I'm Not A Snake Monster!: Chapter 4

Summary: Willow, an enormous snake-like monster with a heart of gold, has never seen anyone like her. She runs away from home in pursuit of the truth.

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CHAPTER 4

"Sami? Have you seen Willow today?" 

"Mm... not recently, no. Why do you ask?"

"...I thought she was with you." 

"...Then she's probably still asleep. Sleeping in this late... hopefully it doesn't become a habit."

"She had a rough day yesterday... let her rest, Sam."

The two mothers were having a spot of tea in the kitchen, having wrapped up some of their morning chores. Sami would tend to Weinstein out in the back, whereas Minnie would handle some of the pressing matters inside. 

"I wanted to see if I could get her weight and length again. I know she's a little sensitive about her size, but..."

"Minnie, I think Willow's well past the point  of needing a treehouse." Sami sighed into her cup. 

"But she loves being up there in the trees. It lets her feel so... regal. Queen-like." Minnie smiled to herself, a pang of nostalgia washing over her. Sami could only roll her eyes. 

"We'd probably have to think about an extension to our set-up here. It was already cramped between the three of us before she grew up."

"Mm... well, she's settling into adulthood now, so at least the growth spurts will slow down." Minnie noted, her eyes drifting around the room. "...But I could use a bigger living space too."

"...Mm. Well, we'll need to clear a lot, and the wreckage from her old treehouse is still out there. Let's see what Willow thinks." Sami rose from her seat, making a beeline for Willow's room. 

She knocked twice curtly, and paused, waiting for a response. 

...There was none. She knocked again, a little louder this time.

"Willow? It's your mother. May I come in?" Sami called out, and waited. Again, she was met with silence. She exchanged a look with Minnie, before her hands lowered towards the doorknob.

"Willow, you better not be ignoring me! I'm coming in!" Sami called out one more time, before swinging the door open. 

She peered inside, squinting her eyes as she surveyed the room.

"...Hm. Something's wrong."

"Sami?? What do you see?" Minnie wondered, rising up to come to her side.

"...She's cleaned in here recently."

The room appeared to be devoid of Wllow's presence. What remained were so many books, stacked up in neat piles towards the far corners of the room. She had a curious collection of second-hand knickknacks - a kaleidoscope, a handheld picture view, no shortage of logic puzzles.

Sami's foot felt around the sides of the walls, gently kicking as if to feel out for something. She hit nothing but air...

...Her studying eyes narrowed on a single piece of paper, folded up and lying in the center of Willow's bed. Well, it wasn't a traditional bed - it was more like an enormous pile of cushions and mattresses - but the piece of paper stood out.

Sami lowered her hand and unfolded it. There was handwriting... Willow's handwriting. She focused on the words.

Hi!

I found some really overdue library books in my collection, so I thought I should go back and return them, I'll be back before too long. I'll bring back some stuff for dinner, and for Weinstein too, so don't worry about me!

Love Willow

Silence hung heavily over the room as the two women reviewed the words. Horror was dawning on both of their expressions. Sami lowered the paper, and they slowly looked at each other once more...

...And screamed bloody murder in unison. Their panicked screech echoed through the woods. Even Weinstein was surprised; usually Sami was so cool-headed.

But now they had an emergency on their hands.

"WILLOW'S GONE!!!"

---

"Whew! Finally made it to Rabenow! About time too, I was worried I was gonna run out of snacks..."

Willow had been slithering through the Barrier Woods for the better part of two days and two nights. On the third day, sometime in the afternoon, she finally emerged, a heavy knapsack on her shoulders and a bright-eyed look on her face. The outskirts of a small town sprung up in the distance, over the rolling hills. 

The snakes atop her head reared up, looking up towards the midday sun. It felt good, warm, inviting on their scaley skin. Willow agreed, cooing to herself. For a moment, she had to shield her orange eyes, but they quickly adjusted. 

"Well... we aren't there yet. But we'll be there soon."

Willow hoisted up her backpack, and made for town. The wilds of the grasslands and the forests made way for trimmed lawned, fields of tended soil and farmland, and cobblestone trails that felt odd underneath her extended, snakelike tail. She liked how the pebbles rubbed against her, like a miniature massage. She giggled to herself.

