FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

To Seek a Straw in Grasp

Chapter 1: Where Everything Ends

The Gaamar Mountains welcome no travellers, especially in winter nights. Thin natural resources, extremely low temperature, and probably the worst transportation in the whole Kingdom of Tsex together make this place of loneliness nearly uninhabitable.

"At least no snakes here." Carl whispered to himself after checking the surroundings, still in high adrenaline levels. He was lucky enough to get out before the crash and made it to the ground, but little had the mouse prepared for the freezing winds—nothing more than a military uniform and his short grey and white fur. Feeling the weight in his backpack, he had no choice but to carry on.

Along the mountain side no tracks of animal could be seen, flora was also non-existent. The pure white dominated almost everywhere Carl could see, and a silver veil was shed upon the Gaamar's snowy mountain ridges which held the same bright moon he used to see in his homeland, but soon to be swallowed up by the dark clouds. With the help of the soon vanishing stars, the little mouse could locate himself and find North before heading in the opposite direction.

…

_ _

(Before the crash)

Carl's rapid heartbeats were drowned by the roar of the plane's engines as he fastened the seatbelt, holding his backpack in his arms. He really risked his life stealing out the invaluable copy of the information about the top-secret biological weapon the snake army was developing, and it was all worth it. "Risking is also a soldier's duty." Carl thought to himself. As long as he was serving in the army, the little mouse would be willing to take any risk and devote his life to protect the Republic of Tangson.

The plane started accelerating, ready to take off. It was the most dangerous night Carl had gone through. Actually, he wasn't the first one sent to this mission, but the first to survive, all thanks to that anonymous informant called Apple. They seemingly had high access level in the laboratory, probably even participating in developing the weapon. Although they couldn't take anything out, Apple managed to put the copy where Carl could put his paws on and provided him a secret route to sneak in without much effort.

The plane took off. Carl finally felt a bit relieved, still calling back to that dangerous moment when he triggered a sensor just after grabbing the copy and was ready to leave. The working alarm from that experimental apparatus lasted merely seconds, but was more than enough to expose his existence.

That exact moment when he heard slithering toward him, Carl knew he was dead. He managed to hide himself under a table, holding his breath as the figure showed up at the door. Fearing that they could hear him, he tried to slow down his heartbeat—impossible, though. Never to mention that his scent alone was enough to give him away.

Beep. The door opened, Carl shut his muzzle tight with his paws, too afraid to make a move, though any struggle would be pointless now. The slithering came closer as the snake entered the room, and he could hear them flicking their tongue to collect scents in the air. He had never gotten this close to a snake, and this first encounter put to rest any doubt how small he is compared to one. And those sounds were more than real, he felt them consisting an invisible rope around his neck.

The snake was only meters from Carl's hiding place. He could clearly see their shadow as the reptile moved, every movement they made was tangling on his heart. He could not calm himself, and his mind was blank except to pray not to be found.

The snake stopped, right where the alarm sounded. "I knew this could happen, stupid thing." Came a young male voice, then the sound of him powering down the machine before leaving the room. He never looked at the corner where Carl was hiding.

…

A sudden, continuous shaking of the plane brought Carl briefly back from his memory, it was just turbulence.

He would be a living hero from then on, considering the number of lives he could save and the great risk he had been taking—no one even made sure if the route was secure or the disk was there before he infiltrated that secret base.

But life could not always be so kind to a soul, and it often takes a lot to become a hero.

Whoosh. Carl was immediately alert—that's not a sound a plane should make; something fast just flew by. He turned to the pilot, "Did you just hear someth-" his sentence was cut off by a loud blast and a fierce shake. Then the emergency alarm and red-light flashing filled the cabin, indicating the gravity of the attack. He turned and saw the left engine burning outside the window, then the world lost balance.

"Unanticipated attack from grid North! Guided missile in bound! Brace for impact!" The pilot shouted before the next hit arrived, "Absolute height 6000 feet, Cleared for emergency airborne landing!"

The reaper missile rattled by. Designed to eliminate all living things within its range, it found its prey in the cockpit, and devoured it with flaming jaws. The poor pilot didn't even make a sound as he vanished into the night sky. However, he managed to open the cabin door in his last seconds, though merely a slit before losing control, which divided out a slim lifeline for Carl in this merciless night.

…

He watched the plane drawing its long tail of flame and smoke into the mountain. That was the first jump in Carl's life, and maybe the last, as it probably wouldn't last long in the outer wilds of Gaamar. "Landing" was the last word Carl heard, soon it would be the last thing he did.

…

One hour after the crash. The piercingly cold wind kept gushing into his fur for almost eternity, around Carl was still all hopeless white, life-void white, merciless white. Heavy clouds gathered where the inner land moisture meets the Northern wind, incubating a precipitation over the mountains.

He passed the stage where the cold would torture him as it numbed his nerves, but not stopping his shivers in the snow. He tied his naked tail to his side to keep it from freezing—that long, pretty tail he was proud of, and Carl wondered if he could bring it back alive. "BRING BACK ALIVE". It reminded him of the constant pressure on his back which he almost forgot. "That's my mission." Carl reminded himself.

The rodent never noticed his heart rate increasing, and his body was still uncontrollably trembling. He ventured miles South, but not even closer to the boarder. He forced himself to inhale the freezing air; it no longer hurt like it did at the beginning. The burden he carried became heavy, and Carl accelerated his breathing to support the excess weight. "Thankfully I was born with it." He felt his body burning to fight the conditions.

"It sure weights a lot." Carl thought, those were thousands of lives on his back, after all.

Two hours has passed, the rodent had no clue how far he had travelled, nor how long he still had to. "Glad they're still attached." Carl tried to flex his toes and sensed the slightest pressure from his paws. He no longer felt cold but a sudden dizziness caught him, reminded him to breathe. "It feels weird." The hypothermia clouded the mouse's mind, making him hard to focus. However, Carl felt his vision clearer than ever at the same time. The whole world was lit up for him, and he looked down to see his snow-covered boots. Carl widened his eyes, the texture of his uniform and fine grains of snow carved into his view. It was bizarre yet amazing. Mind troubled, Carl also felt his body light. That disk weight nothing compared to the great nature.

"We live and die, my friends," Carl whimpered, "It always has an end, everything ends". He has been an optimistic all his life, now he understands how nature see things. "You… all easily vanish… Tsex, famine, plague, catastrophe." It was ironic, but not that Carl could care about.

