Continued from Event Thread The young pup blinks. Her head rests against the sand. The itchy pain of those granules pokes at her eye and nose. Except that isn't where her pain is radiating from. As she lays there, she can feel her chest grow warmer and wetter. Her breaths grow shallow as she finds it harder to breathe. It feels as if she is both drowning and gasping for air at the same time. Pain radiates farther from the gaping wound on her neck to fill her whole body. She tries to cry out for help, but her open mouth makes no noise. Her tongue feels swollen and dry, her throat clenched tight as her stomach churns. Lifting a paw, she waves it helplessly. Someone, anyone, please... Calliope

Were it not for her fractured bone, Rivin might have believed the events with her guide had been nothing more than a dream. Instead she had needed to painfully make her way out of Raider's lands to go gather some herbs for not only her injuries, but for any others that might also be injured. Lark walked beside her, making sure that Rivin rested when she needed to. They had made it back to the beach when the smell of blood caught Rivin's attention… and then she saw one of Gil's pups in the sand. She hurried the best she could to the kid, her eyes widening when she saw her neck. What… what had happened? "Hang on kid!"

Rivin moved to her bag pulling out some moss to pass to Lark. Then she tipped her water skin over the wound. She had to was some of the sand away… fuck… could she even save her? Anxiety flared within Rivin as Lark moved to press the moss against the girl's neck. It didn't look like it was bleeding heavily anymore, though she didn't understand now. Rivin was already back in her bag, looking for what she could use to prevent inspection and help with bleeding if the girl tore it open again.

The concerned voice calling out to her has her sighing for what breath she could manage. Gasping for that air was painful in the worst way. Keeping her eyes shut tightly, Cal fights back tears. No, she didn't cry. How absurd would that be? Instead, she focuses on staying alive. Her neck is so warm and wet and the scent of copper floods her nostrils. She can't use her senses for anything. If the one that approached her was a predator than so be it. Let them take her.

Thankfully, it was Rivin who hobbled over and quickly went to work. The sudden splash of water over the wound had Calliope screeching and pushing her muzzle in Rivin's direction, teeth gnashing together. Letting out a growl, she plunked her head back on the ground as she continued to fight for her breath. With the pressure of the moss against her neck, it was slowly getting easier. Finally, she could open her eyes slightly to see who it was.

"Rivin, it hurts," Cal says weakly.

The girl's breathing is raspy, pained. Rivin keeps her ears against her skull as she sorts through herbs. Calli's reaction of pain to the water was to be expected. She is hurting… "I know… here, I want you to take the seeds of this plant. It's going to help with the pain, and help you sleep in a bit." She takes some poppy and sets the plant on one of Calli's forelegs with a small grunt. Bending when she needed to keep her own leg straight was hard.

"I'm going to use some medicine on your injury. I'll have to keep some moss against it and bind the moss to it to keep the wound covered." Which should help the bleeding. Rivin glances at Lark who gives the woman a nod. She begins to chew the roots and leaves of her chosen treatment, feeling her body shudder with worry. She needed to call Gil too… but treatment had to come first. She worked quickly and, one the comfrey materials were a pulp, she drew closer. Lark moved back and looked at Calli. "Gonna sting." He warned as Rivin began to spread the medicine over her throat.

Would the injury make her throat feel raw too? Rivin's mind was spinning. Her green gaze flicked to Calliope's face as she worked, praying the pup would stay with her and hadn't lost too much blood. Maybe some honey later might help her…

Rivin's words are a blur through the pain. It thumps in her ears and slams into her chest as she struggles. Who knew a six-inch cut across a puppy's throat would be so dire? Not exactly registering what Rivin has instructed, she peeks out through bleary eyes at the poppy that now sits on her foreleg. Her face scrunched at it at first before she gingerly leans forward and picks it up. Chewing slowly, she tries not to gag as she forcefully swallows it. Her father trusted Rivin so she should too, right? Wishing the poppy would work quickly, Cal places her head back down on the sand, letting Rivin do her work.

