Fern | Female | Southern | Snake | M: Liana, Panther

Fern slithered across the leaf litter, taking in the many shades of orange, brown and red that met her dark eyes. The small Resa Viper was returning from a spot of hunting, being successful and catching a mouse. It had been delicious, sliding down her throat with an ease that made Fern hiss in delight. She was going back to her nest and eggs now, relieving her mate of guarding them. It was coming into view, and she noticed that her mate had just left, tasting the air with her tongue to get his fresh scent.

My eggs are safe, Fern thought in relief, sliding up to them fondly.

A sudden thump shook her small body and she tensed in fear. Another thump. And another. Fern guessed that there were accompanying sounds, but being deaf, she could only sense the vibrations. Two black creatures moved into view and Fern momentarily mistook them for panthers.

Wait... are those... wolves? Fern had only seen one of them once, when she was a hatchling and they had disappeared a while ago.

The wolves were moving closer to her eggs. Now she could see them up close, a male and female, the latter distracted. Perhaps they were mates. The female wolf put her paw down next to an egg and looked down in sudden alarm. Fern hissed; these eggs were the next generation, her offspring! She was prepared to give her life for them. The she-wolf had paused. It was now or never.

Fern lashed out at the female and opened her small mouth, revealing white fangs that glistened with venom. They punctured the skin, pumping an excess of venom in. The she-wolf yelped and darted off. Fern felt a slight trace of guilt and pity; she wasn't sure if the female would live, and she would have to find a cure, if there was one. She knew the symptoms would only get worse as time went on. Fern hissed at the male to scare him off, send him running to his mate if that's what they were. She waited now for her own mate to come back, warming the eggs with her dappled green scales.