Jakart remained motionless beneath the calmer waters of the flooded territory. He had dreamed just as dawn broke over the water. Dreamed that he was with his mother and had spoken of his life since her loss two years ago. It had been but a moment since he had closed his eyes and but another to let his mind drift as he conversed with Tahlia. The lack of air brought him back, being nudged further to rouse himself from drifting beneath the waves, sent into a gentle tumble as his back made contact with the floor of the temporary river. Already he felt strength returning to his limbs even as the cold water made a shiver jolt his body, paws pushing off of the bottom as he was sent towards the surface.

With a spray of water Jakart's muzzle broke through the surface, immediately inhaling a great lungful of air. The disorientation stopped quickly as he paddled his paws to try and get to shore. It was close, trees moving by his blurred vision quickly as he gave several blinks of his mismatched eyes. A shiver shook his body again as he felt the tugging current try and drag him back down. Determination immediately set in. With each motion of his right shoulder the ragged wound stung. He wasn't going to die because he was cold or tired to get out of the water. He'd sleep on shore. That was the prize as he bullied his way to land. As soon as his paws met the submerged surface of the shoreline Jakart let out a furious snarl. So close, the tug of the water caressing his flanks like a nuzzling lover and threatened to bring him back. With a final burst of his remaining strength the grey male dragged himself free of the floodwater, scarred and bleeding forelimbs not even tucked beneath his body as he flopped upon the damp soil. The entire frame of the male surged with a drawn out sigh as he closed his eyes, each shallow breath barely raising his sides as his thoughts turned to sleep. He wished he could return to his mother, maybe if he kept his eyes closed for a few more moments the familiar female would appear.

Walk | Talk | Think Padding across ground that was muddy and soft, only recently revealed as the initial onslaught of the flood began to recede, Callisto paced. Mud coated her paws and lower legs, turning the grey fur there dark and murky. Travel was uncomfortable and almost unpredictable as the ground was slick and dangerous, but the healer could not risk giving up and quitting now. A little mud was not going to make her turn back. Not when she had her rescuer to find. At intervals, she stopped to call his name, but each time she did she received no answer. Thankfully her companion, the sleek black cat following wordlessly at a distance, kept any and all opinions to herself, no matter how rational and founded they were. Too much time had passed. If they were going to find him at all, it was going to be dead. There was no sense wasting their time searching for a body and nothing else. Callisto's own safety and health were more important, especially given his life had been risked for her own. It was stupid, she knew it, and yet she continued to trot along the released floodwaters of the Aspen Dam, as if her efforts might eventually pay off. With her luck - the very same piss poor luck that had landed her in this situation - it was unlikely, practically guaranteed to fail, but this was not her life at stake here. This was Jakart's. He might have played the subservient role sometimes, but at heart Callisto felt he was a good person, wholly undeserving of the hand fate had dealt him. You can't take him, he deserves better than this! Before she could decide to move on, to begin her search anew along another stretch of flooded valley, her pale, silver-blue eyes alighted on a collapsed figure in her path, freshly drawn from the water but appearing lifeless there in the mud. As her gaze skimmed across the prone, grey figure, Callisto's chest constricted. "Jak." Shocked, she froze for a split second before she was spurred into action, rushing to his side and nearly slipping in her haste. "Jakart!" Halting at his side, she nosed at his frame, inhaling his familiar scent to confirm his identity. "Jakart. Jakart, can you hear me? Say something," she demanded in stern, desperate urgency while she worked her muzzle beneath his, her eyes wide as she tried to get the lifeless shape to respond to her and lift his head.

The veil that had been draped over his senses had dulled the pain and worry of the grey wolf. Eyes flickered behind closed lids as Jakart let out a wheezing breath as he remembered the moment just before he had found himself in the water. Callisto's scruff was held in his jaws, a familiar hold lacking any passion as he brought her out of the surging water. Maybe he would've nipped her flank for her to get a move on and away from the tide but he didn't recall. Jak's mismatched gaze remembered the brown swirling water, feeling himself being batter at all sides before something hard had struck his face.

