(backdated to a week or so after Cry Havoc)

Tahi-shei had avoided Ursa for several days after the Raid, and only then, he had only returned to his usual rounds with an escort through the wastes (though they'd split off since). He had grown restless, even in such a short time, and had refused to let himself simmer in his own self-pity. He was a creature who needed to be in motion -- needed to be moving. Now, though, he was in Orion, and he was alone.

For the first time in a while, he had stopped, alone and wholly silent, as he stood there on the cliffs. It was the first place he ever stood, he was certain of it -- even without being able to see the stars, he could see the whitecaps. Some ancient instinct and memory had drawn him back here as he stood. Perhaps the shards of stone he sensed around him were pieces of his own ametrine chrysalis, left here by time? Or, perhaps, they had long since been snatched away by golems and red mice, leaving these cliffs empty of any trace of him save the fungus he'd spawned in taking his first steps.

This was home, in some ways. In others, it was the very antithesis. He had started his round here, met James here, ventured out to the wide world of these caves from there. His white, glazed-over eyes were tilted upwards as though he were watching the stars -- guided by gentle magic, where he had first felt it, he urged fungus to sprout where he stood. It was an alien, foreign thing -- not his usual whitecaps, guided by passive magic, but proud and spindly blue-purple fruiting bodies coincidentally similar in shape to the symbol written upon the Black Spire.

They were poisonous when they were immature, in weaker and more faltering casts, but these were tall and proud and edible. He did not eat them, though. He let his eyes close for a moment as he breathed in the stuffy cave air -- it was humid, today. Orion was not an especially wet cave, but he could smell that something like a storm was brewing. The spores were flourishing in the slightly-Springtime air, especially from the recently-created fruiting bodies, and the air was heavy enough with them that he could see. Unbeknownst to Tahi-shei, he would soon be expecting company.

It had taken her time to find him.

It had taken her longer to find him alone.

Now he stood, the prince upon his precipice, gazing blindly out over a dead and empty kingdom. Ahh, but his creators were careless things: one who cared nothing for them, the other who cared only for the idea of them. Neither of them saw the truth; that the all was formed by the many. No crystal was, in its strength, alone; it was a pattern of matrices and points, an ordered formation of points creating a multi-planed thing of shining beauty. Was it ignorance or arrogance that had shaped them around such crystals?

These were philosophical thoughts, though, and she turned her attention now to the task at hand; ruminations could come later.

Fungus was a background noise, in the caves. It would be rare to find a Lesser not harboring a little fungus, or a lot of bacteria; but once this particular Lesser stepped forward from the shadows and moved for the cliffs, it might gain Tahi-shei's notice.

It came closer, and she was cautious as to the range. She guided it near enough for its voice to carry but, she hoped, far enough that Tahi-shei could not reach it, yet. See it, certainly--a rat-shaped ball of glowing white against the cave backdrop--but not yet touch it, no.

Its voice was a perfect imitation of Gembound speech, but she made no attempt to disguise the Echoing Gray as an actual Gembound. It stopped, instead, and sat upright, and any natural vision (could it see so far) would have noted the rangy gray coat, the skinny body, the empty eyes. Alas, this was denied to the young deer, courtesy of his cruel masters.

"Tahi-shei," the Gray called out, her voice projected through it. Her will guided its words, shaped its mouth, pushed air through its throat. "I would speak to you." Would he listen-? "I invite you to meet me in Ursa, alone. Warn those you wish, to wait, to cleanse you as you leave. I will not bring you to me by force." Would he let her get these words out, through the rat? Or would he strike before she could continue? "We would share with you the truths withheld by your masters. You are too bright a star to serve as their ignorant pawn. They have blinded you more than you know."

The throat of the Gray could replicate any sound; and right now, its voice held sorrow.

@Tahi-shei

His head snapped around when the fungus-infested creature drew close. Blind, empty eyes looked directly at it, his ears laying back. "You," he said, tone bitter and filled with disgust. Then, the creature began to speak -- and, ah. Alright, that was clever, using one of the Echoing Grays to deliver a message. One of her unwitting Lesser slaves, slaves as she was to vile Order. Slaves as he was to Entropy and Chaos.

The stag was on high alert, magic primed to lash out should the rat get closer -- but, perhaps unexpectedly, he waited for the rat to finish its little speech. Mother was persuasive, he had to give her that -- but, then, she had been inside his head, once. She had known him intimately, known exactly what words she could say to pique his interest. Tahi-shei hated that it was, in all honesty, working.

