Ouroboros
#1 of Misc stories
A small story about an explorer meeting a naga tribe and enjoying the unexpected stay a bit more than usual...
I should've known it was a bad idea, starting a camp on the planet which I couldn't scan properly beforehand.
I should've known it was a bad idea, starting a camp without sufficient defensive barriers.
I really should've known.
Unfortunately, hindsight is always better.
And here I was, constricted by what looked like a huge snake with two arms and long, poison-dripping fangs.
I was still not sure, why'd a constrictor have poison, but... that was a thing.
Going by the clothes present, that was a civilized being, but...
At that moment, it seemed that serpentine being was done playing with me and bit me in the throat.
The only reason I didn't die was my medical implant kicking in, but the pain, for the brief moments, was great, as I felt poison spreading and system fighting back.
Except... it seemed poison was designed for more than just killing.
As it kept on spreading through me, I've felt my entire body inflaming, as... my legs were getting shorter? And torso - longer?
In horror, I've gazed upon myself, seeing the poison reshaping my body into the likeness of serpent, as the ribcage kept on expanding, legs vanished completely and my front got covered with strong, tear-resistant scales, while the teeth in my mouth fell off to be replaced by wicked fangs, tongue changing into a forked one too.
The serpent near me observed it all with... great pride? Wait... how could I read their expressions - what little was present, anyway? Was it because of the poison too?
As those thoughts ran through my head, the scales around my eyes closed, as my skull finished reshaping itself and my body, now many meters long, reached the end of its transformation as well. Nonetheless, the serpent near me seemed... quite happy. Beyond that, even.
"Welcome," she(?) hissed, helping me get a bearing on controlling my new body. "Sorry for the pain, but... it's for your own good. You will see soon and trust me, you won't regret it."
I sure wanted to hope she was right...
The journey to the home of serpents took... quite some time. And I've managed to learn more in the meanwhile.
Apparently, I was far from the first to undergo this. Despite being able to reproduce normally, the naga people (how I've nicknamed them, since their self-name translated to just "people") also had a bit of a thing for making others into them.
Moreover, it seemed they've venerated a mythological figure, not unlike Medusa from Earthen Greek mythology. That alone was beyond interesting.
In addition to that, there seemed to be some kind of initiation ritual for the newcomers, which I was to undergo.
Apparently, this was to be a combat trial of sorts, but the one who transformed me specifically noted, that it was non-lethal to the newcomers, even going as far as preventing them from being crippled. Well, that was promising.
And for the last... she promised me a good time right after it's done. I wonder, what kind of good time it was to be...
Eventually, we've reached their settlement and I've got directed towards the combat arena, covered in sand. Interesting to note, how the anatomy of locals made them have grooved poles instead of ladders and long ramps in place of conventional stairs.
And so, I've been given a halberd and told to hold my best, while the priest/gladiator proclaimed:
"Since ages unknown, we venerate the Stone-Eyed Progenitor!" they've scream-hissed, gesturing towards the large statue, that depicted... well, I guess that could've been their version of Medusa - with snakes from her head, but head itself being much more serpentine in shape.
"As the Progenitor ascended, so may the newborn ascend! Let it be so and let us begin!"
Listening to the speech too much and thinking of implications, I've nearly missed the moment, when the priest/gladiator lunged at me, halberd in swipe. I've only managed to block it at the last split-second, but they've turned it into another strike, and more after it.
Sooner than later, one of them got through.
As soon as the final swipe got through, I've felt my head flying through the air, too shocked to curse out at treacherous serpent and-
wait.
Did... did all the viewers... have their heads detached too, holding them in their arms?!
... They actually did. And they all seemed to be looking at me happily?
Before I could process it further, the priest/gladiator slithered closer to me, picking up my head.
"As the Progenitor ascended, the newborn ascends!"
And only now I've noticed, that I actually still retained feel of my body.
... What the hell was happening...
Nevertheless, I've slithered closer, taking up my head from priest, who passed it rather easily, and inspecting myself.
It seemed that the blade cleaved through the neck straight between spines, yet somehow, arteries and veins kept going, full of blood that didn't spill out and...
I've tried touching it. The claws didn't make contact, and yet... I've felt a touch, without any pain.
As I was busy studying myself, the priest, detaching their own head and picking it up in one hand, gently patted me on the shoulder.
"Congratulations. You've lasted more than most. I believe there's a bright future ahead of you."
I, absentmindedly, 'nodded', too preoccupied studying the impossibility before me and even trying to lick it with my new forked tongue (didn't return anything) to notice tables getting set up on the arena, full of food. It wasn't until the one who transformed me shook me out of that I've saw the preparation for the feast happening.
The feast itself was... quite something too, given that it had to be done with heads detached. I'm still not sure, how it was happening, but... let me just say, unhinging my own jaws after biting food and pumping it full of poison (for better digestion), then pulling my head onto the food like a sock is a strange feel.
Eventually, the feast was over as well and there was a pedestal for the heads of everyone sat up, as the priest announced the best part was starting.
As I've been thinking, what could that part be, I've noticed that near the tail of the priest...
oh.
Right, snakes.
In any case, body of the priest (whose head was left to me on the pedestal) now seemed to have rather sizeable hemipenes protrude from their cloaca...
wait.
They didn't have just hemipenes - they've had feminine bits too!
But could that...
And yes, it sure seemed like everyone had both.
Even me, now that I've looked at myself better.
"With newborn ascended and feast done, let us plant the seed of new generation!" the priest proclaimed, albeit it was body of the one who transformed me, that coiled around me first, rather than his. Taking the initiative, I've driven one of my hemipenes into her female bits, but it seemed she enjoyed it, while someone else (priest, I think) joined the remaining hemi, and them someone slithered and coiled across them, and then it happened around the second layer...
Around thirty minutes in, I was losing myself from the pleasure. I could no longer see my body under the writhing pile of serpentine bodies, but it seemed that I both gave out and received a lot of seed... just like pretty much everyone else. It seemed this ritual was designed to give everyone a chance of having a fling with everyone else, unlike what Earthen serpents had... but damn if it didn't feel great. And since our heads were placed off to the side, it gave everyone quite a unique perspective... not that I didn't enjoy that as well.
All that, however, was quite, quite a bit in the past. Now I, coiled up in my chamber, around one who transformed me and the priest, try to relax, feeling as the eggs inside me were moving from the oviduct towards cloaca. Apparently, the nagas could be oviparous, ovoviviparous or even viviparous, depending on the environment... but current one favored egg-laying.
And sure, here they were, I thought, feeling my cloaca stretch and push the round, soft ovoids outside, as the nagas near me did the same.
... Whenever I return, that's gotta be hella story to explain.
But for now... I can't say I didn't enjoy living there.
Maybe the return could wait a bit...