Though Brennen is usually pretty good about finding a babysitter, and Galilee is an honest-to-goodness saint about picking up where he fails (even when it comes to children and grandchildren that aren’t even hers), Grye has the advantage over Khaeli, Drax, and Dario in that he’s the newest and most likely to be overlooked, and also that he’s the most unobtrusive of the bunch. Drax is a menace, Dario is more likely than not glued to his twin’s side, and Khaeli is the one with the most numerous devoted babysitters.

Also, Khaeli is loud. Loud like his mom, or maybe louder. But despite that – or maybe because she reminds him of Dagny – Grye does really like his aunt.

Likes her enough that he’s not even miffed when hearing the faint echoes of her yelling his name, even though he means it’s the end of him trying to sneak off to explore another of the islands before any of the adults can catch up with him. Sighing, he straightens out of his half-crouch, trades talons for hooves, and trots back in her direction, using the rising strains of her song to find her. “Hey Khaeli,” he greets her with a grin. “Grandpa’s busy making sure Dario and Drax don’t set the Island on fire. You want to try and fly to the next island with me?”

No reason to totally change his plans, if he can get her to go along.

She’s every bit of excitement and verve to his shy and collected demeanor; he has compared her to his mother in his head many times, while he compares himself to his father. But nevertheless he smiles at her greeting, returning the affectionate touch, and then is taken totally by surprise when she challenges him to a race and then takes off running immediately. The champagne-colored colt scrambles to catch up, letting his hooves become talons once more to give that little extra traction on the sandy ground. That, plus dodging around a few familiar trees to a shorter route around one corner allows Grye to catch up and they reach the edge of the trees neck-and-neck, the thrill of the chase making even solemn Grye giggle and turn to his aunt with a mischievous expression.

Khaeli’s not giggling anymore. Her sweet face is marred with a frown, her gaze downcast, and Grye’s heart leaps into his throat. Has she suddenly decided she doesn’t want to play with him after all? She whispers his name and he leans in for the rest of the words, green eyes soft with worry, wishing his feathers could make feelings feel better as well as they seem to work on the cuts and scrapes the children accumulate running wild on the islands. It’s almost anticlimactic when she voices a fear of the flight distance, but Grye is a sensitive child and he knows better than to laugh.

Instead he runs his muzzle gently down his aunt’s neck and catches her eye with a reassuring smile. “Of course you can make it,” he affirms with the utmost confidence. “We’ll catch an updraft off the coast, and glide on over.” Grye was an early flyer, and life on the island has only given him more opportunities to practice island-hopping, usually when he wants to get away from their young relative Drax. Drax had wings too, but he was disinclined to put in the effort to fly a distance just to tease and torment the quiet Grye; better to find easier targets. He knows Khaeli isn’t the most confident flyer, but he really thinks she can do it. “And anyway, the water’s quiet today. If we have to land, we’ll just get a little wet and swim the rest of the way.”

Swimming’s not his favorite, but he’s been practicing. It’s part of becoming a full member of the Brotherhood, after all, so he’ll have to swim the big distance at high tide some day. But of course, flying’s better. He’s been easing them out of the cover of the trees while they speak and now he turns to flash her a quicksilver grin of a quite rare sort for him; a true reckless consequences-be-damned grin. “C’mon, I believe in you!” he calls out and then takes off across the hard-packed wet sand, gaining speed before he snaps his little wings open and starts pumping furiously, keeping up the rapid beat as he rises above the sand and then the edge of the surf until he catches the aforementioned wind and it lifts him suddenly higher, soaring now towards the next island. It’s then that he peers down and back, looking for Khaeli. She’s not usually one to back down from a challenge, so he fully expects her to be airborne behind him.