Tahi-shei opened his mouth and closed it again, deciding to let the topic of Masters drop. It didn't sound likely at all, not to him, but he didn't imagine it was smart to argue with a three-ton armor-plated kaijuu whose teeth were probably longer than his head. He nodded enthusiastically instead at Alpha's assertion that the goo could allow him to escape more easily. "Yeah! I don't always remember to cast 'em, though. Clearly." He laughed shyly, not actually aware that he'd tried to cast the spell on instinct and had failed.

"Umm," he started, realizing that Alpha probably didn't actually know how to use his element offensively, "I have thought about if there's something I can do with fungus to actually... fight things. I'm not very, erm, physically effective. Magic is pretty much the only thing I've got going for me. I guess once my antlers come in properly I can use those, and my hooves are reasonably strong, but magic makes me a lot stronger than I otherwise would be." He scuffed the ground lightly. "The only thing I can really think of is that spells like the frills pull from my own magic more than other things I cast, so maybe I could think of a way to make other fungus do the same thing? I'm not sure, though."


@orthoclase-alpha

A bit of mental math and... yup, teeth longer than the head. Maybe. That was perhaps an exaggeration. Still just as lethal in the "wrong" spot, of course. Anyways -

Regardless, at least the deer had some grasp on his magic? Moreso than Alpha did, anyways. Its quills flared once with the idle thought of should I learn that? Slippery magic was good to host, but the orthoclase was never known for being the one to flee from a challenge (except for that one time, because it wasn't stupid enough to run into a furious swarm of frenzied Batcats.) It grunted. Offense was a better means of escape. Incapacitate the foe so it can't chase you. Hooked claws came up to scratch at its chest, itching around the stone lying there, hidden from sight.

"Fighting with your hooves'll break your legs," it observed, staring at the twig-like things. Hell, standing there looked like it'd cause crumpling. Deer all had those odd barrel-shaped bodies. No stockiness to speak of. Alpha grumbled, at least, "antlers are good."

The orthoclase quit itching itself to settle back down into its sitting position, staring quietly down at Tahi-Shei. Drawing energy was too long-term, and it said as much: "takes too long." Virulent green eyes tilted off into some vague direction (it's best guess at Cetus's general way) before it continued, "I've watched Master Astraea kill Lessers with it." Alpha hesitated again - what if it's a mistake to suggest that? - but ultimately pressed on, "came out of them."

It looked back at Tahi-Shei, making a low theremin noise and openly insinuating that he "might be too weak to do that."

@Tahi-Shei

He flicked his ears a little bashfully at Orthoclase-Alpha's assertion that his legs would break. Yeah, that was probably true, actually. Still, he agreed with the second part of that statement -- his antlers would be effective, just. Not yet. It already looked like they were going to end up being pointier than Pride's, but in any case, Tahi-shei's neck was already one of the strongest parts of his body.

The spike followed his eyes in the vague direction of Cetus, but had no real way of knowing where it was really looking. He'd been to a very limited number of caves in his lifetime -- just Polaris and Orion (thus far). His ears pricked up. Tahi-shei had never heard of someone called Astraea, but his mind filled in the blanks that Overseer Alpha was leaving -- Masters rule the caves from a distance (he wasn't sure if he believed that), Astraea was a master, Astraea had fungal magic. Therefore, he had to be powerful, if he could keep all of the Gembound under his control. He thought about the proposition -- making fungus grow out of something?

A frown chiseled its way across his features. That... wasn't that much of a leap. Had Tahi really failed to realize that if he could cause fungus to grow out of himself, feeding off of his magic and life force, that he could also cause fungus to do the same to someone else? Then, Alpha continued--

"Might be too weak to do that."

The words struck something in Tahi-shei, like flint striking a stone. But the spark fell on brush like a wildfire, and he snapped back, "That's not very polite!" A beat. Tahi sighed, legitimately more ashamed of himself for snapping than worried that he'd be eaten. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me, to snap at you. I know really powerful Gembound, but as far as I've been told, all of them started at the same place. I have a lot of potential!" he asserted, genuinely believing this. "I just don't have the experience to back it up yet. That's why I was on my way to Polaris," he admitted. "For practice. But maybe this, uh... Master Astraea? That's what you said? Maybe they could help me... I mean, who better to learn magic from than someone who knows how to use it, right?"



@orthoclase-alpha

tahi: hey! that's the thing i'm sensitive about!

The Overseer rounded on Tahi-Shei immediately, quills bristling to half-mast in an instant. It lurched to its feet and moved to loom over the fawn (which wasn't very hard,) but didn't pursue him if he tried to escape. Talons curled into clumps of moss as it growled one low, yet sharp, note. Red alert. Alpha continued to glare down at him, but rolled its shoulder with a grumble, "even then.' Radioactive eyes relaxed somewhat, "the Masters are powerful. They have strong magic."

Strong enough that the creation of one practically destroyed their body and put them into a chrysalis.

But, that was something only it should really know? It hadn't even been a true witness to what happened by the altar. Shadows and chaos had hidden everything from sight, and no spoken word sounded like the common ones that invaded its mind. The orthoclase grunted and shook itself out. Best not to think about the deep-seated wrongness of that place, that ritual.

