ORIGIN

After leaving the strange sadistic girl in Canis he started up wandering again, purposefully avoiding the winding trail of one tunnel for another. He didn't know why but a deepset fear went through him at the thought of what was at the end of one of those tunnels. He knew one day he'd have to face this fear... just not today or anytime soon he hoped. The colt's head shook as he meandered his way down a slick tunnel with ice into a room that opened up to a brilliant waterfall. He'd never seen something so gorgeous before. He smiled lazily, pink eyes gazing over the thing in joy. Something tickled at the back of his brain and the name Pisces just came to him as many things did. The colt didn't think too much about it, he never did. What was there to think, anyway? He was just perceptive, that was all there was to it.

And he refused to look any further.

After surveying the falls Valentine made his way over to a few pools. He gazed down to see a few purple fish swimming. A rumble in his gut reminded him that he hadn't eaten in a while so after a moment of concentration he dipped his head down and tried to snatch a fish. His muzzle dipped into the water and a few droplets shot up his nose. With a snort he stepped back, shaking his head and blinking wide eyes in surprise. Now, this was something that didn't seem to come naturally to him. No matter, he didn't mind practicing so after an amused snort he stood back at the water's edge while he studied the swimming things within.

---

He'd been up and exploring for a good two weeks now, wiggling into every nook and cranny of Pisces, fascinated by the seemingly endless water and bottomless lake. For now he trotted along the slick ridges that spiked out of the southern wall, hopping from one to the next. He froze in every conversation, fled at the sight of newcomers, but this - this he could do all day. Exploring made him grin, tiny fangs clashing against back teeth as flat his mother's, pink hooves tapping out a staccato on the rocks. His coat gathered mud and water as he traveled, matting it down to the hock with muck, but he didn't bother to clean it, content to stay dirty if it meant continuing his adventure.

Unfortunately, something big caught his eye, wandering into the cave, and Hawthorne's fur rose, until he looked more like a cotton ball on stilts than a buck, hunkering down in place, ears twitched back, eye wide with fear. It was... between him and the den. Cursing his own bad luck, the hybrid began to slink back down the ridges, slowly, watching the strange horse-like beast the whole time - only to tumble and slip the rest of the way with a strangled mewl of shock, landing on the damp floor of Pisces proper with a bleat, nose smacking into the ground.

He rose his head with a groan, sneezing dizzily, and tried to catch sight of the horse thing again - only to find that it had moved even closer, apparently trying to fish in the lake. Cream fur poofing up, Hawthorne slowly slunk closer, stopping a good ten feet away. He wanted to ask what it was doing here, who it was, what it was, but the words curled up and died in his throat, anxiety closing in like a noose. Instead, he tapped at the ground with one front foot, rising to his full height - which was not very impressive, really - and letting out a quiet, strangled purr.

His concentration was intense but not perfect. It wasn't when the catdeer made his tumble down the ledges that he noticed but instead when it slunk closer and began to tap its hooves on the stone. Valentine first had his pink eyes intent on the ponds but when the fish scattered at the sound of the disturbance he looked up. Those calm, slightly humored eyes weren't surprised in the slightest at the new intruder. His appearance was not very shocking with the cream fur, the nubs of horns --not unlike his own-- and the one eye. He saw weirder things behind his eyes in his dreams... Hell, the dragonhorse himself was a weirder thing. Scarier in any case.

Perhaps less scarier when he offered a gentle smile to the newcomer. The poor thing looked absolutely terrified. That was the last thing Valentine wanted to do was terrify such a tiny little creature, even if its puffed up fur was rather adorable. It was like a terrified kitten but... wasn't it part kitten?

When the silence stretched on the dragonhorse decided to finally end it. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" His voice was filled with humor and his eyes --while still calm-- twinkled with his joke. The equine only wanted to lighten the mood and bring the feline in closer. He hadn't really had a good talk in a while, nor had he ever played with anyone besides his brother. It would be nice to get some weight off his back with the last encounter with the sadist of an elephant.

---

Hawthorne blinked in surprise as the stranger looked up - and up - and up - and wow they were... a lot taller. Three neon-pink horns adorned their face, and scales lined their throat. He tilted his head, trying to peek at the horse's wings before he caught himself, face burning hot as he focused back on their face, skittering back a bit at the first sound of their - his voice. The joke startled a bleating chuckle from his throat, and the tiny buck blushed hotter, skin turning tomato-red under his fur, a mix of amusement, frustration and absolute terror keeping him frozen to the spot.

