“Oh, but you are,” Pan said, laughing as she had laughed, for her joy was infectious, and it amused him that the first thing she had spoken to him was a contradiction of his words. It was like a challenge, and he rose to meet it. Aside from her dark coloring, she was a shadow to him in many ways. She was one who already seemed to have the same shape as he – not physical shape, but something he couldn’t quite explain. They were alike, and he had never met someone who seemed to reflect himself back the way she did. Shadows fell behind, they followed alongside, but sometimes, shadows could also lead. Pan remembered standing on a rise in the meadow when he was smaller. The sun had been setting at his back, and his shadow and stretched before him over the meadow, a giant, faceless shape. It had made him feel brave. He’d grow, and his giant-shadow would grow with him. Even in the darkness of the night, he sometimes saw his shadow when the skies were clear and the moon was bright. His shadow would never leave him, not entirely.
His grey eyes wide and bright, he leapt forwards, splashing into the shallow water nearby, inspired by the girl’s words.
“I’ll help you free them Taika,” he promised, his voice coming alive as he watched her leap into the air, and then he scrambled to her side. Standing still beside her for a moment, he fixed her with a glittering, steady gaze.
“But I already know how to fly, and I will teach you, because I'm the best there is!” Already he knew that this was one whose company he’d never tire of, and some small part of him wanted to keep her for himself, even though he suspected that hers was a soul that would be kept by no-one. She sparkled, and Pan marvelled at the sight of her. He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to touch his soft muzzle to her flyaway mane, before trailing it down her neck for a moment, finding her hide was speckled with the tiniest drops of water. “It’s like starlight,” he murmured, a smile of wonder spreading across his lips. The palomino and white colt pulled away darting towards the rocks where Taika said the fairies were trapped, turning to lash out with a small kick of his hind legs.
“I would fight them for the right to free you,” Pan said boldly, catching her eyes.
“But, first, the dark hunters with hooked claws would have to catch you, and I have a feeling that it would be very hard. Especially after you learn to fly!” He grinned, full of energy and suddenly feeling like he wanted to run until there was no breath left in him. As her attention was pulled away from him, he followed her gaze, every bit as attentive and watchful as she. Oh, he was having so much fun now that he had found someone who was cut from the same cloth as he!
“Take me there, Taika, I’ll be right behind you,” he leaned close and whispered in her ear, like he was sharing a secret. After all, he couldn’t be sure that the enemy wasn’t watching and listening. He drew back and nudged her shoulder, encouraging her to take the lead.
