She honestly thought he had like, keeled over and died or something and she was going to have to hide help bury a body.  Her hackles raised in surprise as she dropped whatever the fuck she was doing and stiffly walked over towards her packmate that was cowering in the bush.  

I mean, was this dude all there in the head?  Um, you good?

For the second time, she had to wonder if this dude's bulb lit up all the way.  Yeah.  Um.  You're fuckin' scared of squirrels?  You're pulling my leg, right?  She looked around and her ears slid back on her head.  I don't buy it, with that rabbit over there.  She gestured with one paw at the rabbit that he had discarded in order to hide himself.

Well, at least his explanation kind of made sense, even if it was a little half-assed and on the spot.  Oh.  Um.  Sorry.  Do you want to catch some squirrel?  She hadn't eaten yet today and while she wasn't famished, maybe she could nibble on it and help fill the caches a little more.  Or, I don't know, something bigger?

Hmm....  Well, squirrels were abundant.

What do you say we hunt a whole bunch of them.  Have a little contest to see who can bring in the most.  She kind of really wanted to make a good name for herself early on, to be seen as dutiful and loyal.  Whoever catches the most wins?

Sweet.

Stray didn't want to think too hard about how wolves were able to tell time, so Ceara detailed to Nevouku how long they would take to catch the squirrels and the rules that the contest entailed.  Once they were both ready, she departed and started looking for the fluff-tailed prey.

They were abundant, but they could also be elusive — she found one of them easily but it startled and gave chase, but ultimately its life ended between her jaws.

She deposited the second carcass next to the first.  Luck was definitely on her side today — on her own, she had never been this good at hunting.  Not until she had met Siarut, and felled both of those ducks in one go.  It was not long before she had found another squirrel.  This one passed through a thicket of thorns but the headstrong firebrand continued after it anyway, tearing up her legs.

She almost had it when — oof! — Nevouku slammed directly into her shoulder.  Heat spread across the area as she and the timid male became a tangle of limbs, rolling across the plateau.

As they rolled to a stop, she took a second to let the air settle back into her lungs because this dingfaad had knocked it all out of her!  The only thing she could think was: Oh what the fuck?

Because Nevouku was straight on top of her.

She really, really wanted to be angry with this dude's blatant idiocy, but she kind of had a moral code that didn't allow her to get upset with those who were a little, ah, slow.

She helped him stand up by bucking her hind end straight up against his junk though, because ho-ho-holy fuck did that catch her by surprise.  Yo, was all she offered as he scrambled back, tail lashing behind her.

But, damn.  Looking at the poor dude, she really couldn't be mad at him.  Look, uh, it's alright.

Ceara drew forward, her head cocked to the side.  Dude, no, it's fine.. she trailed, kind of hoping he'd just let it go.  It was awkward enough that the old man hand landed on top of her, he didn't need to make it any weirder by lingering on it.  But she didn't tell him that, because that would be rude as fuck and she at least had a grain of tact.  Are you okay?  She touched his cheek with her nose, actually kind of concerned.

Calm down, she said gently, moving herself to stand alongside him in case he keeled over or something.  It's okay.  You're okay.  She kind of felt bad for how she'd treated him earlier — had she caused this?  I've got you.

She walked slowly, wordlessly, trudging towards one of the less traveled portions of the territory.  She didn't recognize the name he kept repeating, and did not know yet that he was hallucinating his dead mate — correction, he thought Ceara was his dead mate.

It's okay.  I've got you, was all she whispered as she helped him somewhere quiet.