I DON'T WORRY,
WORRYING DON'T AGREE
THINGS THAT BOTHER YOU, NEVER BOTHER ME!

That morning, Talya woke up happy and wondered what sort of things she’d get up to that day. Would she poke around the tide pools and try to find more starfish than she’d found yesterday? Would she go in the jungle and find the pretty waterfalls and splash around in the river that flowed from them? Would she get scared of the little beasts (monkeys) that screamed at her from the trees and made her bolt from wherever she’d been standing? The possibilities were endless!

Then, she was told she now lived in the Ridge.

Oh.

Talya was going to the Ridge today! If she was supposed to be upset and sulk over her change of scenery, that wasn’t going to happen. Those words didn’t exist in Talya’s vocabulary. Couldn’t. She’d never let them.

The little pale mare trotted happily with a bouncy gait, a grin on her pink lips and blue eyes taking in all the ways the scenery changed as she went from the Harbor to the Ridge. They shared the northern border, where the jungle grew more dense and the land rose up higher and higher. Rather than take an easier path into the jungle, Talya chose to stick more towards the shoreline.

Her blue eyes shot suspiciously toward the green burst of colorful, lush foliage. She didn’t trust those little beasts in the trees.

Talya’s head craned up higher as the cliffs rose inland. “Woah…” her pace slowed to an awkward, ungraceful stop and her mouth hung open in awe as she peered up to the cliff’s top. It was so high up! She was definitely going to have to climb up there.

She turned to move inland just as a bellowing whinny echoed around a bend in the shoreline, down a little ways from where she was. Talya’s eyes went wide as she thought of meeting a potential new friend.

What a dilemma! Did she climb the cliff to see how far she could see from the top or did she go greet this other horse and make herself a new friend? Both had many, many benefits.

No cons, but that’s because Talya didn’t think about them.

The opportunity to talk to someone won out in the end. She hadn’t really talked to anyone yet today, except the Good Witch when she found out she had to go to the Ridge. Talya pointed her nose into the sky and whinnied loud and clear from deep in her chest. Wait for me friend! I’m coming! Her little cry said just before she tossed her head and pulled up her knees, back into a trot with a few fun back kicks thrown out just because she was feeling a little feisty.

Talya rounded the bend with a smile on her face, pace having picked up and sand flying behind her as she ran. Down the stretch of the shore she could see a horse frosted in white with dark, dark hair. A happy whinny peeled from her lips, broken up by her gait each time her hooves hit the sand. It was Oogie! Talya hadn’t thought she was going to see him until spring!

She frowned suddenly, confused, and pulled up her gait with the grace of a stumbling child, bouncing and breathing heavy as she came upon him.

“Oogie! Is it spring already?” Had she slept for longer than she thought? “Wait-” Her frown deepened. He’d told her he would come get her at the first sign of spring when she was at the Harbor. This wasn’t the Harbor! Talya peered in awe of him. “How did you already know I lived in the Ridge? I just found out this morning!”

Never did it occur to her that the stallion likely knew someone who lived here and hadn’t expected to see her at all.

ooc: I hope it's okay I jumped in! I thought this might make for a fun way for Faolain to formally meet her new herd member x) and I wanted Talya to see Bjorn again! she'll probably check out when the "grown up" talk starts, but hopefully this is a nice surprise! haha