An unexpected firework attracted his eyes—in a trance he saw numerous spirits flying out from his back, then heading forward with the wind, to his homeland where he was born and raised. They were dim but colorful in the black sky, enough for Carl to visualize his motherland in illusion—the turquoise ones reminded Carl of a summer spent on Donnu Beach in his childhood, virid ones a spring rain at Sillou Forest, and yellow ones the wandering canyon in Quinn Plateau. Tangson, he missed her, and his insides burned as he felt warmth rush through his spines. "You go first, I'm all good, I'll follow soon." The little mouse spoke to those spirits.

The warmth didn't come from nowhere, deep in Carl's consciousness he knew that his body's perceptual regulation of temperature had gone abnormal, and warm blood from his core started to circulate to the surface. The Gaamar embraced him with the last tenderness of death.

Three hours, the estimated living time of a rodent in such extreme weather. It had been a while since Carl's last step, who was now nothing but a grey ball of fur in the snow. The constant heat loss not only affected his bodily functions, but also deprived him of his ability to think. Nothing remained in his mind except simple concepts and survival instincts. He felt tired, so he lay down. He felt warm, so he snuggled himself into the snow to get comfortable. He felt the thing on his back vulnerable, so he used his last strength to take it in his arms then wrapped it with his body.

The heaviness in his eyes eased as Carl closed them. It was late night, and the snow began to fall. Good time to sleep. He thought about those spirits, maybe they were already home, sleeping in warm beds. He also dreamed out for himself a log house not far from him, perhaps just several hundred steps away. It must be cozy sleeping in there, but the mouse felt warm already—it won't be too late to go in when he woke up. He couldn't remember his mission, or the war and his people, even life and death, now he only wanted a good rest.

When the first snowflake fell onto Carl's pointy nose, the little mouse drifted into the warm darkness.

…

At first it was just pure black. The void consumed Carl's mind and wrapped around his body, and he couldn't even feel a thing. Floating in the turbulence of consciousness for what felt like decades, he started falling. The world was spinning at the same time, making him lose his vague directions, and the falling seemed forever. The bottomless hole of nothing—neither demise nor relief. After that came warmth, it emerged from inside, then all around Carl's world—the falling stopped but it was still spinning. Though he couldn't grasp in his mind the concept of warmth, his body felt comfortable and safe, just like in his mother's belly.

The peace didn't last long as the heat brought also chaos, more sensation came to Carl as they all mixed together, converging into a sensual turmoil. He saw or maybe sensed light from above, searching for his existence. Obscure noise and incomprehensible words filled his ears, and he felt his limbs tied, body confined into a cocoon. The struggle lasted hours, that warmth became more distinguishable as his consciousness began to emerge, he felt more of the constriction around his torso, as if a serpent had him in his coils.

Snake. The word struck him like a dagger at his throat that shocked him and opened his eyes. He wasn't in the snow—dim yellow light outline the room he was in as Carl recognize where the warmth was from—there were hot water bottles next to his neck, under his armpits and over his groin, and his naked body was enveloped in a huge duvet. Still feeling dizzy, he managed to free himself from the constriction and caught a glimpse of the backpack on the bedside table. Then everything occurred to him all at once—the infiltration, the crash and those hours in the snow. His memory had stopped there and went down into abyss from that point on. Carl wanted find out where he was as he observed the room.

The extra spacious room looked strange to him, the bed being huge and round, and no chairs could be found in front of the desk near the window, instead there lay a large, flat cushion. His heart sank; these were definitely not designed for a mouse like him—he was in a snake's home. Carl couldn't help heart beating fast, yet calmed himself down to make sense of the situation. He got out the bed and tried to walk to the door, his paws still paining from the frostbite.

The wooden door was round and surprisingly heavy; Carl pulled it open with some effort. Behind the thick door was a hallway with another room on the opposite side, and on the left was a pillar that led downstairs. He took a closer look, around the patterned pole was a large hole that connected two floors, and there were no stairs. Warm air rose up to his face, and the light was on down there. Carl froze as he heard something below, the sound of glassware and cooking utensils. The snake was here.

Carl rushed back to the room and quietly closed the door, thoughts fighting in his minds—It was clear that the snake had somehow saved him, and he wondered what would happen when it found him awake. Anyway, it might be the best option to remain unconscious; it would buy him time to observe and think of his way out.

Returned to his bed, Carl realized how professional the snake was saving him from hypothermia—those hot water bottles around his core and that warm cover, he also noticed that he wasn't thirsty, as the snake might have fed him water. He checked his backpack before lying down again to restore to the situation before he woke up. Then he caught sight of the piles of books on the desk and bookshelves beside the window, whose titles were alien to the little mouse. But he could vaguely infer that some of them were about biology, others about literature and geography, also a few of story books stood there in the corner.

The door cracked open—its thickness had muffled the sound of the snake coming up. Carl shut his eyes and tried to steady his breath. The little mouse relaxed his eyelids to prevent them from quivering as the snake approached. It came up the bed and to Carl's head, then the snake flicked its tongue in front of his face. He could not only hear the hiss but also feel the air it stirred around his whiskers. He managed to clear his mind, but soon used all his willpower to hold to a gasp as a cold claw reached his throat. The snake was feeling his pulse. His heartbeat accelerating, Carl felt more than doomed—the snake must know by now that he was pretending asleep. However, the mouse was too afraid to make a move, he also forgot to breathe for a moment. What a bad liar.

The claw stayed on his neck for what felt like years before the snake drew back. Still not daring to open his eyes, Carl expected any words from the snake that would be his death sentence, or maybe even a bite. To his surprise, the snake went off the bed and moved to the desk, then Carl heard it writing. All possibilities came to his mind at the same time—his fast heartbeat was obvious, but maybe the snake mistook that for a nightmare, and perhaps now it was recording his recovery from low temperature. There was still hope.

It didn't take long before the snake finished its paperwork, and it left that on the bedside table before slithering out the room and went downstairs, leaving the door open. Carl opened his eyes and hungrily breathed in fresh air as soon as he was left in silence, then he saw the small piece of note the snake left him. The light was dim but the mouse still figured out the words on it, and the paper read:

Come down when you are ready. I'm making a pie for you, and I thought it would be best served hot. Additionally, in case you want to have it in bed, slam the door shut to tell me and I will send it up for you.

Welcome back to life.

_ _

The note was a signed by a simple sketch of a serpent's headshot, which Carl regarded as the house owner itself. And those words made him reconsider—obviously the snake showed no ill intention. It saw through his pretence, but did not call it out. The snake even left the decision up to him, knowing the little mouse might fear it. Carl sat there and struggled for a long time, and eventually decided to go out as those words encouraged him.

