Zèklè

In the time since Själ had seen him last, her badass had learned some important things. Like: friends are the people who don't leave even when your Ma gets really mad at them. Or: being a big brother is hard, but also pretty rewarding except for when it's not. And, most relevantly: people had this awesome habit of showing up exactly where and when you want them to, almost as though something, or someone, was conspiring to put them there.

Weird, huh?

It was a bright day, and Zero was determined to make the most of it, to enjoy the last of the sunlight before winter bore down and blanketed the world in cold. He'd set off without a set destination in mind, wanting to get somewhere without any real concept of where- just so long as he was out of the Throat, far away from where the confusion of his family loomed mountainous and overwhelming over his small bay form. Lately the boy had found himself wishing that things could go back to 'normal', when it was just him and Ma and that was enough. Before anyone cared who his Da was, before he'd broken his wing, before Mesec and Gaucho and Tae and Grusha had made things confusing- when it was just them, Zèklè and Ma, a duo who could take on the world without it interfering.

That's not to say that he didn't love his sisters- he did. They were his sisters. He was pretty much doomed to love them forever. But them being around made things so complicated, and Zero had never been a complicated kid- in fact, he'd made it a very distinct point to avoid complicated issues, thank you very much. He liked his adventures, and his rocks, and friends and whales and stories and Ma. Sisters and Da's were just unnecessary drama, and sometimes (though he'd never tell them) the lightning boy wished that they would just go away.

Ugh, but no, no more of that. Zero frowned and set his jaw, orange eyes bright with stubborn determination. He was determined to have a good day and be happy, and he wasn't about to let his confusion over the world get in the way of his enjoyment. The world could just be complicated without him. He was gonna go have fun.

He continued on his path north-ish, not quite sure where he was going but now more determined than ever to get there. Maybe he'd go seek out one of his friends, see if they wanted to share an adventure. The idea brightened him considerably. Yeah!

But who to choose?

Somehow, immediately, he began to think about Själ. Or maybe she was already on his mind, and that's why he'd wound up so far north, outside his normal roaming territory while still within the realm of known geography. He hadn't seen his errant princess in quite some time. Was she well? Had she made herself a home somewhere, a home of ice and stone and flowing water, found a kingdom just for her? Maybe she wasn't even here anymore- it had been a while, after all, and they were both older now. Maybe she'd forgotten her badass.

Or maybe she was there, exactly where he'd left her, just waiting for him to show up and sweep her off her feet say Hi.

Because she was there, her back to him, and despite the time that had passed the boy saw her from a distance and knew at once who it was. A grin stretched lopsided across his face- he wanted to run to her, to appear beside her and make her laugh, and so he did, his wing flapping inelegantly behind him like a flag as he trotted toward the snow-bitten maiden, sunbeam eyes bright in an older, but still vibrant, face. "Hey, Princess!" the boy cried out, nothing but innocent delight in his deepening voice. "Did'ja miss me?"

(I missed you, he doesn't say, because it's obvious in the way he smiles up at her, in the way he stops by her side, head tilted and wild mane falling across his eyes. It's in the way his tailfeathers splay just so, in the way he kind of prances in place, youthful eagerness making every line of his body vibrate like a string. It's in the way his wing relaxes instead of curling up against his back, as though trying to sink down into his skin. Because Själ is pretty and clever and sharp, and she's a memory of when things were simpler, easier- and he's happy to be her badass, her badass, at least for today.)