In any case, practice was good - Vargas, the Overseer, had praised that often. Self-training showed initiative, or something like that. Alpha nodded the affirmative, now instinctively-looking off towards the blue glow of Polaris. "He might help," but was practically audible in its pause, "I'm sure he's busy with other work. I don't know where you'd find him." Other work, like gathering up troops to take on Ursa, maybe. Hopefully not being a deer, but that wasn't Alpha's own thoughts.

It huffed. "Canis has mushroom-users, the Bonebound." It'd fought alongside them once, while it was half-grown. Now, it just acknowledged them occasionally in passing to hunt rats or go elsewhere in the caves. Whatever that war was for, Alpha didn't know - or remember; all it knew was that it was a war-band led by a Master. Its head swung towards the fawn, "there's a red bird with a white face, and a powerful spotted dog."

Pay no mind to the fact that it was convinced the spotted "dog" had reality-bending abilities. Hallucinogens were embarassing.

@Tahi-Shei

He jumped back with a start when Orthoclase reared up, instinctual fear taking hold in him for a stroke of a moment. Frills spiked up around his throat to protect it and he took a breath as the magic seeped out -- both of them settled at roughly the same time, and Tahi-shei was grateful that Orthoclase-Alpha seemed to have accepted his apology. The assertion that Masters were powerful didn't bother him, though. So was Pride. He was sure he could figure something out.

"Maybe someone else knows where he is," Tahi pondered. "But asking the Bonebound would probably be a better idea, since I wouldn't have to bother Master Astraea, right? Where's Canis? I've only ever been to Orion and Polaris," he admitted. "Is there a fast way to get there?"

@orthoclase-alpha

Alpha sniffed. Those frills smelled wretched - like every single variant of musk and bog possible. Its eyes narrowed in the closest approximation of disgust. The rest of Tahi-Shei smelled like that, too, now that it thought about it. Enough to deter any predator. Nostrils flared with a short huff.

"There's only one way there," it grunted, craning its neck with an idle stretch before tightening back up again, "the tunnel full of fog in Orion. There's no Lessers in it." In other words: can't miss it. The monstrous hybrid stared at him again. A few cycles ago, it might've managed to tell a half-joke - a fast way to get there would've been to run. Hah. A real knee-slapper from this thing. But, Alpha tacked on no comedic afterwords, just a dry "Canis is full of bones."

Y'know, in case the deer didn't pick that up from the group being called the Bonebound.

@Tahi-Shei

He considered that. "You mean the dark, shadowy one?" Tahi asked, a frown scrawling across his features. "I've always felt really weird trying to go in there. It feels... wrong, like it shouldn't really be there. I've never been able to stomach going more than a few steps in... but maybe it's worth it, to get better with magic." It was a primary goal of his. "Doesn't help that there's no plants in there." Then, a thought occurred to him.

"Oh! Are you from Canis? Or maybe you've just been lots more places than me. Exploring makes me kind of nervous. I'm not great at defending myself, clearly." Well, except those frills.


@orthoclase-alpha

The orthoclase's head dipped once. Can't miss it. "There's nothing in it," Alpha grumbled. No predators or unseen horrors, as far as it knew. All its mind could come up with was the strange and wrong branch of it, breaking off into a long trail of darkness and void-light. Its quills crawled with the thought. Being so close to the very embodiment of older magics -

"Are you from Canis?"

It shook its head, both clearing its mind and answering. "The tunnel leading through it to Hydra." Not to say it hadn't been around the Caves a few times; and that it hadn't already implied as much. Exploring and learning was more than half of what had made Alpha what who (no -) it was today. It just narrowed its eyes into a half-squint, sort of implying then get better at it.

@Tahi-Shei

"Oh, cool," Tahi-shei said lamely, looking at Orthoclase-Alpha a little less closely. As an awkward silence fell over them, no questions occurring based off of what little he'd been given (beyond the obvious what's Hydra like? to which he imagined he'd be lucky to get a three-word answer). This creature looked cool, looked dangerous, but was... not a very good conversationalist, and Tahi-shei worked best with words.

A few more moments of silence passed before he, as usual, broke it. "... I guess I'll, uh... leave now," he said, mostly just bored with the conversation. "Have a nice day." With a last look to Alpha to make sure that it wouldn't change its mind about eating him, he skittered back off towards Polaris.

Some magic practice struck him as the perfect way to round off this strange, strange start to his day.


@orthoclase-alpha
/exit tahi-shei

If Orthoclase-Alpha were to ever bite the dust and have a tombstone raised in its name (or lack thereof) a great many things could be etched as an epithet: Bane of Dragons; Conqueror of Mother; the Overseer; Consumer of Fruit; et cetera... Stellar Conversational Partner wouldn't be among them.

It was inevitable that things would taper off once Tahi-Shei stopped dedicating himself to shouldering most of the verbal weight (which was an accomplishment on Alpha's part.) Silence reigned for just as long as it took the deer to consider how to tie everything off, before he outright snipped the umbilical. A quick farewell - to with the orthoclase grunted dismissively - and he was off.

His hooves carried him in a direction towards Polaris. It, having eaten its fill of Lesser already, meandered the exact opposite way.

exit Alpha