I'd been bored out of my god damn mind, driven crazy by the trudging around aimlessly through the woods for no reason other than to waste time (seriously, I'd worn a labyrinth of paths through the trees). If there was one thing I hated more than anything else, it was having nothing to do. Mother mumbled something about being too sore to keep me entertained and didn't want shit to do with me (as always), Sabre was M.I.A (at the most inconvenient of times, damn her) and that left me with no one. Heaving a sigh from my lips, I decided it was in my best interest to leave the forest behind (only for a bit), and do something better than wander through these already so familiar trees.

I glance back to where Mother is resting, sides heaving subtly to confirm that she'd fallen asleep— once I make sure she won't notice my absence, I book it through the woods until I come to the edge. The excitement of leaving the forest is never there anymore, I've come and gone as I've pleased so often now that it wasn't any sort of fun or exhilarating event— today though, my heart thundered and hooves itched to fly over the earth for reasons unknown to me.  

I take off through the field, seeking out something interesting that can keep my attention for a bit. It's weird to think that my childhood has been nearly nonexistent, that Mother took it away when she chose to force me to grow up so quickly— I'd had a brief few weeks of fun beside Sabre until the serious hits rolled in and the suffering began. Mother told us too much as little kids, hurt us too much— she beat the youth out of me. We were isolated and raised just the way she wanted, molded to her liking until we earned her seal of approval. She wasn't done with us yet, still tweaking our minds so subtly with her words.

So I took today as an opportunity to take back my adolescence, to banish the forced maturity if only for a little bit. I was going to go on a wild adventure, the kind that Sabre and I could only dream of while Mother relentlessly hounded us for misbehaving.  But I wouldn't be doing it alone (all kings need knights)— I stop as a conveniently placed younger probably confused brother ends up smack dab in my path (how lucky), grin growing as I convince him (not really convince him, more like force) to come along.

I lead the taller boy as far as I can, running hard as my lungs beg for rest and my heart pounds at the increased exertion. I should have told Zhu that I had no clue where we were going, that I was just following a gut instinct, but left the subject untouched. I didn't need him complaining about my idiocy for not planning beforehand, instead choosing to take a gamble at where we'd end up. We run for a while, gasping and sides heaving at the long distance our adolescent legs had taken us (it was far).

We end up on a sun soaked beach, white caps rolling into the shore and hooves sinking into the sand as we trudged to the edge of the ocean— the water is an endless expanse of blue, glittering and tempting as the waves roll in on themselves while hurtling towards the sands. I want to walk into the shallow waters, to let the salt water soak into my skin and cool me off while we wait. My head turns towards Zhu, chest aching as I struggle to catch my breath (am I out of shape?). "Well, we got somewhere." Now if only we could find something interesting (or something interesting could find us...).