The forest's inky blackness was speared by the torch-like presence of the little white cat. Between her fluffy, almost luminescent fur, and her pink clothes, she practically radiated light.
She might as well have had a big flashing sign that said `I'm prey, attack me' over her head.
She wasn't doing herself any favours with her movements, either. She was staggering along and groaning her head off, flinching and cursing at every little twig and branch that clung to her fur. Her tail seemed to have a life of its own, from the way it was wriggling to and fro like a pouting child.
This wasn't the first time she'd wandered through here, though. And previous attempts to gobble her up hadn't gone particularly well for the would-be predators.
The naga understood that they would have to be cautious about their approach. Not that they had any intention of eating her... far from it! All they wanted was to find out if that little kitty was as cloud-soft as she looked. They'd followed her on many an occasion, but was never quick enough to the punch before some other careless pred made their move and got their comeuppance.
The naga's piercing blue eyes gazed carefully, and a grin spread along their red and white-furred snout. Their ebony, iridescent coils were invisibly draped overhead and all around the surrounding tree tops. When the cat slowed to a halt and stopped to grouse some more, the naga made their move.
Slowly, the figure slithered down from the tree tops and crept behind the figure. Their scales were silent against the forest floor.
She was grumbling... almost like she was talking to herself. The naga wondered if maybe she had an imaginary friend.
The tip of her thick tail suddenly veered around, like it had a mind of its own - it turned out it did. The naga watched with confusion as a toothy maw opened up and snarled in their direction. The cat wheeled around, and the naga barely had time to put their hands in the air before she was upon them. She was small, barely over 3 feet, but incredibly nimble.
She'd leapt onto the upper half of the panda, bracing her feet on their stomach and holding the point of a knife to their throat. The tail-maw loomed over the two of them, grinning and licking its `lips' with a bright pink tongue.
The naga swallowed, their pupils going quite small indeed, their teeth bared in a submissive grimace.
``Whoa-whoa-whoa!'' they sputtered. ``Didn't mean to s-neak up on you...''
They took great pains to cut their sibilance short, not wanting to give the game away.
``Ah-hah.'' she nodded. ``Judging from your lack of clothes and your... scent, I take it you've been here a while.''
``Mmm, kinda...... could you, uh...?''
``Not quite yet, red panda.'' she relaxed just a little bit, still glowering with her bright pink eyes.
...She had some pretty dark bags under them, too. She was overtired, cranky... but more vulnerable to their charms, if they played their cards right.
``You look like you're on edge,'' the naga gulped. ``You've been out here a bit, and I get that. It can get kinda... dangerou-s out here. and I can s... help you find a good sp- place to chill out till morning!''
``This would be very nice,'' she said. Her gaze was still focused on the naga's face... as was her tail. Which meant that the panda-naga's tail could work its way from the trees above, slowly and surely coming closer. They planned to pull her out of stabbing range, but keep her well within trancing range. The sooner they pacified her with their hypnotic gaze, the better...
``What is your name?'' the cat asked.
``Ah, ahem...'' the naga didn't... actually have a name. They never had a need for one. They searched their brain for a series of phonemes that would be vaguely name-like.
``B...Bevin.''
Nailed it.
``Ah-hah.'' the cat crooked an eyebrow. ``Mine is Shasha.''
A very pretty name... and one that the naga desperately wanted to repeat. But it was too risky at that moment.
Besides, their tail was almost there. Just hovering a few inches away from the fluffy tail. A quick tug would shock her, ruin her concentration, and leave her ripe for the trancing. She wouldn't see the colours coming...
Shasha keeps running into different creatures in the forest. This one's a lot nicer than most.
This is just a preview; the full story will go live next month, but if that's simply too long to wait, head over to my Subscribestar to read it, and other stories like it, before everyone else~!
![Shasha's Slumber [Commission]](https://va.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5015/5015109_leembeam_shasha_s_slumber.jpg "Shasha's Slumber [Commission]")
