Moonspear lay with the lion-hearts

Mintaka decided suddenly and abruptly that she liked this new person. His confirmation of the snail's knowledge of her power was enough, of course, but then he did something even better than that. The girl's attention locked fully on the boy as he dipped himself down into the mud, coating his fur like hers. Her mouth popped open in surprise and a smile crept across her muzzle, toothy and excited. Someone who was going to join her? 

Her forepaws tapped lightly in the mud and she dropped into a play bow, tail swishing back and forth. "You are?" she asked, delighted, blue eyes locked on his honey. It was rare that someone would willingly join in her games without any prompting like this, which instantly brought the label of "Best Friend" to Bronco. A strange name, but no weirder than Almight or Minty. "I'm Minty! Min-ta-ka, but that's too long, so I like Minty better." She'd almost forgotten about the man with the hat, but she'd come back to him later. She bounced a bit, her tail still swishing back and forth as she asked, voice dropping to a hushed whisper, "How long have you been a mud-monster?"