Nothing Gale has said or done yet explains why she felt so on edge after her fumbled explanation - and even though Mazikeen knows exactly why it is there and who had caused it, she still marvels at how those edges are almost entirely soothed with a kind reassurance. And the trust, too - she’s not thinking it now, but maybe later she’ll marvel at how it was no small thing, to be trusted with this task.
Her head tilts up at the sound of Erne’s screech, and as she can see the faint shape of the dark osprey move high in the sky she imagines she can feel the wind. Feel the lightness of being that very same shape. Or maybe that light feeling in her heart isn’t the memory of flight at all and is instead caused by the blue stallion standing before her.
It's a good feeling, she decides - and all the more so for how surprised she is to be having it.
Her eyes next follow Gale’s gesture to where the mainland must be, narrowing as she tries to see whether she can make out the shores of Tephra - but, of course, she can’t. Horizon and sea are all the same inky darkness - which is going to make watching out for the shadows that move over the ocean all that more of a challenge (much to her delight).
When her attention returns to Gale, he looks as though he’s ready to fall asleep right there. Still has enough energy to tease her, though, and the words bring out one of her own that she shoots back with ease: “If I die defending your home from monsters, I’m going to haunt the hell out of you, Gale.” Thankfully, although it’s only been tested once in her young life, Maze is pretty sure she’s incapable of dying. She should have died when she was a yearling - that night in the forest when she was attacked, but no matter how much she bled or how many times she lost consciousness she had kept waking up and eventually had made it home and was healed.
She’s not exactly looking to test that theory out again, but it helps keep the joke light all the same.
Mazikeen shifts then, holding onto the curve of fire for a moment longer. She stands there as a white lioness - her paws dipped in black and that same red-tipped streak on her face ending just at her dark nose. “Go on. Sleep well.” And then, because she’s enjoying this newfound friendship, she adds with a grin as he leaves. “You’re gonna need it.” There’s a moment where her eyes dance and then the firelight winks out. Her headache fades away and she rejoices in the familiar comfort of her shapeshifting.
Then the lioness pads down the beach to begin the hunt, wearing a smile she cannot shake.
@[Gale]