mercianne Walk | Talk | Think Though her paws sunk with each step into the consistent, ever present snow, Mercianne felt as if she walked upon the very air above the ground, hovering without leaving anything behind. Things had just been going to so well at home, she could hardly believe her luck. To have been reunited with the Glaciem at all was heavenly, but she had been given a place amongst them, welcomed and wholly and without question, a friend without needing to be asked, and now she was to learn all that their Lead Healer had to teach her. If she had ever thought that she could feel this way about a pack, so welcome and at home, amongst a band of creatures that she shared no kinship or blood with, it was only in a dream. I guess dreams can come true here, she wondered with a bright smile, pausing with her paws mostly sunk inside the snows as she traveled outside of her home, a rare itch having encouraged her to wander. As her dark brown eyes shifted about the scenery, mostly white rolling hills of snow and the occasional ridge of grey stone where the mountains roamed, she spotted something unexpected and intriguing. Green? Yes, it was green. It was another batch of forest, small but seemingly just as hardy as the other plants that had rooted themselves here in this unforgiving land and had refused to leave their residency. What sort of place was this, to live here? As far as she knew, with a glance made to her left and right, there was very little in this part to suggest growth and life if you counted the energetic winds as nothing. Interested and figuring it a good place to visit while she was out, the timid little white wolf padded toward it. It was much smaller up close than she had thought from a distance. The trees were short and spaced out, the plants green in places where the summer sun had fought hard against the natural winter weather and fed them enough light to defy it with growth. And overall it was a particularly sunny place to visit, bright and cheery and really enjoyable. Smiling over her good fortune and the pleasant surroundings, Mercianne wandered aimlessly, hoping to still the restlessness in her legs with a stroll through this new section of land before she would return to the comfort and familiarity of her home.

Awaken sat silently by one of the rare trees that was standing in the middle of the snowy feild. His ears pricked forwards and body perfectly motionless. He loved nothing more than just quiet, thus the whole reason why he loved snowy landscapes. ?His mind ,however never seemed to fall silent, but on this rare occasion not a voice or vauge flashback crossed him. He just sat and listened to the breeze wistle over the snow and the small chattering of chipmunks and foxes. He would occasionaly wince at his paw witch he held off the ground... Hed stepped on a branch and had a splinter wedged in his pawpad.

? ? His ears pricked back when he heard rythmic pattering of paws... Wolf paws. He rose his body off the snow silently and scanned the landscape and saw a little white fae trotting tward him. He gave a small smile to greet her, setting his back paw down and jumping slightly at the pain from the splinter. He had forgoten about it. "Hello." His voice rang softly against the snow, rolling like dull thunder.?

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mercianne Walk | Talk | Think She was so inattentive in her wandering, simply enjoying herself, that at first she nearly missed the presence of the stranger in the wood with her until she was very close near him. Her dark brown eyes panned left through the trees, skipping over their familiar rough trunks and right over the darkly colored wolf in the same moment, and as she recognized a second late the out of place figure she did a quick double take. Her steps, which had been light and carefree, lacking any caution or hesitancy, froze amid the snow, her body instantly following suit. Natural distress and fear roiled through her for a frantic moment, always overly cautious and fearful when meeting strangers, particularly outside of the safe zone that she considered her home to be. Heart racing in her chest, she stared with momentary wide eyed panic at the stranger. And felt her pulse and nerves calm slowly. He was smiling, gently and without teeth, a friendly look if ever there was one. Whatever his intent here, it was not one of ill will or harm. In fact, as she stilled the overactive imagination that she possessed, she reminded herself that it had been she to sneak up on him and not the other way around. He had merely been somewhere that she was not expecting. Still, caution seemed to best route to take, and though she smiled gently and timidly back, her tail giving a faint wag behind her, she still averted her eyes from those of the stranger, not wanting to mistakenly set off his anger if he took offense to such a gesture. So as she stared at the spot just before him, down and well away from his gaze, she spotted the way in which he held his paw, and winced as he set it upon the ground. His deep yet gentle greeting sounded between them, and Mercianne hesitated only a moment in answering in kind. "Hello." She stalled a moment longer, warring with herself whether she should say more or not. Thoughts of what the Lead Healer Asheni had told her came back, about healing being an art that took not only skill with plants and herbs but with compassion and patience as well. Should she ask? Should she wait? Should she just ignore the way he had favored his paw? Praying silently that she was not crossing some unknown boundary, the timid wolf ducked her head slightly and asked, her tone as unobtrusive and gentled with concern as she could make it so as to earn as little retribution for it as she could, "Are you okay?"