He put on his uniform and made it to the door, the sound of cooking returned to his ears as he walked to that pole. It was almost as wide as his body, and down below on the ground was a big pad which wasn't here just minutes ago. Carl was surprised by how considerate the snake had been. He landed on the pad and followed the sound and the smell from the kitchen.

The closer he got, the more nervous he became. He stole to the corner and quietly glanced from the hallway into the kitchen, but step back in half a second—It's a king cobra! It seemed busy with its own business, but Carl dared not take a second look since the first sight was enough to impress him. Black lustrous scales, its body thicker than the mouse and extend to length of a subway car. Neurotoxin, suffocation, strangler, top predator, those ideas just kept flowing into Carl's mind as he froze there, almost regretting coming down.

"Hi."

"AHHHH!!!" Carl jumped at the voice before he could react and saw the serpent staring at him, then the little mouse took several steps back immediately. "H…Hello…" His body desperately urged him to run as it sensed great danger ahead, but he was too weak and frightened. Carl didn't notice his legs shaking as their eyes met. The concern and patience in the cobra's light blue eyes made him relax but a little.

The snake spoke in a soothing tone, "It's okay, I wouldn't mind if you find me scary. Oh, the bathroom is on your left, I suppose you may need it before dinner." Carl saw the door he mentioned, and nodded nervously.

"By the way, you look strange in those fabrics, but you can keep them on if they make you comfortable." The snake pointed at Carl's uniform before heading back to his pie.

…

The dining table was round and there were no chairs around it. It could be inferred that the snake used to surround it with his body for he now looked a bit unnatural curling himself on one side to make room for the rodent. Carl couldn't move his eyes from the snake's long neck as he nervously sat down. Then he found the problem—the table wasn't designed for someone his size, so it was nearly to his muzzle if he sat down, but also too low if he stood up. Either way was not very comfortable for him as Carl uneasily looked around for something to sit on.

Seeing his anxiety, the snake moved swiftly and wrapped his body around the table, circling his coils around the little mouse at the same time. "You may just sit on me."

Carl felt more than nervous right now, eyes fixed on the black scaled coils behind him as the snake moved. He felt his legs shaking. "N…No, I'm fine."

The snake didn't even try to hide his disappointment in his eyes. "Aww… I thought I would have a chance to feel how warm you little mice could be." He then put the pie in front of Carl's face across the table.

"Okay…" Carl, however, decided to sit down upon hearing those words, "Thank you." The coil was not cold, just relatively cool compared to his body temperature. And its smooth touch couldn't hide the strength of those muscles in the serpent's coils.

The smell of the pie had filled the room as soon as the snake opened the oven. Not the finest one Carl had ever seen but it still made his mouth water. It absolutely looked nice. His hunger made him briefly forgot the situation he was in. The mouse took a small bite.

"How was it?" The snake asked.

"Well…It's impressive, considering that you lack the sense of taste." Carl wasn't lying, "How did you do that?"

"You do know something about snakes." The snake giggled. "I consider myself talented in mixing those ingredients. And I'm glad that you like it."

As he ate the pie, clouds of confusion surged back into Carl mind. Where was him? Why did the snake save him? Has his mission been exposed?

"Thank you… for saving my life." Carl tried to start the conversation.

"How are you going to thank me?" The snake playfully asked, much to Carl's surprise. Seeing the fear in his face, the snake laughed. "Do the dishes for me, does that sound good to you?"

Carl relaxed a little bit. "Ah… Of course. By the way… How should I call you?"

"It's Ozias. Or just Oz or Ozzie if you'd like." The snake smiled to him, "Does it surprise you that it sounds too short for a snake? It has only one 'S' in it."

For the first time Carl smiled, the snake surely knew how to make a joke. "My name is…"

"Carl. I saw it in your bag," answered the snake first, "My apologies, but I had to check it."

"I see… So why did you choose to save me? I mean, we're at war and…"

"It's our countries, not us."

"One's fate is of course related to his country, and…" Carl realized he was being emotional when it comes to his country, "Sorry, I didn't mean that. I was being stupid."

"Maybe you're right about that. And about your question," Ozias paused for a second, "I just thought you needed help. And… I'm lonely living here."

Carl believed his reason for now though it seemed childish, for he didn't know snakes well therefore was uncertain about how they think. He just considers that a prototypical snake would be a merciless killing machine, but this one was obviously a bit different. Maybe he really was lonely. Nevertheless, he wasn't even sure what kind of answer he was expecting—the truth or just a comforting lie.

"What do you do for job?" Carl asked, he was interested in those books on the shelf.

"It feels like you're interrogating me." Ozias didn't answer, "I haven't asked you questions yet. Why was a little mouse like you out there in the Gaamar alone?"

"I was… on a mission and I got lost with my teammates." It would be difficult to weave a series of lies, so Carl told the truth but intentionally hid some of the facts.

"What kind of mission is that?" The snake asked, looking at Carl's face.

"Delivering information." The little mouse tried to avoid eyes contact with the serpent. "I've got it but fell at the last step."

Ozias just watched as the rodent had his pie, claws folding under his chin to support his head on the table. Then Carl suddenly realized the obvious fact that the snake wasn't eating. Instead, he just stared at his face, which made him uncomfortable. The old script came to his mind, indicating this was his last meal—he feared that the snake might have him for dinner later. Carl was already planning on an escape as his eyes wandered, though deep down he knew he would never outrun the king cobra.

"Are you okay?" Ozias spoke as he approaches Carl and held his paw in his claws. "Your heart is beating fast."

Carl attempted to draw his paw back as he felt the sudden coldness of scales but failed. "Uhm… I think I might have to use the toilet."

"And that made you nervous?" The snake let go of his paw and put his claws on Carl's thigh, getting closer to his body. "Just tell me."

Those unexpected body contacts scared the rodent even more, he nearly cried out. "This… is it my last meal?"

"Why?" Ozias asked as he hugged the little mouse from behind, snout on his head. "Certainly not. You're thinking too much."

The snake let go of Carl before he tried struggle himself free. The mouse calmed down a little. "You weren't eating, so I just thought that you wanted to… you know." He looked at Ozias' face. "I'm sorry about that."

"We snakes don't have to eat every day. And I have my next meal planned on tomorrow morning." Carl's words didn't surprise him at all. "It's totally fine, just like I said, I won't blame you for that."

"Thank you. I think I'll get used to it." Carl really appreciated his understanding. Actually, he hadn't got close to a snake in his life, therefore his knowledge about serpents is virtually all prejudice.

