A World Away - Printable Version

Pride listened with a falling heart. He hadn't known any of this. and he was troubled by it; Sora, at least, had seemed genuine. Upset, not cold or callous; certainly angry. He'd withhold judgment on her, then; maybe ask her, if he could find a... tactful time and place to ask, and tactful way, perhaps he would. But being willing to return to Hydra merely for their stones didn't sound like cowardice. Then again--"I'm sorry for your loss. I know one of them came to me, asked for aid in recovering stones. Perhaps when you have time," and here he nodded slightly, meaningfully, at Haven--he hadn't missed the signs of her upset, her confusion (and it seemed sad, almost childlike)--"you might find time to tell me how best to survive, in there? Perhaps I can find Fireheart and Nassir's stones, as well," he mused, a little sadly. "But for now--you spoke of Pisces, Haven. Have you met Tenzin? Do you know of him?" His voice took on a kinder lilt, a smile in his tone, and he tried not to think about having seen Lord Dhracia fucking annihilate the poor phoenix. "He is very kind; the ice phoenix, living in the lagoon." Retrospectively he was glad he hadn't accidentally asked 'have you seen him,' because that would have been awkward.

But either way, a pleasant change of subject seemed a good idea--hoping, of course, that Haven didn't know Tenzin's latest... incident.

Warrior glanced to Haven, at Pride's subtle nod, and studied her for a moment. He'd been lost in his own thoughts, his own nightmarish memories, too much to really notice and for that he felt a twinge of guilt, though it struggled hard to even be felt beneath his own grief and anger. "Oh-... Yeah, I'll gladly tell you what I know. Actually, would it be all right if I rested here, for now-? Haven, I'm glad to travel with you more but I've come a long way at the moment, and Vee's sleeping, too. But if you have an idea of where we could go next--once I've slept some, and maybe talked to Pride about Hydra-? Then we could go with you, maybe?"

He tried to sound enthusiastic, kind, but behind it there was misery.

He was exploring, and some of the caves were interesting, thus far--or horrible, thinking of the cave full of bones--but what was the point of it, in the end? It was run by monsters: monsters in the dark, and he was putting on a kind face but all he felt was hopeless.

"Um... no.. I don't think I would have known it was him, I don't recall a name like that," she said, "Maybe I did when I was flying around."

Haven shuffled and looked up, thinking, "... I met someone named Temp... Temper? Temperia? Something like that. She was nice, sort of. She could fly, but she was... weird? Round, but she was missing her insides. Like she was a floating circle."

Scrunching her nose, she looked to Warrior, perking up a bit, "Eridanus! It's so nice, it smells like dirt and plants and there's so much fruit there- I love fruit!! More than meat! I'd eat only fruit if I could, but it's really sugary and makes me feel all jittery."

She was clearly struggling to find a topic that wasn't about death and lost friends, especially seeing as she had no idea who these people even were.

"Um... Who's Vee?" she asked, "Was it the thing that ran away before?"

"Ahh, Temperantia--yes, they are one of us. One of the Seven," he clarified, kindly. And then, a nod--amused--to Warrior; "I can second Eridanus. It is very... vibrant; full of life. Plants, flowers, Lessers, streams of water, trees. It may be overwhelming to your senses, I do not know--I know it still strikes me that way, from time to time. But either of you are welcome to rest here, of course--and we can speak when you have time."

This last was a nod to Fireheart; Pride turned, pacing back beside the throne. "It is good to meet you both, though. And Haven--if you do find Tenzin, at some point, speak to him. He is very kind, and I think he enjoys company."

With that the stag went back to where he'd been, curling against the stone--in earshot but no longer part of the conversation.

"Vee is my friend," Warrior clarified, offering Pride a murmured thanks and a nod before turning away. "She's the snake I mentioned--she came with me from Hydra. We're travelling together, but she's resting somewhere, at the moment." He wasn't sure if she'd want to travel further, or even when he'd see her next, but he added--"I think you'd like her," nonetheless.

"We can go to Eridanus next, then--I'll rest here, first, and if you're still here-?" he suggested, head tilting a little.

The atmosphere seemed to have improved a little, at least.

"The Seven?", she hummed, before waving to Pride gently, "I'll talk to him, if I can find him."

Haven turned to Warrior and nodded gently, "Are we going to see her? Is she coming with us?"

So far she'd liked a lot of people, so she didn't doubt that she'd like Tenzin and Zee. She fluffed up her wings and looked off into the distance for a moment.

"Where do you want to rest? I can sleep on the floor or hang from the ceiling," she said, wiggling her claws, "I'm like a bat! But cooler!!"

She waddled forward and took flight, looking around the stallion idly, easily bored but also easily amused. She found herself giggling as she flew upside-down, flipping around to arc up into the air before swooping low, claws scraping the ground.

Warrior glanced to Haven with some amusement. "Vee-? Oh, she'll--find us, if she finishes resting. I'm not sure exactly where she's gone," he explained, and he wasn't too worried about that. She'd wanted to be on her own, for awhile, but her magic would let her find him easily enough.

"Well, I can't sleep hanging upside-down," he went on, letting out a small laugh. "But you sleep how you like. I'm going to find somewhere secluded, safe."

He turned, nosing his way along back toward the ruins, along their edges; he picked a small clump of rubble walls not far from the Throne and settled himself into it. "Like this," he explained. "It has cover." It was similar enough to the crevices he'd rested in, back in Hydra; it would be a good place to sleep, and he thought that--despite his pale color standing out rather firmly against the charred rock--he was hidden well enough beneath the slabs of leaning stone. "Anything else, before I sleep?" he asked, glancing up toward the cheerfully upside-down dragon-creature.

Haven followed after Warrior, grinning like an idiot. She snickered softly and flipped right-side up again, head bobbing up and down.

"A pity, it's really fun!", she said, and landed briefly to poke her head into the little space.

She sniffed around and nosed at a rock before peering at the ceiling. She managed to slot her claws into a few claws, and hung herself by her feet, wings open as she got comfortable. Her tail wrapped around her hind legs and she wrapped her wings around herself, peering at Warrior and grinning.

"I don't have any questions. Have a good nap, Warrior," she said, and shifted around a bit before tucking her head into her wings and settling, her cool grey skin blending right into the wall.

Warrior glanced out, up, to where Haven had found a crevice and worked her way into it. Warrior, rather than claustrophobic in his own hidey-hole, felt secure: the feel of the leaning slab just overhead, his own body heat warming it, was reassuring. But there was something amusing about the blind dragon-beast hanging upside-down, and he observed her for a moment before snorting a soft sound of amusement, and curling his head back along his flank.

"You rest well, too," he told her quietly, and closed his eyes to sleep.