He had lost all his breath with the pained cry as he kicked and clawed to the surface. The split skin stung his eyes with blood and it was in the next moment he was taken under again by the current. Raging and tumbling he fought to push off the bottom, side smashing into a submerged something, something pointed and painful. It was only then that the tide seemed to not be so forceful, so rough as it carried along it's victim throughout the night. Then there was the momentary dream. His mother. Jakart had seen her. Touched her. Tahlia. The way she nuzzled and loved him until it was time to stop telling her of the happenings in his life and awake. And now he was on the shore. Battered and bruised, but alive. A heavy sleep claimed him as the sun started to peak up into the morning sky to dry the male's muddied pelt. Jakart's body began to shiver as the cold left his limbs, eyes still closed and mind wanting to remember good things. Callisto... she had to be safely out of the territory now. Maybe she would go tell Lior what happened. His family desired to know what had become of him, that his final selfless act in life was one of good. The approaching pawsteps didn't rouse Jakart as the unknown approached.

An ear flicked at the familiar word, his name, it's speaker. Callisto had come to find him. That was nice of her. Jakart felt his face protest as the healer lifted his muzzle. "Ow." The word echoed in his head, barely mumbling in pain. With a sigh Jakart eased onto his left side and brought his paws against his chest. With a slow blink he opened his left eye to stare at down Callisto. "I'm glad you're ok..." Jakart sincerely whispered, right eye stinging with each blink. Oh... the wounds when he saw Tahlia... how was Callisto going to react to the sight of him? Apart from sore and torn in a few places his limbs still worked. A shallow lick was given against her cheek. An understatement, but he was beyond happy that she was ok and here with him.

Walk | Talk | Think It was just a soft noise, not even conveying coherent words, but still managed to express the wolf's discomfort as Callisto roused him at last from unconsciousness. The tightness within her chest released suddenly, as did the breath in her lungs. He's alive... She could hardly believe it, having listened to the pessimistic voice that prepared her constantly for the worst, since it seemed most likely given how infrequently things ever turned out right in her life. But Jakart was alive, and as he rolled his sore and broken frame to his side of his own volition, Callisto felt her legs nearly give up and drop her into a seated position. He's alive! Relief sneaked up on her, making her vision blur with stinging tears, and gently she drew her muzzle out from beneath his. Gods, he looked awful. The water had mussed up his grey coat, and somewhere during the flood he had gotten on the receiving end of a lot of debris. Red wounds split the skin beneath his fur, adding their own mess as they desperately needed to be cleaned out and dressed to heal. But Jakart said nothing of his own pain or discomfort, did not even seem to pay any acknowledgment to his state of being. All he managed to do was express his happiness that she was alright. Silver-blue eyes drawn back to his honest expression, Callisto could not believe his selflessness. Did he not realize that he looked half dead - that he might have been dead if things had played out just a little bit differently? It was beyond her comprehension, and she could only shake her head as she thought of how certain she had been that he would be found dead, how prepared she had made herself never to see him alive again. "You dumbass," the exasperated healer whispered as she closed her eyes against the tears and tucked her head softly beside his, feeling his tongue slide gently against her cheek. For a moment, she did not move but held perfectly still, breathing in Jakart's scent and listening to each breath he made. The urge - that was practically a need - to hold him to her and possessively claim what she had thought lost stirred within her and made her hesitate in her current position. It was not like to her to feel this way for another, to feel so happy knowing someone was alive. But she was, and rather helplessly she placed two soft licks against the edge of his muzzle, opening her watery eyes to look at him. "I need to find something to treat your wounds," she explained, willing her low voice not to wobble though it did once. Though it was likely entirely unnecessary, she added, "Don't move." Feeling more confident in her legs, she slowly rose to her feet, once more taking quick stock of Jakart's injuries. Scrapes and cuts and gashes were the most obvious issues, followed, she supposed, by the exposure to such harsh conditions. Something to clean the wounds, something to promote healing, something for pain... With her list of necessities made, Callisto backed away from Jakart and turned to set off determinedly in search of plants that had survived the flood and would assist with anything that she needed to treat Jakart's wounds. Belladonna stood by watching her mistress as she brought her friend back around and promptly set off in search of healer's necessities. She had not missed the urgency, the worry, or the relief that had moved through the wolf, nor the tears that had misted the woman's eyes. It all puzzled the little black cat, though it seemed obvious deeper sentiments ran beneath the cool and casual appearance that the healer tried so hard to display. Padding closer to the prone grey wolf, Bella turned her pale gold eyes from Callisto to Jakart, and seating herself with a curious wave of her tail she asked him, "How you feeling?"

