ORIGIN - Retribution

He found himself searching, actually looking for someone. He didn't think he'd be able to do it so soon. To be able to actually use sight to figure out where he was, or where he was going. It was nice, sure, but... he knew most wouldn't approve of what he did to get it. At least, those he knew even somewhat well. Forget killing the lesser, sure, he'd handed the small thing off to get murdered - but the problem was the Collector. He knew James didn't like the guy. He knew Tahi didn't like the guy. He figured most that worked with the collector at one point didn't like him - Aran just hoped the other gembound didn't get cross with him over giving the Collector their names. He had to.

"James? Are you here?" He called out, hoping the winged horse was... somewhat close by.

Aran remembered the conversation about the horse's wings from the big... event before. He'd get to see them now, wouldn't he? Aran had questions - a couple of apologies. If only his friend would humor him.

@James

James exited his house, now finished, decorated with the leathers that Abraxas had painted, with bedding on the inside and things stored out of the rain. It was a quaint little place. He turned his head to the voice and saw Aran, his face expressionless.

But at least now Aran could see James in his new glory. His wings big with banded feathers on the top with white down and pink, purple, and blue feathers on the underside, with four peacock feathers and a similar coloring to the twin crests on his neck. He was beautiful.

"Aran," he said, a bit surprised to see him, "What are you doing here?"

It was an awful long way to come for anyone, so he didn't really expect anyone to just drop in except for Kaimana and Tahi-shei. Oh, and Comet.

"Are you well?", he asked warily.

@Aran

It was easier to see the horse when he was further away - mainly because of how low his line of sight was on James' body. Aran couldn't say he was all feathers, just some. Scattered everywhere, the colors were what James said they were before. James didn't seem surprised, or to be feeling anything at all it appeared. Was it because of their conversation before? Aran wondered if it was a good idea to show up here - but he'd told himself to at least say something.

He flicked an ear, unsure of what to do.

"I'm... Doing well enough." A pause, he really wished he could look James in the eye. "I came to talk if you would indulge me."

@James

James' eyes flicked down to the bird skull and he felt only disappointment, "... I suppose. I have time."

He shuffled his wings restlessly, craning his neck to preen the feathers littering his chest, "What about?"

Since their last talk, he hadn't expected to see Aran for a while. Either he managed to get his disappointment across and was being avoided or the other had wound up dead, having not heeded his warning.

But Aran was here, so clearly neither of those things were true, and he was afraid that something else was wrong.

@Aran

Aran knew that tone wasn't anything good. Though he did kind of.... Prompt it. Seeing as he was wearing the skull of a lesser with its eyes intact around his neck. He supposed that would be a good place to start - why he was wearing the damn thing. Aran was sure he wouldn't wear the skull of another being if it wasn't for what it did for him.

His ear flicked.

"I uh. Completed my deal with the Collector." He mentioned first - he wondered if James thought the bird skull came from that or if he was just wearing it for fun. "My deal with him was a lot.... Different then what you prompted me with before, but I know he can be like what he sent Tahi to do. The bird skull around my neck lets me see. But, I won't be going to the collector for anything again."

He paused - was that the right thing to say? Aran wasn't planning on going to the collector for anything again, and honestly the gembounds could mostly do or make everything themselves. And with them being able to enchant their own things, they could stop relying on those like the Collector if they found ways to do it.

"I suppose i'm trying to say i'm sorry, for before."

@James

James scoffed, "I'm not going to beat around the bush, Aran. You shouldn't have gone back in the first place."

He stalked past Aran and dug at a grassless patch of dirt, digging until he could pull out an alligator skin bag.

"This is all that's left of him now," he said, "The Collector defiled him. Turned his skin into a cursed object that shows you his last moments."

He buried the skin gently and turned back to Aran, ears pinned, "I told you he was bad news, and your apology shouldn't be for me, it should be for you."

He touched the necklace with a wing tip, "So what does this do, hm? Gives you sight, but what's the drawback?"

@Aran

Aran predicted the first reply he got. He could have just ignored it, sure. Would the Collector have come for him if he never did his side of the deal? Aran hadn't heard any stories about it, but he didn't tell many gembound about him knowing of the Collector in the first place Maybe he should have asked around more before going to it, but him seeking out the Collector had been a curiosity to see if the being was real. He didn't entirely know how to respond when he found out that the Collector was, indeed, an actual being in the caves.

Getting his sight back was just the good on top of the ugly.

I know." He finally decided.