Ozias waited until the mouse had his last bite, then heading to the living room and turned on the TV. "Don't forget the plate."

…

While washing that plate, Carl kept thinking about his mission, and hurried back to his room when he finished. Now he finally had time to check the disk.

He turned on one of the switches on the wall which he supposed should be the light. Bright yellow lights illuminated every corner of the room for an instant, intense like sunshine. Feeling the warmth of sun kiss on his body, Carl turned it off and tried another one. This time it was normal reading light. He opened his bag to find the disk and his laptop, which powered off long ago due to the low temperature. As he plugged it in to recharge it, the excitement of becoming a hero returned to his mind. He couldn't wait to connect the disk to his device as soon as it lit up.

"Disk Read Error: faulty connections or broken hardware" It took Carl seconds to digest the warning, and he was like a deer in the headlights to those words on the screen. Thousands of possibilities crossed his mind, Carl wasn't sure if it was damaged somewhere on his way, or if the whole mission was nothing but a bait. Either way, all his efforts were now possibly in vain. However, he thought it was more likely the first situation, judging by the error message of the disk – at least it wasn't just "empty" – which gave him some hope. It wasn't impossible to restore data from a broken disk.

Then what? It would still be useless if it started as a hoax. Not to mention that maybe the data was already lost. Various emotions disturbed Carl's mind as inevasible uncertainty flooded his way. He suddenly lost his directions. The little mouse fell onto his bed on his back, trying to empty his mind for a second. As his mission was likely aborted, he found himself actually rather tired after all these things.

Refusing to think, Carl didn't notice the snake coming up. Ozias just stayed outside the door and asked if he want to watch TV with him, and he agreed without a second thought.

Carl lost the sense of time until he heard knocks at the door. "May I come in, please?" In came Ozias' voice, which called back the mouse's thoughts. He rushed to the door and opened it, and see the serpent looking down at him.

"It's been a while and I didn't see you coming down." Ozias flicked his tongue, "Are you alright? You look tired."

It was always difficult for him to turn someone down - Carl vaguely recalled to his response. "Ahh… Just feeling exhausted, after… all these, you know."

"Come down with me, I know how to help you relax." He reached out his claw to pet on Carl's head before leaving for the living room.

Carl soon followed downstairs. Ozias was switching TV channels when the mouse entered the room, coiling and lying lazily on himself.

"You're here." The snake stretched his coils to make some room.

Carl froze. Not because of the snake's movement, but the news on the TV screen. "Plane shot down in the Gaamar Mountains, tried to steal secret information." He recognized that debris on first sight.

"Ah, thank you." Despite his fear, Carl locked eyes with the snake for the first time, trying to attract all his attention from the news. The mouse awkwardly climbed into Ozias' coils and abruptly taking the remote from the snake's claws, then he started to figure out those buttons on it, "I thought your remote looks very different from ours."

That was too sudden and of course, very silly. But the snake didn't mind his rudeness, nor did he consider it weird, "I suppose it's similar worldwide."

"Are your favourite programs on?" Carl asked as he aimlessly switched the channel.

"Tangson pilot identified, surviving accomplices pursued."

"I prefer cooking shows and documentaries of all kinds." Ozias replied, "Just find what you're interested in."

Carl stopped at a pot of meat stew, "I'm also interested in your diet and cuisine." The snake glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

The mouse felt his heart racing, though he was uncertain whether it was more from those coils now surrounding his body or that news, or more precisely, the line that announced him "wanted".

He soon found out the answer as he felt cold scale against his back, the mouse shuddered from the sudden contact.

"You really are tired." Ozias surrounded his coils closer to the mouse and said softly, "Lie here on my body."

Carl did as the cobra instructed, lying down on his stomach and hugging the serpent's coil. Though hard to admit, he really found Ozias' dark scales and muscles virtually appealing. He can feel the snake breathing as the slim figure beneath him expanded.

Without saying a word, the snake began to wander his claw down either side of the Carl's body, rubbing his muscles from his shoulder to his waist, which caught him off guard as the mouse gasped from the sudden touch.

Ozias slid the side of his claw down the mouse's spine, sending him a shiver throughout his body. Carl was amazed by how sophisticated the cobra was stimulating his body with those simple movements in a way he never experienced. It seemed he knew his body better than himself.

"Ohhh…" Carl couldn't help but let out a satisfied moan as the snake applied considerable pressure on his back, his bone crackling but in a pleasurable way.

"Sounds like you're enjoying it." Ozias smiled to him, "Now take off your clothes."

Carl blushed slightly, but willingly did so. The cobra has been naked all the time, after all. In front of the snake, he stripped off all his clothes except his underwear, but Ozias just patiently waited aside and watched. Carl hesitated for a moment, but eventually took it off, too.

"You look much better without those." Ozias said, leading the mouse lie back down on his body, "Did I tell you that I admire your fur?"

It wasn't the first time Carl heard something like this about his appearance, but he never expected it from a snake. "I…I also find your scales attractive."

"Attractive, what a beautiful expression." Ozias lay down on his coils in front of the mouse, "Do I attract you?"

Carl blushed heavier, but his grey fur helped him cover it. He wasn't sure if snakes just normally talk like this or Ozias was particularly playful. It was hard to answer, and he would rather be mildly impolite than coming up with an improper reply.

"We also make this stew at home." Carl attempted to draw their conversation back to the cooking show on TV, "I cook well, at least I think so."

"Really? I would like to try your dishes, given the chance."

"No problem. What's your favourite food? I'm especially good at fishes and meat." Carl seemed confident.

"You really want to know?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Among all my favourite foods, I must admit to a bias in favour of…" The serpent got closer and whispered into Carl's ear, "little mice like you."

Carl jumped up as those words struck him like a thunder. Then the realization of his situation inside the serpent's coils and potential consequences. The idea kept swirling in his mind since his first sight of the king cobra - he wasn't too afraid of death as a solider, but the fear of those lethal coils, the dread of that pair of deadly fangs, and most importantly, the horror of sinking into that awaiting maw and vanishing eternally into that bottomless depth, were written in his blood.

Unlike other mice of his kind, deep down Carl actually had a vore fetish, which he had been hiding for years. But now he knows that fancying oneself being devoured is one thing, and facing a real serpent is whole another.

The cobra broke the silence. "I just wanted to see that look on your face." He almost sounded regretful.

"Maybe we take jokes a little differently." Carl didn't blame the snake, sitting down in the centre of his coils. He recovered his composure suspiciously fast.