?? ?Awaken looked surprized shed noticed his pireced paw. Hed been hideing it rather well... He then fit the puzselpieces as to why a little fae like herself would be wonderinb in the only green patch here AND noticed a paw with a splinter in it. She had to be a healer. "It's nothing big, i just stepped on something earlier." He turned her paw over showing her the underside. Between his second and third pawpad had a thorn wedged into the skin between the two didgits. He aslo had a strange birthmark on his pawpad... It resembled a pink roman numeral 6 (VI). He set it back down but didnt put much weight on in. Name's Awaken. ?You are?" He asked with a kind smile.

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mercianne Walk | Talk | Think At the surprised look upon the darkly colored male's face, Merci almost wondered if it would have been better not to have said anything at all. Maybe she should have just ignored it and pretended to not have seen, to let him keep pretending that all was fine. Her head minutely lowered again, half expecting some kind of cold and guarded response, but the stranger surprised her with openness regarding the care that he gave to his paw, even going to so far as to turn it over and expose to her the thorn that sat nestled between his pads, undoubtedly the source of his discomfort. Briefly, for a second or two and no longer, the creamy white wolf lifted her eyes toward the strangers, noting their unusual green and gold color, and lowered them to take in the thorn and paw, curiously raising her ears as she leaned a little forward to see better. It hardly looked like a serious thing, just a thorn, but without proper training of any sort having begun, was she even qualified to help with this? Choosing not to assume herself any more knowledgeable than she truthfully was just because she had gotten Asheni's okay to learn healing, Merci merely murmured a gentle noise under her breath and settled back, her gaze returning to the wolf's one more before looking pointedly back down again now that she had her answer. He introduced himself, offering her an unusual name, and politely requested hers in return. A quick glance at his face, a swift peek at his smile, and the timid wolf answered, her voice soft and quiet. "I'm Mercianne," she greeted, smiling to mimic his manner of greeting her. He seemed friendly enough, much nicer than she had been expecting. No gruff or rude outward fronts, no unkindness or hostility. Where the weather of the north should have hardened people and turned them cold, it seemed to have the opposite effect. Everyone Mercianne had thus far met had been the same, and she could only wonder what sort of correlation it could all stem from. Wishing for something to break the silence that she could feel slowly creeping in between them, she searched and found something and gave it voice, turning her head downward apologetically. "I hope I haven't disturbed you," she stated, shifting a little on her paws as she spoke.

?Awaken jumped slightly when a nearby fox stepped on a branch making a loud 'snap'. His head whipped around noting his surrounding again. He realzed realizing it wasnt an ambush. "Oh you didnt disturb anything. I was actualy... Well... I forgot what i was doing. Eh whatever it was can't be too important." He shrugged laying one ear to the side. His memory faded... Crap. He laid down for a moment chewing on his paw trying to pull the thorn out himself, not succseeding much.

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mercianne Walk | Talk | Think The uneasy, jumpy feelings that seemed to plague the dark colored wolf crawled across the distance toward Mercianne, inflicting her with a little of their influence so that when Awaken jumped from some unseen spook, the little creamy white wolf nearly did the same. She flinched, retreating minutely into herself as the other turned his head quickly to survey what the noise had been, and though she followed his green gaze with no clear view of what he saw she knew it be nothing truly frightening or worrisome by the way he returned his attention to her. Feeling a little embarrassed for jumping at nothing herself, Merci tucked her ears a little and shifted on her paws, staring down at the snow before her feet. His answer came next, haltingly and incomplete, but Mercianne said nothing about it. So long as she had not interrupted him, everything was fine. And surely he must have been right about what he had forgotten. Had it been something important, it would have stayed there in his mind, wouldn't it? She nodded her head gently, an appreciative smile upon her face that she was not currently an annoyance to him and glad he seemed willing to tolerate her company for the time being. The thorn in his paw seemed to irritate him again, and plopping himself onto his stomach the green-eyed wolf turned his paw inward and attempted to draw its point from between his pads. She watched for a moment, noting that he struggled with it, before the need to offer her own assistance overpowered her typically shy manner and caused her to speak out of turn again. "Do you need any help?" she asked gently, leaning just a little to the side and toward him as if the new angle from which she viewed his paw might afford her a quick and easy answer as to how best to get the little thorn out from where it had lodged itself. It was just a thorn. Surely she could do this, healer training or not.

