ORIGIN

Tahi-shei had taken a little bit of time to track down Madhukar and have a conversation with James. Both of them had been suspicious, but ultimately, it wasn't as though they could stop him. They were both waiting for him outside of Ursa, with the intention of checking him for fungus on his way out and potentially coming in like knights in shining armor if he needed saving. He hoped that they wouldn't have to wait and have him not come back. He realized with a stroke of panic that he probably should have put one at each exit, but he'd only armed the way into Pegasus.

Oh, well. James and Madhukar could both move pretty quickly if they needed to -- certainly, much faster than he could without running into a wall. Ursa was bitterly cold, even without the whiteout, and ever since his hooves had crunched into fresh powder he'd been stomping his way through it blind.

Well, blind save for the sparrows -- he had seen them at the edges of his periphery, flitting about him more than her Eyes usually would. He noticed at least a handful every time he came through Ursa, simply by virtue of the range on this crown of his, but they were always careful to stay well out of the average Gembound's sensory radius. They did not like to be seen -- he supposed that spies rather wouldn't like to be. For a moment, he thought of the Wallcrawler he'd Spored all those cycles ago -- the poor thing had died by now, but he'd rather enjoyed watching it go about its day to day before it got eaten by that bird.

As it were, a bird actually descended towards him -- a large one, one of the circling beasts carrying what was most likely Mother's spores. He took a half-step back, maintaining some distance as his white eyes stared at it, unfocused. "Against all my better judgement," he said, voice far more confident than it had been with the Gray, "I am choosing to trust you. Do not betray that trust by attempting to infect me -- if the information you have is truly persuasive enough to sway me, then you will not need to rob me of my right mind." This was many things -- it was him not wanting to be robbed from his family, it was him not wanting to be a risk to it, but it was largely him not wanting to put James at risk. If Mother took him, then his connection to James would be exposed -- and that would very likely put him at risk.

Tahi-shei's ear flicked, and he was silent for a moment before adding, "... I would normally ask for confirmation here, but I'm rather sure this one cannot speak, so... I suppose I will have to assume that you are agreeable to this." He shifted uncomfortably. He was here without insurance, really -- Giggle and Wyvern had not awoken yet, couldn't have, but yet, here he was. By his best guess, they had a few days left to go -- certainly, not enough time that Mother would have given up on him. He hoped, anyway.

Tahi-shei drew in a sharp breath. It was hard to breathe in this cold, he noted -- though perhaps that was just the nerves. "I do hope you can sympathize with how much of a risk this is for me." There was arrogance in the acquiescence -- Tahi-shei's assumption that he was worth more to Vargas than any other random creation in these caves. He hoped he was -- he hoped he was performing well.

Tahi-shei had already made his peace with this, and so he followed the Ghostbird easily. It was most effective for him to break into a leaping run in order to traverse in the snow, and furthermore, it helped him keep pace with the bird. Even at a leisurely glide, it was faster than the stag's casual stroll, especially through snow this deep. He did not get along well with snow and ice, but at the very least it was nigh impossible to lose his footing here. Then, they came to a stop, and the bird perched.

He could hear the quiet sounds of water, and was able to take note of the few and far between lichens of Ursa's sub-zero temperatures clinging to wet rocks shielded against the wind. Very few fungal growths were able to survive in this cold, but still, life persisted. He recalled that, once upon a time, he had taken note of a lake with trees in Ursa's wastes -- before he'd lost his sight in its entirety.

His eyes snapped towards the insectoid shape covered in spores. He had seen some of these from a distance, he realized, but forced perspective had led him to assume they were minuscule insects not far from him -- not massive things half a cave away. "A little on the nose with that Hive branding," he commented, a sarcastic edge in his voice. He didn't much like the cold, and besides that, he was realizing that there must have been a tunnel entrance near the water here. It made him feel like a fool for having dragged his troops out across the open plains towards the mountains -- but, he supposed, perhaps that was why she had brought him here.

Tahi-shei hesitated, and inched slightly closer. This was... unnerving and somewhat uncertain, but he noted that Mother seemed to have been paying mind to his lack of sight. He gauged about how tall the creature seemed to be and lowered his head to give himself a bit more clearance before starting to inch forward, placing his feet carefully around where the spore-marked footprints were. Then, the thought occurred to him that perhaps she had no clue about the curse of the Crown, and this ant had more sinister reasons for tracking spores through the tunnels.

And, certainly, he noted, these were tunnels. As the Cleaner led him through the maze-like labyrinth, he took note of the various things he was able to see through the walls -- a whole hive of these creatures, the smaller ones and bigger ones too, and globs of fungal mess here and there in the distance that he dreaded to consider. The complex web of intricate tunnels made his heart sink by the moment -- he'd have never made it through here, not with all the life scurrying around in parallels. Distantly, he also noted that he had little to no hope of being able to find his way out alone, either.

