These lands were a far cry from the place that Ocena called home. They were dry and dusty, the water having vanished long ago from these places. Where had it gone? She was quite unsure. Maybe it had ended up in her lands? It would certainly explain the lack of water here, as Glaciem's territory had a good deal of it to spare in the form of snow. These curiosities were not ones that occupied the wandering female's mind for long, however. The female twitched her ears slightly as she padded along, wandering alongside a dry, empty streambed. Once, she imagined, it had been full of rushing water. Ocena could almost imagine the burbling brook that had once carved this path through the land. But the water was long gone, and Ocena was starting to wonder if this trip had been worth it. It had been nice to stretch her legs, yes, but she had wandered a long way, and she wasn't entirely sure if this was worth it. These western lands of Alacritia were just . . . dry. Bone dry. If she got lost here, it would not end well for her. The air was hot and dry, a strong contrast with the cold, icy lands of her home. Ears twitching as she padded along, Ocena glanced around. The air seemed to almost shimmer with heat, and she could see for miles all around her. All in all, this was vastly different from her home in the far North. Perhaps it was time for her to start heading back... Speech,

Hercules made his way out of the shadows and approached the female who had seemed to notice him. "Hello, Ma'am." Hercules bowed down respectfully. "I am Hercules from the kingdom of Seracia. Pleasure to meet you." This wolf seemed to resemble Hercules in a way. Though, Hercules had more of an equal scale of white and black, while this wolf had more black than white.

Hercules sat down a few feet away from the wolf. He wondered if she was going to answer him, or simply sit there and watch him in confusion. Most gave him that look when he said he came from a kingdom.

Hercules enjoyed this climate, but by the looks of the strangers face, she didn't look like she could say the same.

Ma'am? Ocena jumped a little when the wolf appeared as if from nowhere, glancing around herself wildly, trying to see who else he could be speaking to. It couldn't be her, could it? Ocena had never been addressed as 'ma'am' in living memory. None of her old pack had respected her enough to do so, none in Glaciem had done so either. But there was no one else around. Which meant he had to be talking to her. Well. That was weird. But it wouldn't do to be rude. So, with a twitch of her tail, Ocena turned her head to gaze at the other black and white creature, "Hello," Ocena paused, ears swivelling around for a moment, "I am Ocena. Lovely to meet you, Hercules." She paused for a moment after this, frowning a little as she thought. Hercules. That wasn't a name that she had heard in a long while. Not since . . . Her brother. Frowning, Ocena fixed him beneath her mismatched gaze. He certainly looked like she did, but. That was far too much of a coincidence, wasn't it? Twitching her ears, Ocena shook her head slightly, trying not to think about that too much. He couldn't be her brother. This was all far too much of a coincidence. "What brings you to a place like this?" Ocena asked in a conversational tone, ears twitching as she gazed at Hercules. This couldn't be her brother. Denial was an interesting thing, to say the least. Speech,

The stranger seemed to be surprised by him calling her ma'am. Surely, any female must be treated with that kind of respect, at least by a few men? She didn't even seem to think that he was talking to her, as she was looking around for another wolf. Eventually, she dropped her eyes on Hercules realizing it must had been her he was addressing.

"Pleasure is all mine, madam."Ocena? He distantly recalled that name, but from where?

Looking at the wolf, she did greatly resemble Hercules. A mixture of a lot of white and black was a rare combination. At least, Hercules hadn't seen much of it. The most he had seen in his time here was black with a bit of white on the chest. Ocena had a great amount of both colors. From this distance, he couldn't quite make out her eye color, though.

"This is the area as which I lived in when I was a pup." he said. "How about you, madam? What brings you to these parts?"

All right, all right. This was enough. Hercules had always been a polite male, had always been one to cross his Ts and dot his Is. There was something wrong with this picture. Her brother should have noticed her. Should have recognized her. Ears twitching, Ocena examined the wolf carefully, inhaling deeply. She tried to play it off smoothly, but the female was trying to figure out what was going on. "Hercules..." She trailed off, mulling the name over slowly as she spoke, "You know, I had a brother named Hercules. He looked like you... We were about two when we were separated. Hunting's a dangerous occupation." Ears twitching, Ocena gazed at the male, waiting to see how he would react. Would he laugh, call her crazy? Hercules had been the sibbling she was closest to. Ranni had always been raised for greatness, with Hercules somewhere in between rock bottom (otherwise known as Ocena) and the sky (Ranni). So maybe she was just being crazy. But this couldn't be that much of a coincidence. It wasn't possible. This had to be her Hercules. So why didn't he recognize her?? Ears twitching, Ocena's thoughts ground to a halt as he spoke. So he was from here? That . . . meant that he couldn't be her brother. Her tail drooped a little, and Ocena twitched her ears, frowning as she examined the male. "This is some place to grow up in," Ocena spoke in a conversational tone, doing her best to try and hide the sudden disappointment that had been her first reaction to his words, "I was exploring, myself. I wanted to see what these western lands were like. I hail from the North, with a pack known as Glaciem." At the thought of Glaciem, she had to fight back a smile. Just considering the pack from which Gargoyle hailed warmed her heart a little from the sudden disappointment that had hit her. Speech,