ORIGIN

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Pride stepped delicately over the rubble, head lifting for silver eyes to drift over the stone platform ahead. Atop it perched a huge... chair, of some kind, all made of stone; the walls around it were long-crumbled.

He was travelling idly back through, one of the paths he tended to take between Reseda's bone-cave den and the lush feeding grounds of Eridanus or the crackling magic (excellent for practice) of Polaris. Here, he could do both, but neither so well; the magic was somewhat... dimmer, here, less chaotic but also less prevalent. Likewise the grass: present, but not particularly good. Dry. Coarse.

He lowered his slender neck, taking a swatch of weedy foliage to chew, an ear flicking as he listened behind him. He'd not had any serious issues with predators, not yet--a miracle, really. He was small, bright, an easy target, but thus far, nothing had come for him.

Now, he'd imagine, he was a bit of a match for most, regardless.

If I will be feeding, though, better to be safe than sorry. He glanced around, concentrating for a moment--then stepped both left and right at once, both fawns moving a bit apart to slowly graze on the tufts of dry and stubborn grass that poked up from Orion's craggy floor. Hopefully, any predators might choose the wrong Pride--or be less enthusiastic about attacking two, instead of one.

Quietly, both fawns--one flickering out of reality every now and again as Pride concentrated too much on his feeding--grazed their way deeper into Orion, around and beyond the Throne.

@Envy

Envy's stomach was tight with pure starvation, their mouth dry of moisture when they awoke. Their throat was burning, and their throat, when they swallowed, stuck to itself uncomfortably. Gem burned and stung, the flesh it was nestled in itching and prickling like a rash. When they tried to open their eyes, they couldn't at first. And when they managed, everything was bleary. Their nose stung with salt. Their fur was stuck in ragged clumps to their cheeks. The air stung their sensitive violet eyes.

At first, they didn't want to move, curling tighter into a ball in their little den, a crack between two rocks. But they couldn't stay here, they'd already drained all of the nourishment from the nearby area, and the dust seemed exceptionally dry today. With a low groan, the bedraggled creature, fur sticking out in clumps along their emaciated form. If it were even possible, they looked, and felt, even more starved than usual. With an exhausted gait, they slithered over to the nearby stream, dipping a paw into its chilly waters.

The weasel shuddered, but sucked in their breath and tried to trigger their magic. They felt their throat gradually moisten and shuddered with relief, finally removing their paw from the water.

Bringing their paws back up towards their face, they licked off the remnants to soothe their dry mouth, and then groomed the tear-tracks and salt from their cheeks, removing bedraggled knots from their fur with their teeth and claws. When they looked fine- other than their near-skeletal frame- Envy settled, relaxing as much as a starving weasel could relax.

With that done, they scuttled off, raising their nose to sniff out some kind of greenery or maybe a long-dead thing. Just something- anything- they needed nourishment, and fast. In the distance, they caught the sight of two white fawns, grazing. Bingo! The weasel pattered over, raising themselves- with some difficulty, onto their hind paws so they could introduce themselves- and draw attention away from the dying grasses as they began to feed.

"speak."

@Pride

Pride glanced up, blinking at the approach of the weasel.

Then the other Pride did, too.

Both shifted to slightly face Envy; both blinked silver eyes again, regarding them curiously as they approached. Pride's first impression was that Envy was very small; he'd never seen another being so tiny, before, bar the rats that scurried through the caves. For a beat he wondered if perhaps this new creature was also a lesser gembound--likely not intelligent, though he wasn't sure if that was true for them or his own assumption. But it seemed to be approaching with a fair amount of awareness, confidence, and he tilted his head, then dipped it in greeting.

His voice came melodic, and soft. Or rather, both voices.

"Hello." That would do; simple, to the point. If it was a greater Gembound, it would answer; if not, he'd find out soon enough. And if it were a predator--well, there were still two of him, at least. He stood a chance, probably, depending on what sort of magic this being might hurl his way.

But the way it was approaching--up front and clear--made him think that perhaps it had other motives.

@Envy

Envy watched curiously as both of the fawns looked up at them, one after the other. Mirroring each others movements perfectly. That didn't seem right. They squinted closely at one, then the other. Light magic? They looked too similar to be normal. Envy could see as well, that the fawn- or fawns- were young, much younger than they were. But still huge compared to them, with pretty white fur compared to their sickly greenness, and an unmistakable elegance about them. Goody.

The weasel was reminded of the reason they were here by their stomach, letting out a grumble. They winced, a little, before forcing a cocky grin, and baring their teeth.

"Hey, kid. You're looking a little lost," they drawled, with so much fake confidence that they felt their heart lift a little, with pride. "Well, you came to the right neighborhood."

