The Prince and the Serpent

The Stranger

A rustle of clothing and the squeak of a floorboard woke Mitsuki. At first, he was confused. He didn't remember falling asleep. He could feel Boruto's warm body beside his as well as the presence of an intruder. He drew one of his long, silver daggers and rolled, slashing at the invader. Green light crackled to life and sprayed golden sparks as his weapon neared its target. The scene the light revealed made him freeze instantly.

A man was hunched beside the bed next to Boruto. His skin looked like it was tinged green and gold, though Mitsuki couldn't tell if that was from the light or if it was the man's natural skin color. His skin was lumpy and his wide, mad eyes were reddish-brown, bloodshot and ringed by square scales. Scruffy black eyebrows shot as one across his brow and matched his short, wild, greasy-looking black hair. He had no lips and his mouth was twisted into a wide smile, exposing his yellow teeth that were chipped and crooked.

The tip of Mitsuki's dagger was fixed at the intruder's scaly throat but he couldn't finish the slash. Long, knobbly fingers tipped with wicked black claws were wrapped around Boruto's neck.

"Hello, Mitsuki. Long have I wanted to speak with you." The thing stated without losing its twisted smile. He was slowly drumming his chipped claws on Boruto's vein and the skin was starting to turn read from irritation. Boruto looked like he was still sleeping peacefully except his body was limp in the monster's grasp like a rag doll. He must have been placed under a sleeping enchantment to keep him unconscious. Mitsuki felt his blood boil. No one laid their polluting fingers on his Sun and lived. His eyes glowed with his basilisk stare but the villain was ready. He squeezed Boruto's neck and sky blue eyes popped open.

"Mitsuki..." Boruto whispered, his eyes wide and staring

"Now, now. We wouldn't want any accidents." The stranger jeered. At the sight of blue, Mitsuki slammed his eyes shut. They burned from the aborted stare but he refused to show pain. He blinked his eyes back open and glared cold hatred but the beast's crooked smile only grew wider. "There we go. I knew we'd get to a point where you'd be agreeable." He cackled. Mitsuki hissed his anger.

"What do you want? I swear if you hurt Boruto-"

"I'm aware of that, love." The thing cut him off. He brought his left hand up and a short brass dagger glittered in the weak light. He was inching it towards Boruto's neck. Mitsuki pressed the tip of his dagger into the thing's neck in warning. Blood trickled from the new wound but the intruder ignored it. He hooked the blade's razor tip under the silver chain around Boruto's neck and lifted the crystal from his shirt. The stone tumbled out into the green tinged light. Something about it caught Mitsuki's eye. It was tiny, but he could just make out a spark of white light in the heart of the crystal.

"I also know what you are looking for." He said as he held the stone out to Mitsuki. "Handy little toy, don't you think? But it is not necessary. I know where it is." Mitsuki studied his face hard, looking for any sign of deceit but he found none. He wished he could just kill this thing and be done with it but he needed to know what this creature knew.

"Where is the key?" Mitsuki asked, not bothering to hide his hatred of the being before him. Despite his frigidness, the creature brightened.

"It is deep in the heart of the swamp, in the fields of poison gas. This one here..." He held Boruto up more for emphasis. It made Mitsuki see red but he forced himself to remain calm. He would make this thing pay later. "...He would never make it, but you...You are built much sturdier than this little one, I think. You are like me." The way the creature licked his teeth suggestively with his forked tongue was nauseating. Mitsuki's disgust must have shown because it decided to speak again, "Oh, I may not be pretty like you, but I think you'll be surprised at just how alike we are." Mitsuki fought the urge to just take its head off here and now.