Modest fences began to flank the sides of the road. Willow's eyes wandered from side to side, wondering what the people out here got up to. There was so much land, so much space to run around in. And the buildings were so huge!

"...Ah! Animals!"

Willow gasped, slithering up along one of the fences. Gripping the bars with her two scaley hands, she revered up and leaned over to look at the farm animals. There was an entire flock of fluffy sheep! 

"They're soooo cute!!" Willow cooed. Terry opened its mouth, letting out a gentle hiss; this invited a stern expression from Willow.

"No no no, sheep are for wool, to make clothes, and stuff pillows, and stuff! Not for eating! ...Well, I guess you can eat them sometimes, but we'd have to ask first." Willow shook her head. "...Awww, lookit them trotting around..."

The sheep didn't share Willow's enthusiasm, and were giving her a wiiiide berth. Bleating in response, they seemed to huddle to the far side of their field. 

"Awwww, c'mon! Can I pet you guys??" Willow leaned over more and more, unwittingly putting more and more of her weight against the fence.

Creeeeeak...

"...Oh no."

SNAP!

Willow's mouth flattened upon the realization that the fence was breaking under her weight. Flopping over, she grunted as she hit the dirt, her hair snakes writhing anxiously with the impact. She had taken a large section of the fence down with her. And yet, the sheep remained exactly as they were, seemingly unwilling to take their chances to test Willow's reflexes.

"...Ahhh, shoot. Sorry guys, it's gonna be a bit until we reach town." Willow sighed, raising herself back up to dust herself off. "Someone probably owns this fence too, we should-"

"STOOOOOP!"

Willow paused. She didn't need to turn her head, for her hair snakes were doing the looking for her. Through their eyes, she saw a bunch of kids, brandishing wooden swords and protective armour, made from leather. They were led by a boy, with dusty cheeks and scruffy blond hair poking out from underneath an oversized horned helmet. 

None of them looked to be any older than ten. Willow didn't feel particularly threatened by them; she was more confused than anything.

"...Huh?" She turned to face them. "...Oh, hey kids! Do you guys know-"

"D-don't touch those animals!" The boy commanded, holding out a wooden sword. "They didn't do anything to you!"

"Joshua, d-don't do this, j-j-just get the adults!" One of his friends whispered, his hair jetblack and tied into a ponytail.

"Yeah, i-it could eat us!" A girl to the boy's right added in a hushed tone. She clutched a club between both hands.

"Shut up! We're just gonna scare it off!" The leader shushed them, before turning back to Willow, brandishing his weapon. Willow stared at it curiously.

"...O-oh, did you guys wanna play?" Willow asked, tilting her head. "We can do that later, if you want! But I accidentally broke this fence here, so can we fix it first?" 

The snakes on her head seemed to shake their heads, but said nothing. Because snakes can't talk, obviously. The one they called Joshua tilted his head. 

"...What??" He blurted, the sword in his hand shaking. He leaned over. "Y-you're breaking into dad's farm!"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I-I end up breaking a lot of stuff, um..." Willow wrapped one of her hair snakes around her finger anxiously. "I can fix it! Do you have any extra lumber handy?"

Silence fell upon the group. They exchanged looks, then gazed at Willow. This was something they didn't expect.

"You... you aren't scared??" The ponytailed kid asked. 

"...Should I be? Those are toys and..." Willow gasped. "Oh, is this make-believe?? Do I have to get into character?" 

"...Hey. Lyra." Joshua turned to the girl with the club. "Your dad's a lumberjack. Do you think you could get some wood from him?"

"...I-I could... borrow some." Lyra muttered, eying Willow with a degree of concern. 

"Then, uh... take Taylor with you." Joshua nodded towards the ponytailed boy, before turning back to Willow. He entered a stance, ready for combat. "I'll make sure this... this..."

"Willow!" Willow piped in with a grin. "I'm Willow! That's my name, it's Willow."

"...I'll make sure Willow doesn't move an inch." Joshua held his ground. His friends gave each other one last look.

"...Be careful, okay?" Lyra leaned over to give Joshua a quick side-hug, before running off in a sprint. 

"D-don't take her on by yourself, man!" Taylor pleased, following Lyra close behind. 

Willow and Joshua faced off, staring each other down in silence. Willow tilted her head, her hair snakes relaxing as she did. Anticipating that this was going to take a while, Willow simply coiled into a pile.

