Turtleback Lake i think i'll miss you forever.

Open for 1 or 2!  Mid-afternoon.  53F/12C, foggy.

Rules seemed kind of pointless, now.  Being inside pack territory hadn’t saved his Mama from the cougar – neither had being with another wolf.  The giant cat had still killed her, left her blood all over the ground…and she was only lengths away from the den.  If those rules she’d laid out meant nothing, what was the point?  If Risaela was gone for days on end…
 
Did it help her?  Should he try it?  Would anyone even care if Mathéo Tainn left Heartwood River and didn’t look back?
 
There were no other Tainns, after all.  No family.  And while he wasn’t entirely sure if he really wanted to break away from the pack of wolves entirely (because he liked Lach and Laike and maybe his sister would come back), he wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to be there, either.  He was sad, and there was nothing there to make him feel any better.
 
Upon arriving at the lake, Mathéo paused, his brows raised at the enormous pool of water.  It was far different from the river Lachesis had shown him (when everything was still good) – so did the river rules apply?  The child snorted softly, stepping into the wet sand and wading deeper into the water, up to his belly, up to his chest.  The rules didn’t help his Mama – they probably wouldn’t make a difference to him, either.

-rapidly throws ayti in-

Aytigin had been watching Oksana for the past several days, and had only taken a couple of breaks here and there. She'd actually done better lately at staying in the territory, which made his job much easier. For the moment, the dark-furred girl was asleep, and he decided to take a short walk to the lake.

The pack had been nothing less than melancholy lately, and Ayti was tired of being consumed in it. Everyone was exhausted and worried, and Oksana was practically drowning in it. Risaela was missing, and Inna and Lorcan had yet to return, and Lekalta hadn't shown up since the cougar attack. But, then again, on the bright side - neither had the cougar. In times like these, he supposed it was best to count your blessings instead of curses.

Turtleback Lake was pretty, as always, but as Aytigin approached, he spotted a familiar little pup by the shore. The chocolate male made sure that his pawsteps were clunky and noisy as he walked up, tail settling into a slow wag behind him. "Hey, there," he greeted, stopping once his paws touched the water. "What's going on, kiddo?"

Mathéo jumped straight into the air, eyes wide as he glanced over his shoulder at the sound of a voice.  He recognized it, recognized the wolf as belonging to Hearthwood River, but didn’t really know much more about him at all – realized, as he stood there, gaping like an idiot, that he didn’t even know this wolf’s name.  His fuzzy ears swept backwards, tail tucking between his legs as he huffed.  Bright green eyes dropped their gaze, looking down into the lake below (for he had waded out, and hadn’t come in, even when Aytigin had spotted him) instead of at the adult.
 
“Nothing,” the boy mumbled quietly, wondering if he could shrink more.  If he could disappear altogether and spirit himself back to the River territory.  As easy as it was to break the rules and venture out here, he found himself dreading the potential consequences of being found so far away from home.  (Still, it’s not like anything ever happened to Risaela when she broke the rules – and it’s not like laying down the law had saved his mother from trouble, either.)
 
Eventually, he looked back up at the older wolf.  “I just lookin'.” 

Poor kid. Aytigin hadn't meant to scare the boy, and felt terrible when he basically cowered down at the approach of the adult. Ayti wasn't really sure why he was scared, but the why of it didn't really matter. Maybe he was worried about being caught out of the territory. Maybe he was intimidated by the dark wolf's size. Maybe it was just because he was pretty much a stranger. After all, Matheo and Aytigin didn't have the same relationship that Risaela and Aytigin had. He couldn't expect to just walk up and instantly be friends.

The pup was quick to assure that he wasn't really doing anything. That he was 'just lookin' at the lake, though he was already waded in. But the massive man wasn't any sort of disciplinarian, and therefore he didn't feel the need to fuss at the child for being so far away. Honestly, he was surprised that Theo hadn't taken after Ris' wandering paws sooner.

"Can't blame you there," the chocolate-furred wolf responded, looking out over the water before returning his gaze to the russet child. "It's really pretty out here, isn't it? The water's different than what we got in Hearthwood." A smile formed on his maw and he took a hesitant step into the lake, careful not to stir the liquid about too much. "Mind if I join you?"

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

“Yeah.”
 
It was a lame response, and even if Mathéo’s puppy mind, he knew he could do better.  But he didn’t know this wolf well, and he was fairly certain the swarthy male was one of the adults who’d gotten angry when Lack asked about leaving.  He couldn’t remember why, or at whom, but it left him wary – even if the gamma male seemed fairly relaxed now.  At the very least, he didn’t seem too upset to find the Tainn boy outside of Hearthwood territory, despite clearly defined rules on the matter.
 
What did rules matter?
 
Glancing back up from the very clear surface, his eyes found the adult, and he nodded.  It wasn’t his pool, after all – who was he to say yes or no?  If he really wanted, the larger wolf could pick him up or knock him over, down into the bottom.  Mathéo wondered idly if it was cold down there…but he didn’t wonder quite enough to find out.
 
“What’s your name?” he asked, ears folding back against his head.  Having seen the older wolf before, he felt like he should know, he just…he couldn’t remember.  “I’m Theo.”