Tenzin lay quiet in the icy water. He was pleased, having watched the sickly one metamorphose into a healthy gembound once again--but saddened by the changes to the stag. It left his mind melancholy, remembering... other things.

Pride's questions drew him from his thoughts, and he spoke softly. "I will stay," was all he said. He doubted he could stay for long, but rest was not urgent, just yet.

Pride let out a quiet laugh, and forced himself to speak past the painful haze of sickness that clouded him.

"Amazon, if the urge to wander has taken you--by all means, wander. You are not abandoning me; I fear for your safety, if anything." He bowed his head to her, a little. "Go and explore Pisces, then--and if you wish to go farther, just let me know, yes? I will make it back myself just fine, after a rest."

To Tenzin he offered another dip of his antlers--this one in gratitude. "Thank you. I imagine I will sleep, before long, but the company meanwhile is appreciated--as is your aid. I am in your debt, should there ever be a way for me to repay you."

Deeply so, he felt.

@Amazon

Amazon nodded and stepped forward. She reared up and placed her claws on the side of Pride's neck, pressing her nose against his white fur. "Thank you, Pride. I don't know how I could ever make it up to you." She stayed like that for a moment before she set herself back down and backed away.

Now the urge to go and explore, to see, it gripped her too hard. She turned and scuttled away, faster then she had run in her life, intent on seeing everything she could before returning.

*exit

@Pride

Pride watched her go, and a strange sense of contentment and well-being settled over him. The sick one was--for the moment, anyway--healed; though there was the bittersweet melancholy that it was not forever, it was still for now, and he was glad.

Slowly he looked back to Tenzin, bleary-eyed, his breathing heavy and his head low. He wasn't sure how long he could remain awake--but he asked the things that he could ask, while he could.

"If I may ask you--I have heard you are one of the Elders? How old are you, do you know? Do you know how you came into being, or... if these caves, and those in it, were created with some purpose? And--" and here he paused, taking a breath, struggling to remember what else he'd wanted to ask, should he ever meet another Elder. Ahh, yes! "I had met another--... Another ancient bird, I believe. It called itself the Three Kings, and it seemed very kind; it seeks a way out of the cave. Is there a way out? A way for it to free itself? -If you know, of course. I apologize if I seem... pushy. I just do not know how much longer I can remain awake."

Tenzin listened with quiet solemnity, but some part of him was glad. This diamond was a curious one--sharp, but kind. But its questions, though Tenzin held some of the answers, were... dangerous. Of course, the diamond could not have known this, Tenzin reflected.

Carefully, he weighed his words, icy eyes resting on the stag's sickened form. He feared saying too much.

"I am ancient--but much of that time was spent at rest. I can tell you that it has been many, many cycles," he trilled at last. "I believe," he went on, and here his phrasing grew very careful, "that the caves were created for a purpose. The Kings were not a part of that," he continued, his subject change subtle but deliberate.

A faint twinge of pity. The lies inflicted upon the captive Kings... Tenzin sighed softly. "Perhaps there is a way for it, though it has not yet been found."

Pride listened with a mirror of Tenzin's solemnity, quiet and respectful. He noted, even in his foggy state, that the phoenix's answers were very vague--but perhaps he did not know the truths.

He nodded, a little, at the end.

"Well--I thank you. I hope that the bird can, one day, fly free. Or birds, as it were. And I thank you further for Amazon's borrowed time." He turned, looking to where the lizard had scampered off to. It was good, at least, to see her out of pain.

"I gladly take the cost, of course, but this is nothing compared to the price of a life. I did not know such a magic existed. If you ever find yourself able to teach it, I would-... I would..." Pride felt faint, his vision clouding grey at the edges, and he felt his head jerk lower without his realizing that it had begun to sunk.

"You have my gratitude," he managed in a murmur, before his chin dropped to his knees, and he lost consciousness. He would sleep there, for a time--and recover as best he could.

exit Pride

The phoenix watched quietly. The diamond had drifted off, its consciousness lost--but Tenzin felt warmed by the Gembounds' kindness toward one another. This was, he felt, a good thing.

Quietly he lifted up from the water, his wings beating twice, the ice crystals shifting and drifting with a shimmering of magic. Ice crystals floated down to land on the stag--and they were not the insulating blanket of snow that Tenzin had hoped.

They were very shiny, and as the ice phoenix allowed himself to sink back into Pisces' depths, he noted that they were not at all unlike diamonds.