You Smell

He thought that if the tyrannosauruses live here, would others similar creatures live nearby too. That was his guess. He thought that that tree might be perfect for a birds-eye view, but he also remembered the flying creatures. The only thing that he was feeling positive about was that those creatures liked bare mountainsides, cliffs, and open areas. Forest on the other hand was nothing like that. He hoped that he could stay there for the night and look for a more permanent place to stay later.

Maybe, go look for some intelligent being after some time. Or he could train some more in this harsh environment. He didn't know but he was hopefully able to sleep and get a better sense of things in the morning.

An hour later he arrived near the tree but was forced to pull back.

The tree was guarded by a gigantic snake-like being. He looked at the creature. Wondering what it was. The historical records of the earth didn't have this kind of creature.

The only difference it had with the snakes on earth was that it was way bigger and its scales had spicks. Not just a few, all scales had at least one spick. That particular creature was black and it also looked to be sleeping. Basking in the sun's heat.

At that moment he realized, that he hadn't looked up once. It was partly the forest fault. The leaves were covering the sky from his sight.

Now that he looked up, the sun wasn't yellow and it was much further away. Besides the sky wasn't blue either. The sun was blue and the sky was purple-ish, light was reflecting differently too. It gave off a pink sheen now that he could see it properly. The forest looked to be in blue-green light.

At that moment of his distraction, the snake awoke.

The snake looked around curiously as it smelled something unpleasant. That smell wasn't part of his territory, so it must mean that some of the creatures around invaded his territory. That wasn't allowed. He was the master of this place.

If it was a tiny creature, he didn't mind as it would pose no threat to him. Besides he had eaten just a week ago, so he wouldn't need to hunt any time soon. He even liked it when the pray stayed near him, it meant he didn't have to go too far to hunt.

He didn't see anything at first glance, but the smell still lingered. It was a foul and disgusting sort of smell. He didn't like it, following his nose he finally pinpointed the location of that odor.

It comes from a two-legged creature. He had seen a few of them before and eaten one, but this one looked different. Besides the creature looked to be covered in someone's shit.

Disgusting. The snake thought.

The two-legged creature hadn't noticed him yet and was staring at the blue sun like he was seeing it for the first time. Little did the snake know, it was his first time seeing a blue sun.

A few minutes later the boy recovered and looked at the snake, which now looked at him.

Liam froze on the spot. He couldn't remember what he was supposed to do when encountering a snake. Well, there was nothing to remember as there was no knowledge of how to deal with snakes so large.

The snake tilted its head and seemed to be curious about him.

"Stream, wash up." words suddenly appeared before Liam and the snake seemed to be pointing its head toward something.

His eyes widened in shock.

No creatures have ever talked to him. He had tried that on earth, first with house pets, they understood better and could even say a few things, but nothing more intelligent. The wild animals were even worse.

But here it was. A wild creature spoke to him.

"You... you can... speak?" he was nearly speechless. It was an intelligent being.

The snake was taken aback. The two-legged creature could understand his words. What was the meaning of this?

The snake then shook his head. It didn't matter, he smells horrible.

"You Smell, waSh up in the Stream," it said again. Drawing the boy's attention to something else. Something that didn't matter to him at all at the moment.

But he couldn't refuse the snake. It was much stronger and many times bigger than him. So, he did what the snake told him to. The stream the snake was referring to was just some distance away. It was shallow and the water looked clear.

Liam cupped his hands together and scooped some of the water up, throwing it onto his face. The water felt cold and refreshing. The coldness also woke him up even harder, making his head clear up.

What was he doing? He was in an unfamiliar place and had put himself into at least two dangerous situations. Now, what was he doing, enjoying the water and cleaning himself?

For some reason, he felt like the snake didn't mean any harm, at least not at the moment. He also felt curious. What would the be like?

The snake looked at the two-legged creature, who look unbearably weak. Why was he so interested in a creature that was so weak? He would usually just eat them. He was full at the moment, but that wouldn't bother him.

But the two-legged creature didn't act like food. He didn't look like the other two-legged creatures either. What was it? and how could he understand his language?

Both were curious about each other.

About half an hour later. Liam had finished washing himself a while ago but remained near the water, he was washing his clothes. He squeezed them as dry as possible after which he hung them to dry on nearby branches. His hands and feet were freezing but he endured it.

It could also be considered training, conditioning himself to harsher things. He also washed the outside of his bag. It was also covered in shit. Inside of it was perfectly fine. He pulled out another set of clothes. Dressed and went back toward the snake.

The time away from the snake also gave him time to think. It didn't matter much as he couldn't figure out anything. The only thing he got from that was that he calmed down.