When Pride approached, it was with a brief bow of his own head, pale antler tines glinting in Orion's dim light.

"Tahi-shei. It is good to see you. What-" he began, but the other was already launching into a barrage of information, and a question. "-What is that on your head?" he asked, when the other deer had finished.

He stood a few yards off, slender white legs primly together beneath him, looking curiously at the crown. At once he guessed that perhaps it was the 'crown' that the Collector had offered, which meant, of course, that--if true--Tahi-shei had delivered the price. A dead body, undecayed, Pride remembered, worriedly.

Half his mind was already pondering the bit about Mother. It was dangerous stuff--he knew, he'd fought it before. ...Rather uselessly, in fact. He was running over, in his mind, who of the Seven might be available to combat it. Comet? James? Was Reign around, anywhere? -Would their magics be of use, even, against fungus? ...Hmm.

The other half of his mind was wondering where Tahi-shei had gotten a body, if he had at all.

Pride blinked and shook his head briefly at Tahi-shei's initial response. "Ah, I hadn't--thought it to be Mother." Truth be told, it hadn't even occurred to him--unwise, perhaps. But he'd known about the 'crown,' so... "What happened?" he asked, his tone both concerned and hushed, brow a little furrowed.

He was a protector; unasked-for violence was abhorrent. More than that, anyone he'd known to have to kill--to defend themselves or others--had wound up traumatized. He was worried for Tahi-shei's state, especially given that the deer seemed to shunt the event aside in favor of being all business. But Pride understood; he knew the deer was very unlikely to be so pressed for time that he could not talk about something personal. No; he was pushing it away, and Pride, in asking, was showing concern. He wanted to know.

To know if Tahi-shei was all right; that much was in his tone. To know if whoever had attacked was someone he had known. To know... what was going on, really.

He did not yet even respond to the rest, yet, his first focus clearly the personal one.

An alligator? Pride's heart rate ticked up a notch. Tahi-shei hadn't killed their ally, Dragon, had he-? And that 'survival of the fittest' sounds precisely like him, the stag thought grimly. The alligator seemed brutish, but beneath it his actions, at least, put family and loyalty first, even the safety of others. "It wasn't Dragon, was it-? Large, scarred, dark--ahh, blackish?" he asked, hesitantly. But there was something else to address, here, and Pride winced some. He believed Tahi-shei's version of events out of implicit trust in the younger deer, had no reason to doubt him; but consequences were what they were, and he offered a quiet warning. "Be wary about being drawn into vengeance, Tahi-shei. If that creature was truly posing an immediate threat, then you did the right thing--but killing on a 'maybe' will haunt you. Try... talking, first. If you can convince someone-... Killing will haunt you. Deaths will follow you. If it had friends, they may find out who did it. But conscience alone, right and wrong--you cannot simply kill based on words," he added, a brief wince crossing his features.

Pride had killed, and aimed for death in others--the bones across the Throne were a testament to that. But it wasn't something that left one easily. He spoke from experience. Nightmares revisited him. Constant doubts--had he done the right thing?--plagued him. The worry that he was slipping too far, too easily, into violence dogged him every minute of every day. Nassir had tried to speak to him on it, but Nassir was dead, now; Pride's words, then, were those of gentle, sorrowful past knowledge, and not an empty lecture. There was a wistfulness in his tone, a haunted look in his pale eyes, that attested to this.

That wasn't to say violence wasn't sometimes warranted--and even the right answer. Fewer would have suffered if Blackberry had just died, sooner rather than later. He would have felt little regret at that. But he knew little of how much Tahi-shei had tried to avoid it--had the other deer tried to talk that one down? To show the reptile he'd killed a better way, first..? To befriend him? It didn't sound like he'd been under immediate attack, but... Pride would not, could not, judge.

As for Mother... "Regarding the fungus-... Is Vargas working with Astraea?" It was, perhaps, a strange first question on the topic, but the stag's expression had turned thoughtful.

After what had happened to Temperantia, he was far less likely to jump in without information. But perhaps Temperantia themselves would hold interest in this.

'Piebald. White all over.' A slight sigh of relief escaped through Pride's nostrils, at this. And another, along with a slow, sombre (and understanding) nod, at Tahi-shei's assurance that the kill had been a one-time thing.

Silver eyes drifted again to the disgusting crown, and Pride wondered at it. A brief, unwelcome memory came to him--Reseda's lifeless body, freshly-broken and still steaming, and the Collector appearing as if out of nowhere. His voice oily, his movements sleek, as he came to collect the golden collar fixed to the reptile's neck--as if he'd known. As if he'd been watching. Was he watching, even now-? Waiting for Tahi-shei to fall, to come and reclaim his little treasure?

Pride tried not to think about it.

He lightly cleared his throat, nodding again as if to acknowledge the topic truly moving on. "I must have words with Astraea, at some point. We--the Seven, that is--cannot work with him until then. He tricked one of our people" (and here the white stag's voice even cracked, a little) "into being severely harmed. They are... ranting, burnt. Maddened," he added, ears sagging and voice faltering, a little. There are too many things-... He looked up at Tahi-shei again, raising his head and trying to gather himself, some. "So Vargas is gathering others up to hunt down what remains of the fungus, I assume. I begin to wonder if it is even truly 'bad.' Temperantia spoke of it warmly, and is now... damaged. Full of hate, thanks to Astraea's treachery. I wonder if there are any heroes in this tale," Pride added grimly.

He shook his head. "I suppose that is left to us. I will speak to the others. Do you know what the plan is, exactly; or what it is that must be done?"

Pride's ears pricked forward, brow furrowing a little in some confusion as Tahi-shei began to tell him of Mother and its effects. "Ahh--no, I know. Hrm, it occurs to me that you do not know of my history with it--forgive me, I thought that was why you sought me out. No; I have fought it before. We had a battle, in Cetus--a large gathering of us brought to fight it, prior. That is how I met Temperantia--and they, like you, were cleansed of it since. Yet they spoke of it highly afterward, unlike you. I imagine they lived with it longer, but they seem unharmed by the experience, at least." Pride paused, thinking. "Not all took it so well. I know that at least one of them was immediately drawn into a violent rage upon being freed." Pride wasn't really paying attention to Tahi-shei's eyes; he saw nothing of a war prince or general or really anything else. His mind was on the topic at hand, mulling it over, debating.

Debating subverting himself to the Master's wishes. Debating trusting their word on this--on anything, now that he knew what they were like.

No-... No, he would not do that. Not again. But could he stand aside at a threat to the caves? Was it a threat, even..? Were these all lies from the Masters' tongues?

Pride exhaled, at length, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts, eyes focusing back on Tahi-shei. "I cannot serve one of them in good conscience. I will offer my aid, but not to be assessed or commanded. If Vargas can accept that, very well. If not, then he can do without my help. And if Astraea becomes involved, I cannot guarantee my decision--I will need to take that as it comes." Pride paused, eyeing Tahi-shei thoughtfully, the closest thing to a frown on his stag's face as he could physically manage. "If you wish, I will work with you to learn this magic, but understand that I cannot guarantee help. It depends on what happens. I do not want to... falsely represent myself as a sure ally, and waste your time. If that is acceptable to you, then by all means, teach; if it is not then I will let any Seven I run into know what you are looking for, and leave the personal decisions to them."