Pride's ears flicked forward, and he peered for a moment at Aure, thoughtful. He harbored no concerns about the hybrid being near him as he slept; he was, in fact, rather grateful--touched, even--by Aure's concern.

"Normally I would argue that I will be fine," Pride said at last, with humor. "But-... Do you know Amazon? She is a lizard, in the Kingdom--very sick--and one of the ancients, once I actually trust to perhaps have our best interests at heart... He is an ice-bird, massive, in Pisces' lagoon. His name is Tenzin and he holds the ability to--to exchange our levels of health, so to speak. Should you ever need him. I believe that he might aid us; but at no cost, bar that exchange, he allows me to grant my life essence to Amazon. She is dying; this makes me feel as though I am dying. But I recover, and she again sickens, and it is a cycle we must repeat." This was all said with the quiet tone of the conspiratorial. He hadn't planned to tell anyone, but he felt, somehow, that it was something Aure should know the full extent of--that he, Pride, was not a total bastard, and that Aure's help, his kindness, was feeding into something else born of a good act.

Pride was, of course, unaware that Amazon had gone off into Hydra. He'd have been... unhappy, to say the least, to find this out.

"In any case, it means that though I'd normally insist that I will be fine, I will in fact accept your guardianship, as I feel rather wretched. What I mean to say is--I owe you one, Aure. Thank you."

The exhaustion that laced the stag's words was held at bay only by his determination to express this polite gratitude. As he finished speaking he at once curled his own head over his forelimbs, back against his flank, and his silver eyes--dancing, for a moment, in the scattered light of Fornax's sea--slipped shut.

Soon enough his sides were moving slowly, with even breathing; Pride had fallen fast asleep where he lay.

exit Pride - @Aure

Pride seemed to be rather alright with Aure's mother-henning, so he proceeded as usual. Had his magicka not been so expended, he might've gone far enough to sprout some fungi with a warm, sweet odor that grew ever-stronger as they dried out and --- eventually --- decayed. The caps never came, though by no effort of the wyvern's own. He couldn't expect the stag to have a love for aromatherapy like he did, at times.

(The sweet odor felt homely, somehow, even as he found himself at ease with the scent of rot and decay from the rats and bones and death.)

Even as his mind wandered over thoughts of mushrooms, Aure was attentive. He thought, vaguely, that he had heard about this Tenzin at Dragon's assembly, but he couldn't be entirely certain. The icy phoenix must have been mentioned in passing, such as the battle against Raheerah, or something entirely different. Pride shifted tragically to the lizard, Amazon, and her doomed fate. Aure wondered --- rather morbidly so --- if it were the same disease that seemed to plague Khloros, only cured by the otherwordly Being and the Spire's terrific influence. A quick once-over showed that Pride was, in fact, not covered head-to-hoof with festering sores and pus. Regardless, he looked absolutely miserable; he was not at all the bright-eyed and observant stag he had been at the meeting, or even half of it at the beginning of this encounter.

In lieu of suggesting that they attempt to trade a Lesser's health for Amazon's, Aure simply nodded. "You're welcome."

He settled in place, eyes distantly aware, lazily picking up any signs of movement among the gentle cascade of Fornax's shimmering waves.

;exit Aure