Turtleback Lake what you know

@Darkmoon :3

It had become a sort of game to the tawny pup - a challenge, if you will - to wander a bit farther from the borders every time she crossed them. She'd taken a little break from it ever since she caught that stupid little cold that Lachesis had fixed... for the most part, anyway. She felt infinitely better now, but she still sneezed or sniffled every now and again. But it was enough, and her wanderlust was back at full force. The child had taken off with a wag in her tail and a skip in her step, not even thinking that there might be consequences to her actions. If her mother or anyone else wanted her to stay in the territory, maybe they should tell her that explicitly.

Today, she'd followed the river. She was absolutely determined to figure out where it led to, because all that water had to go somewhere, and she damn well wanted to know where it was all heading. A giggle danced from her maw as she thought the curse word - Ayti said it a lot, and told her not to tell anyone else about it. Or to repeat him, but Ris hadn't done that. Surely thinking it couldn't be so bad.

That was the good thing about thoughts. Nobody else knew what was going on in your head. You could think all the words you wanted, and nobody else could ever imagine it. But that changed when you said them out loud, because then everybody knew what you were thinking. Ris was enjoying the whole secret aspect of her own mind.

Yeah, she decided, being quiet was the best.

She was lost in her own head for the majority of the journey to the end of the river, but once she got there, she was in awe. She'd never seen so much water before in her whole entire life! It was like it stretched on forever and ever! And the sun was over it and everything, glistening off the ripples and reflecting the clouds above. While Risaela wasn't the biggest fan of water or anything like that, she still enjoyed looking.

Her silvering blue eyes shut, enjoying the breeze that swept across the surface of the lake. It was stronger here than in the forest, and for just a moment, the pup let herself just enjoy the silence and serenity that the lake had to offer her.

(Awwww she's a pupper!!)

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."

@Risaela

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

She is a pupper <3 Is that okay?

Her quiet was not to be, it seemed, because as soon as it began, it ended. Which she didn't mind at all, because it was replaced by a stranger, and strangers could easily become friends! And this stranger was odd-looking. He wasn't as big as most of the guys in the pack, and his pelt colors were lighter than Ayti's and Mace's and Inna's, but darker than Lekalta's and Kisla's and Matheo's. But his eyes were pretty close to Ayti's golden hazel, and Ris could see no reason to be afraid of him whatsoever. He was just a wolf, after all.

But he did have a weird look on his face, and immediately reprimanded her with a 'You shouldn't be out here on your own.' Which, to be fair, he wasn't wrong, but by Risaela's standards, as long as she wasn't in immediate trouble, everything was fine. So, instead of arguing or anything like that, she offered the strange man a smile and a wag of her tail.

"'Lo," she croaked, wrinkling her nose in frustration at her hoarse voice and inability to get out the full 'Hello' she'd intended on saying. She wasn't sick anymore, but she hadn't used her voice in days, and that was bad. It made it much more difficult to talk to new people, and to introduce herself. Names were important, and all new friends needed to know each other's names. So the pup licked her lips and swallowed a couple times before smiling once more and continuing on with her mandatory introduction. "I-I-I-I'....mmmmmm..." she stuttered and hummed, but didn't become discouraged. Instead, once the drawn-out 'I'm' was out, she chirped her nickname, "Ris!"

Her ears pressed to her head as she moved toward him imploringly, body naturally taking on a more submissive stance to approach with. She'd discovered that other wolves tended to not like it when she charged forward headfirst at them. "Uh... uh... yooou?" the puppy asked, tipping her head to the side as she waited for her new friend to introduce himself in return.

(Yeah, fine! I just didn't realise)

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?

@Risaela

(This post was last modified: Jul 12, 2017, 01:04 PM by Darkmoon.)

This stranger (new friend) was much nicer than Ritter had been. Of course, Ritter was her friend, too, just like that mean worm had been - even though it bit her. But, nonetheless, this Darkmoon guy was super nice in comparison to them. He hadn't growled at her or bitten her once, which was a win in Ris' book. She wagged her tail, but didn't try and repeat his name back to him like most pups her age. She knew the word was too long for her to say without butchering it completely, so she just gave him an impromptu nickname instead.

