I wanna know about these strangers like me

Cygnus had traveled quite the distance to get here, traversing streams and forests and the cold of Ursa. Eridanus was nice, and Polaris glowed so beautifully, but he'd arrived here, in Orion, and couldn't stop staring at the ceiling.

"... Pretty," he mumbled, the word feeling right on his tongue.

He stepped forward, head in the air, his hoof catching on a rock and sending him stumbling. Oops. He recovered and shook himself off, looking around to make sure no one had seen. That would have been embarrassing.

The fawn trotted off, legs a bit awkward as he made his way through Orion, lingering at the edge of the ruins, wary to go in alone.

As if summoned by the thought, a wisp popped up next to him, a soft pink and blue, the two colors mixing where they met and making purple. With it present, he walked forward, the light lingering at his side, offering comfort despite life not being present in it. Cygnus could pretend.

"... Hi," he said, his voice echoing, startling him, "Hello?"

He giggled softly and trotted forward, "Hello!!"

His voice echoed again, making him laugh harder. What a funny thing, echos!

Pride stepped forth carefully, ears pricking forward. He'd been about to head to Eridanus to feed, but the voice ahead--a child, by the sound of it, calling out in a friendly tone--diverted his path a little.

Curious, in a friendly manner (though half-lost in his own thoughts, as he so often was in recent days) Pride made his way toward the voice. "Hello?" he called out, in response, and then caught sight of the wisp. Behind it, a calf--a moose, he thought, or maybe a strange horse--trundling along, white as snow and seemingly carefree. It warmed his heart, a little, to see it. Innocence was a rarity in the caves, these days. "Ahh, hello. My name is Pride--I live here; do you need anything?" he asked. It as a friendly question, an offer, and not a demand; not a claim on the cave, or anything so distasteful.

As he drew a little closer he noted its vast size, which reinforced his guess at moose or horse--no mere deer would be so damn large, so damn gangly.

Cygnus thought Pride was an echo at first, until he heard the other voice and turned, facing the deer. He was nearly as tall, only about a foot off, as the other, his legs making up for most of his height. His ears were up and forward as he stared, and looked down at himself before looking at Pride.

Words were difficult, and he hadn't quite mastered them yet, so he spent a moment mulling them over, lips twitching.

"Hello," he said, his little wisp darting between his legs, floating above his head, "I Cygnus. I am Cygnus."

He slowly made his way forward and looked up at Pride's antlers, wondering if he'd someday have those. The deer in Cepheus had them, and this deer had them (and even better than those weirdos, this one could talk!).

"I uh... I am explore? Explore-ring," he said, stumbling over his words and struggling to figure out which ones were correct, but in the end he managed to get it somewhat.

Cygnus offered a little grin, a nervous little thing that made his lips twitch as his wisp darted back and forth, growing dimmer and brighter with his mood. Right now, it was a soft glow, nothing that would strain the eyes.

Pride blinked, somewhat surprised, at the little grin. It wasn't a gesture he generally associated with Gembound--bar the few humanoids he'd met--and he wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. But after a moment he inclined his head. A young one, he concluded, by way of its gangly legs and uncertain speech. New, if he was any judge, very new.

"Ahh," he began, and then hesitated. He'd warn the kid about the potential dangers in the cave, then--but hopefully without outright scaring him. "Well, it is good to meet you, Cygnus. I warn you that it can be a little dangerous in some places. But Orion, here--this cave--is generally safe. There is the tower, over there, if you wish to see it-" (and here, Pride nodded off toward it) "-and the Throne, back there, and that way there is an old... coliseum, arena sort of thing. A place where others gathered, a large empty place. And that way, there, there are old homes, if you'd like to take an empty one and live in it. But you will not find much food, here, or water," he warned, careful to speak very slowly for this last sentence, because the last thing he wanted was for a little (well, sort of) calf to starve. "There is a cave back that way, with lots of plants and water to drink, if you get hungry or thirsty."

He gave a little nod, one of welcome. "You are welcome to stay in this cave, of course, as long as you like. And if you need help, I often live near the Throne, the large--stone chair, sort of thing, back that way." He hoped Cygnus understood; it was a lot of words, he thought (even spoke slowly) for one so young.

Sigurd had taught him such a thing, to grin. It seemed to be a thing spreading across the caves, for even non-humanoids had picked up the trait.

Cygnus nodded solemnly, ”Danger birds. Big and white with many teeth with snake necks.”

Hellswans, of course. He'd watched them chase many a Gembound around, their wings flapping and their mouths opening all the way to their chests. In Cygnus' humble opinion, there was nothing worse than that. He'd nearly fainted seeing that for the first time, and was half the reason he'd fled Cepheus.

”I came from the castle!”, he said, ”I went through cold place to glowy crystal place to green place and then here!”

Cygnus turned to where Pride gestured and nodded wildly, ”Yes!! Green place!”

He wasn't too fond of it. His fur was thick and he only got hot and uncomfortable in the humid jungle of Eridanus. He was meant for the cold, like in Ursa.

He turned towards the Throne and craned his neck, trying to see, blowing a little raspberry as he saw very little, but did manage to spot the Tower.

”Um... thank you,” he said, having a small lisp at the moment, one he'd probably grow out of once his adult teeth grew in.