Hearthwood River and the snakes start to sing

It was with some relief that the others arrived – Kjors could only fit one cub in his mouth, and it would always be Bennet, without a doubt.  Still, it was good that Atropos was not left to fend for herself, one of the newer members of the pack swooping in to rescue the other girl.  All the children left with @Karina and @Lilya, the advisor felt confident the two women could keep the three pups safe, herd them away from danger, and allow the others to chase the serpent out of Hearthwood River without having to worry a cub was about to get themselves bitten.

In fact, it seemed as though the children knew no fear at all, playing amongst their mother’s feet as if nothing was wrong with the world.

He might have smiled, had the snake not continued its ominous rattling.  Ears rolled backwards as he fell in behind Lachesis, quickly picking up on the man’s attempts.  As he darted one way, the snake darted after him – and Kjors lunged in a different direction.  It did not take long for the rattler to lunge after him as well, uncoiling itself as it tried to fend off two wolves from two different directions.  A longer body, a longer target – but how to get it away from here?

“We have t’kill it,” he muttered gruffly, single eye seeking out Lachesis as they continued their snake dance.  “Ain’t gonna be safe fer th’ pups otherwise.”

to have someone kiss the skin that crawls from you

KJORS SØRENSON

to feel your weight in arms I'd never use

Lilya had been about to move back to the fight, ready to show that snake just who it was messing with when Karina thanked her, simply shaking her head in return – they were a pack, and this pack was closer together, more like a family, and it was what anyone would have done… she’d been the closest and thus the first to get to the pup. But then Karina asked her to stay with her, to help watch the pups and she offered a comforting smile and a nod. “O’course I will.” She confirmed as she watched the pups carefully, still on her paws in case one of them decided to wander towards the action.

It was nice, to see how peaceful they were, not a care or worry in the world. They made their parents happy, they had a pack looking out for them without putting too much pressure on them just yet to be something, letting them figure it out on their own. She was almost envious because that was a childhood she wished she’d had. She had that towards the beginning of course, just her parents had been more strict, more cautious – those things tended to happen when a pack found themselves at war.

But it wasn’t like that, and she was finding herself more thankful than ever that she’d finally thought about and taken up Lachesis’ offer – maybe a month or two late, but one that had been a choice she truly had to think about. She was watching them play, keeping her mind focused on them and not the very real danger that lingered not far from them, because the moment she started to think about that, she knew she’d worry.

Karina was grateful for the other female’s unhesitating agreement. From their previous conversation Karina had gathered that Lilya could hold her own, but the new recruit had sacrificed the glory of the fight to ease the mother’s nerves. The weight of that seemingly effortless decision was not lost on Karina, and she would not forget. Once the young ones were together they appeared to lose interest in the snake, instead turning their attentions on one another. At this age, it was out of sight, out of mind, thank the Mother.

The woman’s heart was in her throat as the fight began, and even more distressing was the fact that she couldn’t watch what was taking place. She didn’t dare take her eyes off the cubs, not even for a moment. She knew from experience that the shortest of wayward glances was long enough for a pup-- Kyrios especially—to squirm away from supervision. She was beginning to suspect that Kyrios purposefully waited for her to look away.

The hair on her spine stood up when Kjors’s voice declared that the snake would need to be killed. On one paw, the creature’s death would eliminate the chance that it would return to this area, which was a distinct possibility if it was denning nearby. On the other paw, what Kjors proposed was truly a death match.. simply chasing the snake away would be safer for the adults involved. Karina began to tremble, though her gaze never wavered from the cubs’ blissfully ignorant play. 

   

    
 

thank you thank you <3 one more round after this and we can wrap up?! :D
@Lilya @Kjors @Karina @Atropos @Bennet

As much as he wanted to simply chase the snake away, Lachesis knew that the better option was to kill it. Now that the snake knew there was food here, even with the salivating jaws of the Hearthwood wolves nearby, it would return. To ensure the safety of his packmates (especially the little ones), the snake needed to be destroyed. “If we can keep this up, one of us can lunge for it,” he suggested, his ear gaze turning to the one-eyed dragon. In the moment the ghost did not have time to worry about how he felt about Kjors. All that mattered now was the safety of his children and Bennet. There was almost nothing that could be done for a rattlesnake bite. There were a few more options for adults — Lachesis knew how to take care of himself if he were to get bitten — but it would be the end for a cub is the snake got a hold of their plushy bodies.

