Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Charon's Pursuit ❯ Flying Snakes and Falling Rodents ( Chapter 5 )

“Perfect. Absolutely perfect. He is in a deep sleep, out in the open, in broad daylight.”

A lone ekans, a purple-colored snake with yellow, reptilian eyes, quietly observed a raichu that was asleep, face down, just outside the mouth of a cave. The snake had followed the raichu when it traveled to that cave. Knowing that the dangerous prey would’ve kept watch all night, the ekans took shelter underneath a thick bush and slept early so he would be fully awake at the crack of dawn while the raichu, sacrificing sleep, would’ve conked out a long time ago. Now that dawn had arrived, the purple snake nearly shook with enthusiasm.

“You’ve humiliated me for the last time, Charon,” the snake whispered vehemently, “Now, the inhabitants of the forest will see you die by my venomous fangs. They will learn to fear the name of Synope.”

Synope uncoiled his long body from the bush. He slithered as quietly as he could across the earth, curving left to right like his Sidewinder cousins, eyeing the slumbering raichu intently.

I cannot remember the last time I had encountered such a frustrating prey, the ekans thought, this overgrown rat had caught me EVERY TIME I approached him, and instead of defeating me honorably he ties my body in a knot, swings me over his head, and throws me into the canopy! I am no more than a laughingstock now because of him! Not even the rattatas take me seriously, even when their death by my fangs is certain!

As Synope closed the distance, he gradually opened his jaw. His fangs, gleaming from venom, were long and menacing, eager to sink into Charon’s flesh.

Now, the only way I’ll have my honor restored is if I slay you, Charon; then I will be the one who laughs last.

Inches away from the raichu, Synope’s jaw was opened to nearly its maximum. His head rose up, supported by his own body, as he eyed the optimum place to bite. Synope, his victory certain, lunged for the kill…

…only to be grabbed by the head, in mid-strike, by Charon’s paw.

“I’ve never been much of a deep sleeper,” Charon grumbled groggily. Pushing up on his other forepaw, he lifted up his face, looking at the snake dangling in his grasp. The raichu bore a drowsy expression. “Oh, hello Synope.”

The snake, helpless, writhed around in the air, desperate to escape. “Damn you, Charon! Damn you and all your rodent kind! I won’t let you humiliate me again!” Synope cursed him, somewhat choking.

“Uuuurgh.” Charon slowly rose up to his hindlegs, his grasp on Synope kept firm. “Don’t you think you’re aiming a bit too high? There’s no way I’d fit in that tiny, skinny body of yours.”

“This isn’t about eating! This is about the honor in strength that you make a mockery out of!”

Charon grumbled. “Oh, right. I keep forgetting that you were a cockfighter once.”

That statement pissed the snake off even more. “Shut up! A brute like you could never understand the glory one gains from besting a superior rival!”

“You’re insane. Then again, why the hell do I let you live? Oh well. I’m too tired for the knot, so I’ll just throw you. Till next time, Synope.”

With a quick flip of the paw, Charon’s grasp slid from Synope’s head to his tail. Seconds later, the snake was being whipped around in the air above Charon’s head, being prepped for takeoff. The raichu’s expression remained drowsy and indifferent.

“NOT AGAAAAAIN! AAAAAAAAAAH!” Synope cried, as Charon lashed the snake downward, and then let go of the tail as the snake was swung upward, rocketing the unlucky serpent straight into the canopy of the forest at a precise forty-five degree trajectory. Seconds later, his body wrapped around a dangerously high branch of a tree. Snickering from the nearby inhabitants soon followed…but it was too far away for Charon to watch or see, not that he cared.

“Uuurgh…I’m so tired,” Charon moaned. He looked up to the sky, the light of the rising sun bearing down upon him. “It’s morning already? That was fast. Last night seemed so long…”

“What was that about?”

“Gaaah!” The raichu cried, jumping away in shock as Lily’s voice, as well as Lily herself, popped out seemingly out of nowhere right next to him. Adrenaline burning away the fatigue, he snapped around, glaring at Lily as he held his throbbing chest.

“Dammit, don’t sneak up on me like that!” Charon cried angrily.

“Oops! Sorry about that,” The maiden vulpix said, slightly giggling at the raichu’s reaction. Charon, taken off-guard by her cutesy response, could only fluster and squelch his impulse to berate her some more.

“You’re up early,” Charon noted, after some hesitation.

“Yeah, I am, thanks to that howling snake you tossed.”

“Ah…Um, is Calien awake too?”

“No, he’s still resting. He’s a bit too tired to hear anything.”

“…Oh.” Well, at least Calien won’t think I did anything to Lily.

“Sorry about last night….guess I’m a horrible night-watch,” Lily said apologetically, “Oh well, at least I got to cuddle Calien for a bit when I woke up. That’s always pleasurable. He’s very cute when he’s asleep.”

Charon grew nervous as the maiden vulpix talked, brushing off his dirt-stained face. If Lily was the inquisitive, remembering type, she might ask Charon how she managed to wake up next to Calien when she had actually dozed off at the mouth of the cave, next to the raichu. There’s no telling how she’d react if she realized that the raichu actually touched her red fur. She might decide to roast me, Charon thought worriedly, better get going before she figures it out.

“Well, I should be going now,” Charon told Lily, the last speck of dirt brushed away.

“So soon?” Lily asked.

“Yeah…you see, this is my first time, as well. Problem is, female ‘chus are hard to come by in these parts. The only reason I know they’re even around is because I saw a litter of my kind only yesterday, but she ran away before I could ask anything.”

“Oh…you mean like that tiny rodent in the tree up there?” Lily asked, looking upward.

“What!?” Charon immediately spun around. Not to far in the distance, the same pichu from yesterday was curiously watching from high above, perched upon the branch. Upon seeing Charon turn around, she gasped loudly. “It’s YOU!” Charon exclaimed, pointing to her.

“AAAAAAAAAAH! STAY AWAY FROM ME!” The pichu yelped, at once attempting to sprint away. Alas, deja-vu struck her. Once again, she lost her footing on the delicate branch. Once again, she slipped and fell. But no one was around to catch her this time. She fell down, down, down screaming towards the ground, to the horror of the raichu and the maiden vulpix, until she landed head first with a sickening thud.

“Oh, no!” Lily exclaimed.

“SHIT!” Charon cried, as he and the maiden vulpix rushed to the female pichu, praying they did not witness an untimely death.