Foreshadowing

Walk | Talk | Think

Another pause filled the air around them while Awaken considered his next question and Mercianne watched him think. Were it not for the yearling wolf possibly wandering around in the snow, she would have found the moment enjoyable. Without quite knowing when, Awaken had made himself a constant in her life, someone whose presence she had grown to enjoy and look forward to. He brought security to her when things began to feel chaotic and continued to wheedle his way further into her thoughts.

He posed another question to her for their game, breaking her train of thought with a blink of her dark brown eyes, and with surprise she realized he was close. "Yes," Merci answered, managing to smile just a little at his quick guessing. At the rate they were going, she was sure he would have it figured out in little time at all. Hopefully he was already figuring out an object for himself.

It seemed she wasn't the only one plagued by worry. No sooner had he made his guess than Awaken told her he was going to try and see if Ithurial was close. Nodding her head, Mercianne turned to watch him leave the shelter of the tree, feeling the chill as the branches were parted and the subsequent quiet that settled around her now that she was alone. Outside she heard her friend howl, the sound distorted by the wind and made all the more haunting by their isolation. She curled herself up tighter where she rested, listening as his howl died down and then two more followed. There were no answers that she could hear, but she knew the shelter she was in could prevent it from reaching her. Still, she listened closely, half expecting to hear some noise, any sort of answer, at any moment.

Without hearing anything herself, she glanced expectantly toward Awaken as he returned inside the shelter of the tree, weaving the branches before he joined her beside the tree's trunk. No answer, as she had thought, but her companion was ready to believe Ithurial had made it safely back to the pack's den. "I certainly hope so," she murmured, feeling the worry beginning to resurface. Trying again for distraction, she added, "You're getting closer. With your guesses."