Snake Boy

1

Killua, didn't like nature. He didn't like plants, he didn't like animals, he didn't like bugs. He didn't like fish, or being outside in general. He was 5 years old, and hated nature and its entirety. This frustrated the Zoldycks, as they literally lived in a particularly forested area. Their family was wealthy and owned a decent sized mansion as well as a lot of property, which happened to be mostly forests and there was a beautiful lake. His family loved their property, and the nature. Killua though? He hated it.

"Killua darling, we're surrounded by nature. You'll grow to enjoy it in time" His mother said, as she stroked one of the many family pets. Said pet was a fox, his parents loved keeping exotic pets. He scowled. "I hate it! I hate everything about it!" I'd rather stay inside without all the gross bugs and animals. "Everyone has a favorite animal Kil" His father said, stroking a parakeet that was perched on his shoulder. His father loved birds for some reason, Killua would never understand it. All they did was fly, hurt your ears with all their squawking, and shit all over everything. "Killua!" The parakeet squawked. Oh yeah, some could also talk. That was annoying. "Shut up!"

"Oh come on big brother" Alluka said, holding out a small fluffy white rabbit. "Isn't it cute?" He looked down at the furry little gremlin, staring up at him with its beady eyes. "No" He said flatly. They were at a family outing to the lake, just like every Saturday. Killua hated it, it meant he had to 'bond with nature', or whatever the hell that meant. "Well, what about insects? Milluki has his insect collection-" Killua stuck his tongue out. "Ew. Creepy crawlies that leave sticky webs?" Kalluto reached a hand into a small koi pond that was nearby, he loved that thing. "What about fish?"

Killua rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "I told you! Nature's gross! Everything either smells or is ugly, stupid, or dangerous!" Illumi shot a cold glare at him. "Don't categorize everything like that, Siberia is none of those things" He said, while running his hands through a giant snow leopard that he'd had since it was a kitten apparently. Killua wrinkled his nose at the large cat. "it probably rolls in dirt all day, plus I can smell it from over here" His mother sighed. "That would be the perfume. Illumi darling, I keep telling you to quit putting perfume on Siberia" He rolled his eyes. "fine, whatever. I just do it so she doesn't smell all fishy"

"What about reptiles?" His father asked, holding out a lizard to him. Killua looked down at it, then jumped as it's tongue darted out to touch his hand. "They're all ugly and carry diseases. Turtles are stupid and just sit around, and snakes are just giant worms. I hate worms" His mother and father glanced at him for a moment, then his mother scooped him up. "M-Mother!" he protested, with a whine. She set him down on a tall hammock, one he couldn't get off by himself. "You need to spend time outside, look how pale your skin is. I don't like forcing you to be one with nature but if you don't do it on your own..."

Killua groaned, then flopped over on the hammock. "Whatever!" He grumbled, curling up. The sound of his family's chatter faded into the background as he looked off into the trees. It's so boring... His eyes started to droop. And eventually, he drifted into sleep.

When Killua woke up again, he felt like he was being dragged. "Kalluto go bother someone else" he grumbled. Then, he felt dirt in his mouth. Killua's eyes snapped open, and he gasped when he realized that he wasn't anywhere near his house. He was being dragged through the woods by... Killua felt a bolt of fear. Something...that walks on four legs. Something big. He craned his head slightly, then froze. It was a bear. Killua had seen bears before, his parents had warned him never to go near them. Of course he'd scoffed and said he wouldn't want to go near one in the first place, but up close... they were huge.

W-What did mother say about bears? Look at the color... He could see some black paws, Killua closed his eyes and didn't make any noise. M-Mother said to... to play dead right? Or was that the brown ones? God, he wished he'd remembered he'd payed closer attention to the lessons about bears. Tears stung his eyes. I'm scared, what do I do? He knew there were wolves that were trained to attack hostile animals if a family member was in danger, the one assigned to him was Mike. Killua didn't hate Mike, but he didn't like him either. He never walked up to him and demanded attention, and he did his job. However, they were stationed near the house.

Killua's head banged onto a rock and he bit back a yelp, trying to keep his hyperventilating as quiet as possible. Suddenly, he was dropped. Killua heard a low growl as his face was covered in leaves. Then, there was a hiss. Killua gasped as his ankle was stomped on by a giant bear claw, and he let out a choked cry of pain despite his best efforts to stay silent. There was a roar, then a thud and some scrabbling, then silence. D-Did something just kill that bear? He was shivering, pain lacing through his leg all the way to his foot, tears rolling down his cheeks. I wanna go home...

Suddenly, he felt something touch his back. Killua let out a sob. "L-Leave me alone!" Something cold pressed up against his arm, he felt it sliding along his body. Killua cracked his eyes open, only to gasp in horror. It was a snake. A massive snake. He didn't even know that they grew that big. It was a yellowish color and seemed to be...wrapping around him. Killua struggled, crying and sobbing. "L-let me go!" But then he realized...it wasn't attacking him. "H-Huh?" Killua glanced around, then realized that there was another snake currently swallowing the bear whole, it was even bigger than the one that was wrapping around him. "Woah..." how did that work? How did it fit it all in its body? It...it saved me...

1059 words

To be continued...