The grey wolf's tail beat against the ground as he stared at his once mate. They had both made it. Her blue eyes stared back into his mismatched gaze, nosing her cheek in comfort as he studied the worry held in the attention she was giving him. It was her first words that causes him to let out a laugh, sides hurting as tears of pain welled up in his eyes. Gods it felt as if his ribs had been rearranged incorrectly. Nothing her nuzzles weren't fixing however as he felt a lick against his cheek while Callisto lay beside him. It was only for a few moments until she finally stood and told him that his wounds needed to be treated and to remain as still as possible.

"I will." Jakart murmured as he watched the healer hurry away. Alone again. He closed his eyes and listened to the tide of the flood behind him. Just how lucky was he? How many others had been killed by the winter runoff? His brothers at the Fjord would be safe, certainly, but what about his sisters? Were they all safe and warm? A little voice interrupted his thoughts with a shiver, gaze searching and staying on Belladonna. The little feline stared at him and he stared back, the uncomfortable silence beneath her gaze only grew more ominous the longer he held off his reply. "I feel like death had me in it's jaws and spat me back out." Jakart finally wheezed as he brought his paws underneath his chin and lay in the rays of the rising sun. He had made it.

Walk | Talk | Think The stubborn cat held the injured wolf's gaze as he let the silence drag on between them, and just faintly her brow furrowed. Had there been head trauma as well as all the scrapes and gashes that he had received? Was there a medical reason he was taking so long to answer? When he did, it seemed to be with enough intelligence to settle her worries, and Bella managed a lopsided smile. "Looks that way from here, too," she assured him, and made no attempt to keep their conversation going further. He looked like he could have used a good rest, and if it was possible for him to get one before Callisto came back and started poking and prodding at all of his injuries then it would likely do him some good. Maybe he would even sleep through the whole thing and not feel any pain. Callisto made herself travel a short distance away from Jakart, just out of immediate earshot and out of sight, before she let herself stop. She sat and took a moment to breathe, closing her eyes and willing the strong emotional response she had over finding him to ease off and go away. Gods, what the hell was wrong with her? She was not the type to get worked up just because some wolf, someone who happened to be traveling with her, did something stupid and almost got himself killed. She lived alone, detached, beyond the reach of those sappy sentiments that chained individuals to each other. This is just a lapse, she scolded herself, drawing in a quick breath and releasing it in a stubborn sigh, as soon as he's fine again, it'll be gone. And she would keep him at a distance for a few days just to prove it. Feeling a little more stable again, and certain that the tears were officially gone now, the black and grey healer rose quickly to her paws and set about searching in earnest for something to assist her in getting Jakart's injuries healed. Silver-blue eyes skimmed to the left and right as she trotted along, and with her nose poised above the ground her surroundings were inspected as she moved. It took a little traveling before she found something that would be helpful, spotting a marigold plant already in early bloom. Ears perked, Callisto strode directly to it and stopped to give it a closer inspection, deciding there were enough flowers to do the job. "It's a start," she muttered to herself, and quickly set about snapping stems from the plant. Collecting the flowers into a tight bundle, she carefully gathered the handful of flowers between her teeth and returned to the side of the flood waters where she had left the grey wolf to wait. He had moved, though only a little, and Bella appeared to be keeping watch off to one side. She eyed the cat as she approached, perturbed by the look the feline shot her, but said nothing as she set down her bundle beside Jakart and once more looked over his wounds. "Found something to start healing those cuts," she informed him simply, fanning out the flowers on the ground with a paw. "There's some moss over that way," the cat chimed in, gesturing with an upward tilt of her muzzle behind the wolf pair, "the water's settled into a small pond just around that bend, too." Callisto hesitated for a second, staring at the cat, before she turned and followed the direction she had been sent in, finding the moss much more quickly than she had the marigold. It grew in spongy clusters, quite a bit of it, and she was glad for the cat's assistance. Being careful to strip solid pieces of the plant, she gathered a few swathes of it and traveled the short distance around the bend in the newly formed river to find the pond Bella had mentioned. She eyed the water skeptically but in the end dipped the moss into it, deciding it looked clear enough for its purpose. She could really worry about it later once she got Jakart moving elsewhere. With moss dripping from her jaws, she returned once more to Jakart's side, gingerly depositing the moss over the top of the bed of flowers she had made before leaving. Her eyes skimmed over his injuries again, double checking the wounds upon his side and cheek. Hopefully she had enough marigold to get his healing started. "This might sting," she warned flatly, and without offering him a moment to protest, she picked up the first piece of moss and began to softly clean at the open wound on his shoulder.

