Chapter Text
The new house was fine, for the most part, by Luz’s generous opinion. Still, nothing compared to their first and original house in Massachusetts by a wide margin for sure, why? everything was smaller now! a single bathroom? two bedrooms? Enclosed back and front yard? What were they thinking when they made that kitchen?! is minuscule! Oh! And don’t get her started with that vomit-inducing rancid smell in the basement, Algo segurisimo se murio halla bajo… But as long as they didn’t open the door, the smell didn’t leak out. Mom insisted that once we finish unpacking everything, next we would take care of whatever died down there.
But oh well, at least the neighborhood wasn’t all that bad, sure, the house was all the way to the end of the street, borderline the town's limits, but having instant access to the forest and all of its slimy, scaly, and furry inhabitants? no complaints there! and nobody was mean to them, even Mrs croaker bake them a pie! her chihuahua Charlie may not like her, but free sweets were worth it, easy extra points, and a big win on her diary! Free Pie!
So… Yeah, things weren’t as bad as Luz expected, there was also a library close by, an arcade, a museum, and even a Zoo! She should be excited, bouncing like a bunny inside her cage awaiting the inevitable liberation to the wildness! However, of all the positive things Gravefield was offering, Luz couldn’t stop reminding herself of the true reason her family move on here…
The new hospital, by the old and new doctor's words, is supposed to have everything papi will need for a quick recovery. Even her own Mom and Dad believe and reiterated their claims. Yet, something within her gut was not convinced in the slightest. True, Dad was getting better, he hasn’t had to take the strongest pills for a while, but-
-Her half-sleep-awake state went to a sudden halt upon hearing something. hard to tell exactly what, at first it sounded like a single step then… nothing.
It was 2 Am. Mama and Papa should be sleeping. Which only means that…
...Someone is robbing us? Luz thought, unsure of the true source of the sound or where it originated, she could hear and feel her instincts instructing her to remain quiet.
She hesitated to make a move, maybe it was just Mister Toledo, that raccoon, for whatever reason, liked to hang out around her home's backyard. Or maybe she just imagine everything-!
*Creak*
It wasn’t her imagination, that old creaking wood slab between the kitchen and the living room…
There is someone inside the house.
She knew Mama and Papa would tell her to stay in her room, where she would be safe while they deal with whatever was downstairs. So she waited, seconds turned into minutes, but nothing more happened. But what if the house was being robbed? Mama just started working at the animal hospital, so she always came back home exhausted late at night, and Papa, while now working from home, still needed to follow the doctor's orders and rest to ensure a swift and uncomplicated recovery-!
-More sounds, this time, it was the recognizable screech of one of the kitchen cabinets.
It was Luz's turn to support the family, for once, she will be the responsible one!
"Nada funcionara, amenos que lo hagas funcionar" time to follow Mama's example!
She slowly creep out of bed, took her favorite and only bat, and started her descent downstairs. Her descent was deliberate, each step carefully planned to be as loud as a feather drop. No lights were lit, so as to not alert the intruder who sounded like is thrashing around the kitchen. The faint sounds of cupboards and cabinets opening and closing confirmed her theory, someone is inside her house. She could barely make up the silhouette of the figure, still opening cabinet after cabinet, sniffing whatever they got their hands on, and placing them inside the bag they carried- oh! And They are wearing a cloak? mysterious...
Finally arriving at the living room and getting a closer peek at the enigmatic person... they looked small, like, really small, almost as small as her! Their size caught her off guard because she was hoping for a malandro (criminal) she could knock out cold and drag their unconscious body to Mama and Papa. they would be so proud!
But what if they are just a kid? but... entering someone's house without permission was still a crime so-!
Then the wood beneath her creaked, a single foot slightly sinking the slab located between the kitchen and living room.
The sound alerted the intruder, and their eyes instantly lock on Luz.
From within their cloak, a set of ample, weirdly contorted eyes stare back at her, their eyeballs were a mixture of blue and yellow tones, seemingly burning through the shadows of the night.
Time froze for the both of them and although Luz tried to keep her composure, all of her initial bravado evaporated. The grip on the bat loosened with each passing second. Her body shivered under the gaze of what it has now realized wasn't an intruder... or human, but an animal-
A predator
Luz tried to flee, emphasize in tried, but each step backward was painfully slow, the solidness of her leg diluted, an overwhelming emotion overspread across every nerve on his body, and a horrifying realization literally apprehend every other thought, making her aware of the weight of something delicate and invaluable now inside her...
