ORIGIN - you dead yet or?

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i need someone to look into my eyes and tell me

After a nap, Vivilene felt better. The pain of breaking open a chrysalis and stretching out her limbs (all six of them) for the first time in however-long-it'd-been had faded. She felt good-- energetic, even! --when she pushed up to check on her garden and take a walk, which turned into a morning sprint-as-quickly-as-possible around the camp.

When she was smaller, morning sprints would be followed by another nap. Today, Vivilene had things to do. Attikias was fine-- but she had a whole litter of siblings and a grandfather to check up on. She knew the caves were dark, and they were scary-- something could have happened to any one of them. The thought of that scared her more than the caves did, and Vivilene had lived with her anxiety-ridden mind long enough that she knew she'd feel better if she just saw them and talked (as much as she could) with them, rather than festering alone under a big blanket.

With some peaches and a little vine of grapes stashed away into her satchel, Vivilene slipped the still-icky-feeling shawl over her shoulders and pulled the strap of the bag over her antlers, setting it neatly over her shoulder. She had three siblings to go through-- but where they were, Vivilene didn't know. Hunter should be in Eridanus. She could ask Attikias later, maybe, but Angela and Volta could be, well, anywhere!

Her tail flicked with mild discomfort. There were maybe three people in the whole caves she was fairly sure she knew the whereabouts of. Attikias, who was at camp. Orthoclase-alpha, who was in Canis (last she checked), and Pride, who was in Orion. Also last time she checked.

The hybrid side-eyed a watermelon, making the mental note to deliver one to the orthoclase after she checked up on everyone. It deserved to be worried for too, after all.

But, for now, Vivilene was off to Orion.

Sometime later, she came bounding into the room of stars with her hooves clicking rhythmically on the stone floor. Where she'd find Pride exactly she wasn't entirely sure-- she couldn't exactly call out for the stag and expect him to emerge mysteriously from behind a rock.

But what she did do, was bleat. A strange little sound from a humanoid's mouth, but certainly enough to get an onlooker's attention. With this sounded off, Vivilene slowed down the space and went meandering around the open, half-making a circle before rounding back.

First, she headed to the tower. Then she thought better of it (who knew what could be hiding in there?) and then, she went for the throne.

For no particular reason, of course. The hybrid let out another, albeit much quieter bleat as she hobbled up the rock to the stone chair, littered with colourful chrysalis-stones. For a time, she circled this, too, before finally standing still and looking down from the high rock onto Orion.

"girl you know you gotta watch your health"

@Pride

Visiting the Throne was a fortunate choice, since Pride lived here. The bleating caught his attention, and a moment later, the silvery branching antlers emerged like some strange, moving little tree out from behind the ancient structures. Pale eyes peered for Vivilene, and upon settling on her, widened some--and Pride's pace quickened.

The diamond armor hung around neck and body: he'd been considering a trip to Pegasus, to see it, to visit James and to bring Jampa and Thalia. He had not expected to see Vivilene. So far, as Attikias had mentioned, Vivilene had been asleep--resting in her chrysalis.

Worry prickled through him: why was she here, why now? Was something wrong-? "Vivilene?" he asked, and immediately tried to open that mind-link so that she could speak more easily.

"Are you all right?" The thought was both spoken aloud and broadcast directly: an invitation, should she wish it, to speak to him without having to use her own magic, if she didn't want to.

Thalia was, as per Pride's gentle instructions, practicing her magic. She didn't do it often, but right now she was sat squat behind the Throne, her face scrunched up in concentration. She'd abandoned the loose tunic that had hung over her shoulders--it had grown too tight, as she'd gotten taller, so she'd half-shredded it and it had become some one-shouldered Tarzan mess. Now, instead, long hair cascaded forward, happening to cover her chest where it mattered; the rest of her was unselfconsciously bare and as sexless as any deer might've been.

She was just reaching adulthood, now: tall, slender, Attikias' shape showing in her form as much as Pride did.

When she heard bleating--and then voices--she sprang up, stepping with clicking hooves out from behind the Throne, behind Pride, a rainbow shining outward from her hand. Its multicolored beams cast out in shimmering rays, and silver eyes widened upon seeing Vivilene.

She didn't know her, but Thalia recognized her as similar to herself--as, potentially, family.

