ORIGIN

The weasel froze in sheer shock and flinched back in fright as the rabbit quite suddenly went bounding away. The bird-child had triggered some kind of magic- fire magic if they weren't mistaken- and was crying out in pain. Although it perhaps wasn't the best distraction, Envy was relieved that it took the spotlight away from their failed illusion.

And perhaps now was an opportunity to steal the spotlight away again, in the right way. The weasel bounded down the throne and onto the ground, carrying with them the unmistakable concern of a worried parent looking to help. They combed through everything they knew, about fire and the magics that they'd learned. They were certain, at least, that they didn't know the spell that this child was using- but all of the fire element fire was for the most part, relatively similar.

All of the fire element was painful. The best method they could think of was to douse the young one with water -but their knowledge of water was limited only to what they'd learned early on to simply survive.

The weasel ground their teeth with frustration and moved closer- that left, then, only one idea. They thought back to the strange singing of the gems, the chiming sound that had filled the caves just before their rebirth. They had subequently learned how to reproduce the soothing sound, and perhaps it was just what the youngster needed to calm her down. They didn't have any better ideas, anyway. Envy sucked in their breath and focused on on their magic.

It was difficult to block out the sound of her crying, and even more difficult to block out Pride's stern voice- but soon their efforts were rewarded by a gentle tinkling sound emanating from their body. Softly calming, the sound chimed and gently sang a sweet lullaby.

Speech. Thought.

Envy watched in amazement as their spell- in complete success- simply put the little bird to sleep. They stared for a while, stunned that the world could be so easily forgotten, and sleep so easily reached. As Pride asked his question, they thought over what they knew, and heaved a small sigh. They turned towards the deer.

"I... nothing directly, but... I know how to absorb water from the air. I... I wonder if I could do the opposite, and somehow push it out of me..." they murmured, pattering close to the bird, and snuffling at her prone form as if to check to make sure that she was still alive. "Let me try." They'd never seen water magic performed before, so they really had no idea how it worked.

Sucking in their breath, they stood over the little bird, closed their eyes, and focused hard.

In moments, the weasel felt their fur dampen, their entire body suddenly grow cold. Their green fur darkened, and became slick with moisture. They heard droplets of water hitting the ground and realized that it was dripping from the tips of their quills. After a moment's consideration, they turned their back on the bird so that the droplets poured onto the unconscious little creature.

They continued pushing out their moisture, but they soon found their throat growing dry and a headache creeping in. The weasel hastily cut off the magic, shaking themselves so that the droplets continued pouring onto the little bird.

Finally, they turned back towards her and rubbed their soaked neck against her. They felt the heat, and the moisture dripping from them hissed softly and produced steam.

They shivered- suddenly Orion felt awfully cold, and looked towards Pride. With fur slicked against their sides, they looked as bony as ever.

Speech. Thought.

Envy felt their throat soon growing dry with the effort, and gulped painfully as they hastily cut off the magic. With a dry mouth, all they could taste was the metallic tang of their gem, and shivered, sticking out their tongue. Still soaked to the skin, they looked up at Pride and shivered, nodding slightly at his thanks.

They looked up at their daughter with exhaustion in their expression as she cried out for food in the most wayrounded way she could think of, and, sucking in their breath and giving themselves a shake, they tried to summon what she was looking for. They opened their eyes as the crow suddenly came to, though, declaring its own hunger, and loosed their grip on the magic for a moment. Suddenly they were looking out for two hungry children. Envy let out a small sigh. Well, at least she wasn't dead.

A moment later, with a thrill of magic through their fur and a satisfying pop! a large and curved fruit littered into existence, and dropped to the ground before them. It was bigger than they were, and almost certainly too much for Charity to eat on her own. But she was going to give it her darndest. "Share it with Nisha. Okay?" they warned before the hybrid could eat too much on her own.

The hybrid's exclamation of their grossness seemed to hit their ego precisely where it counted, and they looked helplessly up at Pride for a moment. "Charity. Manners," they muttered to her under their breath.

Speech. Thought.