Chapter 9: Snapper- Jaw
"Sebastian!" cried a voice, "Sebastian, are you all right?"
The wolf slowly opened his eyes and the sun's ray caught the metallic pupil to cause it to glimmer. Sebastian slowly came to his hands and knees. Sly and Brute stood beside him; they helped him to his feet.
"Are you all right? Can you walk on your own?"
"Yes," Sebastian said shaking his head, "By the way, where are those fur balls? I'm going to kill every last one of them."
"I think that's the least of our worries," said Sly. " Look around you."
A very strange thing had happened while the wolves were under the toxin of the tarsiers. This place, where they now stood, looked far different than the jungle that they had ventured through a few days before. The landscape around them was an open prairie of bones and other dead things. There were few trees that grew here. Leaves did not grow on them, and the bark, which was once a healthy brownish, red, was now discolored by fungus and disease. The air was stagnant and a strange fog loomed in the distance. The ground was moist, which allowed a few puddles of dirty water to become a breeding ground for a host of mosquitoes. The insects buzzed around the wolves, and they swatted the pests away with their cloaks. Near a breeding puddle, a corpse, of what looked like a tiger, lay rotten. The corpse was dressed in scratched armor and by its side was a broken sword. It was a Tajirian soldier. The body had not been torn, but there were two large holes that pierced the armor. From it oozed a stifling, foaming substance. The flies had already taken command over the body so the wolves moved on. There was a leg bone of another animal to their left and a pile of skulls to their right. The scene repeated itself as the wolves scouted the area. Weapons lay scattered along the barren prairie. There were lances, swords, war clubs, helmets, and shields. Sebastian spotted his sword placed a few feet away from him. He picked it up and swung it to make sure that the blade was still good. Sly went to inspect the other discarded weapons.
"Look at this! This lance is from Tajir and the shields too, in fact, all this stuff is from Tajir."
"Well, that is what happened to some of Aznar's soldiers," said Brute. " gobbled up by a snake."
"But what kind of snake is it? I've never known a snake to eat a tiger, what kind of snake could do that?" Sly replied concerned for their welfare.
"I don't know and I'm hoping we'll never have to find out," said Sebastian. "By the way, where is Map?"
The two wolves hunched their shoulders.
"Do you think he's--"
Brute caught himself before he said the word.
"Maybe, but let's look for him anyway. Without him the treasure is lost."
"I'm concerned more about him, Sebastian, than the treasure."
Sebastian thought about Sly's remark and nodded his head in agreement. "You're right. Let's go."
Sly equipped himself with a lance and a shield, Sebastian only carried his rapier, and Brute grabbed a war club. They went further into the wasteland and found more skeletons, cracked armor, and broken weapons. The wolves walked slowly over the hills and valleys in search of Map. The kitten; however, was very close. Over the neighboring hill there was a hole, it was a burrow to be more exact, and deep in this burrow laid the kitten, still under the influence of the dart. The sunlight made its way into the burrow to shine enough light on him, but it stopped short of the darkness before him. Yohan came out of his deep sleep. He rose to his feet and brushed himself off. He looked around to see where he was and what had happened to the wolves. He rubbed his eyes from the blinding sun and began to make his way out of the hole, but something prevented him from doing that. A deep hissing came from the darkness; it resonated throughout the whole burrow.
"Where are you going?" said the voice within the darkness.
Yohan turned his head around slowly; fear came into his eyes, and his body trembled from the voice's malignant call. Yohan tried to leave again, but the voice called to him this time in a more peaceful tone.
"Where are you going? Come closer, it is all right." Yohan stepped back.
"Come now let‘s not be difficult," replied the voice. Yohan turned to run.
"I wouldn't run if I were you. I don't think you want to be eaten do you? That's right, I thought you wouldn't. I'm willing to give you a chance to survive; you know a little game of "cat and mouse."
A long, slender black tongue shot out into the light. Yohan fell backwards, the voice chuckled.
"Those tarsiers have been sssslacking. A small morsel like you will not satisfy my hunger. After finishing you, I might have to eat a few of the tarsiers to remind them of the old treaty."
"I'm not the only one--"
Yohan quickly placed his hands over his mouth, hoping that he was not heard, but he was wrong. The snake let out a deep hiss that shook the inside of the burrow; dirt and dust fell from the ceiling.
"Not the only one?" inquired the voice, "Who else is with you and why are they not down here?"
Yohan did not know the answer to the second part of the question. The tarsiers after putting the guests into a deep sleep, found it hard to drag the wolves all the way to Snapper-Jaw's burrow; so, they left the wolves behind and took Yohan instead, hoping that the snake would find the wolves. Yohan addressed the first part of the question, but hunched his shoulders to the latter.
