She sat at the edge of the pit, meditating for a time, eyes open but misty, distant, as she Thought.

Here, where the whispered swelled, she wondered many things. How many of the people she met in her lifetime were still around, as alive as they had been when she'd met them? How many were in their chrysalis, sleeping away the cycles? How many were dead?

Her mind strayed all the way back. Before the owl, before the sky, before the infection darkened her horizons, hell, even before she'd gotten any kind of common sense in her. She wondered about the Children of Rot - she should visit them, give her apologies if they cared at all. Or, perhaps, it would be a bad idea to visit them. Let them forget her. Not everyone needed to be reminded that she still walked the caves.

She thought about Black. She hadn't seen him for a long time. Was he still protecting, guarding others? Or had his guardianship gotten him killed? She hoped that he was still alive. Perhaps she should try to find him.

She wondered if Blackberry had ever emerged from that cave she had was supposed to die in. Well, Wilder had not heard of her misdeeds, nor any talk of some terrible goose monster wandering around. She hoped that meant more on the side of "she had turned a new leaf" rather then death.

And she thought of her children - Kass and Bauble, both of whom had disappeared from her life long ago. Bauble, she assumed hibernated, but Kass...she shivered and lowered her head at the thought of him. She hoped he was alright, and that he had not met a similar fate as...

Her ears pressed against her head. She couldn't...couldn't even think about it without the guilt returning full force, crushing the air out of her lungs. Even though she had done as she wanted, succeeded where she had failed, raised a good family the right way, it did not erase the fact that she had failed in the worst way before.

So she sat at the edge of the Pit and listened for her child's echo, the child that she had condemned to death, the child that she had failed, and hoped she had not failed anyone else.

In the darkness above Andromeda, a celestial being soared, the quiet, still air of this cave an anodyne to a restless heart. Boredom had prickled for too long at its mind, but here it did not feel so suffocated by its own need to do. It could simply fly, or sit, or lay around and enjoy the feeling of simply being. There were not many that frequented here. Arcturus admitted to itself that it was quite a strange cave, and some felt discomforted by the stillness. Sometimes, too, it could not stand to be here, but now, it was at ease. Drifting along the faintest wind currents, watching the ground with vague interest.

It probably would have missed the cat - it was easy to miss her, all black on black on black down there, but then she shifted just so, and the jewel on her cheek caught the light. The tiniest flash of pink and gold caught his vision and he noticed her there, just...sitting. At the edge of the pit that he would not ever stray into (it was creepy!!) and he wondered what it was she was doing there.

Ah, it was something to break the boredom!

Turning himself and angling his body down, he began to circle above, slowly climbing down until he was landing not far from her. He was quiet, not wanting to disturb her peaceful state, but not hiding or sneaking so she was not startled by his presence.

He padded forward, a smile in his face. "Hi, um, I hope its not rude to ask. What are you doing there? Is this pit special or something?"

She heard someone approaching, and glanced up to see them carefully gliding down. She was not afraid - a hunter would have been more quiet, an enemy would have been quicker in their descent. So she didn't move as they landed and approached, only turning to speak with them when they were asking their question.

She looked into their eyes and froze.

Golden and glowing, pupil-less. And their body, cloaked with the void, speckled with starlight and auroras. It was bigger then her, but undeniably feline. Emotions came swift and overwhelming and her magic caught up quickly and almost literally pressed the pause button on her reality. Everything stopped and she could look at him properly before she reacted.

It wasn't...it wasn't Regalia but the similarities were undeniable. She had never seen another gembound in the caves that had the same inky-black cloud-like cloak that her child had, and the fact it was paired with glowing eyes couldn't be coincidence. It was all the wrong colors, sure, bathed in reds and golds and the colors of a brilliant sunset that she had only ever seen in visions of the surface, and she could see a body under there, flesh and blood. Regalia had none of that, only ever existing as a floating mass that had resembled a cat.

It wasn't Regalia, but there was no doubt in Wilder's mind that it was its progeny. She had no idea that it had created a child - that was a bit of a terrifying concept. How many others had it made? Had it raised them to be like it, delusional, cruel, and superior to all things?

As time began to speed up again, Wilder had processed enough to at least not be caught staring slack-jawed at the feline being. She picked herself up to her feet and turned to face it, defensive but not aggressive. "Who are you?" Her voice carried the threat of a hiss. "What do you want from me? Don't try to lie - I will know."

He wasn't expecting the cat to be defensive in that moment. It was, uh, kind of the exact opposite of what he thought would happen. She had seemed peaceful before, serene, but as soon as they had locked eyes, he'd seen something shift in her. Shock? Fear? Was that guilt? Arcturus's warmth disappeared in the flash and he took a step back, unsure of himself now.

"S-sorry!" he squeaked. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I was just curious. Um, I'm Arcturus? And I don't want anything from you, I just wanted to know about the pit and stuff, but if that's a problem I can go!" He wondered what he'd done to make her so afraid. He felt a little crestfallen that just his appearance had caused someone distress. Maybe he should just go.

