Oliver listened, and shook his head almost at once. His dad had told him that he had a purpose to serve, in the caves--as a guardian, and Oliver had realized fairly early on that he wasn't a fighter. He wanted to help, so he did so as a mender, a helper, a healer. "No, it's--what I do, okay? Trust me." He offered a smile, then, and readjusted himself a little on the stone.

"Nobody's seen her in awhile so--I guess you're safe. I guess it happened awhile ago..?" It sounded horrible, fucking horrible, but Oliver couldn't really say that. Instead he kept sympathy masked on his face, trying to ignore the screaming terrors that threatened to summon up visual imagery of the things that Nassir was describing. Still, he couldn't just let it go unmentioned. "I'm--sorry you went through that, anyway. It sounds awful. But are you sure you're dying? I thought when people were real sick or--almost dead they just... went back into their stone for awhile and got better?"

Oliver eyed the bile, considering. If it was true that Nassir was going blind, perhaps he could take the bile and... experiment with it? Maybe he could find a plant that'd help, or... or something.

"There's lots who know more about the caves than I do. Maybe there's a plant you can eat that'll help with it, or something. We could try..? Or try to find someone who knows?" His mind flicked to Astraea, but he had no idea where the stag might be--or if he was really as friendly as others claimed. He'd heard stories on both sides, and he couldn't remember ever having met him, himself.

"There's always--a way, though. Don't give up."

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Nassir

"I trust you," he murmured through the fog of his mind, tone sounding more like a reassurance to himself than to Oliver. Paws scuffed nervously against stone as the strange creature settled further on the floor, worry tracing his features. A slight smile found its way onto Nassir's face as things came to light, the fact that the monster who did this to him was seemingly dormant. But his face settled into a stormy scowl, sighing, "but---is... is she dead? I'll kill her myself if she isn't, I promise---promise you." He coughed again. He cared a little for how long he had been, in essence, dead, but that worry soon slipped out of mind.

"It's okay---it happened. Nothing you can do about it, he dismissed rather impassively, quartz-tipped tail trying to shift around his paws. "I'm very---sure, sure that I'm dying. My chest hurts like my heart's about to..." Nassir gestured vaguely to his throat, "to break my chest and leap out of my throat." He licked his lips free of water and bile, grimacing at the taste and his stomach's churning. "I w-woke up like this. Foggy-eyed and---and dying. This is deeper than sickness---" his voice dropped low, "they wouldn't let me---just live after escaping them." Now that his thirst was quenched and his body had something in it, hunger gnawed viciously at his being. Light-headed, Nassir swayed slightly while sitting. His paw squared up slightly, trying to account for lost balance.

His head dropped, golden eyes staring into the mess between his paws. He looked back up at Oliver, eyes shiny with unshed tears. There was still good. There was still something to look out for, to protect. His first charge would be this companion. Even this stranger, who knew next to nothing about him besides awakening in a strange old world, was willing to go to such great lengths to help him. Far greater lengths than he expected. Nassir had just expected a quick talk, a pat on the back, and a "that's rough buddy." The leopard smiled softly, whispering, "I don't want to die---to give up. T-thank you." For the first time since he escaped them, he felt optimistic. "There has to be something."

@Oliver

Oliver watched Nassir closely, brows knitted with concern. The cat's words were sad--but then kind; and the hybrid wanted nothing more than to help.

"I'm really sorry you hurt so much. That faerie is--mean. That does sound like her, I think, with the... bow and stuff. I think she's still alive but we could--ask him? But-..." Oliver smiled, a little--tinged bittersweet, but it was there. "I'm glad you don't wanna give up. Maybe we could... try to find Astraea or--uhh. Tenzin's the other one, I think? Maybe they can't help directly but they might know what she did--they know who she is. I'd say we could ask Mom's um. ...Guardian? In Cetus? But he just sleeps and eats," the hybrid continued, his mind now wandering over the stories he'd heard of Aquarian. "If you-... don't feel up to travel, I could try to ask for you? But I might--maybe I should take some of the--... Um. Goop." Oliver glanced at a small amount of the bile the black leopard had choked up.

"It might help 'em identify it. Or maybe you can come with me, and we can both ask. It might be easier than we think. If she did it, it can be undone, right?" He smiled again, reassuringly, his tone still gentle and his attitude optimistic--but gently so. He wasn't overly pushy in his speech, just... helpful, as if he was here to serve and wanted nothing more than to drop whatever he'd been doing, and make it his life's mission to help Nassir.

