I'm Not A Snake Monster!: Chapter 3

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 3

Out in the woods, the strange family lived together in almost total isolation, their only visitors from the local fauna. Willow grew up quickly under their tutelage. Taking in knowledge like a sponge, taking on more responsibilities around the modest cabin... and growing like a weed.

Little girls don't stay little forever, though it was debatable as to whether Willow was ever a 'little' girl. The years passed, Willow was growing up. 

Today marked a momentous occasion for Willow. But momentous occasions don't necessarily take precedence over daily chores.

This was largely the reason for Willow's current unusual task. Over the years, she had picked up on the nuances of preparing her very own antivenom; even then, she couldn't do it alone.

She needed Weinstein. An auburn horse in a small stable behind their forest home. Sami often relied on the strong mustang to help her travel to and from down. They also relied on him for the antibodies used for Willow's antivenom.

Willow was done with the centrifuge, the blood's impurities separated, so now she was returning the favour. That was why she currently sat atop her enormous coiled tail, inside a dirty old stable, watching a slowly depleting bag of Weinstein's blood trickling along back to its original owner. 

To some, it may have appeared as a particularly morose task. And true, Willow had to get serious, and pay attention to Weinstein for any deadly ailments. And she also had to watch where she slithered; the odds of getting horse poop smeared on her tail increased with every year. 

But she always had a positive attitude! Today in particular was a day for excitement, and she absolutely could not contain herself. 

"...And, and! I got you an extra bucket of oats. Because you've been such a good boy!~" Willow cooed, on the verge of devolving into babbling baby talk at any moment. 

Weinstein eyeballed the oats with hunger, whinnying approvingly. Willow chuckled.

"After we're done, okay? This won't take long..." Willow glanced to the slow trickle of blood down the tube. "...Besides, it's my 18th birthday today! I bet you'll want to save room for a slice of cake, huh?"

Thunk. Weinstein tapped his hoof once in affirmation. 

Over the years, had grown in figure and in length. Her tail had extended another ten feet over the years, and her girth grew with it - she was absolutely enormous to behold. Her torso reared taller than it had before. Even her chest seemed perkier - or perhaps it was the tight-fitting t-shirt that was several sizes too small for her. Not that a problem as small as that would get her to toss out her favourite fashion statement; a light blue shirt, emblazoned with the design of an atom. It hugged her chest, exposing a smooth, scale-plated midriff. 

"But if you eat too much cake, you'd get fat, right??" Willow laughed. "Can't let that happen! You gotta be in shape! See, look where we're going?"

Willow opened up a book that was resting in her lap, flourishing the pages so Winston's brown, beady eyes could see. Barry bopped his nosed at the corner of the page, almost as if to emphasize.

Willow often brought a book with her while she was doing the antivenom thing; a transfusion would take hours, and Weinstein was like family. In her hands was the same book that Sami gave to her when she was nine years old.

"See? This is the Divot Valley! It's a place where aaaaaall the wild horses in Nettetal roam! And they graze, and run, and... m-mate..."

Weinstein whinnied at that last comment, catching Willow off guard. Resting up, she placed a hand near his back, patting it firmly.

"Easy, easy! A-alright, I'll put in a good word for ya!" Willow laughed. "...Might be hard. I dunno if they allow horses on ships..."

Willow rubbed her chin thoughtfully. This was a complicated matter, and she didn't wanna leave Weinstein all alone.

"...Okay, tell you what. If I can't convince Mom, we'll find you the best horse hotel! A... horse-tel? Heheh..." She chuckled to herself, stroking his mane. "...We'll set you up somewhere. You can get a vacation too, okay?"

Weinstein snorted, nodding his head in a single motion, and trotting his hooves in place. Willow took a glance around the modest stable, her mouth flattening.

"...Yeah. I could use a change of scenery too." Willow muttered. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's nice out here, I love it here, it's just..."

She trailed off, looking down at herself. She was on a whole other metric of scale. Even sitting down and relaxed like this, coiled up in a pile, her head must've been a good seven feet from the ground, at least. She was definitely bigger than Weinstein on all counts; the two of them in here made the stable feel even smaller than it was. 

She reared up, her torso and the trunk of her body that connected her body and tail fluidly following through on her motion. A scaley palm brushed the arching ceiling of the stable, fifteen feet from the ground.

"...Hah."

Willow had a pang of nostalgia, and the realization dawned on her. When did she get so big? At some point, when she was a kid, she wanted this, but... now she loomed over everyone without trying. It was such a strange feeling.

