James stood in the center of Canis with his wings ruffled and his braided mane and tail(something he'd began to do as they started to get longer), frayed and blown around. He looked tired.

"Collector?", he asked, voice raspy, "I've done as you asked- I told as many people as I was able to. Group leaders or members who could pass on knowledge."

He stood stiffly, ears pinned, not wanting to be here longer than he had to. Maybe he should have just found someone with hands to try and craft him something. Caves he was tired...

Ahh, and here was James, at last.

The horse-turned-pegasus, the Collector had found, kept hilariously questionable company. Was it naievety, or was the winged steed more sinister than he let on-? For all of Algol's strengths, he was no mind reader; he truly didn't know. What he did know was that, if it were the former, it would be hilarious to toy with.

For example, take Tahi-shei. The young deer had made the claim that his kill had been made in self-defense--but had it? No. The alligator his friend, Aran, had stumbled over had merely nipped him, and then Aran had--rather than speak, or apologize, or the like--struck out for a kill, lashing the reptile with cruel sickness through his magic again, and again, and again. Aran had refused an answer, but aimed for devastation and Elias-? Well, Elias had thrust with a tail, or head, avoiding damaging either herbivore--trying, even to speak to them--until it had been too late. Until he'd been left with no choice.

And when Tahi-shei found him again..? Perhaps Tahi-shei had been ignorant of Aran's repeated attacks--they were, after all, invisible to the naked eye! Either way, Elias had tried to tell him a truth: that the alligator had not aimed for a kill, would not aim for a kill, as neither deer had been Lessers. Food.

In response, blinded by greed and desire, Tahi-shei had killed him. Not once during their final battle had Elias tried to drag Tahi down, and kill him in turn. No; it had been lashes of tail and head, a self-defense attempt without teeth or crushing jaws. And Tahi-shei... had killed him.

Glorious! The young deer's capacity for self-deception, for cruelty, for compartmentalization, was admirable.

This reward, then, was a gift of truth: a truth James might already know, if Algol were very wrong. Or a truth that perhaps he wouldn't want. One he might reject. The Collector did not care; all he knew was that this would be hilarious.

"Ahh, James. Thank you. With luck, others will be the safer now for it," and here another ignorance revealed: he was unaware as yet of Aristotle's accidental demise. "As promised, I have had time to fulfil my end of the bargain."

The Collector stepped out from behind a pile of bones, carrying what looked, indeed, like an enormous sling: leather, durable and shining with fresh oil. Its withering into true, black Oil had been held short by his own magic: preservation, separation, a touch of illusion, a hint of light. And now the sling was ready, a gleaming patchwork of rich brown-green and sparkling white. He would tell James nothing of it; it would be far more fun to let the horse uncover the leather's source himself.

Its magic was latent, for now, but it would show itself once James had left this place, he didn't doubt. Soon.

He couldn't wait.

"Will this do?" was all he'd asked, hoping that James hadn't been told of Elias' color. That he wouldn't know until, perhaps, Tahi-shei saw it--or the memories became too clear.

Identified Item!

James has received an identified item from The Collector!

2★ A Pretty Bag A large leather sling made of piebald alligator skin. Cursed.

☆☆★★ ★ ★ A Pretty Bag An enormous leather bag, sling-shaped and designed to sit across a pegasus' flanks, to carry his young. Created from fine piebald-patterned alligator leather, forming an attractive rich brown-green and white play of colors. ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 20 DURABILITY: 40 SPECIAL: (CURSED): The bearer of the bag relives memories from the last moments of the gembound Elias, from his perspective: from here and here; occasionally other memories, as well. MATERIAL: Alligator Leather (Enchanted) ATTACK: N/A ADDED: N/A DEFENSE: 5 WEIGHT: 25 EQUIP: Carried Currently owned by: James

@James

James stared at the Collector, ears pinned, "... It will."

He walked forward and snatched it in his teeth, feathers puffed up angrily as he tossed it to the ground carelessly, "I don't trust you. Not one bit."

