Over the River and Through the Woods (Adventures!AU Book 2)

Ch. 7 ~Bendaroos, Snakes, and Bacon

Honestly I'm done apologizing for constantly disappearing into the void for random stretches of time. It's college, it's life, y'all know the drill.
Have one long chapter broken into chapters 7 and 8. Next chapter is a lot of fighting between Crosshair and I.
Fun fact, I do fish snakes out of my pool if I see them and the serpentarium is my favorite place in zoos right behind the aquarium section.
Do not attempt to pick up a snake in the wild regardless of species.

Warnings:
Mention of snakes

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After walking for roughly an hour, my legs decided it was time for a break. Quarantine had not been kind, damn. My karate physique was still there, but the conditioning was... not. "Break time," I announced.

"Tired already, sweetheart? Thought you were the best guide there was," Crosshair sneered.

"Shut yo bootleg Benadroo ass up, I'm hungry," I shot back.

"The hell is a Bendaroo?"

"Don't worry about it, y'all can continue on but I'mma eat."

"I'm down for food!" Wrecker laughed.

"You are always down for food," Tech said, rolling his eyes.

"You're just jealous you can't eat as much as me!"

"You do realize it would be physically impossible for me to achieve that? Your stomach is literally bigger than mine. Have you not heard of stomach to size ratio? You are half again as big as me. For me to eat as much as you..."

Their conversation faded away as I moved to find a good spot off the trail. Moss. Needed moss. Moss was good. A resting spot was useless without moss. A nice climbing tree would be a bonus.

Are you finding a place to eat or a place to set up camp? Damn, chill with your moss obsession.

Blasphemy, get out my head. Shoo.

"Moss moss moss moss," I muttered, picking my way through the woods.

"You really do like moss, huh?"

My right ear twisted backwards at Hunter's distorted helmet voice. "Got a problem with that, find a new guide," I chirped. Up ahead I saw the perfect place and walked faster.

"Moss is useful, I have zero problems with that," Hunter assured me, jogging to catch up.

"Good," I said as he drew alongside me.

"Nice spot," Hunter commented as we reached the small open area.

"Why thank you," I snorted, selecting a mossy log for myself. Unfortunately, I noticed someone else liked the sunny spot. Happily coiled on the log was a multicolored snake about as long as my arm. Peering closer, I noticed with relief that the head was an ovular shape and the pupils round. "Hey, snakey, you gotta go."

The snake raised its head and looked at me but refused to move.

I tried to nudge its tail, but no luck.

Hunter came forward. "Here, I'll get it."

"No, you'll hurt it!"

"No I won't," Hunter assured me, reaching for the snake.

I held my breath, but when he picked it up the snake did not seem particularly perturbed. Huh. Must have been like king snakes.

"Pretty docile," Hunter commented as the snake calmly coiled around his hand. "What kind is it?"