“You’re almost a year old, Calder.” Oswin (who was almost two years) sounded less than amused, standing among the thick, tall grass of the Prairie, neck turned and eye stern on her younger brother. Where Oswin stood as the epitome of confidence, Calder looked the exact opposite. With his head slung somewhat down, his thin legs gave a tremble, and he looked from his older sister to what lay at their back (their mother, grazing, soaking in the mid-autumn sun).

“I want to go back to mama.” He complained, swinging his head back around and looking at Oswin with pleading eyes. If he’d hoped to sway his sister to his side with his sad look, he had another thing coming. Oswin snorted and rolled her eyes at him, circling in an arch around him somewhat like a shark, ears turned back (though not pinned) as she came up to his left side.

“You’re always bugging her. You could use some time away.” Oswin stepped closer and reached out, butting her forehead against his hindquarters and forcibly shoving him in his step. Calder stumbled forward, made a small whine of complaint behind closed lips, and then resigned himself to his fate. He was going to have to spend some time away from his mother with Oswin; he only hoped his sister didn’t play a mean trick on him like she sometimes did, like the time she’d made him believe there was a giant snake coming for him when it turned out to be just a big, weirdly long rock.

The pair walked in silence and, the more they walked and Oswin didn’t tease him or try to goad him into a race, the more Calder picked up his head and flicked his ears, looking around everywhere. Silence was just settling over them when they heard a bit of a shout and then some splashing, causing Calder to slam in his steps, head jerked upright, nostrils flared and eyes wide. “What was that?!” He practically squeaked, two seconds away from tucking tail and racing back to Dock’s side.

Oswin’s ears were forward, but there was a smile on her mouth. Adventure could be created out of even the most menial tasks. “I think that might be our brothers. Come on.” She flicked her white tail at her hind and started forward in a trot.

“Don’t leave me!” Cried Calder, quite pitifully, and picked up his hooves to follow her at an awkward I’m-not-sure-I-want-to-actually-follow-you pace.

Oswin halted at the line where the grass faded away to the sand and, with ears perked and blue eyes bright, watched her two half-brothers (who she didn’t know that well) playing about on the beach. A wild grin turned her lips and she charged forward, kicking out her back hooves and sending sand spraying behind her. Calder lurked awkwardly in the tall grass, feeling a bit more safe and secure with it hugging his body rather than being out in the open where his older siblings were fooling around on the beach.

Oswin pulled up in the sand and reared, kicking out her front feet and snorting, grinning as she landed. “Bet neither of you could beat me in a race!” She challenged.