He turned to the Collector and snorted, stamping a foot, "This better not be enchanted. I don't want it to be. I want it to carry my child and that's it. I don't want it to lighten a load- I will carry what I can and suffer the aches and pains that come with overburdening myself."

He stared down the creature and nudged it forward, "Now tell me. Is this enchanted?"

If it was, he wouldn't take it. He didn't want it. Not after what the Collector had given his daughter, and not after what the Collector had made Tahi do. He was currently very angry at a lot of people, and he didn't want to end up doing something stupid.

"... I know about enchanting," he said, "Items that can be magically blessed to do things- kind things. You keep saying that these all have drawbacks. So I don't want an enchanted, magical item."

He may be naive and far too trusting for his own good, but he wasn't completely stupid, at least.

"Enchanted?" Oh so innocent, that tone. Surprised, even. "Ahh, I did offer to lighten the burden, did I not? -No, I did not add such magics. An entirely mundane leather sling, I can assure you. Ah, and on an entirely unrelated note? James..?"

Slickly-oiled voice, and now the Collector stepped swiftly forward--one step, to close the distance further, towering over and staring intently at James. "You speak of trust. A warning: be careful to whom you lend your own. Your claim that you distrust me, which I might add is terribly rude after all I have done for you and yours--but I forgive you... for I know from whence that comes. Tahi-shei, or am I wrong-? Perhaps you ought to know, his tale to you is not as he claims. The one he killed... Tsk. It was not trying to kill him. He attacked it first; and it did not strike at him with its teeth in that battle. Not even once."

A sad, sad sigh, as the Collector stood back and away once again. "In fact, he and that other deer had attacked it, to begin with. Trampled it, struck it with magic... In the end, I believe its last words were an assurance that it would only hunt and harm Lessers." A thin smile, then, no teeth, nothing showing beneath the hood but it certainly was audible. "Such strange company you keep, James. Perhaps you ought to level that distrust in other directions."

"Or perhaps I am wrong, and you are not as kind and innocent as you seem. But in any case, Tahi-shei's gained in power. His victim did not go to waste."

A shrug, and then the Collector merely waited--no mysterious vanishing or the like--as if to offer James a chance to speak his piece. If indeed he had one.

@James

"Trampled... Tahi used the words, 'accidentally stepped on'," he grumbled, "If you wish for me to trust you, then I'd love it if you were to stop speaking in riddles. Tell me what's going on in plain, flat wording, with no subtle undertones, no reading between the lines. I know Tahi killed Elias. Because Elias chrysalized his friend, and because you threatened him- if this is all just a big misunderstanding or whatever, from both sides or not, then fine. But I don't appreciate it when people try to meddle in the going-ons of my life. I've got enough problems from it alone, I don't need some outside influences trying to make it harder."

James rubbed his face again, "And you don't get to tell me who or what I distrust. I distrust your magical items and for good reason! Half the things you listed to my daughter had names with body parts in them- whether literal or no- and had drawbacks worse than their benefits. A necklace that when worn, causes you to turn everything to ice- I caught that. If she touched me, I would have been frozen. And that necklace- the possibility to cause a monsoon. You, kind sir, sell misery."

"Goodbye, Collector," he said, bitterness in his voice as he looped the sling around his neck and turned, making off towards home again.

Exit unless stopped.

"The lesson on 'who you should trust' will be a difficult one to learn," the Collector replied, a shrug to him. Who was telling the truth? -Himself, really, more than Tahi-shei but James could trust neither of them in the end.

Tahi-shei and Algol were just two little peas in a pod. Out for themselves; and damn the consequences. The difference was that the deer struggled to convince himself of his lies, and the Collector... well, everyone had to have their fun. As James turned to go, the Collector's parting words were simple ones:

"I only sell precisely what is asked for."

And a murmur, as James' tail faded out of sight: "...Most of the time."

@James (purely for visibility)