Big Salmon Lake cut my teeth on wedding rings

The girl's eyes widened suddenly, as if she were imagining some horrible yet totally impossible event happening right there by the lake's edge. Maybe a monster coming to eat her? Skyfall had never had much imagination as a child, though he had played a fair amount of chase the squirrel with his siblings (he was always the squirrel, it seemed, to protect Eir from Valig's unnecessary harshness). So it was slightly amusing, in a sad way, to almost see the girl's nightmares take shape in her mind.

"I was born during the harshest autumn storm my pack had ever experienced. My mother caught a cold and nearly didn't recover." He watched her carefully. He didn't want to scare her witless, but he wasn't one to sugar coat the truth. "Two of my infant siblings drowned as the birthing den flooded. My sister caught the same cold my mother did, and barely escaped with her life. She was very sick as a child because of it."

Skyfall paused to study her further, to see what her reaction might be to his story. "Water is very dangerous, especially when it's not contained. This lake is contained, so you should be okay. But I wouldn't risk wading in too far."