Oh nooooo! It seems Jaeger has been caught up in the tight loving coils of  FeralCoco 's hansum serpent Valentinooo! Whatever will he dooo!?!?!?!? Guess we'll have to wait till morning to find out. :3

But yeah! Finally uploading another art piece after a long while! I have so much stuff I'm holding onto, I'm just very lazy about uploading it, unfortunately. But not in this case! I saw FeralCoco's new snek and YCH (a very awesome and sweet individual you should very much follow and support btw), fell in love, and the rest is history. Please do check her out! And if you want to know how Jaeger found himself in such a slippery, scaly scenario, be sure to stick around for jussst a bit longer~

---

Jaeger was starting to regret leaving behind his leather coat.

It had seemed a good idea when the sun had been high in the sky, scorching the dry grass savannah with a fury he’d thought only possible with the aid of fire. With a limited supply of water and a scarcity of shade, it had seemed to be the best idea at the time.

He had not thought to consider what might happen when the sun went down. That had been quite the mistake to make.

Shuddering softly, the grizzled wolf slid his crossbow onto his back, folding his arms across his chest as he tried to conserve warmth. His silver gray fur really wasn’t doing as much as he would like it to, something he found a bit frustrating to admit, for he knew he’d survived much colder nights than this with little issue. The sorts of nights where one could see their breath as it curled away in wisps, or had to grip the icy streets with their bare pads to keep from slipping and sliding away. In comparison, this sort of cold should’ve been nothing. Yet whether it was the contrast between the terrible heat of the day, or the fact that he only had a loincloth to cover him, or perhaps just growing a bit more sensitive in his older age, this night in particular somehow felt just as bad as that sharp frost. Keep this up and he’d barely even be able to hold his weapon still enough to take a shot, much less face down whatever terrible creature prowled this particular savannah.

But there was no turning back now. Not when he’d already come so far. He’d been hired to do a job and he intended on seeing it through to the end. An entire tribe was relying on him to keep their hunting grounds safe and he was not about to return to them empty handed.

It might, however, be a decent idea to wait around until the sun spreads its hot rays once more. The beast, he’d been told, liked to hunt at night. He’d hoped to catch it unawares under the light of the full moon, however that hope had been swiftly crushed by the multitudes of clouds that were suddenly quite abundant. Not that he’d be able to see much anyway: his long hike had rendered him so exhausted that he felt barely able to keep his eyes open. And all his powerful nose had been able to tell him so far was that, yes, there was indeed quite a bit of grass. And it was everywhere.

“Not as though I’m much of a threat at the moment,” he muttered softly to himself, rubbing at the bandage that covered his empty socket as he cast his gaze about for a suitable shelter.

Briefly, he considered spending the night up in a tree, but quickly thought better of it. Quite a few of the predators around here happened to be cats of some form or the other, and if there was one thing the beasts were known for, it was climbing trees. He’d have better luck laying down in the brush, hoping to escape notice than he would fending off one of those creatures in their own turf. Would probably be a lot warmer too.

Still, it didn’t seem the worst idea to at least be near them either. Would be nice to have the option to retreat into the safety of the branches in case one of those wandering boulders came along. Rhinos, he believed they were called?

Taking a moment to glance around his surroundings, he soon settled on a pair of nearby trees, their spindly branches intertwined tightly with one another, as though spun from the abdomen of some strange, enormous spider. He started to push his way towards them, already looking forward to curling up and falling fast asleep… when he paused suddenly in his tracks.

His ears started to swivel, twitching as he cast his sharp blue eye round about.

It was awfully quiet out tonight. Far too quiet. In fact… hadn’t the harsh buzz of insects filled the air not just seconds ago?

And that’s when he heard it. A soft, subtle ssssshhhhhhh, of grass being pushed aside, to allow something very large and very heavy to pass. Headed straight for his location.

He straightened up. His crossbow almost seemed to jump straight into his arms as he whirled about, finger on the trigger as he aimed and prepared to fire at…

At…

The wolf let out a sharp gasp, his eye widening as he stumbled back a bit, as he found himself utterly unprepared for the creature before him.

A serpent. An enormous serpent, whose body was as thick as the trunks of the trees that he had been headed to a few moments prior. One with a mottled body of soft white and brown, whose scales shone like marble under the light of the moon. A maw of small, curved teeth and a tongue as black as the night around him, dripping with drool as it, presumably, tasted his scent. Surely this then was the monster he had been hired to slay.

