The name Mesec meant nothing to the boy- but that didn't dampen (get it?) the boy's spirits, not even a little. He nodded agreeably when Mesec commented on how smart Ma was. Of course, this was a given, but he was glad when others acknowledged this truth, because it was one of the fundamental pillars which guided his young life.

The boy considered Mesec's proposal, that the creatures were magic and therefore hard to see. He still had no idea what they were, except that they were colorful and not fish, but that didn't limit things in a particularly meaningful way. He was pleased with how quickly the silver stallion accepted his proposed attack, though now that they were going to follow his plan, the boy felt some trepidation rising in his throat. If they failed, would Mesec be mad? Would it be all his fault? He didn't particularly want to disappoint his new friend, and though he was pretty sure his plan would work, Zèklè still shivered with the need to be a million times better than good enough, to be more than a boy with only one wing. It was a fear which had begun to plague him, one that came alongside the shadowy realization that no, no matter how much he willed or wished it, no- his wing was not gonna grow in.

He frowned, unsettled, and shook it off.

"OK ONE TWOTHREEGO!!"

His voice exploded like a cannon and his body followed, crashing through the water and sending up a noisy spray. Like lightning he went careening toward the rocks, stumbling and laughing as sea licked his legs. And it was working! Through the foam and spray darted something colorful, and then something else, and then suddenly there was a school of the things circling about the boy's legs.

Abruptly outnumbered, Zèklè cried out in surprise, his eyes going wide and his ears lying flat. They were everywhere! Frantically he staggered, trying to escape the approaching swarm. The boy shot Mesec a desperate look, sunbeam eyes shrouded in white, fear quite obvious upon his face. It must have been hilarious, watching poor Zero flail, fearful and at the mercy of creatures desperately smaller than him. His wing threw up more water, adding to the mess. He slipped and skidded as he tried to run, throwing himself toward the silver adult in a desperate search for security.

Then he stepped on something particularly slippery, and it wriggled beneath his hoof. Quick as he could the boy jumped away, finally finding solace by Mesec's side, but it was too late; the damage was done. Sobbing, Zero pushed his face against Mesec's wing. "They was all there all at once an' I was scared an' I steppded on one an- an-" he gasped, hiccuping, refusing to look back and acknowledge the damage he may have done. He remembered seeing a dead thing, the way Macaria's ma had looked as she lay there, surrounded by mourning faces, and he remembered the way it had made him feel wretchedly sick and without understanding.

And he remembered how angry everyone was, when they found out the Moon had done it.

He couldn't bear to face that wrath. The very idea of it filled him with a powerful, terrible guilt and dread and- oh, it was horrible!

Sniffling, he pushed his face deeper against the comfortable warmth of Mesec's side. Don't let it be dead, the boy silently pleaded. Ma's gonna kill me if it is.


@[Mesec]