"Wolf! I never had that before. There's a first time for everything. I guess the game will be "cat and mice" as usual."
"Why do you play these games?" he said nervously.
"To tell you the truth, I like seeing the fear in my dinner's eyes. I like hearing the sssscreams of terror as I break the bones of their bodies. It fills me with sssssuch pleasure. Now go out of the burrow and find the wolves, and then our game will begin." Yohan, feeling very bold and somewhat foolish, tried to be courageous. He stood up tall, pulled on his coat, and pointed at the darkness.
"I'm not afraid of you Snapper-Jaw!" Yohan said boldly. " If I don't run, we can't play the game; and if the game isn't played, you won't eat us. So it looks like I'm staying right here."
Yohan sat on the ground and crossed is arms. He was quite proud of himself. You should have seen him smile and tilt his nose high in the air, but Snapper-Jaw was not to be duped by a kitten.
"There is no fear in that, little cat," he said with a malicious laugh, "I will make you afraid."
The slender black tongue continued to flicker back and forth; and then from within the darkness, a massive head emerged. Its color was a muddy brown; and there were so many bumps and sores on the snake's face, mainly because of the rotten things that he had eaten, that it distorted his facial features horribly. His skin had the nature of an alligator more than of a snake. His eyes were blood red, his pupils were slit black, and whatever courage was in Yohan disappeared. He ran out of the burrow, screaming like a lunatic.
A vile grin came over Snapper-Jaw's face as he proceeded out of the hole. Outside, the wolves continued to scout the barren area for any sign of Yohan. "See him yet?" asked Sly.
"No---Wait, I hear something! Up here!" said Brute pointing.
The three wolves climbed a hill covered with torn cloaks and broken bones. At the top, they saw the kitten running frantically toward them. They went down to meet him. Yohan jumped on Brute and climbed onto his shoulders.
"SNAKE, SNAKE!"
"Calm down, what's going on!" said Sebastian.
"Snapper- Jaw! He's over there!"
Sly scanned the landscape.
"I don't see him," replied Sly.
"Neither do I." said Brute.
"Let's move before he turns up," Sebastian suggested promptly.
"Now why would you want to sssspoil the fun," replied a voice from behind them.
The group turned around in unison. Snapper-Jaw eyed his dinner; his head jerked from side to side, deciding who to eat first. His long, immense body was stacked upon itself high in the air. The hard bumps that formed along his entire frame, made his skin nearly impenetrable. There were numerous gashes along his body from previous encounters, but there was an Achilles heel to the snake's armor. It was a pale, white band near the top of his neck that was soft and permeable. However, none of his meals ever figured out the secret; if they had, they wouldn't have been eaten by him.
"I'm going to count to ten, and then the game will begin," said Snapper-jaw. " One--"
"Wouldn't you like a couple of tarsiers to eat?" said Sly.
" The meat is a little tough," said the snake briskly, "Two."
"We saw a corpse back there, eat that!" Sly said, pulling his shield closer to his body.
"Ssseven."
"You're skipping numbers," replied Yohan.
" You can't do that!"
"TEN!"
"RUN!" shouted Yohan.
The three wolves went in different directions. Snapper-Jaw pursued the slowest of his meals, Sly. The short, stocky wolf ran with all his might, dropping his lance and shield in the process. Snapper- Jaw was gaining ground on him and Sly could feel the beast's hot breath on his tail. A tree was Sly's only safe haven now; and as quickly as he could, he climbed into the leafless branches, hoping that the snake would pass him by. The tree would have been a good hiding spot from a smaller predator, but compared to Snapper-Jaw that tree was just a mere toy. The snake slowly coiled around the tree, keeping his eyes on the wolf, until he towered over it. He looked down on his dinner, as it cowered, and began to squeeze the tree. The plant was crushed between the snake's body. Sly jumped onto the ground and ran for his lance and shield, the snake followed. Sly held the lance like a javelin and hurled it straight at Snapper- Jaw's face. The snake evaded the attack quite gracefully by twisting his body in the air. With a diabolical laugh, the snake went in for the kill. He spread his mouth open to reveal the long, thin fangs, dripping with venom. Snapper-Jaw darted forward, Sly held his shield close to him, and with a great crash they came together.
The snake got his jaws around the wolf. Sly struggled to get out. His friends came to aid him, but Snapper-Jaw used his head like a battering ram and pushed Sebastian and Brute away. The snake propped himself high in the air. He continued to swallow Sly whole.