His finger tightened on the trigger, instincts about to finish the job just like that when he suddenly met the eyes of the great beast… and found himself hesitating. In those dark brown eyes was the glimmer of intelligence. One seemingly caught off guard by his sudden turn-about, reeling back as it defensively raised itself into the air. It was an intelligence familiar to him, and he couldn’t help but be reminded of a friend of his, someone he would call more than a friend, even, who happened to be of similar stature to the being he found himself facing currently…

His grip on the trigger relaxed, his arms trembling slightly as he cursed himself, shaking his head as he took a few steps back, putting a bit more distance between him and the serpent, keeping his weapon trained on them as his heart pounded loudly in his chest, his mind filled with ten thoughts a second as he pondered what he was supposed to do now, exactly.

The serpent seemed equally as confused, its gaze dropping to the loaded weapon in the wolf’s hands, glancing back up to meet Jaeger’s own stare, then dropping back down again, seeming to expect a shot that seemed less likely to come with each passing second.

“Well?”

It was not a voice one would expect to hear from such a massive serpent. Soft, warm, and almost welcoming, it cut straight through Jaeger’s defenses and almost had him wincing with guilt. Still, he managed to hold himself together, keeping his weapon trained on this impressive creature as he managed to force out a reply.

“Well what?”

“Are you going to take the shot?”

“That depends. Are you the one responsible for the disappearance of a certain few tribesmen?”

The serpent seems to ponder that for a few moments, before doing what the wolf certainly wasn’t expecting. He smiles warmly and… almost seems to relax.

“Ahhhh, so that isss what this is all about?” the serpent asks with a chuckle. “Yes, I believe I am. However, it seems to me that some sssort of misunderstanding has taken place.”

“And what do you mean by that?” the wolf asks.

“What exactly have these tribesmen told you about these… disappearances?”

“That some monster has taken over their hunting grounds, snatching away a hunter or two and making off with them before anyone realizes what is happening.”

“And have these tribesmen bothered to inform you that each has been returned to where they belong? Unharmed?”

The wolf frowns at that. “No… they did not.” Nor… did they say anything to the contrary either…

The point of his crossbow slowly starts to dip, prompting the serpent’s smile to grow wider as he slides forward a bit, seeming to poke and prod at Jaeger’s defenses.

“You see? All one sssimple misunderstanding.”

“Then why do you capture these hunters in the first place?” he asks, though almost before the serpent answers he knows the answer to that particular question, for it is the same answer he has heard before, out of the mouth of a similar beast.

“It getsss quite lonely, these long, cold nightsss,” he hisses softly. “Not much to do, even lesss to look forward to… I need to passs the time sssomehow, and ssssince mossst of your kind are reluctant to approach someone like me, oftentimesss I have to sssearch them out myssself. Surely you can understand that, little mammal?”

Jaeger, although not a fan of that particular phrase, simply nodded along, reluctantly lowering his crossbow and sliding it across his back, although he continued to eye the snake as he did so.

“You have a name, I take it?”

Seemingly surprised by how easily the wolf had been convinced, the snake clears his throat and dips his head in a nod.

“Valentino. And I am sssure you would prefer to be known as something rather than ‘small mammal’?”

“I am Jaeger,” he confirms.

“Jaeger, Jaeger…” the constrictor hisses, as though trying it out for himself. “A handsome name that, for quite the handsome…” he squints at Jaeger. “...hyena? Dog?”

“Wolf,” he clarifies, fighting to keep his emotions in check, his cheeks flushing at even such a simple compliment. Having only just discovered that he had a… thing, for massive serpents, and only even more recently committed himself to exploring such feelings, telling himself that such a relationship wasn’t as ugly as perhaps he’d thought it would be, he was in a rather vulnerable position as far as massive constrictors went. Especially ones just as stunning and powerful as the one before him. It was taking all he had just to meet Valentino in his playful, teasing eyes. “And please. Flattery will get you nowhere with me. It is the tribesmen you have to convince, should you wish to continue living out your current lifestyle.”

Valentino seemed to study Jaeger as he said that, examining him with a curiosity the older wolf wasn’t exactly sure he liked, especially as the snake seemed to make up his mind about something, tossing Jaeger a teasing grin that sent a shudder running straight down his spine. It was at moments such as these he had to curse himself for being such a terrible liar.

“Of course. But they won’t get close to me, unless it is to launch a ssspear, or fire an arrow.”

“I can arrange a meeting. Perhaps they will not listen to you, but I am sure they will listen to me. Especially if I can promise an end to these kidnappings of yours.”

“Ahhh, but that would not be an arrangement I would particularly enjoy, my furry friend,” Valentino says, quickly shaking his head. “I have grown particularly fond of the company of fine creatures sssuch as yourself.”

