It had started as a vague feeling of illness, and quickly escalated into a feverish pitch within hours. Ninaki had been making his usual rounds and securing the perimeter of the Lurker's territory when the sickness hit him full-strength. His stomach was knotted with agony, and he had long since disgorged his latest meal. He had felt this ailment for a few days now, but had shrugged it off as a mild thing. But what had started as a nagging cough in his lungs and fledges into an all-out assault on the rest of his body.

Shivering uncontrollably, Ninaki crawled over to the base of a massive Silver Maple and curled up. His frame was thinning and his coat ragged and unkept. Every now and then, a hoarse cought convulsed his weakening body.

The young woman walked quietly through the trees, her hands in her coat pockets. She loved walking through the Downs, even if criminals sometimes lurked here.

Suddenly she heard a rough, loud canine cough. She woke up from her fog and peered through the trees. She saw a wolf curled at the base of a birch, ragged and sick. A graduated vet, she rushed forward, but cautiously, not knowing what the animal would do. She knelt beside it, and murmured gently,"Hey there wolfie. Not doing so good are you? That's okay, I'll get you all fixed up." She carefully gripped the wolf by the scruff and lifted it into her arms. "There you go, that's it. You'll be fine." She spoke softly as to sooth the animal, and hurried to the clinic.

Ninaki was desperately weak and near delusional with fever. He didn't notice the woman until she was very near to him. The hybrid flinched and growled ominously at first, but he simply couldn't put up a fight at this point. His head drooped downwards as his growls died away. Half of him wanted to turn and flee, but another half of him was reminded of the kindly lady that had lived at the Woodland Farm. When she reached for his scruff, he didn't fight back.

Callie broke into a light jog, careful not to jostle the injured hybrid. She murmured reasurance to him again, and then rapped him in a towel that she had in the back seat of her Highlander. She lay him down, and then hurried around to the driver's seat. She climbed in, and started the ignition, she looked back one more time, and then pushed a strand of her strawberry blnde hair out of her eyes before driving on down the rutted dirt road.