twisted and terrified

The fox startled, slipping off his log and then face-planting into a dead fish as he tried to recover from the first mishap. The humor in this display was enough to intercept Luke's runaway mind, and for a moment his mind was calm as he continued staring. Then, a faint curl appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he took a deep breath. "Seems we're both having a good morning," he commented with a weak chuckle. He murmured okay to himself beneath his breath, and looked around once more.

In the next few moments he was able to ground himself. He still felt the icy lance of fear in his heart, worried for his companions, but his paws no longer threatened to carry him off in panic. He would go to them, but first he needed to tend to himself so that he was well enough to do so. He stepped to the edge of the lake and drank long and deep, then sat down as he turned to look at the fox again.

"Have you ever seen one of those before?" he asked.