Pride came out at a swift trot, the tone of the voice immediately worrying him. Tahi-shei--he knew the fawn, had met it on its hatching, escorted it to the ruins to find a home. But he'd not seen much of him since then--and for Tahi-shei to come to him now, sounding absolutely battered, was concerning.

His face expressed this concern as he slowed on approach, hooves clicking to a halt close before him. He inspected him--no longer a fawn, in fact, he noted, but nearly full-grown--but found no immediate injuries on him, at least. He relaxed some, exhaling.

"Of course, Tahi-shei. I am happy to offer whatever advice I can-? But what is it that you've done?" His curiosity was piqued, now, as he studied the other deer. Was it something as terrible as the deer seemed to truly think-?

To say that Tahi-shei took awhile to get to the point was an understatement. Pride waited patiently, but he grew more baffled by the moment. He cut in, mildly, at the mention of the Olympics--"Oh, you did not humiliate yourself, Tahi-shei. Magic is entirely fickle and you were not the only one whose skills did not respond to you. The dog-creature insulting everyone had no right to do so. In fact, last year I took part as a performer, and my own magic failed me, too; it is nothing to be ashamed of." Gentle reassurance, but then he waited quietly for the rest.

'So, I went to Canis and I talked to this... shadow-thing? And he seemed really nice at first...' The winding story was reaching its point, and Pride fought to focus on following its thread. He wasn't sure who the shadow-thing might be, or what a contract was, but the basics of it were clear. "Signed a contract?" he began, somewhat baffled--but then shook his head, a little. "If you agreed to something, and then the terms were put on you, then you did not agree to those terms. I do not know what you mean by 'signed' but you're saying you agreed to something, and then were told you'd have to kill someone, after the fact? Obviously that... doesn't count," Pride reasoned, bewildered.

"Who is this 'shadow creature?' Why does he want you to kill someone, and whom?" Obviously it wasn't even an option, but Pride's bafflement was strong, and given Tahi-shei's near hysteria, Pride felt he would need time and patience to get to the bottom of this.

It would take some time and yes, patience, to unravel all of this. His first takeaway was that actually, Tahi-shei might have indeed agreed to such terms before signing--he wasn't sure, and this was... worrying. The next thing was the mention of the Collector. Pride had run into him more than once, and his brow furrowed at the mention. The Collector had--with others' aid--created Aether; the Collector had also had a hand in Reseda's... whatever the hell she'd been up to. He wasn't sure just how involved he'd been, but it was all quite odd.

Pride noted down the rest, in his mind: a crown, a Prince, a body. "I know the Collector," he began, a little darkly. "Do you see those bones, on the back of the Throne?" Pride turned, nodding upward, to where the skeletal remains of the komodo dragon still perched--sealed in diamond--over the top of the back of the throne. "She betrayed us, tried to kill us. She wore a golden collar around her neck and demanded we obey. When we killed her--in defense, mind you--the Collector came and took the collar back. He cared nothing for what happened," he added; "I would not trust him, Tahi-shei."

A pause, and then--blinking--"And 'mister' is simply a title, nothing more. As for decay, when a creature dies, it soon dissolves into a... a sort of thick, black goop, bar the bones. I don't know much about the Collector or what he wants, but of course you should not kill anyone. I do not know what will happen, but I can go and speak to him, if you wish." He paused, thinking, and then added, "He is powerful. He created a fully adult Gembound with the help of a few others--a large one, too. I watched it happen. But that creature claimed to be a guardian, so I do not know how sinister he actually is. I can't imagine wanting a dead body to be for anything good, though."

"I very much doubt he would kill me merely for going to speak with him. He seemed reasonable, if strange," Pride pointed out. "He doesn't strike me as the violent sort, at least. I cannot guarantee success but asking is unlikely to cause any harm. But the alternatives--of leaving this... 'contract' until you are in danger? I presume that is what would happen-?" (for Pride hadn't heard of, and didn't know about, any time limit on this thing;) "or actually trying to kill someone, these are not good alternatives, Tahi-shei."

Murder's bad, mkay.

Pride inclined his head.

"Very well. I will go and speak to him. Was he in Canis, still-?" he asked, flicking an ear in thought. "And would you rather remain here, or go with me?" He didn't want to put the child in trouble, but Tahi-shei was no longer a hatchling. Perhaps he'd made a mistake; but he was showing maturity, at least, in trying to clean it up. However that attempt was made. If he wanted to come with, Pride wouldn't stop him; it was his decision, in the end.