The cobra turned to the TV, but Carl still couldn't get that thought out of his mind. He read a lot about how snakes naturally consume their prey, and just imagining himself being a bulge beneath those coils was enough to make him hard.

Carl watched the slim body of the serpent around him, beneath Ozias' black scales he was able to tell where the esophagus ended, where the stomach was and where the intestines led. He swept along the snake's coils to his head, then he met Ozias' eyes – He's been watching all the time.

The serpent must notice him looking at his body, but instead of saying anything, Ozias just brought his neck down and to Carl's surprise, placing his head on the mouse's hindquarters.

"Aww..." The king cobra yawned towards Carl, revealing that pair of fangs his wet pink maw. Then he flicked, tongue brushing against the mouse's soft belly fur.

It really ticked some of Carl's nerves as he sat up a little with a "we just met today" face. Although he was getting used to the snake's frequent intimacy, he didn't think it was a good time to get aroused.

But the snake moved on, sliding up Carl's belly and to his back, then circled back to face him. The little mouse tried to move but realized his arms were pinned to his body. Heart racing, Carl looked down at the black scaled coil around his torso before a claw held his chin and raised his head to meet the Cobra's azure eyes.

"Ozias, whut…" "Shhhh…Quiet." Carl was interrupted as the snake gently held his muzzle.

"Attractive, am I not?" The serpent moved closer and licked Carl's pointy nose. "You walked into my coils yourself, remember?"

"I… I did." The little mouse managed to let out a sentence in both fear and excitement, his eyes fixed on the gap in the middle of the king cobra's lips, where the serpent's tongue would reach out from time to time. He could now recognize the touch of that forked tongue from previous contacts.

That tongue, Carl felt as if it was waving at him, luring him to that endless darkness of demise. Then he saw the gap cracked open in front of him, showing him the insides of a viper's maw – The fangs stretched out to their full length, short sharp teeth aligned at the side of his jaws, and saliva connected the roof to the snake's tongue sheath.

The little mouse trembled from the view, then Ozias closes his mouth and held Carl's cheeks with his claws. "Is that what you want?"

"Why would you say that?" The mouse still tried to pretend.

"Some part of your body told me you're enjoying it." Ozias moved his eyes down and wriggled his body a little bit.

It was at this moment that Carl was aware of his erection. It was rubbing against the smooth scale of Ozias' underside. He blushed heavily, trying to cover his face up with his paws but failed as the serpent held them tight. He could only bury his head down to avoid looking at the snake's eyes.

"What is it that you are so obsessed with…" The king cobra said in a slow and soothing tone, "Is it my scales?"

"Or my coils?" He tightened his constriction around Carl.

"Perhaps my mouth?" His head came closer to the little mouse.

"Or could it be the thought of…" He opened his maw above the rodent's head.

The mouse squeaked in panic, preparing his body to what he thought was about to happen.

Which never came. The king cobra planted a short kiss on his furry forehead.

"I knew you wanted this." Ozias smiled to the mouse, "You're no longer shaking."

The snake spoke again before Carl could make sense of what he just did. "And… As for your arousal, do you want me to help you deal with it?"

If the snake didn't see the flush on Carl's face before, he surely could now. "I'll take that as a yes, then."

"I didn't say that." The voice of the mouse's mumble was so low that he could barely head it himself.

Ozias planted his claws on either side of Carl's shoulders, looking him in the eye. "Say it now, then."

"I… I think we just met today, is it too fast that…"

"Two days, to be exact. I almost lost you last night." Ozias looked concerned, "And, does it really matter?"

"…" Carl was still uncertain, yet somehow not willing to disappoint the snake, "You really want that?"

"It's not about me." The snake placed his claw on Carl's chest, "Ask yourself, do you want it or not?"

Though not fairly straightforward, they both knew that Carl already had his answer since the very beginning. Finally, the little mouse followed his heart, "I want it."

The serpent crawled swiftly on the little mouse's body, who soon found himself in the firm grip of layers of coils. Carl wriggled to test the constriction around his torso, but it wouldn't give an inch away. Soon his hindquarters were tied up too as he felt cold scales around his legs, leaving only his foot paws and his long tail exposed in the air.

His chest also getting squeezed, Carl's breath grew short. "Ozias… Are you sure that… Eek!" He drew a sharp breath as he felt the sudden wetness on his tail tip - the snake took it in his maw and began to suckle on it.

"Ahhh… Hgnnn…" The snake's tongue teased the bare skin of his tail as it went deeper. A thrill ran up Carl's spine as his tail tickled at the opening of the snake's throat.

The snake didn't hesitate to swallow down one inch and another of the little mouse's long appendage, slowly but inevitably. With now Carl's tail tip already pass the edge, each suck was followed by an eager gulp tugging at its length, aiding to pull it deeper.

The feeling was more than real on Carl's bare skin, the slick pressure around his tail rhythmically fluctuated as the snake's inner walls squirmed to push their prey down. He tried to pull his tail out, but his strength was overwhelmed by that of the serpent's throat, as is often the case when these two species meet – Ozias' power over him was unparalleled.

It didn't take long for Carl to realize that he was completely under the king cobra's control, or more precisely, fully at his mercy. However, he now had a in depth understanding of his helplessness. The little mouse attempted to wriggle his tail, only to find it constricted as tight in the cobra's neck as his whole body in Ozia's embrace.

It still showed no sign of stopping as more of his tail was inside the snake than out. Each gulp of that hungry maw was playing with his heartbeat, while consuming Carl's calmness. The feeling was absolutely exotic to him, the snake's greed and lust evoked his fear, transferring it into an elixir of indescribable excitement and unexpected carnal pleasure. The little mouse's rod painfully throbbed against Ozias' scales as he gradually but irrevocably sank into that depth.

Having no clue about how long it had been, Carl was pushed to the edge by the continuous sensual stimulation from the snake's maw and throat as he finally felt the Ozias' lips at the root of his tail. He managed to squeeze out a sentence between his ragged breath, "Oz… I think…it's a bit too much for me."

"Those are just basic ones." The snake spoke with a long tail in his throat, "I didn't even start to trigger you."

"P…Please don't." Carl couldn't imagine how "triggered" he would be if it was just the beginning. He tried to move his tail, but every inch of it was trapped in the slimy jail of flexing flesh walls. The full length of his 6-foot tail was completely engulfed, and he still couldn't feel the end of that dark tunnel.

"Fine… Just wait a second." Ozias swallowed again with that long tail down his neck, causing a squeak from the little mouse before he raised up to face at the little rodent in his coils, letting the long appendage slip out from his throat.

