ORIGIN

Pride leaned down, offering James a brief nudge of his nose, as reassuring as he could manage. His voice came strong, and calm; in his mind he was not afraid, only... a little confused, and certainly wary of the giant beast. But it was speaking, and its words, to Pride, made sense. James was a jumpy creature at the best of times.

"You're safe now," he assured him calmly, and then looked up, nodding to Orthoclase. "Orthoclase-Alpha, was it?" he asked, his tone one of professional address. "Pride, if you've forgotten. We met in Cetus. May I offer the advice that chasing and cornering children will terrify them..? Which is unwise, and cruel," he added. It wasn't even hostility. He'd met too many that were socially... blank. He genuinely thought it likely that Alpha had no idea. "If you want to ask what someone is, assure them you will not hurt them, from a distance. That is my advice. James," he added, glancing down, "is a horse. And he is one of mine," he added, pointedly, silver eyes flashing back up toward the kaiju with emphasis. And his heart jumped a little, here--that, should Alpha choose to take it so, could be construed as a challenge.

As confident as Pride was in his magic, he did not want to actively pick a fight with the--what was it, two ton?--monster.

Which made his next sentence a little... foolish. "Actually, I'm glad to see you--there was something I wanted to discuss. About the dragons in Monoceros-?" Which, if Alpha didn't already know where they were, whoops; now it did. But Pride didn't think of that; the dragons hardly made their presence a secret, there.

Pride's eyes flashed a little (metaphorically speaking) at the "he ran first." "Then do not chase," he responded, evenly and pointedly. "Call out, assure safety, and perhaps you will get a conversation. If you chase, the other will assume you want to kill, and eat them, and will flee. It is counter to your goals," he explained. There was a familiarity to his speech, as if he knew Alpha better than he did, but Pride and his "I know best" mentality really couldn't help it. He was fairly sure that Alpha genuinely didn't know this stuff.

The change in Alpha's body language did not go unnoticed--the stiffening, straightening, the pricking of quills and narrowing of eyes. Pride mirrored it, half-unconsciously, head coming up and legs more firmly together, as if standing at attention as he stared up at the creature.

"We are allies of the dragons--they have many allies throughout the caves. Combat would be unwise," he added, and after a beat to let it process that, added, "I would suggest contacting them, if there is a problem, through a go-between. I can speak to them, if you like, depending on what the problem is." He almost hoped Alpha would say no; as much as he said they were allies, it was certainly an allegiance of questionable merit. He also wanted to know what the issue was, really; Dread had not been entirely clear and Pride wasn't even sure the dragon knew. He'd just bellowed a lot.

Dread could be a threat to the caves, if he went out of control; maybe Alpha had something more useful to say on the topic.

As for James, Pride simply remained standing beside him--glancing down at him only briefly to answer his question. "There is a family of dragons in the caves, and apparently there's some trouble between Alpha and they. It'd be best to sort it out before it comes to violence."

If only he knew.

The white stag tilted his head, a little. This thing's bragging rubbed him the wrong way, but it still wasn't outright hostility and he wasn't about to be the one to start a fight. He'd been working on that.

He looked down to James, taking a breath.

"Go back to the Throne and rest, if you need to." It was kindly but firmly said; he wasn't done, here, himself. Not yet.

He then looked back to Orthoclase-Alpha. "Pardon me; do you speak for yourself, or for the Overseer? You said that it is up to him to decide... yet that you need no help. Which is it-?" he asked, his words sweetly, delicately pointed. It was possible that Alpha had meant two different things, with its remarks--but Pride's point remained the same.

Either the creature spoke for itself; or it did not. "Should I be addressing you, or your... Overseer? Or do you bear messages to him-?"

The stag inclined his head, perfectly politely.

"I have already... addressed you, so to speak but if you wish a summary it would be this: the dragons hold us and others as our allies, with good number; it would be unwise to attack them without due provocation. Likewise if your Overseer wishes a more peaceful resolution, perhaps we might be of aid. I make no guarantees--but mediation is one form of protecton from violence, which is what we strive for."

He paused to give James a nuzzle, as the foal rushed off--noting, as he did so, the foal's surprising manners; that was good--then looked back to Orthoclase-Alpha.

Caves, but his heart was racing even looking at this thing. Memories of Dread looming over him still threaded horror through his mind, and for a momen the wondered why he was risking it. Dread wasn't entirely wrong, though, in his anger--was he? I took advantage of him, took him for granted, used him as a puppet for violence and he was more than aware of that. I assumed that since he was not as intelligent as some, he would be more malleable and that was very wrong. That may be the case with this one, also, he warned himself, in a moment of unintentional arrogance.

"As for what I am--I am a stag." He half-turned, intending to conjure up a shimmering image of Astraea for comparison--clearly the creature had never seen him, before--but nothing came; and he suppressed a sigh. This spell was always so damn temperamental. "I thought you had seen the Master Astraea, in Cetus-? He is similar to me, if you'll take note: a stag, though brown in color and a tad larger."

And not as pretty, apparently, but that was Astraea's problem, not Pride's.