Charity pounced on the food that their mother offered with vigour, holding it in place with her paws as she ripped at the skin with needle-like teeth that worked with practiced ease. She barely noticed Envy's warning, barely pausing long enough to let out an unabashed bleat of "okay, mamma!" before she set to work.

She was very hungry, and she ate like she'd never seen food before, barely noticing the look that Envy was giving her as she did so. She remembered their words perhaps a little too late, after she'd already eaten her fill- but luckily, there was enough left that Nisha could comfortably fill her belly, too. Her ears shrinking back, she looked up at the weasel with a guilty expression as she put the greatest emphasis on nudging the banana over to the baby bird.

"Here. It's your turn now," she said graciously.

@Pride

Pride remained oblivious to all that was unspoken.

His concern lay with the injured crow--he saw Envy's glance, but couldn't quite decipher it. Tired, perhaps? Worn by having to care for a larger, growing, hungry child? It didn't strike him, either, that Charity was rather hungrier than they should have been. Instead he nodded a little to Envy, and set to inspecting Nisha closely.

"Well, I can perhaps help, as can Envy--if they've the time," he added, with a glance at the exhausted weasel. "Though it may be best to find someone more familiar with fire. I'd suggest practicing it only with help, in case it backfires like this again. Fire tends to." It wasn't a magic that he was overly familiar with, other than the obvious--it was hot, and it burned. But he didn't summon fire, himself, except for a single spell to flash-melt things into blinding, searing plasma--which wasn't really the same as breathing fire, or setting oneself aflame. He'd still managed to blind himself with it once, though, and knew full well its dangers.

He glanced to Charity, then to Envy--both seemed all right, if a little worse for wear, one with hunger and one with tiredness. He then looked around briefly, ensuring there was no danger approaching while they were all so absorbed in this. Seeing nothing, he looked back to Nisha.

"Perhaps, as a bird, it might be best to be careful for awhile while you heal. Maybe you can learn to fly, and scout for Envy, hmm? Watch for danger, find them food, all that sort of thing? It's up to you, and up to Envy, really." It was gently-suggested, but in his mind he was thinking that many Gembound were happier with a role to fulfill. Maybe Nisha could prove helpful to Envy, or even the Seven, while finding her place in the world. If, of course, that was what she wanted; she was young, yet, and he did not know her all that well.

@Nisha

NOTES

---

Nisha nodded and thanked both Envy and Charity for the banana. The pecked and took little nibbles of the pale food. The mush covering the tip of her little beak.

Her attention went back to Pride as he talked of being a scout. 'That sounds like fun!' Nisha thought her apricot eyes showing her obvious excitement.

"I would love to!" She said enthusiastically, then looking at Envy with a humbleness, "If you would let me?"

"She Mocks" | 'She Thinks' | She Flies

Δ

Envy listened as Pride spoke, offering a nod and twitching their tail. As Pride spoke about finding someone more familiar with fire, they let out a small snort. "No need. I know a thing or two about fire; I'd just need to find a failsafe. There's just not enough water around here to properly train in it." They tapped the tip of their tail against the stone in thought.

They were especially interested as Pride offered a few ideas for the little bird's place in the Seven; making her into a scout, perhaps. And a scout was something that the Seven was sorely lacking. They thought, for a moment, imagining a bird in flight foiling the Bloodberries searching for a way to get into the heart of Orion to assassinate the king. Not that the Bloodberries had ever tied to get into the city, for real; but Envy was sure that they were out there somewhere, skulking and plotting.

"Of course!" they twittered, enthusiasm brightening their voice. "We are sorely lacking in scouts.... so it would be a very, very important job," the weasel told the little bird, quills twitching. "But of course, I'll be there to help train you!"


Speech. Thought.

Charity watched Nisha eat with an unmistakable air of jealousy, but remembering what her mother had said, she stayed back and waited impatiently. Her ears twitched to the conversations passing between the adults, but it all sounded excruciatingly boring to her. Finally, as she grew tired of waiting, the little one stood upright and stretched, arching her back, before toddling off to lie down beneath the throne with a huff and a yawn.

After all that excitement, she'd become worn out again, and she curled up around herself, curling her tail across her paws. She still watched the bird as she talked with the grown ups, ears perked forward, but now that her belly was full, didn't seem too interested in engaging again. Having never met another child her age, she was simply curious to watch, as her eyelids flickered and began to close.

-exit Charity if not stopped-

@Pride

Pride inclined his head, a little, pleased. The great antlers tilted.

"I'm glad you both like the idea," he responded smoothly. He glanced off, too, toward Charity--perhaps she was merely tired? It was all that he could figure, having missed almost all prior subtext from all parties involved. He'd been far too concerned with the crow's damage. "And I hope that you are feeling better, Nisha."

"It occurs to me, Envy, that we could likely use a mender. Someone dedicated to healing and saving lives. I know the magic is out there, but I don't know how far it goes. But if you can think of someone who can check her over," and here he nodded to the crow, "to make sure she's all right? And anyone else in the future who gets injured, perhaps."

He thought about this, for a moment, then peered to his King.

"I could go and ask Mercurius if he knows anything--or knows someone who does. He's a great deal older than I am and has memories of happenings far earlier than even my hatching. With your permission?" After a moment, he dipped his head and moved off, heading to do just that.

notes: editing into an exit due to inactivity.
@Nisha