Well, this was new.

He was not altogether convinced that he liked it, either. The sensation of moving from somewhere warm to suddenly cold shocked him into life. Should he open his eyes and find out what this new place was? If it was this cold, it couldn’t be as nice as the last, right?

But there were noises here that he liked, he liked them very much.

Two voices became known to him in this new cold world. The first was a gentle whisper that he did not fully comprehend but he felt himself warming to the sound of the voice more than the words. His instincts told him that he wanted to be closer to that voice. And soon after came another, just as gentle and feeling just as warm to him - so he liked the way that voice sounded too. Towards both of them his body was urging him and he felt as though everything would be alright if he could just get over to these two voices. There was only one issue - he was going to have to open his eyes first.

Already he knew this world was brighter than the last - brighter and colder - and his fear of being scared by the brightness was at war with his desire to find out who was speaking. Was it his mama? He hoped so, his stomach already ached with hunger and his heart ached at the distance that existed between them. His head was raised as he listened to them, dark and damp ears twitching with every syllable. Impulses encouraged the colt to slowly open his eyes, lazily as though he was being woken from a deep sleep, and he fell backward when they were fully open and he was hit with the intensity of this new world. It was all so bright! Even in this little copse of trees, there was so much to look at.

So many faces. He couldn’t be sure which ones were the owners of the voices that he had heard, the voices that he wanted to get closer to. Propping himself back up by reaching out with one shaking foreleg, Murtagh twisted around as best as he could to get a look. He was slick and dirty with snow and needles but he needed to find those voices. Those sweet voices that made this cold world feel so warm.

Blinking slowly, bright lavender eyes regarded all of the faces gathered in turn until finally, a happy, gurgling noise (that would some day develop into delighted laughter) came from the foal as it caught sight of the grizzly bear that stood nearby.

Mama.