Pride's outburst surprised him and he stepped back, ear immediately flattening again. He, however, kept his composure, eyes narrowing to slits as he observed the stag. "I don't know what you think justice should be...but allowing everyone who knew Blackberry, the good parts and the bad, are crucial to understanding who she really was. I won't allow Jayberry to go free forever, but while the trial is in session, she won't be harmed."

He paused, looking over the stag, feeling a sense of sorrow. He'd hoped that the stag would join them for the trial. He was, after all, someone who'd clashed against her many many times. But... "If that's how you are going to be, Pride, then you are no longer welcome to attend the trial. We won't tolerate violence of any kind, no matter who it is against. If you change your mind, you can come but any act against Jayberry during the trial will be treated as a criminal act."

@Pride

Rage flickered through him.

"It is not your trial to hold alone, Rift. Nor is it your decision alone who may and may not attend, or what does and does not constitute a crime.. Did you not hear what Jayberry was saying to your--antelope, friend?" He paused, and then continued. "We are leaders when those around us need protection, or ask us to lead. That does not give us the right to exert control over others' actions--except to punish those who are a threat. If it were up to me, both of them would be slain on the spot, and the lying kitten sent into exile. But it is not up to me--just as much as it is not up to you."

@Rift

Rift continued to glare at Pride, a little startled by how this conversation had gone. "That is where you're wrong. I make the rules at this trial because it is my trial. I am the one that decided to initiate it and it is the Kingdom of Eridanus that is running it. Not as a group effort between the groups - us alone. I came to inform you of its happening and to ask if the Seven would help keep the peace, but if you intend to break said peace, then you will not be welcome. I'm sorry, Pride, but this is just how it's going to be. You can come - and keep your magic and violence to yourself, or you can stay here and hunt Jayberry down on your own time."

A growl began to rise in his throat. "I am well aware of our responsibilities as leaders. If you attack someone that was both allowed to come to the trial and promised no violence during its session, then you are a threat, no matter who you are or where you come from. That goes for anyone - you, Jayberry, even one of my own Kingdom. It will be up to everyone in attendance what to do with Blackberry in the end."

@Pride

Pride's voice rose into trembling, furious shouting.

"YOUR trial?!" he cried, righteous indignation filling his tone. "And when I suggested the idea of a trial, did you think it would belong to us alone? Rift, if the Seven--if Envy and I!--had not intervened, you would have ALL been dead. Every one of you, your stones burnt away and risen as goose hybrids for her disgusting army! You owe us your LIVES, your home! And this is how you repay us? By claiming ownership, if the foul bird is still even alive..?" He took another step forward, head high, quivering with rage.

"If that is your attitude, then I make the rules here, because this is OUR kingdom." It took a moment to overcome his anger, the grip of magicka weak at first, as he tried to snare the green cat and lift him high into the air--high enough that he'd barely hear Pride, high enough that a fall might be fatal. "And with your life and freedom up to me? Who is making the rules now, KING?" Pride's voice was no longer melodic, or fluting; it was rage-filled and shrill. "You have a choice! We will trial her together--she has harmed us all, and without our aid you would HAVE no kingdom--and Jayberry will be handed over to us for punishment. Or I can drop you here and now, and your kingdom will be my own," he snarled. "I WILL see an end to all this, and not even you will stand in my way."

@Rift

This was bad. Pride was losing control of himself. Rift had never seen the stag like this - he'd always thought of Pride as one to always retain his composure. To always be calm in the face of brutality and judge each situation calmly. But this was rage and this was terrifying because Rift knew that he could not hold up to Pride in any kind of fight.

He stood a little taller, as if trying to bring his height up to Pride's level. "You need to calm down-" But he wasn't able to finish when Pride suddenly lifted him from the ground. He cried out as he went flying from the stone and was set hovering in midair. He didn't have to strain too hard to hear Pride's voice, on account of his right ear, but his panic was making it hard to understand.

