Everything Imperia was saying to her made Blackberry's blood run colder and colder. Before her stood another creatures who had murdered, revived the stone, abused their child, and forced them to kill. She thought back to Huckleberry, whom she had once loved. When he grew restless and sick of all the fighting, she struck at him. She wanted him to stay where he was, she wanted everything to stay the same. And when he made her angry she forced him to kill an innocent. And he had cried the whole way.

So knowing that there was another creature walking around the caves that had the same experience as her children, from a different parent, it made her sick.

But what was worse...the weak weasel? "You don't mean Envy, do you?" There couldn't be anyone else. This here was, in a way, Envy's grandparent. She wasn't really sure how she should feel about that. "I killed Envy, I put them in their chrysalis. The reason they're all green and look like...that, that's because of me. And they..." Here her expression hardened. "They killed my son. Crushed him into dust. And then they put me in my chrysalis. I'm not sure how I ended up here, though." She looked back at the shards of her chrysalis and the room around her. "Where are we anyways?"

@Imperia

Imperia watched, waiting to see how the goose reacted to what they were saying. There wasn't too much of a reaction. From what she had said earlier, it seemed she had regretted what she had done. And Imperia did too. Partially, at least. They'd wished they had at least killed a few more before reviving. Maybe then they'd have been more successful.

Though, they could always start again. But it didn't seem as appealing as it once did.

As she spoke, they flicked an ear. "Yeah, Envy. Little brat." As she continued, they blinked. Green? They'd looked like a perfectly normal weasel - well, sick and weak weasel - when they saw them. But they must have mutated. Well, good. Hopefully the little thing learned a lesson.

"They weren't green when I saw them. It was a while ago, and they were still young. Not even fully grown, I'd say." Their eyes narrowed as she continued. Envy, killing someone and putting another into their chrysalis? It definitely wasn't something they could have done alone. Was Aaliyah with them? Did she have any idea of what her "child" had done?

At the goose's inquiry, they looked around. "I have no idea, to be honest. I've never been here before."

Speech Thought

@Blackberry

What a coincidence. At least Imperia seemed to like Envy about as much as she did, but it wasn't much comfort. She still felt sick to her stomach. She thought she had been the worst. Well, she had been the worst. But they weren't far behind. She wondered, if she compared them to Jayberry, which would take the place as the worst? Jayberry had killed more, and enjoyed it, but Imperia had done terrible things to their own daughter, just as Blackberry did.

In her opinion, that made them the worse of the two evils.

Her expression hardened once again. "And what about you? Would you follow in my footsteps? I am Blackberry, once the Terror of the Caves, the mother and leader of the Bloodberries, and the monster that has spread fear and blood through these caves for countless cycles. I'm not fit to be the same level of terror as I once was. Would you take me place instead? Or are those days behind you now?"

@Imperia

Imperia listened as Blackberry spoke. Terror of the Caves...an interesting title. Definitely something Imperia had dreamed about in their younger days. But was it something they would pursue now? It had been a long time since they last fought. Much longer since they killed. They hardly remembered how it felt. Not that there had been much to feel. The puma had been weak and didn't struggle, didn't fight back. It had practically been dead already.

"I will admit it has been a long time since those days for me. Taking care of Aaliyah, raising her, teaching her to fight alongside me took up much of my time, and I didn't fight many while doing so. Didn't kill any. But after she left...I didn't go back to those ways. I could have, but it just never felt right." Their eyes narrowed. Why hadn't they gone back? It hadn't felt right...but surely they could have done something. They'd hardly even done any battles since!

"Sometimes, though, I feel myself itching for a fight. Not necessarily to kill, or to injure. Just to feel the adrenaline running through my veins. It's been too long." A pause. They thought about the wrestling competition. The last one they had fought...Jayberry. Not a goose hybrid, but a part of the Bloodberries all the same. They could tell her about the wolf...but they had lost that battle. And they didn't exactly want to admit it, so they kept quiet.

Speech Thought

@Blackberry

Blackberry sighed out in relief, unable to hold it in. The tension in her body melted away a moment later. "Good," was all she responded, but looking back up at Imperia, she thought that, perhaps, she should explain herself better. They had said they were impressed with her - that would not do. "What I did, it can never happen again. Nobody comes out on top - not me nor my enemies, not my family either. Hatred and rage and violence consumed me and...my family has been destroyed because of it. I've been destroyed because of it."

She shifted a bit awkwardly, wondering if Imperia meant to fight her. Not as an enemy but a sparring match or something. At first, Blackberry considered it. Part of her really did want to fight again, to feel that rush of adrenaline that they were talking about, but then she remembered...all that horror and pain and anguish, of Elderberry crushed to nothing, the blood and horror that stained the ground in Eridanus, and she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to lift a claw. Besides, she wondered if she was even in a fit state to spar. "Well, you won't find one here," she stated, rather bluntly.

@Imperia

Just the mention of a brawl had soured Blackberry's mood considerably, not that it was any good to begin with. She frowned at the feline, suddenly unable to stand even their presence anymore. She shook her head and stalked past. "Leave me alone. I don't want to talk to anyone." She didn't pay attention to them anymore, marching past without a care about where she was going. If she kept walking in one direction, she'd get out of here eventually.

*exit due to inactivity

@Imperia