He could hear Alina speaking but...why had she gone so far away? Her voice sounded like it was being brought to him from across the sea, on some wayward breeze, rather than right next to him in the sands. For a moment, he considered opening his eyes and looking - to find out where she had gone but - alas. Even the thought of using his mind for such a trivial task seemed...unimportant. At least, that's what his slowly-fading from consciousness brain would have him think. Sleep seemed...like a luxury he was so often denied, and now, as his weary body was supported by the frigid sands, and his hind-end was slowly losing feeling due to the waters lapping over him, it seemed like something he had earned.

Was that breath on his nose? His mind stirred slightly, as Alina's pale muzzle inched closer to his own. Funny... He thought drowsily as his eyes remained firmly closed. How she make her voice do that, if she still here? But that not----Onni? Suddenly the idea of the nearness of Alina and the presence of Onni began to overlap in his mind. Mentally, he saw the white-winged one he had thrust from the ocean but...she didn't have those patches of brown before did she? Onni's mental image began to shift and superimpose itself over Alina, until the dun was sure that it was over her shoulders, that his dark wing now rested.

As their voices melded together in an unsettling conversation - if indeed they were one mare, as his oxygen strained brain was now starting to believe - Gaucho forced his eyes open. They were nearly bloodshot now, and very weary looking, as he strained to see what was going on without moving his antlered head. It was indeed Alina next to him, and not Onni. For a moment, an indescribable pang of emotion burst in his chest as the mental-scene was broken apart. Or perhaps, it was simply blood flowing through his wearily muscles as he tried to move. Grunting with effort, he raised his head off the sands, craning his neck to try and bring the shaman into view. As his gaze fell upon her, his head promptly fell back to the sands with a dull thud.

"Onnnnnniii" He whispered almost dreamily, as his eyes threatened to close once more. Then, almost immediately, they snapped open as memories of the preceding few minutes crashed upon him. His focus sharpened with an almost hostile ferocity, as he gazed at the paint. With what seemed like a ridiculous amount of effort, Gaucho raised his black wing off of Alina's, revealing the unconscious snake huddled between them. Without moving his gaze from the shaman, he let his wing slap down against his flank. "Mara. Onni heal. He demanded, before adding in a much quieter and weaker voice, "-please."