Trying to swim back to the main island was proving to be a mistake. The water was stronger this time, and after her energy had been spent on the wild cat (even if she didn’t recall actually fighting it) and Rivin was finding it increasingly difficult to fight the current. Wave after water crashed over her. She was fighting just to keep her head above the water, gasping for air as the salt stung her eyes. She couldn’t even tell if she was going the right way anymore, not to mention the pain in her neck had intensified like a bitch now that the wound had been exposed to the salty water. Rivin cursed and splutted, spitting water out of her mouth as her paws flailed at the water. She couldn’t go under now. She’d fought to come this far! Another wave pushed her under for several frightening seconds. For the first time in her life Rivin felt fear. She couldn’t see. She wasn’t even sure if her packmates would hear her if she howled right now. But in a last ditch effort, just in case someone would hear her and get her out of this shitty situation, Rivin let out a short howl, one that was cut off as another wave broke over her. She was running out of time. "Talk," 'Think.'

Calico Jack is walking the beach of their new home, enjoying the warmth that sun still has to offer. Winter will be arriving soon and the boy is determined to enjoy what sunlight he can. It is there, on the white beaches of the Isle, that a short howl reaches his ears. Everything changes in that moment as the boy suddenly pivots, ears pinning against his skull as he charges straight toward the waves. The howl had been filled with desperation and that alone would have been enough to galvanize the boy into action. However, the fact that it the call is from Rivin has turned his heart into a fist full of thunder.

It pounds heavily against his breast as he sucks in a deep breath before plunging into the ocean. With his eyes open, the boy dives down underneath the waves where the current is easier to push against. Long legs kick out, sending him rocketing forward at a quick clip but the boy needs to move faster, to get to her quicker. Calico Jack stays underneath the surface for as long as he can, using long, powerful strokes to slice through the water as he races time on his way out to the girl. Only when his lungs begin to burn does the boy move upward, breaking the surface to draw in air even as he continues to swim out.

A flash of red in an ocean of blue catches his eyes and the boy changes direction. Rivin rises above the water, floundering for a moment before sinking back beneath the waves. Blood coils in the water, defusing the longer it remains in it. Jack doesn’t waste his breath calling out, knowing will be wasted, put he uses the fear that spears his heart to put on an extra burst of speed. Mentally, he ticks off the seconds that she remains submerged, urging her to reappear at any second. Yet, she does not appear and as, he nears the area where he had last seen her, the boy sees her form sinking further and further down.

Inhaling deeply, he dives under the water, knowing the salt will sting his eyes but not caring as keeps them wide open to track her. Legs propel him downward as she drifts further away from him but Calico Jack does not give up. With two more powerful strokes, he is in front of her and he hooks his forearms underneath her elbows. Kicking out, he pulls her with him, toward the surface and the promise of air. The light gets brighter and brighter until… Jack breaks the surface, dragging her up and out of the water for a moment.

Using his body to help her float, he reclines backward slightly and lays her upper half over his chest. Blinking away the stinging water, he moves to check her airway while saying, “Rivin?! Rivin can you hear me?” There is urgency in his voice and fear in his eyes as he looks at her suddenly terrified that he might have been too late…


"Calico Jack"

The waves kept coming, crashing over the red streaked woman as she struggled to even tread water. Each attempt to break the surface was harder. She could feel her strength waning. She was desperately fighting. Rivin was afraid, afraid of what might await her after death. Death had never felt real before, but now that she was knocking on it’s door, she scrambled. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to leave those she cared for behind. If she could have cried beneath the waves she would have. She tried to go to the surface for another breath, but she fell short. She felt water enter her nose. This was it then. She was going to die and no one would know what happened. Would there even be a body to be found? Rivin closed her eyes. She stopped struggling. It was going to happen regardless… Why not accept it?

