Calley stared off into the flames, her lavender eyes glazed and disfocused. Peiro and Nips were asleep beside her, Giacomo on her other side tending to the many slashes on her hands from Nips' sharp scale-like quills. He worked quietly, his dark eyes intent on his work as he applied a salve he'd mixed up to deter any infection.
Nearby, Giacomo's Shadow-horse stood silent and watchful, gazing calmly over the forest around them.
"There," Giacomo said quietly, looking over her left arm and hand for any scratches he may have missed, "Let that dry. Is there anything you want me to get for you?"
Calley shook her head, lieing back slowly on her laid-out sleeping bag.
The ranger moved around the fire and to where he'd rested his own bag against a tree. He set the bowl down among the roots of the tree and began to rummage once more, beginning to pull together something of a meal.
Calley just stared off into the treetops, breathing slowly and ignoring the sting of the ranger's medicine. She was surprised when she awoke again to find that she'd drifted into sleep. It was nearing evening, and Giacomo had a gentle hand on her shoulder. He offered her a steaming bowl of something that smelled delicious. "Sit up slowly... need to get something in you... to help you heal..."
Calley obeyed, sitting up on her sleeping bag and pushing off the cloak that had been draped over her like a blanket. The fire was now a bed of glowing coals and soft flames, and a small steaming pot was sitting suspended in the fire on two larger logs.
"You said it was a Kokot..." Giacomo said quietly, sitting back down across the fire from her and stirring the pot distractedly. "Can you tell me what happened again, now that you've had a bit of rest?"
Calley looked down into her bowl, then away into the forest. The wooden bowl was warm in her hands. Nips and Peiro were at the end of her sleeping bag, sharing a bowl of the ranger's dinner as well.
"We were just walking... I didn't see any bunnies or anything... it just... attacked..."
Peiro, lifting his head from his bowl, nodded somberly.
"How angry was he?" Giacomo asked, looking down as he spoke to examine his cooking.
Calley turned her gaze to stare at him. "Really angry... he wanted to... to kill..." and she trailed off, looking down again as she bit back a swell of nausea. It seemed like it had been so long ago, and it also seemed like it might not have happened at all. Maybe it had been a bad dream. Except that Peiro was hurt. "It wanted to kill..." she whispered again, watching her maow sadly.
Giacomo just nodded, his black eyes sympathetic. "So there was no warning?"
When she nodded, he took a deep breath and looked out into the trees. "I've sent a message out alerting the Hall, and I've got someone tracking the kokot. We won't let him hurt anyone else, if we can help it..."
Calley's eyes welled up with tears, and she took a trembling breath to steady herself. She could feel her face burning.
Giacomo watched her quietly. "I'm sorry that this happened... but I'm glad you're alive. Seems you have your mother's luck."
"You know my Mom?"
"Most all of the Guide Hall knows your mother, Calley," and Giacomo smirked.
Calley looked sidelong at him, then back down again. "Does... does she know?"
"Know what? About today?"
Calley nodded.
"Not yet..." the ranger replied. "She's not active in the Hall right now, so she wouldn't know yet."
"But... Makzin...?" Calley asked meekly.
Giacomo looked up. "Your brother?" and he smiled softly. "No... he doesn't know yet. He and Guide Cather are in Diamond now, and won't receive a detailed message until later."
"So he *will* find out...?"
Giacomo watched her carefully, tilting his head a bit as he tried to understand why she was so concerned. "Yes, he will," he answered calmly. "He's the Ranger Champion of Laral, the one I'm supposed to report to... it's his job to know what is happening out here even when he's away. Calley..."
She was on the verge of tears, her hands shaking in her lap as she held her untouched meal. Her maow tentatively moved closer to her, their own dinner forgotten.
"Calley...?" he asked, confused. Realization dawned in his dark eyes, and he shook his head with a soft smile. "Calley... what you did was not wrong. What you did was the job of a Jr. Ranger... what you've been taught to do."
She looked up with a sniff, her brow furrowed in stress as she watched him unsuredly.
Giacomo nodded to her, his eyes sincere. "You did what you could. No one would've expected you to take that kokot on..." he trailed off for a moment, returning his gaze to the fire. "...do you remember the bayyo?"
Calley's violet eyes widened quickly. "Was... was it the same...?" she asked haltingly, her voice dry.
"We don't know..." Giacomo replied quietly, shaking his head in a mild shrug. "It sounds similar... but the point is the same. There are dangerous things out here. Anything could happen. Wild maow are unpredictable... there is nothing wrong with saving your life, and the lives of your friends, in escaping from one of them."
Calley nodded meekly, staring down at her bowl again. "I... I was afraid..."
"I'd've been afraid, too," he replied simply, busying himself now with pulling the pot from the flames. "And I'm afraid even now, knowing that it's still out there. But if you feel like a coward for being treed by a bunny..." and he paused with a smile, meeting her eyes. "Well, let's just say that no one is going to think less of you for managing to escape from what sounds like a rabid dire-rabbit. I talked to Peiro about what happened, exaclty... what you did was very brave. You were afraid, but you did what you had to do anyway. You knew your limits. You knew you were out of control of the situation. But you did what you could, and you, and your friends, lived."
Calley nodded again, looking to Peiro and Nips. They were both silent, and Nips was huddling next to her, clearly traumatized by what had happened. Peiro, his eyes and shiny scales reflecting the fire-light, just smiled up at her in his draconic way, a clawed paw on her arm.
"Peiro did it... he saved me..." Calley replied. She looked over through the dimming light to where the remains of her backpack lay, the straps cut through by tiny, sharp teeth and white-hot fire magic. "You cut me out of my pack, didn't you?" she asked quietly.
Peiro nodded, glancing to the remains of the backpack, but chirruped in indignation. He crawled a bit into her lap and carefully touched the pewter token still hanging from Calley's neck, cooing a bit before trying to explain in the human language, his squeaky attempt sounding like baby-talk. "...ya save us, too... " and he rolled off into another chirp.
Calley smiled at the drakling, petting his head gently. "I guess so..."
Giacomo nodded in encouragment. "When people hear of what happened... they aren't going to think of a student who wasn't cut out for the job... they're going to think of a Jr. Ranger duo who met more than their match but had the skills to make it out alive."
Calley nodded a bit, meekly, not meeting the ranger's eyes. She gently hugged Peiro with an arm. "Is anyone.... mad at me?"
"There's no reason to be," he replied simply. He looked over at her pack. "I have some sewing supplies... hurry and eat a bit, and go sort through your things before it gets dark. See what's damaged, what can be fixed, what needs to be fixed first... the bag can be repaired."
Calley nodded and looked down at her untouched bowl; it was still warm, and she suddenly realized how hungry she was.
* * * * *