They took a deep breath, and without giving too much away, sought to tap into the magic deep in their being. Their strength was wavering, and they felt themselves drooping slightly at the effort, but they forced themselves to remain upright, with eyes roaming sharp and clear over the fawns. They tried to keep themselves talking, but found that no sound came out.

Instinctively, they twitched, combing the green-tinged fur on their chest with their paws to ease out the nervous tension.

Slowly, but surely, their exhaustion leaking into the mere ability to keep themselves alive, Envy found their strength returning. Their stomach hungered still, but it was no longer eating itself inside out. A few patches of grass that the fawns had been feeding on curled up, and dried out. The weasel sighed, letting out their breath, and straightened up, holding themselves with far more dignity- if one could call it that.

"The name's Envy, in case you wanna... y'know... spread my name later."

"speak."

@Pride

Pride regarded the other with an aloof and detached calm, tilting his head slightly when they mentioned his being... lost. His other-him vanished, and he was left standing there alone, regarding Envy with mild curiosity.

"I am not-... lost," he softly responded. He did not sound doubtful, or rude, or even hesitant; more as though he were carefully selecting each word, exactingly precise in his speech. "I was... I emerged, here. Not long ago. You--are Envy? Reseda has spoken of you."

At once his wariness flared. Reseda's ambitions were... questionable, at best, and he was uncertain as to the motives and methods of the rest of her ilk. He was cooperating for his own reasons, but this creature, this was a new factor. "One of the 'sins.' I am Pride. Tell me-... What do you make of the word, 'sin?'"

The fawn glanced down to take another bite of grass as he finished eating, but found it withered, and dead. Puzzled, he looked back to Envy, wondering if they had had something to do with this.

@Envy

Envy was proven right, and relaxed slightly as the other fawn faded out of existence, leaving the two of them alone. With a not-exactly-full stomach but strength enough to feel relatively at ease, the slow speech of the young one caused them to twitch and flicker with agitation as they waited impatiently. "You're not? Good for you!" Envy tittered, itching behind an ear. But their attention was immediately pinpointed as it turned out that this deer already knew them! Envy was immediately gratified. They placed a paw on their chest, looking flattered. "Oh! she has? Tell me more? Did she tell you how powerful and handsome I am? How I'll lead us to glory?"

Their lilac eyes widened eagerly, grin baring pristine fangs. But the deer's next words only confused them. "Sins?" Envy tapped a foot, unsure of how to take the word. Reseda hadn't mentioned it; she'd only mentioned a 'group'. "Pride, huh?" Envy looked them up and down with a quick bob of their head. They narrowed one eye and tilted their head as though judging. "Mmm. Suits you, I suppose." Envy rolled their eyes, and wondered again if they ought to change their name. But the jealousy hadn't gone yet; envy was still something that sharpened their thoughts into darts and poisoned their words. It was too deeply ingrained into their very soul to even think about tearing the name off of them, like some kind of bloodsucking leech.

"--Waitwaitwait! she called me a sin? Asshole!" Pride's words suddenly struck them, and Envy jolted upright, fur bristling along their spine. "I saved that dumb lizard's life and she insults me?" Envy grumbled for a while. And then his question reached them; short, and yet somehow hard to answer. They paced as they thought, remaining upright and wobbling noticeably as they moved. "Sin means... uh. Well, it's just bad, right? I think sin, and I think... Something I'd rather keep my nose out of, or it'd ruin my flawless reputation. Something you wouldn't want to be associated with, right?"

"speak."

@Pride - Envy, not realizing that Envy is a sin. XD

Pride listened, expressionless, as the weasel spoke--very quickly, and at times somewhat hard for his limited vocabulary to follow. He had already decided not to establish mind-links with either Reseda or any of her followers; he intended to keep that a secret, his own, to be able to use it against her should it be needed. Hopefully, however, it would not.

Still-... Had she not explained this--"sin" thing, to the weasel? "She is... gathering the 'sins.' She did not tell you..?" Pride turned slightly, blinking large grey eyes, leaving this hanging, for a moment, in the air. He did not dislike the weasel--he didn't know them enough to make that call--but Reseda herself, her motives were unknown to him past a certain point. He thought it strange that she would leave all of this unsaid to another of her supposed followers--but perhaps she was manipulating Envy. And if so, perhaps it was best that Envy knew this. "Reseda said... 'sin' is what we make of it. But I do not believe pride to be a bad thing, though it is the name she gave me. And you are Envy. I suppose you are, what you make of it. But she said that she is gathering us. She did not say much of you, so I did not know what to expect, only that she had found you, that we would be... useful, to her." Truth, but again--slowly- and carefully-phrased.

