Ricin rests in the shade of a large maple tree, eyelids slipping shut only for the pup to open them seconds later. In the noon day heat, the light pup finds the warmth lulling to sleep. Chade was close by, hunting for food while making sure to keep a close eye on the lighter pup. Apparently, Chade is still mad at him for being attacked by a grizzly bear. Ricin had tried, fervently, to explain that the bear had been a fluke, a one-time thing would never happen again. For some reason, his brother didn’t believe him and Ricin has been forced to stay extra close while Chade hunts. Eyes slide shut once more and the pup battles mightily to reopen them.

A yawn cracks his mouth open and Ricin decides to give up fighting the call of sleep. Moving his body to a more comfortable position, loose leaves rustling under him, Ricin pillows his head with his legs. Finally, able to fully relax, the pup starts to drift away on the currents of sleep. Just when Ricin is about to fall away into the land of dreams, a noise tickles his ears. Too tired to care, the pup tries to grasp at the fleeing tendrils of slumber. However, the noise persists, calling him back to the waking world inch by hard fought inch. Finally, when Ricin can no longer pretend to be resting, he huffs a sigh and opens his eyes, wondering if Chade has brought them food.

The last thing in the world Ricin expects to see is a large anaconda. But there it is, mouth hanging open as it unhinges its jaw, directly in front of him. Eyes widen as Ricin scrambles to his paws to stumble backward, shouting, “CHADE! Big snake! BIG! SNAKE!"

"Speech"

Chade was carrying one rabbit in his mouth with plans to try and get a second when Ricin called out.  Snake?  Chade glanced in confusion at the cry, hesitating before he took off running still confused.  See a big snake you don’t bother it and everything is fine, right?  Ricin was scared though and maybe there was a new threat they had yet to learn about.  Chade ran faster the longer his mind thought through it.  New threats were the ones that always killed a sibling.  Ricin couldn’t die.

Chade came upon a sight that shocked him but he didn’t slow his stride.  He charged right into the snake, biting down on its body, snarling, and seeing its head swing away from Ricin, great! The snake’s head was coming to him, not so great.  Chade backed up slowly, ears flattened snarling.  The snake lunged its head out, giant fangs coming at Chade who jumped away.  Thank goodness for the thick neck fur and reaction speed.  The snake hadn’t realized just how much mane fluff Chade had so between that and moving he’d been spared the bite of those large fangs.

“Alright, Ry, it's just a snake,” Chade aimed to reassure and hoped the shaky voice wasn’t so noticeable.  He wanted to say they run but didn’t dare turn his back to the snake, figuring it would get them if he turned.

"Speech"

With the loss of his mother he had been turning to a new direction other than where he belonged inside the pack. He enjoyed being along side his half siblings when they were all together at night, but he just had this yearning to be alone. Thinking that Chimera would be unaware of him sneaking off, he did so. He wasn't thinking of consequences and if the thought was there, he didn't really care.

The walk away from the ferry was sombersome, and while he wasn't really thinking of his mother or how she died, it was just a whole theme inside his brain. He was warmed by the presence of the rest of his family, but ruined by the recent events. The voices in his head told him it was his fault, he knew better than that.

He heard near cries close by, and didn't really hurry to get to them. But through interest he watched through the brush as two young males were face to face with a giant snake. He had never seen one before and one this size was quite alarming. He questioned if he should even help, and in the end he found his paws forward still not in a rush as he started poking at the slithery beasts tail. At least maybe that would get it's attention enough to make it back away from the others. They at least all seemed capable of running off.

"Cerberus Klein"

Ricin’s eyes are wide as he back peddles, only coming to as stop when his butt hits a tree. Chade appears and charges toward the snake, scoring a bite to the big slithery noodle’s body. When he backs off, the snake lunges toward the darker pup and Ricin lets out a yelp in fear for his brother. Chade is lucky and the snake doesn’t hit flesh. When his brother retreats and tries to reassure him, Ricin just says, “Alright? ALRIGHT?! It tried to eat me!” Crimson eyes are wide with disbelief, that thing was going to eat him! And if he hadn’t woken up when he did, there would be a Ricin sized lump in its gullet right now.

Then a stranger joins the fray, rushing out from a bush and grabbing hold of the danger noodle’s tail. It is another pup, colored with black and russets. He appears to be about the same age and height as the brothers and Ricin looks from Chade to new comer, weighing his options.

After a moment’s hesitation and watching the wigging snake turn and snap, Ricin wisely moves a short distance off and places the bulk of his frame behind a large maple tree. Chade is still upset about the whole grizzly bear thing and so, the lighter pup decides to not risk more of his brother’s ire. Still, he refuses to leave the new pup alone in this fight so he stays close enough to force Chade to help. And, perhaps most importantly, Ricin needs a good seat to watch the fight from.


