Naga!Kenny - Comforting Cuddles

Chapter 1

The jungle was a dangerous place to be, they had told her. She hadn't thought it was that bad, personally. But now, as she wandered alone, lost in darkness not even the moon could illuminate, she understood what they meant.

Trees that were once so fun to climb and full of lush green were now dark, cold, their vines stretching out like a dead man's lonely fingers. The usual comforting cacophony of various birds chirping and bugs buzzing were now gone, replaced by an empty silence. Only the occasional low growl or sneering hiss echoed through the air, an eerie reminder she was on foreign turf.

And the sky, though it was full of stars, was only a grim taunt. They showed direction and gave you purpose but hell if Alice knew how to read them. She preferred a good old fashioned map but her sloppily drawn map didn't account for this area of the jungle.

Alice was a village girl, plain and simple. She wasn't a particularly good one, but that's what she was supposed to be. She was supposed to learn how to forage, how to light fires, how to collect fruit in the jungle, you know, all those things her mother did. Plain and simple tasks; that's what they were to everyone else. To her? They were boring, repetitive and dull. And not to mention difficult. How did she know how much water to give the plants? How was she supposed to control a bonfire? How could she tell the difference between a normal star apple or a poisoned one?

No, what she enjoyed doing was exploring, just like any little girl her age! Making maps, seeing the extent of the jungle. But they had warned her, always warned her! 'Alice, the jungle is a dangerous place,' Ma would say, 'Anything in there could snatch you up! Tigers, sea snakes, and of course, the nagas! Oh they are the worst, the nagas! Venomous, hypnotic, constricting nagas! Awful abominations, those nagas! Did I mention the nagas, dear?' Always with the bloody nagas!

She wanted to prove herself. She would go out, map a part of the jungle and return home, safe and sound! Then they'd see she was capable! Once they compared her map to the original map they owned at home, there'd be no mistaking it!

But, turns out, mapping and exploring was harder than she thought. Which way wasn't she supposed to go again? Left? Right? Well, right's always right so she'd go that way!

And as she had tumbled down into the unmapped territory of the deep jungle, she remembered. Never go right.

And here she was, stuck in the forbidden land. Here, there were better fruits, better land, better animals but at a price. There was more magic. More Monkey Kings, more tigers, more predators and more, you guessed it, nagas.

... Not that she was scared or anything! Hehe... Nah, she wasn't scared! She'd just... you know, really prefer to be home. Just a personal preference of hers. Yeah, she just disliked the dark, she didn't fear it. She just disliked the monstrous noises, but no fear. No, not at all!

Well, maybe just a little...

Well, maybe a lot...

Well, maybe she was actually petrified...

But, hey, those were just maybes, right...?

Oh who was she kidding? Certainly not herself! The jungle was horrifying without the glorious sun! And it was cold. Oh, so, so cold. It was supposed to be the middle of spring but Alice could've sworn it was snowing. And not a good type of snow, the one where you can remain dazed as your very own unique snowflake rests gracefully on the tip of your snout. No, the type where the air lashes at your skin, where the ice is pointed daggers and every bit of life is suffocated under the immense strength of the snowstorm.