ORIGIN

Pride clattered quietly in. That is how one walked, after all, when one had sharply-pointed hooves. And, for that matter, dangling diamond armor.

The stag looked around, glancing toward the worn throne and along its stairs. He'd been hoping to find Envy here--and Charity, as well--but what caught his eye instead... or rather, what caught his nose instead, was the faint scent of blood.

Adrenaline spiked.

Fearing the worst, he quickly paced toward the throne, peering behind it. What if something had happened to Charity? To Envy? He didn't see either of them, and as he opened his mouth to call out, he turned--and his silver gaze fell upon the small, bleeding lizard on the stairs.

He knew her, of course--from the Seven; he vaguely recalled her presence at their formation. He remembered, too, speaking to Envy about possibly helping her with some illness or other, but Envy had (if he recalled correctly, and he couldn't say with certainty that he did) dismissed the idea until some vague "later." Now, it seemed, that "later" had come--and possibly too late.

Hesitating, he stepped down from the throne and toward Amazon, speaking quietly.

"Hello--you are one of the Seven, yes? I think I recall seeing you, though I confess I cannot remember your name. I was looking for King Envy, but--I see you are bleeding. Are you all right?"

It was as tactfully-said as he could manage, his voice gently fluting, his pale rack tilting delicately to one side. All the while, he was grimly eyeing Amazon.

...She did not look well.

Pride's ears swept forward, his gaze flicking over the reptile's small body. Happened often..? "Amazon, that's right," he responded after a moment, his tone kind but his mind quite concerned. Just how had things gotten this far without Envy coming to get him..? "That does not seem--if you'll pardon the perhaps intrusive observation?--to be something that ought to be allowed to get to a... normalized state," and Pride's tone held a little concern, now. It was polite, yes--and warm--but-... Do we often get sick? I have not met many who have, if any at all--only injured. There is Envy, of course--didn't the King say that it was a similar issue? A stone?
Pale eyes found shimmering gemstone after a second, and lingered there. Something so small-... he marvelled, but with deep sadness. It pained him, aloof as he was, that others suffered so simply because of their poor luck in stone. Was it the stones themselves, he wondered--or were they simply in a bad place, anatomically? Pressing where they shouldn't, perhaps? This one might be cutting into Amazon's head, causing internal bleeding, somehow..?

"I believe the King had made mention of you being ill. I had asked to see you, at some point, to see if I can aid; do you wish that? Or is there anything else that I can do?"

He still stood quietly, towering overhead, but he did not wish to intrude--if Amazon didn't want him there, he hardly wanted to curl up and make himself comfortable in her would-be solitude.

As he listened, a multitude of possibilities were already going through his head. The possibility to isolate most of the gem with resin, as he'd planned to with Envy--painful, perhaps, but it (in his mind) ought to work. Too, there were healing magics that might aid. Perhaps purification. Aloud, though, he voiced another thought.

"I wonder; have you tried speaking to any of the Elders about it? They hold a stronger magic, I think, than many of us." His mind lingered on the Three Kings of Orion. They could grant a Gembound the magic to fly; perhaps they could heal someone. "I know of another stag who is supposedly very powerful, and a phoenix; too, there is a... an amalgamation of three birds, and then one known as 'the Collector.' If you wished to try, I could always carry you to different caves to find and ask them."

As he spoke he folded himself down, legs tucked beneath, to lay beside Amazon. This wasn't a condescending thing, or even a companionable one; he was trying to get close enough to get a better look. Nostrils flared as he took scent, and he leaned in a little, blinking. The skin around the gem looked red, raw, and painful. Blood had trickled from the lizard's tiny nostrils, and the way she lay there suggested that she hadn't all that much energy.

His stomach sank, pity lurching through him.

"...Give me a moment," he murmured, and planted his snout against the Throne.

The sizing would have to be precise.

His eyes closed, and he focused deeply, trying to bear in mind the exact shape of the tiny lizard's gem. After a moment, the rock beneath his nose quietly split, a gemstone pushing up from it--very small, and whisper-thin, hollow through its middle. It looked vaguely like Amazon's own stone in shape, but a little larger, and diamond-white.

It fell over, and Pride nosed it for a moment, as if to see if he'd made what he'd intended to.

Pride eyed the gemstone he'd made, for a moment, knowing full well that it would not work. Or well, it might slow things, but it wouldn't stop death.

Nothing could, really. Except, perhaps, the Elders. They knew far more about life, its origins and so forth. Far more than he likely ever would.

"Take it, if you can--slip it around your own gemstone. It may be a tight fit," he warned, "and it might hurt a bit where you press it against your skin, but it should stop the direct contact to your skin if you do it deeply enough. Your skin might even heal against the--well, cap, as it were. But it cannot isolate your gemstone where it touches bone beneath. I could not do that without severing the stone from you, which would kill you." He leaned back abruptly, using his lips to roughly scratch an itch on his own hind leg, then swung his head forward again, blinking a bit.

"If you do wish to travel with me, Amazon, you must merely name a destination. I believe I know where most of the Elders are. The phoenix is said to be in Pisces. I do not know where to find the stag, but the Three Kings are here in Orion. And there are others, I believe."

The stag tilted his head a little, thinking. His eyes travelled over Amazon as he did--she was ill, that much was clear, but she'd managed with the gemstone at least. Perhaps it would help. How much, he couldn't say.

Not enough. Damn Envy for not bringing me to her sooner. The stag cleared his throat, a little, glancing about in thought. The Three Kings were worth a visit on their own. Pisces was certainly beautiful, and if the phoenix truly lived there, perhaps he could be of aid. Pride had no idea where to even begin looking for "Astraea," though--the other stag.

"Well, we can try the Kings here, perhaps--and if they cannot help, we can seek the phoenix in Pisces. The falls, at least, are worth a visit," he went on, but a sour melancholy was settling in his stomach. He had never known anyone destined for death; it was an unpleasant thought, and a saddening one. "Have you seen the Spire in Polaris, or the Twister in Monoceros?" He didn't mention Canis. A room full of bones wasn't exactly prime tourist destination, nor was it a good distracting place for someone bound to be bones, themselves.