Shy Deer Steppes Shake your cake.

The next few minutes passed in an agonizing blur, with Towhee really losing track of everything until the medic coaxed her to dip her wounded foot in some running water. The cool shock of it roused her and she blinked to attention, chasing relief as she slid forward into the stream. The pain still burned ferociously in her leg, though the water closing over her streaked shoulders still soothed.

She just stayed like that a while, just trying to breathe through the pain, though when she felt herself growing exhausted, Towhee crawled back onto shore to avoid the risk of accidentally drowning. She dragged her sorry ass toward her helper, mustering up the strength to speak for the first time in long moments.

"I'm—I'm Towhee Redhawk, from Redhawk Caldera. If I don't make it, please tell my children I love them," she ground out between clenched teeth, her words honestly barely decipherable. "Figment. Fennec. Meerkat. Alyx. Quetzal. Caracal. Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus." That was all she had in her. Towhee slumped to the ground, sensing that she was only just beginning the fight of her life.

---

Out on the steppes, the juvenile rattlesnake finally calmed down and uncoiled, shifting its jaw to realign it before slithering slowly toward cover. It had hunted and fed on a rat less than an hour before. Between that and its age, there hadn't been much venom in its sack when the wolf had surprised it from its drowsy basking, nor was it quite as potent. It also hadn't managed a true bite, more of a glancing blow. In its surprise, it had envenmonated reflexively, probably not enough to be lethal. But that wolf was in for a very bad time.