Vision for Sight

Chapter 12: Channelling the Heat

A human's trap lubricated in blood, it was strange though, and it looked to have been reset, readying to snap at its next victim. The scent it left behind though belonged to the wolf they peruse or one of them at least. This was good, a blood trail to follow as well as a scent, not to mention a wound seemingly as catastrophic as the amount of blood indicated would be slowing them down, making them all the more vulnerable. The only down side however to this task they also were treading in unknown territory. They maybe four strong Alphas, but should they come across another pack then they wouldn't know the escape routes. They were confident in their task however, they had to be, they couldn't return without proof the she-wolf was dead.

"This is perfect." Said the leader and bringing his head away.

"Even with humans being in the area?" A second full grey Alpha added and coming to his side. "Surely this makes the risks all the greater.

"You forget Saleen how they are just as lost as we could get; only now they're hurt, scared and vulnerable. We have the advantage."

"Lucas is so focused on her, do you know why?" She asked and he nodded.

"I'll tell it to you another time. It's getting dark and they'll be looking for shelter. We keep moving and find them before the neighbouring packs finds us."

"Yes Neil, I'll get the guys up."

Callen's entire leg was covered in blood, his fur matted and glued together. His wound was dirty and swollen; each stepped engorged his ankle in more blood and fluids. Daria didn't need vision to know that he wasn't in good shape; she could smell the start of infection, his tone of voice was more fearful of it then he let it out to be. He had to guide her though; she just provided the support for him. The pain was excruciating, he expected to get used to it at least a little bit by now, but if anything it got worse, even more so when he fell, which was many times. Almost every other step he took he fell, and almost every time it was on that one leg when it gave way, or when Daria didn't provide enough support. He needed multiple breaks, more then he wanted but she insisted. Closer inspection of his wound showed it wasn't as close to his ankle as they first thought, so the joint wasn't damaged, but the amount of blood coming out meant that the teeth on the trap had sliced something vital. The wound wouldn't kill him; the loose of blood however would though if they couldn't stop it.

They only covered half the distance Callen hoped for today, if that maybe. But distance wasn't a thought, only the worry that if they were still being followed that Callen's blood only provided a better scent for the to follow, that is if they found it after the river they had to cross to begin with. They couldn't think of that now, they needed shelter before it got too dark to see. It didn't look too hopefully until they came across a small looking waterfall, to the right of it was a cave and from what Daria could tell from smell and sound was abandoned, It went down into the ground rather then into the rise of the waterfall like you'd think it would, this resulted in Callen practically falling down the entire six foot drop down into the cave. It wasn't one big drop though, just slipping down the rock like steps down. He was exhausted, he couldn't go on anymore, so Daria literally dragged him the finally few feet so he could rest his head on a rock. It was ideal to; there was a little trickle of water that create a puddle beside his head he could lap up. Or so he found when his muzzle dipped into it.

"Ok, are you comfortable? Do you need anything?"

"I'm ok…Thank you." He sighed, resting his head again after drinking that water. "It feels nice to…lie down." He said closing his eyes.

"I can totally agree with that."

"Can you help him?"

"What can I do?"

"Anything, please…I don't know what to do."

"Just stay with me." Callen then said, luckily it didn't seem he noticed her little conversation. That or he just ignored the rest of it. "I'm too tired to do anything now."

"Since when were you the one to get tired all the time? I thought that was my job?" Callen always tired to lighten the mood in moments like this; maybe she should give it a try and see what happens.

"Only when I'm like this." He chuckled lightly. Was that a good response though?

"Meh, better then nothing."

"Go to sleep, I'm going to stay awake a little while longer."

"The water should…hide our scent for a while. We-we'll be ok here." And with that he took one big breath and relaxed his eyes, drifting into a sleep a few moments later. And as she said she would, Daria sat towards the entrance of the cave, reaching out her hearing to its farthest capabilities. Running water, scurrying critters, a gentle breeze and the falling debris from trees seemed to be the normal. The smells of herself and Callen, the river, a high pollen count and a nearby berry bush seemed to be all she could smell from the incoming winds. They had been walking in the same direction the wind has been blowing; it didn't carry with it any smell of pursuing wolves, so she could rest a little more easily.

Daria peered back into the den, hearing Callen's teeth chattering and body shaking against the ground. Sure there was a little wind coming into the den, but that wasn't the course, this infection was settling in abnormally quickly. He wasn't going to be moving fast tomorrow, that's if he could even get up. Or was it shock? She knew about it, when your body starts to lose a great deal of blood it goes into this state. But what could she do to stop it? To cover it up? She didn't know what to look for or where to find it, she could only hope he was a little more active too tell her what to find and how to apply it.

"What's running through your mind, baby?"

"I'm tried of feeling helpless." She sighed. "I can't do anything to help him; I've to return the favour for everything I've done for him."

"There is nothing you can do, only wait for him to regain his strength."

"He could get worse by then, something needs to happen now." Daria turned and walked into the den, sensing when she was a few feet away from where he was lying. "He's not going to be able to get up to find anything, to be honest I don't even know if he can get out of here." She added and thinking back to when they first clambered down here. "He can't walk without me and I can't see without him, we're screwed."

"Then what is there left to do?"

"You need to help him." Her voice echoed around the den, it was stern, certain, more of an order then a request.

"Daria, that's something I can't…"

"You're the only wolf here that can do something."

"You don't to understand, I can't interfere with anything…"

"Stop it? You can make a dead tree grow, you can make lightening, you can let me do things but you can't help him?" Again, the ferocity in her voice echoed around the cave, being the only voice to reply to her for a short time. Her ears twitched in wait of some response, but first she heard paw-steps, light ones walking from behind her, then around and then in front of her where Callen lie. There was silence afterwards, a presence of focus and deep thought present, if that makes any sense at all.

"Come closer." She took a breath, lifted her head high and stepped towards Callen's shivering body. He was completely out of it; she was sure he would have said something or intervened by now. "Put you paws on the wound." She took one paw first, using the second to steady herself while she felt for it. When she made contact with him he flinched, seething in his sleep and tensing his entire body. She pressed on by placing her second paw over the leg, feeling fresh blood seep onto the pads of her paws as she caressed his leg.

Within moments, a third paw joined hers, a fourth resting on her shoulder gently. She took another deep breath, wondering what was happening. "Just let your mind go blank, you don't have to do anything else." At that moment her own paws started to tingle from underneath, the other paw on her shoulder started to burn something, nothing too unbearable, she could stand it. A rush of something unfamiliar moved through her body, starting from her shoulder, down her body and through her paws into Callen's leg. She couldn't describe it, how can you describe something that feels there but shouldn't be other then how her whole life has planned out…Strange. Something she could feel and describe with ease was Callen's constant shivering becoming gentle and not as violent. His ragged and erratic breathing easing up, the feeling of his heart beating through his leg seemed to slow too; the only weird part to it all was how hot the wound started to feel.

This ensued for many minutes, it must have been half an hour when the heat coursing through Daria's body started to cool down and the weight was taken off her shoulder and paws. Her eyes fluttered, her attention turning back to Callen to find he slept far calmer, the odd chatter of teeth maybe or a flinch, but nothing as severe as before. Was this good? She couldn't tell. "Rest now; we shall see what tomorrow brings."

Here's a sweet little chapter done for you all guys. It would have been longer, but i wanted to get something out before New Years. I hope you all enjoy it, I also hope you all had an awesome Christmas and one better...Have an incredible NEW YEAR! See you all next year everyone! :D

The FalconWolf