Legends of Ninjago Book 2: Rise of the Serpentine

Chapter 24: A Moment

"We are—"
"—Chief Fangtom," the two-headed snake said. Lloyd had been preparing himself for this moment, but he still felt his eyes widen when he saw the Fangpyre chief. The two heads spoke interchangeably, finishing each other's sentences in the most creepy way possible. He wasn't very much like the Hypnobrai at all. He had no hood or large red eyes, and his scales were red and white instead of the teal and gold which Lloyd had become accustomed to. The one thing that did look familiar was his golden staff, signifying his supremacy over his tribe. He also seemed slimmer than the other snakes, almost bony, and he didn't make any moves to attack or seem threatening.
"I am Chief S-s-slithraa," the chief said. Suddenly, Lloyd found the big, teal Serpentine elbowing him in the side.
"Oh, uh, right, and I am Lloyd Garmadon!" he said, puffing out his chest in a very manly way. "I freed the Hypnobrai from their tomb."
"And we are the ones-s-s who freed you from your tomb," Slithraa continued, giving his speech the kind of tone that said, "do you catch my drift?"
Fangtom squinted his eyes and looked the Hypnobrai up and down, seemingly unimpressed. More and more Fangpyres were clawing their way out of the tomb and gathering at their leader's side, making the whole camp grow uneasy.
"Then we—"
"—are eternally grateful," said Chief Fangtom, and he nodded his heads in acknowledgment. He and Slithraa slithered towards each other and locked their golden staffs as a sign of partnership. "But our snakes are in need—"
"—of food and water," Fangtom said, gesturing to his tribe behind him.
"Of cours-s-se," Slithraa nodded. He ordered for provisions to be brought to them and Lloyd couldn't help but let out a sneaky smile. Step two had been a success.
After that, the two chiefs sat down together and started talking about a bunch of boring snake stuff that Lloyd didn't understand or care about. He only chimed in whenever Slithraa turned to him and asked a question, like, "How far to the nearest town?" or "We head to the Anacondrai tomb next, yes?" Honestly, if Lloyd had known how much talking there'd be involved with the Serpentine, then he just might have left them to freeze in the first tomb, but in the end, perhaps it didn't matter. After all, he was getting what he wanted.
Every so often Lloyd would see Scales glaring at him and the way Lloyd was slouched against a rock, while he was sitting perfectly straight and paying attention to everything the chiefs said. 'What a kiss-up' Lloyd thought.
After the nitty gritty was sorted out, the conversation started flowing towards "the good old days" and Lloyd was barely able to keep in his groan of boredom. He didn't want to seem rude, but he also just wanted to go to bed!
"Hey, psst! Mezmo," Lloyd whispered to the Serpentine next to him. "What are they talking about?"
Mezmo, Scales' right hand man, slithered closer and whispered, "The chiefs? They're recounting the tale of the battle at the Caves of Despair, an old Serpentine legend."
Lloyd turned back to the conversation and tried to follow along, but they kept saying strange metaphors and using bizarre references, and sooner or later he didn't understand a word they were saying again.
"Psst! Mezmo? What exactly do the Fangpyres do?" Lloyd asked.
Mezmo looked skittish, glancing back and forth a few times, and whispered, "They have the power to—"
"To what?" Fangtom suddenly said, looking straight at Lloyd. "Talking behind—"
"—someone's back are we?"
Lloyd shrunk back a bit, while Mezmo completely disappeared behind the nearest tree. "Yes, your highness. Sorry, your highness," Lloyd said, trying not to make eye contact.
Fangtom rose from his seat and said, "You want to know—"
"—what we Fangpyre can do?" Lloyd gulped.
"First we bare our fangs!" a Fangpyre suddenly said, jumping at Lloyd from the shadows.
"Then we sink our venom into your flesh!" said another as he tried to do just that to Lloyd's neck. Lloyd scrambled away as fast as he could, not enjoying the way all the Serpentine were now laughing at him.
"And then—"
"—little by little—" the chief said.
"—you become—"
"—one of us."
Lloyd didn't dare move as he looked up at Fangtom who sounded very serious.
"B-but it wouldn't work on me, right?" he asked, looking to Slithraa for support. "Just like with the hypnosis?"
"Oh, I can assure you—"
"—elementals are very much in danger—"
"—of our venom," said Fangtom, and he let a tiny drop of green, liquid fall from one of his massive fangs and land on the ground in front of Lloyd.
"Calm down, young Garmadon," Slithraa said casually. "The chief is-s-s only having a little fun."
"Yeah... fun..." Lloyd repeated, dusting himself off a little. The other Fangpyres looked very pleased with themselves, and the Hypnobrai weren't exactly trying to hold in their laughter. This was not a good look for Lloyd. "I think I'm going to hit the hay—er, I mean—retire for the night," he said, remembering the first time he had tried and failed to use the expression around Slithraa.
"Very well," said Chief Slithraa. "Be ready to leave by morning."
"Yes, sir," Lloyd answered, and he got out of there as fast as he could. Those Fangpyres had gotten far too close for comfort, and what if they snuck up on him while he was sleeping? Would he suddenly wake up one morning to find himself covered in scales and flicking his own forked tongue? Just the thought made him shudder.
On his way to his sleeping mat, he saw Ann and Cole sitting together by one of the fires. A wicked idea popped into his head just then, and he changed direction.
"What are you two losers doing over here?" he asked, coming over. Cole didn't move, as expected, and Ann gave him a sideways glare. "Getting all cozy?" He kicked up a pile of dirt which hit Cole's leg. He still didn't move. "What's the matter? Snake got your tongue?"
"Go away," Ann said cooly.
Lloyd stopped for a moment, and then frowned, saying, "You're not the boss of me."
Just then, Cole stood up and got real close to him. He stood an alarming two feet taller than Lloyd and he suddenly felt very small.
"She said... go away..." Cole's voice was not very loud, nor did it have a lot of force behind it, and coming from anyone else, Lloyd may have just laughed in his face, but not when that face had glowing red eyes and was nearly two feet above your body.
"Scales!" Lloyd suddenly shouted. "Your little pet is threatening me!"
Scales' head popped up amongst the crowd of Hypnobrai and in an instant, he was slithering over. "Cole!" he shouted. After an unspoken command and pulse from his eyes, Cole was suddenly kneeling down, his face against the ground.
"Please f-forgive me, c-c-commander," he said, trying to grit his teeth.
"That's better," said Scales. "And you!" he turned to Lloyd, pointing a scaly finger at him. "Weren't you supposed to be going to bed?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Lloyd mumbled, and he stomped off to his campfire. What a lame day this had turned out to be. But it would all be worth it when he was finally able to march on Ninjago with an army of Serpentine at his side.