Mostly, Murtagh spent his time now watching the compass that the Earth God had given him and waiting for the needle to move again. Surely, surely there must be someone that needed his help? In all of the Falls, in all of Helovia, why did no one need his help? If no one was in a pickle that a not-yet-year old colt couldn’t solve then his bear cub would never be found and then what would he do?

He barely even wanted to blink so that he wouldn’t miss it when it did move. His papa told him to be patient and he was or he had been for the first couple hours after they had left the Veins but now his patience was rapidly evaporating. With an exasperated huff he decided to risk it and looked away from the compass, scanning the Falls for anyone. He had been pestering his fellow herd members for some time now, bouncing around them and asking to see if they had anything that he could help with. Most of the jobs, unfortunately, were big-horse jobs and he couldn’t really help. He didn’t even have any magic (or so he thought) that he could lend to any cause.

Maybe he should patrol the borders again, he could probably help a newcomer. He was fairly certain that he would notice if the compass started spinning, even if he wasn’t looking at it, but for now the colt stood up and started the physical hunt for someone new to bother.

The faint call was almost missed but Murtagh heard enough to warrant an investigation. He prowled along the pathways near the entrance of the Falls, ready to defend his home against monsters and gods and whatever else might threaten them, but was delighted to discover that standing there - bright against the lush green and grey of his home - was a familiar face. “Erthë!!” He called out with absolute delight, stumbling over his legs as he hurried over toward her - bucking a little out of sheer joy at seeing his friend again. He didn’t have many of them, aside from his parents, and though they had met only twice he considered her a friend. One of his best.

Forgetting the compass that swung around his neck as he came to a stop, finally, before her - he greeted her with no shortage of warmth. “HI! What’re you doing here?!” He and Areli had told the pretty white filly where they lived but he never expected her to just show up!  “Where's Vlasi?”

Happily accepting the half-hug, half-bump that his winged friend used to greet him, Murtagh danced backward with his bright grin not fading at all. He still couldn’t believe she was here, and all by herself! Was she allowed to wander on her own now or did she run off? He only had a short time to wait for an explanation and his jaw dropped when she mentioned that she could fly now. He knew that was always going to be a possibility, of course, but she could fly now!

He danced forward a little bit to inspect the feathers that she puffed up a little bit - cautiously stretching out his muzzle to gently graze one before stepping back again. “That’s so cool! Can I see you fly later?” For someone who would spend his life rooted to the earth he was fascinated by the idea that someone (almost) his size could fly!

She was starting to ask him about Mama when her voice trailed off, looking behind him to see something coming up. Whatever it was, it seemed to frighten her a little bit. He didn’t even have time to turn around and see who it was when Aodaun was brushing up beside him - the familiar feeling of his mother’s companion nudging him before leaning into his side. Leaning back into Aodaun, Murtagh grinned at Erthë to show her that there was no reason to be afraid. “This is Aodaun, my mom’s companion. They kinda run in the family.”

It wasn’t just Aodaun that was joining them though, Murtagh was suddenly flanked by both bear and mother and he turned up to grin brightly at Lakota - missing entirely the look that she was shooting his friend but feeling the faint embarrassment at having your mother suddenly present when your friends were over. He reached up to touch his muzzle affectionately to her in greeting before looking to Erthë and begging her to understand and not be put off by his mother-bears. When she chided him for not introducing his friend (she had just got there), he rolled his eyes good naturedly for both Lakota and Erthë’s benefit while muttering quietly. “Mammina.”

Erthë introduce herself and explained why she was here which only brightened Murtagh’s smile further. It was nice having a friend coming to visit him. “She’s my friend, Mama was with me when I exploring up that mountain just outside our home.” He explained, pointing out that he had not been alone when they had met. Bonus points for behaving? “Can she stay? Please?”

Did his mother really need to add on ‘the poisoner’ to her introduction? It hardly seemed necessary. How much of a threat could his friend be? Those lavender eyes had rolled again at her jest but he didn’t mind enduring any teasing now that his friend had been allowed to stay. He beamed happily at Erthë as she came to stand beside him and - checking with Lakota to make sure everything was good - he lead the way down the path and deeper into the Falls. “I don’t mind going slow! Gives you more time to check out our home!”

Although Murtagh was worried about her legs, it was a simple worry, a vague one and instantly forgotten. He didn’t know enough about injuries to really think too much about it, after all. She needed to go slow so they’d go slow! “Besides, Aodaun is getting old and slow so we gotta slow down for him.” He whispered the teasing conspiracy to Erthë but made sure it was loud enough for the bear to overhear.

He didn’t really mean it, of course. He knew the polar bear could beat him at a race still and wondered if he’d ever get big enough to win.

The conversation turned to him and what he did every day and with a bright smile, he happily responded - not feeling the same awkwardness as his friend. “Oh yeah! I have lots of fun. I wish there were more foals though. Everyone’s so big. But you saw how tricky it is to get in here, there’s so much to explore! There’s hidden pathways all around the edges and lots of cool waterfalls and ponds to check out. Maybe we could go see one of them? Can you swim?” He wondered if swimming would be easier on his friend’s legs than walking would be. But in addition to her approval of the plan, he looked over to his mother to see what she thought of it. He only ever swam when one or both of his parents were around and there were a couple small ponds that were shallow enough for a full grown horse to stand up in but still be fun for the foals.