and you're smart, and fun to talk to... I don't know... all I know is that I would've given my life to save you back there if that's what it took."
Kalia smiled. "...wow... guess I really stuck my paw in my mouth huh?"
Jack smiled back at her. "...not really."
"...you're serious though?" Kalia asked.
Jack nodded. "I've never been more serious about anything in the world." He said.
Kalia smiled. "...well I kind of like you too there Jack."
"...kind of?" Jack asked.
Kalia smiled and bumped into his shoulder with her own. "...knock it off." She said. "...well... if you're staying, I got us some food earlier."
"Good, 'cause I'm starving." Kalia said. She turned to walk toward the rabbits and then she stumbled and her leg gave out on her, spilling her to the ground.
"Kalia!" Jack called. He ran over to her side. "...you should just lay down." He said. "You're going to hurt yourself."
"...I'm fine." Kalia said.
"...you're stubborn." Jack said. "...and you aren't fine."
"...just give me a minute." Kalia said.
Jack sat down and put his paws on her shoulder, holding her down.
"What are you doing Jack?" Kalia asked. "...get off of me."
Jack shook his head. "...not till you promise not to get up."
"...but I'm hungry." Kalia said.
"I'll get it for you." Jack said.
"...alright." Kalia said. "I won't get up."
Jack eased off her and she rolled over to face him. He walked over and picked up the rabbits, then he walked over and sat them in front of her. Kalia was very hungry and she tore into one of the rabbits as soon as Jack dropped it in front of her.
Jack walked behind her and sat down, placing his paws on her shoulder."What are you doing now?" Kalia asked. "...I told you I wasn't going to move anymore."
Jack started licking her injured leg, cleaning the blood out of her fur.
Kalia smiled and swallowed the chunk of meat in her mouth. "...aren't you going to eat?" She asked.
Jack stopped for a moment and looked at her. "...I already did." He said. Then he went back to his work as Kalia set to eating again.
By the time Kalia had finished with the first rabbit, Jack had cleaned all her many wounds throughly. Kalia smiled at him. "...thank you." She said. "You did a good job, it feels much better now."
Jack smiled back ."...not done yet.' He said.
He stood up and walked outside the cave.
"What are you doing?" Kalia asked.
...no answer.
"...Jack?"
...still no answer.
Kalia shrugged and started eating the other rabbit, as she was chewing the first bite, Jack reappeared dragging several large green leaves. She swallowed the meat and then asked. "What are those for, beds?" She asked.
Jack laughed. "...not exactly." He said. "When I was very young I was shot by a hunter and a young Inuit found me... I learned about these from him." Jack stopped dragging the leaves and sat down, behind her once more. He took the leaf and tore off a sizable chuck of it, then he started licking it, grimacing a bit.
Kalia chuckled. "...what's the matter?"
"...doesn't taste too hot." Jack responded.
"...well then why are you licking it?" Kalia asked.
"...you'll see." Jack said.
He stopped licking the leaf and tore it into small strips, then he picked one of them up with his teeth.
"...oh don't put it on me now.' Kalia said, giggling.
"...that's the point." Jack said. "...this might burn a bit at first."
He laid the chunk of leaf over her leg and pulled it underneath, tucking it into the other side.
Kalia winced a bit. The leaf did burn at first, but a moment later a chilling sensation slid down her leg. She closed her eyes and sighed.
"...feel good?" Jack asked. He finished wrapping another of the strips around her leg, overlapping the first.
Kalia kept her eyes closed and nodded. "...what is it?"
Jack smiled and wrapped another of the strips around her side. "It's aloe-vera." He said. "I noticed some of it growing near the cave when we first got here. It will clean your wounds and help you from getting any infections... that wound on your leg is especially deep, we don't want you down longer than you need to be."
"...do you think it's broken?" Kalia asked.
Jack nodded. "...yeah, looks like it... and I think you probably have a concussion too, probly a few broken ribs and it looks like your shoulder may be dislocated. ...it'll be a while before you can go anywhere."
Kalia sighed as the pain that filled her body started to fade.
Jack walked in front of her and she smiled. "...thank you Jack... I'm sorry I was so cross with you a moment ago... thank you for saving me."
Jack smiled. "...you're welcome Kalia. I just didn't want anything to happen to you."
Kalia yawned and Jack smiled. "...well, we should probly be getting some sleep. You need to be rested so you'll heal, and I'll have to go out hunting tomorrow."
Kalia nodded and Jack laid down beside her.
He closed his eyes and put his head on his paws.
Kalia put her paws on his shoulder and pulled her head up onto his neck and nuzzled him.
Jack smiled.
It had been a while since he'd had anyone close to him like that... it did kind of feel weird that it wasn't Kami... but Jack thought she'd understand.
Jack picked up his head and laid it on Kalia's. Thinking about Kami and how close he'd just come to losing Kalia brought a tear to his eye. He sighed and wiped it away with his paw.
Kalia opened her eyes and saw another tear roll down his muzzle. "Jack, what's wrong?" Kalia asked.
Jack sighed. "I was... I was just thinking about... I don''t ever want to lose you, not like I lost Kami." He said. "I... I don't think I could live through that again."
Kalia smiled. "It's alright Jack." She said. "I'm a little banged up, but I'm fine."
He smiled. "...yeah." He said.
She nuzzled him again and closed her eyes, snuggling up to his side.
Jack closed his eyes and soon the two were fast asleep.
Chapter 8
It was a dark winter night in Nome, Alaska. It felt especially dark and cold to one inhabitant, curled up in a blue blanket in the wheel house of an old boat on the outskirts of town.
The young dog shivered in the blanket, but not from the drop in temperature... the dog shook violently as the images of the preceding evening played through her mind.
She'd never gotten along with her sister, and the two of them were always fighting and fussing... but never before had her sister ever done anything like she did the previous evening.
It had started out innocently enough, a small scuffle between she and her sister, nothing serious... but their father had seen, and so the two dogs found themselves in the boat that had passed as their father's home for the night, alone.
The young dog remembered her father's parting words to her. "...now maybe after spending a night together you two will come to an understanding... you better, 'cause you're not coming out 'til you do."
The dog had been a bit skeptical. It was more likely for a meteor to smash her flat than for her to understand the other dog, or visa-versa.
"It's all your fault anyway dad." She thought. "...it's the blasted wolf side of us that makes us fight so much."
The dog shivered again as she remembered her sister trying to talk to her. The small pup was less than conversational, and said very little... it was then that her sister tackled her and... the dog couldn't even think about it anymore, the memory seared her mind like an iron. She remembered her sister holding her down and... she shook all the more as the memory struck her again and again like a freight train, blasting her young intellect with each barrage, leaving her feeling like a drifting ship in rolling waves.
Strange thing was that... the young dog knew what her sister had done to her was wrong... but it had kind of felt good... in an odd way.
The young dog shivered harder and drew into a ball. She was usually strong. She usually won the scuffles with her sister... but she was unprepared for this... for what her sister had done, and the repercussions of the event. One thing was for certain in the young pup's mind.
If things had ever stood a chance of being fixed before there was no way now... no way for the her to forgive her sister, no way at all. The dog swore that one day she would exact her revenge, one day she would kill her sister for what she had done to her... A red dog and a gray wolf stood in a clearing in the forest, facing one another. The two slowly began to circle. "I don't want to fight you." The gray wolf said. "...you're my sister, it's in the past, I'm sorry but it's time to let it go."
"...you're sorry?" The red dog asked. "...that's all you have to say is sorry?"
The wolf sighed.
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