Tahi laughed bitterly. "Did I ever tell you where I got that, James? Do you even know?" He doubted it. "The Collector. He calls this the Crown of the Fungal Prince. And you know what? If he hadn't said that, I doubt I would've even taken the deal in the first place." He scoffed. "Prince of the Fungal Element. It reeks of deception, but I had no way to know that at the time. I just... ugh. I was talking to the Queen of Lies, and I realized, hey, maybe don't give her your real name, that kind of feels like a bad idea. So I made it up, just like he did, I'll bet. I took the name for myself and then I called myself that 'cause it was just easier to hide behind, to-- to be the Fungal Prince. It's a title with blood on it, James. Caves -- please, don't call me that. Not you. I refuse to keep dragging you down."

He was already shaking his head as James continued. "No, no -- I don't want you to get involved any more than you have to, James, please. I don't-- this is making a deal with the devil. I know that, and it terrifies me. Please. Stay who you are. Don't become--" He managed a shaking breath. "Don't become like me. You are the legacy of Pride and the Seven, you and Comet and everyone you touch. You are so incomprehensibly kind and I will not let you dirty yourself with Draco and all the dangerous things I'm delving into. I can't let you hurt yourself, James. I can't let you... be corrupted." Hah. Irony.

Tahi-shei refused to admit that, somewhere, deep inside, he'd felt more than just fear. He'd felt jealousy at the thought of another random design rising up. James... James was so much better than him. He was beautiful and strong and kind -- he could see.

"If you try to go too deep, my love, you'll get yourself killed." James was too strong. He would look at the atrocities of the past and he would reject them, and he would test the wrong Master's patience. He would become a failed design like all the rest -- the thought made Tahi-shei's stomach churn. "You are too... pure for all of this. It will get you killed."

@james

James was quiet through Tahi's explanations, his wing remaining where it was, his brows furrowed.

"I had... suspected," he mumbled, "Back in Canis, when I had my... temper tantrum."

He was still horribly ashamed of himself for that.

"I saw the crown fused to your head and I had feared that you'd made a mistake," he said softly, "Everything seems to happen when we're young and gullible, doesn't it? Things that ruin the cycles meant to be the only childhood we get, that force us to look over our shoulders and put up walls to keep people out."

James was quiet, for a time. So, so quiet. Sadness ebbed off of him and he finally just sighed.

"Do you really think I have a legacy?", he asked softly, "I came to the Seven for protection, and Pride trained me so that I could protect others, and I'm not. I'm running away like I always have. If I had a legacy I'd run away from that too."

He shook his head and smiled bitterly, "No. The Seven's legacy rests with Jampa, Pride's daughter. I'm a nobody, Tahi, and you're right. I would get myself and others killed."

And he had. Ari. Not that he wasn't a bad person, but did he deserve death? No. No he didn't.

"... Just promise me that you won't get yourself killed," he said, "That you're at least being careful."

He glanced to the crown and could almost see the weight of it on the deer's neck.

@Tahi-shei

Tahi frowned. "So did I, James. I grew up in the Seven, trailing at Pride's heels. I wanted to join them, too, you know? But now I've got blood on my hooves, and I'm here trying to start a war against Mother. You're helping us and that means you're protecting them, but I'm the one leading this incursion. I brought that upon myself, you know? I told them to look to me, not the Master. If I mess up, if someone dies, then this is on me." He sighed.

"You have plenty of legacy, James. If Pride were to drop dead tomorrow, who you think would lead them? You would. Who else? The Seven in general don't do much anymore, but they're always ready to rise against a threat." He frowned. "... Except this one, but that's... mostly because I'm aligning with a Master and Pride isn't so sure about Astraea." He shook his head. "But I think you're misunderstanding me, James."

He met his eye as best he could, even though he couldn't really see him anymore. "When Master Vargas told me of the bones in Canis, he tried to trick me. He was proving a point, of course. I heard someone in the darkness, begging desperately for help. I could call it magic, but Vargas told me himself -- he exploited the kindness of the Gembound in eras past. The soft ones, the loving ones, the ones like you and me? They were the rebels. The ones who looked cruelty in the face and denied it met their end because of it. They killed them, killed children because they looked wrong. I know my heart, James. I'm a coward who fears my own demise. I would have done as I was told because death was a great enough threat to me. But you would have never been able to stand still and watch someone you loved be struck down because they happened to fail a test."

Tahi-shei frowned. "I do not know how much of this Master Vargas has kept. I know he thinks that we're weak and meaningless; I also know that he's bought us time to prove ourselves, and has put his own neck on the line on our behalf. He says that he is the reason we're still alive, and I believe him. The fact that you would get yourself killed is a good thing, James. Because it means you are good, and you are filled with love, but I do not even know if Master Vargas knows the meaning of the word."

He sighed then, his ears flicking back. "I wish I could say that I were good enough to fight that, good enough to distance myself, good enough to try and stand up to what I thought was wrong, but I am not. I am a selfish coward who wants to learn more and fears dying; I know that Masters have power over me, and I yield to them in the hopes that it'll keep the people I love living. You are better than me, James. You always have been."

Tahi-shei had thought at length about Ursa. He knew that Mother had great warriors, dragons and such. He knew that she probably had more tricks up her sleeve. He knew that there was a great risk of some getting infected in the fight, or getting injured, or returned to stone. He'd made a promise to be there for his soldiers even if it killed him. But even now, he wasn't sure if he would be. Even now, he could not speak to the future -- because he was not sure if his loyalty to his word would outweigh the fundamental desire to keep living.

