Xeno-Planet

The Vice's Serpentine Bond

Vice-Captain Nero Vellum landed in a valley. The valley was filled with lush greenery and had a flowing lake of bright blue water. From bushes grew berries that were feasted upon by small mammalian lifeforms known as Xenoppossums. Drinking from the lake were large, long necked, and docile herbivores called Tonitruapes. The valley was a large area. It covered 25% of the planet's main landmass. And due to that there were a lot of battles over territory by apex species.
As Nero was drinking water from the lake and eating food stored in his lifepod he was unsuspecting of the apex predator lurking up behind him. He heard the sound of rustling grass and turned expecting to see some Xenoppossums heading towards a drink. But, what he actually saw was much more intimidating.
It was a reptilian covered in black and white scales. Its bottom half was like the body of a snake and its torso and arms were similar to that of a Human. It even had opposable thumbs. It had the head shape of a Rattlesnake from Earth. It had four eyes on each side of its head totalling to eight eyes. In its mouth were two large fangs that contained a powerful venom. At the tail end of its serpentine lower body was a sharp blade made of hardened scales. Nero's mind immediatelynamed it in a fitting manner. Trying to understandwhat the hell he was seeing. The Death Adder.
It moved into attack. But then Nero dropped all of his equipment and put his hands up before shouting, “Wait! I’m a friend. Not food. I don’t want to harm you. So you shouldn’t want to harm me.” The creature inspected him before deeming Nero not to be a threat.
Nero then picked up his things. And resumed his actions inspecting the local fruits to see if they were edible. The Death Adder went to go get a drink. Nero then saw on the right side of its head was a scar over two of the four eyes on that side. “Looks like that thing’s seen its fair share of combat.” Nero thought. Then he decided to test something. He exclaimed, “Hey!” towards the Death Adder. It looked at him curious. He then shouted, “Is this fruit edible!” towards it.
He didn’t expect anything but confusion from the Adder. But then, the creature nodded at him before turning away. His assumption was correct. The Death Adder could understand him. It had the intelligence to do so. Much like a Mortem Raptor's part of the brain however more advanced.
Then in the distance, a roar sounded across the valley. It wasn’t just a roar of pain or fear but rather of dominance. Whatever had sounded that roar was an apex predator. However, before Nero could theorize what the noise was from the Death Adder picked him up in one of its arms and quickly slithered away. Before long, they arrived at the Adder’s den. “Did you do that to prevent whatever that was from finding me?” Nero asked. The serpentine nodded. It was now raining.
Nero looked into the den. He was shocked by what he saw. Smashed eggs. And above them a dead Death Adder. But this one was smaller. Nero concluded it was the mate of the Adder that brought him there. And the destroyed eggs were its unborn young. “So, you lost your family.” Nero said to the creature. It was looking out into the raining forest. It nodded in response to the statement. Nero then asked “Was it the thing that made that noise?” and the Adder nodded for confirmation. And finally he asked, “Is…is that thing the apex predator of this area?” And then the serpent nodded once again.
Nero thought that only bad things were to come if a creature such as a Death Adder could be eliminated by another creature. So Nero started planning. He always carried parchment on him in case of emergency for planning purposes. He started writing down the things he’d learned about Alaria. Then he put the parchment away. He then spoke, “Hey, I understand that you probably want to kill the thing that did this. So, for the prospect of my own safety as well as yours I am going to aid you in hunting that thing down.” He then placed his hand out and the Death Adder placed its snout in his palm. They had an agreement.