~Rattlesnake Bite~ (A Striker x Fem!Reader Book)

A New Face

The next morning, you awoke at sunrise as usual, wasting no time getting dressed and ready for the day. You dressed in your black shirt with the darker colored jeans, and of course your vest, hat, and boots.

You walk downstairs and are greeted with smiling faces and biscuits and gravy. You ate quickly and then rushed outside after listening to Joe telling you what needs to be done.

You start by fixing the fence board that had broken apart due to some foals that were roughhousing. You get a new board and some nails and a hammer and fix it up quite fast.

You let the horses out into the pasture, having a moment with Ghost before going off and doing some more fixing and chores around the ranch. Eventually, later that evening, you hear the fast running of a horse. You see Joe and Lin walk beside you, looking down the drive.

"That must be him!" Lin says excitedly. Suddenly a very fast, dark flaming hell horse skids to a stop right in front of them. You set down the bucket of water you were holding. You decide that you should let Lin and Joe talk to him first.

You hear the horses rider jump down from his horse and you hear Joe and Lin introduce themselves.

"Why hello, little lady."

You hear a deep, slightly raspy  voice behind you. You turn to see a tall imp. Suddenly, your eyes widen as you realize that this demon looks like you. Almost exactly like you. A low hiss emits from your throat. Another rattlesnake. You give him a short nod to acknowledge his hello.

"The name's Striker."

He holds out his hand and you shake hands.

Lin comes up behind you. "This is Y/n, our current farmhand." She places her hands on your shoulders. Lin looks at you questioningly and you smile at her and nod, giving her permission to tell Striker your situation. Besides, how would he be able to help if he didn't know?

"Y/n is mute. She's an incredibly good help, and she can hear and understand everything just fine, she just can't speak."

"Ah. I understand."

Lin and Joe walk to the porch of the house. "Y/n will show you around Striker, and you guys could try to work out a communication method as you do. Oh and Y/n? Would you mind getting a hog for dinner when you get the chance?"

You nod, and they walk inside, leaving you and Striker standing outside alone.

You walk over to Striker's hell horse and move to pet his neck.

"I'd be careful if I were you, darlin'. He doesn't warm up to people quickly."

By the time he had finished giving you the warning, you had already started petting the horse as he was nuzzling you.

"Huh. He normally won't let strangers pet him." Striker stands beside you and begins petting the other side of the horse's neck.

"His name is Bombproof."

You smile and continue petting the beautiful hell horse, the flames in his mane licking your hand. You turn to Striker and gesture for him to follow you.

You show him around the ranch, eventually coming to the horse pen. You jump over the fence and begin herding the horses into the corrals.

Ghost walks up to you and begs for pats, and Striker laughs.

"You have a way with horses, huh?" He notices that Ghost is a flaming hell horse.

"Damn, that's a mighty fine hell horse you got there."

You smile at him and finish herding the horses in. You then walk up to the pig pen, where a large pig was napping in the sunlight.

You grab a rope and a knife and jump into the pen silently, walking up to the hog.

You leap on his back and throw the rope over his horns. He squeals, rears back on his hind legs, and you swiftly stab the knife into the weak spot where its head and body meet, where there are no protective plates.

You let it die, and then hoist it up and over your shoulder, walking towards the barn.

"That was impressive. Didn't think a little lady like you could pull somethin' like that." Striker says, following you into the barn.

You ignore his comment, skin the pig with his help and bring a bit of it in for dinner.

----Timeskip brought to you by an author with major ADHD----

You sit down as everyone else begins to serve themselves. You start to serve yourself as Lin asks, "Whaddya think of the farm, Striker?"

"Looks great! You've got yourself a mighty fine worker there" Striker says, gesturing to you.

You look at Lin and she nods. "We know. We don't deserve her, she's an incredible help." You smile at her and she lovingly smiles back. "She's become like family ever since we hired her a few years back."

You nod and smile at Lin and Joe before standing up and collecting everyone's dishes.

Later that night, you walk up to your room after cleaning up dinner and meet Striker walking into the room next to yours.

"G'nght, little lady." He says, and you give him a nod before walking into your room and shutting the door.

You get changed into pajamas and lay down on your bed. The fact that Striker was a rattlesnake imp almost made you feel... Hostile? No, that's not the right word...

You weren't sure, but one thing that you've learned, never judge a demon by their looks. You weren't going to hate him nor trust him yet.

You fell asleep thinking about what you had to do tomorrow.

-Striker's pov third person-

Striker entered his room after saying goodnight to Y/n.

Y/n.

She was something else. He hadn't met any other rattlesnake imps, nor a woman who could do what she could.

She was impressive.

But for now, he needed to think about his plan. About why he got Lin and Joe to hire him in the first place.

After all, the Harvest Moon Festival was only a little while away.

(A/n: hehehehehe I love this book already, I hope y'all are enjoying it as well! Remember, constructive criticism is very much appreciated!)