Walk | Talk | Think
For the second time that morning, Callisto reorganized her cache of medicinal herbs. There was really no point. She had gone over them so often that each pile and bunch was near perfect and orderly, just the way she liked it, and the ones that would help with small scrapes and cuts had already been set aside and picked out from the rest. But she needed the movement, the distraction, something to keep her busy while she waited.
Jakart would be by soon. Not to satisfy an itch, as he had been helping over the past month, though he was still on call for that. No, today he was giving her a defense lesson, at her request. It still puzzled her how it had come about, how the idea had even taken shape in her mind. She was safe, the safest she could be without a pack, and yet it had still occurred to her how poor she was when it came to keeping herself safe. She had suffered once because of it, suffered long because of it, and with her hormones adding an unusual amount of energy to her system using some of it to learn to protect herself seemed appropriate. There was no guarantee how long her current arrangements would hold up, no guarantee how long her relative safety would last. It made sense, when her hormones were quiet enough for thought, that she put her new energy to better use.
She stared determinedly at the plants as she considered again her choice, and looked up somewhat expectantly when she heard a soft set of footsteps approach the den.
"Organizing again?" Belladonna asked as she strolled with casual feline grace into the den, a teasing glint within her light golden eyes. The cat glanced from the black and grey wolf to the select plants she had separated from the main stores of the cache, and her whiskers twitched. "What’s this for?"
Without answering, Callisto carefully scooped up the plants between her teeth and rose to her paws, forcing Bella to step back as she walked out of the den and into the open space outside of it. She took only a few steps before gently setting down the plants with a lick to her lips. "Just a precaution," she explained, turning her head to glance back at the black cat as Belladonna stepped to the entryway of the den and sat with her thin tail curled at her side, "Jakart’s going to teach me some basics to fighting, and defense."
Belladonna’s tail tip flicked idly as she considered the news, then nodded her head. "That’s a decent idea. You’re way too scrawny to pose much of a threat naturally" – to which Callisto offered a sour scowl – "so planning ahead should help." It would definitely give the healer a little more comfort if and when she decided to start branching out in her searches for plants beyond the Fern Gulley. The cat was sure she was going to run out of bits of forest here to investigate soon, especially at the rate she went about it. And Jakart – while he did give off the impression of being something of a pushover, especially when it came to Callisto – spent the majority of his time honing those physical fighting skills, arming himself with knowledge to share that doubled at putting him in peak form. A fact she was sure Callisto already knew, perhaps a little too well.
A new spark entered her eye, one of mischief and mirth. "Are you sure now’s a good time for this?" she questioned innocently as she barely suppressed the urge of her lips to curl, and her tail swayed just slightly at her side. "It's going to be an awfully short lesson."
Callisto's brow furrowed. "Why? I've got the extra energy to burn, and I want to learn this" she countered sharply. And, compared to what else she had been doing with that energy, this was a much smarter move all the way around. She figured, of all people, the cat would see the sense in that.
Belladonna saw something different, and was much more amused than she would have expected as she realized her mistress had not seen it for herself. Succumbing to her knowing smile, the scrawny black cat sighed and shook her head in a defeated sort of gesture. "You realize this is going to end with him on top of you, right?" Blunt as ever, Bella added no sugar coating to her explanation, did not bother to waste her breath being delicate about the subject. "And I don't mean as part of the lesson."
Callisto scoffed, almost a laugh, and shook her head, but her silvery blue eyes looked away from the amused black cat with a growing level of uncertainty. She had made the plans with Jak during a moment of clarity, a moment after the needy monster inside of her had been sated. The whole idea had made perfect sense then, when her control was intact, her thoughts once more ruling her body. But now...even thinking about it, about him, especially after the idea had been planted...
Frustrated, irritated that her unwanted companion was implying she lacked self-control, the healer wrinkled her nose in agitation. "I'm not so–"
"Sure, sure," the cat cut her off with a dismissive wave of her tail as she rose to her dainty paws and stepped away from the den, walking along the edge of the open space outside of it that would soon become the training grounds. "You can control yourself, blah blah blah. You say all that now," she stated as she sat down, claiming a spot that she assumed would offer a decent view of the awkwardly entertaining first act, "but once he's here?" Her bony shoulders shrugged, and her mouth curved into a wickedly amused grin. "I've seen you around him enough to know. You'll cave. I'd wager a fat, delicious fish on it."
Callisto wanted to argue, to even rush forward and chase the aggravating cat away for all the good it would do. But hearing another set of footsteps approaching, the ones she had initially been listening out for, she turned her attention away from the cat to stare at her new company, the look of irritation still set upon her sharp features.
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