He had not been back here in a week or more--ever since he'd led the black puppy Aster off to Eridanus. He wasn't even sure why he was here now; he'd spent most of his time there, in the cave of jungle, hunting for the pup or browsing the foliage as his ever-growing body demanded more and more food.

The white fawn was no longer a fawn, but rather a gangly adolescent, taller and spindly, yet still graceful and precise in movement. The knobbled grey bumps atop his head promised a crown of antlers, and the diamonds at his throat glittered larger than ever.

At the moment he was pacing his way sedately down to the river, intending to get himself a drink. He was half lost in thoughts, though not unalert to his surroundings; more, he was thinking philosophically. What was the meaning of life, and all that sort of thing; what defined lesser gembounds from greater? What made it all right to kill one, but not the other? What purpose did they serve? He was not lost in an existential crisis, or the like, but he was certainly debating, to himself, if there was an overarching meaning to life at all... or if it was some strange accident, an accident in which they must find their own purpose.

As he came to the river's edge, he paused, peering down at the steep and rocky shore. His reflection gazed back at him, rippling in the swift-moving, cold flow, and he shook himself a little, surprised again at how swiftly he was growing.

He was, he found, strangely beautiful.

@Blackberry

She didn't know where they were. Her family, her children. She hadn't spoken to Blueberry in over a week. Elderberry and Baneberry were missing. Mulberry had gone off somewhere and Jayberry had too. Huckleberry was the only left but he had gone into one of his fits and chased her away from her own home. She felt like her life was crumbling down in front of her. And this only fueled the anger she constantly felt boiling deep within.

It had been a long time since she had been truly alone. Perhaps not even since she had come out of her second shell with her new weapons. No, there were a couple times that she had wandered away, alone, but she had always come back to find Blueberry waiting for her. He always waited.

But now, she had no one but a sick, insane child that refused to let her near her own tunnel. She was alone and now the madness was returning.

It hated her for letting her have a family, for letting go of her quest of vengeance. For forgetting about the darkness she carried with her. But now she had no distractions. Nothing but anger, frustration, and mild despair.

She caught sight of white deer looking into the water and she stopped. She didn't recognize it so she didn't immediately attack, but she felt like she had to talk to someone, friendly or not. She couldn't keep wandering about by herself, with no goal in sight.

"Hey," she snarled towards the creature, "what are you doing?" She glared at it, as if the simple act of looking at the river was insulting to her.

@Pride

Pride flicked an ear at the sound of someone approaching, and lifted his head, turning to peer with aloof, peaceful grey eyes at the goose. It sounded--angry? And appeared grotesquely damaged, he noted, his gaze briefly travelling over Blackberry's chest. But then, he was not all that familiar with what was normal, or not--not yet--and some of those he knew, such as Envy, had deformities of their own.

He shifted his attention half back to the river, indifferently taking two steps aside and turning somewhat broadside to the goose, as if inviting her to see.

"I am looking at the water," he answered, his tone free of any emotion, "and thinking. There is nothing... particularly interesting down there; I am only thinking." It was a disclaimer, of sorts; there wasn't anything shiny and magical waiting to be claimed. Unless one counted the potential answers to his philosophical pondering, at least.

Pride did not seem to take offense at Blackberry's tone; he was, truthfully, indifferent. Perhaps the creature had its reasons to be upset, but so long as it did not begin making demands of him, or push his patience too far, he simply ignored this. He would give her the benefit of the doubt, and offer his own princely politeness in return.

He looked back to her, placid yet confident, and waited.

@Blackberry

She didn't know how to respond to this creature. It was so indifferent, so free of emotion that she simply had no idea how to pick on it properly. She tried to think of old techniques, but she had been so young when there was nothing but to bully. She could barely remember. Besides, that was a time long past, a different creature.

She could just attack, but that wouldn't be fun. She desperately wanted to sink her beak into the white deer's fur and paint it red, but she didn't want to be so...quick about all of this. She had so much time and so little to do and she was horribly lonely. "Thinking about what?" she sneered. "You look like a chick that's just discovered its wings." She didn't step up next to the deer, instead standing at a distance, the claws on her stomach shifting slightly with impatience.

She narrowed her eyes, wondering if the deer would play with her back. Stupid and idiotic, to try and toy with Blackberry! If she caught one whiff of its games, she would be into attack mode immediately. Nobody offended her.

@Pride

To say Pride was no mind-reader would be a blatant lie, but as he was not currently utilizing his magics, he truly had no idea of the goose's inner torment, or violent thoughts. He simply stood, watching her with his pale gaze, for now unblinking as he thought.

She certainly seemed irritated, but at what, he had no idea; nor did he particularly care. It was not that he was cold, more that he was indifferent. If she chose to ask him for aid he would consider, but he was not the sort to pick and pry at what was not already his business. He was simply indifferent.

A chick that's just discovered its wings? What does that mean? I've not recently unlocked any new powers. Perhaps she means... young? He cast a brief glance at the water, as if wondering if it held some meaning to her sentence, then back to her.

