Bond Beast Companion

You form a bond with beast of your choosing of CR 1/4 or lower that is not hostile to you and that is not already a Ranger's Companion, such as by a different casting of this spell or as defined by the Beast Master Ranger subclass ability. The creature chosen becomes a bonded beast companion with the statistics of the chosen beast but with the following adjustments:

• It gains 1 additional hit die
• Your proficiency is added to the companions skills, AC, attack to hit and the DC of any abilities it possesses 

In combat, the companion obeys your commands as best as it can. It takes its turn on your initiative. On your turn, you can verbally or mentally command the beast where to move (no action required by you). You can use your bonus action to verbally or mentally command it to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, or Help action. If you don't issue a command, the companion takes the Dodge action.

If you are incapacitated or absent, the companion acts on its own, focusing on protecting you and itself. The companion never requires your command to use its reaction, such as when making an opportunity attack.   Also, unquestionably, you know to your core, that if you were to die, so too would your companion. 

When the companion drops to 0 hit points, it dies, its form fading from existence but leaving an indelible imprint on your psyche. It is resurrected after you cast this spell again, magically appearing within range of you.  You may spend the full hour casting the spell to do so with the specified material components, or in just 1 minute of intense concentration on your bond and with no material components but upon casting the spell in this way you gain 1 level of exhaustion.

While your companion is within 1 mile of you, you can communicate with it telepathically, although its ability to respond in return is limited to simple images and feelings. Additionally, as an action, you use an alternate form of you Primeval Awareness to see through your companion's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the companion has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.

You can't have more than one companion at a time. If you cast this spell while you already have a companion, the spell fails and nothing happens.

At Higher Levels. Becoming more powerful as a Ranger increases the power of beast that may be bonded with this spell.  Upon reaching 5th level as a Ranger, the chosen beast to bond may be of CR 1/2 or lower, at 9th level, CR 1 or lower, at 13th level, CR 2 or lower and at 17th level, CR 3 or lower.   At DM's discretion, the power of an already bonded companion may be increased to reflect a higher CR than the CR at which it was originally bonded.  Such an increase occurs given a successful casting of the spell by the Ranger at the higher level upon its already bonded companion.