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Although Murtagh’s first reaction about warmer weather had been hesitant at best, he quickly learned that a world without snow provided him with plenty of new opportunities for fun. SO much had been uncovered when the snow melted, and now he was delighted to watch how they were covered back again. Only, this time, the underbrush was concealed by bright green leaves. He had been given some lessons on what to avoid, special emphasis put on the important task of asking one of his parents before eating a new plant or berry.

The temptation was certainly there, however, to see how dangerous those bright red berries were.

He didn’t, though. At least not yet.

Mama, the funny grizzly bodyguard that doubled as his Papa’s companion, was his company once more as he set out to explore. He was wary about going too far but this place didn’t seem so bad. He wasn’t being pushed and prodded somewhere else by the bear which was a sure sign that Eytan approved of the location.

Only a moment of hesitation was given before he dived right in: speed-exploring in his excitement. There was too much to see to keep at a slower pace! He quickly learned that much of the meadow was covered in prickly plants that he should avoid and so he spent more time around the oaks, sniffing about and chasing whatever small animals he could find - occasionally reporting his discoveries in rushed, breathless tales to the bear before zooming off again.

He was exploring in the shallows of a stream when he looked down and noticed that on one of his legs there was a mass of, brown, prickly-looking balls. “Mama!!” He shouted, more out of astonishment than pain. The burs did not hurt by they were an aggravation. He reached his muzzle down to try and knock them off of his leg but they just transferred to his muzzle instead - so that when he raised his head there was a mass of burs right at the tip of his nose. Now it did hurt the tender flesh there and he shook his head violently to get rid of them - the mass whipping off to the side.

Only then did he look back down and see that his legs were covered - even his small tail was matted with the sticky burs. He frowned angrily at them, spinning in a circle to survey the damage, but quite at a loss on how to get them off.