Staring into the empty golden eyes of the snake, Tigris tilted his head in confusion. Does she want more than half?
He pawed at the meat, bringing it closer to the snake.
His eyes seemed to spell, 'Eat up! It's all yours!'
The snake flicked her tongue, staring into his pure blue eyes. Finally, she scooped up the meat with her 'tail' and gulped it in one mouthful. The meat disappeared into her stomach as if it were some black hole.
Tigris nodded with satisfaction, his tail wagging back and forth. Being an older brother felt really good!
Though as Atheris looked back at him, her eyes remained as empty as they were before.
He froze. Could it be she didn't get happy from eating? Strange…
Tigris began desperately looking around, trying to find something, anything that could be considered uplifting. Then, realization dawned on him as he glanced over the clock on the wall. It was almost time!
Suddenly, he meowed towards the snake, leaped onto the table, and jumped out of the window.
Atheris stared at the swift actions of the tiger in confusion, then slowly slithered after him.
In the morning it wasn't too bright at this time of the year. Atheris felt her scaly body getting a little colder as the outside air surrounded her. It was different without a heater around...
Tigris reached a particular spot near one of the benches, looking around with his vertical pupils.
Then, spotting something, he eagerly meowed, drool beginning to form on the corner of his mouth.
Atheris slithered closer in confusion, looking in the direction of his gaze.
Tigris's gaze was locked on a female student walking purposefully in his direction, particularly on a bag of snacks in her hands. The snake had never seen this brown-haired student before, but somehow she appeared familiar.
"You are here, Tigris!" the student said in pleasant surprise, her footsteps freezing upon discovering the snake.
The brown-haired student awkwardly glanced back and forth between the tiger and the snake.
"Does Cyril have a snake now?" she muttered thoughtfully.
Without any fear, she crouched in front of the tiger and gently placed the meat snack in front of him.
As Tigris began consuming it without any shame, she began petting his fur. She was skillful, leading Tigris to unconsciously arch his body into her hands.
"What's your name, I wonder?" The student threw a curious glance towards the snake, not at all afraid.
Atheris flicked her forked tongue and slithered closer, now almost in front of the student. She still didn't seem afraid.
Rather, the student's free hand moved slowly in her direction, intentions clear.
Atheris hissed threateningly, showing her sharp fangs, yet the student showed no signs of stopping.
As the snake raised her head, about to lunge, she froze. For reasons she didn't entirely understand, Atheris didn't attack the hand, letting it touch her scaly body.
As the hand touched her, she felt nothing, only staring at the brown eyes of the woman. Somehow they reminded her of her own eyes when she stared into the fountain. Strange, they weren't like her beautiful golden ones.
She felt like meeting a fellow snake somehow.
Without dwelling too much on it, Atheris endured the touch for a while longer.
"This should be interesting..." the student whispered to herself with a happy smile.
After a while she left, leaving a satisfied Tigris and a somewhat confused Atheris.
The tiger cub stared at the snake and nodded with overflowing satisfaction. His tiger face seemed to say, 'See? This was fun.'
Atheris observed the disappearing back of the student, then shook her head, her eyes becoming empty once more.
Tigris sat down and tilted his head in thought. It seems this much wasn't enough.
Soon he cheered up, nodding to himself. But he wasn't out of tricks just yet!
...
Two magic creatures walked and slithered side by side under the fond eyes of the occasional student. Many would've tried to approach them if it were not for the presence of the blue snake making them reconsider.
Without any interruptions, Tigris was joyfully meowing and pawing at the air, trying to tell a story of how he visited a zoo once.
Atheris blankly listened, but with each meow and a claw that came near, her mood turned worse and worse. What was she doing here? This is pointless and feels like torture.
Finally, she stopped and loudly hissed towards the heavens, startling the tiger.
"Hiss!"
Her eyes regained their menacing glint, and without even looking at her sibling she quickly slithered away. Despite her small size, she was quite fast. In no time at all, she was only a dot in Tigris's vision, disappearing towards the castle.
Tigris nervously observed her departure, too stunned to react for a few seconds. Then his face turned panicked. It was obvious what she wanted to do.
The snake rebelled and wanted to get into the castle on her own! He couldn't believe she could just go against Cyril's words like this.
As expected, this snake was trouble!
Still, Tigris couldn't just abandon her like this. Someone needed to look after the youngest. After only a brief hesitation, he ran after her.
It definitely wasn't because he found the idea of entering the castle exciting, and this was a perfect opportunity to do so guiltlessly. Not at all!
The academy grounds were now filled with screams as students found a snake slithering by their feet.
"Did some beast tamer lose control of their beasts?!"
"Careful!"
"Why did it have to be a snake?!"
...
In the training hall of the academy, Cyril calmly took part in the run at the beginning of the lesson.
He and Myra ran at the front of their group, while the others did their best to keep up.
As he ran, he vaguely paid attention to where he was going, his mind wandering in places.
I wonder if Atheris will be fine...
"What's the worst that can happen? You think too much, relax."
Rhamn materialized, running by his side. She suddenly wore the training uniform of their academy, with not a drop of sweat on her face, making their run look effortless.
I am surprised you are taking this so calmly.
"I believe in them."
He finished the last lap, walking towards their professor.
The students behind him immediately either knelt on the ground or sat on the floor, taking greedy gulps of air to recover.
"Good, good. Now pick your pairs, let's get to duels!" Professor Rendel loudly announced, making the students sigh in resignation.
Just as Cyril walked to pick up the spear, his actions already close to automatic, a few images suddenly flashed in his mind.
In them, two people in the same outfit towered over him on the sides, one reaching out their hand to grab him and the other quickly casting a spell, throwing a net made of light at him.
Soon the vision was gone, leaving Cyril speechless.
Was that…?
"I jinxed it!"
"Atheris is trying to get into the castle... A few staff members are chasing her now..."
"What's wrong, Cyril?" Myra asked, twirling a spear in her hands. She waited for him on their usual spot with a confused expression.
In response he only sighed, his face becoming infinitely more tired.