Hunting proved to be a strange task, it involved moving slowly and silently through the forest while constantly flicking his tongue out. Yet for as strange as it was, he also found it just as exciting of a task, there was a comfort in it. As if searching for prey to devour was as much apart of him as slithering was.

As Will moved through the forest, he found himself moving over roots and under bushes. He did not know how far he went, or for how long, but he continued to take in the forest around him as he moved.

Very quickly he found a tiny creak that cut through the forest, filled with shallow brown water that moved consistently with a small current. Upon seeing it, Will couldn’t help but feel a sense of curiosity at his ability to swim but decided against trying it out. Though he did note that he didn’t feel thirsty at the sight of the water which he felt was weird.

Eventually he decided to follow along the creek in case he could see anything that would be looking for a drink. As he moved, he felt himself growing more aware of his own mind, as if he were becoming more conscious.

It occurred to him that he would need to find prey that was smaller than he himself, or at least small enough for him to digest properly. Currently he noted that he was just a little larger than some of the bigger stones he’d found. Around the width of a quarter, while being the length of about two feet. How he knew the size of himself he didn’t know, but it felt right to him, so he decided to with it.

Then another idea occurred to him, how would he kill his prey? Will knew some snakes crushed their victims, while others had venom, but he didn’t know which he had. Using his tongue to feel the inside of his mouth, he searched for a moment only to find that he did in fact have two long lines running along the top of his mouth. Curious he opened his mouth as wide as he could, and was pleased to find that he could feel the two lines uncoiling into fangs.

Though he had no proof of the matter, and he didn’t really know all that much about snakes he took the presence of fangs to mean he had venom. There was something exciting about that thought, as if he had powers of some kind.

‘powers?’, he questioned but dismissed the idea as he continued through the forest.

Then suddenly he paused as he suddenly picked up a new scent, along with the presence of heat in the distance. The creature was small, around the size of a squirrel, perfect for him to try his venom against.

Will moved as stealthily as he could across the ground, and found doing so was easy when he was slithering. There was less chance of him moving or breaking a log, or similarly causing a noise that would alert his target.

Soon he came upon the creature, it was a small mouse-like animal with an angular head and greyish fur. Will didn’t recognize the creature and decided it best to name it a mouse until he found something better. Moving towards the mouse, he flicked his tongue into the air and felt himself grow hungry.

His movement slowed as he reached a few feet of the mouse, then he began to slide ever so slowly forwards. It was only when he was just behind the animal that it seemed to notice anything was off, immediately springing. Once more instinct controlled him, as Will lunged out with a speed, he didn’t know he was capable of. Fangs unfolded in an instant, stabbing through the creature fur and flesh before retracting as Will pulled away.

The effect of his venom was near instantaneous, as the creature only made a few steps away before its body suddenly froze causing it to trip forward and tumble onto the ground. Will felt a sense of pride and elation as he neared the twitching rodent. The feeling of hunger took over his body as he opened his mouth and began to swallow the creature headfirst. Part of him felt he should have been disgusted with the action, but again he wasn’t, nor did he know why he would be. Eating was natural, and he was hungry, so he allowed his instinct to guide him as he felt his jaw seem to unlatch itself to spread wider. Then wriggling his body forward he slowly devoured the creature all while feeling a sense of contentedness as he swallowed the mouse.

Once the mouse was swallowed, he felt the sudden need to find somewhere safe to coil up and wait for his food to digest. Deciding to return to the cave, he began following the feeling of the sword and dagger through the forest. As there was a bulge in his belly, he moved somewhat slower than he had originally, but he didn’t mind the slow pace.

Being as he felt he could sense any predators, he felt at ease as he moved through the forest, towards his cave. Everything felt right, though his memories seemed jumbled and other than knowing his name was Will and that he was a snake he didn’t know who he was. Though that didn’t seem as important as the simply desire to survive. There was a sense of contentment in that goal, a sense of familiarity with it, one that made him accept it as his purpose. To survive and grow larger, more capable.

