ORIGIN - And I take what's mine

"...so then we go over to the lakes and it's frozen over, right?" She said happily, recanting the tale to Kingsfoil. "And I say to Baro, wait, wait, there's pirates there! And he turns around and then he slips! And he just goes spinning, and I'm scared he's gonna cry, because spinning on the ice is really scary. Have you ever been on ice before? I should tell you, hooves are not meant to be on slippery ice at all." She sighed with the newfound wisdom of a child, of one finding it out the hard way.

"And then I get onto the ice and my legs go just everywhere!" She mimicked the memory, splaying her legs out, her eyes wide, laughing a little, "And it's all I could do to keep my balance, and Baro's just spinning like crazy and is probably feeling really sick by now, and I tell him to stop himself and he does, and we just look at each other, and we just laugh!" She looked at King and grinned and got back up to resume walking. "I think you'll really like Baro when you meet him, he's really so kind and sweet! You have to be gentle with him though, he's very sensitive."

She was beaming as she walked, glad to be going back home, glad to have met a nice new friend. Kingsfoil was really nice and polite and honestly very pretty, and she liked looking at him and seeing that lovely crown match with his golden eyes. He really was a prince! I mean, how lucky was she to be escorted home by a real prince?

@Kingsfoil @Baroque

Oh, this lady was so lovely. It was surprising really that there weren't hearts in the young stag's eyes because he was positively smitten! Ever since he'd first met her and she'd convinced the evil carnivore to leave with her brave words and sharp wit, he knew this was the best lady in the world. His father had never taught him about the finer things in life like pretty ladies, no, he only ever said that love was a weakness and a liability. But this wasn't love! Oh no, he was a prince and a god and he didn't fall in love! That was for the lesser beings. He just had acquaintances and people he was a little more fond of but never love... Thistle was just oh-so-pretty and stunning and smart and beautiful and fantastic and an amazing storyteller and perfect and... yeah.

For once the prince was happy to walk alongside her, guarding her as he was supposed to from harm --because she wasn't like all of the low-class citizens at Orion, she was fit to be a princess-- and take her back to her home. He didn't want to see her upset so he obliged and just let her go back rather than forcing her to stay at his place. Besides, he could always come back and visit her. It was no big deal. Besides, perhaps he could see this "Baroque" of hers. The young prince had to admit that the thought of someone encroaching on Thistle made a feeling of jealousy rise in his gut. He wanted her all to himself... but again, whatever made her happy.

Throughout her story he smiled and nodded and laughed when she gave him her impression of falling on the ice. For once he was behaving like a good little child and not the demon-spawn that he was. "What a funny story! Sounds like you guys had a really great time and your friend sounds... nice." He could feel the jealous pangs again but swallowed them down for her sake. "But yeah, I'll be nice." This wasn't Orion, wasn't his kingdom yet. Weakness was probably excused here, especially by a gentle soul like Thistle.

"I don't think I ever played on ice before but... is the ice still around? Perhaps we could all play there." Yeah, that would be fun! And he'd get to impress sweet Thistle!

"Talking"
@Thistle @Baroque
OOC

Baroque couldn't take it anymore. Remedy had left, and his sisters were still just as busy with everything else as ever. Now that Cadence had a friend who went on adventures with her, Pisces was a sad, lonely mess that the grizzly lion couldn't take.

He had to go find Thistle. No one replaced her, though Thorne had provided a quiet, gentle distraction for a little while. It just wasn't the same at home without her-- she had always been there, and it just wasn't like her to stay away for so long. What if Nova showed up and was all, where's Thistle? He'd die. He'd die because Nova would kill him.

He didn't kick up a big fuss about it though, and he only quietly thought about where she could be, not where he was going. He didn't want to alert his father to his wanderings, not this time. It was a secret mission, and the boy didn't want anyone to know about it if he failed in the end.

The caves were scary, but Baroque had walked this tunnel before, with Thistle. As he went, he summoned his magic subconsciously, his paws tugging at memories. At first, they were his own, and not from his magic. The struggle of climbing the underground mountains, all while This' told him of the dangers of being up so high. It didn't really feel very high, he remembered, until he got to the top crest of one of the hills and he could stare down at the sharp, sloping tunnel bellow.

As he remembered, blindness cut through him again. He stopped, claws deep in the tunnel's cold, jagged floor. For a long moment he could see nothing, but the feeling of dropping from a great height crashed through him. He hit something hard, and the earth shattered around him like glass-- then water. Freezing, cold water, rushed through his pelt and smashed into him, gorging down his throat even though his eyes were closed. It only took seconds before his vision returned and he collapsed on to solid stone, gasping and panting.

