Heron Lake Plateau And sing your stupid head off

"Huh," mused Fiadh as Niamh demonstrated the harmlessness of the snake. No way in hell would she volunteer her nose for that experiment, she thought, but hey, Niamh could do whatever she pleased. If the snake took a chunk out of her nose, well, she was asking for it. It didn't appear to do any harm at all though, and the Blackthorn cocked her head and said, "nice, didn't know there was a such thing as a harmless snake."

She wasn't expecting for Niamh to go back on her idea, nor was she expecting to be asked her opinion. Motioning for the golden-haired wolf to walk with her in the general direction of her brothers' typical abode, she chewed on the question, then rolled her shoulders into a nonchalant shrug. "They'll be fine," she decided with a grin that was uncannily like a much younger and much more daring Finley. Careless and reckless, that was the family business after all. "They're Blackthorns, they're made of iron. Their mom—our mom—used to fight bears. Can't live up to the family name if they can't fight dangerous creatures themselves." Nevermind that she had never taken on a dangerous beast; her day for that would come, she was certain. She had been denied from taking on the Blackfeather savages but she'd be part of the next one, or would go and find her own battles to fight.

"They'll learn how to deal with one if they have one to practice with, even if this one can't hurt them. Then they'll know what to do when they come across one that's actually dangerous." She thought for a moment longer, then said, "just to be safe, you could trick them into thinking it'll hurt them if it bites them so they're more careful." They'd get over the betrayal upon realizing it was just a harmless garter snake, she was sure of that.