Pride lay unconscious. For a solid few minutes he lay murmuring and lightly kicking on the floor of the tunnel.

He, for one, was trapped in nightmares. In those visions of falling; in the darkness rising to consume him. In the purple eyes, in the darkness. At last he kicked more sharply, hitting nothing but air, and woke. Terror and instinct drove him to clatter up to his feet, looking disjointedly around, blinking. His ears swivelled; his head was low, weary.

There was no sign of Kra'raum. No sign, either, of its gem. But-... they were alive, at least. The spider, her tirade he'd remained asleep for--he had no idea that she had mocked them, and even if he'd heard, he'd not have understood why. Certainly he had done his part in fighting the creature off. And certainly he himself had not wanted to chase it, after.

He looked to Huckleberry. "Are you--all right?" he managed, pushing past the horrors.

What if he were still asleep..? What if this were all a dream--a nightmare? What if it would all fall apart again, and again... forever?

Pride's mind and heart will still racing with fear, but almost at once his guard rose a notch as Jayberry spoke to him. It wasn't fear of her--yes, she had long fangs and a fierce growl, but she did not seem inclined to attack after their shared combat.

It was more that he remembered her, and her mindless savagery. Remembered that she was one of those who'd near-killed Envy. Goaded on by their insane and possessive mother. Perhaps they merely need a better example. He eyed her, and was opening his mouth to respond when Huckleberry woke--and a moment later, burst into tears. The stag startled, and quickly stepped over to offer him a few reassuring nudges.

"We are fine-... Huckleberry, you're all right. We all are, I think. But-... yes, it was scary. I was scared too," he admitted in as soothing a voice as he could muster. "Was" scared was certainly a lie--he was still trembling, nostrils flared and pupils dilated. But for Huckleberry's sake, he pretended.

"You had it, hmm? Your magic harmed it a great deal; it would never have found you easy prey. And we all helped one another, yes? That's what good Gembound do." This last was meant as a little lesson, of sorts--something for Jayberry to think on, in her future. Maybe there was hope for her yet. If not, that wasn't his problem; he wasn't about to start a fight after what they'd just been through, but what lay ahead was of course quite uncertain.

"Come on--we ought to get out of here, somewhere safe. Do you want me to carry the owl on my back? What's your name?" he asked it, glancing over--he was fairly certain, by the shimmer of its gemstone eyes, that it must be blind. No wonder it had been flailing so helplessly-... damn. It must be terrified, he thought, a little sadly, and his heart fell.