A heavy exhale left through his nose while he waited for Callisto to return. The healer no doubtedly having her work cut out for her as the floodwaters still churned and washed across the territory and with it any immediately obvious plants that would help with him. Bella made no further motions to help and only stared, silently, her gaze the only thing felt besides the warmth of the sun and his own shivering limbs. Pawsteps yielded Callisto's return as well as her telling of success in her hunt for herbs, the male wordlessly turning onto his uninjured side to help with the application of whatever plants were going on his gashes. Belladonna put pause to that as the feline pointed out patches of moss, Jakart thoughts immediately turned to having his wounds cleaned by floodwater but he relaxed when there was mention of a fresh water pond. Good. That was good, Callisto returning in far less time than gathering herbs.

Jakart visibly tensed, stealing himself for the rough scrubbing that he expected in order to rid his wounds of debris. There was pain on his shoulder as the moss came down, the grey male holding his breath and visibly tensing with each dragging motion and releasing it with a whine once the moss left for another pass. Over and over the healer preformed her craft upon him, rather something he hoped to have never happened to anyone, shoulder tensing in teeth clenching uncomfort. But it wasn't something as rough as it could've been, she was gentle in her care, and as the moss came away and was replaced with a fresh clump he cleared his throat. "How's... how's your neck?" Jakart croaked, feeling horrible from having to grab her by the scruff though the roles would've been reversed at this point if she had made it to where he had drifted through the night. It could've been worse if that had been the case. Jakart for one was glad it had been him as he dutifully lay beneath Callisto's experienced touch.

