At last his pale lamb struggles to consciousness and begins to kick against the water with him, aiding him in their pursuit of air and land. He does not cease his efforts nonetheless, gripping tight to her mane and shoving her upwards to freedom relentlessly, even as his shoulder burns and his lungs protest against the salt water that burns his throat and nostrils. She goes limp at intervals, slowing and struggling in turn, but his eyes burn with ferocity and determination. There is simply nothing to be done until she lays prone upon the sand, his own shoulder burning so fiercely he nearly joins here there. Does not simply because someone has to be the strong one, and he must save face and ensure she does not look down upon him, even if he had just saved her life. His pride keeps him standing, and he wonders for a brief moment as Brisa's eyes start to shift beneath her lids, whether Other Kaj would have joined her there sprawled shamefully across the beach. Snorts derisively and does not think on it any longer, embracing instead the frustration and ferocity that leads to raised voice and downward turned snarl of disapproval. Fear that he had lost her, that he had failed her both as lead and friend.

At last she shifts, coughing and choking, eyes blinking open and croaking hoarsely a question. "Yes," he says simply, a bark of noise for how his heart is still racing and his blood is still hot with anger at her stupidity. Kaj knew of her depression and her isolation. Had this been a suicide attempt? He frowns fiercely down upon her as she struggled to regain herself, wonders what would have happened if he had not been there to bear witness to her reckless plunge into the icy waters that chill his hide. The beach was devoid of life as he twisted his head to look while she awakened herself. She would not have lived, he decided grimly, and found himself all the angrier at her for the realization. 

He returns her touch only briefly, for her dazed eyes still inspire the barest threads of pity inside his wretched soul, for while he was no soft bellied idiot like Other Kaj, he was still no mindless, heartless beast. But he retreats from her quickly enough as his name is spoken quizzically, and he cannot contain himself any longer for how the fear and anger boils inside him. 

"I can't believe you would do something so foolish! So idiotic!" He shouts it, turns away from her and whips his wings with a sharp snapping sound that resounds between them, whisking away water and underscoring his anger in unison. He whirls to face her, sand pasted to his wet legs and chest heaving, eyes like electric blue fires and ears disappearing into his soaked mane. Pale strands play across his vision, sticking uncomfortably to his forehead, but he bears it no mind. Instead he embraces his anger, kicking up sand as he moves toward her in a sharp, aborted movement. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" He wants to grab her mane and shake her again, rattle her brain until it clicks that she cannot waste away her life so carelessly.

"YOU WOULD HAVE DIED IF I WASN'T HERE!" Soggy, useless wings flare wide as if cruelly inviting her to look down the beach and see for herself how it is empty. "What about Aeolus?! Why did you do this? WHY?!" He bellows it, and wonders if she can see the fear that drives him to this one sided shouting match. If she can see past the spark of anger to the terror he'd felt to see her limp and drowning in the water, fearing he would not reach her in time and that he would have to be the one to announce his failure to Aeolus, tell him that he was a full orphan at last.