Say what you wanna say, And let the words fall out. Raising three pups without Gargoyle as present as Ocena would have liked had given Ocena a new view on what it must have been like for Mercianne to be raising her impressively large litter without Awaken at her side. As her trio had grown older, raising them had been less labor intensive, but Ocena still had her work cut out for her keeping an eye on all of them and making sure none of her children were injured. Even as she did so, she knew that her older children were drawing further and further away. It was the natural order of things, but it was rather saddening all the same. However, right then was not time to dwell on her own problems. No, what Ocena wanted to do was check up on the lovely white female that had watched over her own birth, despite being quite pregnant at the time. Ocena owed the female a great deal for that, and intended to help even things out just a little. Not because she disliked owing the female, but simply because it was the right thing to do. Ocena had less to do, and now could offer Mercianne whatever assistance she so desired. Raising as many pups as Mercianne had on without her mate could not be easy, and what Ocena wanted to make clear was that she was not alone. No, Mercianne had all of the Snow Rogues to offer whatever assistance that they could to aid in the raising of her pups. They would all help, of that Ocena was certain. Though they were no longer a pack, the wolves that had continued to stick together after their pack had been uprooted would form bonds stronger than ever when their trials were over. Of course, Ocena wasn't sure that the trials would ever be over. Trials were a part of life, and all they could do was their best. Ocena breathed a light sigh, a slight smile crossing her features as she drew closer towards the shoreline. Her own pups were dozing, and though Ocena wasn't sure how long that would last she had decided to head towards the water and summon Mercianne to her side to converse with the female. Things had changed a lot since Ocena had met the female the first time. She had grown more mature, less afraid of what others had thought of her, and Mercianne had grown as well. Ocena fancied that they were friends all the same, though they had talked little lately. It was time for that to be remedied, however. With that thought, Ocena tilted her head back and let a light howl escape her maw, one that called for Mercianne to approach Ocena's side. As the howl tapered into silence, Ocena settled in to wait, her good eye focused on the waters as she watched them surge against the beach not too far from her paws. At the moment, she was reluctant to get her paws wet; the nip that the rapidly cooling air possessed was enough to assure Ocena that she didn't want to get in the likely quite chilled water. Coding by lutara/kat lyrics © sara bareilles - brave Honestly, I wanna see you be brave.O C E N A ,

Walk | Talk | Think Raising all six of her pups on her own had indeed proven itself to be a difficult and trying task, but one that Mercianne enjoyed whole-heartedly. She could not imagine life without her young children anymore, though she had grown used to the absence of her mate. Where he had disappeared to was still an absolute mystery to her, and the loss had been deep and painful to begin with, but time had slowly ebbed away the stab into a mere dull ache, her pups keeping her so busy that she rarely had time enough to consider it. They were each of them so different, some more adventurous, some more shy, some more thoughtful than the rest. She took pride in each of them, encouraged all their little quirks, and did her best not to hover over their every move protectively. So far she thought she had been doing well, and her children seemed to be growing well for it. But time for herself had been rather scarce. Considering her mate was not around, she had not considered it very often, content to be distracted from the pain the thought brought, at least until she stole away from them to conduct a quick solo hunt. She had made a friend on one such mission, a kindhearted male who went by Knight that had offered his assistance to her. The chance to make a friend had made her feel a little like her old self, and so recently she had been doing better, feeling a little more comfortable in her own skin again. She felt this way when she heard Ocena's call, and assuring her pups that she would not be far and would return soon, earning promises of not venturing too far from the den in return, she had left them alone to answer it. Her dainty white paws carried her quietly over the sands as she moved to join the small black and white wolf upon the shoreline, her head still lowered as a sign of respect to the mate of her once-chief, though she smiled and wagged her tail in greeting. "Hello, Ocena," she greeted with a kind smile as she moved to seat herself beside the other wolf. It had been some time since she had spoken with the she-wolf, since her birth even, and so she knew they had much to catch up on. "How have you been?"