Walk | Talk | Think Callisto's silver-blue eyes glanced once at Jakart's face as she initially leaned in to begin cleaning his shoulder, catching the way he visibly tensed and prepped himself both physically and mentally for what was going to happen. It was a little irritating - it was not like she was going to purposefully drag the moss across his shoulder with the intent to make his pain double, or even triple, what it currently was - and even before he made a sound, as the moss began its first pass of his shoulder, she mumbled between her teeth, "Shut up." Despite her stern tone, she was indeed careful as she cleaned the wound, gently attempting to prepare it for treatment. The wounds did not appear to be terribly grotesque or entirely filthy, though she had to assume the churned up mess of the flood water had not helped them any. In any case, the healer considered that it could have been a lot worse, and she felt her concern over the injuries beginning to wane as she tended to their cleaning. With the first strip of moss reaching the end of its usefulness, she drew it away and set it aside, reaching for another when, ears perking, she heard Jakart address her. "My neck?" she repeated, her brows drawing together as she puzzled over his concern and glanced his way. Only a second later it seemed to click, or at least the memory of the instance he referred to. It had hurt an awful lot in the moment when he had dragged her out of the flood - she had been able to feel the tear in her scruff at the time - but since then it had dulled considerably, nearly to the point that she had been able to ignore it altogether. Though now that it was brought up again... "It'll be fine," she answered, brushing it off brusquely while she still could. Maybe later, once the sting returned or perhaps when she got Jakart comfortable and resting, she would enlist Belladonna's help in tending to it. "Worry about yourself for a change," she added, almost irritably, as she picked up another bit of moss and cleaned the rest of his shoulder before taking the last and carefully cleaning the wound beside his eye. With the cleaning finished, Callisto eyed her handiwork one more time before turning to the marigolds. It was tedious work, but she removed the petals with her teeth and carefully applied them over the open gashes, hoping the properties of the flower would do their trick and work to heal the injuries. She started first covering the wounds on his face and moved down his side to his shoulder, not quite surprised to realize that she ran just short of covering the whole wound. She considered for all of two seconds going to gather another flower, but for everything else that she had done she felt sure it would be good enough for the time being. "That should do it," she murmured, standing back look at Jakart completely. "You should rest now," she added, and though she worded the order like a suggestion her tone was direct enough for it not to be taken that way, "I'll watch over you. And after your rest, we'll try getting you somewhere I can treat that better." All business, Callisto sat, straight and stern, in front of the injured wolf, ready to stand watch while he rested.

As fresh moss dragged across the torn skin of his shoulder Jakart grit his teeth and endured the cleaning of the wound with a bit more of a stoic demeanor despite the lancing pain that shook and tensed his whole body. Callisto informed him that the injury to her scruff wasn't in need of attention right now, which was a fair statement considering the state he himself was now in. Without stopping her work for even a moment he saw the healer turn to address the wound on his muzzle. Each time the moss came up from his neck towards his face a sapphire eye watering up to blur the image of his caretaker.

The marigold petals were placed over his wounds and caused him to shift in discomfort as the constant sources of irritation were left in place. All for the betterment of being healed as Callisto voiced her satisfaction of the medicines application. "That's good," Jakart's sides heaved in a deeply exhaled breath. "I will. Had the best dream while drifting..." He had seen Tahlia. His mother holding and comforting her son in the few moments he had drifted willingly beneath the waters before he awoke and rose to the surface. "Thank you." The grey wolf mumbled. Under the watchful gaze of a friend he lay in the warm rays of the sun, limbs curling inward against his chest as he tried not to disturb the placement of the marigold. A paw was worked underneath a cheek and Jakart finally closed his eyes and surrendered to a warm and comfortable rest.

-Exit Jakart via sleep-

Walk | Talk | Think With each bit of the treatment that she made on the grey wolf lying before her, Callisto felt her frown deepen. It would have been better if she had been able to find something for the pain to start off with. Jakart would have been spared all the wincing and flinching and painful looks. They were admittedly hard to look at, and only seemed to make her irritation worse. The healer bit her tongue from offering any more suggestions to keep quiet, but she did try to hurry, though not at the expense of doing a less than acceptable job at tending to his wounds. There was a visible relief about the injured wolf as she stepped back and ordered him to rest, and absolutely not a hint of rebellion. Good. Rest was what he needed, and she doubted she would have been able to fetch something to possibly ease him into sleep if it was needed. Not with the flooding doing as much damage as it already had. "Sleep then," she muttered softly as Jakart thanked her, letting her gaze drift away. After he rested and felt well enough to try moving again, she needed to get him somewhere else. There was not enough here to help treat him, but, if she recalled correctly, there was a place that they had run into before that had a great many possibilities... She turned her head and glanced toward her silent companion, the cat still staring blankly without saying a word. Something about the look in the feline's pale golden eyes irked her, and though she could not place why Calli knew for certain that she did not want to sit under it for a moment longer. "Watch him," she ordered the cat gruffly, and with an irritable flick of her tail the black and grey wolf rose and left to find some more marigold plants for Jakart and for her own torn scruff. -Exit Callisto-