"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
If it strikes Maze as odd that the filly didn’t know what the canine creature was, she doesn’t let it show. Instead she waits - fascinated by what appears to be a conversation passing between them, though she can only hear one half. What is this talent? Maze could shift into other animals, but she couldn’t communicate with them really. Not verbally at least. The most she could do was mimic and use behaviours that she learned (or she could in theory - if she had enough patience to observe and learn, which she has not discovered yet).
She doesn’t notice the silence that stretches, she’s far too busy attempting to see if the maned wolf Malachai can hear her thoughts - but if he does he does not give any indication of it.
Eventually the silence is broken by the other girl and Maze’s attention shifts back to her - to Midsommar. “I’m Mazikeen.” She doesn’t offer the nickname because she likes that they’re a trio of unclipped M-names. Mazikeen, Midsommar, and Malachai. Nothing to write poetry about, but for some reason it makes the orange-eyed filly feel as though they are already friends.
The question directed to Maze earns a grin. “Why wouldn’t I be? There’s no joy in exploring during the day - everything is all out in the open.” She glances up to the sky, where the moon had disappeared moments ago, drenching them in deeper shadows. “But at night it is all hidden in shadows, anything can be an adventure.” Her mother had favoured night over day all her life and it was something Mazikeen had picked up from her easily - so it was difficult to discourage the girl from exploring. Although she was, occasionally, cautious at night she wasn’t nearly as careful as she should be. So far she had discovered no reason to fear the darkness which obviously meant there was no reason to fear it at all.
“Don’t you think?” She asks in a curious voice - she can hardly believe that someone with a wolf friend could have any reason at all to avoid the night.