@james

James huffed softly and looked away, "Well, to be fair... my first cycle, Astraea had Pride gather up all the groups and lone gembound to tell them to give up their children to be child soldiers. He made such a terrible point and expected us to just go, 'Ah yes, this makes sense, let us all send our children, who we love and cherish, to die.'"

He shook his head and looked down for a moment. He'd never met Fireheart or Nassir, friends of Pride and wonderful, talented individuals who'd given up their lives for those who had survived the recent Hydra massacre. The eulogy his teacher had given had been heartfelt and he had no doubt that one of them would have stepped up to take Pride's place, but they were dead.

It was him or Reign now, the only adults aside from Comet to take that place should Pride somehow meet his end. Would Pride choose him? Maybe.

"Maybe he'd choose me," he said, "I'd certainly try my best to live up to him. Caves... you're right."

James listened to Tahi speak of Vargas, tail swishing. Hmph, perhaps Vargas wasn't inherently bad, but doing bad things for the greater good still didn't make you a good guy. Just... less evil.

"I am not better than anyone," he insisted, "But when you go to fight, I'll give you something to remember."

He looked Tahi dead in the eyes, his amber gaze like molten lava, "You are only crippled when you lose hope. As long as you keep fighting, keep walking, then all is not lost. And if you die, Tahi... I'll find you once I am dead and gone too and kick your ass."

James stepped forward to nip at Tahi's ear, as if to tweak it playfully, "Selfish as you may be, you aren't as selfish as you may think. For what kind of selfish person would be able to love another? To give to another?"

@Tahi-shei

His ears laid back. Maybe Astraea was more of a Master than he'd initially thought -- from everything he'd heard, it was certainly sounding like it, and Tahi-shei decided that he really needed to have a conversation with him. It was harsh, breaking news like that to everyone. Who was to say that there wouldn't be Gembound trying to fight Astraea because of it? Certainly, he wasn't very popular.

Maybe I can be his public relations advisor, Tahi-shei mused, stifling a laugh so he didn't break the serious mood of the interaction with James.

Tahi looked in James's direction as he delivered a speech, looking askance. "But James... I made a promise to those Gembound, didn't I? What choice would I be expected to make in that moment? If someone were about to be killed or captured--? I could save my own skin, but that's... that's as good as letting them die, and I'd never let myself live it down. In the same breath, how can I protect the ones that I love if I'm dead myself?" How can I let you live with that grief?

He wilted. "I don't know what I'd do. I don't even know what the right decision is." He refused to ask James to make that decision, though -- refused to put it on his conscience. Not that he wouldn't take the advice if it were to be offered outright.

@james

James stared at Tahi-shei, mouth down-turned. He didn't know what to say.

"... I know," he mumbled, ears down, "... Or I guess I don't. You'll have to make that choice if it comes. If. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best, right?"

He offered a shaky smile, his wings drooping. It fell after a moment and he felt tears welling up.

"I'm scared," he admitted, "Scared for you. Scared for everyone going to fight Mother, risking their lives and their free will for the good of the caves. I-I don't want anyone to die!"

He sniffed and wiped his eyes, ears down as he wrapped his wings around himself for comfort. He wished he could help and fight but they had children who needed him to stay put and stay alive. He could only hope that they won.

@Tahi-shei

"I don't want anyone to die either," Tahi-shei admitted, resting his chin on James. "If I have anything to say about it, we will all walk out of there. Us and the others who she's taken, too." Tahi-shei was unaware that one could only be cleansed in the first two stages of Mother infection, and was operating under the assumption that he was capable of purging the others, too -- if only because it had obviously been done before.

He sighed. "But if I had said no, well, Master Vargas probably would have killed me. He didn't exactly give me a choice." Not that he'd have taken it if he had. "This is a fight I think is worth it, my love. But I hope that I come out on the other side of it." He had so much to fight for. So much to live for. Tahi-shei did not want to die.

But he was prepared to, if it meant his loved ones would be safe again.

@james

James nodded solemnly and went quiet. He didn't want to think about the battle anymore, but it was all his brain would focus on.

"I completed the trial to become powerful enough to protect my family," he mumbled, "So no matter what happens, I will make for sure and certain that not one spore touches them. I did not succeed to fail them or you."

Even if Tahi died, he would do everything to ensure their family would remain safe. He swore it.

@Tahi-shei

Tahi lingered a moment longer before pulling away and pulling himself to his hooves. "Alright! Enough gloom and doom, I imagine. I think we both need a rest now, hm? Why don't we head back to Pegasus?" At least that way, Tahi-shei could continue on his trail without feeling like he'd abandoned James.

He sort of needed the time -- as he angled his head in the direction of the Rift again, he flicked an ear. "I'm willing to bet that whatever this is, it'll still be here tomorrow."

/exit tahi-shei unless stopped
@james

James nodded, "Fantastic idea."

He stretched out much like a cat, hooves extended in front of him and wings tilted up. He groaned and shook himself out as he stood back up, stiff from standing still for so long.

"Most likely," he sighed, turning to head towards the tunnel to Leo, "Homeward bound..."

He was tired all of a sudden, emotionally so. It was going to be a long walk back...

@Tahi-shei
Exit