That thing that has always been part of her...
Her Life
The human's breathing stopped altogether. She didn't dare to stop looking at the creature which followed all her movements with unbreakable focus. It wasn't until it decide to shorten the distance between them that Luz discovered what lay underneath the cloak- A claw decorated with shining black talons came out and was coming for her-!
Luz let go of her bat and screamed.
She fell to the floor in her panic, still screaming with the intention to deplete every single speck of oxygen in her lungs while trying to go for the stairs. But the monster got her first. In a blink of an eye, it leaped its whole frame at her. At first, the impact reminded her of a hug, but the comparison was short-lived upon feeling a crushing pressure all across her body. Half of it was now confined by a cold, patterned, and sharp surface.
Luz's first instinct was to cry but was hastily interrupted by a claw pressed against her mouth, stopping dry her efforts to call for help. The creature now lay over her, using all of its weight to pin the human against the floor. The exact end of its elongated body beyond her point of view
Never before in her life has Luz felt anything resembling this amount of fear. The monster has her at its mercy. It looked down at her, a quiet yet piercing growl chimed from within its mouth, fangs mere inches from reaching her neck and ripping it open before she could cry her last words.
Adrenaline pulsed through her body, shallow breaths barely providing enough air for her immature lungs, and her entire body shuddered under its cold sharp claws. One of Luz's arms was trapped under the creature's grip while the other survived the assault and remained free, yet, her body was paralyzed, unresponsive to her wishes. Nonetheless, none of that stopped her genuine curiosity from trying to at least distinguish more of the cryptic's features, to comprehend even if just a tiny speck of what will bring an end to her life.
Barely any light pierce through the room's curtains. But a single passing car provides her with enough light to accomplish just that
A combination of green and white tones, seemingly distribute without an apparent pattern; a patch of hair at the top of its head; strange fluffy ears at each side of its quirky-looking head-
Scared
-That word... the first thought Luz gained from looking directly at its eyes and the clear terror that plagued its face. It-Their pupils were shaped like slits, so diminutive that they resembled black vibrating spots, their breaths shallow too, abrupt and brief, and their entire body tremble just like hers. The scaly beast looked down at her while frankly looking at their surroundings, seemingly unable to formulate a next plan of action beyond preventing Luz from alerting anyone.
It was now that she realized…
They are scared too
Luz, on one side, wanted so badly to just run and cried for her mama to take care of the monster and prepare her some hot choco... but on the other, the one who has always held her mama's hand when going out to the clinic after Papa started coughing even after taking his pills...
It happened before she could consider other options, Luz’s hand extended on its own and touched one of the... snake's claws with hers, the same one that was still pressed against her mouth. She wasn't sure why, what logic was behind such a reckless action. The creature flinched at the contact, yet, didn't attempt to stop Luz from giving them a very, excessively gentle squeeze. Surprisingly, they reciprocate the touch by squeezing it back with the same amount of gentleness.
"Is okay... sorry for spooking you" she whispered to the snake-slug-cat? so as to not scare them further. She wasn't going to assume anything, they may be an alien from another planet or dimension but that's not an excuse to assume things that were not true, that would be rude.
Speaking of aliens, wow their skin really felt cold but smooth and quite pleasant to the touch, it reminds her of how a snake's hide feels like. WOW, she was touching a real snake alien! Luz was going to explode with excitement! Luz looked back at them as their pupils slowly expanded back to a more oval shape while their breathing steadied itself and a little, faint, and brief smile formed over their elongated red lips
Speaking of aliens, again. Luz kept her hold on the alien's claw. They seemed to enjoy the contact, she speculated that may have something to do with their possibly cold blood. It would make sense, apart from the arms and hair they definitely were some kind of snake, at least she thinks so.
Eventually, they fully let the claw over her mouth go. And shortly after, they dragged themselves away from her, allowing poor Luz's body to receive all the blood it needs to function.
After taking a few more deep breaths, the human took a seat in front of her unexpected guest, and thanks to the moonlight prying through the curtains, she got a proper look at the rest of the body behind the cloak. Everything was mostly green with a bunch of white patches randomly scatter throughout their whole body. It all screams lizard but- wait, where are their - Oh my gosh!
