[open] don't just sit with folded hands and become blind;

[Maertin]

Spring has made the flowers bloom, the air is warming, and he is chasing a fleeing grasshopper through the tall grass, and more than a little excited about it. About being out and about beyond the sandy shores of Ischia. Father would never let him out of Ischia by himself, not intentionally, but Maertin has found the advantage of having many siblings of various ages. Brennen had been busy with one of the boy’s sisters at just the right moment when the water was low, and the colt had made a break for it, across the channel and onto the mainland.


Maertin knows that as soon as father notices he’s missing, Brennen will come retrieve him and take him home – and keep a pretty close eye on him for a while. He has to make the most of the freedom he’s claimed. Still, he doesn’t want to push his luck so he heads for the safest place he has heard of – the playground – rather than some other territory. Each step is a leap, or a dance, or a spin; the chestnut colt is fighting invisible monsters, playing out the battles that great warriors like his father have fought.

(He’s totally forgotten about the grasshopper).

One too many whirls bring him face-to-sudden-face with a stranger, and he stops. His legs are splayed, yes wide, nostrils flaring for a startled moment. A heartbeat later, he relaxes with a nervous laugh and a little shadow of a smile, straightens up. “Hullo,” he offers, “I’m Maertin.”

Maertin

this would be a great place for a quote

@[laura] -pony and/or any :3