Aran was the only one that could make that choice for himself, and he knew he was the only one controlling his head to make him go to the collector and actually finish the mission. Flicking an ear, he turned his head away - obviously it didn't do much for him, since he saw out of the base of his neck, which didn't really turn with his head like that. He ended up still being stuck seeing despite himself.

Aran did turn back to look at the other gembound when he could hear digging into the dirt - what was James doing? That answer, of course, came to him at the sight of scales and white patterning. It was the skin from the Alligator Tahi murdered - that Aran helped murder. He still didn't feel bad for doing it, the Alligator had started the fight in the first place, and would have murdered one of them if the deer didn't protect themselves. Neither deer had to murder him back, but Aran found himself thinking the Alligator deserved it. Like Karma, almost. Which was also coming back to bite himself back in the ass.

"I didn't know the Collector did that." Came out, blunt in reply, however the tone was different. He seemed almost afraid of the skin in front of him.

The fear was real - Aran was afraid of Alligators and anything that looked like one. The skin though? He should not be afraid of some dead lump of nothing - especially if it was only being worn as something to carry a child. And yet there he was, stepping back a few paces, ears bent forward in a stance that made him prepared to bolt if he had to.

The colorful wing came close, and Aran's actual eyes closed, as if the feathers came close to his real eyes, in an attempt to keep them away. They did not blink away, though, for the eyes of the bird were watching. Staring, as if they could see into everything.

"Uh." He stuttered, finally choking out some semblance of words. "Fear." came the simple answer. Explaining that he reacted randomly to things didn't come, but forming those words after a moment might have happened, if he was not curious about the Pegasus' reaction in front of him.

@James

James tucked his wings in and looked all the world like a mother who'd found out you were sneaking out late. A stern glare on his face, wings slightly forward as if he were crossing them, ears pinned.

"Well, you could do with a little bit of that," he scoffed, "Maybe it'll give you sense. Like to listen to the people who opinions should matter about things that are genuinely dangerous."

He rubbed his eyes with the wrist joint of his wing and sighed, "But ultimately, you do what you want. Whatever. As long as it doesn't hurt me or the people I love, I don't care. I warned you endlessly and it was your choice to ignore me."

Now Aran had to face the consequences.

James turned away and walked off towards the stream, off to practice magic or to take a drink. Probably both.

If Aran followed, he wouldn't stop him.

@Aran

Much to James' words, Aran actually did feel fear. Before he got the necklace, he felt it like every other gembound did. He didn't show it, or let those fears stop him from doing what he wanted. That's what made him different from James. If Aran really wanted to, he could go up to the collector and demand answers. He didn't want to, but that was beside the point. After you nearly die once, it's just about the same every other time. For Aran it was, anyway. He never planned for any of that to happen in the first place.

"I knew what I did was dangerous." He muttered. "Not having fear, and not listening to the fears you have are different."

He figured James knew that fact, but it felt better when voiced out loud. The horse spoke again, and he was right. Ultimately Aran had chose to do the things he did without heeding the warnings of anyone else. Still, for a lot of things he'd done, there had been no warning. Aran knew those situations were dangerous.

He'd planned to talk about less... Sad, things intiially. James turned to go, and the Barasingha followed. Only to talk, really.

"I had questions about other things, if you were okay to answer them." He noted, pausing mid sentence before continuing. "About the spell everyone got from the kings."

@James

James would have probably kicked Aran had he said 'that's what made them different' out loud.

But he scoffed and stopped at the words, ears pinning, "Yes, yes they are, but you've forgotten about the third option. Taking your fears into account when making a decision. For example, jumping off a cliff. Am I certain this spell that will prevent my certain death will work? Perhaps there's a longer path that is ultimately safer that I could take down."

He looked back and flicked his tail in annoyance, "There are plenty of ways you could have gone about at least substituting your sight. Getting a mouse or bird familiar to sit atop your head. Then you could have asked it to allow you to see through its eyes. Perhaps the issue isn't that you're fearless. It's that you have fears and they're still blinding you, but instead they're blinding you because you're blatantly ignoring them in favor of the 'easiest' option."

He went quiet at the second spell and turned his head forward, ears still pinned as he made his way to the stream Comet had made, stopping before it, "What about them? We all got different spells that do the same thing. Some have added effects, like mine has armor, though I've yet to see the one from the third head, the one the hunters allied with."

He looked down at the ground and inhaled before breathing out, a pumpkin sprouting from the ground. Just a bit of magic practice.

@Aran