Awaken nodded offering her his paw, wincing slightly. It didnt hurt too bad it was just really annoying. His ears psuhing back to anticipate something painful. its just annoying. he shrugged.

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mercianne Walk | Talk | Think He seemed to be a lot more trusting than she would have imagined, hardly even hesitating at all as she offered what help she could and stretching his paw out for her to see. Her expression grateful though reserved, Mercianne stepped forward through the snow, lowering her head and peering closely at the thorn where it sat. It certainly was in a tricky location, settled between the second and third toe so that most of it was hidden and therefore hard to grab. She sighed gently, wondering what the odds would be for her to actually succeed in getting the whole thing out. There was really only one way she could try. Informing her that it was simply more annoying than it was painful, Merci lifted her dark brown eyes and briefly alighted them on his before looking at his paw with a determined frown. "This shouldn't hurt," she answered him, and then lowered her muzzle calmly to his paw. Judging the space where it should have been, she bit, but missed. Again, she tried, and she thought she could feel it between her teeth, her hold tenuous but there. Carefully she drew her head back and stepped away as she breathed heavily out through her mouth, trying to get rid of the thorn if she had been lucky enough to keep her hold of it. "Is it gone?" Her question came a second later, and with curiously perked ears she set her gaze on his paw, hoping that she had been successful and expecting to see it free of prickly annoyances. OOC: Left it open for you to determine whether Merci was successful or not. c:

?Awaken winced slightly as he felt the prickly object oull out of his skin. He turned his paw over with relif wiggling his, ?now restriction free, toes. "wow... You actualy got it! Thankyou very much." He perked his ears forward setting his paw back on the ground. A small speck of blood on the snow from the little wound the thorn left. hey, you want me to catch you something? Or go on a hunt with me? Twowolves can take down something bigger than just one.

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mercianne Walk | Talk | Think To her surprise and relief, the dark colored wolf flexed his paw easily and turned it over and back, admiring her work and the returned function he had to his foot again. I did it! the little cream colored wolf thought, smiling to herself over her success while her tail wagged excitedly yet reservedly behind her. This was promising! If she could handle something as simple as a little thorn on her own, then surely that meant she was one step closer to assisting with the healing and tending of injured wolves that took place back at camp? Taking great pride in her first small victory, Merci murmured back quietly and modestly, "You're welcome," and only hoped it bode well for her future as a healer. Suddenly he was asking her if she wanted him to catch her something, a meal she supposed, in return for what she had done, or to assist him in a hunt if she preferred that better. Mercianne blinked, her brown eyes slightly puzzled. This was unexpected. She had anticipated the thank you, but this? She was still technically a hunter in her pack, at least until she learned more about the arts of healing, but she was poor at it, skilled only in hunting on her own and for small game. But she hardly wanted to disappoint this wolf who was only trying to do something in return for what she had done for him. "Oh, um... I'm not...very good at hunting," she answered hesitantly and apologetically, feeling self conscious since she knew hunting was such a basic skill that everyone ought to know some about it. "But I can try if you'd like me to." Her offer was made with only a small bit of reluctance, and more with a willingness to step outside of her comfort zone so long as it helped another.

?awaken's eyes lit up as he smelt a ehitetail deer nearby. Ill give you an easy job then. Come on. He smiled trotting ahead afew steps. His pace trotting and ?hindered by thorns. He stopped looking back to make sure he wasnt accsedentaly leaving her.

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mercianne Walk | Talk | Think As excited as she was nervous, Mercianne returned Awaken's smile with an uncertain one of her own when he announced she would be given the easy part of their task. What was that? What was she to do? Not for the first time, she wished she had been schooled like the other wolves had been in their packs and not neglected like she had been in hers. Everyone else seemed so good at what they did, well rounded enough to be an asset at whatever they set their minds to doing, while she struggled to barely make conversation. But I've been improving, a little voice in her mind countered positively, and indeed she had. Hadn't she made it thus far through a conversation with this stranger, this wolf named Awaken? If she could learn how to handle herself around her peers, she was sure to catch up to their level of knowledge in other aspects of life as well. He took off ahead of her, and with a meek obedience she fell into step behind him. He did not race off ahead, but paused, waiting to ensure that she followed and would keep up, and she lifted her eyes for a second to his, meeting his green gaze, before lowering them to a more comfortable level as she followed after him. A part of her wanted to ask him what it was she would be doing, but it was so much easier just to walk with him and wait with the hope that he would go about explaining eventually when the time was right for it.