"Oooh... Hi!" she offered, brightly, coming up alongside her armored father with interest shining in her face.

@Vivilene

i need someone to look into my eyes and tell me

Her ears flicked upwards.

The sight of Pride was good-- but he seemed to have grown some kind of shell since she'd last seen him. Still-- there he was! Alive! She smiled brightly as she nodded down at the stag, silvery hair bouncing around her shoulders.

"I'm--" she had begun, mouth unmoving, before a someone emerged from behind the throne. Vivilene started and, as flight or fight took over, the hybrid leapt a fair few feet into the air. She barely found her hooves again when she landed, half-stumbling and half-skidding alarmedly.

Unfortunately, Pride was bombarded with the following panic. Not exact words were broadcast to him, but instead the bitter taste of fear, the hollow chill creeping up a spine, stomach sinking. Vivilene's eyes were wide, silver disks as she stared at Thalia, gripping her shawl until her knuckles went white.

And then, she calmed.

Gradually, the hybrid actually realised what she was looking at. The top-half of her were a mix of her father and her sister-- feminine, long-haired --and the bottom-half was some amalgamation between Pride and Attikias's legs.

Did Azizos and Attikias make another kid? Another sister? Vivilene shifted on the spot, hooves clicking gently on the cave floor. She half-straightened and carefully unclutched her shawl. One padded hand lifted, waved gently, and then sank back down to clasp in front of the crescent moon on her belly.

"Um," she sounded out, carefully-- and then resorted right back to broadcasting a gentle, quiet voice to Pride-- "hello."

"girl you know you gotta watch your health"

@Pride

He came forward, careful and graceful--he didn't want to move too sharply but he didn't want to coldly linger at a distance, either. But Vivilene's fear, her sudden startling, made him pause. One hoof dangled in the air as he turned, peering back behind him--ahh.

"Ahh, Vivilene, this is your-"

There was a frozen moment of blankness, deer-in-headlights nothing, as Pride tried and failed to calculate the relationship between the pair. Between Thalia, and Vivilene. Aunt and niece-? Half-sisters? Both-? He wasn't entirely sure.

"...family," he settled on, blinking in his own confusion. He turned to peer at Vivilene again. "Vivilene, Thalia; Thalia, Vivilene. You share a father. Ahh--Vivilene is my son's child. And Thalia, here, is mine," he tried to explain. It was... all pretty complex, but hey, family was family, right?

He gave a gentle nod toward the dusky-skinned semi-centaur. "She's very nice, I promise you--are you all right, in any case? What brings you here--it's good to see you," he added, each word slow, so as not to overwhelm her.

Realization struck a second later; she'd spoken! ...Granted, it was only an 'um,' but it was something. Definitely something!

Pride had told her about Vivilene only fleetingly--in kind words, but vague ones. She'd known that her... 'family' didn't speak much, if at all (the stag had been somewhat deliberately nondescriptive on that topic) but that she was "very nice" and "wanted to help." So her smile, as she waved from a distance, was warm.

It was still pretty clear that Vivilene had kind of frozen up--maybe afraid, maybe surprised? Thalia wasn't sure. But she came trotting over with cheerful, bright confidence, genuinely happy to meet her. "Dad told me a little about you? It's really good to meet you!" she exclaimed, all bubbling joy. Her face shone with it--well, her eyes just shone anyway, since they glowed silver-white, but it seemed to shine, at least. When Pride asked if everything was okay, she sensed his worry. Thalia glanced to him, then to Vivilene, her grin fading to an uncertain smile--the words unspoken, but clear: was everything okay..?

@Vivilene

i need someone to look into my eyes and tell me

Vivilene glanced over Thalia, quietly. As soon as it was mentioned she also started going through some mental gymnastics-- sister or aunt? Half-sister, half-aunt? It seemed strange to Vivilene that her whatever-sister-aunt was calling Pride dad when Vivilene knew him as grandfather.

But Pride said she was nice. And Thalia did seem nice, though she was slightly alarmed as her sister-aunt came trotting closer. Vivilene waved again, her hand a little shaky, and then she paused.

She didn't know what to do when you just meet your-- family.

The hybrid decided to proceed thusly: by slowly opening her satchel, reaching in with a still-shaking hand, and producing one (1) little fuzzy peach, offering it towards Thalia. There was a very long, extended pause as Vivilene braced herself, her face scrunching up a little.

