The Fourth Star - Rewrite

II

It was late in the morning when Xisuma awoke, hours after he had been attacked and knocked unconscious. He blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting to the sunlight that leaked through the canopy of leaves above. After a moment of hazy confusion and scatterbrained thoughts, the dream with the pair of watchers came back to the admin. 'Oh jeez,' X thought to himself, rubbing the side of his aching head. 'That wasn't just a dream. That was some kind of vision.'

But a vision of watchers? They were myths, weren't they? Something like vampires or werewolves, they weren't supposed to exist. Was this some kind of warning? Or a sign? But if it was, what was the point of it? So many questions swarmed through his head, all unanswered, with more questions popping up after the last.

He sat up with a slight groan, the back of his head pounding from whatever had jumped out at him last night. There was no sound from the other Hermits, so they either left early, or they were all still sleeping in their tents. Xisuma doubted the latter, most would get up early to claim the best spots for their bases. But it didn't make very much sense, did the others not notice their admin missing?

X stood up, his legs rather weak. Getting some breakfast would probably help with that, plus it would give him more energy to gather resources throughout the day. That dream he had was probably nonsense, or just a nightmare of some kind. No reason to get too worried about it. Xisuma just wanted to get the season started. He just wanted to have fun with his friends.

His helmet was sitting on the ground, near the river. He had taken it off last night to get some fresh air, but X wasn't given the chance to put it back on. The admin walked over to his headgear, bending over to lift it off of the patch of grass it was resting on. Xisuma picked up his helmet, nearly dropping it in shock at what was underneath. It looked like some kind of snake had slithered underneath, resting underneath his helmet.

"Oh, haha.." Xisuma chuckled to himself. "Guess I'm a bit jumpy. Sorry little fellow."

"It's quite alright." The snake responded.

It took Xisuma a moment to register that the snake spoke, his eyes widening in shock. "Di—...did you just—?" He blinked, bewildered at the creature.

"I'm sorry, is this form uncomfortable for you?" The snake asked him, "I can change if you'd prefer something else."

"U-um," X rubbed his eyes. "N-no..? Wait, wait, you're a talking snake."

"Well, not exactly."

Xisuma sat down, his hand on the side of his head. "Talking snake." He repeated, eyes wide with confusion.

"I believe that Watchers were supposed to tell you about me." The snake said, slithering over to X's boot. "I am Ancel, a being made of the Watcher's magic. I have been sent here to guide and assist you."

"Wha—, wait, were you that thing that jumped out of the bushes at me last night?!"

The snake—Ancel—nodded. "I apologize for that, but the Watchers needed to reach out to you. Their magic is not as strong as it used to be, so I had to assist."

Xisuma scooped the snake into his hands, lifting her to his face to examine the creature. Her scales were white with a pearlescent shimmer to them, strange markings of purple along her back. She seemed to radiate some kind of warmth, even though his gloves Xisuma could feel it. It was a strange tingle that made him shiver slightly.

"So wait, I-I have a lot of questions.."

"And I have a lot of answers." The snake smiled, (do...do snakes smile? It looked like she was, but Xisuma seriously didn't know). "What can I help you with, Xisumavoid?"