~Chapter 7- Ekanzi Canyon~

Jirro and Aero could see the Ekanzi canyons in the distance as the sun rose. The rocky area appeared to have an opening through which they could enter.

"I didn't know that's how your mom died through Focus sickness..." Aero said.

"Yeah, after that Heartstone ritual on Platt Mountain, my dad told me. It was why he didn't want us using Focus," Jirro explained.

Aero nodded, "It's kind of nice to know exactly what happened to her."

Jirro peered at Aero, "What makes you say that?"

"I mean, Corri and I have no idea what happened to our mom. No idea if she's alive or dead. We don't even know her name. I feel like it'd be nice to know a little bit," Aero explained softly.

Jirro looked at Aero, it wasn't often that he spoke sentimentally like that.

They entered the canyon. There were cliff faces on each side of them and many round holes beneath their feet - tunnels. No doubt for snakes to slither in and out of. Aero winced when he saw a hole big enough for him to fit into.

A snake slithered out of one of the holes; it was about three meters in length. It saw the two boys and snarled, showing off its fangs as it did. It lunged at Aero, but the boy simply grabbed it out of the air. The yellow-dotted snake tried to wriggle away, but Aero tucked the creature underneath his arm and pinned it there.

"Okay, open its mouth and pull the fang out!" Aero said as he wrangled the snake into submission.

Jirro shook his head, "We're looking for a cobra Aero, that's not it. I think that's an anaconda, not nearly as big."

Aero dejectedly gripped the anaconda and tossed it away. It hissed at them before slithering into one of the many holes dotting the area.

The two continued until they came upon a much more open area with mounds of dirt dotted with holes for snakes to travel through. Carcasses spread throughout the area. The boys remained on their guard.

Jirro spotted a giant yellow translucent mass that extended through the terrain. He recognized it as shed skin from an enormous snake. Thirty or fourty meters long, and three meters wide.

"Yeah, there's a cobra here," Jirro said.

Aero winced, "This is from a cobra? You came here knowing we'd have to deal with something this big?!"

"We need to save Nout! Whatever it takes!" Jirro spoke with determination.

At the center of the open area, they found it - the cobra's full body spread out. It lay motionless, its sinister eye visible. They quickly circled behind a mound of dirt, fearing that it had seen them.

Yet the cobra remained motionless.

"What's it doing?" Aero asked in a whisper, peering over at the beast.

Jirro watched as the creature lightly breathed in a rhythmic fashion. He whispered, "I think it's asleep."

"But its eyes are open," Aero whispered back.

"Snakes don't have eyelids, Aero."

Aero looked at Jirro, then back at the open-eyed snake, "...That's weird."

Jirro saw this as fortunate. While the cobra was asleep, maybe they could get the fang out. It'd certainly be safer than trying to take it while it was awake. He looked around the area and saw a boulder relatively close to the beast.

"Can you pick up that boulder?" Jirro asked his cousin.

"Of course!" Aero responded.

"Okay..." Jirro turned to Aero, "I want you to pick up the boulder and be ready with it. I'm going to run over to the cobra, open its mouth while it's asleep, and tear the fang out. If it wakes up, shout, and throw the boulder at its head, and we'll run away."

Aero looked at Jirro incredulously, "That's a terrible idea."

"Well, that's all I can think of right now! Unless you have any brighter ideas, I think we should do that. I don't want it to wake up and for us to miss our opening."

Aero hesitantly shrugged. He rushed over to the boulder and lifted it over his head, ready to chuck it at a moment's notice. Jirro went to the creature with as light of steps as he could. It felt eerie looking at its eyes as he approached.

Jirro circled to the front of the beast. It could easily eat him whole if he wasn't careful.

He hesitantly gripped the snake's mouth and opened it until he could see the snake's fang. While its mouth was closed, the fang withdrew itself into the bottom half of the snake's mouth.

Jirro paid close attention to the snake's breathing, looking for any sort of change that might signal that it had woken. The inside of its mouth smelled horrible. Jirro pushed up until he could see the entirety of the fangs. Sharp with a terrifying curve.

Aero could see a twitch ripple through the snake's entire body. The eye began to look around and sharpening at the sight of him.

"It's awake!" Aero shouted.

