[private] heaven help me for the way I am

[Gale]

Gale -- i woke up to the sound of silence Not only had he failed to earn Islandres the magical protection he’d promised, he fears he has somehow contributed to the world covering darkness that had followed his defeat. Gale had stood alone on the Plains for some time, lost in his own thoughts. He spins through the cycle of loss rather quickly, recalling the way the sensations felt in his heart from early lessons. The, with the determination that had sent him back to the Mountain time and again, he turns back toward home, certain that he will find another way to ensure the safety of the residents. The brindle stallion had realized that the eclipse was not ending at roughly the same time he discovered his wings and horn were gone, and about forty-five minutes before encountering his first monster. Then, countless hours later, he finally stumbled out of the water and onto the beach. Bone tired from the journey and swim, his eyes burning and mind aching from the taint the battled monster left behind, Gale intends to crawl up into the dunes and fall asleep. He does so only briefly, waking to the sound of Erne’s alarm, an osprey shriek carried on the salt air. He steps onto the beach, taking some solace in the fact that at least the sand has not changed colors, black as it ever was. His sides feel bare without the protection of his wings, and his head is lighter with no crown of curling horns. That is all the Alliance had given him, and as he moves closer to Mazikeen, he wonders if she, too, has had something taken from her. Her fire flares brightly, and her sleek white sides do not drip with seawater, suggesting she’d flown and her shifting remains intact. Erne, who recognizes the white mare, lands on Gale’s rump, his thick black talons digging into the white mane just above his skin. The bird’s yellow eyes peer fierce and unblinking at Mazikeen, a contrast to Gale’s curious blues and raised brow. “Now is probably not the best time to continue what we started,” he says as he draws closer, and despite his exhaustion there is good humor in his tired smile, and he does eye her arc of fire appreciatively for a moment before meeting her eyes again. @[Mazikeen]