“I’m Vesper!” I trill, happily, because to be perfectly honest I couldn’t believe my luck. “This is Everly. A fish gave her to me! Did Lucius come from a fish too?” I ask, genuinely curious now. Lucius was much bigger than Everly and had extra wings to boot - he must be very special. Everly chirped in agreement before continuing to dance impatiently between my ears. I lowered my head and let her slide down the planes of nose to the ground so she could be properly introduced to the other whale. It was obvious enough that she was excited to see one of her kind because she pulled at my hair with her talons that were small, but still sharp. That and I could feel how excited she was...and impatient. That was a new sensation. I was certainly close to Virga and Mama, but never quite like this. However, I was curious as to how Mesec found his whale. If his had come from a fish, maybe I could look in the big lake and see if there was an egg in there for Virga too!
The thought of Virga sends a spike of anxiety through my belly. I’d been gone for too long. I was sure that he and mother would be worried. I was so very sure because I was worried. But I just couldn’t bring myself to leave this stranger to go find them, but my eyes flick to the interior of the Basin at regular intervals nonetheless. I’d never been quite this torn - wanting to run away and find Mama and Virga but also so very enraptured with who I’d found. I’d always been comfortable around strangers but this seemed different. I didn’t have the words or the sense to explain how, but being around Mesec wasn’t like being around other strangers.
As if to ease my own worry that I was right not to run into the heart of the Basin in search of mama and Virga, I began a rather thorough appraisal of this stranger I’d stumbled upon. I’d neglected any sort of reasonable observations after becoming so distracted by what he’d brought with him. It was only then that I began to realize what Mesec (and Lucius) had already realized.
Quietly I looked at Mesec with a clearly appraising gaze. Mesec had a coat as black as the night sky, interrupted only by silver...just like mine. He had no stars, but of course I got my stars from Mama. Mesec had a twisted horn spiraling from his forehead, just like mine. Virga’s was growing straight like Mama’s. And Mesec had wings, which Mama did not have, but both she and Virga did. Perhaps most significantly though were his eyes. The same eyes that stared back at me when I saw my saw her reflection in the water. “We match,” I said, simply, though there was some hesitation in my voice because I wasn’t at all certain what all of this actually meant.
And then again my mind was spinning because before I can make the pieces fit together in a way that makes sense, Virga comes running and my heart leaps somewhere up closer to my throat. My little heart beats faster in expectation for the long put off reunion and relief washes over me when he’s just there in a tangle of legs and all his ungraceful glory. But he’s here and he’s mine and I’m whole again. I press my nose against his skin and inhale the scent that I’ve known since forever. “Virga,” I sigh against his skin, content for the first time since I’d left on the adventure filled with kittens and fish and mysterious places. I slide over so that I’m standing closer to him, but cannot peel myself from his side. Everly is curious with the arrival of this person she knows to be important, and it’s enough to distract her from her kin. She peeps out a greeting to Virga, looking expectantly at the dark colt who had appeared so suddenly.
I then remember our audience, and I turn back to Mesec and Lucius wearing a somewhat sheepish smile. “This is Mesec, I met him when I was coming back after a fish gave me Everly’s egg,” I managed, hurriedly, nodding at the smaller zephyr, “and then it hatched and look he has a whale too!” The words are a jumble and come out too fast, no doubt as a function of being so overwhelmed. I huff out a deep breath before trying to continue but I hesitate for another moment as I look from Mesec, to Virga, and back over my own silver-touched shoulder. “Virga look we all match, don’t we?” I said, quietly, but I hoped that my brother could at least affirm what I was seeing.
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