Seeing Isopia had been a great relief for the boy. He'd struggled with guilt after The Incident, worried about his friends, the results of his actions, and how he'd ever make it up to them. Isopia had been the first and biggest hurdle, and getting past that filled Zero with a brightly renewed confidence. He'd talked to his Ma, of course, and Gaucho too- the only one left to find was Mesec.

He'd figured he'd look on the water first, because his knowledge of Mesec included a shared affection for the ocean. The water was so high, and at first Zero'd laughed as he splashed along with it, slate hooves sinking into damp sand and spray soaking his metallic left side. But the salt made the metal itch so bad, and the boy'd been driven back from the water's edge to the safety of the shore, where he wandered on, leaving flakes of titanium behind to glitter in the sand. Squishy followed along behind him, casually picking up the abandoned bits of his master and sticking them to himself.

In the distance he could see a large black shape swooping and diving among the waves. He'd never seen a black seabird before. Curious, the brown boy walked towards it, eager to discover what it might have caught. What's it like, he wondered, to be a seabird- to fly above the waves and swoop back down into the water, catching fish and riding coastal winds? It must be awesome. The boy's bright expression darkened and envy pricked within him at this thought, a bitter awareness that he really should be able to do it, too, it was his birthright, if only his stupid wing had been there, too.

Zero's jovial mood might have been shattered, then, except- well, who am I kidding? It took a lot more than his missing wing to ruin Zero's attitude.

But the appearance of Mesec helped cheer him, too.

"Mesec!" the lightning boy cried brightly, though his voice came out surprisingly deep- almost in a croak. He paused, blinking in surprise at the noises he was making, before shaking his head and continuing on. Now that Mesec was within his sight a brilliant lopsided grin filled Zero's face, and he was nearly bouncing with excitement. "I was lookin' for you 'cus I gots you somethin'- here!"

He stopped within touching distance of the stallion and reached around to where Squishy stood. Just wait until Mesec saw this! Zero wrestled with his prize, clearly struggling to dislodge something from the golem's back, before finally spinning triumphantly to face Mesec, his creation clutched between smiling teeth. Gingerly he set it on the ground, letting it reveal its full glory: small, black, with six spindly-shaped legs stretching out from it and one long and firm claw rising from the middle. Made of glittery black sand around a skeleton of gold, and inlaid with carefully designed titanium, little golem was barely the size of Zero's head, but it was certainly a work of art. The titanium (drawn from the boy's own skin, he'll have you know) swirled in lightning bolts down every leg, drawing together at the center and making an elegant crescent moon around the extending claw. The claw itself was jointed, nimble and prehensile, and made almost entirely with titanium.

He'd had a lot of time while waiting for his wing to heal, and this was the result.

And it was beautiful.

Sunbeam eyes returned to his friend, and the young craftsman beamed, feeling very proud.

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OOC;; Golem for Mesec! <3
TAG;; @Mesec