"Speech"

The new pup joining the fray was a surprise and Chade wasn’t sure if he was glad for the aid or not.  It meant help in the fight but it also meant one more reason not to run if a chance came up.  Chade didn’t need to be brave when running was the best.  So much death in his young life he hated to let a stranger who came to help die.

When Chade hunted he always tried to get legs first and then go for the neck.  This creature had no legs though.  Its head seemed the most dangerous location but apparently fighting it lower down the body wasn’t good enough as its entire body could twist around!  Step two was the neck so Chade started creeping towards its head, glancing back to the new pup, “Can you keep it distracted for just a moment? I’ll try to bite its, uh, neck area.” Was the spot behind the head really a neck or just one long body without a neck?  He never bothered figuring out snakes before.  None had tried eating them before.

Chade was ready to lunge in and bite faster if the snake lunged at Cerb but even then, he’d get as close to the neck as possible.  This was disturbingly dangerous but Chade had no choice with Ricin still close and a stranger in it.  What day in their life wasn’t dangerous anyway?

"Speech"

Cerberus scrunched his nose at the blue boy saying he was going to try and attack the snake's neck area. The other had gone behind a tree and while he didn't see much problem with that, he had figured that the three of them working together would make the snake go about it's way.

Still, Cebrerus tried to keep it distracted by facing off with it, moving sideways and keeping his eyes on it's own. He wasn't one to turn down an idea at least.

But the snake was thick, the young pups wouldn't be able to pierce it's thick, scaly skin. Cerberus spoke out quietly and without much emotion like he wasn't scared at all, "We need to split it. Grab it's bottom jaw." He was taking a big leap for a stranger because he would expect Albi to follow and know his direction. How could the pup he had never met before know he wasn't putting them in more danger? He jumped up over top of the snake, putting the top portion of it's neck and head between his legs and then took his own jaws to stick his nose into it's throat and around it's snout so he could pull backwards. Hopefully the blue pup got the hint and would grab it's bottom jaw so they could pull it apart, hopefully before Cerberus got too hurt. Chimera would not be thrilled if he was.

"Cerberus Klein"

Ricin stands behind the tree, watching the unknown pup and his brother fight the large snake. The need to help has his restless paws moving, causing the boy to circle around through the trees while the pup instructs Chade what to do. Ricin also readies himself to attack the snake, after all, if he stays near the back end, the mouth can’t hurt him. With a wild grin on his lips, the lighter blue pup races out the shadows as the unknown pup lands on the snake and pulls its head back. He grabs the tip of the snake’s tail, hoping the skin is thinner and his puppy teeth can actually pierce it. No such luck. Teeth bounce harmless off the things tail and Ricin watches as the tail curls away from him. Looking to the stranger, the light pup notices the way the snake’s body is trying to coil in on itself in an attempt to unseat the pup.

A plan takes shape as Ricin races after the tail, flopping all of his weight onto it in an attempt to pin the wiggling appendage. With a snort of triumph, Crimson eyes turn toward the front end of the snake to see how the other two pups are fairing.


"Speech"

Ricin hiding was just what he wanted. Other wolves might not understand why it was good for Ry to hide but there wasn’t time to explain nor was it anyone else’s business. Chade tried following his own plan first and biting into the snake's neck. It was indeed very fat and thick. He felt some oozing liquid where his teeth sunk in but it was no more than he might get from a small scratch.

The other boy was calling out to him about splitting it apart. What? To be frank, Chade didn’t understand at first but when Cerb got the bottom jaw the boy was able to figure it out. The dark blue pup would have questioned the tactic but Cerb was already grabbing the top so Chade did his part. Grabbing the bottom part of the jaw as the words the boy had spoken earlier now made sense.

Chade snarled as he tried to force out all the power in his muscles that he could. His eyes widened watching how the snake’s jaw was opening wider and wider, just how much could this mouth stretch anyway?

"Speech"

The one boy had come out from behind the trees and helped keep the bottom half of the snake occupied. It didn't phase Cerberus as the three of them tried to work with the python. Chade seemed a little confused about what Cerberus was suggesting, but once it was put into motion, he understood the steps.

Cerberus was just the same size and age as the boys, but had his own training provided in early days by Viper or more recently by Moccasin. He wasn't sure how well the other two pups strength was from their own lifestyle. Cerberus pulled backwards on the snake while Chade pulled down, Cerberus' paw pushed down on the back of the slithery creature's neck and started to rip it in two with the help of both Chade and Ricin. Soon it would fall lifeless and Cerberus supposed he had done his good justice for the day. He didn't feel any different emotionally though.

"Cerberus Klein"