Zami's eye opened wide as he felt a hard punch to his stomach, and he spat up a fairly significant amount of water. He quickly sat up, panting heavily. The air in his lungs felt hot, even though the air around him felt cold. As he got his ragged breathing under control, Zami looked around him. Everything was bleary and tinged of grey. Oh great, he thought, still Darkshore. His gaze focused ahead of him, to Mythene, who was sitting in the pale sand beside him.
Zami blinked at her a moment before going to say something, but was immediately picked up off the ground by something. Zami put his hands on the large vine wrapped around his waist, uneasy to be so high from the ground, and looked up. Zeni hissed happily down at him, being now approximately the size of an ettin. Zami found that he blinked again several times, the contrast of the lasher's size coming as a bit of a surprise. It was previously small enough to fit in Mythene's vest pocket, and now it was practically the size of a small house.
Zeni hissed happily, pulling Zami close into a delighted hug, before gently setting him back in the sand. Zami was only left alone for what must've been a single moment, before Zeni happily picked up something else from further up the beach, before setting it down next to Zami.
Or rather, attempting to set it down.
Aka was firmly attached to the end of the lasher's vine-arm by her sharp teeth, and Zami grinned. The raptor had always had as much of a fear of heights as he did, although he presumed for separate reasons.
"Hey dere, girl," Zami said softly, his voice coming out hoarse.
Upon hearing his voice, Aka detached herself from the oversized lasher's limb and practically jumped into his lap. She screeched happily, headbutting him hard enough to make him dizzy. Fortunately, a few strokes on her nose were enough to calm her.
Zami smiled and turned to Mythene, again to speak, but she was looking away, watching further up the beach. Zami followed her gaze and his smile fell. Syrise was leaning over Jazax, who wasn't moving.
"Come on, Jazzy," Syrise frowned, pushing forcefully against his chest, "This is completely not fair and you know it."
Syrise gave a few more particularly hard pushes against his chest before slumping forward. Her soaking-wet blonde hair hung over her face, and she proceeded to furiously punch at the sand beside her, shouting out a string of Thalassian curses.
Mythene furrowed her brow, glancing aside for a moment, before standing up. She crouched down in the sand beside Syrise, putting a hand gently on her shoulder. Syrise angrily shoved her hand away and stood up, almost violently, then proceeded to stalk away from them. The Thalassian curses didn't stop until she was out of earshot.
Mythene put her hand over her mouth, hiding her very noticeable frown, before slowly glancing down at the body. Her white brows furrowed and she looked away sadly.
"What a shame," She commented from behind her hand.
Zami sighed in quiet agreement, lowering his gaze as well, and began to idly rub the stump at his shoulder. He'd always figured Jazax would go out with a bang, though not quite like this. He was pretty sure the reality still hadn't sunk in yet, and he was kind of glad.
Zami looked up as he heard the sound of heavy footsteps, and looked up just in time to see Syrise stalking back over. She looked furious.
"Ugh, I'm so stupid!" Syrise hissed as she strode over to Mythene, "Kaldorei!"
"Hm?" Mythene looked up at Syrise curiously, "Yes…?
"How did I even forget this? Stupid me!" Syrise slapped her own forehead roughly, "Stupid, stupid Syrise, right?!"
"Um…" Mythene frowned, "What are you-"
"You're a healer! A super good one, right?!" Syrise cut her off, crouching down beside her, "You can just resurrect him!"
Mythene's eyes widened and she quickly looked away from Syrise, her expression one of sheer terror. Zami furrowed his brow as he watched from nearby.
"Well?! Come on already, kaldorei!" Syrise said, giving Mythene a little shove, "Get to work!"
"I-I... um, Syri-"
"What? You need stuff?" Syrise blinked at her, her green eyes practically boring into the back of Mythene's head, "I can get you stuff! Whatever you need!"
"Uh, um, y-yes," Mythene quickly turned back to face Syrise, "I-I need… things!"
"Right, of course!" Syrise nodded, a smile growing on her lips, "What do you need?"
"Uh," Mythene glanced about quickly, "Wood!"
"Wood?"
"Yes," Mythene nodded, "For an, um, fire! A.. special… druid fire!"
Syrise perked an eyebrow, inciting Mythene to offer an explanation.
"A fire for…the spiritual essence… of a tree! Which you can, you know… trade… for his life?"
Syrise nodded without hesitation, standing up quickly.
"Kindling for a fire! Got it! Be back soon!"
Before anyone could say anything more, Syrise darted out into the woodlands. Mythene groaned, holding her face with her hands, before flopping back into the sand. Zami just blinked at her for a moment before his expression went flat.
"What'cha doin' dat for?" Zami scrowled, crossing his arms.
Well, trying to. He stopped halfway through the gesture, remembering he only had one. Instead, he set it against his hip.
"Doing what?" Mythene asked, lowering her hands so she could blink at him as innocently as possible.
Zami just looked back at her flatly, unamused.
"Dat ain't no way to do nothin' to nobody and ya know it," Zami sniffed, turning his head away from her, "Why ya lyin' to her?"
Mythene frowned, glancing aside. Zami waited patiently for an answer, unwilling to back down. This was a particularly sore issue for him.
"Look, about Jazax…" Zami glanced at the goblin's body, "I know ya didn't really get along, but-"
Before he could finish, Mythene threw a rock at his head. It missed entirely, but her point was made.
"I would never do such a thing!" Mythene hissed, "How dare you insinuate I would refuse to offer my aid simply because of some petty-"
"Then why ain't ya?" Zami scowled, "Ya s'posta be da best healer in da Cenarion Cir-"
"I know!" Mythene huffed, cutting him off, "But I... "
She shifted uncomfortably, hugging herself. Zami suddenly got a bad feeling in his stomach. He had a feeling he knew what was coming next, and it only made him annoyed.
"I've always struggled with resurrection spells, specifically," Mythene admitted quietly, "Death is a barrier I cannot… hold myself against."
Zami scowled down at the sand, his irritation growing. Of all the times…
"You know how druidic healing works," Mythene continued, "You must think of a past loss, and then let it go. But I… I can't let go of those I've lost. I can't do it…"
Zami scowled at the sand for another moment, before closing his eye. He took a deep breath, sighing, before standing up.
"Den I'll do it," He said with a nod, opening his eye.
Mythene blinked up at him incredulously. She went to protest but Zami spoke before she could.
"Ya lost one brudda," Zami looked down at her, "And I lost four. Not to mention, da woman I loved. And my best friend."
He paused to glance down at Jazax before adding.
"Twice now."
Mythene was silent for a moment before she gave a short nod.
"Alright then," She said quietly, "Come here and I will show you the somatic gestures you must-"
"Not yet," Zami said as he sat back down in the sand, "Syrise should be here."
Mythene nodded, glancing back at Jazax's cold body.
"This is a complicated spell, thero'shan," She said quietly, "You may not be able to handle the-"
"It's fine," Zami sniffed, going to cross his arms again, and once more being briskly reminded of his missing arm.
