Papa was back and everything was good in the world again, so Murtagh resumed his travelling. This time, without the presence of one of the older bears. He wasn’t entirely sure he was supposed to be doing this - leaving the Falls without one of them - but at least he had told one of his parents that he was going, right? When was the age when he could magically go off on his own? At a little over a year, the colt was feeling more need to explore on his own than he ever had before.

Well not entirely on his own - Sorellina was with him.

They were together always ever since her egg had hatched, learning about each other and about the bond they shared. It had been one thing to see his mothers bonded to their bears, and others in Helovia with their weird not-bears, but this was his - theirs and it was wonderful. He had been living on a high ever since that visit to the Veins and had not crashed yet!

He had promised to stay close to the Falls so they travelled up that worn path on the nearby mountain, bringing him up to where he had met Erthë and Areli for the first time. Although they were different sizes, there was a unison about the way that the yearling boy and his bear cub moved as they ran up into the low-lying clouds that were obscuring the Fields that rested at the top. They teased and played each other as they travelled until they burst over the top and raced across the top and into the lush, Birdsong-soft grasses there. Murtagh had been practicing his bear noises and emitted what was close to a roar, brandishing his horn as he reared before taking after the fluffy brown and cream companion.

Laughter bubbled between them, both in their bond and out loud as they tumbled on young legs but always righted again. Weaving through the green grass they chased and tagged each other even as they started to lose their breaths.

“Oh HI!!”

Murtagh skidded to a stop with his exclamation - a motion that he was sure made him look super cool but really it was nowhere near as graceful as the colt liked to believe. In his head, though, it was expertly executed and very impressive. He had to come skidding to a halt, you know!

As much as he enjoyed playing with his bear cub he also enjoyed meeting new friends! That was how he had gotten the cub in the first place, after all! So many new friends that he had met on that quest scattered across Helovia and he couldn’t wait to go see them again.

But right now, he wasn’t worried about any of them because there was someone new!

His lavender eyes were bright with a smile as he came to a standstill, only just then realizing that she had asked him a question. Sorellina, who was even less graceful than her bonded and had tumbled when she tried to turn quickly at the appearance of this filly, came to stand between Murtagh’s front legs and peered curiously up at this new stranger. She had never seen someone smaller than Murtagh before! It was with some aggravation that she realized she was still the smallest out of the group, though. “This is my little sister!” He introduced the bear cub as such without hesitation, glancing down at her with affection.

Well she was. That's what her name meant anyway so it wasn't like he was really lying or anything!

Attention turning back to the filly though, his face screwed up into a wrinkle of confusion. “Haven’tya seen a companion before?” Bears and not-bears had been a part of the roan colt’s life forever - ever since he first saw his mother’s grizzly and mistaken him for his mama!

When she shied away from his shouting, Murtagh made a note to himself to try to be a little bit calmer. Just a little bit. He just couldn’t help it! He was so excited to meet someone else up here - this seemed to be a great meadow to meet friends in!

She stepped back and his ears drooped a little bit but he followed her example and took one back himself, hoping that she would see that he wasn’t a threat or anything, he was a friend! This was the first time anyone had ever shrunk back from him and he had to say, it wasn’t a very nice feeling at all. He felt so guilty that he had made her feel uncomfortable! Maybe he could clear it up by being the best friend ever.

Starting with being her very own ambassador into the world of companions. “Yeah she does! Her name’s Sorellina, she’s a bear but she’s friendly, I promise! Go on, Sor, go say hi.” He spoke this last bit down to the bear cub standing beneath his front legs. She seemed a little reluctant but, as always, Murtagh’s enthusiasm was contagious so she stepped forward and curiously sniffed at this new filly. She didn’t seem like a threat so she must be okay… right? She waited, the offer present for the filly to come forward to sniff at her too, if she wanted.

Overtop of this exchange, the blue roan colt kept talking. “I’m Murtagh!” It was about time he got around to asking, probably - or at least that’s what his mothers would say if they were around. They’d be all ‘Who’s your friend, Murtagh?’ as if names were the most important thing out there! But it made things a little bit easier, he supposed.

At the question about whether all companions were bears, Murtagh’s face crinkled in concentration as he tried to recall what else they could be. “Not all of them, but I think they’re the best. My moms each have one too but most others have… other things. I dunno what they’re all called yet. Some of them even have wings though!” Mostly Murtagh just called them not-bears, like Archibald’s dog or Elsa’s bird - they were all strange to him after growing up in a family of bears. He always knew that his companion was going to be one too - there was no doubt about it! He wondered what this filly was going to have for a companion when she found it. Not having one felt to him like a temporary state - something that should be fixed as soon as possible.

Not that she was weird to not have one but why wouldn’t you want to have a very best friend that could be with you always!

His lavender eyes lit up with joy and pride as the filly moved tentatively forward to sniff at the bear while Sorellina sniffed back, learning the cool scent of this new friend. She was careful to stay quiet, unless any noises she made were scary, but at the compliment she grumbled happily and promptly sat on the ground - content in this new spot between the two foals. “Oh! You’re gonna be her fave now, just watch.” Murtagh teased with a bubble of laughter. “She likes compliments.”

And he was even more delighted when the shy girl offered up her name, using politeness that she must’ve learned from her mama, the way Murtagh had learned it from his. “You too, Bathsheba!” Manners officially finished for the time being, maybe they could move on to something more fun! He was already forgetting that she had shied away from his exuberance once before. “Wanna play a game with us?”

Well! Murtagh’s eyes lit right up when a hint of a smile slowly appeared on Bathsheba’s face. He had to restrain himself from actually dancing for joy around her even though she didn’t actually say yes. But she asked what kind of game and that was pretty close. There were tons of different things they could play, he knew. Already ideas were bouncing through his mind. They could chase each other or come up with roles and play with their imagination. Between the three of them, there was definitely something they could find to do!

And to the colt’s absolute delight, his new friend offered up a suggestion. One of his favourite games and, at the same time, one of his mothers’ least favourite games. In the woods of the Falls, his little dark grey body was hard to spot in the shadows and it bothered them immensely when he couldn’t be found (even though, eventually his giggles would give him away).

But they wouldn’t have that problem up here in this meadow - it’d be easy to hide in the grass but not too tricky to find each other too. “Yeah! We love to play that!” Murtagh was already forgetting that he had frightened her off a little bit with his exuberance not long ago in their conversation. He just couldn’t help it - there was no shortage of energy in him and it was only amplified when he was around a new friend. “How about we hide and Sorellina finds us?” He didn’t want to make the filly hide on her own, that didn’t seem fair at all! Maybe they would be able to find the best hiding spot if they worked together!

The bear cub by his hooves nodded her agreement to this plan, as nervous as she felt about the idea of letting the two foals out of her sight.