ORIGIN

Oliver helpfully crouched further down to the ground, spreading the feathers of one wing-arm down like a ladder, the moment he saw Envy looking over him for what he assumed was a way up. He remained gentle and amiable even as he listened, and found himself a little saddened by the weasel's lack of empathy.

"Everyone has feelings," he said in his simple, quiet way. "You should try to treat others how you'd want to be treated. Can you--do the magic again? You could do the magic and see what it feels like, if you don't understand. Try to-... be mean while feeling what it does? Is that how it works?"

He peered over at her, pale blue eyes blinking slowly, his entire demeanor and expression nothing but peaceful and kind. He kept the wing-arm extended down, hoping he could help this weasel.

Light brown, almost white. Big cat, and spots, and near some water--in this cave? He'd never seen any water whatsoever in Orion; he'd always needed to head elsewhere to find something to drink, whenever he passed through.

Also, Envy had apparently thrown up in the stream. Oliver considered this information, wondering if it were--at all important to the search, a bit bewildered; but he couldn't figure out how it might help find Envy's mother. Oliver filed the fact away in his mind, anyway, just... in case.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

"So you don't hurt people around you," Oliver said gently, waiting. As the weasel scrambled up his wing-arm and onto his shoulderblades, he continued. "Because it's not nice. What do you mean others will always feel better than you? Won't you be happy after you find your mom?" He was still cluelessly gentle in his question.

He leaned down, taking his own glowstone--careful not to move too sharply, lest Envy lose their grip--and plucked the stone up with one bird-taloned foot. This he clutched cautiously, and then leaned his muzzle down, transferring it to his jaws.

He held the stone in the end of his jaw, leaning it forward to shine some dim light ahead of them. The golden-white glow did not illuminate very far, though, and what it did light up was an eerie pool of dim light that bobbed and flickered with his every step.

Slowly, he started forward, walking cautiously once more so as not to drop his passenger. Quiet, speaking around the stone, he asked-- "Ith thith the right way?"

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

Oliver dutifully plodded along in the direction that Envy pointed out, but frowned at the little one's words. He paused to carefully transfer the glow-stone from his teeth to one taloned foot so that he could speak more clearly, hobbling a little as a result as he walked and talked.

"Just because hurting other people doesn't hurt you doesn't make it okay," he said softly. "Pain is bad and it's not okay to hurt people and be mean." Still, despite Envy's complete lack of empathy, in his eyes--ironic, given the magic they were (unbeknownst to him) again using, he continued onward.

"If you're sad-... Stop being sad," he offered, quietly "helpful" as they moved along. He saw the side-"street" that they pointed out, and wondered vaguely if this were some sort of trap.

Maybe a bigger, meaner thing was waiting in the darkness, there, to kill him. And eat him. Hopefully not. The weasel seemed sad, and he felt bad, and despite its mean-ness, he still wanted to help it find its mother.

Carefully he wound his way into the crumbling and narrow darkness, picking his way along the loose stones and pausing now and again to lift his glow-stone to further illuminate the path ahead. After awhile he spoke, quiet, once more.

"Is it much farther?" he asked.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

Oliver frowned as he walked, shaking his head a little. This weasel was going to be a problem for others, once it grew up, and if weasels got really big, maybe even dangerous. Its nasty behavior was a really bad thing. Still, he spoke gently, though his words came a little more pointed--after they had called for their mother, of course.

"If they hurt you first, you can teach them not to be mean, or just leave them so they don't hurt you anymore. If you're mean to other people they'll leave you or hurt you second. And probably more because you're small. People don't like it when other people are mean to them. Most people would have left you behind by now, because you're mean," Oliver added more pointedly. "Or eaten you." It did not really occur to him that Envy might just be too young, too inexperienced, to really comprehend empathy.

Envy's other statement, though--what did they mean? Oliver was confused, and stated simply,
"I can't be your mother. I'm a boy and I don't have any babies, anyway." This made perfect sense to him. He had no idea how reproduction actually worked, but he knew he had a mother--and she was female--and a father, who was male. He couldn't be a mother--right? "Anyway, your real mom probably misses you."

Oliver kept picking his way up the loose stones in silence for a moment, using the stone to light the way. Finally he paused, tufted ears picking up the faintest trickle of water from somewhere ahead. He listened, for a moment, and then stepped a few paces forward, until his golden-white glowing stone, still clutched in his talons, showed a shimmering reflection in a small stream just ahead. Beyond this, the stone cliffs stretched high.

"Is this the place?" he asked.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}