Wilder narrowed her eyes and extended her magic, as promised. She pushed herself into the feline's mind and listened, feeling for the emotions she feared were there - any anger towards her, feelings of vengeance, or hatred, or that dreaded, ugly chaos. But...she found none of that. She heard the words echo in his mind while he spoke and she felt a strange...sadness with them. Guilt that he'd frightened her, worry that something about him had put her off, and a confusion about what had triggered her. She searched, but did not find anything dangerous. All she saw was light.

As Wider retreated from his mind, she felt...odd. This was Regalia's child, wasn't it? It had to be. But perhaps it had no had the chance to raise him before Wilder Venari had gotten to it. She felt something in her relax just a little bit at the notion, and another part grew in curiosity. The fur that had begun to raise along her neck flattened as she took a breath.

"No, no, I'm the one that is sorry. You...look like someone I know. Or knew. But it's okay. Sorry." She shuffled her paws and then gave Arcturus an inquisitive look. "I am Wilder. Does that name mean anything to you?"

Arcturus felt his own panic begin to dissipate as the cat relaxed. He breathed out a soft sigh he didn't know he's been holding. "Oh, okay. I get it. Sorry if I frightened you at all!" He took a step forward - just a step - and then sat himself down. She was little - barely reaching to the height of his belly fur - but he could see in the way she held herself, in the sparkle of her eyes, that she was strong. He would respect her - not that he didn't not respect anyone. Confusing wording, but eh, point across.

"Wilder? No." he thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "Nope! Never heard of you. Sorry, should I have? I'm not really into knowing famous people. I just hang out with my friends." Oh! Speaking of...

He blinked and then looked down, reaching up with a paw to grab into his starry mane where the Trail Mix was tied around his neck. A few tugs and it came loose and just...appeared out of the smoky clouds that covered his body. "Do you want a snack? It'll give you your favorite!"

Wilder couldn't help but laugh at his comment. "Oh, I hope I'm not famous. That sounds a little exhausting." She was sure she was at least moderately well-known, with how many gembounds she'd met, especially ones that were in positions of, at the very least, moderate power or prestige. But famous? That implied something a little more then she was comfortable with.

When he held out the bag for her, she crept forward, a little intrigued. Her nose twitched and she caught the whiff of chocolate and strawberries - both things she'd been able to taste at the palace at one point or another. But there was something else she was approaching for. As she got close enough to the feline, she reached a paw out for the bag, brushing against his own paw as she did so, and in their brief contact, pulled for her magic.

She saw...him. As a child, with nobody else in sight. Playing with himself, chasing his own tail. A hatchling filled with joy and energy and not something she would imagine Regalia ever imparting on a child. She pulled out of the memory a second later as she reached into the bag and hooked out a chocolate covered strawberry with a claw.

She blinked at it, delighted. "Oh wow. That's pretty cool - where did you get a thing like that?"

He watched her pull something from the bag, excited to see what snack would emerge. He had found that you could really tell someone's vibe by what kind of snack the bag chose for them. And, in Wilder's case, it was a chocolate covered strawberry - and he could already list a few things about her personality. First of all, she was mature. No child-spirit would pull such a sophisticated snack. Second, she was loving. The lovers usually pulled sweets instead of salties. Third, she was well-traveled and experienced. He could tell that already, but those were the kind of gembound that pulled fresh snacks like berries and other fruits, rather then candy. Not sure why, it just was the case most of the time.

He purred. "Oooo, that looks yummy!" He reached into the bag himself and pulled out a big of caramel popcorn - his favorite! "I got it from this stone that granted wishes. I asked it to help me make friends and it gave met this - everyone likes snacks!" He crunched down on some of the popcorn as Wilder ate her strawberry. "Do you have friends out here?"

Wilder took small bites of her strawberry, crunching through the shell of chocolate and then licking at the soft fruit beneath. She settled down in front of Arcturus and a...comfortable air settled its way between them. Ease. Friendliness. There was no more fear of any violence happening between them now as they ate their snacks and chatted.

"The Wishing Stone? I saw it too - it gave me gifts as well. And yes, I have friends out here. Friends and family." The friends bit was stretching it a little bit - she had friends, but they didn't really visit her out here, it was more "randomly running into them while wandering around" as was usual in the caves. But family...she suddenly eyed Arcturus. He could be family, too. She just wasn't sure about it.

But...as Wilder considered what this was supposed to be, how she was going to figure out who this was and why they looked so much like her very dead child, she realized...she shouldn't wheedle the information out. Obviously he hadn't been close to it, she was sure he'd have an idea about her if they had been. So, at one point, she paused. "Arcturus, this might be a little...personal, but...do you know if you have parents? A life or stone-giver?"

It was silent for a little while, and Arcturus was more then fine with that, a soft rumbling purr in his chest showing his content as the two new friends snacked together for a time. He considered breaking the silence, asking Wilder more about herself, her life here, about the pit and stuff, but she broke it first. And it for sure wasn't a question he was really expecting.

He paused, a little caught off guard by it, but then shrugged. "No. I hatched one day, alone, and that was that. Or, I guess, not alone. There was a thing there, that talked to me in lights." As if to demonstrate, some of the lights across Arcturus's pelt flared and flickered, spelling out the words "Star-friend" and "Demonstration", although Wilder wouldn't be able to parse their exact meaning. He smiled. "I haven't really needed parents. Friends are enough!"