"...Why are you shaking?" Willow asked, innocently. "Are you cold? I'd offer to huddle for warmth, but... cold-blooded and all."

"I-I'm not scared!" Joshua stammered, raising his sword. "It's just... why are you here?? You belong in the woods, the darkest part of it!"

"Oh, yeah! I live there!" Willow nodded. "But it doesn't hurt to stretch one's tail a bit. You ever travel anywhere exciting?"

"..." Joshua raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure exactly what Willow was getting at, but being on constant guard was getting to be exhausting. 

"...N-no, I... papa wouldn't let me leave town alone."

"...Ohhhh." Willow frowned. "I understand the feeling... my parents are a little, ah, overprotective too... ah, wait!" 

Her eyes lit up, remember her small library of books in her knapsack. She pulled out one of her favourites. 

"I got a few books with me! They're almost as good, they take you places you've never seen! And places you wanna go... and some places you didn't know you wanted to go. ...And so on." Willow flourished a hard cover. "Here's one on the mountains of Gruyere! You wanna read together while we wait?"

"..." Joshua averted his head. "I-I couldn't, uh..."

"Oh, no, I insist! ...Well, for a bit, anyway. I still need to return it, so-"

"I can't read." 

WIllow gasped again, this time out of shock. "That's... I-I've never met someone who couldn't read! ...Well, no, I mean, I don't know many people, but..."

"It's not that weird, I... not a lot of time in the day for book learning." Joshua muttered, lowering his weapon. 

"Well... this book has pictures! Wanna see?" Willow uncoiled part of her tail, allowing a place for Joshua to sit. She patted it invitingly. He stared, uncertain at getting too close to the snake monster.

"..." He inched closer. He wasn't about to take a seat, but he did leer over to see the book's pictures.

"...S'big." Joshua commented, eyeballing a few of the black and white photos. 

"Yeah! It's the longest mountain range on the continent. See, here it says they used to be mined for copper and iron, before they were declared a national heritage site..." Willow's scaley finger traced the captions underneath. 

...The poor kid really did struggle to follow along, and Willow's sprightly enthusiasm began to wane. She paused, turning to him. 

"So no one ever taught you how to read...?" Willow frowned.

"No. Never really... needed to." Joshua commented lowly. "Couldn't go to school neither, cuz of the farm and stuff. It sounds nice, though..."

"I-I'm kind of... obsessed with books, eheh. A-actually, I was meaning to get to the library and return a bunch of them." Willow turned to Joshua. "Do you know where I can find it?"

"Well, it's, uh, over near farmer's market. B-but the market's not open on weekdays and... wait a sec. You want to go into town??" Joshua asked, absolutely dumbfounded. "You??"

"Well, these books won't return themselves~" Willow chimed in. "I was gonna be in and out in a jiff, but..."

The end of Willow's tail curled slightly, her shoulders hunched with her bashful expression. 

"...I could try and teach you if you want."

"Wha? Why??" Joshua's jaw was agape. 

"Well, a library's a place to learn, right? And you can find a lot of books there. We can probably find stuff you can start with, and then find more and more, until, well... you can read all on your own!" Willow nodded. "It'll be a good time! And I wanted to make a friend too..."

"...Friend???" Joshua had no idea how to respond.

"...Oh no, I bet I'm going too fast, we haven't even repaired the fence..." Willow sighed, rearing up to look at the damage. "...I-it's not so bad. Maybe we can-"

"GET AWAY FROM MY SON YOU DEVIL!"

Willow's head jerked up, her hair snakes standing on end. A middle-aged man with a messy beard, wearing ill-fitting overalls, was brandishing a blunderbuss in Willow's direction.

"Dad!" Joshua exclaimed, glancing between his father and Willow nervously. 

"GET AWAY FROM THAT THING!" The father exclaimed, pointing his gun at Willow with intent to kill. "You ain't laying a finger on my son, y'here!?"

"O-oh, no, is this your fence?? Sorry, it was an accident and-"

Joshua scrambled away, hurrying to his father's side. He tugged at his overalls. "Dad, you don't understand, she's-"

"I know what's what! She's trying to eat our livelihood! And you had the bloody gall to go for my family too!?"

BANG! The old man let out a shot in Willow's direction. Her hair snakes bared their fangs aggressively as Willow hunched over to cover her ears. The explosive sound was deafening...