"M-M-M'yoon!" she chirped, her tail beating happily behind her. It stilled when he went off on a tangent about how dangerous this place was, and how she needed to be careful. Her nose wrinkled in confusion - why would she need to be careful? Where, exactly, was the danger? She'd never known any in her entire life, so she felt no need to worry about it now. But what really stuck out to the pup was when Darkmoon went on to say that he was big and could hurt her if he felt like it. Which was kind of silly, because obviously he was big.

She shook her head in regard to his warning. "M'yoon n-n-n-nice," she stammered, prancing forward to place a paw on one of his larger ones. "N-no 'urt." It was frustrating, sometimes, how she couldn't get her tongue to do what she wanted it to do. But there was hardly time to worry about that now, because her new friend seemed to have even more words for her to respond to. This time, however, it was about her family.

A grin spread across her maw and she dropped to her chest in a play bow. "D'at!" she squeaked, spinning in a circle and proceeding to point in the direction of Hearthwood with her nose. She completely ignored the part where he called her stupid, because she kind of didn't know what that word meant and it didn't seem important at the time. Her pack was infinitely more important.

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?

@Risaela (I am legit the worst at roleplaying, I apologise x_x)

(This post was last modified: Jul 17, 2017, 01:29 PM by Darkmoon.)

I am so bad at consistently replying ;.;

It seemed to her that Moon wasn't as bright as she had first believed, for he didn't understand what she had to say about where her family was. It was either that or her communication skills just really sucked. Honestly, it could go either way. Maybe it was a combination of the two. But that was alright, because sometimes wolves didn't know all the things that she knew. Like that some worms were mean and would bite. Or that sometimes there was water underground. And obviously, Darkmoon didn't know which direction her family was in, so it would take a little more concentration on the pup's part.

"Mmmmama!" she chirruped, tail wagging furiously behind her as she angled her ears toward Hearthwood. "U-Uncle C-C-C-louuuud, and T-T-Theo. Fa-fam'ly," she tried to explain, stuttering and drawing out words that she couldn't quite pronounce right. "Th-the-they the-re." Her voice dried up and she coughed hoarsely, ears pressing back to her skull as the remnants of her cold popped back up. But the coughing fit ended and she pranced her way to the edge of the water to get a drink.

Once finished, she turned back to her new friend and padded up right between his forepaws so that she had to tip her head back to look up at him. "M'yoon g-go wif?" she asked, voice scratchy and squeakier than it had been. She hoped that the dark wolf would at least walk her to the border. And maybe, if he saw how great Hearthwood was, then he might want to stay! Because it would be super duper awesome to have another friend in the pack!

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."

@Risaela

(This post was last modified: Aug 02, 2017, 08:31 AM by Darkmoon.)

@Darkmoon @Risaela

It had been chance – Lachesis had been with Lilliana and Lavender, so Lilya had been out stretching her legs. It was then that she noticed Risaela’s scent travelling across the borders and a frown etched her features softly. The pup sure was curious. She went after it, following it deep outside the territory as her nose twitched. She’d find the child and bring her back safely to her mother, and then she’d return to her own children. She just hoped that it wouldn’t take too long. I-I don’t know, kid… She heard the voice of another, a man, and it set her on edge because it wasn’t a voice she recognized. Aright, lead the way. He was fortunate, had it been another, they might not have heard that line and might have lunged in.

“Risaela? Whatcha doin’ so far from th’River?” She made her presence known from where she’d stumbled upon the scene, her tail wagging softly as she eyed the man suspiciously, willing to at least hear him out. The girl was a wanderer and she had little doubt she’d stumbled upon him by coincidence alone. “Ya know yer supposed ta stay within th’borders.” She scolded softly before she looked to Darkmoon. “Sorry if she caused ya any trouble. Th’girl hasn’t learned her limits yet.” Lilya knew this because neither had one of her daughters, though the mother still wasn't sure where Lilliana had gotten her spunk from.