Calm down. I need to calm down. He breathed in and out, in and out, until his heart began to slow (a little) and he could come up with some sort of a plan. He couldn't break free from the magic, nor fly himself, nor did he think it wise to attack back. Instead, he focused on the ground, willing and hoping that something was there that would properly grow.

To his surprise and delight, a sprout began to spring from the earth in front of Pride, right underneath his feet. At an incredible speed, a tree began to sprout, in seconds tall enough to break his fall, should Pride let him go. It did not stretch high enough for him to grab onto it now, but it would save him from certain death. For now.

He stared down through the branches to where he hoped Pride was still standing. "Please, Pride, calm down! You don't have to kill me! We can work this out without violence!"

@Pride

Pride flicked his eyes down to the sprouting foliage, and for a moment, he thought it to be an attack. He very nearly dropped Rift--not on purpose, but out of sheer surprise.

Quickly, he backed away, maintaining his hold on the big cat as he put distance between himself and the tree. He adjusted his magical grip, testing it.

"I will not kill you," he admitted after a long moment, flicking his smoldering gray eyes back up to Rift. "Though you have Mercurius to thank for that. But tell me; which will it be? Are we to try to kill the last two of them without you? Will you throw away the fact that we both risked our lives to save you from them, simply to grant the last of them safe passage? Because make no mistake, that will be the end of our alignment. And the next time attackers come tearing into your people, whispering torments and ripping their flesh apart, you will be alone." There was cold, biting fury in his words. "They do not belong to you, and to keep them from us is a mistake. So you may give your word that Jayberry is ours, and that we will attend the trial, or I will be sure that all know who you truly betrayed, and we will be allies no more."

He took Rift with him, meanwhile, hovering the cat high in the air and taking them both away from the gentle cushion of the tree. Rift could continue to make more of them, he supposed, but it was far easier for Pride just to... move him. Orion wasn't exactly known for its presence of plants, after all.

Pride held the green cat high in the air, over naked deadly rock, for several seconds longer--staring up at him. And then, slowly, he lowered him to the ground, standing glaring at him--awaiting his response.

@Rift

Rift continued trying to swallow down his terror - he very much did not like this feeling of flying. Running through the branches of the trees was one thing but floating with nothing to hold him down was horrible and he very much hoped that Pride would either drop him into the tree or set him down.

He hissed and struggled as the air around him shifted. Pride was moving him away and he began to panic again as he saw the branches disappearing from beneath him. He could still do something else - perhaps have the branches reach out to catch him, but there was always the chance it would fail. His stomach lurched as he began to fall, but it was gentle and the stag set him calmly onto the ground. His claws immediately unsheathed to grab at the stone, eyes wide. "Agh...thank you, please don't do that again," he meowed, weakly. "It's really not necessary. I don't intend on fighting you."

He took a moment to regain his composure, breathing deep before speaking. "I think...you misunderstand me. Or perhaps I spoke incorrectly. But we have no intention on keeping Jayberry safe. We don't claim any ownership on her anyways, she is simply allowed to attend the trial under the understanding that she will not hurt or be hurt. But...if you were to, uh, catch her once the trial is complete, I wouldn't protest." He blinked, an almost embarrassed look in his eyes. "Is that okay with you?"

@Pride

Pride stared, his eyes smoldering.

"No," he answered, bluntly. And then, his cold suddenly and utterly returned to him, his eyes unblinking--"Go. We have nothing more to discuss."

There were other options; and he needed Rift gone to pursue them. There was no way he was going to sit quietly with Jayberry anywhere nearby. A plan was forming in his mind--two plans, in fact. If Rift wanted to be a coward and play both sides, pretend safe haven while doing nothing to stop an attack after the fact, that was his choice. Pride would have no part in it.

He could have lied; he could have slicked his tongue and said "Oh yes, that's perfectly acceptable," and winked a few times for good measure. But best to be blunt; best to be honest. No. He was not all right with sitting near her, and then attacking her after the fact.