"...Maybe I should get a saddle. And then you could ride on my back, Weiny." Willow lowered herself in an elegant curve, bringing her head close to Weinstein's. "How's that for a role reversal?"

Weinstein snorted, and Willow took that as a scoff. She beamed, her fangs showing. Weinstein was a gentle boy, long accustomed to Willow's antics.

Willow took another glance at the bag attached to Weinstein. Now it was well and truly drained, and her work in the stable was done. Willow clapped her hands together triumphantly. 

"Alright, we're done! Lemme clean you up, big guy..."

---

"Haaaaappy Biiiiiirthdaaaaay tooooo youuuu!~"

Minnie was all too eager to lead the chorus with a playful cadence, the family all together for Willow's eighteenth birthday. Even the cantankerous Sami opted to participated, albeit at a volume undetectable by human ears. She had a soft blush the entire time, being put up to something she wasn't used to. But if she didn't humour Minnie at least a bit, Minnie would be rather upset...

Willow picked up on this, watching Sami's lips move as she muttered. Her amber eyes looked down to the table, a small cupcake and a lit candle in front of her. Her coils tightened in excitement. 

She leaned forward to blow out the candles, and was met with a chorus of applause; Minnie's applause was more enthusiastic, but Sami at least tried to be polite. 

"Thanks, guys..." Willow reached for the cupcake, holding it aloft. The snakes twisting at the top of her head booped the frosting one at a time, and ended up getting dollops of frosting on their noses as well.

Willow blinked with their sudden enthusiasm, chuckling with their excited movements. "Aw, c'mon guys, don't make a mess." She smiled, reaching for Terry. Terry flicked his serpentine tongue out, as if to lick the remaining frosting on his mouth. She raised a napkin to him, making sure to clean him up... and then the others as well. 

"You think we should've made a bigger cake?" Minnie leaned over, whispering to Sami.

"Dairy products don't tend to last the trip." Sami explained matter-of-fairly. "Unless you intend to keep a chicken and a cow out back as well-"

"Really!? Can we??" Willow lit up at the opportunity of making more friends like Weinstein. She was bouncing in her seat. "Can we can we can we please please please-"

"Absolutely not." Sami scolded. "We need the bare essentials out here, nothing more."

"Awwww..." Willow frowned, lowering herself. "...This looks really good though. Thank you!" 

Willow careful removed the candle, setting it aside... and then unhinged her jaw so she could fit the whole thing in her mouth in one go. She swallowed the whole cupcake in one piece!

"Mmmm! So sweet..." Willow grinned, her eyes sparkling.

"...Oh." Minnie looked a little deflated, a bemused smirk crossing her lips. "Maybe you should chew a bit next time-"

"She's like a snake, Dr. Hutchins. It's how they eat. Honestly..." Sami sighed, rubbing her forehead. 

"W-well, yeah, but..." Minnie didn't have a clever retort. She shrugged. "...Maybe we should move onto presents?" 

"PRESENTS!?" Willow shot straight up from her seat, eager to move to the seating area...

Thunk!

...But she ended up bumping her head on the ceiling. She hissed, lowering to rub her head. Even her hair snakes seemed a little dazed.

"Owie... sorry guys." She mumbled. 

Sami glanced to Minnie, rolling her eyes as she headed on over. Minnie stepped over to Willow, trying her best to reach up to pat her shoulder.

...Which proved to be a challenge, with Willow currently rearing up to be about 8 feet tall. Minnie settled for taking her hand.

"Come along now, sweetie. I think you'll be pretty exciiiited."

"...I've been waiting for this day for years, Mom." Willow smiled, slithering at her side. 

The living room had gone through changes over the years. For a few years, it was Willow's playroom when she was just a baby. Then it was a general relaxation room, with a few upholstered chairs, hauled from second hand sources, scattered around the room. As Willow got older, and as she took up more and more space in turn, suddenly there wasn't much room for anyone or anything but Willow. Their home wasn't much bigger than a single apartment.

Nowadays, they had an interesting solution. Willow let her tail circle around the room, the furniture pushed to the far walls. Minnie took a seat on a section of her tail; Sami preferred to remain standing, pacing around in the little space afforded. She only had to be wary of stepping on or tripping over some part of Willow's sprawling body. 

"You've been keeping up with your studies. I'm glad." Sami commented, walking towards the front door. Her bag had been slung over a nearby hatrack. "On my last trip into Rabenow, I ran into an old colleague at the university."

"Mmhm??" Willow stood up straight, hanging on Sami's every word. She had a good feeling on where this was going!

"I think you're ready for a high-level curriculum. So I pulled some strings, and picked up some brand new textbooks for you."

