Chapter Text
The rising sun hit the treeline deep in the forests of China, the warm rays hitting the dark and black scales of a serpent resting upon a small rock. Slitted eyes stirred and a long body stretched as it began it's locomotion. To most being this creature seemed as ordinary as any other reptile in the Asian wilderness, but it was far, far from anything approaching ordinary. It's dark form winded down the grassy and dirt paths, in search of more than just pray. The Snake Master, demon and once great leader of the powerful snake clan had dwelled in this area for a very long time. Searching for any method to reattain the heights of power she had once held.
Her old body was destroyed by human mysticism and trickery, a foul chi sapping creation made to fuel the Daoist Dark General in his own quest for immortality. Yet a sliver of her soul escaped, and had but enough to reform after the battle as her people's most basic form. By the time she had reconstituted, the battle involving the humans and her people had long since been over, leaving her to hide in the countryside for many years.
Her enemies were long dead, but so were her allies, which left her as a bottom-rung demon with no one to rely on. But she vowed to press on and regain what she had lost, though it was turning out to be harder than she dared thought.
The secrets of immortality and power were many, but not easily accessed by someone in her position. To become Xian was arduous a task even when she was clan leader. It wasn't until she was at the height of her power did she flirt with eternal life. Instead all she could contend with were life-extending methods of limited means. A touch of stolen alchemy concoctions when the opportunity presented itself were helpful, adding many decades to her lifespan. But as civilization grew and the old methods were rejected, fewer opportunities presented themselves and was no longer worth the risk.
This mostly left long hours of mediation and focus on the self deep in the wilderness away from humans. But her rage and offense to being lowered to such a state kept her from reaching anything approaching Nirvana, and only prolonged her existence so much. The Snake Master led her life for many years in this manner, so occupied with surviving that a solution to gaining her former status seemed very far out of reach.
On this day that seemed like any other the demon now lay in wait in a nearby tree, looking toward the skies. She was currently waiting for a mother bird to come back to her nest of eggs. The eggs would do for an easy meal, but the nutritious parent would make for a more complete dinner.
As her slitted eyes searched for the fluttering wings her forked tongue darted out to smell the air. When she did so she caught the scent of something...different. Then vibrations faintly made themselves known, even at her position up high. Curious enough to look away from her potential prey the Snake Master looked in the direction of the disturbance. A figure came from behind the forest trees, slightly humming to himself as his heavy boots clomped upon the ground. The human was foreign, possessing light skin and hair of gold. A young adult by her estimation, he stood tall in clothing suitable for treks into the Asian wilderness.
Distaste and a sense of curiosity came to the former demon lord. She made sure to live deep enough in the wilderness that humans were very rare, and never had a gweilo shown their face.
Whatever his purpose, the Snake Master decided to forget the idea of a meal and decided to focus on the intruder in her domain. She slid along several branches and coiled up her form to leap across others, all in service of putting herself in the human's path. It seemed he had come alone, which would make her actions all the easier. Positioning herself on a branch above, the snake woman readied herself for an ambush. One bite of her venomous fangs would be enough to put a grown man into his grave. It was thanks to his inferior kind that she was in this form to begin with, a little revenge was called for.
With one part of her body wrapped around the branch she lowered herself just out of the man's line of sight. Her jaw opened and her fangs extended, readying her venom sacs. Before she could strike a loud cry echoed through the forest. Looking towards the sound the Snake Master saw a large crane soaring through the tree line and right at her. Unwilling to let herself be eaten, the demon released the branch and fell towards the ground, landing right at the feet of the human.
In her stunned state the Snake Master witnessed the shadow of the crane fly over, not willing to tangle with the human nearby to try and get at her. She only just got her bearings before she could feel fingers lay themselves upon her scaly body and pick her up. Her golden serpent eyes were met with the curious seas of blue.
"Well well now. What kind of snake are you?" The human said as he examined her. "Not a Halys Pit Viper, though you certainly look like one. How interesting."
The Snake Master turned as best she could to snap at the hands holding her but the hands gently holding her lower-middle were just out of reach. She instead tried to bite at his face, but he dodged out of reach each time. "Wohoah! You're a feisty one aren't you? Oh you are certainly worth the trip out here." He ignored the vicious hiss she let out as he removed something draped around his shoulders, this something turning out to be a brown sack tied at one end.
Her body was soon tossed into said sack before she could muster her intended attack. Another fierce hiss was let out before the sun was blocked out by the sack being tied up.