She definitely felt something too. Some kind of impact. Strangely, despite being shot by a gun, she didn't feel any sort of sharp pain. It felt more like she was hit by a foam bat, her thick scales acting like plate armour.

"S-sorry! I'm intruding, I'll leave, I'll leave!" Willow called out in a panic, trying to slither off. This was met with a few more shots from the man's blunderbuss.

"DON'T HURT HER, DAD!" Joshua screamed.

The scales on Willow's body began to shimmer mysteriously. Light bounced off in a strange way, and in a few moments, it appeared that the massive, 25-foot long snake creature had up and disappeared...

"Agh, where'd it slither off too!? Bloody up and disappeared! ...Huh?"

The man squinted, seeing the tell-tale signs of tracks leading along the trail. Dirt had kicked up, the damage to the estate was apparent, and the sheep were in an uproar. The man's bushy eyebrows furrowed.

"...Monster's heading deeper in town... holy goddess." He croaked, lowering his gun.

Joshua turned the book in his hands anxiously. In the heat of the moment, he had been left with one of the books from the library. He grimaced, looking further down the road.

Meanwhile, Willow had cleared a hill, putting distance between her and the man's farm. She huffed, glancing behind her. Looks like the coast was clear.

"Hoo... he was not very welcoming." Willow sighed, turning herself around to make sure she was all in one piece. She thought she got knocked by something, but she wasn't worse for the wear. Just smelled a bit like gunpowder.

"If everyone's like that, maybe I should stick to the side roads..." Willow pondered. "...Eh. I'll figure something out."

She shrugged, hoisted her backpack, and continued on her trek. 

---

The Percival Bishop Public Library was an impressive building to be sure. One could go so far as to call it one of Rabenow's architectural landmarks... that is, if anyone ever bothered to visit the place.

Its spires jutted skywards, as if reaching for the heavens above. It seemed to resemble a church more than a library. Still, it stood a proud three storeys, and there must've been countless more stories it held in the cellars below.

It was usually frequented by students, especially towards the end of the school year. But that was well far off, and the youth had better things to do than mull about in a musty old library. There were a few exceptions to the rule...

"Um, excuse me..."

A mousy, bespectacled girl, short, unassuming, and in her early 20s, approached the front desk. She barely kept her voice above a whisper - which was appropriate, given the setting. Her auburn hair was done up in a bun, accessorize with a red lily, and she stuck out with her sophisticated dress and her pristine white gloves. 

The librarian - a bored looking older woman, didn't even bother to look up from her newspaper. It was hard to read her expression through the pages, but she had a distinct aroma about her. Like prunes. 

"Welcome back Tara," the woman droned, flipping through her pages. "Back so soon?"

"A-ah, I've been canvassing the archives on foot, and, well, I-I think there's a... a book here that I've been looking for."

Tara flourished a small notecard, leaning from side to side to determine the best way to present her memo. She decided to daintily slide the thing underneath the newspaper. A wrinkled hand lowered to grasp it. Tara watched as her memo disappeared behind the newspaper.

She waited anxiously. The librarian grunted to herself. 

...Before long, the newspaper lowered just a touch, low enough for the librarians cold, grey eyes to peer overtop. One of her bushy eyebrows perked up as she shot Tara a judgmental look. Tara clasped her gloved hands behind her back, swaying back and forth; this was undue attention being placed on her.

"..." The librarian squinted, before rustling her paper. "...Prolly over in the 1200s." She muttered.

"A-ah, m, many thanks!!" Tara bowed sharply, before hurrying over to the back of the library. Rows upon rows of stacked books lined the aisles. The library was well overdue for a reorganization. Or a cleaning job. Or a total refurbishment really. But Tara had bigger things on her plate at home, and she honestly didn't care much to help the woman up front if she could help it...

She eventually made it to the 1200 section. This section was dedicated to religion, myth, and cultural artifacts. Usually the soft kinds of history where only the truly diehard academics stick their noses in to discern truth from fiction. 

Tara busied herself, skimming the spins on the various books at hand. Much of it concerned the Orian religion, but there were too many orthodoxies to really parse. Of course, she didn't care a lick for any of this. She was looking for one book in particular. 

And yet, the damn book wouldn't make itself known. She huffed, deciding to redouble her efforts to find the book. She skimmed everything again. And then a third time. 

