ORIGIN - [Pride] In My Discoveries

Pages: 1 2

Pride blinked in some surprise at the offer. "Oh, err--I don't know if there's anything I need, to be honest. It-..." can you bring a friend back to life "-was good to have some company, though."

To the rest, Pride had to stop and think. It should be noted that while he knew little about Fornax's sea, he did know that the caves were full of magic, so he did not dismiss "the ocean gave it to me" as metaphor out of hand. "Ah, did the ocean--speak, may I ask?" he asked, uncertain. "And I'm afraid I do not know who the Rambler is. Perhaps you could enlighten me?"

Beings with titles, rather than names, seemed to be important figures within the caves: the Merchant, the Collector, the Overseer, the Masters... Perhaps this one was similar?

@Kaimana

Kaimana nodded at Pride's request-- or more, lack thereof. It was nice to have some company. Although, it seemed a bit strange that someone with such a famous name would be grateful for a stranger's presence. It wasn't curious enough to pry about.

"The ocean did speak! It asked some interesting questions. And I also do not know the rambler's name, sorry -- that's just what I call that person. A storm brought up some intriguing items and the rambler figured out things about them, much like how you figured out things about this stone! And then the rambler, well, rambled about them. A lot. This was when I was younger, and so were they." She hadn't seen the rambler in some time now. She wondered what that one was up to.

"Thank you very much for checking my stone, sir. I'm going to travel around with it until I can find something to carry it in. Perhaps I'll return to trade bones with you! I see you have a lot, and they're very interesting." Kaimana would wait for a bit to parse the stag's reaction before trying to take her stone back.

She'd gotten what she'd wanted, and given what he'd asked. Maybe he would ask for more, but as for now, it seemed to be a completed trade.

@Pride

Curiosity, it seemed, got the best of the stag. While he hastened to step back--to make room for the young one to retrieve her stone--his head was already tilting.

"If you do not mind my prying; what was it that the ocean asked you? And could you perhaps--describe this, Rambler? I do wonder if it's someone I know."

A pause, and then a brief shake of his head as his manners returned to him. "Oh, not at all. You are always welcome to visit. We are the Seven, here," nowhere near seven, not anymore "and we aim to offer a safe place for all to rest, and protection for those who need it." A firm nod.

He wasn't counting them.

He wasn't.

@Kaimana

"Oh I don't mind but I don't have a very clear answer. It didn't really make any sense," she explained. "Something like being from the ocean or being from the other world. I just said I liked fish." With a shrug, she took her stone back, swiping it to the space between her paws with a deft scoop. "The rambler looked like me, but fluffier, and white instead of sandy, with pink eyes. I think. Were they pink? I don't remember, sorry. Sound familiar?" She smiled.

Apparently, "the Seven" had the goal of being a safe and protective place for all, so Kaimana was welcome to visit again. Wow! Perhaps that's why Pride's name had run so far beyond him, even into the ears of strangers. That was super cool.

"Thank you again, sir Pride of the Seven," Kaimana said as she picked up her stone and nodded to Pride. Then she began to turn and stalk away, descending once more. She figured she had oriented herself enough, and hey, if she got lost again, she now knew where to go!

Thus the jaguar would wander off again. For someone who surrounded herself with death so often, it was certainly surprisingly how she didn't seem to be able to see it in someone else's eyes.

If only she could have understood that, in the midst of this cycle of life and death, Pride was spiraling down and down and down. If only she could have seen that, just as cycles seem to have no end, this kind of abyss seemed to have no bottom.

Inability, insignificance, and insensitivity. That was the curse and the blessing of the stranger.

- exit unless stopped -

@Pride

Not seeing his emotional state was hardly Kaimana's fault--Pride was showing nothing of it, after all, or at least very, very little. It was hardly the sort of burden to lay on a stranger, and a near-child, at that.

"Ahh, I don't think I have met them," he answered mildly, wondering at Kaimana's explanation of the ocean speaking. He had some questions, still, to ask--what had the ocean looked like, then; after all, it was unlikely to be the actual water that had spoken to her. ...Right? Perhaps a Gembound had been beneath the surface, or Kaimana had somehow come to equate someone with 'the sea.'

But before he could ask, she was thanking him--moving off--and he hadn't the energy to call her back. "Safe travels," he murmured in return, and moved back to lie back where he'd been for hours.

exit Pride

Pages: 1 2