Adventure is out there!

Artorias was in awe of how smart and worldly his mother was. She had an answer for everything, she knew the names of all the plants and critters and lands and packs. One day, he hoped he would be as clever as she was, and be able to see all the things she had already seen. Artorias watched as a dragonfly buzzed by in front of his face, hovered an inch above his nose, then darted off in another direction just as the pup snapped his jaws at it, missing getting a bite of bug by a hair. Tamsyn mentioned there was a special reason for the lake's name, and although he knew being out after dark was against the rules, if he had Mama with him then surely it was okay, right? "Can we stay and see the special reason, Mama?" he asked, turning to her with big, pleading puppy-dog eyes. "Pleeeeeeease?" He knew it would be a long shot, especially since home was still a good walk back. It would mean they would have to find somewhere to camp out for the night, but what an amazing adventure that would be!

Another dragonfly buzzed by Artorias' face, and this time the boy resolved himself to complete his hunt of the insect. He snapped at it, chomping down on empty air as it buzzed into a clump of cattails. Giving little growls, Artorias bounded after the bug, leaping into the reeds and pushing them down under his weight. He saw the dragonfly again and snapped at it, lunging forward only to miss again and stumble off of the cattails. The resulting movement caused two things to happen: Artorias shift his weight enough for the cattail to spring free and smack him in the rump, then as he turned around in surprise, the bulbous end bounced back and smacked him right on the end of his muzzle, stunning the boy. Artorias yelped in shock and stumbled back, losing his footing and ending up splashing butt first into the cool, shallow water of the lake.

Artorias glanced left and right to regain his bearings, suddenly realizing that he was in the lake now. He glanced down at the clear water he was sitting in with the rocky sand beneath him, lifting a damp paw to splash at the water. He glanced back up, amber eyes looking for his mother with a sheepish smile. "You're not a very sharp one, are you?" The voice tinged with a strange accent seemed to call from the sky. Artorias turned his head about, trying to spot whoever was talking to him. "Up here, pup." Artorias followed the voice and spotted a lone raven perched in a nearby tree, staring down at him with what he assumed was the bird equivalent of humor in its black eyes. Rising to his paws, Artorias trudged out of the water and over to the trunk of the tree, staring up at the raven the entire time. "Um... did you just talk to me...?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. Could birds even speak lupine? Was that a thing?

The raven sighed and rolled its eyes. "No, I was talking to the other wolf that just fell into the lake..." Artorias' brow furrowed and he peered back at the empty lake, then back to the bird. "But there are no other wolves in the lake...?" The raven covered his face with a wing and shook his head. "Oh dear, you're denser than I thought..." "Whoa! This is so cool!" Artorias exclaimed, beaming wide and turning to call out to Tamsyn. "Mama! Come look at this! This crow can talk like us!"

"Wha- crow?! Excuse me, boy, I am a raven! One of the most intelligent birds alive! Of course I can talk!" The raven swooped down from the tree with a graceful flutter of its wings, landing on Artorias' back while he sized the wolf pup up. Up close, Artorias could see just how sleek each black feather appeared, inky black with tints of a navy blue undertone in the bird's plumage reminiscent of a midnight sky. "Oh, the world is just going to eat you alive, isn't it? Where is your mother? I daresay I need to have a conversation with her about the quality of your education." Artorias barked happily and looked around to see if Tamsyn had made her way over yet to see his strange new bird friend.