The Snake Master was unsure of what would become of her, and to that end tried endlessly to escape. But there were no holes in the sack that she could slip through, and the material was too thick for her to make one of her own. In-between her efforts to escape the demon tried her best to keep note of how far they were traveling from her territory. She was likely being taken west towards the nearest human settlement, but that was still so far away. The sound of a door opening and an engine starting could be sensed, she was in a human vehicle now.
The Snake Master did not bother to keep track of time as she tried to continue to look for an escape. This continued well to the point where she ignored when they had finally stopped and she was now being carried elsewhere.
Eventually she found herself sliding out of the bag, the other end giving way and letting her out. When she landed it was on ground not unlike her forests, but with one noticeable difference. When she saw that there were four walls of glass surrounding her it became apparent what kind of situation the former clan leader had found herself in.
She was brought here as a pet.
The Snake Master looked up just as the top of the cage closed, her way out sealed. Her mouth opened wide as a furious hiss escaped her. The indignity of it all! To go from one of the most powerful snake demons in the land and leader of a respected clan...to being held at the whim of Earth's most pathetic species. The thought of it made her reptile brain seethe, and vow to re-double her efforts of escape. So consumed with her wrathful thoughts that she almost did not notice the human return, and with a gift as well.
The body of a large rat fell into the brown dirt of the cage. In all the excitement the Snake Master had forgotten that she had been ready to dine not hours before. Now the human had just given her a meal ready to go. She wanted nothing more than to scoff and turn her nose up at such a thing. Despite all appearances she was no mere animal, and would not be treated as one. Yet her empty stomach called out as her eyes saw the fat and fresh corpse of the rodent in front of her. The black snake's eyes looked at the human who looked back in curiosity.
"Not hungry yet hmmm? That's cool. I used to keep snakes back home, but I couldn't bring them with me. You take your time to adjust, I'll take good care of you." The human said before finally leaving.
The Snake Master cursed him in her forked-tongued language, her tail vibrating in irritation. However when she was sure he was truly gone she slithered up to the rat, unhinged her jaw, and began to swallow. It was a lengthy process of eating such a fat meal, but the demon lay full and satisfied afterward. While doing so she looked around the room she was in. It was small, several boxes that had not been opened lay along the wall of the room. However there was a small window overlooking her form, natural light it seemed would still be available. Tired and full, the demon coiled upon a heated rock in the terrarium to digest, her mind plotting all the ways she could get out.
The next morning she enacted her first idea. Laying in the cage motionless, belly and head turned up with her mouth slightly open. Patiently she waited there as she listened for the tell-tale sound of footsteps, when they finally came her lidless eyes could partially see the human. "What the-?! No no no!" He repeated as he got closer to the terrarium. "There's no way, you looked so healthy!" His hands rested upon the lid, ready to open it. Once he put his hands on her she'd snap her fangs into his flesh and then find a way to escape from there. "Wait a second..." He paused before kneeling down to examine the Snake Master through the glass. A moment of quiet passed, then another. Each second gifting unease into air.
Panic came to the demon. Had her rouse been found out? How? Surely this human's senses were as dull as the rest of his kind, so how could he possibly notice what wasn't right in front of him?
"You're still breathing." He said aloud. "It's slight, but it's there....and there's a twitch of motion in the tip of your tail. Are you...playing dead?"
The demon cursed. Somehow this westerner was not as dim as she had first thought, and she had less control over her body than she believed. So many years without her power had left her soft, oh what she would do when she got her strength back.
"Only a few snakes play dead, and it's by instinct not intention." The white man narrated to himself. "And you're certainly not one of those species...just what are you?"
Seeing as her deception was ineffective, the Snake Master lay back upright. Her jaw opened as she snapped at the face of the glass, wishing the barrier between her and the human wasn't there. The human didn't jump at her frustrated threat display, only continuing to look at her with curious eyes. "So you were doing that on purpose, how interesting. What else are you capable of?"
The human got busy in the next few days, engaging and interacting with her in various ways. His mortal fingers constructed several little devices that he carefully put in her enclosure, what could crudely be called puzzles or games. She thought this for they were so basic that a child could solve them, as the human clearly did not know what she was capable of. And this was something she would keep hidden, and refused to engage. "Not much for toys are you?" He mused as he watched her laying in the clutter of branches, intent on ignoring him. "Or maybe it's me that's the problem?"