"Not very patient, I see." The snake chuckled at Carl before he got closer and whispered into the little mouse's ear, "You taste even better than you smell."

Carl quivered; the snake certainly knew how to tease.

"Now for the main course..." Carl felt the constriction on his skin eased. To his surprise, the snake was loosening the grip on his body. Lying his back on the snake's coils, the little mouse felt blood rushed back to his numb limbs as they warmed up.

"I got a bit carried away, didn't I?" Ozias placed his head on Carl's belly.

"To be honest, I was quite… enjoying it." Said Carl, his tail still soaked in the snake's saliva.

Ozias looked a bit surprised. "So… Would you mind if I get a bit more dominant?"

"Just not too much." He didn't expect the snake to be so straightforward.

The king cobra moved his coils to make Carl sit atop while leaning his back on his body. He turned off the light and muted the TV.

Carl nervously gulped. He could barely see by the dim light from the television screen. Every movement of the snake under him became more sensually clear.

The snake snapped his fingers, drawing Carl's attention to what's in front of him. Ozias leaned forward to bury his snout in the mouse's neck and exhaled into his short fur, then slowly licked at his throat, claiming a lovely moan from the mouse.

Ozias ran his muzzle down from Carl's neck to his belly button, flicking his tongue from time to time on his skin while both claws sliding down either side of the mouse's torso. The sensation on his muscles tickled at Carl's nerves and weakened his defence as he felt an urge to urinate.

The king cobra kept going down to where Carl's rod was pressing against his chin. Ozias buried his snout in the little mouse's groin as he inhaled deeply, breathing in his musk. His claws scratched along the inner sides of Carl's thigh, making his legs twitch.

Then Ozias went further down, tongue sliding on Carl's grey fur from his thigh to his waist, leaving his erection throbbing in desperate anticipation. The silky tongue on his skin marked its trail with shining saliva, meanwhile wetting the mouse's short grey fur. The licking continued until Carl's tip became glistening in the faint light, covered by his own precum.

The serpent held Carl's paws by the wrist and placed Carl's shaft on his snout, then gave it a long full lick from its very base to the top with that forked tongue of his.

"Ahh…" Carl can't help raising up his rear in response. The snake curled his tongue around the rodent's tip to collect his fluids, making him moan in pleasure. It soon retrieved to bring the sample back to the serpent's maw.

"Absolutely palatable." Ozias made a short comment before licking off more of the rodent's precum from that twitching length. But it didn't help as more of it was oozing out owing to that eager tongue.

Carl squirmed in pleasure as he felt that cold slickness sliding against his cock. The snake's flexible tongue working on him was soft as a silk ribbon, yet wetter and much more powerful. Then he gasped as he felt more rigid contact on his rod – Ozias took in his tip with that gap between his lips. Though not visible in the darkness, Carl felt Ozias' tongue rubbing against the top of his member inside his maw. He tried to thrust upward into that wet maw but was pinned down by a pair of claws on his abdomen.

"Hmmm… Patience." Ozias pressed down Carl's stiffness against his belly with one digit.

The little mouse couldn't stop throbbing under the suppression. He looked into the snake's eyes, which reflexed slight blue light in contrast with his black scales in the dark. "Sorry, it just… feels so good."

"What feels so good?" Ozias said banteringly.

"It… It feels so good inside your maw." Carl could overcome his shyness effortlessly by now.

"You mean like this?" The serpent parted his jaws and took in the full length of his shaft in one go before Carl could react.

"Oh my..." Carl let out a moan amidst his irregular panting. It caught the little mouse unprepared as the snake began to suck on his member. He felt that slick ribbon supporting his phallus and pushing it against the soft flesh of the snake's palate. Ozias' maw sealed around the base of the little mouse's cock as soon as he gently pulled it completely inside.

Carl lost another spurt of precum into that darkness as he felt that tongue start to flex and writhe under his meat. The mild vacuum never left his rod all the while, intending to pull him deeper.

The little mouse felt Ozias' tail climbing up his shoulder from behind as excitement spread through his body. Not long before it turned into agitation as it circled around his neck to make a loop. Carl gulped nervously, but no further constriction followed - the coil wasn't considerably tight, but enough to make the pulses in the rodent's neck obvious within its grip. The king cobra's tail moved upward, lazily resting over Carl's face to blindfold his eyes.

The little mouse tried to grab that tail but was reminded that his hands were firmly held.

"Umm-Umm" Ozias let out a negative response, but let go of Carl's paws.

Carl managed to grab at the coil around his neck just because it felt safer, not meaning to pull that thick tail off, though. He recalled to the domination Ozias just mentioned - It wasn't too much of a constriction, for the snake even left all his limbs free.

But still not one that he could escape.

With Ozias' muzzle pushing at his groins and layers of coils holding his back, he's got nowhere to go, and nowhere he wanted to. The little mouse could only sit there as the snake enjoyed his prey.

There were neither thick coils constraining his torso nor powerful muscles applying pressure on his skin, but Carl felt even more confined in his place now that the snake was exploring his other length.

Pure dominance. The idea passed his mind but soon vanished as the snake proceeded. Ozias wrapped his forked tongue around Carl's cock and squeezed it every time he sucks. The thick belt made of flesh pulsed around his throbbing length from every angle simultaneously. That slithery strong muscle just kept swirling on his rod, mixing the fluid oozing from Carl's tip with his own thick saliva.

It didn't take long before Carl got near the edge of exploding. He was lost too deep into the king cobra's hungry maw and too lust-minded to resist. The pressure built in his loins rose up as the snake rubbed with his claws on his lower belly sides.

"Oz… I'm so close…" Carl panted as he involuntarily thrust in deeper. But the serpent did nothing more than maintaining the pace of the passionate fellatio. The little mouse was taken higher and higher as his orgasm approaches.

"I'm coming!" The words failed to come out of Carl's mouth as all things stopped abruptly, the pressure on his cock was gone, now nothing more than cold air – The mousse was so close, his rod desperately throbbing and begging for attention. The tail on his eyes moved aside, then Carl saw the snake's maw merely inches away from his face, which gave him a fright as he squeaked.

However, Ozias just nommed at the little mouse' ear to stir him up even further. "You desire that release?"

A thrill washed through his body as Carl's ear meet that tongue, his warm blood surged to his face as he quietly nodded.

"There are consequences." Ozias murmured into his ear.

Carl gulped; something occurred to him as he asked in an uncertain tone. "Wh…what consequences?"