Brute and Sebastian did their best at cutting and hacking at the beast's body, but it did little to disturb his enjoyment of his meal. The wolf's tail hung out of the side of his mouth and he snickered at the futile attempt below. Sebastian caught sight of this and climbed up onto the snake's body. He ran along Snapper-Jaw's frame like a staircase; he went up towards the head to save his friend. The snake took one last gulp to finish devouring Sly and waited for the skinny wolf to get close enough to him. Suddenly, Sebastian went into a free fall, as the snake slung his body from under his feet.
Snapper-Jaw quickly positioned himself so that the wolf would fall directly into his mouth. Sebastian found himself looking into the trap of the beast, but fortunate for him Brute was at Snapper-Jaw's head; and, with all of his strength, punched the snake in the face. His skull traveled about ten feet along the ground until it came to a halt. Brute caught Sebastian in his arms. The snake shook off the attack.
The two wolves retreated, but Snapper-Jaw dashed in front of them, cutting their flight short. He circled around his prey, stacking his body like a wall to keep the wolves within his sight. The snake took liberty to strike down at his food. The wolves fought back, but most of the time they either jumped or ran out of the way to evade Snapper-Jaw‘s deadly fangs. From afar, Yohan watched the snake at work; he also saw something else that grabbed his attention. He saw the white band; and Yohan, being a smart cat, began to wonder if that discoloration would be the snake‘s undoing. The kitten crawled along the prairie, finding a dagger that he could wield, and made his way over to the beast.
Snapper-Jaw continued to play with his food, and the wolves‘ fate would soon be fulfilled: for they could not keep up with the snake‘s speed of attack. Yohan climb up the snake‘s body as one would climb the side of a mountain; and once he was on top, he saw the battle below to stay alive. Onward the kitten went; pacing himself very carefully as not to be caught by the blood-thirsty eyes of the snake. However, Yohan had no need to worry; Snapper-Jaw was too concerned about the wolves to notice him. Near the snakes head, the kitten found it nearly impossible to get to the white band. The snake moved his head so quickly that only a break in his pattern would offer a chance for a counter attack. Below, Brute‘s war club and Snapper-Jaw‘s nose were introduced to each other. The snake pulled his head back quickly from the painful impact; a trickle of blood ran out of the snake‘s nose. Yohan saw his opportunity and took it without hesitation.
Up to the white band he went; and just when Snapper-Jaw decided that playtime was over, the kitten took the dagger and drove it into the soft, penetrable skin. For the first time, Snapper-Jaw knew the feeling of pain. A ghastly screech echoed throughout the dead prairie. The snake swung his head back and forth wildly to throw his assailant, but whipping his head like that would be his demise. When Yohan lost his balance, instead of just falling onto the ground, he grabbed the dagger; and when he went over the side, the dagger traveled all the way around the white band until it finally slipped out. Yohan fell among the wolves. Snapper-Jaw flung his head backwards on the ground and he began to twist and turn is his body violently; until, with one last muscle spasm, the snake was still. With all the tiger warriors Snapper-Jaw had encountered and eaten, his end was brought about by the hands of a kitten. The snake‘s scuffle left a bloody mess over the prairie.
Sebastian went over to Yohan. The kitten rose to his feet, he was shaken from the scene before him, but overall he was all right.
"Are you all right?" asked Sebastian
"Yeah, I‘m fine." said Yohan.
"We owe you our lives. It is a great thing to save the life of a wolf. We will never forget this."
"I wish I could have done the same for Sly."
At the mention of Sly‘s name, Brute and Sebastian ran over to the dead carcass. Up at the head, the deep gash from the dagger was seen. They went along the body, inspecting it closely. A few feet down the snake‘s carcass, something had lodged itself in the body.
"Sebastian, help me to cut this open."
The wolves proceed to open the snake and what came out of him was a bloody mess of fur. They laid Sly on the ground; he was breathing, but he showed no other signs that he was alive. After minutes of trying to get him to open his eyes, Brute and Sebastian decided to carry him the rest of the way. Brute went along the land scavenging for any lances or long poles. Yohan gathered as many cloaks as he could and returned to Sly‘s side. The poles and cloaks were used to make a stretcher.
"Do you think he was bitten?" asked Sebastian.
"I don‘t think he would be breathing if he had." said Brute.
They placed Sly on the stretcher. The group made their way across the wasteland with heavy hearts. In the quietness of the walk, Sebastian was able to force a question from his mind,
"Map, which way do we go now?"
Yohan looked up to the wolf; and not having the courage to tell him the truth, lowered his head. The silence gave Sebastian his answer. So into the distance they went, leaving the great snake dead and unknown adventures ahead.