He stepped over the chunk of ice, hoof cracking a thin plate of it where it lay over a larger shelf. His other legs, tensed, took his weight, so that he did not slip.

Pride craned his head back, squinting up at the long, jagged tunnel length ahead. It was treacherous, of that there could be no doubt--outcrops of dark stone, sheets of hard snow, and long stretches of ice. He'd told Mercurius he'd only be gone for a day, at the most, but now he wasn't so sure. To prevent injury he'd have to go very, very slowly. Again he questioned his own motives for doing this--there was apparently an alien creature in Pisces, wanting aid in herding its beasts back to it, and Pride had wanted to help. He'd noticed the animals--elegant white birds, reindeer, and white hares--and was also considering trying to bond with one, as he'd tried with so many creatures throughout the caves. It had also occurred to him that if he could find reindeer, he could befriend and lead them, or even bond with their leader to draw them out. Perhaps the latter could even be done with birds--he wasn't sure.

This tunnel had struck him as likely simply because it was cold, and snowy, and the snow had come in with the creatures. He gathered himself, taking a breath, and clambered up the next ice ledge.

Up, and up, and up. He was a little tired, already--climbing wasn't something he was all that familiar with. He'd traversed the entire length of this tunnel once before, with Mercurius, but somehow the company had made it seem less tedious, less dangerous.

Breath puffed from his nostrils in clouds.

It was only after twenty minutes that he heard the chittering tweeting of birds, soft and warbling. It wasn't a familiar sound, and so he picked up the pace, clambering up around a boulder and heading toward it as quietly as he could.

Yet as he drew close, it fell silent.

He paused, quizzically, and stood listening and peering about for some time. He nearly missed it--the birds were so well-camouflaged--but he spotted a few brown spots in the snow, took one step closer and stared.

There were six or seven white ptarmigan, there, pressed flush to the snow, their dark eyes watching him warily. He blinked.

"Ahh... hello, there," he said, soothingly. "You needn't fear me." He straightened, watching them for a time. The birds watched him warily, but also seemed to watch one of the birds at the outer edges of the flock. ...Their leader, perhaps?

He reached out his mind, hoping to establish a connection. Perhaps if he could make the leader a "friend," of sorts, he could bring the rest back to Pisces.

Naturally, though--it didn't. The birds edged back, and the one he'd tried to link with let out a squeak before bursting into flight. The rest followed, and Pride watched with irritation and disappointment as they hurtled farther up the tunnel.

With a sigh, he resigned himself to a climb. There'd been reindeer up in Fornax, anyway--maybe they came in and out of this tunnel?--so he'd do his best to speak to them, as well, if he failed completely with the birds.

Twenty minutes later, he was very, very carefully stepping along a precarious stone bridge over a short chasm. He absolutely didn't like this, and berated himself for risking himself over something so damn foolish when Mercurius was waiting for him back home with two children, and Envy with another.

Damn.

At length, he stopped, right there on the bridge, staring up. Along a cluster of crevices and snowy banks the ptarmigan had settled as a flock, and hadn't yet noticed him; they were cheeping and chattering happily along, flicking up bits of snow in search of food that wasn't there.

Cautious, he braced himself, and closed his eyes. For a moment he considered moving one to his location with telekinetic magic, but that might startle all the rest, and certainly would terrify the bird. Instead he reached out, more delicately than usual--with something akin, instead of a surge of magicka, to mind-reading magic. He tried to touch its mind with his, to find its stone, its magicka, and-... then what?

wrong spell but failed anyway SO

Nothing--of course--had happened. Instead the stag was left slowly following the flock up yet another incline of snowy ice. At least I didn't fall off the bridge, he thought wryly.

Next up: the reindeer. He'd heard the clicking of their tendons some distance off, up toward Fornax, and he now picked up his pace. The trail was a little easier, here, and he knew he was nearing Fornax's stone door. The air, too, felt somewhat warmer, with trickles of water shivering down past him, destined for ice further on.

He remembered there being one white, and three brown, in the small herd he'd seen up here.

It took some searching--as it turned out, the clicking was echoing all around the cavernous maw of the tunnel, and its sheets of ice. He found them shuffling about in a sheltered den, of sorts, of bare rock. A ledge hung overhead, and a series of ice-clad boulders blocked part of the entrance. Pride stepped in, and saw the reindeer lift their heads to watch him. They were unafraid--he did, after all, look like one of them.

He found himself speaking to them--somewhat wearily.

He had, after all, tried to link with so many different Lesser Gembound. He'd tried birds, and bats; he'd tried deer, snakes, and all sorts of other creatures. Most had been driven off in fear, and none had responded to his attempts. "Hello. I doubt that you can understand me, in any way--but your master is looking for you, I'm told. I don't know what he wants with you but supposedly he is benevolent, and worried about you. That said, I'd like to keep one of you with me. To learn from you, and as a companion." Mostly, though, to learn from. What did the bond mean? What form did it take? What thoughts did a Lesser Gembound hold? What made them different in any way from Greaters?