Awaken froze when he got to a patch of snow and the deer was insight. "get down" he wispered, lowering his body down to the ground behind anear by, frost covered, bush. ?He snuck forward keeping in the cover of the bushes. He then turned to?Mercianne.



alright, heres the evil plot. You wait here and ill sneak around to the other side. When you see me perk my ears up jump out and scare him to me. He wispered in her ear before sneaking over to the other side. He barely left pawprints in the snow and stayed mindfull to keep down wind of the deer. Whenever the deer's head would raise hed freeze and blend into thr shadow on the ground and when it went back to rooting around in the snow he assumed his position on the other side of the deer. he flicked his ears forward to signal her.

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mercianne Walk | Talk | Think They seemed to hardly walk very far at all before the looming figure of Awaken froze amid the snows, causing Mercianne to come up short behind him and inch along his side to ahead and spying the creature that he intended to make his meal. Small in comparison to Awaken, she felt even smaller staring at the deer, but the wolf beside her only radiated confidence and surety, and she supposed if she did as she was told nothing would happen to her. He could be successful in his hunt with minimal input from her, and then it would be over. Trying to calm her nerves with a slow, deep breath, the little creamy white wolf turned her head to regard Awaken from the side while he spoke of their plan. His whispered plan sounded simple enough. All she needed to do was charge the deer into racing into Awaken's path, setting him up for victory. I can do that, she thought to herself with a nod to the male, letting him know that she understood and could follow through with her end of the deal. And with her confirmation, he left her standing in the snow beside the shrub, waiting and watching while he went around. A few times she thought the deer might have heard him and spoiled the ambush, but each time the unsuspecting animal would lower its head again as if oblivious to the dangers. She waited, keeping her brown eyes pinned to the darkly moving figure of Awaken until he stood on the opposite side of the deer, shifting his ears as he had said he would. For only a second she hesitated, a last little bit of nerves making her second guess herself, before she darted forward into the open and toward the deer, hoping her presence alone would startle the thing in fleeing. She did not bark, hardly posed any sort of intimidating figure as she nervously raced toward it, but she hoped it would be enough to send it running for Awaken.

The dear spooked, raising its white tail and darting off, oblivious it was running right into a bigger danger than the other wolf chasing it. Awaken spring, both front legs wraping around it's neck and pushing it to the ground as he held its throat, beggining to asphixiate the beast. The beast tossed and thrashed as Awaken gave about three solid jerkes and and deer became still and silent, red staining the snow. He let go of the, now dead, buck and smiled. and dinner is served. What pack did you say you were from again?" he asked. Hed already forgoten if shed told him or not.

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mercianne Walk | Talk | Think To her great relief, the creature reacted just as Awaken had predicted, frightened so merely by the figure chasing after it that it ran reckless and heedless right into the awaiting jaws of the darkly colored wolf where he hid. Merci stayed in pursuit, more as a formality than anything since she was certain if the creature decided at any moment to turn on her that she would pose no formidable opposition to get it turned around again. But her worries drifted away as the creature still bounded ahead and Awaken leaped clear of his hiding place, connecting with the large deer and bringing both of them to the snowy ground. Breathing a little heavily from the excitement of it all and the fact that she had actually successfully played her part in it, the creamy white wolf slowed and padded to a stop beside Awaken and the vaguely moving deer, sensing as well as seeing when it finally gave up and left its body to the wolves. Her wide brown eyes stared at the stained snow, the sure grip Awaken had on it, and the deer as it stilled and died, amazed and at the same time surprised she could feel sorry for a creature who had died so swiftly. But grateful its death had been swift as it could, she breathed silently in the quiet between them, shifting her gaze upward and on the wolf. Lifting his head, he smiled her way, the look almost predatory with the last remnants of their hunt still visible upon his face, and Mercianne tried not to shudder at the sight of it. Dinner. Was this an offer for her? Uncertain, she merely shifted upon her paws and regarded him as he spoke, being sure to avoid eye contact but listening quietly as he continued to address her. Her pack? "The Glaciem," she answered softly, wondering if he was at all interested in the pack that resided in the northern most part of Alacritia or if his allegiances stood elsewhere. Not wanting to pry, she refrained from asking about his own and merely waited, her attention shifting back and forth at length from the downed deer to the green-eyed wolf.