Well. He wasn't getting eaten.

Slowly, over the course of a full, dead silent minute, Hawthorne began to relax, pelt smoothing down until his brown markings became clear and unbroken once more, blue gemstone eye glittering in the light of Pisces. "S-s-somethin' l-like that," he managed to mumble, one ear flicking back as he winced. "I-I'm Hawthorne," he tried again, forcing the rest of the words out before they could choke him. "W-who are y-you?"

Man, would Wisteria be mad she missed this. A real live stranger, and he'd actually managed to get more than a screech of fear out.

Well, the stranger wasn't running in fear. He even managed to get a chuckle out of the deercat's mouth, a strange sort of chuckle but a chuckle no less. Valentine's own voice echoed out of his throat in an amused laugh. For a child his voice was surprisingly deep but lighter than it would be when he reached adulthood. The deepish tones sounded very confident and kind all in the same. It was a good mixture and one that Valentine didn't even have to try for. It just came naturally to him. The child couldn't help that he had an old soul, in more ways than one.

This time in the silence Valentine waited on the cat creature to speak. One rear log propped in a relaxed stance as he waited patiently for the fur on his companion to relax. It did eventually and despite the fluffed up fur having looked cute before he couldn't but notice it looked just as adorable now. He didn't know which one of them was older but with the feline's timid ways and obvious nervousness he couldn't help but feel like the elder.

Hawthorne? He rolled the name over on his tongue, sampling it and finding it a good match for the timid cat. He nodded his head, shifting from his left rear leg to his right as he gave it a chance to prop. "My name's Valentine." His voice rumbled from his throat politely. Then on a whim he dipped his head. The multicolored forelock fell over his pink eyes as he said, "It's nice to meet you. The last face I saw wasn't nearly as kind." He wondered if Hawthorne would care to here about his crusades.... his one crusade. Probably not he thought with amusement, they had just met after all.

The colt's head lifted and he gave it a gentle shake to dislodge the hair from his eyes as his gaze locked with the single eye of the feline. "Have you figured out a secret to catching these fish? I mean... you're from around here, right?" If he was then it would make sense that he would know how to catch these elusive things.

---

Valentine. It was a regal name, one that rolled in his mind like honey. Obviously the stranger wasn't a villain after all, not with a name like that - they must be a wandering knight, or an adventurous squire, Hawthorne decided, tilting his head to one side, slowly relaxing enough to sit back on his haunches. His eye widened when the horse's head dipped, tail twitching at the ever-closer presence of the other. "N-nice t-to meetcha," the buck stuttered out, blinking rapidly.

The other half of the comment made him frown just a bit, muzzle pulling down to cover up his canines. "D-didja run into a v-villain?" The word was spoken in a hushed tone, like he was expecting a cackling hag or an evil sorcerer to come boiling through the entrance to Pisces any second. Valentine switched subjects like lightning, Hawthorne still stuck imagining tales of true villains come to life.

It took him a dazed moment to answer, and when he did, it was with a raised eyebrow, familiarity beginning to lessen his general stiffness. "Fish? I d-didn't know horses a-ate fish," he mumbled, as if filing the information away for later. Then he perked up, puffing out his chest with a tiny modicum of pride. "Yeah! I was born here! Over there," he added, lifting a hoof to point at his family's den, the remains of the blue benitoite wall shimmering from the ground.

"But I-I've never c-caught a fish b-before... wouldn't that h-hurt 'em?" Concern made his brow furrow, turning back to Valentine and peering up at him curiously.

Oh? So he did want to know about the "villain" he'd run into. Villain? He wouldn't know if he would call the creature that. It seemed to him like she was just some misguided soul. A young soul that had lost its way and found joy in sick things like torture. He wondered how many in the world would actually be like the elephant. Were there many or was she just a rare specimen in the pack? "You could call her that." The horse mused thoughtfully, his smile vanishing as he thought of her soul but then he shook his head with the smile swiftly coming back. "Or maybe she could have just been having a bad day. " She definitely was after he was done with her... until she'd found that poor bat. He made a mental note to tell the feline more about it later.

Right now, he was more interested in fish than an elephant who was long gone. Valentine couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe we're not supposed to but I do." He opened his mouth to show his teeth which were much like the feline's. Sharp canine teeth with a mixture of flat horse teeth at the back for grinding grass.