Nor did this trial, nor Blackberry, belong to Rift alone. Fuming with anger, Pride simply stared in silence, his thoughts elsewhere as he willed Rift to simply leave.

@Rift

The bluntness surprised Rift and he paused. "Um, okay, well...then what?" His brow furled and he sat himself down, trying not to freak out again, very much hoping that Pride wasn't going to attack again. "No, hold on, we have more to talk about. We need to work this out. Come to a compromise." Without really meaning to, Rift desperately reached into the cracks between the rocks with his magic. Perhaps it was loose seeds that had shaken loose from his fur or perhaps they'd been caught there for some time, but a few wildflowers popped their way out of the cracks. Perhaps it would do something...or nothing, more likely.

Rift grumbled to himself, ear swiveling thoughtfully. "I'm...I know I owe you a lot but...can I ask for your help again? How am I supposed to go about this? I've already sent the word that there would be a truce. That everyone is welcome to attend and would not be hurt as long as they did not hurt. Am I to go back on a promise I made to the entire cave? Betray my own trust? Perhaps it was foolish, I know, but it's what I believe is right."

@Pride

Pride's anger welled back up, each of Rift's words a drop threatening to spill it over, a drop that rippled through his forced calm. He kept it, that calm, but only barely, and at Rift's mention of having "already sent out word," Pride's anger nearly spilled forth. Nearly.

"You should not have sent out such word to begin with," he answered, his words blunt and hissed. "If there is something that concerns everyone, then you ought to have consulted the Seven first. I'd have thought we'd have earned that much, at least," he went on, his words venomous.

He kept staring at Rift as he thought over alternatives, but he didn't really care enough to. So far as he was concerned, the timetable for "justice" had just been stepped up.

"If you wish to own up to your mistake-? Then you send out word again that you failed to consult the others who were equally involved, and that Jayberry will attend only at her own risk. There is no 'everyone' here to be insulted, Rift--it is only her."

He paused, and then his eyes lifted, finding Rift's, but full of only held-back anger. Abruptly, he reached out for Rift's mind, attempting to contact it directly--an impulsive thing, but not hostile in intent.

Listen, he sent--a ringing command, but a pleading as well, earnest and deep. With it came a flood of emotion, what Pride was holding back--hurt, anger, but the powerful sense of deeply-wronged injustice over all. And with it, close on its heels, came memories: memories of Enka's voice, and of Jayberry's, whispering up through time until they were clear in both their minds.

Enka's, first--panicked, pleading, their echo in Pride's mind full of frustration that the stag had not made it to her fast enough. "Father! Uncle Sebastian! Someone, help me please!"

And Jayberry's, responding. Her words were dripping with toxic hate. The sadism was rife in them, and they were words that Rift, Pride knew, must have also heard. "They won't come," and there was a cackling in it, mad--"they're distracted, they're fighting. You're on your own, deer."

The sound of flesh, ripping. A brief image: Jayberry, tearing into Enka's stomach, fangs coated in blood. “Rift! I... I’m sorry … I … couldn’t … help you. I….”

And Rift--Rift was going down; but Jayberry's voice continued, leering, sneering. "You've failed, kitty cat. Too slow, too slow. Too little, too late." Her crooning was poisonous with mockery. "Poor you, losing her. She'll never be the same, you know?"

There it was; the images faded, the tumult and chaos of battle fading, Pride's memories pulled now firmly away. This was the reason, then, for his rage. It wasn't pride, or misplaced arrogance, or a desire to be a king. It was anger, pure and simple, at the evil--the sadism--that Jayberry had inflicted.

"I will never tolerate her presence," Pride said simply, breaking off the link. There was a coldness to it, but perhaps Rift would now grasp that it was not aimed at him. "The moment she shows her face--the moment she exposes herself--I will kill her. There is nothing good, or right, in sparing her--not even for a moment, not if there is the slimmest of chances that this may happen again. If I died here and now, my only regret would be the survival of both those monsters. In this, there can be no compromise."

@Rift