It was easy now to keep still enough. The energy had been sapped from her and exhaustion flooded her body. Even when Rivin warned her that it would sting, Cal barely grimaced. Feeling the pressure of the treatment against her wound, the stinging was vibrant, but through the gritting of her teeth, she welcomed the feeling of relief. "A-am I gon' live?" Cal rasps as she peers up at Rivin who looks equally stressed as she felt pained.

Moving the medicine across the wound, covering every part of it, was easy enough. This poor kid… such a long wound was bad for a pup. But seeing how the blood was starting to clot rather than bleed freely was a great sign. Rivin allowed herself to relax a little as she looked at Lark. "Fetch bandages from my spare den. She needs soft ones. Fresh moss too." She tells him. The feline is off in an instant, running to go gather what his mistress requested.

It is then Rivin looks back at Calli, her expression still worried but she was hopeful. The kid picked up on her stress and Rivin laid in the sand beside her. "I'll fight death myself if they try to take you. You are with me now, and I will make sure you pull through." Rivin's expression softened. "Lark is getting the rest of what we need. I'm going to call for your dad so we can get you somewhere more comfortable." With that Riv tilted her head back, calling for Gil.

The call for Gil came unexpectedly. He was busy tending to some others when the echo stretched out over the water. At first, he had thought he imagined it, but was swiftly corrected when Erish swooped in from the skies. Looking to the owl, he notices her flustered and worried expression. The bird barely has a chance to say his daughter's name before he is off and running. Splashing into the frigid waters of the sea, Gil pulls the raft behind him with Urtur pushing as well.

Though it takes longer than he would care to admit, Gil makes it. Breathless, he sloshes onto shore. Not caring to shake himself off, he rushes over to where Calliope lay on the sand beside Rivin. They both looked rather worse for wear, but Calliope appeared near death. "Cal," Gil rasped as he collapsed beside her. First Siduri and now Calliope? What was going on? Anger pulses through him as he looks to Rivin. "I will take her, come," he had no need for an explanation from the healer. Scooping the puppy over his back and taking her to the raft, he sets her down gently before looking back to Rivin. "On, now. Urtur and I will push you back," there is a commanding tone to his voice as he begins to push the raft back into the waters. Rivin would either catch up or not.

"speech"

CODE BY SHELBY

The girl doesn't respond to her, and Rivin takes a breath to calm herself. The child is in a great deal of pain, hurting and likely afraid of losing her life, but the woman would do everything she could to ensure it didn’t happen. Lark was on the move, and he would move faster than she could with the kid right now. Rivin was hesitant to move her, to risk irritating the wound and making it bleed more when it had only just started to slow. Her mind races, and she knows keeping herself calm will be important. If she focuses too much on losing Calliope, then she will. Rivin won’t let that happen. She couldn’t.

Gilgamesh arrives, and Rivin notices his anger as he meets her gaze. She doesn’t protest as he takes his daughter onto his back. Arguing with a worried father and the Raid King would do no good anyway, not when the life of one of his children hangs in the balance. Rivin rises to her paws, keeping pace with the man despite the pulsing pain of her own injuries. Right… lava… the whole journey she had endured… it makes her wonder if somehow, some way, Calliope had gone through it as well. She had noticed the other injury on her back leg, but the neck was the concerning wound. Her skills as a healer were really being pressed now.

Adrenaline has her pushing through the sore and tired feeling of her body now. She shakes her head at Gil, moving into the water as she speaks. “My weight would slow you down to getting her out of the elements. My companion has already started on the way back, he will meet us there with supplies.” The water is frigid, a shock to the woman’s sister as she sucks in breath. “The wound is clotting.” She tells him before she plunges into the waves, a small bit of reassurance. As a fighter, Gilgamesh would know the importance of having the wound’s bleeding stopped. There isn’t much else she can give him in explanation, not yet anyway. Her focus is on getting the wound wrapped, getting the girl somewhere warm. Safe.

She might not have wanted to move her, but she has to trust that Gil will take care with his daughter in her fragile state.

"Speech," 'Thought.'