They were sitting too, at least that was the impression their coiled form gave her. Instead of legs, everything below their waist was actually a tail! Pure raw muscle! Countless scales shine under the tiny rays of light from the outside. Although, now that the little girl looked closely, good portions of their tail and body appeared to be dirty and extensively dry-!
Cuts…
Luz couldn't stop herself from staring once her vision was filled with scars. it did matter where she looks at, another painful sight twisted her guts in a way she has never experienced. The creature's body was swathed in dozens of small bruises, some of which already showed signs of healing. Reddish raw segments lack nearly all of their scales. And worse of all. Disturbingly precise and detailed cuts and lacerations, some stopped where they started while others-
The movement of cloth concealing what she was looking at and the sudden sound of hissing brought her back to the presence. The serpent looked at her with judgemental eyes, pupils back to slits, their face contorted to something akin to mostly irritation with hints of fear.
It was now Luz' turn to avoid eye contact, realizing how apart from the cloak her scaly buddy didn't own anything else to call their own. She could feel her cheeks burning. How stupid and rude of her…
"S-sorry, I didn't mean to stare," She quickly apologized while she dragged herself to add some distance between them, the last thing she wanted was to lose the little trust she has gained from them. Thankfully, they appeared to accept her apology as they stopped hissing and straight up their stance ever so slightly.
An awkward silence dominated the scene, Luz wasn't sure if seconds or minutes were passing without any of them talking. At least it seemed like the... snake kid was no longer interested in stealing their food, although hard to say what was happening in their mind at the moment, their attention was mostly on Luz but every so often they looked around at the unopen-boxes and furniture across the living room. Both claws squeeze one another as if to comfort and calm themselves. She considered speaking, asking them all the dozens of hunters of questions that bounced inside her head but...
It was then that an idea occurred to Luz, what's the best way to introduce yourself to others? "H-Hey" her voice caught the serpent's attention, ears perked up and pupils slightly condensed as to pay her the most attention they could to the young human "My name is Luz, What's yours?"
The question seemed to have caught them off guard. They just stood there in place, giving the impression of being immersed in their own thoughts. After a whole minute, a claw reached for something… attached to one of their ears. It was relatively small, like a metallic earring, it even reflected the moon's light and narrowly lighted its surroundings
For the first time, their mouth opened, at least a few dozen little sharp teeth were visible behind their lips, and behind all of that, an elongated tongue sloped inside. They seem to be trying to formulate words, muttering to themselves too quietly for Luz to hear, too distracted to notice Luz slowly leaning closer to try to decipher what was written in the small trinket.
An imprint was visible on its surface, but apart from a single big "V" there were just some words way too teeny to read.
Without thinking, Luz read out loud the single letter "Ve? Your name is... Ve?"
It was then that they fully turn around to face Luz fully. She couldn't understand how but… She recognized the emotions emerging from their adorable and odd complexion. Uncertainty and pecks of dread made themselves known as they realize exactly what Luz was looking at.
Now Luz knew she has mess up badly when the snake started crying. The sight was simply unnatural, reptiles weren't supposed to be able to cry like people do but here it was happening in front of her "Ve" was crying, their eyes flooded in just a few seconds before thick drops raced down their checks and falling and tainting to the carpet. Their body began to tremble and shrink once again as they cried and hugged themselves, mumbling out loud words she could not even begin to understand.
At that point, Luz couldn't think of any alternatives beyond closing the gap between them with the intention of providing them some consolation, a hug perhaps could help. But her plan was cut short when "Ve" upon discovering Luz's approached instinctively bare their fangs and hissed loudly at her.
Surprise by the sudden act of aggression Luz slipped and once again was on the floor, her own instincts paralyzing her in place as Ve stared down at her, their pupils back to shivering specks surrounded by black irises, their entire body leaned closer to the ground while its massive tail coiled behind them, Ve was once again ready to jump at her-
*Click*
But before anything could happen the living room was illuminated not by the moon or a car's headlight, but by the lamp on the ceiling.
The girl and serpent's attention was now fully taken by the new figures that seemed to have come from upstairs.
"L-Luz?" Luz recognized the dread in her Dad's voice.