The Path of a Black Sheep in a Fantasy World (BL)

Chapter 99

Ash slithered in between the bushes, avoiding the wolves waiting in ambush. Luckily, his presence went unnoticed like he had hoped. His forked tongue came out in small thrusting motions as he approached the waterfall.

Thanking his luck that no wolves were near the corner of the waterfall, the shifter entered the cave by sliding on the humid rocks, trying not to slide down and into the water because of the slippy ground.

The little snake let out a sigh of relief as he finally reached the inside of the cave. His scales were covered in moisture from the small drops of water splashing around from the impact of the waterfall against the still water, but otherwise he was safe and sound.

Ash took on the inside of the cave, it was dark and humid, and his snake eyes couldn't perceive any warm being, apart from the slight warmth the silver herb before him emitted. He didn't know if it could really be called warmth with how little it gave off, but its color was a shade different from the ground so the kid deducted as such.

In his snake form, Ash wasn't that much taller than the herb, if only slightly taller when standing up. He smelt it with his tongue, going around it in slow circles and trying to decide how to pluck it. The roots of the herb didn't seem to be anchored in the ground, a little loose because of the hard rocks surrounding it. From his observations, Ash concluded that tearing it off the ground with his puppy-like mouth would be safe and not damage the herb.

The herb was called SilverFlame, because of its wild appearance that looked like silver flames dancing in the wind. It was mostly used to cure colds and develop a tolerance to fire, but was much more effective than normal herbs. All in all, it wasn't toxic so taking it in his mouth wouldn't injure him in any way.

Ash rotated his head slightly to get a better grip with his mouth around the herb before tugging on it. The flower was slightly cold to the touch, making him feel as if he was drinking cool water. It wasn't unpleasant in this humid weather, but Ash knew that he would probably regret it when stepping back outside into the cold winter. It hadn't started snowing yet, but it wouldn't be long. At least, in his human form, he would be able to wrap the herb in clothes to carry it.

His resolve strengthened, Ash took off outside the cave, ready to slither away.

However, his dreams were cut short as he found himself face to face with a growling wolf just as he ventured out.

The snake had been too confident since finding the heb had been so easy. He didn't think of checking if the wolves had moved since he entered the cave. Staying frozen from shock was a bad idea as the wolf lunged toward him, his jaw wide open. Ash saw something move in the forest from the corner of his eyes but he didn't have time to look closely as he slid down under the wolf's belly, slithering away in his small body as fast as he could go.

His heart was hammering away in between in temples, making a headache poke around, but he couldn't calm down as growls chased after him in the forest. Heavy paws ran after him as he dove under roots, escalated the moss covered ground, darted in between bushes and avoided snapping teeth after his tail.

Ash had difficulties breathing around the herb in his mouth, but he didn't have time to shift, and he felt like he had probably more chances of surviving in his snake form than in his human one. Finally, the shifter heard a loud howl and the sounds of poursuit behind him seized. He didn't want to risk taking a peek, so he continued to slither away as fast as he could until no more sounds of wolves could be heard.

The snake entered a small hole under a tree to hide until his breathing had calmed down, allowing himself a few minutes of peace. When he could finally take deep breaths again without his lungs hurting, Ash peeked out of his hiding place, looking confusedly around the tree and seeing no wolves waiting in ambush.

The snake wondered why the wolves stopped chasing him, but it was probably because his skinny ass wasn't worth all the chase. He didn't have much meat on him under his scale, after all.

A certain scout that had attacked a certain group of wolves sneezed in the distance, wondering if Ash was safe now.

Ash stood in the middle of the forest, ready to turn back into his human form, but as he imagined himself shifting, he couldn't find the right feeling. The snake glanced down, perplexed, at his still scaly skin.

Suddenly, Ash had another problem, he couldn't shift back.

No matter how much he tried to shift, it was as if his body was locked in its snake form. Exploring his inner domain, Ash felt like his body was stuck in its snake form because the shock of being chased by big bad wolves was too great, sending his body into a surviving state, which was more animalistic than human. It would take some time for his system to calm down enough to shift back. Until then, he was stuck in snake form.

It made Ash panic a little as he didn't want anyone seeing his snake, even less so his family. He was scared of losing all the warmth he had received, just because he was a cold-blooded beast. He had finally gotten a taste of what it was like to be cared for, he couldn't get back to how it was before.

It would be too devastating.

However, all he could do was wait to be able to turn back and hope he would be able to before the trial was up. For now, gathering the two other herbs was the priority, and then he would be obligated to head back to the village to heal injuries.

With his head lowered in despair, Ash silently slithered away to find the missing herbs.

Hey dear readers, Ash was nearly eaten by bad puppies!

And now he's stuck :/

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(1 049 words)