[open] a sky full of song

[Gale]

Gale this is going to break me clean in two -- this is going to bring me close to you Gale has not yet grown tired of looking at Islandres in the sunlight. He thinks it unlikely that he ever will, which in part is why he has never left the island after his initial arrival over a decade ago. Today he is peering into the shallow waters of a tidepool, watching a myriad of shades of black rippling beneath the water in the sand and stones and shellfish. He’s looking through the eyes of an osprey like the one that his brother searches for, but unlike black Erne and the other natives of the island, Gale wears his iridescent navy coloring, complete with pale stripes and wings. It is the girl he sees first, wandering down the shore. He lifts his head, his blue eyes following her progress for a moment. Then he glances back to where she has come from, because he has decided she is young enough to have not come alone. Just as he does, he hears his name being called, and he takes to the sky. It’s an instinctive reaction, but he hadn’t expected it at all. He is not usually so easily startled. By the time he is circling over Nashua, Gale’s heart rate has calmed. He is even smiling genuinely when he shifts back into a horse after landing, pleased to see his brother. “It’s good to see you,” he says, blue eyes dancing with good humor. “I was worried you’d freeze solid up there in the North.” @[Nashua]