She was going down. Her mind became one with the waves, swaying, pulling. She could feel her consciousness slipping. ‘Sorry Jack… guess I didn’t get as good at swimming as I thought…’ She’d fade out as another made their way to her.  Her body was heavy as Jack wrapped around her. He pulls her to the surface and drags her upper half onto his chest. For several long, painful seconds she is still, deathly still. Then, in the presence of air, as her body makes one last attempt to stir, to fight, she takes in air and begins to hack. Her head barely rises, and she coughs, the sting of the salt making her throat burn. The coughs keep coming until the water comes up, and she expels the salt water and the meager remains of a meal earlier that day into the water beside Jack. Then her head comes down against his chest, her breathing raspy as she takes air in.

His voice… his sweet voice… concerned for her… Rivin feels like she is still floundering, trying to surface back to the moment. A whine leaves her lips, a single word escaping her maw in a struggling whisper. “Jack…?” She struggles to make sense of what is happening. She can still feel the waves, and wonders for a moment if she had passed on. If she only saw Jack because that was the only wolf she had wanted there in her final moments. She curled towards him, her paws weakly wrapping around him. She tries to open her eyes. It takes several seconds due to the sting from the water but she can make out his colors. A relieved smile crosses onto her lips. No matter if this was life or death, she felt at peace. She knew she was safe, so long as she was with him.

"Speech," 'Thought.'

Calico Jack is confident in all of his skills; from fighting to swimming, there is nothing that the boy feels he cannot do. Yet, as his strong forelegs wrap around Rivin’s still form and he kicks out, propelling them both toward the surface and air, the calico wolf finds that he is afraid. Heart thunders in his breast as he pulls her free from the chilly water’s grasp, sucking air into his lungs as he reclines back and to help prop her up, trying and failing to rouse some sort of response from her.

Fear squeezes his stomach, rolls in waves through his brain as he thinks he is too late and tears begin to sting his eyes as regret to stabs at his heart. How could this have happened? Time stands still as he bobs above the waterline, holding Rivin close to him as Jack allows the fear to completely consume him. Chest shudders as a soft sob rolls out into the air and then, in the momentary stillness, Rivin’s body jolts as her lungs reflexively attempt to pull in the air that had been absent mere seconds before and the boy’s eyes widen as his hold loosens slightly.

Rivin coughs and hacks, bringing up water and stomach contents until her airway is clear. He is there, gently rubbing circles into her side as he tips her head to the side to allow the all the stuff to be expelled into the water. Softly he reassures her, voice filled with relief as he says, “That’s it Rivin. Just keep breathing. You got this.” It is a mantra that he keeps repeating for her sake and his own. A whine escapes from her, his name on her lips and Calico Jack leans in to place a tender kiss upon her brow. Gently, he says, “It’s me, Little Flame. Rest. I will take care of you now.”

The relieved smile on her lips has him leaning in once more to gently run his tongue over her cheek. Blood seeps from her into the salty water and Jack knows that he needs to get her home quickly so that the healers can help. Slowly, carefully, still holding tightly onto Rivin, the boy begins to paddle them back to safety of the shoreline.


"Calico Jack"

She is alive. Rivin keeps her eyes closed, focused on her breathing as she rests against the calico-colored boy. His voice offers reassurance, warmth, and safety. Rivin shifts her head slightly as she feels the kiss on her brow, eyes flicking open slightly. She has not died. She has been saved by the one wolf she had been able to count on since she was a kid outside of Aresenn. For a long moment she watches him as he moves them through the water, back to the shore. She can’t tell why she can’t feel the pain of her injuries. If it is shock, or if it was her brush with death. She is aware of the metallic scent in the water and the salty, and… and Jack. He is the most important thing she focuses on right now, gaze flickering closed and open again. But all she can do is give a small, weakened smile. “Guess you’re going to have to give me some more swimming lessons…” A chuckle leaves her followed by a few coughs. Damn salt. It stings her throat and makes her voice raspy, but despite this Rivin feels more at peace than she ever has been. Calico Jack is her light in the darkness… and without him, she would have been lost.

"Speech," 'Thought.'