Common

"Come, a bhobain," the roan mare murmured to her trusty companion: a weanling colt that bobbed along at her hip with eyes that couldn't seem to fixate on any one thing. Lines of tension marred the otherwise pleasant look on the mare's face, but she did not falter as she led her young charge further into the Commons.

"Ma?" The boy asked as the trudged inland, his pale muzzle proffered in supplication as he hastened to move from her hip to her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Where Isla had - to this point - been a bastion of self-control, refusing to show even a sliver of her anxiety and frustration, her son's simple question broke open the floodgate and she sobbed out a weary laugh. "No, mo luran, but it will be." Kerr said nothing more, but pressed the pink of his nose against the pink of her shoulder in silent comfort and fell back into step with her.

In truth, Isla wasn't at all sure that things would be okay. All she knew is that she could not spend another day cooped up in the Prairie, waiting for something new to happen. She couldn't spend another day watching her mother wander around, doting on her children and grandchild like a mother hen, and pretend that she wanted the same things. She couldn't bear to bicker with her mother over whether or not Kerr could eat clover or whether she should try and settle down with one of Zevulun's sons. She wanted so much more. A life of adventure and spontaneity and excitement. She wanted to wake up each morning, not knowing what the day would hold.

Having Kerr was an adventure she did not regret, and she was thankful for her mother's help in the beginning, but the glow of reconnection had worn thin. She loved her mom, but not so much that she wanted to live with her forever. As far as Isla was concerned, Kerr was old enough now to accompany her on her adventures across the isles, which meant that she no longer needed to be yoked the Prairie. She would be careful and cautious, but she wouldn't stay home anymore. Not when there was still a whole world out there to see. She would find them a home to call their own, someone to protect them to appease her mother, and then she would go about seeing the world again, this time with Kerr.

"Are we goin' tae the Peak?" He asked quietly, mimicking one of Grier's worried suggestions. Kerr didn't really understand what the Peak actually was, but nana had been insistent about going there. She'd argued that the Peak would take care of them while his mother ran about the world like a common hussy, but he'd struggled to understand how or why. He wasn't even really sure why they'd left the Prairie and his playmates behind, but he didn't really mind so long as he had his ma.

"Nay, lad." Isla offered as she slowed down to brush her muzzle fondly over his shoulder, where dark patches of his solid baby coat remained. "We'll find a home o' our own to shut-" she caught herself and swallowed down her frustration before trying again, "to appease yer nana, an' then I'll show ye the rest of the world." She tousled his unkempt forelocks, earning a high-pitched laugh from him as he darted away and then came back to her again, curling against her side like a content kitten. "It'll be our own little adventure, laddie. Just ye wait an' see."