. I look at myself, and I then realize that I'm in a snake's body.
"Give it some time," the snake told me in a muffled voice. I noticed that my scales were still hardening, so I coiled up to let them set.
"I don't know what you did to me, but I hope you can undo it," I told the snake.
"Your original body is still intact inside of me," it replied.
The scales soon hardened, and I felt ready to break open the egg. I broke it open to find a startled Daniel looking right at me.
"Try to calm him down, coil around him as you'll be his for the day or 2," the snake told me.
"Just as long as you're not talking over me constantly," I replied.
I slowly approached Daniel, and as I did, he backed up into the side of the snake. "St... Stay away," I heard him say. He soon curled up into a ball in fear of me. I came up to him and rubbed up against him. He slowly held out his arms as he said: "Nathan, is that..." he stopped there as I nodded yes.
"Hey, Daniel, bring him up here!" I heard Machiavelli shout to him. I coiled around him then he carried me up to his caretaker.
"He's coming with us, Daniel, he'll be in your care for a day or 2," his caretaker told me.
"Ok, then Dante, but where do we keep him?" Daniel asked him.
"He'll be in your room Daniel," he replied. "He's cold-blooded now anyhow."
He carried me to their place, and once I got to his room, it was practically decked out to accommodate his dragon, bed, and all. "Stay here, Nathan, I'll get you something to eat," Daniel told me as he laid me in some sand under a heat lamp. He left the room, and as he did, another snake came into the room.
"So it appears my favorite client is giving in finally," I heard her say as she picked me up and held me under the heat lamp. "I should be able to hear your response Nathan," she told me.
"Well I will say this, I don't feel as stressed anymore," I told her.
"Yes, just focus on enjoying yourself, you desperately need it after all you've been through," She replied.
After a little bit, Daniel came back with the food. "here you go, you 2, eat up," he told us. I swallowed my food whole while she tore chunks off of hers.
"How much time does Machiavelli have left to bring him to his family?" Daniel asked Dante.
"A bit over a month left, and they have to recognize that it's him so he'll probably have to be turned back," Dante replied,
"And if he doesn't?" Daniel asked him.
"The Infested will come over him again, any clothing is spat out, they'll take him and his belongings, and then he's back probably with his family leaving behind a demoted Machiavelli," Dante replied. That seemed like good news to me; it meant I had an incentive for Machiavelli to bring me back to my grandma.
"So what about the Infested if he does bring him back?" Daniel asked Dante.
"In Nathan's case, it'll have to stay with him for medical. Typically, his family can move in with Machiavelli, and maybe he'll get turned back if they had to turn him human," Dante replied, "Also don't tell Machiavelli I said that in front of Nathan, ok?"
"Why not?" Daniel asked him.
"Machiavelli wanted him to focus on having some fun, but he's not doing it right, he needs to let him know that there's a date set, three weeks from the deadline he told me," Dante replied, but while they were talking about how it would be executed I began to fall asleep.
I soon woke up inside that pocket inside of the snake. "Man, whatever you did, it's making me feel sore," I told the snake.
"Well, your caretaker wants you home now, go on run along," it replied.
"On my own?" I asked.
"Yes, on your own, you do know the way back, don't you?" It asked me.
"Yeah, yeah, I do," I replied.
"Then go, head back home," it replied as it pulled me back out of itself.
I headed up to the surface of the cave to find, surprisingly, my family sitting on a bench within hearing distance.
"Do you think he'll bring him back to us?" I heard my grandma say. It seemed too easy. They were right there, ready for me to come up to them. I knew they would recognize my voice, but just shouting would likely blow it. I had to think of a way to disguise a message.
I thought about morse code, but I figured that probably wouldn't be able to decipher it, and throwing something wouldn't go well. Then I remembered something I saw in Harrit Tubmen. She sang a song to relay messages. I got ready to sing, but before I did something coiled around my leg.
"What The, who's this?" I said to the snake. He then transformed into a roughly 7-foot humanoid serpent in front of me.
"Sorry to bother you, but do you know where a 7-year-old girl covered in wolf fur went?" He asked me.
"Maybe, I do know that one of my friends is covered in wolf fur," I replied.
"Thanks, I forgot I'd left her here. Where is your friend? He asked me. I looked around to find her in the coiled of a few other snakes.
"Over there near that playground," I told him.
"Thanks, for a second there, I thought I forgot her in one of those things," he replied, pointing to the giant snakes in the cave.
After he left, I sang out a tune: "There's no place like home for the holidays, no matter where you go." My only hope is that they heard it, can decipher it, and can relay something I can translate.
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