Ozias spoke slowly as those simple words flowed into Carl's ear with the snake's breath. "You will be mine."

Carl's awaiting erection twitched upon hearing those words. "What do you mean by that?"

"So, you're not refusing." Ozias turned to confront Carl's lovely face, "Besides, something told me that you wanted it this way. Something hard. Vibrant. Eager. And begging for attention."

Many thoughts other than his imminent need passed his mind. Carl didn't reply, or he did so with silence, in other words, acquiescence.

"It's a deal, then?" The snake asked one more time to confirm.

Carl nodded. Anyway, it would make no difference if the serpent really wanted to do something to him.

Having received his desired answer, Ozias wasted no time going back to where he left. He didn't take that cock back into his maw. Rather, he positioned his snout at Carl's rear. Before he could figure out what was happening, Carl felt that familiar slick tongue wiggling between his furry cheeks.

It took little effort for that long appendage to find out its way to that tight pucker - Carl took a sharp gasp as it tickled against his nervous hole. He had never taken anything in there before, which made his backside more sensitive than his front.

The mouse suddenly tensed up as he felt that cold tongue squeezed its way through his rim without warning. Its length was pushed inside within less than a second, and he had no idea about how deep it went until he felt the coldness all the way from his tailhole to somewhere near his belly button. And it soon started to squirming from inside, empathizing its existence.

Carl was amazed by the exotic sensation coming from his sensitive rim and inner walls. The cold feeling soon vanished as his body heated up the invader, yet its movement felt more distinguishable than ever. His cock throbbed along every time that tongue stirred.

The little mouse clenched on that far-reaching muscle as he shot out another squirt of precum onto his belly fur when it lashed against his sweet spot – That he hasn't experienced it didn't mean he didn't know what it is.

Ozias must had sensed it, too. He pressed against the same spot with his tongue one more time just to make sure, causing another squirm from the little mouse. Then Carl felt the snake's tongue sliding out from his hole, and it felt as pleasant as when it slithered in.

"You may not know it, but I can get you to climax simply like that." The snake said teasingly, "And you taste as good back there."

Ozias licked at that tight sphincter a few more times before drawing his tongue all the way up to Carl's fur-covered balls and his rock-hard member. The snake enveloped it with his tongue as he sank his maw all the way down that length to meet the little mouse's crotch. He also teased at Carl's backside with one of his digits, circling around his rim before probing into the warm passage of the little mouse's tailhole.

Carl moaned from the pleasure from both sides. The scaled digit slid in with ease, and it felt not as slippery and flexible as that tongue, yet more solid and firm as it pressed against his prostate. He felt it swirling around inside his hole, parting his hot flesh as he uncontrollably clenched on it.

So that's how it feels to be inserted, thought Carl. The sensation of his inner walls being stretched was new to him, but the little mouse gladly got used to it. Then he felt a second digit against his backdoor.

It slowly but steadily pushed its way in, half an inch at a time. At first it felt almost painful, but the snake was patient enough to carry out the process gently while the slurping on his cock never ceased. Carl decided to call a halt were the pain too unbearable, but it soon died out after it made its way fully into his body, for a satisfaction of satiety took its place.

The little mouse sighed in bliss; those two digits alone felt great back in there, not to mention that ravenous maw working on his rod. He enjoyed the feeling of them filling his backside until…

An intense sensation electrified his body as he throbbed heavily, burning pleasure washed through him as Carl lost another shot of precum into that abyss, which was quickly slurped down with a wet gulp. The stimulus came from inside his rear - Ozias just firmly pressed down his joy button.

Those digits stayed still, but Carl felt the snake's tongue moved as it curled around his root then reaching out to feel his nuts. He almost forgot the coils on his neck before Ozia's tail creep back to cover his eyes again.

Carl made an audible gulp. He knew this is it – he wouldn't last long during what would come next. Unexpectedly, the snake just kept the steady pace of those lazy slurps, plus flexing his digits inside Carl's rim every now and then.

That was nice enough, Carl thought. So long as it lasts, he would always reach that climax. He was learning to be patient.

The things went as planned. And the steady pressure around his shaft and on his prostate stayed there, refuelling the tensity in his loins until finally he felt his orgasm approaching again. "Oz…I can't last much longer…"

Carl's body tensed up as he felt his balls churning, his mind dead-set on releasing that pent-up load. It was at this moment he found his worst worries realized - The snake stopped again, leaving him on the edge once more, but this time Ozias didn't retreat. Just one breath away from his release, the little mouse was stuck there as he desperately tried to go over that critical line. He wiggled his butt to feel that sweet spot against Ozias' digits and thrust in with all his strength to feel that wonderful tongue around his member.

But he failed, the muscle was now idle and limp on his throbbing rod. The little mouse was left in desperation as his yet-to-come orgasm start to subdue for the second time and there's nothing he could do about it.

"Oz…Please…Just let me cum." Carl almost cried out as deep frustration filled his mind, followed by helplessness as he was reminded again who was in charge.

"Please…I'll do anything." The little mouse felt the digits inside him start to move, "I'll be yours."

As if those words started an engine, the snake took merely seconds to restore to his original pace, then another few moments to accelerate it to a state Carl couldn't have imagined. His heartbeat soared as dizzying bliss gushed through his body – Those two digits were like dancing on his most sensitive spot, triggering his nerves in all the ways beyond his expectation. And that maw was now ferocious around his shaft, wet slurping sound filled his ears as the snake greedily swallowed at that vibrant length over and over again. The unceasing intense stimulation seemingly has no end, and the overwhelming pleasure from both his cock and deep inside his tailhole soon became too much to bear as they pushed Carl over the edge.

Carl was taken so incredibly high that he didn't notice his orgasm coming as he was lost in pure ecstasy. Ozias put his other claw on Carl's abdomen and started to rub back and forth, before the little mouse hold it firmly in his paws almost instinctively.

He didn't realize that he was cumming until the first spurt of his hot seed shot straight into the snake's throat. "Oh…My" Ozias' tongue wrapped tightly around his cock and twitched every time it jerked, milking out his every drop as Carl came the hardest time in his life.

"Ozias…Ahhhh…" Carl felt that forked tongue teasing at his balls when another spurt of hot cum was squeezed out from his body. The little mouse held onto Ozias' claw tightly. "Oh my god…" Utter pleasure blowing his mind, Carl's cock was fanatically throbbing against Ozias' upper jaw and amid the thick coil of his vigorous tongue as he cum. And each throbbing of that eager length released one more rope of rodent seed into the snake's hungry maw. For many times Carl thought it was over when the snake just pressed hard into his prostate, shocking the rodent with a sudden burst of unanticipated pleasure as another squirt of cum was forced out onto the snake's palate.

