Broken Antler Fen Souls young and old

The kid presented a list of things she wished to accomplish and Dwin would have loved to inquire about each one of them. Who had her parents been and where were they now? What had been the lake like - perhaps she could help solve that mystery, since she was very familiar with the big waterbodies in the vicinity of caldera? What did changing lives mean - was she escaping from something? Had something happened to encourage her to change? Did her father and mother no longer live together? What was the mountain she was looking for? Did the friends live there already? And the final one - was she all on her own?

Each question held a potential of a very interesting story, a plot, a single thread of fate that led to many, many other probabilities. And had Dwin been younger, closer to the girl's age, she would not have hesitated to drown her companion in all of these questions. Now however, she had become a little more reserved, had more restraint and respected other people's privacy. If they wished to share, they would eventually. 

"Well, I set out to travel the world, when I was almost as old as you," it felt odd to speak to the kid from a perspective of an adult, when in reality the age gap between them was not that remarkable. And, when the kid would hit one year anniversary of her birth that gap in experience and maturity would become even smaller. "And since it was still winter, not everything went as I had imagined. I met interesting people along the way, but for the most part I felt rather lonely. Add cold and hunger to that and life-changing gained a very different meaning from then on," she finished. 

"Are you managing well on your own?" she asked not because she thought that the young she-wolf was unable to take care of herself or was not yet experienced enough. Just out of understanding that being a lone wolf in early youth was not an easy feat. 

She spoke with the stranger for a little while longer and then they went on their separate ways.