Redhawk Caldera wake the devil

She caught sight of Reyes and Meerkat almost simultaneously, though the latter made a beeline for her and didn't stop until she had pressed herself into Niamh's somewhat stiff but welcoming embrace. After all, Meerkat wasn't a child anymore, and Niamh wasn't as steady as she would have liked to be, considering the bone-deep gash on her foreleg. Still, she wavered but held Meerkat close for a moment, flicking an ear toward Reyes whose comment was acknowledged with a nod. Meerkat didn't even try to speak- she simply emitted a heart-wrenching wail that made Niamh panic. What had happened to upset her so much?

A thought was spared to the message she'd delivered to the wolves in the glen. Had the howling winds perhaps interrupted her howl and portrayed the wrong message? She didn't try to shush Meerkat- she'd let her cry it out as she needed to. The girl reeked of fear, and there was something frighteningly absent about her that indicated she might be in shock. "It's alright," She said, hoping to subdue some of Meerkat's fears. "It's alright. Fennec, Alyx and Bronco are all alive." She said to Meerkat. She assumed perhaps Meerkat had thought otherwise. But just how distraught she seemed made her worried. It stressed her out thinking that Meerkat had decided to risk coming to the Caldera, though, given the warning she'd called out about the cougar...But again, she couldn't be sure her message had been received correctly. If this was the response she'd gotten, then there was a good chance she'd been misunderstood. 

"Come on. Let's get you somewhere safe and comfortable." She said. She felt it would be best to get Meerkat away from the borders and, with her injuries as they were, she wouldn't be strong enough to support Meerkat if she needed assistance. She looked exhausted. "Reyes," She requested softly, gesturing for him to draw near so he might step in to help should Meerkat require a bit of assistance. While she wanted to give Meerkat all the time in the world to compose herself, she also felt the instinctual need to shepherd her further into the territory so they could be further from potential danger, and potentially find Towhee as well.