Had she been capable of a glare she would have delivered it, but the human remained ignorant of her displeasure before leaving her for the day. Certain that he wouldn't come back, the Snake Master began to poke and prod at her containment. The glass was strong, stronger than her for certain. Several stones were scattered around the cage, likely to aid in serpentine digestion. With her body she picked one up, striking the walls as hard as she could, to no avail. Next she tried the lid of the cage, her snout searching for any weakness.
When none were obviously present it became apparent that she would have to wait for the human to make an error. With little left to accomplish the Snake Master slithered over and started to toy with the creations, boredom and the need to stimulate her mind driving her to do something other than to layabout. Before her was a simple game of matching three rotating panels and some spinning cube on a stick. A mild diversion to be sure, but better than nothing. She had her fill after an hour before deciding to meditate and think of what she would do when the opportunity arose.
The next day her captor came in, a large smile on his foolish face. "Ahah! So you did play around a little, not to mention trying to pull a Houdini. Just turns out you don't like an audience around when you do it."
The snake demon was caught off guard, how did he know? Her honed senses would have known if she was in the building. She looked around the room as she puzzled, before seeing a faint black reflective surface. The Snake Master studied it for a bit longer before hissing in anger. Mortals had created all manner of strange and devious devices over the centuries, and though she did not care to know of their foul gadgets, she knew a method of spying when she saw one. Feeling tricked she slithered rapidly along her cage, hissing her displeasure and wishing she could inflict a death scale curse at this moment.
The human stepped back and held his hands up. "Woah now! You really are steamed up aren't you?" His brows furrowed in thought. "You really aren't the typical snake."
The Snake Master continued to seethe as she coiled up into a corner of the cage, intent on glaring at the walls quietly. She expected the human to say or do something, but was quietly relieved when the monkey simply left again.
The next few days were of in-action and quiet contemplation. The gweilo made several more attempts to connect with her, but she no longer responded. Now that the human knew she was far smarter than he'd dare guess, he took extra special caution when feeding her or cleaning her cage and ensuring there would be no escape. The Snake Master remained impassive on the outside, but inside she was beside herself. She could not let this pitiful excuse for an existence be what remained of her life, not after all she weathered to get to this era.
In the hours of thought it occurred to the Snake Master that there was indeed someone who could assist in her return to former glory. She had disappeared from this mortal plain for many years, unable to be reached by anyone else. But recently whispers of her return had floated to even to the Snake Master's end of China. This left her back to the fact that she needed to leave this accursed box that was her new home. The human had proven too careful to fall for her tricks in escaping, yet he was not malicious it seemed. In fact she expected the human to turn her over to others when her intelligence was displayed, ones who would surely make freedom even more impossible.
The Snake Master bitterly believed that he was no doubt attempting to measure her abilities in some effort to train her for his own selfish ends. The thought of it made her angry enough to cause her tail to lash out, hitting the dirt below her. The slight mess was enough to divert her attention, enough that an idea came to her. No master of snakes would be trained by a mortal, but perhaps she could train 'him' instead.
Using her tail to clear space around her enclosure, she decided to take a chance and got to writing...
When the human next returned to the room, he had a message waiting for him. "Good morning my...wha-?"
He knelt down and stared at the assembled symbols in the dirt, one that read 'Help' and another 'Reward'. His face remained impassive, but she could see many thoughts pass behind his eyes, likely greedy and selfish ones. His fingers gently pressed against the glass. "What are you...really?"
To reveal what she truly was would no doubt be courting death. Humans were rightfully fearful of demons of even the lowest caste. However...who was to say this westerner would know the difference between a demon and something else? Wiping away the word the Snake Master inscribed another in it's place. 'Spirit'.
The human rose and started to pace back and forth, muttering as much to himself as to her. "A spirit? I-how?...But then again what ordinary snake could do what you can?" He turned back to her. "Alright so what do you want?"
Even without an expressive face, the Snake Master was actually able to deliver a scathing look to the human. He smacked his head. "Right right, help. So you want to go back to forest where I found you?"
That would have been exactly what she wanted a week ago, but new plans had been made. One where a being with chi, two hands and a willingness to assist would be most useful. The Snake Master erased her message and wrote in the dirt again, a longer message this time.
The foreign boy leaned in and squinted his eyes as he read the message aloud. "Precious Jade Workshop?"
The demon nodded, assured that her ascent to power was firmly within reach...