It would be hard to find out without one to communicate with, to try things with, to test things on--not in a malicious way, of course. But merely for learnings' sakes.

He turned his mind to the one with white fur--like drawn to like, after all, and anyway Pride had always valued beauty--and tried, again, to link to it. This time he gave it time. He felt forward, brushing over their consciousnesses, and found the right deer; he opened a link, trying to communicate with it, yet to go farther than that. What, exactly, he was meant to do, he still was unsure--but he tried.

...Nothing, at first. He could feel the tickle of its consciousness beyond his own, there but unclear to him. How was he meant to progress..? He could barely feel it there; how was he meant to link them?

He pondered this. He spent some time trying to... see things from its point of view. He spent more time attempting to find its stone with his own magic. It was only when he noticed a red streak along its ear--which he'd first taken to be a faint blood stain--that he realized. It had a crystalline red gem, of some kind, along the lobe of its left ear.

This, as it turned out, didn't help him much--and he stood there watching the reindeer who stared back at him in turn. Well? What now? he thought.

It was as if this thought triggered some kind of apocalypse. The reindeer--at least only four of them--crashed forward, shoving past him and tumbling down the tunnel, following their panicked white friend. Apparently, he'd made contact enough to terrify it--and Pride went bowling over, tumbling down ledge after ledge and landing facefirst in the snow.

He groaned.

He pulled himself upright, listening to the receding hoof-thumps and tendon-clicks--and watching the flock of ptarmigan shoot overhead, shadowing the creatures. A quick check showed that he was only embarrassed, and bruised--no serious injury--and he pulled himself up. He was disappointed, very much so.

But at least they're heading in the right direction, he thought wryly.

Perhaps against his better judgement--but certainly within the realm of stubborn scientist--he gave chase. It wasn't a fast chase; more a slow tracking, stumbling over ledges of rock and carefully making his way down slick inclines. At times he half-slid, and he fell more than once, but at last he neared the place where he could hear the warbling of the birds, and the movement of the reindeer.

He crept carefully into sight, feeling more like an ashamed predator than any sort of prey, and eyed the two groups. The ptarmigan were on the ground, milling near the reindeer, and Pride at once, again, cast out his mind.

...Nothing.

With disappointment he stood up straighter, and began to walk forward, in plain view; the birds fluttered away, and startled the reindeer, who turned to move off at a trot. Pride followed, slowly, sadly herding them toward Pisces.

He hadn't intended to try his magic on a hare. They weren't one of his kind--a deer that he could bond with, try to understand, and compare experiences with from a similar perspective, to look for differences. And to keep them safe. And a hare wasn't a bird, who could usefully take messages from place to place, as the ptarmigan good, or scout from on high.

It was as he cast his mind toward the reindeer herd in front, again seeking to link to one as they all dutifully plodded back toward Pisces' entrance, that he spotted the hare. In that instant, as his eyes flicked to the white ball of fur, as his attention was distracted by those dark eyes peering at him without fear, he felt a link click into place. A strong sense of curiosity--curiosity that wasn't his own--flooded his mind.

..?

Pride stopped so suddenly that he nearly fell, frozen, staring at it.

"Are you-...?"

..?

He shook himself, a little, and then--hesitant--he approached the hare. He felt from it concern, and then curiosity again, and then a sort of impish, friendly playfulnes as it sat up on its hind legs to meet his sniff with its own. Long, white whiskers twitched, and black-tipped ears rocketed forward to listen to him.

"I'm--Pride," he told it quietly, using this new link to explain his meaning with thought and feeling, as best he could. It was like Mind Reader, he realized, but with the unpleasant inability to close the link--it was there, perhaps forever..?

Had it made the rabbit smarter? He watched for any sign, but almost at once he felt something else in his mind, an urge, absent, as its attention drifted away.

If Pride had to translate it into words, it would have been simply--Need to poop.

He swayed. This was not what he'd expected.

Pride glanced off after the herd, receding into the distance, with alarm. He had to move them. He glanced back to the rabbit, and saw, to his surprise, that it was already moving up to hop alongside him, as if it'd felt his urgency and was happy to go along.

"I need to--follow them," he told it, and it just stared at him.

Blankly.

His heart fell, a little; he'd been hoping that Lessers might gain some intellect, especially given the hyena's bird's apparent ability to perform minor tasks. Maybe he had to strengthen their bond, first--but did he... even want a rabbit..? He looked at it, doubtful, wondering if it were in any way useful to him--and immediately felt, as it peered back with cocked head, insult. If he had to translate the emotion into words, he'd have done so as something like, Not useful!? You don't even know me! I'm the most useful! It was, he realized abruptly, proud. Very much so. Like him..?