The snake dance, oddly enough, seemed to be working. As they shuffled back and forth the creature began to grow disorientated, moving slower as it lunged for their ankles. Luckily XIX and Kjors were quicker, swiftly dodging the snakes feeble attempts. Either the snake would surrender and attempt to slither off, or it would continue it's lacklustre attempts at fighting back. Whichever path it took, Lachesis and Kjors would be there with the final blow. The snake was not getting out of here alive.

He lunged forward, suddenly, as the snake’s head went the opposite way. The ghost aimed for the rattle in hopes that the dragon would follow suit, and reach for another part of its coiled body.

stick with those who stick with you

Last post from me! Could we wrap this up to get Bennet some delicious LP? c:

There was a lot of fuss going on, Bennet acknowledged vaguely, content to wriggle on the ground with the vision of the swaying snake in her mind. If she had comprehended what the adults were planning on doing to her unexpected and unorthodox new acquaintance, the girl would probably have protested vehemently - at least at first; any sentimentality held towards the serpent would fade before long, lost as a memory and thus outdated and unimportant.

And then out of nowhere a white blur came to disrupt her content writhing and it was with a shriek that Bennet switched from almost eerily calm to a fighter, squirming around now to kick her legs under her older milk-sibling's body as she returned the biting and batting in kind. And thus any other significance of the event was lost, and to Bennet all that mattered was to struggle with @Atropos as they did so often, oblivious to the others' more distressed and serious matters - not that she would have cared anyway.

Last from Atropos! ♥

Atropos was blissfully unaware of the dangers behind her and her siblings. She was more than happy to try to pinch Bennet's skin between her milk teeth, resulting in an all encompassing play fight that would result in two exhausted little girls, and possibly some puppy tears should one of them get too rough.

The pale girl hadn't actually seen the dangerous thing that had the grown ups flapping around worriedly, all she knew was that they had been picked up, plopped down elsewhere, and then watched. It didn't occur to her that something was deadly, as the prospect of extreme danger wasn't something she was concerned with, or had ever experienced. No, she was still as naive as she was when she woke this morning, more than ready to curl up and go back to sleep with the setting sun, without a slither of fear in her heart.

But for now she would nip and yip at her prey, to master her technique! She would win!

Last for Lilya, sorry it took so long!

Her heart still raced, adrenaline still coursing through her veins even as she forced herself to stay away from the fight. It was an easy decision to ease the mind of another, and she figured that the two men could handle the snake on their lonesome. Sometimes, no, not even then… most of the time there was something else to be done that was quickly overshadowed by the fight. She was grateful that the pups appeared to remain entertained with their own little scuffle to not notice the dangers that had come with the snake they had once found so interesting.

Soon, she reckoned, it would not be so easy as to pull their attention away from something dangerous and new. That was when they’d all truly need to find themselves alert. Besides, it was a nice parallel to draw between the two lives she’d led… the one that was chosen for her and then the one she chose for herself. They were play fighting, not hurting each other, not trying to harm one another like the life and the training that she remembered from such a young age, even if it was harder to do harm at such a young age. They’d always found a way, hadn’t they?

Lilya’s eyes flashed occasionally to Lachesis and Kjors until the deed was truly done and she saw that snake dead with her own eyes.

wrapping this up (finally!) thanks everyone for participating!! <3 @Kjors @Karina @Atropos @Lilya @Bennet

Once the snake was vanquished, with the help of Kjors, Lachesis disposed of the body. But what if there were more lurking around the dens? A frown was painted across his pale maw in a sharp, thin line; he and Kjors would have to look for a nest and eliminate the threat before one of the children were bitten. Snakes were usually solitary creatures, but it couldn’t hurt to be extra careful. For an adult, the venom could be fatal if it wasn’t treated almost immediately; for pups, nothing could  stop the venom from claiming a victim.

It was, perhaps, the first (and last) time Kjors and Lachesis had worked together as a team. He was thankful to the one-eyed dragon for acting so quickly and jeopardizing his well-being for the rest of the pack. While the Arctic knew that the dragon held a soft spot for Karina and her daughter, Nineteen liked to believe that he also cared about the twins and the other river wolves. Personal vendetta aside, Kjors had proven useful in the past. Whether that would continue into the future, only time would tell.

After checking on the children and ensuring they had recovered from the rather… exciting ordeal, Lachesis went to seek out Kjors. If there was a nest they needed to find it…

stick with those who stick with you