His sightless eyes narrowed. "It was not my Masters who blinded me, Mother." The word felt vile on his tongue, but it wasn't as though she had a better name, at least not to his knowledge. "It was my own ambition and greed." Still, her words bounced around in his mind as he stared silently at the Gray.

"If you mean me no harm," he began, voice more unsure than he'd meant it to be, "then why ask me alone? You would be a fool not to take me or kill me. And you are not a fool." He took a half-step back, not forward. He was not making a threat, not really. They both knew he was going to kill this rat when he was done listening anyway.

Not that she couldn't eradicate a group, of course. The Raid had proven that. He raised his chin slightly, forcing his breath to come even. "I cannot trust you. These caves were built to make soldiers who were meant to destroy your Hive." His stone heart seemed to be in his throat -- was he really trying to negotiate with this? What would Vargas think--? "You will need to provide an expression of good faith, Mother."

Tahi-shei seemed to find a bit of confidence as he considered Giggle and Wyvern. "Free those who fell in our assault. Let them leave their chrysalises and your cave untouched by your fungus. The Boneseer Giggle and the Dragonkin -- and anyone else who might have stayed. They have families, children. If you are truly a mother as you claim to be, let them return to them unharmed, both by your soldiers or by your fungus." Tahi-shei sighed, sincerely regretting his next words before he even spoke them. "If they emerge untouched and unharmed, at least by you, then I will meet you. Do we have a deal?"

Ahh... So that is what the bird has been seeking?

The Echoing Gray remained eerily still and silent as Mother contemplated. She'd seen the vulture circling back and forth, through her Many Eyes; he'd clearly been looking for something. But the tunnels in which Giggle and Wyvern had fallen were not frequented by her Children, and their gemstones had gone unnoticed. It was perhaps for the best that Nemo had not found them: for if he had, he'd have undoubtedly drawn her attention to them, and then... well, Tahi-shei's request would have come far too late.

Of course, this was not something she was about to reveal to him. But she would need to search for those stones, now; if he did not come to visit her, the hyena would be a strong second choice option. That one had fought her children in Cetus; it had even been clever enough to take some of the fungus and communicate with her, and with its limited (and admittedly very basic) sentience, through that alone.

"Soldiers...? Hive? No... that much is untrue." Puzzled silence. Where had he gotten those ideas..? Hm. They could discuss that more later, perhaps, if he chose to come and listen.

"Trust... or do not; what I offer is for your benefit, and not for mine, child," and the Rat's voice echoed almost sadness. "But I will do as you ask. Come and see me in my home, before they reemerge; and they will not be touched by me."

Of course, there was no way she could guarantee as much. There was no way to assure that she would not take both Tahi-shei and the chrysalized pair by force. But the Gray was already stepping back, ready to slip into the shadows; and now it was up to the deer. It was his choice: whether to play it safe and leave the two chrysalises to their fates, or to come and hear what truths the Mother had to offer.

@Tahi-shei

He hesitated, staring at the Gray as his ears pinned. This is such a bad idea. But we both know I'm going to do it, for some Caves-forsaken reason. Will you wait outside for me? he asked James, silent but seeking. A moment later he received an affirmative, and so he took a deep breath.

"This is a gamble," he warned. "But... I will be there." Magic crackled up and failed him; he couldn't help his cringe. He'd meant to kill the rat, but after that little display of gathering static, he was sure it would be gone -- especially with his reassurance. She'd gotten what she wanted. Here he was, playing into her trap. He knew this was a trap. It had to be a trap, there was literally no conceivable way that this wasn't a trap -- but.

But, how could he turn up a sliver-small opportunity for knowledge? How could he turn up the tiniest shard of opportunity and chance? His goals, they were entirely in pursuit of learning -- entirely in pursuit of secrets and lore. There was absolutely no way that he could not meet her, no matter how risky. No matter if it -- she -- killed him.

I need to talk to Madhukar. And then, he made his retreat.

/exit tahi-shei

The rat waited, and its little empty eyes observed the crackle of electricity. It went nowhere, though--and Mother kept it there a moment, as if out of politeness.

He did not make a second attempt, and Mother regarded the little Gray.

A skinny thing, it was. Alone, now, taken from its little nest of family. Well-... she was its family, now. I will call it Sam, she decided; and the empty-eyed rat turned and scampered obediently back toward Ursa, not a thought in its ravaged little skull.