The night was deep and calm after the furious storm. The water still bore traces of its recent violence: the waves rolled lazily, throwing seaweed and shipwrecks onto the sand. Blade lay on the surface of the sea not far from the rocky shore, his tail barely moving. He loved these moments of silence, when the storm calmed down, leaving behind an emptiness - both in the ocean and in his soul. Lying on his back, he looked up at the starry sky. His dark hair floated around his head like tangled threads of darkness, and his eyes searched for something among the stars - perhaps the answer he had been waiting for so long.

"How far have you sailed from who you used to be?" This thought returned to him again and again. The stars were silent. The wind walking over the water did not give an answer either.

Suddenly he caught a movement on the shore. At first it was only a barely discernible silhouette, but his keen eyesight made out a figure - a woman. Her steps were light, barefoot, barely touching the wet sand. She stopped at the very edge of the water, where the waves rolled onto the shore, and thoughtfully looked out into the night sea.

Blade crouched, leaving only his face above the surface of the water. Her presence made him wary, but also curious. She didn't look scared, like most people who approached the sea after a storm. There was something different in her gaze - a longing, as if the sea was calling her, just as it had once called him. The wave gently embraced her legs, and the girl did not retreat, but leaned forward. At that moment, the moonlight illuminated her face - and Blade felt a strange, unknown feeling. He emerged quietly from the water and spoke, not knowing why: "The sky above the sea always seems closer, doesn't it?"

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice soft as the whisper of waves.

"Me?" He smiled bitterly. "Just a shadow of what I once was. And who are you that you're not afraid to look into the abyss?"