The Snake Kingdom was a prosperous kingdom that ruled the plains. The kingdom was ruled by Queen Snake and King Snake, and in their rule, they brought nothing but prosperity to the kingdom. Under their governance, the lands were rife with golden grass and silver flowed along their rivers like fish.

They also had a child, the Princess Snake. The princess was rather melancholic living upon the highest branch of the castle. The castle in which the royalty of the Snake Kingdom was an enormous acacia whose highest branches could overlook all the burrows dug by the subject snakes.

Every night, the princess snake would look out to the lights that lit every household. They littered across the landscape like the stars in the sky. The princess longed to be with any one of their subject males. She was certain that any of them would be more suitable than her suitor and betrothed husband, Prince Cobra.

She had known Prince Cobra since they were hatchlings. Their parents had matched them, but they hadn't clicked. Prince Cobra was a petulant prideful prick. She couldn't stand to be with him, especially that they would be married when they come of age to live in one for as long as they live. She had met many other princes and even commoner males, and she would prefer to marry any of them than to be married to Prince Cobra. She begged the king and queen, but they disagreed.

"Think of the kingdom, Princess Snake," they reasoned. "Your union will bring prosperity to the kingdom."

So melancholy filled the princess. She couldn't stand Prince Cobra, let alone rule over the sandy desert that was the Cobra Kingdom.

On the eve of her birthday, she ran away. The day after was the day she was slated to be married to the person she most disliked. She ran away discretely in the night, obscuring her visage with a shawl, and slithered into the distant woods. She left the Snake Kingdom behind her tail and intruded into the Viper Kingdom.

She wandered far into the woods where any woodsman who wished to find her, to bring her back to her marriage, could not find her. She paid no attention to where she was going, only that she was going away.

Soon, Princess Snake had grown tired and stumbled upon a clearing. In the middle of the clearing, there was a stump. She climbed up the stump and sat upon it. She rested.

She turned her eyes to the skies to gaze upon the stars above. They twinkled gently. She was filled with sadness, she thought of looking up to find the constellations of her people.

On that very night also, a very rare sight was seen. Upon the dark blue veil of night was a star that shone not everyday. It shone only once a year and that night changed every year. It was an auspicious sight to have the Auspicious Star in the sky. The Auspicious Star, a dot slightly larger than the others. The light it glew was of an orange hue, wildly different from the usual glow. It's said that wishing to the star would make it come true.

And so the princess wished. She prayed to the star, to the heavenly serpents which her people venerated. She wished to be rid of her betrothal. To be taken to a distant land where she could be married to someone else.

But before she could finish, she was interrupted by a guest.

"Well, well, well," the viper said. "What's a princess doing out here, in the woods of the Viper Kingdom."

The princess kept silent. Even though she wore a shawl, her origin could not be hidden to those with a keen eye. She was a much brighter red than commoners of her kingdom. Amusement was evident in the viper's face. Its green scales blended with the forest flora.

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"Well, sorry princess, we can't really let you be here," the viper began. "Or let you live. Them's the rules. Trespassers of the Viper Kingdom must die!"

A horrified look came to the princess and quickly slithered away, but she couldn't slither away quick enough. Not very far from where she had begun, she became surrounded with vipers on all sides, hissing in distaste in her presence. Their fangs were dripping in poison, ready to stab into her.

She had resigned to her fate when a bright column of light had fallen upon her. The vipers were frightened and scampered away. Princess snake coiled upon the ground, ready for retribution, when she saw the being that had lowered themself from the heavens.

She looked up to the serpent before. It was a beautiful serpent with scales of bright green and a headdress of feathers of all colors of the rainbow. It looked at her with its star-like eyes. She recognized the serpent before her.

It was or rather he was the Sky Serpent, herder of the sun and bringer of the winds. She was honored but she was a bit confused as to why he appeared before her. She bowed her head in reverence to the deity.

"Raise your head, princess," the Sky Serpent said. His divine voice was soft like the wind and fierce like the rain. "I have heard your pleas and have come to bring you from your woe."

Princess Snake looked at the Sky Serpent's eyes, enthralled by his words. She closed into his head, but he pulled his head slightly back.

"Not in that manner, princess," the Sky Serpent spoke. "I have come to spirit you away to Birthday Planet."

The feathered serpent turned his eyes to the sky, pointing towards the great shining Auspicious Star above. The princess's eyes were attracted to the star by his gaze.

"See that, princess, the so-called Auspicious Star?" The Sky Serpent asked, to which the princess nodded. "That's the Birthday Planet. Every year, it chooses one person whose date of birth coincided with the Auspicious Night and makes their wish come true."

The serpent turned his face back to the snake. "And tonight, it had chosen to bring yours to reality."

The serpent floated off the ground. Upon his back sprouted a pair of wings. The feathers upon his wings glittered like made of precious metal and gemstones. It glowed and twinkled in the starlight. His star-like eyes intensified in their glow, turning into a pair of bright torches emitting electric blue light.

"But in order for your wish to be granted, you must cross the trials of the Birthday Planet. Should you accomplish that and reach the highest peak, you may be carried up and step upon the star's soil."

The Sky Serpent coiled his tail tightly around the princess's middle like how a hawk may snatch a snake away. The serpent took off gently, carrying the princess away into the air. "However, I cannot bring you through my usual fare. The celestial gates I go through are unfit for mortal passage. Bringing you to your first trial is the least I could do."

And so the Sky Serpent spirited the Princess Snake away on that cool night. The bright waxing moon shone ample light to illuminate the world. The duo flew over plains and forests and hills to a distant land. The lands whence the princess came was now but a distant memory.

Soon a looming object rose above landscape. It rose like a column against the heavens, rising above the surrounding woods. It was a great mango tree, casting shade with its humongous foliage. Its thick bark were riddled with valleys water could flow. Upon its base were roots radiating from its trunk, and a moat of rain water surrounded it.

"Wow," the princess began. "It's... it's very big."

"Indeed, it is," the Sky Serpent replied. "Behold, princess, the Great Tree. Upon its fruits and shade, the first serpents were nourished."

"Really? Was this were you were born?" The princess asked.

"Yes," he tersely replied.

The Sky Serpent gently dropped the princess upon the base the tree. The great shade of the Great Tree veiled their surroundings in darkness. A swirling twist was set upon the tree's trunk. It twisted like a whirlpool upon the wood, and the its furrows glowed a pale celeste blue.

"Here we are, princess," the serpent said. "This is your first trial. That twisting gnarl you see is a portal to the tree's inner wood, its Wood World."

"What should I do when I go inside?" The princess asked as she slithered closer to the glowing twist.

"Inside awaits Wood Serpent, the serpent of trees. He guards a Primordial Mango. For you to move forward, you must have the mango," he answered. He tucked his wings into his body where it disappeared, corpuscles of starlight were flung where his wings had once been.

"Why?"

"The Primordial Mango gives you immunity to fire. The only path to Birthday Planet is fraught with flames."

"Ah, I see."

"If you want the Birthday Planet to be able to grant your wish, you must be able to survive the way to its surface. So, do you wish to have your wish made true or not?"

"Yes," the princess replied. She slithered into the furrows with little hesitation.