"... fruit."

Vivilene was very content with this effort, even if it was a quiet, half-murmured word. She nodded towards Pride to indicate that, yes, she was fine, but no other word came out of her mouth for the time being. She did, however, dig into her satchel to produce a second peach, offering this one out to Pride, too.

Because you should always give your family some fruit.

"girl you know you gotta watch your health"

@Pride

Pride--and his "shell"--came forward with delicate steps, taking the fruit in a gesture that would have been a mirror of deer at petting zoos all over a more civilized, less magical world. It was a completely mundane gesture--right up until he stepped politely back, let go, and the peach hovered in the air before his mouth. "Thank you. Did you bring these with you from Eridanus?"

It was a polite question, kindness crinkling in his eyes. She hadn't immediately opened with "Attikias is in trouble" or the like, so his alarm and urgency faded, replaced by measured gentleness. No rush: only patience, as before. He would give her that.

Pride took a careful bite of peach, juice running over his white chin. And another, nibbling around the pit, the thing held midair by his magic as he worked at it--too elegant, or arrogant perhaps, to simply put the thing on the ground and eat it like a regular deer.

Thalia, of course, had no way of knowing that "not speaking" was Vivilene's norm. And her glance at Pride, smiling, told her nothing: the stag was more cautious, more gentle, less straightforwardly confident than his usual self. It was like the figurative stepping around broken glass, and while she didn't understand it, Thalia instinctively half-adopted it.

Her approach to Vivilene, then--while smiling--was careful; her taking of the peach was equally gentle. But Pride hadn't said "oh wow, you're TALKING"--he didn't draw attention to it--and so Thalia just tried to strike up conversation. It was clear that Vivilene wasn't the chatty type, of course, but as she took the peach and sniffed it close (her eyes widening at the sweet and appetizing scent) she spoke without compunction. "Oh, thanks! I think I had one of these once, back home? I had apples more, and mangoes once. Those are bad if you don't wait for them to get ripe! How old are you?" she asked Vivilene, blinking toward her, and then bit into the peach. The bright smile now on her face again was still genuine, her questions both real and casual--as if she were already at her ease with this new family member, and eager to get to know her.

She chewed, biting, swallowing. "This is great! Thanks!" Athletic, slender body paced back on black deer's legs, hooves clicking as she retreated a couple paces to give Vivilene back her personal space.

"How's Dad? We have the same other-Dad, right Dad?" she asked, blinking back at Pride.

@Vivilene

i need someone to look into my eyes and tell me

A few, quiet seconds passed. Vivilene stood-- ever-cautiously, her hands gently and methodically fidgeting in front of her upper torso once the peaches were taken and the questions (as many as there were) were asked.

And then, it were as if a switch had been flipped.

The change in Vivilene's demeanor was visible even in her stance; she straightened up, she smiled until her cheeks caved into dimples. The anxiety melted away like ice, revealing only warmth, as Vivilene realised nothing was wrong. She was with family. And also they liked the fruit.

She first nodded towards Pride. She did bring them from Eridanus! Fathers (and by extension grandfathers (or... step-fathers?)) really did know everything. The cervitaur dug into her satchel again to reveal the vine of grapes, too, half-offering as if to say I brought these too!

And then to Thalia-- well, she couldn't really nod to her asking how old she was, but she certainly could nod along anyway. She knew of mangoes and apples. She liked the red-and-yellow apples, the ones that tasted the sweetest. But, as ever-- conversation was always difficult for her.

The bubbling excitement soothed a little, relaxed, as Vivilene paused to take a very long breath. With her gemstone glittering, she tapped into her magicka to.. well, talk.

"I'm not very old," she went on. As always was-- Vivilene's voice was gentle, soft, and oddly noninvasive, especially for a spell that projected one's voice into someone's head directly. "Six... seven cycles? I talk with magic." She added, because a late explanation was better than none at all.

"Are you very good with magic? I, um, know that pretty spell, with the colours, but I can't do it myself. Pride's very good with magic." Vivilene started asking-- with a genuine interest in getting to know Thalia, too, considering they were... let's stick with family and look no further than that.

With a glance down to her hands, the grapes were offered to Thalia, too. "You look a bit like my dad?" She finished, the sound of her voice dying away as the spell faded.

"girl you know you gotta watch your health"

@Pride

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