"I am young," he conceded, after deciding that this is what Blackberry must mean. "I am wondering of... morality, and of meaning. What makes it wrong to kill another who can speak--and yet it is accepted, to kill one who cannot? What of one who can think--but not speak? Is it thought that... drives morality?"

He asked this thoughtfully, clearly considering his words even as he spoke them, each one precise. "Is there a purpose to this life, or must we find our own? Those are the things that I am thinking."

He did not know if it was considered common to lose oneself in philosophical ponderings, so he simply didn't bother to justify why he was thinking such things. Surely anyone with half a brain would have wondered on it, from time to time?

Perhaps the goose even had an answer.

@Blackberry

Blackberry listened to the deer's speech with a growing sense of amusement. A foolish creature. She wondered if he had ever even seen death before, besides that of the lesser ones that were eaten for food. She thought back to her tunnel and the bones and carcasses strewn across the floor. How many of those could think? She didn't know. She didn't care. And she was convinced that it would do this creature no good to care either.

But she could have fun. There was potential here. It was a thinker. A philosopher. She saw no use in such things. "What is your name, pretty deer?" she asked with a slightly less angry voice, but still with a sneering tone.

With a sudden, striking motion, she whipped around and slammed down a claw. There had been a mouse scuttling behind her and her claw sunk into its tail. It was only barely hanging, squealing with pain and terror and trying to run, so she dragged it closer and raised her other talon to hold it down, safely underneath her leg. "I'm going to teach you a lesson now. I have caught this mouse. It can't think or speak. Now tell me, what can I do with it?"

@Pride

He knew the answer, to this one. He had hunted, for Aster; he had even tried to eat flesh and blood. It wasn't entirely terrible, but it was not to his tastes, and he had stuck to plants since. Still, the response was easy, and it was not a lesson he required.

"I am Pride. I need no lesson on hunting," he responded mildly. "for I have done so myself. If you are hungry, then you kill it and you eat it. If you are not, then there is little reason to hunt."

He was, of course, unaware of Blackberry's own tastes, though he cast a brief, aloof glance at the mouse. He had little interest in it, bar a faint stirring of pity as it writhed and squealed. "Yet that is my question, of a sort; what makes its suffering any less..?"

@Blackberry

Pride. What a stupid name. She had heard strange names before, but this one took the award for the most idiotic. She hissed at its answer, agitated and impatient. "No, idiot, that's not what I meant. I don't care to teach you hunting. I have already caught the mouse! What can I do with it? What does morality say I can do with this mouse?" Her claws itched to do what she wanted to do. Her mouth watered at the thought of the blood that would coat her tongue.

She chuckled softly at its comment. "Suffering, you say? Ah, I see. It is common for the animals of prey to hope that the captured suffer less when captured. It is silly, of course, to try and make it any less. It will suffer either way."

@Pride

Pride stared, for a long beat.

"You may keep the insults to yourself," he began, mildly. "It seems you are... ignorant, perhaps, on the topic of morality. Morality does not dictate what you can, and cannot do. It speaks of what you believe you should, or should not do. That is," he added, with dry mockery now faintly evident, "rather the point. What you are able to do, you can do; the question is, should we?"

He felt disdain, though not particularly strong as yet; but it was there, a mild disgust at the creature's arrogance and actions. "It is a matter of how much a thing will suffer. When I hunt, I kill quickly. But it still begs the question--why is their fear, for example--at being hunted--any less than if you, yourself, felt fear? I suppose we hunt and kill out of necessity. A selfishness, in a sense." He paused here, more to allow the goose to continue whatever tirade she intended to go on, but he felt himself drifting a little wide of her arrogance--and her rudeness, in fact.

"You did not give me your name," he added, somewhat pointedly.

@Blackberry

Warning: post contains blood and gore.

Blackberry could feel her patience wavering and she hissed again. Could this kid get more stupid? "Shut your trap, you ignorant snowball," she honked hoarsely. "Don't make me repeat myself again! What does morality say I can do with this mouse? I know that I can kill it and eat it, but what are the limits? It is going to suffer...so why can't I have a little fun as well?"

She wasn't going to wait any longer. She moved the mouse forward andpressed down on its hind legs with the bottom of her talons. With the other, she gently laid it on the mouse's backside. Slowly, using her sharp, cruel claw, she began to run it down the rodent's back, cutting a thin line in its skin where blood quickly welled. The mouse squealed as she cut into it, shallowly at first, but then once she reached its back, she suddenly stabbed into its body, snapping its spine. It screamed out as blood poured down its side.

She pulled her talon out of the mouse and then proceeded to lean down and rip off its entire hind leg. Another scream from the rodent and it went limp, too much blood having left its body. Blackberry threw back her head, swallowing the leg whole, bone and all. She looked back down at Pride. "I am Blackberry. What does your morality say about this?"

@Pride