Ozias stayed there as he claimed his spoils, patiently accepting all the little mouse could give until eventually his every last drop was fed to him.

Carl almost fainted when he finally rode out his orgasm. He was rendered breathless from the euphoria just moments ago as he saw stars in his view. He had forgotten to inhale for he didn't know how long, or perhaps the coil on his neck deprived him of oxygen when he came, he could barely remember.

The snake made a squishy gulp around his member, sending its capture down his neck, in other words, the little mouse's load into the long trip to his stomach. He slowly rubbed at the underside of that cock with his tongue, squeezing out what little fluid was left inside before swallowing it up again. He let Carl's cock slide out only after making sure it had nothing more to give.

A thin string of saliva linked Carl's softening rod with the snake's tongue tip as it was freed from that meaty milking machine, not a single drop escaped those jaws - It looked the same as when it went in, for no one could judge by its appearance how much of the rodent's fluid was pumped out from that lovely rod.

Carl felt the coils around his neck slid off as he met those blue eyes of the snake. They looked bright to the mouse for he was now accustomed to darkness. He didn't notice how beautiful they were in their previous contacts, either too afraid or too aroused.

He wasn't charmed by them for long as he realized what he had just promised the snake. The fear of the unknown swept over Carl again merely a minute after that incredible ecstasy - That was definitely a bold decision, and he had no idea about what it would cost him. The disk in his bag occurred to him together with those spirits.

Neither of the them had spoken since that passionate moment, and Carl preyed deep in his heart that this second could last forever, thus to avoid those possible future he had in mind. The little mouse stared into those beautiful eyes of Ozias', trying to read something from that ocean of azure.

But Ozias wasn't so easy to read. Carl didn't find any hint of hunger, predatory, dominance or lust in those eyes - the snake hid his emotions.

"Thank you… That was wonderful." Carl broke the silence, "Do you need me to… get you off? Or something like that, I mean…"

Ozias smiled to him. "Not now, cutie. And that was wonderful for me, too." The king cobra lay down his head on Carl's lap and placed the little mouse's paw over his snout.

"As for the consequences I mentioned… I didn't really mean it - You don't need to do anything for me, and you don't have to be mine… Unless you want to."

Carl looked at him in disbelief, part of him wondered if Ozias really was an ophidian.

"You think I don't crave your body?" The king cobra wrapped his tail around Carl, "I'll seize whatever I desire, but in my own way."

"Am I one of your… objectives?"

"I thought I made it clear." Ozias put a claw on Carl's chest and pinned him down as he looked at the little mouse from above. "Or do you just want to hear those words from me?"

Carl blushed, "I… I guess so."

"I would like to, but my favourite documentary is on now." To Carl's surprise, the king cobra just left him for the remote, as if they were watching the TV in previous seconds.

Ozias switched to the channel and lay back to snuggle with Carl, who found the snake surprisingly cute and harmless in his embrace.

"You feel so warm, Carl." Ozias moved the mouse's paw over his head again.

"Ozias," Carl reached to the snake's claw, put it on his chest fur and held it in his paws, "Why are you so kind to me?"

"Has anyone ever told you how adorable you are?" The snake asked back.

"Well… is that the only reason?"

"Reasons, reasons." Ozias rolled his eyes, "Do you live on the reason of your life?"

"I was just curious. I thought you snakes were… umm… different?"

"That's rude." Said Ozias, "But if you really want to know, there's something in you that interests me."

"Which I intend to reserve till time's ready." The snake spoke again before Carl could reply.

"Alright…" Carl read from his words that the snake would at least keep him good for now.

……

The king cobra just fell asleep around Carl as they enjoyed the show.

"Ozias, you want to go back to your room to sleep?"

"Ozias?"

The snake reluctantly opened his eyes.

"You'll get cold here, go to your bed."

Ozias didn't move and stared at Carl, which scared the mouse a little bit. "You… you alright? Sorry to wake you up but I thought… Ahh!" The serpent lunged forward in an instant and knocked the little mouse to the ground, his head pressing down on Carl's body.

"Sorry… I…I didn't mean to…" The mouse panicked, not knowing what just happened. But the snake didn't reply – He just stayed there and flicked his tongue above Carl, who also froze there on the ground, not daring to make a move.

"What?" Ozias responded finally.

"I'm sorry… I shouldn't have done that." Carl's voice trembled.

"What did you do?" The snake looked confused.

"I woke you up. I just thought you may get cold here."

"Oh," Ozias got the hang of the situation. "My apologies."

"I shouldn't have fallen asleep here, since it takes some time for my brain to function after I woke up if I am cold. Plus, I forgot to tell you that." The snake made further explanation.

"Like a reboot, you mean?"

"Precisely." Ozias smiled, but still looked regretful, "Maybe it's that warmth from your body, I felt sleepy around you."

Carl nodded. "So, you want to go back to sleep?"

"Alright." Ozias lifted his head up from the mouse's body, "Good night, then."

The king cobra headed for bedroom but stopped at the hallway. "Alas, I'm always forgetful."

"What?"

"Thank you for your treat, it was really luscious." Ozias left a short comment before slithering forward to his room, "I could still taste it on my tongue."

The little mouse's cheeks turned red out of the snake's sight. "He really enjoys teasing me," Carl thought to himself, "Whatever. Perhaps it's a good thing."

……

Haven't seen the daylight, how dare one not cherishes the night.

The moment Carl lay on the bed, the joy of survival arrived at the end of the night as he sank into the soft fabric. That broken disk was still there on the table, it didn't know where it would be taken to. At least I'm still breathing, Carl thought.

He had been sinking into the sea, not expecting someone to come and pull him out from that depth. Carl lost his direction floating in the waves, but at least he made it this far.

Ozias. The name of the straw he clutched in his grasp. Carl still had tons of confusions about that king cobra – Even though he had been uncertain about those cold scales in his hands, the mouse had chosen to took that step regardless.

Why did he choose to save him? Should he stay here with Ozias or seek for an opportunity to escape? The mouse was determined to find out the answers, but not tonight – after those earlier experiences, he felt more exhausted than ever. Therefore, he left the decisions for tomorrow's Carl to make.

For some reasons, Ozias had been particularly cordial to him, about which Carl had no idea at all. And it became the main question he wanted to figure out.

One capable to raise the moon must have sustained numerous sunsets.