Greatwater Lake dripping in solid gold

Well, that was certainly a solid lead, and although Kaertok did not want to get his hopes up, he was eager for a chance to prove his worth to Raleska (and her mothers). His place in Rusalka Sapphique was still fresh, and he wished to make an impact there.

With the way Meerkat phrased the answer to his question, he could not quite conceive of what she meant. Adoption was not something he was terribly familiar with (aside from Raleska's case), and her mothers could not conceive with one another, so that seemed the obvious reason for her adoption. Well, that and Caiaphas's death.

She asked him to tell her about himself, which was a fairly broad question, but he did his best.

I was born on Sawtooth Spire, he began, pointing his muzzle to the large peak to the southeast. I did not live there long, as my parents moved elsewhere when I was young. Tartok is both my surname and the name of the pack from which I come from. We have many branches, though none terribly close to here. I trained as a scout and warrior, and I served under my mother for a couple of years doing that before I came back here. I stayed for a time, but I eventually went back home.

He paused there, wishing now that he had stayed that time. It was far too late to change that now, though.

A wolf I met while I was here, Raleska, brought me back. Rusalka had moved by then, and I was searching for them when I met Towhee, who was searching for a friend of her own.

The rest, as they say, was standing right in front of him.