"I came back to return these books!" An unfamiliar voice hollered from the front of the library. Tara turned her head towards the sound of it, but she couldn't get a visual, obscured by the rows of bookcases.

"Keep it down, this is a library!" The librarian hissed back.

"Oh, sorry!" The voice responded. 

Tara sighed to herself, and turned back to the rows upon rows of books. Upon Tara's fifth examination, she was exhausted, crooning her head back to let out an exasperated sigh. She much didn't want to ask for the librarian's help...

...It was then that she spotted a large tome, propped on top of the bookshelf, resting on its side. She pouted, folding her arms. That was the very thing she was searching for, and it was well out of reach! And placed in such a haphazardly organized spot! They really needed to find better help around here...

"...Hah!" Tara grunted, trying to jump up for it. She felt the very tips of her gloved fingers brush against the cover. 

"SHH!" The librarian shushed Tara from across the cavernous room. Tara scowled, looking at her gloves. With just that one touch, they were caked in dust. 

Her eyes darted back and forth, hoping that there was a ladder. There was none in sight. Her eyes turned upwards once more, mulling her options. She might have to look all over for a ladder. Tara rubbed her forehead, shaking her head.

"Hey! Are you looking for something?" The voice asked, just a little out of sight.

"Nrgh... th-there's a book at the very top of that shelf, and I can't reach the d... the darn thing." Tara sighed. 

"Oh! That's not toooooo high up. Lemme help!" 

"...How? The book must be at least ten, maybe twelve feet up? I'll just go find a ladder and-"

Tara paused, feeling the floorboards creaking beneath her. In the corner of her eye, she saw something enormous and... and green come to her side.

She tried to back away, but felt her heel collide with something hard. It shifted slightly, and Tara nearly tripped over herself. She turned around to get a better look.

"!"

Tara covered her mouth, letting out a muffled squeak. She had stumbled upon an enormous, snake like tail, that swivelled and coursed down the length of the aisle! And that was only the tip! Her eyes narrowed, following it along, seeing the plate-like scales that made up the trunk.

A monstrous creature was rearing up, effortlessly reaching for the highest shelf with ease. Their orange eyes examined the text, turning it around in two scaled hands.

Tara watched in horror, seeing a collection of snakes sprouting from her hairline. The darkness of their eyes, the emerald sheen of her skin...

"Isshu! Dusty thing..."

...The creature's delicate sneeze! Tara staggered back one more step, her entire body shaking, her emotions boiling over.

"...Ah! A Bestiary of Mythical Creatures, Spectres and Changelings, by Professor E.N. Silfverberg!" Willow read it off, her body lowering closer to the ground. She was still tall enough to be absolutely leering over the small, terrified little Tara. 

Willow beamed, presenting the book to Tara. "Here ya go!"

Tara stared Willow all over. Her eyes were about to pop out of her skull. She entered a cold sweat, trying to process what she was witnessing. An ultimately futile effort. She was losing strength in her trembling legs. 

"..."

"...O-oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Willow!" She beamed, shaking the book slightly as if inviting Tara to take it. "What's your name?"

"...T... Ta...Taaaaraaaaaaa..." The poor mousy girl was teetering over and...

Thump! Her eyes rolling into the back of her head, Tara up and passed out right in front of Willow. 

"O-oh no! Tara? A-are you alright??" Willow lowered herself to examine Tara from all sides. Even her hairsnakes lowered for the eyeball test.

"QUIET BACK THERE! DON'T START A RUCKUS CUZ I AIN'T GETTING OUT OF MY CHAIR!" The librarian shouted once more. Willow grimaced. She looked around to see if any help was coming... and decided to take matters into her own hands.

First, Willow slipped the tome into her knapsack to free up her hands. She then scooped up Tara into her arms. Tara was small, delicate, and perhaps a little frail. Willow was rather concerned about dropping her from such a height, so she had to be careful. In a hurry, she slithered over to the front desk.

"E-excuse me! Where can I find the hospital!?" Willow asked in a tizzy.

"Down the road, take the first left and you're there. And quiet down." The librarian uttered once more. "Final warning."

"S-sorry! I'm going!" Willow stuttered, rushing for the door. She'd have to make sure Tara was safe and taken care of before coming back later...

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