Remember the Name

Walk | Talk | Think

The slow, careful steps that the male wolf took to bring himself fully out from behind the berry bush lacked any hint of ill-intent, but the nervous white wolf could think of nothing but the pups she had left behind and how she needed to return to them whole and healthy. Nothing could be taken as it seemed so long as they existed, so long as they depended so heavily on her for their very lives. Even though she feared for them all, she tried to hold some semblance of composure, her breathing made slow and quiet and her body held still to prevent it from flinching or showing signs of her wish to dart away. Mercianne was far too caught up in her own misgivings to notice the tone of hesitancy to the male's actions, the curious, confused manner in which he stared her way. She merely stood by, staring at the ground and waiting, hoping for a chance to get away and return to the family she cared for more than her own life. She would just have to forget hunting for herself and find another member of the Snow Rogues to lean on.

Brown eyes blinked while they remained fixed upon the earth, seeing just from the topmost part of her vision the mottled brown male move. It was not a move forward, or even back, but downward, his body sinking to rest upon his stomach, head settling itself upon his paws. Puzzled now herself, Merci did look up - in his general direction rather than with a forward meeting of eyes - unsure how to take the unexpected gesture. It was even more submissive than her own, she realized, placing him on an even lower status than she did herself. The only way he possibly could have made it more apparent would to have been if he had rolled onto his side, exposing the tender flesh of his stomach. And of course words followed, quietly, soothingly, assuring her with both physical and verbal promises that he truly meant her no harm at all.

How could she possibly doubt him then? He had given her proof, extensive proof, that he was not there to cause trouble. It would only be paranoia now that drove thoughts of uncertainty into her mind, if she allowed them to take root there. And honestly she wished to keep them out. Ever since gaining the new knowledge of a healer, ever since becoming mates with one of the most outgoing and fun wolves that she knew, she had noticed a change in herself, a confidence that had never been there before. For once she felt comfortable in her skin, comfortable with her life and where it was headed, and happy to have found a place for herself in the wide world that had seemed so very determinedly against her for those early years of her life. She hated very much the thought of reverting back to that time, of letting her worries rule her, of becoming less than what she now knew herself to be.

With some carefully placed internal force, the timid mother wolf made herself relax if only slightly. Just a little she dared to meet the eyes of the other - noting instantly their gentle green color, a different shade to the poison apple stare of her mate - before she sat herself slowly and carefully down upon the earth, shoulders still a little hunched so that her head did not rise too far above the line of her shoulder blades. Making no effort to respond other than to sit, Mercianne let her gaze fall downward with uncertainty, ears just beginning to bring themselves forward, when the male introduced himself. Surprise caused her to react naturally. The healer's ears shot forward, her dark brown eyes rising to stare across with a subdued curiosity as she mulled over his name. Cloud. But that was the name of her son! Was this coincidence some sort of sign? And if so, of what?

"Cloud." The word rolled off of her tongue with a touch of a mother's warmth, muttered mostly to herself in a thoughtful sort of manner. Almost she told the male of the significance of his name, the connection she drew from it to her family. But the protective side of her ran very deep, silencing any thought about it. To bring up the pups would be to place them in danger, to announce to the world their presence upon it, and she wished to shield them from as much as she could. Which meant hiding them for as long as she was able. "I'm...Mercianne," she murmured instead, just slightly hesitating over her name. It crossed her mind vaguely to give a false one, despite knowing the dishonor attributed to lying, but in the end settled on her true one, having no alias on hand anyway. Her tail tip twitched with restlessness, feeling as if every moment away from her pups left them in harm's way. Very much she wanted to return to them, and soon, but detained by unanticipated company, she was temporarily stuck.