Made by https://www.deviantart.com/rekstone767
Requested for me by https://www.deviantart.com/haydenthefox
Story and edits by me
Original: Not yet posted


A snake dove into the ocean, puffed cheeks on either side of his head, eager to explore a cave he'd heard about from a fish. He could hold his breath for plenty of time, but they had said there were a few air pockets inside, so he had a backup just in case. Once he came across the cave, he swam inside without hesitation, soon catching his breath in an air pocket before diving again to explore. During his swim, he encountered a couple fish, which he bubbled a greeting to as he passed, and a large chamber with many different paths, one of which he picked at random. Another 6 minutes of swimming led to a second air pocket being discovered, which the snake took a quick breath from before continuing.

For another 40 minutes, he explored many of the large chamber's tunnels, until he started to struggle with holding his breath, his cheeks getting noticeably bigger. Not remembering which path led to the air pocket he'd last used, he checked a random other tunnel, eventually seeing air far above him. Except, when he went to it, it turned out to be such a small amount that even swimming up to it had likely cost him more oxygen than he'd get by inhaling it! This tunnel continued onward, and so did the snake, hoping to find an exit or an actually useful amount of air.

On and on he swam, slowly using up his limited oxygen and beginning to turn purple from how long he'd held his breath. The last time he'd inhaled was over an hour ago, now, and he briefly paused to press his tail against his mouth, cheeks getting even bigger, before moving on. After 20 more minutes, he finally found an exit into the open ocean, but it seemed he'd gone incredibly far down! The poor snake wasn't sure he'd make it to the surface from this depth, but he had to try.

40 minutes into his ascent, passing the 2 hour mark along the way, the snake's body was turning blue, his lungs feeling like they were on fire. Large bubbles leaked from his quivering lips, but he couldn't pause to cover his mouth this time, and just hoped he could hold on long enough. Soon, his cheeks were bigger than his head, his vision started to blur, and his body shivered... Then, finally, he reached the surface, a huge, desperate gasp ringing out. After taking some time to recover, the snake cursed himself for being so overconfident at the second air pocket so long ago; he'd nearly drowned because of it!