Heron Lake Plateau your shadow weighs a ton

Ceara gave her excuses, but Niamh didn't want to hear them. She was surprised to hear that Screech had nearly choked on a duck, and that didn't sit well with Niamh. "That's why I didn't want your involvement. You went into my den without permission, and didn't tear his food up for him. He wouldn't have choked at all if you'd just left the food outside. Raven and I are caring for him; I appreciate the help with hunting, but everything else- leave it to us. You don't know what he needs. You made an assumption once, and apparently it nearly killed him. I know you had good intentions but...Because you trespassed, you endangered him. That's why I warned you to stay away." She was mildly irritated now, but more exhausted than anything. She'd confessed, then, that she had endangered Screech when she'd visited last, by not tearing his food up before giving it to him, and it solidified Niamh's belief that she shouldn't be around him. Her ears turned back. Couldn't Ceara just apologize for trespassing? It wouldn't have been that hard. Niamh was doing her best to wean it out of her, if she possibly could. 

Ceara suggested she put him in a communal den, and she shook her head. "Not yet. Not if it means others will make the same mistake you did and nearly kill him with kindness." She said. "He's...." She began, and she trailed off, when he stood up, moved to separate them before he fell, and she moved in, shunting her shoulder beneath his to slow his fall to the ground. One warning look from her was given to Ceara, as she didn't want the female to rush in to help, not now that Screech was settled back on the ground again. She frowned. He wanted to move, which was good, but he didn't have the strength. 

"He's my charge. It's my fault that he ended up this way." She said, gritting her teeth. She avoided eye contact with Ceara, and bit her lip to keep it from trembling. It was tough, admitting her fault, especially to Ceara. But at the same time- as she'd noticed when she'd confessed her guilty truth to Quixote, it was somewhat freeing. The others knew that Niamh and Screech had collided, and that in truth, it wasn't necessarily Niamh's fault...But she couldn't help but feel like it was, even if he was the one who'd lowered his head to ram her. "I'll be damned if I let anything else happen to him."