Pride eyed Envy curiously. "Whatever the case, we must look out for one another. I know that she seeks the young, and the... impressionable," he added, uncertain if this were the right word. "Whatever she wants us to do, I think we will be together, in this. Perhaps we should... watch out for one another." His eyes gained a somewhat kindly expression, head dipping to Envy, but then he turned to stare at his grass, then back at them.

"Did you do this?" he asked.

@Envy

"She told me that she was looking for strong-willed Gembounds to stand above the lesser souls of the caves. She also told me that I could lead them," they answered, seeming troubled. Their tail twitched violently. They snorted, as Pride spoke of their name. Did he think that Reseda had named them? Envy wasn't having any of that. "I named myself, by the way."

They came to a halt, sinking to all fours for a bit, as their hind legs had begun to ache. "Oh yeah, and I can be an alligator... n-no, a dragon if you make it of me, I'm sure." Being so low so quickly made them feel small and weak again and they soon pushed themselves upright. "In any case, I don't intend to be Envy forever." They left it at that, blinking lilac eyes.

"Useful? I don't like the sound of that," the weasel growled, tail twitching. They glanced warningly at Pride as he seemed to call them impressionable, but didn't appear to be interested in protesting. Their interest was elsewhere. But they considered for a few seconds (an awfully long time for the weasel) and appeared to be weighing their options. "Hmmm. Perhaps. I mean... there's a possibility that it's still the truth. I don't wanna back out if I can still be a god-king... But I don't like the implications."

For once, Envy seemed torn, and maybe even genuine. Their voice still held a sharp edge though, and it was clear that they felt bitter about what they perceived as an insult. "What the heck? Why not? You'll be glad to have me on your side." They imagined a situation in which they'd need each other's help, imagining themselves as a beaming ray of hope, flying to the rescue. Envy smirked at the thought, only realizing that Pride had spoken when they looked up and found him looking back to them, from the grass at their hooves.

"What? -uh. Yes," they said sheepishly, looking slightly baffled. It was clear they hadn't heard the question.

"Speech."

@Pride

Pride sniffed lightly over the grass as Envy agreed that they had wilted it, curious and mildly, too, alarmed, or disappointed. Why had they done it? Still...

It didn't occur to him that Envy merely hadn't heard the question properly. "...An interesting magic," he said, at last, keeping his voice neutral. Then he turned to Envy, blinking placidly.

"She agreed to allow you to lead? That is good. But she had told me she would do so, herself. She was..." He hesitated. He did not want to bad-mouth Reseda too far, in case word got back to her, but then again-...

He settled it by attempting to open the faintest link between himself and Envy, and not letting the other know he was doing it. He'd try to implant the slightest, weakest touch of thought, as if it was Envy's mind alone that had thought it.

She's using me. Immediately, he spoke on the heels of this, trying to keep Envy from examining that thought too much--but it was an important one to place. Reseda was using them. "Perhaps she has... changed her mind. Or perhaps she thought you, too, to be too proud to merely follow. She tried many tactics, but perhaps together, you and I can ensure we are not... overlooked. What is it that she has asked you to do, or... merely offered you... leadership?" he asked, politely quizzical, his head again tilting to one side.

@Envy

"Oh, right! The magic. Yes." Envy puffed themselves out proudly, realizing at last what Pride had been referring to. "Yes! It keeps me sustained, and looking..." -they glanced down at their bony chest- "...handsome and strong." They looked back at Pride.

"She did?"
The weasel looked visibly offended. "But I'm the most powerful magician in the caves!" they shrilled, tapping one hind paw on the ground. "I'd make a much better leader than her."

The thought that Pride had unknowingly planted caused the little weasel to freeze momentarily, fur prickling upright across their tiny frame until they were as spiky as a toilet brush. Finally, they shook themselves as Pride continued to speak, narrowing their eyes at the young deer. "She just asked me to be a part of it. I said that I'd not stand for anyone above me and she agreed and said that I could lead. She offered to teach me more magic, too. Magic, and leadership... that was the deal. I saved her life, so she owed me."

Once again, the weasel began to pace, combing their claws through their chest and twitching their tail.

Finally, they turned back to Pride, and with a powerful stomp of their hind foot, the ground beneath them began to reform into a platform of crystal. But it seemed they were too enthusiastic about it; a pillar of quartz crystal formed beneath them at an incredible speed. The weasel's tiny weight found them airborne, and they thrashed and flailed in the air with a shrill squeal. Envy could barely believe it as they watched the crumbled buildings fly by.

Finally, there was a muffled thud and they came to a skidding halt in a pile of rubble.

Dazed, they simply lay there for a while, and wondered if they ought to go back.

-exit envy (temporarily)-

"Speech."

@Pride - Envy will return in the next post, or Pride can come find them if he likes.

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