"I'll do whatever I can to help you stop-... hurting, okay?"

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Nassir

"Who's A-Astraea? And Tenzin? Ar—are they ancients, too?" What was to say they weren't traitors to the Greater Gembound cause either? Molten eyes narrowed suspiciously, though his demeanor displayed absolutely none of it. Astonishingly, he already trusted Oliver far more than he did anything else in the caves. Perhaps it was the wishy-washy whim of becoming attached to the first person to help you. "Is the—your mom's Guardian an ancient—uh, as well?" He must be, if he were able to just eat and sleep without any worries. Many Greaters didn't quite have that luxury in these still-formative years.

The melanistic leopard glanced down at the aforementioned bile between his paws, nodding. "I-I'll come—with you. We c-can go together. I don't want to be alone—right now." It was an honest, heartfelt, and almost pleading request. Nassir was already beginning to stand, eyes still shiny with unshed tears, cheeks glistening with the tracks of those that had fallen. The world spun around and around, dizzying, but he did so regardless. "Thank you—Oliver. I need to m-move. Keep moving. Keep g-going."

@Oliver

Oliver nodded, just a little. "They're all ancients. Uhh. Aquarian's a big fish-lizard-dragon thing. He's very loud and screams and eats loads. Dad trusts him. He says Aquarian almost ate him," Oliver added, quizzically. He still wasn't sure how one thing related to the other, but the Black Dog's information had always been rather cryptically-offered, at best.

"I think Astraea's a deer. I don't know anything about him really, but Dad says those ones are the ones that help us--Astraea and Tenzin. I think, if I remember--uhh. Tenzin is a bird? Dad says he lives in cold places, and places with loads of water, and fought the dragon with it. With the water, I mean. Raheerah's the dragon. He's not nice," the hybrid added, with a tone of warning.

Black had always diligently explained everything he knew to Oliver, though--again--rarely clearly. He told Oliver what he thought Oliver should know, which was not always what others might think of first; and his phrasing and the paths his own thought processes took were often different. Oliver's mind, in all fairness, wasn't exactly "normal" either--but even he had trouble understanding Black, at times.

So where one Gembound might have explained exactly who Astraea was, what he was useful for, and where to find him, Oliver just knew "deer with mushrooms, helpful, Tenzin-friend." Where to look for him, or his abilities, Oliver had no idea. But he knew where to start, where to seek Tenzin--Pisces.

The hybrid stood as Nassir did, his heart wrenching at the sight of tears, and the sway of the black cat's movements. At his stutter. He hesitated, his warm nature pushing him to impulsively offer a nudge or a lean of some kind, but instead he simply bowed his head and turned. He didn't think Nassir wanted anyone too close--it seemed to make him nervous--and anyway, he didn't know him all that well. "I'm--sorry," he said quietly, again. "Come on. We can try Pisces."

He paced over, cautious not to startle Nassir, and tried to scoop some of the weird bile up on to his claws--and to sniff it, too. He'd have to carry enough, though he assumed Nassir would be more than capable of throwing up more if they needed it.

Oliver turned, leading the way out of Polaris--but not without glancing back worriedly, and repeatedly, one clawed forelimb in the air, to ensure Nassir was right behind him.

@Nassir

"If you trust them---" Nassir said, brain fully on autopilot and lips unheeding his thoughts, "I will too." He wasn't quite sold on the whole bit about this "lizard-dragon thing" which nearly ate the strange hybrid's father, but the words were already out there. By some code of honor he hadn't been aware of until now, he had to live by them. Just as he would have to live by his new mission to survive. Which was in the name, really. He swayed determinedly and trodded after Oliver toward the cave exit.

"Pisces it is, then," chirped the black panther belatedly, and he then fell silent. Trailing easily, carefully, trying to focus on moving his legs in enough rhythm so he didn't trip and fall over himself and wind up puking again.

> exit Nassir with @Oliver

Oliver glanced back once or twice, grimly worried--in fact, as they passed out of Polaris, it became far more than "once or twice." A constant watch over his new charge, a deep sense of responsibility for Nassir's well-being, drove him.

He had no way of knowing it, but it was the same dutiful instinct that drove his father, Black, in nearly all things.

For Oliver, though, there was intense empathy involved: he wanted to help. He wanted Nassir to be better, to be happy, not to suffer anymore--and he'd do whatever he could to aid. He just hoped that he could.

He really, really hoped that Tenzin would be where he'd been told--and that the phoenix would be willing to aid. Willing... and able.

exit Oliver