So this Valentines (couple months ago) i decided to use my precious ife as a little valentines day treat this was drawn by my best friend and extremely talented itslopez (follow her on instagram) excuse the bad grammar, sentence structure, punctuation (i struggle)
a little backstory goes deep into this as you know ife has a spirit snake its name unknown but his backstory is a tragic one so listen closely
The early morning african sky shone brightly on the forest and savanna woodlands that surrounded the dense and dangerous area it was well known for predators and poachers alike buried deep below a family of serpents lay nested sleeping off the winter cold it was not going to be a normal day for the snakes nor was it going to be a happy one it was dry season meaning the poachers were out hunting the well camouflaged lions but it was different this time the serpent known only as Yibanathi he was named this after the tragic accident.. it translates into "be with us" the serpent sensed something was wrong he slithered out of the small burrow they had made together he slithered his way up to the tree looking past the savanna skies but it was not what he had expected... the sky was grey filled with smoke as a fire was growing quicker towards them through the dry grass he looked towards his burrow his family was right in the middle of the fire together him and his wife had made a family and he would not let her be worried as she was close to laying eggs.
he thought quickly without speaking he quickly bundled together enough rocks to cover the burrow entrance his mate not knowing what was happening was in a state of panic he would never forget her face the rocks alone wasn't enough to stop any smoke from coming in he would have to block the rest off with himself his tail wrapped around her softly entwining each other for the last time he closed of the entrance and lay motionless in front of the burrow the fire quickly consumed over him in his last breath all he could think about was protecting his family and making sure she was the one who survived not him.
the fire burnt for hours and hours before rescue came from the rangers who had found him burnt a hissing noise came from the burrow as the rangers were cautious to find a pregnant female snake she slithered out onto the debris her body curled around the remains of her mate the rangers spoke softly before carefully picking up the both of them they returned to a nearby shelter they were unable to save him.. they found that he had put the rocks in front of the burrow to protect her he was later named Yibanathi he was put on display with a story of tragedy where the female snake who sadly died years later it was a story of love and that he would always be with us showing us that animals care about each other just as much as humans do.
i know this is early but i want to wish everyone a happy valentines day from me and ife <3 let her and Yibanathi remind you that animals are closer to humans then we think we need to always put love over ourselves and that we should protect what we love and to everyone going through hard times remember theres always going to be that one donkey who's jealous because your better then them in every way shape or form <3
