Who is he? Zeik can’t answer his own question. It sits in his mind, troubling him as he drifts along the currents. The season is mid-change and the cooler weather feels good against his feathers. But he can’t enjoy that sensation, or the blissful joy of flight because he’s too busy thinking about the question makai had roused. Who is he? Until now he’d just been Zeik: the falcon-shifting blue roan stallion who roamed Beqanna. But now? Now he was Zeik: the horse without a purpose. That had never seemed to bother him before now. All he’d ever had to worry about was where his food was coming from and where he was sleeping. But that was the other side of him - the predatory side. Now there was another side that begged for attention, the side that Makai had awoken in him.

Would anything in his life ever affect him the way that Makai’s downfalls had? It irked Zeik to think that he was missing out on something so, provencial. His thoughts, though, are interrupted when he catches a rather violent lift of air, causing him to peer down at the source. The sea, responsible for the shift in flight, stretches out below him. The beach itself is littered with the decaying, a dismal sight. But it’s not the dead that cause Zeik to circle and drop, it’s the living.

Far below him is a single form, wading into the frothy waters in some slow, peaceful lament. His curiosity piques and he descends, screeching out to the lone creature. A downward spiral brings him to the beach and he lands, sinking his talons into the sand before shifting into his natural form. There’s no time to adjust so he struggles to his feet and trots quickly to the edge of the shore, stopping only when the water laps against his hooves.

“Wait!” He calls out, neck stretching over the water as if he could grab her and haul her back to shore. “Why?” He asks, more subtle in his approach. What causes her to welcome death?

Everything we are and used to be is buried and gone

“You won’t find rest in the sea.” Zeik says, wondering if he was already too late - if she was too far gone. She seems eerily transcendent, as if she were a ghost already, but the waves had brought her spirit to shore so that she might torment him. His eyes were just beginning to open to the world, and already they’d been filled with so much pain. Zeik doesn’t understand. “Abandoning life won’t give you recompense in death, trust me.” He says, looking away from her for a brief moment to glance out across the jade sea. He figures that explaining himself would catch her attention, even though she’s already slipping from his grasp.

“I’ve abandoned all that life has to offer up until this point.” He calls out, smiling with an unattractive, lop-sided grin. “I thought it would save me from going through what you all experience - loss, pain, heartache.” Zeik pauses, sighing with this realization. “And it did - but that’s not the point.” He says, holding her eye. “Life is about pain and loss and heartache! That’s what makes it worth living.” He says, his expression growing ever more animated. As if driven by his speech his legs move forward, driving him deeper into the churning waters. He thinks that maybe, if he can grasp one hair on her tail that swirls in the current, he can confirm her existence and save her in one fell swoop.

“Please.” He petitions, “Come back to shore.” His head rises, ears soon following. In his eyes grows a steely reserve. If she will not come back to him, he will go to her.  

Everything we are and used to be is buried and gone

He can see she’s beyond reason. Already death has begun to creep into her eyes, and Zeik sees it reflected back at him when she looks his way. Her sigh is something Zeik is actually happy to hear - he may have hit a nerve, but that nerve is an indication that something within her still lives, still fights. The disgust in her voice is all that he needs and he sighs back, knowing that this isn’t a lost cause. Her words have the intended effect - Zeik’s shocked. But he’s also not willing to give up on her, perhaps now more than ever.

“If you really wanted to die,” He begins, feeling the pull of the current against his legs, “You wouldn’t have even indulged me with a reply. You’d be deep underwater by now.” He says, holding her gaze. His ears fall, and he watches her closely. “Stop feeling pity for yourself. Bad things happen to good people, but that doesn’t mean you just give up.” He challenges her, looking out and away from the scene she’s giving him. He was only doing his best, but he can feel himself fall short.

He’s angry now, angry that he’s wasted his time on someone who only wanted to view the world from a one-way lens. There’s no helping this mare, and he sees that. “I’m sorry for bothering you.” He mutters, backing slowly out of the ocean. “I can see you’re determined to deny any kind of help.”

Everything we are and used to be is buried and gone

It’s true. He wanted to get a rise out of her. Sue him. He’d pushed her little buttons and gotten exactly what he wished for. But you know what they say about that, be careful... and all that other bullcrap. What he hadn’t expected was that she’d push his buttons right back. He can hear her splash around behind him, drag herself slowly back to shore. Zeik smirks, considering it a win. But then she opens her mouth and his smirk disappears quicker than he can shift (and for him that’s pretty damn fast.) His head snaps to the side so he can look back at her, a heaving wet mess of tangled mane and spitfire. His own ears fall and he swings around to face her, teeth baring in a rude imitation of her.

“Don’t flatter yourself, princess.” He spits, ears burying themselves while he draws his head up to loom down at her. “Why would I waste my time on a drowning rat who’s so far up her own asshole she can’t even accept the fact that someone’s trying to save her life?” He shakes his head, disgusted by the sight of her. Who did she think she was? Running around the beach doling out accusations like she knew him. Like she had suffered more than anyone else had ever suffered before. If he could spit, he would.

Instead he glares, letting his anger get the better of him in the moment. “You want to kill yourself so badly, go ahead, be my guest. Hell, I’ll even hold you under.” He’s shaking, trembling from the effort of holding back a sharp bite to her wrinkled nose. He thinks about shifting and clawing her in the face, but that won’t do any good. Instead he turns away from her and continues to tread back to shore, regretting even looking twice at her. He thinks he could possibly explode if he has to face another second arguing with someone so thick-skulled. “You know what you are?” He says, stopping suddenly in his tracks before turning back to look at her one more time.

“Just a spoiled rotten brat who never grew up.” Without thinking, the roan pulls a quick rear and throws himself back down, hooves displacing the seawater in her direction. Childish, he supposes, but maybe it’ll douse her snarky attitude.

Everything we are and used to be is buried and gone