Today was particularly hotter than others had been, a mark that summer was without a doubt approaching quite rapidly. Darrah, sporting a raven-black pelt, knew well more than most the true effects of the sun's wrath, though today there just wouldn't be time to retreat into the comforts of shade. The heir was a year old now, and that meant it was well over-due to contemplate his place in the pack. Of course the long term goal resided in ruler, but what to do meanwhile? The boy shared no interest in the workings of plants and herbs, therefor making him quite a lackluster medicine wolf. A scout was already present, did the bend really need another whilst other roles went unfilled? It was out of the question for the lad to be a teacher, obviously Beren sought the position. What did that even leave? Hunter? Guardian? Both seemed unimaginable. He couldn't just lie around as another subordinate, could he?

Darrah, letting out quite the hefty sigh, trotted along the red fern forest. He'd let his mind trouble him with thoughts of the future, perhaps even grieve on his remarkable disappointments throughout the past. The boy had a lot of advancing to do, but exposed too much pride to ask how he'd even go about doing it. "Agh, I forgot why I even came here!" he grumbled. There originally was purpose, but it seemed to have been lost in his dwellings. "Something to do with..." at a loss, the boy halted his travels. "What.. was I..?" for a brief moment the Tainn shook his head vigorously, trying with all his might to regain his concentration. "Filling the caches? Maybe?" Unaware of whether this were really true, it'd have to settle until he thought otherwise.

Taking his nose to the earthy floor below him, it wasn't prey that the boy smelt, but another wolf. His first note was that they weren't from around here. In fact, the dim perfume smelt of quite a few places. Instinct told him to back away, but Darrah wasn't always one to follow on natural tendencies. He sought after the wolf, preparing a new greeting. 'Sure have been meeting a lot of strangers recently..' Whether that was good or bad laid completely unknown to the prince, but it excited him nonetheless. Having come close enough, he inspected the traveler thoroughly.

"Hello, and who might you be?" This new greeting didn't feel as native as his old one had, but it sure made him sound a lot less acclaimed. Raising his head in fulfillment, Darrah tolerantly awaited his companies response.

Noting the male's body posture, Darrah allowed previously tensed muscles to relax. His tail began to sway gently, and his ears perked up in curiosity. "Nope, You're alright. Don't think there's many packs around here other than mine, and even that's a bit of away's from here." bowing his head in return, the boy decided it a good idea to give his name as well. "I'm Darrah Tainn. Pleasure to meet you, Veho!"

Shortly after their brief introduction, the stranger inquired about surrounding sources of water. Darrah momentarily fell silent, allowing time to recall the streams and lakes residing on this half of the lore. While true there were quite a few, he couldn't seem to pinpoint the fastest route to one. "Well, there's..." almost frustrating himself over the thought, the yearling had to sit himself down. "North of here.. There's turtleback lake but..." He knew that was quite a distance away, and he was almost positive the man wanted something a bit more urgent. "Actually, no.. South of here!" almost repulsed with his horrible sense of memory, the boy rolled his eyes as to say 'Duh!'. "Sorry, I can't seem to straighten out my thoughts well enough today. There are plenty of streams south of here, closer to my home!" He wanted to offer navigational assistance, but had to figure a gentle way of doing such, just in case it didn't sit well with the stranger. "I was gonna start heading back.. If you wanted to tag along...?" awkwardly smiling at the man, the prince gently stood himself back up.

Quite pleased with the thought of helping a traveler, Darrah couldn't help but grin. "No need for all that, I'm just happy to be of assistance." Globetrotter's had always piqued the boy's interest, he'd even consider becoming one himself had his dreams not already been set on becoming king. At the very least he was assisting one, that would just have to suffice for the time being.

"It might please you to know that this specific stream journeys quite a distance." he spoke in hushed tones, as though it were some huge secret. "In fact, I can't think of many places it doesn't touch.." though he hadn't really been to enough locations to verify that information for sure, he was almost positive he'd heard someone talking about it before. "Might help you with further travels a little."

Redirecting his torso south, the prince slowly decided to make pace with the journey. "S'pose we should get going if you don't want to grow thirstier." taking a few steps ahead, Darrah looked over his shoulder to ensure Veho was ready to follow. "It's really not a long trip, shouldn't take more than a few moments to arrive.." If the wolf's thirst hadn't been so apparent, the prince might of thought to take them a longer way, if only for more time to converse. It saddened him a bit to think they'd be departing from one another soon, though he supposed that was just life.

"So, where'd you come from before wandering out here?" the yearling questioned, eager to learn everything he could about the stranger in the little time they had together.

Darrah hated to think there were wolves out there who would't help someone in need of assistance, but he had no reason to doubt the strangers words and would accept them as truth until prove otherwise. "Hmm." he sighed, keeping up with the pace he'd set. Whilst going unsaid, the Tainn decided that from this day forth he'd help anyone who needed it, if circumstances allowed of course. 'Preferably I'd like to be a kind king, this is just one of many ways I can show that..' mirroring his company's slight smile, he wondered just how many unkind wolves he'd previously encountered. "Very well, I'll accept your gratitude then."

"Man..?" The prince had never heard the word before, and desperately wanted to delve deeper into the topic. "What is... Man? An animal?" Conceivably a subspecies of bear? Some sort of reptilian beast? Forced from their territory,  another form of canine? In all honesty the word sounded a bit made-up, but definitely prodded his curiosity.  Why would a wolf want to live with this... Man? Of what importance did they bring to the table? Whilst he wouldn't doubt his company's judgement, the prince still needed to be exposed to some sort of explanation.

Taking a small detour to answer Veho's questions, the yearling decided to keep it short and sweet. Troubling strangers with his pitiful life story was beginning to sound like Darrah's forte, and that was the farthest thing from what he wanted. "I've lived in the lore all my life, yes. I do quite enjoy it, especially the scenery.. How far about have you been so far? Actually wait!" shaking his head from all distraction, the boy quickly averted the topic back to where it was meant to be. "Tell me more about that bird you lived with... Man?"