Walk | Talk | Think

Everything had seemed so normal and peaceful the night before. The pups had all huddled into the den with her as was their usual sleeping custom - a fact which had made her already have to dig out a wider stretch for them to rest inside - and snuggled in with all of her children Mercianne had fallen asleep. A restless roll here or a half sleepy stumble here were not altogether uncommon, particularly with all the different sort of preferences for comfort among the pups, but by the time morning came along something felt off, wrong, strangely out of place.

The timid white healer had given it little thought at first, assuming it to only be an unnecessary worry of hers, something that she had grown used to with her first litter. But it had refused to leave, and so with a quiet sigh, she eventually opened her sleepy eyes to peer over the little bundles in her den where she rested. Each of them looked to be peacefully slumbering, either sprawled amongst each other or curled in their own little spot to keep the others from laying all over them. A little smile slid upon her face as she looked over them, but as she did so, quietly going through the naming and counting process that she had taken up since their birth, she finally realized what was amiss.

Smile quickly slipping away, she skimmed her eyes over them once more, this time more swiftly than before. Emery, Sage. Cloud and Crow. Clover. That was it. Growing more nervous by the second, heart already beginning to beat rapidly in her chest, the anxious mother shifted where she lay, trying not to disturb the pups as best she could while she lifted her head to peer over the top of them, assuming from the angle she had been looking she had failed to notice all of them. She tried again. Emery. Sage. Cloud. Crow. Clover. Still no Kestrel. The girl was gone.

Immediately her head turned to stare out of the den and into the early morning light, trying vainly to see her dark colored form somewhere outside and already greeting the day. Maybe she had risen early and just wanted some fresh air. Maybe she was thinking of her siblings and went away from her restless tossing and turning woke them. Carefully, Mercianne extracted herself from the resting bunch and quietly padded out of their den, unable to bother with stretching her cramped muscles out as she squinted her dark brown eyes against the sudden sunlight and attempted to peer around in search of her daughter, whispering a nervous, "Kestrel?" into the cool morning air. Still nothing. Where had she gone?

A sense of desperation stealing over her, she began to walk hurriedly a short ways away from the den with her eyes and ears ever vigilant, hoping to spot her somewhere close by. She continued to call for her daughter, daring to raise her voice as much as she could while trying not to wake the rest of the pups before she knew for certain there was reason to worry.

. . . The voice of Mercianne reached Ocena's ears and dragged her from her sleep. For a long moment, silence reigned and Ocena began to drop back into her dreams of Gargoyle, and then a call echoed again in the air. 'Kestrel!' It rang out, and it took Ocena a long, sleep fuddled moment to realize that Kestrel was the name of one of Mercianne's pups, and that something was likely wrong. Disentangling herself from her pups, Ocena retreated from her den, her paws carrying her swiftly towards the source of that voice. "Mercianne!" The female would exclaim when she drew closer, her voice ringing out in the cool air, "What's wrong?" Ocena would demand of the other, her gaze locked on Mercianne's form as she gauged their closeness carefully. Why was the female calling for Kestrel? Had something happened to the young pup? The thought made Ocena's blood run cold. A flicker of panic made its appearance in the woman's thoughts, but she forced herself to clamp down on it, to be strong like Gargoyle would have been if he were here. In his absence, she had to be strong. . . . "Speech."

Midnight had been patrolling holding the night shift she had followed the border faithfully as the she had watched the moon travel across the sky and as the sun had begun its upwards climb she had turned homewards. Her head hung lower and she yawned as she trotted closer to home, it had been a long night, she had been alone on the border, and as far as she had seen nothing interesting had happened. She had only just reached the sand of there home beach when she heard the disturbance her ears instantly pricked her head swinging up as she picked up the pace, her slow walk changing to a brisk trot, she knew the pack well now and recognised mercianna as the caller, was something wrong had something slipped past her in the dark of the previous night, had it found the girl, attacked her, midnights body tensed for a fight as she drew closer to the noise, it was only then she realised that the name on her lips was that of her pup. Midnights fear waned slightly but was quickly replaced the former though could still hold true she took a deep breath calming herself as she pulled up short. Slowing to a walk as she approached the two other dames, recognising the Oceana she dropped a quick bow before turning her attention to the other girl. ?is everything alright, ? she asked her posture was worried ears forward tail down as she waited for mercianna's response. Midnight knew better then some just how dangerous the night could be for a pup, but there was no reason to fear no yet, the girl might simply have wandered off to play it wouldn't be the first time nore would it be the last. Speech,