Mostly because, on a few occasions, he had nearly slipped into the damn thing, and it was covered in far too many spores for him to be comfortable -- he had been breathing shallowly the whole way through. "This ice is havoc on my hooves," he noted, a bit of dry humor in his tone. He was nervous, trying to fill the air with a bit of conversation, even though this ant couldn't reply. "Though I suppose that's not an issue for your guards here, is it?" His ear flicked. "Assuming you don't plan to betray me, I imagine I am going to have a difficult time getting out of here. My hooves don't work well on ice as-is; I can't imagine how they'll do uphill."

Sam. The rat was named Sam. "Well, I suppose its good that I didn't kill him," Tahi-shei asked, voice somehow distant. "I'm sorry, how does the Lesser have a name?" The concept of pets didn't even occur to him. His mind was wandering to the fact that the rat might've been sentient, which led to questions about all Lessers and worried him. Still... it was strange how respectful she was being. He reminded himself that she was manipulative; he needed to be mindful of it. "Thank you for respecting that," he said anyway.

Then, he was led towards one of the nearer globs of fungus -- Tahi-shei stood slightly inside the room, staring blankly at the web. He could barely make the whole mess out; it was entirely covered in mold and spores, and he was very mindful of where the safety zone was. His ears twitched at the clicking, ticking all around him. He recognized one of the faint sounds as the bronze necklace he'd found in Ursa. "I knew you were behind the things in Ursa," he said distantly, head half-turning towards the secondary click of the creatures waiting in the wings. He counted them quietly, making no real move to disguise that he could see them -- not that he knew if they were actually in the room or not.

He was just barely able to sort out that she probably looked something like her soldiers, or maybe like a bumblebug. "Can your main body not speak? It seems that Dontacael didn't want you telling his secrets." It was something like a joke, but in the same vein, he was halfway serious. Still, he finally looked up towards... more or less where he thought her head might have been. It was anyone's guess if he was actually able to find it, what with the massive white-out of fungus she made.

"Yeah," he said, ears pricking forward. "I'm ready to listen."

Taken? he thought, his head inclining slightly. Tahi-shei had imagined other caves, of course, but... having been taken from them? Still, he settled into as comfortable a position as he could manage at the present time and listened to her in silence. It was after her speech that even James joined in. "... If she speaks the truth then..." He went silent for a moment, his thoughts like ocean spray against the bond. Some of them passed through, but others trickled back to him. Doubt, worry, horrors and fears -- Tahi-shei cringed at the images his partner conjured up of their children, victims of fungus and war.

And then, an image of peace. Their children running across a field, squealing with joy as they frolicked and played, no threat of death hanging above their heads. Hope.

"... What if she was right? What she says about Chaos... or Vargas, is all true. Caves, if she's right then the assault was wrong and we attacked her because we were blind! But... Damn it!! I don't know!"

Me neither, he admitted, lending James the comfort he sought. He felt the warm, spreading feeling of being loved and let out a small and unconscious sigh. His ear flicked to Mother. "Sorry. Give me a moment to think, please." A white lie, but he hoped she wouldn't mind.

"... Order is preservation and Chaos is destruction... Maybe she's telling the truth?" Tahi-shei could feel how deeply James wanted to believe her, wanted to fight back against Vargas and the children he created to train, serve, and die. Vargas made soldiers and that horrified James; in a way, it horrified Tahi-shei, too, but he was enough of a coward to try and excuse it for his own benefit. "... Tahi, what if I-I let her spread her spores on me? We know that for a short time they can be removed, and if she's right and our wills are shared then I can see if she's telling the truth! If not then you can remove the spores and it'll be fine!"

Anger and fear spiked through Tahi-shei like lightning. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. James didn't believe he was as important as Tahi-shei -- his self-doubt, wrapped up neatly as selflessness, echoed through their bond. You are every bit as important as I am, if not moreso. Do you have any idea the monster I would be without you? You keep me sane, James -- you are my moral center. And I refuse to let her touch you, not until I am sure. Vargas would kill you. He wouldn't even hesitate. And then he'd kill me, too, for allowing it to happen. I cannot let her have you, even for a moment. I can't. I am too selfish to allow it.

Finally, his head straightened -- when had he turned it slightly to the side? He took a deep breath. "My apologies. My thoughts run away from me sometimes. You were in my head before, Mother; I am sure you know my penchant for questions." Tahi-shei breathed out through his nose, then, and continued. "I have... many. So many. I'll start with the easy ones, and then move onto the harder, yes? Give your little friend here a moment to rest his voice."

He wracked his brain for which one to start with and settled on, "Why do you call this a House of Chaos? Would... factory not be more apt? Then -- why, and by whom, was this half of the caves sealed? Do you know when it happened? -- That is idle curiosity, mind. As for your patron -- do you mean Dontacael, or someone else? If another, who? Is there any way I could safely speak to him? Are there any neutral parties in this conflict I could speak to?"

Tahi-shei shifted on his hooves and counted the surrounding soldiers again. The problem was, Tahi-shei wanted to believe her. It was an alluring notion, that he might be able to be free of all this chaos and rage -- that these caves could become a place of peace and family. But she had every reason to try and manipulate him, and he had no reason to trust her. However, Tahi-shei currently knew one thing for sure -- the only way she was getting to James was if she walked through his Oil to do it.