Into the Woods

A light crunching as her feet fell on the leaf littered ground was all that revealed she was even there. That this was all even happening. At one point birds had been singing and the wing rustled the branches of the towering trees overhead, but as she progressed the forest slowly began to fall into silence. Almost like a dream, she thought to herself.

Shanilla occasionally glanced over her shoulder as the feeling of being watched hit her constantly. Why had she even come here? She knew it was creepy. Even her parents had told he to stay out of the woods. but somehow her brother had convinced her to go in. Alone no less. It was some dare or something, she didn’t really care by this point.

Heaving a sigh as the feeling of being watched once again grew strong, Shanilla turned around. “This is far enough.” She spoke in her usual calm tone, not letting slip how nervous her location and the silence was making her.

"I think so too."

The usually quiet girl let slip a sudden shriek at the voice which whispered into her ear. Moving on it’s own her body jolted forward and spun her around bringing her face to face with… was it a man? He looked like a man, but his skin was a pale porcelain blue and his hair a bright turquoise. Eyes widening in shock and confusion, Shanilla tried to back away only to trip over a root that had suddenly made itself known. Funny, she didn’t remember any roots sticking up.

Before she hit the ground, a cooled grip caught her by the hand, and she was pulled tightly against a firm chest. “Gotta be careful out here, hot-stuff.”

Shanilla meeped a dark blush donning her cheeks. The man was quick to notice it, “So what brings you all the way out to the Cobra’s lair, chica?” He asked her grinning as he comfortably reclined in the air, allowing her to rest in his lap and be free of his arms.

A gasp left the Indian girl’s lips to distracted by the change of position to catch the question. “H-how are you doing this?”

The man tilted his head in slight confusion. “I’m gonna guess you mean the floating thing?” a nod. “I dunno!” He grinned wide once more, folding his arms behind his head as he laid back a bit further. “I’ve always done it. Can’t seem to make my feet stay on the ground.”

"Incredible." Shanilla said her earlier fears fading away at the friendly tone the man was speaking in. Surely if he mean any harm he would have done something to her by now? "You’re clearly not human…" the words came out slightly mumbled. "If you don’t mind me asking… What are you?"

The man’s grin fell slightly and Shanilla feared she’d hit a sore spot already. “Wish I could tell ya, babe-“

"Shanilla."

"Huh?" The man, or would creature be a better term? looked confused again for a moment before something clicked in his head and his trademark grin returned. "Oh! That’s your name! Well, Shanilla, you can call me Billy. Billy Joe Cobra!" he struck a dramatic pose while announcing himself, somehow managing not to knock Shanilla off his lap and on to the ground three feet below them. "But yeah, like I was saying. I don’t really know what I am. I’ve been stuck here so long everything else kinda slipped my mind." Billy looked a bit forlorn at the comment.

"You’ve been out here all this time?" Shanilla asked surprised. "No one goes into the forest! It’s a well known fact that demons and spirits-" She froze suddenly looking at Billy with barely masked fear.

Billy noticed it though and gave a pout. “I’m not gonna hurt you, you know.” Shanilla wasn’t entirely convinced but felt bad when Billy set her back on the ground and turned around dejectedly starting to float away.

"W-wait!" She called out taking a few steps towards the retreating Billy. "You… You don’t have to leave do you? I mean…" she gave a nervous laugh and looked away a slight blush forming. "I don’t even know how to get out of here. And I’m sure you’re much nicer than anything else I might run in to."

Billy bounced back fast. Less than a second after the words were out of her mouth, the creature had the top half of his body stretching up next to her while his legs still remained in place, an enormous grin on his face. “Really?! You mean it?!”

Shanilla gave a small laugh and nodded, her previous worries easing away. It just wasn’t possible for Billy to be some evil thing, he wore his heart on his sleeve. “If you want, Billy, you could walk home with me. I’d like it if you did.”

Billy’s eyes literally grew ten times their size, “You like me?”

Shanilla replied with a smile hoping to keep from hurting Billy’s feelings again. “Of course I like you.” She didn’t realize exactly what kind of ‘like’ the man was referring to.

Billy’s legs took this moment to snap back to his body and he managed to jump in the air with a loud cheer before zipping back to Shanilla and wrapping his arms around her tightly. “I like you too Shanilla!” Cold lips pressed against her own before Shanilla could question what exactly was going on. “I think I’m gonna keep ya!” Billy giggled rubbing his cheek against the human girl.

What exactly he she gotten herself into?