"...Textbooks?" Willow tilted her head. 

"Professor Brunner is a preeminent scholar in the field of astrophysics." Sami smiled to herself, a hint of admiration in her voice. "...I figured you'd get a kick out of it."

Sami pulled out a thick tome, her fingers drumming along the hard cover, and paced over to present it to Willow. It had that fresh, new book smell that Willow was so unfamiliar with. Her jaw went slack as she read the title.

The Stars Above: A Collection of Theses on Space, Time, and the Interconnectedness of Everything

"...Huh." Willow nodded, turning the book in her hands. She was taking a bit to process all this.

"Sami is really proud of how far you've come, Willow! You're such an amazing girl, yes?" Minnie patted Willow's tail near the spot where she was seated.

Willow stared at the pages. She wanted to be exuberant about digging into this, but she had... complicated feelings.

"...Gee, guys, this is... this is amazing!" Willow laughed. "I can read it on our big trip together!"

"...'Trip'?" Minnie paused, wondering what Willow meant by that. Silence hung over the room; Willow deflated slightly.

"...Our trip. To the archipelago." Willow held the book to her chest. "I-I mean, this book is really cool, I-I don't wanna be... ungrateful. I-I bet there's a lot of stuff in here about other worlds!" Willow tried to hype herself up, to mixed results. "...But I wanna go to a place... a little closer to home, y'know?" 

The two mothers exchanged looks with each other. The silence that hovered in the room gave Willow brief pause, her hands squeezing the book in her lap.

"...I just thought... I've been looking forward to this trip all year, so maybe we can-"

"No."

Sami uttered, directly and to the point. Her eyes were staring ahead into empty space. 

"...What?" Willow asked, her eyes wide open. "But... but I've done everything you've asked of me! And I've been helping with chores, and staying out of trouble, a-and minding my studies! And I wanted to go to town too, but you said-"

"It's out of the question." Sami bluntly rejected the notion once more, looking directly at Willow. "We can't do something like that."

"But you promised!" Willow cried.

"I promised nothing of the sort! That was your scatterbrained other mother." Sami glared towards Minnie, who had remained quiet during this entire standoff. 

"...Willow..." Minnie cautiously proceeded. "...Your mother has a point, it... it's not safe."

"Then I'll protect you guys!" Willow's voice was rising, her body rearing up along with it. Minnie had to stumble to her feet as Willow's tail shifted out from under her. "If Mom can go out alone, with Weinstein, then the three of us can-"

"We are not going anywhere! We can't leave, it's not an option!" Sami shouted, unphased by Willow's height advantage. 

"Sami, don't-"

"But what if I don't want to stay here forever!?" Willow countered, her hands clenched into fists. Her hair snakes were rearing up in turn as her emotions reached a fever pitch. "What if I want to go out and see the world!? I can't stay inside with books all the time, it's not the same!" 

"This isn't about what you want, Willow!" Sami retorted. "This is about what's best for everyone! Especially what's best for you!"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT'S BEST FOR ME!"

Willow hissed back, bearing her fangs in a snarl of anger. 

CRASH!

...In a fit of rage, her enormous tail lashed out against one of the pieces of furniture lined up against the wall. It had come down on an oak table, smashing the thing in two. The cacophonous sound was enough to snap Willow out of it, her features relaxing.

She didn't need to turned her head to see what she had done. Jerry was looking in the same direction... and what her hair snakes saw, she saw too. 

"..."

Willow lowered her head in shame. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Minnie's terrified expression. Even Sami was taken aback. 

"...I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to..."

Willow's mouth flattened. Her grip on the heavy tome weakened, and it slipped from her grasp, hitting the floor with a dull thud. Willow's breath was heavy.

...She slithered out the back door in a hurry, not looking back.

"Willow!" Minnie exclaimed, moving to go after her...

...But she felt Sami's hand grip her shoulder.

"Leave her. She'll get over it." Sami uttered, her eyes locked on the floor.

"...I can't believe you." Minnie clicked her tongue, brushing Sami's hand off her shoulder. 

"This is my fault, Minnie?? You're the one who made a promise we could never keep. You of all people should understand that." Sami responded, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh, you're one to talk!" Minnie sighed. "When are you going to tell her the truth!?"

"...She can't know." Sami shook her head. "You're my partner in this. We agreed. We made a pact."

"We can't keep doing this, Sami..." Minnie folded her arms. "Willow will get hurt."

---

Willow slithered out into the backyard, but ended up halting in her tracks. For a moment, she didn't realize where she could be going. She felt like she just needed... to get out of there, in that moment. Not to reach any place in particular. 