Faint affection hit him, quizzical warmth, reassured; and it dismissed him.

It's fearless.

Damn right.

The stag trotted to catch up--the hare was already hopping down the tunnel. He watched it, prompting it, asking with mind and voice both whether it had a name--but it shook itself. If it had a self-identity, it didn't have a name. He could tell through the link that the creature had a strong personality--fearless, mischievous, playful. And, to his surprise, he could sense something else: beneath the brash exterior, it was female. He wasn't sure why that surprised him, but it did.

He caught up, peering down at the hare, who was single-mindedly hopping after the reindeer. Pride realized something with additional surprise.

It's-... enjoying the pursuit.

Again, he felt a surge of pride, a confidently amused glance sent his way.

What the hell would he name it..?

The hare had quickly grown tired--not in an exhausted sense, but it was clearly built more for calm and slow grazing, or for bursts of astonishing speed. It wasn't built to plod on, herding reindeer down a tunnel.

You can, ahh--ride me, if you want? He sent the idea, and the rabbit considered only briefly--a moment later it had leapt up, scrambling onto his back. A little bemused--wondering just how the hell things had changed so quickly--Pride set off. He was careful to keep his pace as even, as smooth, as possible.

He was not at all unaware of the image he would present, should they pass another Greater: a white rabbit, riding a white stag, appearing to herd a group of reindeer and white ptarmigan.

Another thing he'd noticed was its gem--he'd missed it, at first. It was a ring of pale blue-green stone (chalcedony, though Pride didn't know that) above and below its left eye, like lashes. They didn't seem to interfere with the eye opening and closing, so perhaps it was outside that section of skin--he hadn't gotten the best of looks.

As they moved along, Pride realized a few things. First, someone might easily mistake the gembound for a prey item, kill, and eat her.

No?! Protest, from his familiar. He glanced down, amused and a little sad.

"I'm afraid so," he told her, thinking at her as well as speaking. Perhaps, in time, she could learn language..? "Would you allow me to make you something to symbolize that you're, ahh--not to be eaten?"

Consideration. Hesitation.

"Something pretty," he assured her. He sent images of glittering gemstones, sparkling under bright lights, and the rabbit came to a firm decision.

All right.

Pride paused, slowing to a halt. He watched her, over his shoulder, and then began to focus. Down below, on the rock, he began to form a ring of shining gemstone: a blue-green, as close to her gem as he could get. His, though, was more blue, more vibrant--topaz, though he didn't know the word.

He'd chosen to begin on the ground, without the rabbit actually touching the stone, in case something went wrong--and oh, did it.

It shattered, abruptly, throwing pieces every which way. Pride stood stunned, his thoughts as if in slow motion, as the rain of beautiful shards flowed past his rippling white fur.

Then he continued to stand, stunned, in silence.

The rabbit peered over his shoulder. ...Was it meant to do that?

He'd taken one of the pieces of gemstone, forming it at least to be fairly round, smoothed; he'd have to ask Mercurius to form a slightly less "potentially fatal" collar for his new friend.

Friend? a questioning thought, at the concept. Pride was about to try and explain, but the hare's mind quickly changed tack. Do I still get a pretty stone?

"Yes," Pride reassured her. "But I was--using magic, but it backfired. I--" Its mind was already off. Curious, wandering, hungry, wondering what was beyond.

The stag, curious, listened in. He could see glimpses of this--stranger, the one who'd fed them. Translucent blue-green skin, a kind voice. The rabbit seemed distantly fond of him. Pride could see--to his relief--no proof of mistreatment at his hands, at least. The reindeer and ptarmigan would, he hoped, be safe with him.

Safe, the hare agreed, its mind easily swinging back toward his own thoughts. It remained perched atop his back, confident and calm, entirely unlike all the flighty little creatures he had ever met. It was, he realized abruptly, tame. It wasn't a wild thing; the stranger--Naskital, had it been?--had kept them as pets. No wonder it had no fear!

He paused, mentally, to listen to any confirmation from the hare, but she was absent. Minor, indifferent agreement, if anything.

And then, he felt a playfulness as she watched the reindeer plodding on ahead.

...Chase? He felt her request. She wanted to chase them, to race around, nipping at heels and bounding about. By the Caves, but she was a mischievous thing!

She felt this thought, and agreed, and he felt amusement from her, if faint, if simple. Mischief. Chaser.

"I feel," Pride told her, his own tone laced with humor, "as though one of those should be your name. Do you like the sound of either? Mischief, or Chaser?"

The hare considered, based on meaning, yes, but also sound.

Mischief.

Then the hare was off, having leaped from his back and bolted straight for the reindeer. Shocked, Pride lurched into a run to keep up as, to his surprise, they actually broke into a much faster gait to escape the little white horror that darted in and out near their legs.

...It fits, he thought, wryly amused. At least they'll get to Pisces faster.

exit Pride