Sage was sound asleep next to his siblings. He was curled up next to his mother, back to Emery. Although he was warm, it wasn't quite the same. Something was missing. He twisted and turned so the he was now facing Cloud. No. Not the same. He opened one eye and looked around in the dim darkness. Soft breathing filled the air. All seemed normal. Cloud's fur tickled his nose. He sat up and sneezed. Achoo! His nose wrinkled and he let forward the sneeze. His hole body all with the force. When he reopened his eyes, his mother was gone. He heard a shout in the distance. Kestrel! Kestrel? She was right the-. Sage looked around frantically. His sister wasn't in the den. Sage hurried after his mother, little puppy paws carrying him quickly towards his mother. When he reached her, he saw Ocena and someone else he didn't know. Sage stood a little behind his mother, shivering a little with fright. What was happening? Speech Thought Others

Walk | Talk | Think

A silent whine caught somewhere in her throat as the anxious white wolf traveled further from her den, dark eyes searching every which way for the small dark shape with green eyes that was her darling daughter. In each direction that she looked she only saw the natural surroundings brightly lit underneath the morning light, no sign of the one she sought anywhere. Her stomach twisted within her gut, her mind already whirling with the possibilities, and not a one of them pleasant.

She thought to have been calling quietly enough, though she supposed in her fear her voice had risen above where it had intended. It drew to it others, in particular Ocena and Midnight. Ocena was the first to arrive, hurrying to join her as she made herself pause in her tracks and draw in a few quick, steeling breaths to help compose herself before her friend could draw near enough to see how truly frightened she was. She was still breathing somewhat rapidly as the small black and white wolf stopped close and questioned what was amiss. "Kestrel," Merci answered, pausing a moment to take another quick breath, "Kestrel is missing. I woke up and she wasn't in the den. She wasn't outside, I don't know where she's gone."

Just giving voice to that alone had been enough to rile the frantic emotions within, and the last words left her lips with a slight wobble to them, Mercianne taking another moment to close her eyes and draw in deep breaths. It would do no good to get worked up. She needed to keep calm, to keep looking, and hope that Kestrel might turn up soon. More help arrived with Midnight, equally concerned regarding what had happened, though Merci hardly trusted her voice to tell the sickening news again. She hoped Ocena might be gracious enough to say it instead.

The sound of tiny paw steps behind her caused her ears to perk and her head to turn suddenly, eagerly anticipating the small form of her daughter finally coming out of hiding to end the desperate search. Instead, it was small Sage, looking shy and uncertain at the other two females who had gathered to assist her. "Sage," she greeted him, her voice rising in a falsely happy tone. She put on a smile for him, one that she could feel lacked the usual sincerity and warmth behind it, doing her best to keep her fears from her son's worry. Leaning forward, she lowered her head until it was level with his and spoke to him in a slightly breathless voice, grateful that it did not outright wobble or shake. "What are you doing? You should be in the den with your brothers." No. That was not right. She should have worded that differently, should not have alluded to his sister's absence. Feeling her expression falter under the unintended slip of the truth, she gave up trying to speak to him and merely reached forward to nuzzle him gently against his side. At least the boys were still here. Now if only Kestrel would come back.

Emery was fast asleep, curled up among his siblings where he was nice, warm, and comfy. But as he felt Sage shift the little brute lifted his head sleepily, looking out after him. Where on earth was he going? Emery let out a little yawn before lowering his head back onto his paws. But then he noticed that there were things wrong with the den. He lifted his head again, going over the sibling count in his head. Now that Sage was missing there were two gone... and their mother too.

Emery shot up after that. Why were the others missing from their sleeping spots? Teal eyes looked around worriedly before Emery bolted out of the den. He ran up to his mother, Sage, and two other wolves before coming to a stop, panting softly as he worriedly looked around again. Still... there was one missing. Kestrel still wasn't around... and he could sense that his mother was distressed. Something had happened.

"Mama... why is Kestrel missing?" A little whine escaped his throat as he asked the question, his little ears lowering.

ooc//Sorry for crappy post T^T its too early lol but I had to get this done

With careful steps, Knight arrived at the beach that the small dame had told him about. After their meeting, Knight had promised to come and see her as well as meet her children. Mercianne had plagued his mind since that day, even then it was hard not to feel happy when he was in her presence. Normally, he was stand offish and hated talking to others...but Mercianne seemed to have a reverse effect on him. He enjoyed her company, even if it was short lived that day. Looking around the stretch of sand, the smell of sea salt and wolves reached his nostrils. One scent in particular was familiar to him as it mingled with the scents of others...one ear cocked back, jungle green eyes suddenly turned worried as the scents that reached him smelled of distress and fear. What had happened? Leaving his standstill position, Knight raced forward towards the many figures. Upon arriving, he saw Mercianne with two pups; assuming they were hers anyway. Green gaze swept over the scene, distress and frantic nerves seemed to be pouring from the small group, and concern would etch onto his face. "Mercianne...what's wrong?" He approached her then as he glanced down at the pups huddled around her legs. They all seemed to be in a panic, and he hoped that he could help in some way.... "normal. talk. think. you"