Morro boredly blew his hair out of his face. He glanced at the clock on the wall and rolled his eyes. The room was silent other than the sound of his sister rushing around in the kitchen and the endless ticking of the clock. To his right sat his mother, glaring at him with tired yet serious eyes.
A long sigh escaped the mouth of the 5-year-old boy as he glanced down at his hands, folded across his lap. He had been told to sit still as a punishment for disrupting Samaria's workspace. Morro was scared of his mother when she was upset, so decided it would be best to obey her. He only had to endure this punishment for a few more minutes.
He tapped his fingers on the side of his chair and clicked his tongue in boredom, stopping at recieving another menicing glare from Rachel. He glanced once more at the clock on the wall.
3...2...1...
"FINALLY!" Morro jumped out of his chair and spun in delight, his long hair slapping his freckled face.
"Morro?"
Morro turned to face his tired mother. He tilted his head, motioning for her to go on with her statement.
"You are to stay out of the kitchen, am I understood? Now go on and play, alright?"
Morro nodded, "Yes ma'am!" He ran outside to play in the woods behind their house.
He grabbed a cloak he always hung on a tree branch outside and ran into the woods, pulling the hood of the cloak over his head. As he ran, he glanced down at his feet to keep from tripping over any rocks or tree roots. He slowed to a hault as he approached a creek.
"Hop... hop... hop..." the young boy jumped across, using large rocks as a bridge.
The ravenette walked into the deep woods, glancing at the trees. He enjoyed being in nature. One of his favourite things was seeing the wind blow the leaves in the trees. He stopped as he approached a rather large oak tree. Biting his lip in cocky confidence, he began to climb it. He grabbed the large branches with his tiny, frail hands. He loved to move. Any physical activity of any sort was great for him. He could barely contain himself; sitting still was practically torture. Some people had told him he had a serious case of ADHD. He wasn't sure what that meant, but he never retorted.
Once at the highest sturdy branch, he sat and secured his cloak. The wind blew his cloak majestically. He closed his eyes and smiled, feeling the wind on his face and in his hair. It didn't bother him that his hair was being whipped onto his face from the wind. He enjoyed it. Opening his eyes again, he gazed over the forest. It seemed to go on for ever and ever. He thought that maybe it would lead to the edge of the world, maybe even a cliffside facing the endless horizon.
The midday sun was hidden by the clouds, much to Morro's misfortune. He brushed it off and decided it was atill a beautiful day without the sun.
Lunch... he hadn't yet had lunch...
"Shoot..." he mumbled, climbing down from his branch. He was beggining to feel hungry again.
Once at a low enough branch, the boy jumped. His hood flew off, revealing his below shoulder-length hair. He ran his hands through his tangled mop of hair and tied it into a high ponytail.
"That should to for now. If it comes out..? Oh well..."
Morro began walking but stopped at seeing a green strip of hair fall onto his face. He glanced at it, confused and tucked it behind his ear. He began to walk again, but the green strip came out of place. He puffed his cheeks in annoyance and decided to leave it alone.
It was rather odd, though, that he did have the green strip. He had never noticed it before. Or maybe he had? No, that was impossible. With how bright it was against his jet-black hair, it was impossible that he could've missed it. Samaria did, though, also have that distinguishing feature. Athough, Samaria's was red. Rachel had said it was because she had an ability. An element, per say. She could become invisible herself, or turn objects invisible by touching them. Morro's father also had this ability, according to Rachel. He had the distinguishing red strip of hair on his left side.
Morro's mother was the elemental master of wind. She didn't really have a feature to distinguish her element. Her hair did flow with grace when she was upset and lost her grip on her sanity. It happened far too often now. Other than that, there wasn't anything. There was no way Morro's sudden change in hair colour had to do with an element of his. Maybe it was already there... and his other hair just hid it. It didn't matter. It wasn't important. He would have to figure out out later.
Meanwhile..
"Samaria, make sure to cover it completely. He can't know." Rachel mumbled tiredly.
"Yes, mother. I know." Samaria carefully took a lock of Rachel's hair and covered it with black colour dye. "You ought to tell him soon."
"I know... but I don't think he's ready."
"Mother, he's 5. You remember what the doctors told you, right? By the time he's 6 years old, it coud start affecting him, too."
"How do I tell him? Hey Morro! Guess what? Mommy's dying, and you're next!" Rachel sighed.
Samaria held another lock of lime-green hair in her hand and covered it in black colour dye, "Maybe not like that. But you don't have much time left yourself. If you don't tell him soon, I will. Whether that's before or after you die, we will let fate decide."
"Where is he?"
"Probably in the forest again." Samaria hummed, colouring another lock of hair.
"He loves being out in nature, huh..." the mother sighed as she looked out the back window.
"Yeah. He reminds me of you in a way, mother. How you used to be... before Moralisis hit you hard."
"Mmm... I suppose so."
Samaria finished up Rachel's hair and washed her hands. Rachel remained in her chair as the dye set. She continued to look out the window, thinking about her younger self.
~~~
Morro washed his hands by the creek, then glanced down at his reflection. The green strip of hair was certaintly not a hallucination. He had tried washing it off, but it remained. He supposed that perhaps his mother or Samaria might know what it was. No matter what he did with it, it always fell into his face. It refused to remain in a ponytail, it would not stay tucked behind his ear, and it would not allow itself to be tucked underneath his other hair. He sighed heavily and left it alone. He laid down on the riverbank and stared up at the sky. The clouds were still blocking the sun, but it was beautiful anyway. Nature never ceased to amaze young Morro. He smiled as he closed his eyes, allowing himself to nap in the sanctuary of nature.