The Long Way 'Round (2nd Attempt)

[The Skarzs]

  "Are you crazy?" Plenty cried. He didn't want to get in the water at all. Water was cold, wet, and a river could whisk a beast away and smash them against rocks.

[shisteer of nothing much]

  All thoughts of flying squirrels, flying fish and swimming moles vanished from Tergen's head as he ran with everybeast else. Instinct told him to climb the trees and leap from one to the next, but the arrow that thudded too close to him as he tried contradicted that and he stayed on the ground, scampering along with everybeast else.
  Into the water or out in the open? Neither option sounded particularly delightful. Tergen had tried swimming a couple of times and hadn't been terribly good at it, to put it lightly. His tail had a habit of soaking up water like a sponge and pulling him down, while his paws were too small to be much good as paddles.
  "Woold ye rahther get drahditch fevahr or fahght a coople o' aangry badgers?" the squirrel muttered, shrugging his shoulders.
  "Theey booth soond as bahd as the oother. Ah'll jist goo with ev'rybeast alse."

[Verdauga]

The sudden onslaught of arrows had more or less forced a conclusion on Maeus. Turning around, he placed a paw on both Tergen and Plenith, pushing them forward while yelling to get into the water. He realized he had to keep them afloat when he saw them struggling in the water"Lieseil told Plenith she'd help him swim," Maeus thought, hoping that aid would come soon. Liten and Thrun were still on the banks, too; everyone was still in danger.
Grabbing Tergen and Plenith, Maeus  braced himself against a root to withstand the rushing current.

[shisteer of nothing much]

  The river it was. Tergen only had a few seconds to try and shove Maeus' paw off, an effort the proved unsuccessful. His paw catching on a rock, the normally athletic squirrel went head over footpaws into the river. No more time for protest or reflection, it was time to learn to swim. Best to make as much progress as possible before his tail felt like a boulder.
  Fighting the current, he turned towards the opposite bank and tried to pull himself along using his paws as small paddles and doing his best to keep his head above the water. He couldn't reach the bottom. He began to sink as he got into the faster bit of current, then, before he could be whisked away, he felt a paw on the back of his neck, gripping the soaking wet fur and keeping him afloat.
  The bedraggled beast relaxed slightly, allowing himself to be held up by Maeus and the current. Maybe he would survive this after all.
  An arrow nicked his ear, then splashed into the water and disappeared.

[Dannflower Reguba]

       "Bunch'a blitherin idiots!" Liten growled under his breath as the choice was rather unceremoniously made despite any wishes otherwise. The wolf wrapped both his sword and the wrapped one into the straps of his pack. With a quick spin for speed and a grunt, the bag sailed easily over the gap, closely followed by it's owner as he dove into the current. Prioritizing his own crossing over anything else, he swam straight through, ignoring the wanton splashes scattered about. Supporting himself was one thing, but his experience with swimming, or even water for that matter, was rather limited, he would be far more useful standing on the opposite shore. Being capable enough to cross himself, but not stopping for the others, he was first to make land, turning around to pull in anybeast that got close enough. His size allowed him to stand earlier than most, subsequently giving him a fair reach out into the stream after finding a rock to brace against.

[The Skarzs]

  Plenith screamed as he was pulled into the river, and his mouth filled with water. Coughing and spluttering, he splashed about in a panic, trying to get back to land even with Maeus holding him by his shirt. The otter said she would help, but it was obvious she was going to let him drown.

[Cornflower MM]

        Lieseil watched, aghast, as Maeus pushed Plenith and Tergen into the river. Maeus was a true fool for shoving two beasts into a river knowing that at least one of them couldn't swim and she muttered as such crossly to herself as she also tossed her pack across the river, something else Maeus had neglected to think about.

        Jumping into the river as quickly as possible, the otter swam straight for Plenith. Tergen appeared to be doing alright but the pine marten was going to drown all three if he didn't stop flailing. Lieseil reached out and grabbed Plenith from behind, "I've got you! It's alright, we'll be across in a moment."

[Verdauga]

The otter had come to help. Maeus loosened his arm around the root and pushed Plenith across to Lieseil. Once she had a firm enough grip on the pine marten, he could let go of Plenith and get Tergen across, since the drenched squirrel had already relaxed.
He couldn't tell whether any more arrows had been loosed, but whoever shot them would likely still be around.
Not that they were any safer getting out of the water.

[shisteer of nothing much]

  Tergen felt his paws touch the bottom and moved cautiously out, seeking cover from any stray arrows, then shaking off, pulling his tail in front of him to wring it out.
  "Thanks, Maeus. I would have preferred being given a choice, but you didn't let me drown, so that's something. What's the plan now?"