It had been a while since the opportunity to socialize had presented itself. When the wraiths had arrived at their shores and taken over their lands, Murdock had hidden with the majority of Helovia’s inhabitants beneath the earth in dark caves and corridors. It had been a miserable, lonely existence. He had been separated from his herd and his friends, and was forced to seek out the companionship of shadows while he waited for the turmoil overhead to settle. When finally the air cleared and the demons had slipped away once more, he had eagerly returned to the sunlight. However, months alone had sapped his confidence and left him feeling uncharacteristically shy and unsure of himself.

Conversation was not usually something that he had a hard time coming by, but this mare was the first he had exchanged words with in weeks. He wasn’t used to the sound of his own voice, strangely deeper and more heavily accented than he remembered. She, too, seemed to take note of the awkward silence that hung between them, begging to be disturbed by some song of the wind or crash of the waves. Murdock watched her wordlessly. Fortunately, she found something to say. He nodded thoughtfully in agreement, sweeping his gaze across the pale sand of the beach toward the dark waves. The ocean was not a place he visited often, though there was something calming about the rhythm of the water.

“I’m Murdock,” he offered with a dip of his head, searching for some other title to attach to his name though he found he had none. He was no longer part of The Grey, no longer General of the Foothills. The Foothills were no more. The ranks had dissolved and indeed, not even the herd lands stood anymore. His family had parted ways and the cliffs he called home had been replaced by falls and ponds. He belonged nowhere now. Perhaps she had no home, either. Perhaps together they could enjoy solitude and discuss their meaningless lives.

He could find no smile upon his own lips as he turned to face her once more. The happiness and passion for life that had once overflowed from his heart had been lost somewhere in the darkness, and he feared it would take some time to find it once more. His gaze was warm as it met hers, though. There was no reason to dwell on the misery within his soul, not when he had found company at last and the weather was so unusually beautiful. “What purpose does one such as yourself have here? Merely relaxation?” Small talk was the best he could come up with. He hoped she would forgive him for the dryness of his words; after all, it was better than commenting on the weather.

"talk talk talk"