The equine peered back towards the wall that Hawthorne indicated, noting the shimmering blue wall with a, ""Pretty." Before his mellow gaze turned back to the deercat. His companion now seemed concerned about the safety of the fish and to that Valentine gave an indulgent smile. "I imagine only for a little bit. Hard to be in pain when you're dead in someone's stomach." He snorted lightly with laughter, not considering his joke might be a bit morbid for the gentler cat. "But we gotta eat, don't we?" He'd seen the cat's fangs so he had just assumed that they both ate the same things... But you know what they say about assuming.

---

Hawthorne frowned, tilting his head to one side as if rolling the suggestion around in his mind. Being as his entire moral compass was based on fairytales, it wasn't really a surprise that he simply assumed that anyone with even slightly ill intentions was automatically in the "villainous" category. "W-well, yeah, b-but heros d-don't hurt people, e-even if they have a b-bad day," the buck explained, nodding solemnly, as if he'd just revealed the secrets of life.

His golden eye widened in a mix of scientific curiosity and mild disgust at the idea of eating something that was... well... alive. Hawthorne barely acknowledged the other hybrid's evaluation of his den, head tilting to the other side, brow furrowing in thought. For someone so young, this sort of thing was a bit of a trip to the usual way of things. "Well, I-I eat plants," he murmured, peering curiously at Valentine's teeth before dropping his own maw open, pointing a shiny pink hoof at the mix of feline and ruminant teeth.

"I d-dunno... I-I'd feel bad if I h-hurt a fish or a-anythin'," Hawthorne mumbled, dropping his hoof to tap out a soft, contemplative beat. "But I g-guess, if you g-gotta..?" Questions of morality made his head hurt. He liked the "villain or non-villain" system a little better.

Well, he had a point there. If you were a true hero then you usually never wanted to hurt someone else just to make yourself feel better but the world wasn't nearly so clear cut. It was rather amusing that this little fellow thought of everyone as heroes or villains. Perhaps it made things simpler that way. Valentine didn't have the heart to shatter his world. Besides, it was right in its own way.

"I do too but I'm in the mood for meat now." He did like plants too but he didn't like to eat the same thing all the time. Besides, he'd never tried fish and he wanted to see what the small swimming things tasted like. Would they be tasty? Or would they be slimy and gross? Valentine leaned his head forward to study inside his companion's mouth, looking at the fangs that were so similar to his own. Hawthorne had probably never tried any meat before which was shame. Why have the teeth if you weren't going to use them? The little cat probably didn't know what he was missing... Still, it was alluring in a way. It showed the gentle nature of the young stag. Everything about him reminded the colt about a fairy tale. He was like some young prince, gentle and kind while trying to find his way in the world. "It's not like we're going to torture them. It's just eating, like when we eat plants. Maybe they're conscious things too and just don't make noise." The colt shrugged his shoulders as he mused with the thoughts, trying to reassure his acquaintance.

"It's only bad if you take life when you don't need to or for fun. If you're hungry then it's simply for sustaining yourself." And boy was he hungry. He also hoped he was making sense. He was just speaking as he usually did with the words coming to him but full of the conviction of his own belief.

---

Hawthorne huffed, giving in to the request as he rose, stretching with a yawn and brushing past Valentine, edging closer to the water's edge. "I-I guess," the tiny buck settled on, raising a hoof to rub at his sore snout. At the possibility of the plants being sentient, he paled, floppy ears drooping as his golden eye widened, flickering towards the flying-horse with a panicked wince. "Y-you think? O-oh no, t-that would be s-so awful..."

Just the idea of being eaten and not being able to protect - heroically, of course - made his stomach twist into a little knot, and he stared down at the pretty fish sparkling under the water, not feeling very hungry at all. "W-what if... what if we didn't need to e-eat either?" The thought gripped him, tickling like one of the fish that had begun to nibble at the hoof he'd dipped into the water. "I mean, we can do o-other stuff. I can m-make things glow. What if w-we just... didn't eat 'em? Not plants o-or fish?"

He vaguely remembered stories of strange beasts, surviving without eating anything, and considering he'd seen his father construct a wall from nothingness, it seemed... if not possible, like it was worth a shot - especially if it meant he could avoid hurting anything. Humming to himself at the thought, Hawthorne finally stored it in the back of his admittedly childish mind, focusing on swirling his hoof around and watching the fish chase it, giggling. "B-but I understand. J-just m-maybe do it f-fast, so it w-won't hurt 'em so m-much?" He glanced at Valentine again, shyly, wary of overstepping and making such a massive stranger angry.