Awaken's eyes light up. He could actualy talk to this girl more often. He lifted his tail in a slight wag. "hey, if i get accsepted we'll be in the same pack." He smiled, his happy, non-threatening smile. yeah, i talked to some white wolf named, um... Cifer? I think his name was. ?Frankly, he scares me alittle." He shrugged. His shoulder rolling upward alittle bit before he walked around the deer carcas, liying down behind it, allowing?Merci to have the better half. ?His memories began forcing back to him, he momentarily zoned out...


?? Awaken stood in a forest's clearing, pups playing about him in the hot summer sun of some unknown place. The trees tall and blocked most wind, but occasionaly a breeze wisked through the leaves causing a relaxing hiss. He laid by another wolf. A large white male with a black mark over his eye that resembled a sixx. And a ebony female to his left, her aqua eyes shimmering and her mixed pelt looked like a monochrome masterpiece...?
'Brother do you smell something?' the white male asked curiously.
Awaken sniffed the air, his nose detected some odd scent but he wrote it off. 'What ever it is, its not important.' he shrugged
?

?? ? Awaken was startled back into reality by a drop of melting snow dripping on his head. "Oh... Um... Im sorry. I... Crap. Can you keep a secret?" He asked hesitantly. He couldnt belive he was going to tell someone but if he was going to be in a pack he needed someone who knew the truth about him.

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mercianne Walk | Talk | Think His answer took her quite by surprised, though it certainly explained why he was this far north. Of course he must have been seeking acceptance into the Glaciem; it was really the only reason anyone would have been up here, even in summer. She blinked in surprise and smiled still shyly, delighted but meekly so, and wagged her tail a little behind her at his news. "That's good," she answered happily if not quietly, and fell silent as Awaken went on to speak about the Glaciem wolf he had thus far met, a white male named Cifer. Mercianne had not met the wolf personally before, but she was sure she had seen him at gatherings, though she would have been hard pressed to single him out by name alone. With time, she hoped to be able to do that for each pack member, though, but that would be at a later date. In answer, she merely smiled again, lowering her eyes at the unexpected amusement of the idea. No doubt those most intimidating should be the ones greeting wanderers. It was a surefire deterrent for mischief at any rate. And she only hoped it never drove off any would-be good additions to their pack. Taking to his paws, the wolf wandered around to the other side of the deer and seemed to give up the better portions in favor of those where he now stood, a subtle indication that he intended to share his kill with her. Still, she hesitated, swallowing a little as she eyed the deer and then the wolf who appeared to drift away in thought, not even touching the side of the deer he had chosen. Curious, and interested in his catch, Merci stepped forward once and then again, her attention becoming increasingly focused on Awaken the longer he seemed to lose sense of the present and get sucked into his thoughts quite wholly. She made no comment about it, did nothing to draw him out, but waited, figuring it to be a safer route than possibly startling him with words. Eventually he did emerge, almost violently so, as a drop of melted snow from the tree above broke through is reverie. He seemed embarrassed by what he had done, zoning out as he had, and he apologized for it. Though Mercianne hardly felt an apology was needed - he was not gone for so very long and neither was he hurting anyone or anything - but the reality of it for him seemed to be much more serious than she seemed to understand. As he requested her secrecy, her brow lowered over her dark brown eyes, curiosity and a slight nervousness mingling there. "Yes?" she answered, unsure what he should need her to keep secret and a little anxious over what it might be.

Awaken put his head down on his paws, slightly afraid to tell her. What if she thought he was crazy? What if she requested he be killed because of his looming mind. "I know i was with wnother group of wolves before i came here. I dont remember were i was at or if it was a pack. But somthing happened to them. He sighed. All i remember was holding pups and fire everywere. And occasionaly flashback happen and i dont understand them... They make no sense at all, some times its just useless convorsations and words i dont get like 'Nexium' or 'sacrement.' and two numbers keep reoocuring. Six and Seven. It makes absolutely no sense at all to me or anyone else." He shrugged. ?His voice cracking eith emotion, confused and alittle upset. Not angry just sad and more sorrowful. He wanted to remember so bad. To get closure.?

??

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