I glanced in the direction Murtagh had gestured, watching the expression on his face change to a frown of concentration, furrowing his horned brow in thought. I glanced behind us, looking at the way the trees seemed to lean into each other, to block the path from which the roan had come. I turn to where I had come from— where had I come from? The undertones of panic settle, (where am I? Hello? Mommy? Anyone? Please..) the fear of getting lost consumes me while I look down at Murtagh. Was he scared too? Being alone among such suffocating trees, ones that loom over you and impose their threatening shadows upon you. I have to swallow back the overwhelming desire to crack and cry, looking past Murtagh to the forest that stretches on behind him. Sameira will head out, she can maneuver these woods better than any equine could. 

Sameira wiggles her tail at the giggle that spills from the boy's mouth, tongue lolling and a playful bounce around the boy is enough to show she's excited. "Like small boy, he cute." I chuckle, nodding my head in agreement. This all reminded me of the task at hand, of the greater purpose behind my aid to this boy. Sure, I would have helped him no matter what, but standing here beside the babe was enough for me to recall the Earth's quest for Sia and I, and that was the last necessary push for me to swear this boy would be returned safely. 

"Sameira go look now." She was off in leaps and bounds, ducking her head and disappearing into the vibrant green that encased us. I felt her presence still lingering in the back of my head, but not her physical presence was no longer felt as she got farther and farther away. "Sameira will say if she spots anything." I nod and look at Murtagh who questions where I live if not in the falls. 

I chuckle, his obvious curiosity littering his words. "Well, nowhere really. I don't belong to any of the herds— although I did live in the Falls for a while, back when—" My sentence gets cut short as I swallow thickly, trying to prevent my voice from wavering as I speak her name. "Seele and Midas were the leads. But you're too young and that was a while ago, you probably weren't even born then." I look over at Murtagh, wondering what his response would be. Did he know of his herd's past? That it once harboured the remnants of a broken group, all of which held flaws and mental damage and were outcasts of society. I wonder if there were still members of the Asylum there, or if we had all scattered. Perhaps I was all that was left now— what a terrible thought. 

The thought that I hadn't been in the Falls in so long made me feel old, it only now hits me that I am probably far older in Murtagh's eyes, in everyone's eyes. I wasn't a baby, wasn't some lost teen who was still emotional over the abandonment of her family, but I wasn't quiet a totally mature adult yet. I was in a limbo, caught between childhood and adulthood, where I was respected but still looked down on by those older than me. How fun.