Say what you wanna say, And let the words fall out. Mercianne's greeting had Ocena stirring, her head lifting to focus her gaze on the white female, and Ocena smiled at the other. "Mercianne," Ocena let the warm greeting fall from her maw before she allowed Mercianne to continue, "I have been well. I miss Gargoyle, of course, but..." Ocena trailed off, twitching her ears. That wasn't the point of this. No, what Ocena had summoned Mercianne about had nothing to do with herself. It was about the white female that stood before her. A sigh escaped the female before she continued, shaking her head slightly. "Well, that's sort of why I called for you. I've realized recently that if raising three pups on my own was difficult, six must be much more so." Ocena hesitated for a moment, wondering if this would come across in an insulting manner, before plowing ahead anyways. "And I wanted to let you know that if you ever need any help at all, I will do whatever I can to help you, and I would think that the rest of the Snow Rogues would as well." Though she could make no promises about the rest of their family, Ocena was certain that they would all help Mercianne in whatever way they could. Still, she felt the need to clarify what she had said a little, so that she hopefully would not come across as condescending or insulting, "I don't believe that you are incapable in any way of handling this, and I'm not trying to say that you cannot do this; I simply wanted to tell you that the help is there if you need it." How long had it been since she'd spoken so much? When she had been younger, not pushing six years old, she had babbled almost always, trying desperately to cover up a low self-esteem that she had finally moved past with the help of Gargoyle and her extended family of Glaciem members. She would fall silent after those words, however, allowing Mercianne time to digest and consider Ocena's offer. However Mercianne reacted, Ocena felt better having gotten that off her chest. She didn't want any of the Snow Rogues to struggle. She would look after them as best she could in Gargoyle's absence. It was like wearing an awkwardly sized coat; one that was a little big, and didn't fit quite properly, but most of the time, it could work. Maybe she could, in fact, pull off this leadership thing. Coding by lutara/kat lyrics © sara bareilles - brave Honestly, I wanna see you be brave.O C E N A ,

Walk | Talk | Think A part of her had secretly been hoping for a happy little conversation, one filled merely with catching up and considering where their small band might go from where they presently were. There had seemed enough things for the two of them to discuss rather than linger on those points that brought the most discomfort, the most unrest, to her lonely heart. Little did she know those would be the points in particular that Ocena would wish to dwell on. She was still smiling happily, unaware, as the black and white she-wolf answered her inquiry, admitting that she had been well though also going on to mention that the absence of her own mate, Gargoyle, was a burden on her heart. Mercianne knew all too well what that feeling was like, could feel it now as the subject was brought up. She could see his face within her mind, that of her own missing mate, a little fuzzy and warped by time, but the feeling of longing was ever present. Though she had begun to lose the memory she had of Awaken's quirks - his insecurities, his rashness, his strength and confidence - she missed most the sense of security, knowing that at least to one she was the most important creature in the world. A little Merci drifted into herself, dark brown eyes falling downcast and her ears moving to gently rest against her head in self-pity. The smile about her face had smoothed away into nothing, only her eyes carrying the little seed of sadness that Ocena's words watered into a creeping, suffocating weed. But even that died down quietly and rapidly as the conversation moved on to the pups. The pups. Despite there being so many of them, despite the necessity of caring for them all being such a tiring challenge, they had proven to be her saving grace. Without them, she was liable to have fallen into a worse sadness than what occasionally overcame her, left wholly and alone in the absence of her mate within the fractured remnants of their once marvelous and idealistic pack. But Ocena had neither meant to merely comment or pull forth thoughts better left at rest. Instead, she offered friendship and assistance, assuring her that she and those of her family would always be there for her should she ever need the help. The gesture was touching, enough so that the timid wolf was able to draw her expression into a little smile of gratitude, and for a moment she dared to lift her eyes and peek across at her friend and leader, recognizing within her expression a desire both to not offend but properly extend a paw for help should Mercianne need to take it. "Thank you," she murmured softly at first, not entirely certain of how else she ought to respond to the kindness left at her disposal. She had always counted Ocena and her family as among her friends, even if she hardly spoke with them regularly enough to warrant such feelings, but this only seemed to confirm for her that the feeling must have been mutual. "It has been difficult," she surprised herself by stating, going on to answer and speak about the topics that she had thought she wished to keep to herself. "They're so brave and ready to get out there and see everything. It's been all I can do to keep them close to home for this long." She added a short, quiet chuckle, the sadness again returning though not so strongly enough that she could not find her voice. "I wish they knew him. Awaken. There's only so much I can do on my own, and...I can't fill that father figure." Her words cut off then, feeling as if she had divulged perhaps a little too much of the inner turmoils that often plagued her mind when the pups were asleep and she stayed awake long to watch them for a while at rest. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to trouble you with this." Was this not exactly what she had been hoping against at the start of their conversation? Hoping Ocena might react better to it than she had, Merci let herself fall quiet, ears tucking themselves nervously tighter against her head with her dark brown eyes still downcast.