Whatever that was, he didn't want to see it ever again. Sometimes his magic was like that, though, and he knew from experience that it wasn't real. Perhaps it happened a long time ago, or would happen in the future-- but not now. He was safe now. His heart racing, he caught his breath and struggled to his shaking feet.

His blurry cerulean gaze caught sight of Thistle only a moment before he heard her beautiful, wonderful voice. He could have cried, but he wasn't, not even as the wetness stained his cheeks and dropped on to his paws bellow. He wouldn't cry this time-- Thistle was here, he thought, smiling through the stinging blur across his eyes.

He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice snagged on a lump in his throat. He wasn't scared. He was brave-- his best friend in the whole world was back-- he should say hi. He should... He should... Why was he crying, still?

@Thistle

She smiled happily at King, glad that he said he would be nice to Baro. That was good! Baro needed more friends, needed to become more confident with himself. She looked towards the path, thinking. If she was honest with herself, she was looking forward to waking up with him in his family den, soft and comfortable and warm, with the soft snowfall outside, where it couldn't touch them. Those memories of just...being with him, just being content to stay with him, made her heart warm.

"Yeah! We can all play together on the ice - I actually don't know if it's still snowing, but that won't stop us, I'm sure!" She replied, happily yet softly absent.

The she spied who she was looking for, her best friend in all the world, and she gasped and ran to him, in her hurry disregarding the uneven snow, stumbling, catching herself, and not caring at all. "Baro!" She said, seeing his upset expression and the tears down his face. No! Why was he sad? What happened? "Baro, are you okay?" She said, and when she made it there, she was out of breath, and she fell to her knees and nuzzled him, kissing his cheeks.

@Kingsfoil

The young stag practically beamed when she agreed with his idea. Great! It was the perfect plan! He was about to say as much when Thistle all of a sudden took off straight towards a carnivore! Kingsfoil let out a sharp gasp at the nationality of the creature. His ears pinned as he stared down at the golden... mutt. Thistle hadn't told him her best friend was one of them.

He felt his heart breaking as she was obviously so attached to this unworthy thing! The beautiful doe kissed his cheeks and gave him nuzzles. He wanted those nuzzles but he didn't know how he could get them past being a whiny baby. The stag felt a sneer rising on his face but shook his head to try and clear it. Thistle said Baroque was sensitive and he could see that already. Tsk, such a weakling he was! Just like Yarrow! They'd probably do better at being siblings, they both could sit and cry together.

Still, he hid his disdain as best as he could with his ears flicking back up to a neutral position with only the bases twitching to show his displeasure and a rather forced smile on his face. Still, it was King and his opinions were hardly ever concealed. "Thistle, you didn't tell me your friend was a... uh... carnivore." "Stinking carnivore" is what he would have liked to say but he couldn't do that with his friend in earshot. That would no doubt upset her.

"Talking"
@Thistle @Baroque
OOC

There she was, Thistle, rushing in to make sure he was okay. The tears fell from his face and he didn't even bother to try and shove them away, even though This' had found yet another friend. One that looked just like her, but white and tougher, broader through the chest with a shining crown on his head. A prince, a king. Thistle had all sorts of stories about those kind of people. Sometimes they were kind, sometimes they were cruel, but if he was with Thistle-- Baroque was sure he was nice enough. As soon as the buck opened his mouths and stammered out a barely held back complaint-- just what was wrong with being a carnivore? Did he have fish friends? Eeya didn't ever seem upset that he ate fish, and his daddy...

Baroque shoved the thoughts away, afraid of summoning his father. "I-I just... The blackness came back," he whispered to his friend, sniffling slightly. He turned away from Kingsfoil, tail limp behind him, afraid that Thistle's new friend hated him too. "I'm okay... It's just like a bad dream. Not real... But This', This'-- I... I missed you! Are you okay? Where have you been? I thought I'd never see you again..." He fretted louder, raising a paw to place on her shoulder and meet her eyes despite the blur of tears. For now, the grizzly lion was so much more concerned about Thistle than her friend who undoubtedly hated him.

@Thistle

She made distressed sounds and kissed Baro's face, his cheeks, his forehead, and she said, "Of course I'd be back, I love you Baro, and I always will. I was just...away on a quest I was given, a secret quest, and I got sidetracked and had to save this horse and King here helped and I went back to the star room and it was interesting and kind of scary with out you, but I'm back now! I'm back and I promise I won't leave you again."

"I'm sorry you had a bad dream, Baro," She said softly, her forehead against his.

And she looked back with King now with the brightest grin now that she'd been reunited with her best friend and said, "King, come and meet Baro! Baro, this is King!"

@Kingsfoil