A shudder ran softly down her spine as she heard the chilling rattles even from a distance, her eyes peering through the bush she had tucked behind as she saw the creatures slithering along the top of the rocks, basking in the sun that beat heavily overhead. She had heard about them… dangerous creatures, and dark omens… it was enough to cause the girl’s smile to fade from her features… a smile that had worn her features since she found a hearty vole to eat for lunch… the smile from food was hard to banish.

But those creatures? They meant business… nay, they meant trouble. She would not confuse the two as she slowly moved forward. Her goal? To reach the water’s edge to quench her thirst, and yet the creatures laid between her and the water. She knew approaching them was sure to be death… and going around would set her behind her schedule as she sought to follow the stream from a distance… walking too close might cause her paws to web and she looked to spare herself that discomfort.

Woe was her! What was she to do? The small frame considered she might be lithe enough to dance her way past the snakes, to reach the shoreline faster than they could bite her… did they like water? She truly did not know… only that their bite might kill her.

Her plan was slowly formulating in her mind, certainly ready to think before she acted on anything in front of her… until a fool began to howl at the top of her lungs, causing her head to snap over to her, listening as she called out and the snakes caught her attention. Miriam had a choice: save herself, or try and save the idiot in addition to herself… regretfully, her moral compass demanded that she put her life on the line to protect a member of the flock.

She ran over. “Keep your voice down and find a high place.” She hissed out for a moment, perhaps a little harsher than she had intended as she climbed atop a log. It would not really slow them down, but perhaps with a height difference they would lose interest. “The rattle is a warning to stay away… you’ve agitated them and now they’re coming to attack.” The bite would be lethal, of that Miriam had no doubt. She begged for the sad thoughts to stop plaguing her mind all the same.

“Now! To high ground now! It is our best chance!” Perhaps she could figure out a way to take the slithering beasts out before they had a chance to bite them, but it would be risky. “If we can make it past them to the rocks or the shoreline perhaps?”

The curses would not end there, muttered under her breath as the woman asked her if she knew how to swim. “Doesn’t everyone know how to swim?” She found herself shocked at the notion that there were wolves out there who didn’t.

She would make a bolt for the rocks, dodging the snapping jaws of the vipers that hunted after them, craving to bite them for their disturbance of the peace. She would not stop until she had plunged into the lake on the other side of the shore, feeling the current as she pushed her legs against it in an attempt to wade the water.

To some degree it worked, but strong currents began to pull her along the shoreline, though the snakes did think twice about it and did not move into the water in order to pursue. The current was too strong, she would need help getting out and to a place where her paws could touch. "Help me get back to the shoreline!?"