Word Count → 336
The water was cool and refreshing and for a moment Neela could force herself to believe that everything was alright as the water trickled past her lips, soothing her sore throat on the way down. Still reality soon came knocking in the form of the wolf that had found her, who was asking if she was alright. The question drew a quiet, rasping cough from the collie before she answered, her voice an angry snap, "As okay as someone who's just had to relive their mate dying can be I guess!"
Neela's eyes narrowed slightly as she turned to face the wolf, transferring her shame into anger directed at the wolf just for his being there. Neela was quickly stopped short when she actually saw the wolf. In wolf terms the male was fairly old, on the upper edge of adolescence, but Neela was unable to stop herself from thinking of anybody under the age of two as a child, that was Leon's age after all.
Neela's eyes softened and she dipped her head, her ears lowering for a second as her gaze fixed on the strangers chest for that same time, a sign of apology not submission, before the collie returned both to their normal stance, her voice returning to its natural soft tones as she spoke, "I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that." Neela pushed herself up into a sitting position, legs splayed comfortably across the soft sand, "I've been having nightmares recently. As you can see they don’t agree with me much." Neela tried to grin at the weak joke but it fell flat
Neela fell silent for a minute before suddenly sticking her hand out toward the younger male, offering it up for a handshake, "I'm Neela Garcia, Chika and resident sailor." Neela tended to not prefer physical greetings with those she didn’t know but the handshakes purpose was twofold, a greeting but also a comfort for her, a reassurance that this stranger was actually here and not another trick of her mind.