She was trembling, cross at herself for letting her emotions get the best of her. She needed someplace private to calm down. 

...In the corner of her eyes, she spotted her old treehouse. It had been quite some time since she had been up there. She must've been at least five feet shorter back then. She wondered briefly if she would even fit in there nowadays; it made for an even more cramped space than the cottage itself, built for a much smaller Willow.

Still, pangs of nostalgia won through. She decided to head up there. Though... actually getting up there might prove to be a trial.

The tried and true method was simply to coil around any strong enough branches, but... it was easier when she was a kid. She spotted one such branch, and attempted to wrap her body around it as an anchor...

Creeeeeeak.

...But detected the tree's straining to hold her up. She'd simply have to muscle her way up the trunk of the tree. Thankfully, she had no shortage of abdominal muscle and she was able to steady her slow ascent with her hands reaching for some of the higher branches.

It took some effort, but she had made it back to her old hideout. It primarily doubled as a second room for her to keep her things. She had a small desk in the corner, and there was a window with a scenic view. Willow had spent the better part of her child up here, getting lost in books, and sunbathing in the spot where the light hit the floor juuuuust right. 

...She didn't feel like relaxing. She felt more like curling into a ball and disappearing for a while. It seems her tail was getting started on that, pulling itself all the way in through the door frame. She stared out the window, not noticing how the wooden floorboards underneath her sagged under her immense weight.

Hugging herself, she sat in a corner, coiled up in a pile of herself. She buried her face in her crossed arms, sighing deeply. 

"This isn't fair... what'd I do wrong?" Willow muttered to herself. "They promised..."

It didn't make sense to her. She had been good all year. She had done everything they asked of her, and then some. She minded her studies, she stayed the course, but... the goalposts were being moved. Every single year, without fail. 

It was disheartening. She felt like a caged animal. She wanted to hate her parents in that moment, but... she couldn't. They had supported her all this time too. All things considered, she had a pretty happy upbringing so far. 

Maybe she was being ridiculous, or unreasonable... but it'd sure help if they told her why.

"...Damn it!"

Frustrated with her internalized back-and-forth, she slammed her fist on the floor. Some part of her thought it would help bring her back to reality, and think a bit more rationally...

Crack.

"...Ah?"

It certainly accomplished the former. The entire treehouse tilted sharply backwards, throwing off Willow's center of gravity. In that split second, Willow realized exactly what she had done.

"O-oh, no, easy, easy...!"

Clutching the floorboards, she tried to shift her weight towards the center of the room, but the weakened floorboards were already giving out from underneath her. Worse still, jostling her center of gravity further had the opposite, but equally undesirable effect. 

She began to slide forward, her mouth agape in a silent scream. Her hair snakes stretched behind her in a feeble attempt to wrap around something, like the doorframe. But it was largely in vain, as Willow hit the far wall, face first. Her tail flailed about wildly, sealing her fate.

The world began to spin, and for a moment, Willow felt a heavy weight lift from her. Willow covered her head, trying her best to shield her little buddies from the imminent impact. 

CRASH!

The treehouse, already falling apart from her weight, smashed and scattered into so many pieces of scrap wood upon hitting the ground. In the center of it all Willow lay, face first into the ground, her tail zigzagging along the ground.

She was conscious, but dazed. She barely felt a thing, her plate scales absorbing almost all of the impact. She slowly blinked, not bothering to lift her head off the ground to witness the damage. It must've been total. 

...She felt as though she deserved this, somehow. Or perhaps, in the back of her mind, she had been outgrowing such childish things all along. She groaned to herself. 

"WILLOW! What happened!?"

Willow heard a familiar voice behind her. Part of her expected it to be Minnie coming to her rescue, but... 

...It was Sami. Her hair snakes swivelled towards Sami, sprinting over like a bat out of hell. She kneeled down, tossing aside some of the rubble that lanced on top of Willow's tail. 

Minnie stayed behind near the house, looking onwards with concern written on her face. She wanted to jump in and help, but Sami was already out there. Seeing Willow stirring, she hung back; it was rare to see Sami take initiative like this.

"..."

Willow didn't respond to Sami's direct question right away. She didn't want to admit that she had simply grown too large. That it was a problem she couldn't do anything to fix. 

But she could see Sami's intense look from behind her. Her hair snakes were paying close attention to Sami. At least Willow herself didn't have to look back.

"...It broke. The treehouse. I-I'm too big for it." Willow muttered, burying her head in her arms.

"..." Sami glanced up towards the tree, and then towards the surrounding wreckage. "...Right. Your mother's old handiwork." Sami's tone didn't have the typical edge to it. If anything, it sounded... forlorn. 