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As Will thought of this his mind turned to the memory of the two massive beasts that had been fighting in the woods. As he thought about the creatures, he realized that he felt a sense of hunger associated with them. Not the hunger he’d felt when he’d hunted the mouse, but rather a different type, the hunger of ambition. Those creatures had possessed power and strength far beyond what he possessed, and Will found he wanted that as well.

He didn’t know what strength meant in this world, but that did not stop him from desiring it. Moving across the forest, he felt the feeling of the two swords grow stronger as he neared the cave. Finally, he climbed a small slope before entering the open space and slithering back into it.

Soon he made it to the two blades, where he then coiled up the best he could and then fell into a deep sleep.

Days passed as Will got used to his new life, he settled in his cave and found himself exploring his new body and its capabilities. Other times he would go out of the cave and explore the outside world, occasionally attempting to climb the trees and rocks that surrounded him. Doing had taken some practice, but he’d gotten the hang of it, and he’d only had to eat once more as his body seemed to grow less hungry than his other had.

That was another new development, as his body grew his mind grew with it. With the stronger mind came an influx of memories from earth, memories of the person he’d been before he’d gotten into an accident. The memories were hard to sort out at times, though he figured the more he grew the more memories he would get access to.

So far, he only had faint memories that gave him general knowledge about who he’d been and the world around him. Will knew he’d been a human living in a city before he’d died to a car accident during a rainstorm, he also knew he’d been visiting his grandmother the day of his death. Though beyond that the knowledge grew slippery and hard to grasp and would likely continue to do so until he grew to a certain point.

While the general knowledge of the world was helpful, not all of it seemed to relate to the place he was. Will suspected he was deep in some Canadian forest based on how large the trees were, as he’d read about Canada having forests with massive trees. Though there was some theories with his Canada theory. The biggest issue being himself, because while he wasn’t completely sure what snakes they had in Canada he doubted they had anything his size. In just a few days after his hatching he had already grown near half a foot longer, and a bit thicker. Considering he was a newborn, at least his body was, that meant he was undoubtedly going to get much larger than he currently was.

Part of him was pleased by that, while the other part was even more confused. Not only did it ruin his Canada theory, as he was sure Canada didn’t have any large snakes and he doubted one could live in such a cold climate. More than that, it brought the question of his species into greater question. Will was no expert on snakes, but it was already evident that he wasn’t a black mamba as he was already too large for being less than a month old.

It was that thought that drove him outside of his cave once more, despite not being hungry. Instead, he was determined to find the creek he’d seen upon his first trip outside the cave. Not only so that he could get something to drink, but also to look at his reflection in the water’s surface. While he’d been able to tell his own length due to his ability to turn and see his own body, and he could clearly spot the color of his scales, he hadn’t seen his head yet.

That was partly due to the slow speed at which his memories were returning to him. With the memories came emotions, old motivations, fears, things that had made Will who he had been in his last life. Those memories then entered his snake-like mind and took time to settle, which was why he hadn’t taken the time to view his own head before. While a human was curious as to what they looked like, a snake had no need for that knowledge as it lent nothing to their animalistic need for survival.

Now that Will was slowly growing more aware of his past life, and who he was, all be it slowly, he couldn’t help but feel curious about his own appearance.

After a while of traveling in the direction he remembered the creek being, he came upon the water. It hadn’t rained in a few days, so the water level was low to the ground, though the surface was opaque enough to cast a reflection.

Some carful slithering later, and Will found himself coiled up next to one of the creek’s puddles. Stretching forwards tentatively, Will gazed into the water and saw himself reflected. The image wasn’t perfect, but it served enough to show him that he had a triangular, viperlike head covered in the same inky black scales that ran down the length of his body. While he found his new head cool, it was his eyes which strongly caught his attention. Both eyes were purple in color, like two deep purple pools that almost seemed to glow slightly, each with its own black slit running down their middle.

The sight of himself was cool, and he found he was quite pleased with his new appearance. Though it was more than that, he found he was pleased at the simplicity that came with being a snake. Where the thought came from, he wasn’t sure, though he suspected he would find out when his full personality returned to him. For now, he could only gaze at himself and feel a level of assuredness that he basked in. Whatever the future would bring, it would be his to decide, a chance to start over, a new existence.