Zèklè

So this was something new.

At first he thought that maybe another monster had come, and these were the fighters gathered to protect them, and his heart sank as fear filled him, for even now he could feel a residual pain in his single wing. But no, Zero, calm down, nobody was fighting, or even looked upset- it seemed to be a very peaceful gathering overall, with quiet voices and soft movements, bodies pressed around a big gray... rock? The boy wasn't sure, but now that he knows it isn't an attack, nothing could stop his curiosity from pulling him into the gathering, discovering just what could be going on.

It wasn't a huge group, so he did not need to employ his superior skill in squeezing between adults. Instead he walked around the strangers until he found an empty patch, orange eyes straining to make some sense of what it was they'd gathered around. It was big, and gray, and the boy's eyes widened as images and memories pieced themselves together into a glorious, albeit inaccurate, conclusion. Excitement bubbled in his blood, and a grin stretched across the innocuous face, lopsided and eager and bursting with life. Was this- was she?- could there really be-

"Are you a whale? On th' land?"

He thought he might be in love.

The egg meant nothing to Zero, who had never been to a companion drop, but this beautiful creature was everything to him. Boldly the colt stepped forward, closer to the glorious beast, until he could feel her hot, heavy breath. On closer inspection she didn't quite look like Pushta, given her legs and the fact that her tail appeared to be on her face (what?). But when Zero peered up into those kind brown eyes, he thought he saw the same sort of ancient wisdom, the same warmth and mystery, the same awesomeness that surrounded his sea-bound friend and had induced within the boy his initial love of all things ocean.

So maybe this wasn't a whale. It was certainly almost as good. But she was all curled up, like something was wrong. "Is something wrong? Can I help you? D'you need help? What's your name? Mine's Zero." The boy's bright voice emerged in a flurry of earnest inquiry, his sunbeam gaze eager as it remained upon the leviathan's face. Had he realized the true nature of this gathering, unease might have settled into his bones- but luckily for Zero he was powerfully oblivious to the presence of the egg, his attention wholly captured by the elephant's majesty.