Remember the Name

Walk | Talk | Think

She was far, much further than she had ever intended to be, from her den of sleeping pups as she traversed the dense vegetation of the mountain's base. Would they still be restful now, even though she had trekked so long away from them? Might another of the Snow Rogues be brave and kind enough to see to them in her absence? As much as her worried thoughts tore away at her mind and caused her stomach to repeatedly flip and fill with a cold sense of dread, she knew she needed this outing. Already her sweet little blessings were beginning to open their eyes, and before long the lot of them would be up and moving about and giving her a difficult time of taking care of them all. Six! It still amazed her to realize over and over again that her family was so large.

But, unfortunately, her large family was also down one member too. She had been expecting Awaken for the first day or so after she had given birth, hoping to see him stop by and at the very least reassure her that the thought of parenthood had not entirely scared him off. But it had only ever been Orica, going about her duties as healer and growing friend to make sure that mother and children were well and happy. Occasionally another would come by with a recent kill, an offer to let her remain with her pups for a while longer, but the one that she longed for most continued to remain distant. It frightened her, his absence, and not knowing where it stemmed from. If she only knew, it might have made the empty space in her life that he should have occupied easier to bear.

Which was another reason for her outing. Lying about inside of her den left her with far too much time to think and consider many options that she would have rather left untouched, while each pup was a physical reminder of the wolf she loved and missed so dearly. But no matter how they grew with each day, not even they could fill the spot Awaken had kept. Her hunt had been meant to occupy her mind, to stretch her limbs, and to wake up those innate instincts that she had left grow so incredibly rusty over the past year of training to become a healer.

Still, some senses came more readily than others. While her nose quivered eagerly in anticipation of catching that first little whiff of something tasty about in the thick woods, it was her ears which were more alert, listening to the quiet twitter of the summer birds overhead within the canopy of the trees or the gentle noises of the tree-bound creatures who shared space with them. Oh, where are you? she wondered impatiently, longing already to return to her pups and console them over her absence. Catching the faint scent of something - prey, she hoped - the typically timid white wolf padded quietly and softly after it, hoping she had not lost all of her skill and would still be able to catch it off guard if she should be able to find it.