“Yes, well,” the wolf sniffs. “If you wish-”

Something cool and slick curled around the wolf’s shoulders, drawing a yelp from his lips as he snatched at it with a hand and quickly yanked it off.

It was a smaller brown tendril, a similar shade to a certain serpent’s eyes. It wriggled around lazily in his grip with a surprising amount of strength. He was sure if it wanted, it would easily be able to get free and overpower him with relative ease, winding its way around his arm, perhaps binding it to his body, wrapping him up and easily over-

He quickly shook the thought out of his head, tossing the tail away as he found himself wishing that the night was just a little bit colder to counteract the heat rising in his cheeks.

“...ahem. If you wish to coexist with the people of this land, you would do well to come to some sort of understanding with them. Otherwise you may find yourself waking up to a spear in your throat.”

The serpent nods, seeming to sober up a bit. “I do take your point, Jaeger. However, I am assssuming there are not many who would be eager to let me… have their way with them, ssso to speak.”

“You may be surprised…” the wolf mutters with some embarrassment, something that causes the serpent to eye him strangely. “E-especially if the alternative is sudden, unprovoked attacks.”

“I sssuppose,” Valentino replies. “Yet that takesss all the fun out of the hunt. There isss no joy in subduing one who is already subdued. Who has already accepted their fate.”

“You are certain?”

“Well… I can not say I have exactly tried it before, I sssuppose. I am jusssst assuming the experience would be… muted.”

“Then how about you find out for yourself?” Jaeger challenges, almost surprised by the words coming out of his mouth. Especially given just how perilous a scenario this was, and how little he really know about the constrictor in front of him. As far as he knew, there was a good chance he could end up sleeping in Valentino’s likely spacious stomach. The python himself seemed quite surprised by the wolf’s boldness as well.

“I beg your pardon?”

Wondering if he was making a huge mistake, the wolf slid the crossbow off his shoulder, laying it to rest gently among the dry grass, standing back up and letting his arms rest by his sides.

“You heard me. There is a warm, willing body standing before you now. Defenseless. Unable to fight back.”

He flashed the constrictor a coy smile. This was a scenario he was well used to at least. On days when he’d been feeling a bit bolder, or when Apophis had been feeling down, he’d learned to tease his closest friend almost exactly like this. It had seemed to trigger an almost predatory instinct, one he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted this particular serpent to have. But there was no backing down now.

“Are you really going to let this opportunity pass you by? You can do whatever you want with me, you know. There is no one around to stop you.”

The serpent seems to think about that for a few moments, squinting suspiciously at the wolf and taking a look around, as though expecting this to be some sort of trap.

“And what if I happen to be hungry? There isss nothing stopping me from devouring you right here and now? You would be fine with that?”

“If that was your intention, you would have acted on such impulses long before this,” the wolf says, his words more confident than he felt. “I trust that you are not as monstrous as others might believe.”

The serpent seems to hesitate a moment, considering the wolf’s words. And then Jaeger felt something wrap around his legs, his arms, quickly immobilizing him with a few bands of cold, scaly muscle. He gasped in shock, and those bands took the opportunity to tighten around his chest, forcing the air out of his lungs. So tight… he struggled for breath, but the coils simply squeezed him even tighter.

“Then you are a poor judge of character, my friend.”

Valentino chuckles darkly as he slithers closer, his black forked tongue sliding out and sliding underneath Jaeger’s chin. Warm. Wet. Forcing him to look up into a slimy pink maw… and the black hole in the back of his throat, ready to consume.

Jaeger struggled against his tight bonds, but knew it was hopeless. The serpent’s body only tightened around him. Spots swam across his vision, and soon darkness was all that he knew…

“...you are lucky, however, I am in a forgiving mood.”

The bonds around his chest loosened up, just enough to grant the wolf a breath of air, before it was swiftly robbed from him again. The slick scales, quickly warmed from the heat of his body, soon reflected it back at him, creating a tight cocoon of snake fat more comfortable than any sensation he had felt before.

“Your offer doesss intrigue me, I mussst admit. How about we discuss it in greater detail? In a more… private location?”

The words sent a shiver down the wolf’s spine. His cheeks grew heated as he drew another shallow breath, as Valentino lifted him into the air as though he weighed nothing at all.

“You musssst be ussssed to this by now, it seemsss… poor thing, you have sssso many scarssss… don’t worry, I’m far more gentle than your previous ‘friends’. I promisssse not to leave a mark…”

Despite himself, Jaeger couldn’t help but smile, even as his breath was taken away from him once more.

He had a feeling this was going to be a long night…