Silence hung between the two of them. Of course, the two of them had just gotten into a fight, and Willow was utterly drained. And Sami was never good at empathizing with her daughter; she often just left that to Minnie. 

"...Perhaps your mother and I can... build a better one. Reinforced, for your-"

"What's the point. I'll probably break that one too." Willow mumbled, her voice muffled. 

"...Ah..." Sami frowned, glancing back to Minnie. "...I brought you your book." Sami mumbled, hugging the gift she had provided for Willow. Her fingers drumming anxiously against the hardcover, she simply lowered it next to Willow's prone body. 

"...mm." Willow grunted, trying to summon the words to at least feign appreciation. She didn't want to talk to Sami, but at least, she was trying to be nice now. After everything that happened. "...thank you."

"..." Sami sighed to herself. "I know this isn't what you wanted, but... there's extenuating circumstances. We can't pack up and go on a trip at the drop of a hat."

"...I know." Willow moaned. 

"...You know we're... we're very proud of you, Willow. You... you've grown up to be someone we never dreamed of." Sami tried to say something that Minnie would say, but it came off as a little forced. 

"...Really?" Willow raised her head slightly.

"Of course. We'll..." Sami sighed. "We'll try to find a way to make something work. Money's hard to come by, lately."

"...If we had more money... could we all go on the trip together?" Willow wondered aloud, turning towards Sami. 

"..." Sami frowned, hesitant to answer. Willow's expectant eyes were getting to her. "...It's... possible."

Willow's eyes widened... but only momentarily. She turned away from Sami, folding her arms again as she lay down.

"...I just wanna see where I came from..." Willow frowned, her voice a sad little whisper. 

Sami's mouth flattened, rubbing her chin with her hand in her best attempt to cover her face. "...I'll... talk to your mother about the idea." Silence fell over the two of them again, with Sami's noncommittal answer extinguishing any further discourse. Willow wasn't stupid; she knew Sami would be opposed to any idea of her getting to see the outside world.

"...Are you hungry?" Sami asked, kneeling over to get a better look at Willow. "Should I bring you something to eat? Your... your mother's making soup."

Willow didn't respond. She simply shook her head.

"Then... do you want to be left alone?" This time, Willow silently nodded. Sami let out a quiet, haggard sigh, turning around to return to the household.

Willow simply lay on the ground for several minutes after that, unmoving, staring straight ahead. Like she was trying to blend in with the environment, her best attempt to avoid being found. She didn't even touch the book Sami left by her side.

"..."

Her eyes wandered from side to side. Her desk had been split open from the impact, a small collection of books spilling out from the ruckus. Slowly rising up, she slithered over to examine the books more closely. 

...She frowned to herself. Of course, all of these books were so familiar to her. They were her favourites as a kid. They gave her the opportunity to travel to strange, exotic places from the comfort of her own home. With illustrations, and photos, and landmarks, and first-hand accounts of the strangest sights in the world.

...Ironic, she realized, that it was through Sami she got to experience this. Her hair snakes drooped with the realization, her hands idly flipping through the pages.

Before long, the book in her hands - the same atlas of the world that Sami had gifted her so many years ago - had flipped to its final page...

...and on the inside of the back cover, Willow's hand brushed against a strange little sleeve. 

"...?"

Her eyes squinted, looking closer. It was some kind of paper sleeve glued inside. She had been so absorbed in the contents of the book, she never paid much attention to the back cover. She avoided it, actually, just so the fun would never end.

But there were names in here. Of people, written down and stamped carefully. Schmidt, Abigail. Ross, Pauline. Weber, Annie. Connelly, Samantha...

"...Roelock Public Library?" Willow read the last bit aloud. This book came from a library! There was an address here and everything!

Willow reached for another book. And then another. The Mountains of Gruyere, Undersea Biology, The Microecology of the City. Many of these books in her possession were sourced from that one single library. Willow knew that Sami took frequent trips into town as part of her work, but... they must've all been severely overdue! 

"Ohhhh, this can't be good... hey, wait a second!"

It was then that Willow got an idea. Hidden to everyone but herself, she smiled quietly to herself, hugging one of the books close to her chest. Clearly, this library was missing a large selection of their books, and Sami had simply forgotten to return many of them...

...Perhaps it fell to Willow to right this grievous series of mistakes! And she could see the city for herself!!

"Hehehe! ...Oh, I should clean up this mess first. Don't wanna look suspicious."

She couldn't keep herself from smiling. Already, the gears in her head were turning...

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