Ragna should've know better than to cross through the swampy territory. She was planning to do some herb gathering in Fern Gulley but she didn't want to go around through the Barren Hills so she opted to cut through the swamp. Along the way she'd met Káti, a nervous man that was also a healer. As it happened he was also heading for Fern Gulley so the two decided to travel together. The company did help. After her encounter with the crocodile she was becoming more and more nervous in swamp like territories. She couldn't wait til they finally moved northward and away from these-

Ragna paused, head cocked to the side. She thought she'd heard movement in the water nearby. Her eyes scoured the shore, searching for crocodiles.

Káti trotted after Ragna, risking a glance skyward to check on the weather he noticed that the clouds were growing darker and darker. It wasn't long before it started to rain and the wind picked up. It was baffling how it was bright, clear and sunny just a few hours ago and now the weather wasn't fit for travel. He sighed to himself and kept up with the other healer. He didn't care much for swamps but at least the trees provided some protection from the wind and rain.

They were about halfway through the swamp when Ragna came to a stop. Oh no, what now? He listened but couldn't hear anything unusual. "What is it?" He glanced around and jumped as a log moved nearby. He scrambled out of the way just in time to miss being caught by a massive snake.

He hadn't planned on helping someone today. In fact, he never planned on helping anyone unless there was something in it for him. The black and white boy had been passing the swamp when he heard a ruckus. Slightly intrigued as to whether or not he could reap the benefits of some catastrophe, Chimera padded into the swap and made his way to the scene.

A pair of wolves were possibly getting eaten by a big snake. He mulled it over for a moment, deciding whether or not he wanted to help out. The skin of the snake was shiny and a nice shade of green. Might be a nice keepsake. Oh, hey, look. Something in it for him.

As the anaconda bit at the man, the dire boy rushed forward, teeth snapping behind the snakes head as it drew back. It coiled and tried to pull him into the water, so he had no choice but to release it, but he'd drawn first blood. Snakes... tasted gross.

Ragna snarled at the snake. She hated snakes! Suddenly a young boy sprang out of nowhere and snapped at the snake. Her first instinct was to scold him and ask where his mother was but part of her decided it would be a good learning experience, unless he got eaten. The snake retreated into the water, mostly, its head still peeking out. "Nasty creature," she muttered under her breath. As if it heard her and was insulted the snake lunged at Ragna. She duck out of the way her head twisting to the side as he fangs dug into the creatures flesh, just behind the head. She'd have held her grip but the coils suddenly sprang out of the water. She felt them start to wrap around her and she quickly let go and scrambled out of the way, just missing getting caught in those strangling coils.

"Ugh, snakes should not be allowed to be that big!" Káti scrambled out of the way and then a young wolf came flying out of nowhere. "Careful!" The last thing he wanted to see was a pup getting eaten by a snake and then having to explain what happened to the parents. He was inclined to just leave but as the snake lunged toward Ragna he instinctively dove for the tail end. He caught it but the snake was surprisingly strong. It started to wind toward Ragna who let go. When she let go the snake coiled back and lunged toward him forcing him to release his own hold. He narrowly escaped the snakes fangs which cut light lacerations on his left front leg. Did this thing seriously want to eat them? Was it protecting its territory? He was starting to realize he didn't know very much about snakes.

With two bites behind the snakes head now, it shouldn't last terribly long, the young Klein imagined. "We need to get it out of the water," his low tones growled. When it struck the next time, he rushed forward and sank his teeth into one of the back coils of the snake. Throwing his weight backwards, he began to jerk the heavy thing out of the water a little bit at a time. A snake on land was less dangerous than a snake in the water. This way you only had to worry about squeezing rather than squeezing and drowning. Thankfully they were on a fairly even patch of land. The ground was damp and squishy, but it would give them ample space to lay out the snake and kill it.

"On it!" Ragna called out. As the boy lunged to grab the back coil of the snake she raced forward to get in position. As expected the snake wasn't thrilled with being bit. The front end whipped around, fangs bared as it shot toward the boy. Ragna lunged from the side, her own bared fangs snapping together over the snake's throat, just behind it's head. She shook her head violently, seeking to kill the awful thing. It wasn't easy. The snake was incredibly strong and it started to try to coil around her. She glanced at Káti then moved her focus back to the snake she crunched down hard and there was a terrible crunching noise. She knew she'd crushed its spine but she wasn't quite ready to let go just yet. Not til the thing stopped squirming.

Káti was about to protest when the pup leapt forward and bit the snake's back end. Why fight the thing at all? If it wanted to go into the water so be it, he was ready to just get the heck out of there but then the woman joined in to. Ugh, well he couldn't leave now. Seemed like he'd have to get involved. The woman got the snake by the head so Káti launched toward the middle. His fangs dug deep into the flesh and he immediate pulled back, helping the other two to pull the snake entirely out of the water. Káti kept pulling, trying to keep tension on the snake so that it wouldn't loop around him or one of the others. Soon though he began to feel the snake start to slacken. Eventually it went limp in his mouth and he quickly spit the thing out. "Bleh!"

-done?-

Teeth bit out chunks of flesh as the big boy worked on hauling the snake to land. Letting out go back in the water hadn't even crossed his mind. It had attacked so it should pay the price, right? The woman had it behind the head again and the man held the back end. Chimera worked his jaws into the reptiles tender stomach. Already it's throes were weakening. Soon the snake was dead, its struggles ceased. Casting his gaze to the Male and the female, Chimera stooped, coiled the dead beast around him, and began awkwardly carrying it back with him. He could use a good snake skin.

- end-