Darkmoon had reached Turtleback Lake a week or two earlier, and had taken the chance to rest along its abundant shores. To his delight, he had discovered plenty of clams living in the shallows, and had finally managed to score himself a decent feed - at the very least, it was something. Although he had some difficulties working out how to open and eat them in the beginning, he quickly worked out a way of exposing the fleshy part inside. They had a much stronger, sharper taste than meat from land prey animals, but he was not a picky wolf, especially in his state of chronic hunger. Along with the mild weather, he slowly began to recover.

Darkmoon gradually made his way along the southern shore of the lake, searching for new sources of food as he went along. It was still cold and he knew he should head south if he wanted a proper chance at recovery, but he felt as though he had struck gold here, and would make the most of it while he could. Despite his plans, he felt himself turn north as the lake did, and once again sidetracked his intentions to head to warmer climes.

Eventually Darkmoon reached a large river that fed into Turtleback Lake. His thoughts went to how he would possibly ford it, but soon decided against it - he could not see a way across that was close by, and he knew he had gone far too off-course already.
    Turning back the way he had come, he spotted a small figure not too far away. It was a small wolf - a cub! He shook his head, deciding that could not be the case. A cub that small would be far too young to be wandering around on its own, away from the watchful eyes of its pack. Terror quickly seized him, as he looked around for the pup's family, expecting at any moment to be surrounded by protective adult wolves. Had he stumbled onto a pack's territory? That would be the only explanation to find this cub, and yet he had noticed no strong scent indicative of a pack at all along his journey this way.
    Curious but cautious, he padded towards the cub, ears swivelling to catch the sound of approaching wolves. They were only small, and would not be more than a few months old. The cub seemed to be enjoying themselves, and this only made Darkmoon more confused. What were they doing out here? He felt a strange sense of concern for the youngling which surprised him, and a scowl came over his face to hide his true feelings. As he drew closer, he cleared his throat and addressed the cub.
    "You shouldn't be out here on your own."

The cub greeted Darkmoon with a hoarse hello and introduced herself, albeit with some difficulty. She crawled towards him submissively, ears back, and Darkmoon huffed with superiority. At least she knew how to be respectful before him, even if she had seemingly snuck away from her family. "My name is Darkmoon," he replied flatly, having little interest in spiking up a conversation with this pup. However, being vulnerable and on her own, he felt some sort of responsibility over her safety. He cursed inwardly that he had been the one to find her wandering alone, but he knew that he had to help her now that he had; he knew only too well what is was like to be stranded from help when it was most needed, and there were lots of dangers in the wilderness.
    "You should be careful, you know," he said sternly, peering down at the cub, "I am big enough to hurt you, and you're just speaking to me without a care. This is why you shouldn't be on your own." It was harsh to say to someone so young, and came out rather threateningly although he did not mean it to. His intentions were good, only trying to teach her a lesson in safety, but as usual his execution was horribly off. He flicked his tail in annoyance at the whole situation, before continuing. "You're too young and stupid to be away from your family." The comment reminded him of his potential imminent danger, and he looked around again, searching along the treeline and down to the water's edge. "Speaking of which," he said, dropping his voice and moving closer. "Where is your family?" he asked surreptitiously, eyes darting around as though they would appear at any moment. Why had this burden been placed on him?

He grated his teeth as she said his name, only it was Darkmoon, not Moon. It was completely irrational for him to feel annoyed, but it irritated him that she had given him a nickname; he barely knew her, and even though she was as young as she was, it felt wrong. Nicknames were reserved for those you cared about, weren't they? Not for someone you had just met, who did not necessarily like you. In any case, she had completely ignored his warnings about strangers, and he gave her a stern look.
    Darkmoon regarded her coldly as she bounded up to him, but was totally surprised by what she did next. He could not help but flinch as she touched his paw, and fought not pull it away when she did so. He stared at Ris, unsure what to do or say, and found himself speechless. He looked down at her big, grey eyes, so genuine and naive; eyes that saw nothing but good in him, that he would not hurt her, that he was her friend. He was confused, amazed that something could barely know him and regard him with such affection and trust so quickly. He figured she was probably the personality to warm up to everyone like this, but regardless, it made him feel special. She trusted him.
    While he was trying to sort through this turmoil of thought, Ris had already moved on, and the sound of her voice broke him out of his reverie. Darkmoon scowled at her as she dropped into a bow, and just like that any warmth he had felt towards her was dashed from his mind. He was not deigning to play with her, and did not understand what she was trying to tell him either. He followed the direction she pointed in, back to the forest, but was still at a loss. Looking back and forth between her and the trees, he sighed in frustration. "I don't understand," he barked, "what are you trying to say?" Was she trying to show him where her family was? Or was she trying to continue on her little adventure?

Ris was like a small whirlwind, rattling off the names of her family members, stuttering and coughing, all before running down to the lake for a drink. All Darkmoon could do for the time was stare at her in wonder, doing his best to follow what she was trying to say. At least he knew now that it was the location of her pack that she had tried to signal before. Darkmoon looked back in the direction she had pointed as Ris bounded off, thoughtful about what he should do next. He could part ways with her here (she had come all this way by herself after all), yet...something about that felt wrong. His mind raced, trying to find a justification for his desired plan. So it was that when he looked back to her and found her staring directly up at him, he yelped in surprise.
    Darkmoon stepped back away from her muttering obscenities under his breath, before giving Ris yet another stern look. He was beginning to feel sorry for her parents. "You shouldn't sneak up on me like that...and you need to learn personal space," he added as an afterthought. Her question had not gone unheard however, and he paused to think about it. He had hoped against it, but secretly knew that he would have to escort the cub back to her territory in the end.
"I-I don't know, kid..." he started, looking around awkwardly, wondering how he would phrase this. He caught her big, innocent eyes and sighed, resigned to his fate. "Alright," he said, "lead the way."