Training

Walk | Talk | Think

Though the timid white wolf knew that her slow pace would surely make her late to the meeting created specifically to further train the remaining healers of the Glaciem, Mercianne found herself losing motivation to attend. Healing had been such a prized goal for her, a talent that she had sought so hard to learn, but the thought of having to train under a new teacher only made her long for the one who had passed. Her time with Asheni had been short but meaningful. The black and white female had been nothing but generous and patient, always willing to teach and always willing to give her time. There was nothing Mercianne could ask or say that would make her feel inadequate to her instructor, and every answer was given with such enthusiasm that the brown-eyed wolf could feel the same excitement infecting her as well. Would that same feeling remain? Would it still hold the same sort of interest in her under the direction of a new wolf?

Her thoughts were still rather bleak as she neared, dark eyes downcast with her head and tail lowered, half out of respect and half in an unconscious expression of her mood. Unhurried steps continued to draw her closer as she raised her eyes gently to scan across those ahead and already awaiting the instruction of the wolf who would teach them, noting none of those present to be familiar faces to her. With the pups, this was to be expected. Her tasks did not often bring her within their circle, and she had yet to properly meet them. The other was still a stranger, though Merci felt somewhat certain that the other was no new member. Just an old face she had never become acquainted with.

With some reluctance, she gave her attention over to the wolf who sat at their head, a petite white female with sprigs of plants situated just so around her front. She was not what Mercianne had been expecting, though even she was hard pressed to identify exactly what that was. She was very small, perhaps even a little more so than Merci, and lacked the commanding confidence and enthusiasm that Asheni had sported. In fact, if Merci's own experiences with the emotion were any indicator, she looked a little nervous. To be away from home or to host such a collection to teach? You would have had to learn from someone else at some point anyway. The thought stole through her quickly, almost without notice, but its message was clear. Loss or not, Mercianne had started herself on this journey and promised Asheni that she would see it to the end, even if that end was more metaphorical than real.

Steps slowing just a fraction more, the quiet wolf came to stop among those already gathered around the healer from Valhalla, managing just to offer a kind smile to express her gratitude that the other healer should come. "Hello," she greeted quietly, trying to be as warm as she could to the generous healer before her. "I'm Mercianne. Thank you for coming." Merci may have been reluctant to learn, associating the beloved task with the friend she had lost, but the promise she had made to that friend kept her in place. For Asheni, she would continue her training and make her once-teacher proud.