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Snow crunched beneath his shoes and his breath came out as visible puffs of air. He’d been walking down this path for… he lost track of how long it had been. A strong gust of wind pushed past him, trying to steal the cloak off his shoulders. It was way too cold with the cloak on, losing it would be… He didn’t want to think about it.
He had to find shelter. A village, a house, a cave, he’d make do with anything really. Staying out here in the freezing cold was not something he could do for much longer. He needed a place to stay. He needed warmth, comfort and-
And Food.
And food. First Spinjitzu Master he was hungry. He needed something to eat. He needed something to eat soon or he was going to black out. He didn’t want to black out, not again. He didn’t want to hurt anyone-
They kept food away from-
A tall pole jutted out of the ground where the path split into two. Two signs were attached to it, but one was faded and covered in snow. The other pointed out towards a mountain, with faded but still legible writing. It took a moment of squinting, but he was able to make out ‘Jamanakai Village’.
A village! He could find what he needed there! There would be shelter from the storm, there would be food, maybe he could even find someone who could-
Food.
He needed food. He needed food now. All of the other things could wait. Food was his first and highest priority. The village would have food. All he had to do was find it.
Lloyd looked down the long path towards the mountain and started walking forwards.
Jamanakai village was a fairly small place built on the side and a bit into the mountain. It looked quite nice, the walk up here though? Not so much, but the village was pretty. There were trees with red leaves around the village and a big fountain with dragon statues on it. There were also lanterns, Lloyd liked lanterns. They had a soft glow when lit and they made him feel happy-
Food.
Focus! He needed to focus if he wanted to find food. There were a few shops around, one of them had to contain some food. He just had to look. He was about to step into the village when he hesitated.
What would happen if they saw his scales? Or his tail? Or really any of his snake-like parts? Darkley’s had barely accepted him, and that was a school for bad people. This was just a village of probably perfectly good people. They’d probably kick him out at best and he couldn’t last much longer on his own or without food.
He had to make sure everything was hidden. His sunglasses were still on his face, so no one would see his eyes. His hood would cover the scales on his neck and his frill. His tail was still wrapped around his torso, hidden by his shirt and cloak. His claws were under his gloves, hidden by the thick fabric. Everything else was hidden by clothes, so he was all good to enter the village… Still wouldn’t hurt to avoid people though.
Lloyd took a bit of a detour into the village, avoiding the path and instead skirting around to enter through an alleyway. Luckily, due to it’s small size, there weren’t too many people around. That would make it easier to sneak in, but he still had to be careful. He couldn’t risk being found.
It seemed his luck was short lived though, as every shop he peeked into was anything but food. Furniture, clothes, toys, even a fireworks shop, but no food. There had to be something around here, he’d even take a vegetable shop at this point! He was so hungry…
He peeked through the big main window, saw something that wasn’t food, ducked and snuck to go peek in the next window like clockwork. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find any food, did this village have no- He found something! Not only something, he hit the jackpot!
A candy shop! The shop's colourful sign reflected the shelves and jars inside, reds, purples, greens, yellows, practically every colour in the rainbow lined the shelves inside. There was so much candy! Almost endless stacks of candy stretched towards the ceiling. It was paradise! It was- Focus Lloyd. He still needed to get in.
There was a lot of candy, but it’d be nothing more than a mouth watering sight if he stayed out here. He didn’t have any money to buy some and the front door would give him away. He needed to break in and steal some… but he would only steal as much as he needed. He didn’t want to steal any more than he had to-
Get the Food.
He had to get the food. He needed to find a way in that wouldn’t alert anyone inside the shop. Maybe if there was another door…
Lloyd trailed along the side of the building, soon finding himself in the alley around the back. It wasn’t much, it had a few crates, a big trash bin, a bike- and a back door! That would be his way in.
He walked up to the door, ready to grab the handle and get into the candy- it was locked. He fiddled with it for a while, but it didn’t budge. Well, there goes that option.
Break it.
That wouldn’t be a good idea. The noise could give him away, not to mention the owner would be angry-
Break it for food.
He was too hungry to care about that. He needed in now. He needed food now.
Lloyd automatically grabbed onto the handle and began pushing. As seconds passed, the metal began to creak and bend under his grip. Less than half a minute later, the door handle was on the other side of the door, allowing it to swing open.
Lloyd stepped into the room. It was the storage room for the candy shop. The candy wasn’t on display in the same way as out the front, but there was still a lot of it. It was just him and the candy.
Lloyd ran over to one of the shelves and started reading over all of the labels, a smile forming on his face. His tail absentmindedly loosened, uncurling as he started shaking the spiked rattle in excitement. There were so many choices, where would he even start? It didn’t matter. What did matter was that it was food. So much food.
Without any further hesitation, he began eating.
It was the best tasting food he’d had in months. Though, considering the only other food he had eaten was whatever Darkley’s had been serving, it wasn’t a high bar. But it was so good. After a while, he lost track of how much he had eaten. Eventually, he lost track of who else was in the room.
“What the- What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” The loud and angry shout startled him out of his food frenzy and he whipped his head around to see a furious looking man, presumably the owner, practically snarling at him.
Lloyd’s heart jumped into his throat as he opened his mouth to apologise, to try and explain away what he had done. He didn’t get the chance to as the man’s look shifted from fury to horror and Lloyd realised three things.
1) His tail was still out and visible from when he first started looking at the candy
2) His hood was down, meaning that his frill and the scales around his neck and face were visible
And 3) The man had seen it all-
Lloyd could only squeak out a “wait-” before the man had armed himself with a broom and began swinging at him.
“Serpentine beast! Get out of my shop!” He bellowed as Lloyd kept dodging and ducking to avoid the broom.
He had to get out, he had to leave, he had to escape now, but how? How was he supposed to when the man was blocking the entrance? He couldn’t. He was stuck. He was trapped he was- he was-
Fight.
He couldn’t fight. He didn’t know how to fight. He was tiny. The man was huge. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. He’d just get hurt. He’d get hurt by staying here too. What was he going to-
‘CRASH’
The glass shards of what was once a jar exploded out everywhere as the broom plunged through where it once was.
Lloyd froze. His senses seemed to both dull and sharpen as the echo of the shattered glass rang through his head and replaced anything else he could think about. His head hurt...
Fight back.
The man tried to swipe at him again.
He wants to hurt you.
Lloyd didn’t duck to avoid it.
You can’t escape this.
He caught the pole of it between his teeth.
You have to fight.
The wood splintered beneath his fangs.
You have to devour.
His mind slipped away from him.
He fought back.