?Too bad your fists aren?t as fast as your mouth!?
Sitting in a cold, metal cage bound with spiked wire, six year old Viper now regretted those words she had said with such confidence a week ago.
The young reptilian?s sky-blue eyes darted from side to side with nervous flickers, her tail twitching as her father?s did when he was anxious. It was the one way he would give hint of his fear. Viper hung her triangle-shaped head and flicked her tongue out. No, she wouldn?t cry. Not now. She had to be strong. It was her only way to avenge the fall of her parents and their now lost kingdom.
A gorilla guard, his armor heavily spiked and thick, was watching the front, snorting every now and then with contempt. There was the cruel laughter of someone, the pounding of heavy steps, and the clink of metal against metal as the huge bulk of another gorilla, the one she had ribboned into a present, was into view. He gave a booming laugh and strode up, with his fists on the ground, as apes walk. Viper hissed and turned her head away.
?Aw, is the little snakey-wakey afraid? How cute, yes,? said the Chief Gorilla, his cold eyes glaring at Viper. He was still suffering from the humiliation he had received six days ago. Viper glared at him, saying,
?What do you think? You?re just some gift that nobody wanted, even though it had a really nice bow.? Viper hissed angrily, combating him back, her sweet personality beaten out of her and replaced with cold fury. The Gorilla tried to cover the sting from the remark he had received with another laugh, but his one was forced.
?You are a feisty one, aren?t you,? he said, and forced a strained laugh through gritted teeth. Viper would have bared her fangs, but granted she didn?t have any, all she could do was flick out her tongue. The gorilla tossed her cage up and then grabbed it again by the handle, the only part that wasn?t barbed. Viper felt queasy. The gorilla then threw her down, and a painful jolt coursed through Viper?s body when she landed with a clang. Her head slammed against the metallic floor from the momentum and she could feel her vision blur.
The small snake girl forced herself up and tried to locate the ape that had dropped her. He dropped a tulip?s feather through the tiny hatch on the side.
?Oh, and by the way,? he said, walking towards the door. He turned and faced her with an evil smile. ?Merry Christmas.?
Viper?s eyes followed her parent?s gift that she had received as it fluttered to the cold floor of her cage.