Jirro felt pressure from the beast's mouth and jumped back, barely avoiding the cobra's bite. Its body straightened up into the air and hissed at them. Aero chucked the boulder directly into the cobra's mouth.

The boys ran. The cobra struggled with the boulder for a moment before crushing it with the sheer force of its bite and then went after the kids.

It was fast. Far faster than the boys, but it didn't go straight for them. Instead, it circled its massive serpentine body around them until they were surrounded.

The cobra looked down at the boys before preparing to choke the life out of them. Jirro recognized what it was about to do. He shouted, "Jump!"

Just as the cobra went to wrap around the boys, the two jumped over ten meters into the air. Their training with Chief Theo was paying off. They landed on its body.

The cobra lunged at them, and they jumped away just in time. The creature carelessly bit into its own body. If it wasn't immune to its own venom, then that could've been the end of it.

The boys sprinted as fast as they could through the canyon, back into the more tightly confined area they entered through. Aero only thought to escape at this point... but Jirro still wanted that fang. He slowed his steps.

"We still need that fang!" Jirro declared.

"We can't beat that thing! Not on our own!" Aero tried to reason.

"I'm not going anywhere!"

The cobra slithered into view towards the boys, fangs revealed, ready to kill. Jirro stood his ground as it came at him. Aero wanted to run, but he wasn't going to abandon his cousin.

Jirro's fist emanated a radiant blue light that continued to grow brighter. The cobra lunged. Jirro punched the air between him and the snake. A massive burst of blue light rocketed from his fist, flying directly into the cobra's mouth. It hit the back of its throat and kept going, bursting through it. The cobra's eyes became a lifeless gray color, and it collided with the canyon's walls before slumping to the ground.

Jirro felt dizzy, and his vision began to falter. He did his best to keep standing, but before he knew it, he fell to the ground unconscious.

-----------------------

"Jirro!" Aero shouted repeatedly. Jirro woke to Aero standing over him, shaking his body.

"You're okay!" He shouted when he saw Jirro's eyes flutter open. Aero gave him a strong hug.

Jirro was still half asleep, "What happened?"

"You killed the cobra!" Aero gestured to their side. The cobra's lifeless corpse lay there, its eye devoid of life and its fangs missing. Aero had already torn them out.

Jirro took a moment before standing up. He still felt a little off-balance and dizzy. Aero helped him stand upright, "Can you walk?"

Jirro tried to walk a few steps before starting to feel comfortable again, "I-I think so..."

Aero grabbed the two large fangs of the cobra and carried them along, careful not to touch the poisonous end of them. They headed back to Titus Forest with them in tow. Jirro walked slowly; using that massive Focus attack truly drained him.

As they went, they saw a group of Phantine warriors approaching. Chief Theo was among them. As soon as Theo realized the boys had left during the night, he gathered up a search party to save them.

Theo's party met with the boys in the plains between Titus Forest and Ekanzi Canyon. "Are you boys okay?" Theo asked.

"I'm a little tired. We got the fangs though," A weary Jirro responded.

Theo looked at the terrifying long fangs Aero carried with disbelief. "Ho- How did you get those?"

Aero smiled big, "Jirro killed the cobra!"

The Phantine Warriors looked at the half-awake Jirro with amazement. They were sure that the boys would be killed if they went alone. The more time they spent with these kids, the less they understood them.

Theo carried Jirro back to Titus Forest. When they returned, Nout had already awoken. He was incredibly drained and exhausted, but conscious.

Koka was amazed when she saw that the boys had brought her two full Cobra fangs. Even she had no idea the sheer quantity of potions she would be able to create using them. She began brewing up a series of potions, promising to let the kids have as much as they wanted.

Jirro and Nout spent their time in recovery until Koka brought them her potions. "Drink up, boys."

Jirro sipped the green liquid. His strength suddenly returned as he gulped down the rest of the bottle, as did Nout's. Soon, they felt as if nothing had happened to them at all.

"Thanks for doing that for me, Jirro," Nout said once they were alone.

"You'd do the same for me," Jirro responded in kind.

"I should've listened to you. You told me to be careful, but I kept going," Nout said, "It was the first time in my life that I felt that strong. I guess I got a little carried away."

"You're plenty strong already, trust me," Jirro praised, "Just promise to be careful from now on."

Nout nodded with a smile.