Backdated to just after this thread.

Pride was unaware of Envy's misgivings, or rather, their trauma. To him, they had a job to finish.

They hadn't seen where the goose had gone, but he guessed well enough that she would flee home to her only sanctuary: the tunnel they had made their home. He hadn't been here for many cycles--many of them hadn't, steering clear out of fear of what might happen to them.

It was time to change that.

He came clattering quietly in at the entrance, blinking away the blood that streaked his face, his sides heaving as he took ragged breaths. He was tired--his side was achingly sore, and he still wasn't sure if the kick to his ribs had cracked a bone or two. He couldn't smell past the blood--he could barely see--and he wasn't sure what might lie farther within the tunnel.

So far as he could tell, two Bloodberries remained unaccounted for: the badly-injured Blackberry, and the wolf Jayberry, who'd both fled the battle near the end.

"Be ready," the stag murmured to Envy between panted breaths--and began advancing into the heart of their evil little empire.

(I suppose order-wise --> Envy - Jayberry - Sylvanberry?)
@Envy

Envy had remained on Pride's back since he'd left Eridanus, their mind reeling, their heart pounding, and their vision swimming. With every moment passing, what was going on felt less and less real. The awful sound of Elderberry being crushed by their magic replayed itself, over and over again, inside their mind.

And the image of his stone-- well... they supposed, their stone now, still resting where it had fallen, bothered them. When all was said and done, they would go back for it, and hide it away somewhere that no-one would ever find it.

The sound of Pride's hooves on stone kept them grounded, and yet also made them horribly uneasy. So when his voice came as well, their quills darted upright with a soft hiss, and the weasel slowly clambered up his neck and settled on the back of his skull. They weren't about to settle in their usual spot when his face was covered in wounds; but Envy reasoned that to watch his back most effectively, they needed a higher vantage point.

So with a soft grunt of acknowledgement, they slowly looked around and tried desperately to squash the pure, undiluted fear.


Speech. Thought.

@Jayberry

Jayberry had fled from the battlefield, and hadn't stopped running.

Her shoulder screamed, and her wounds leaked blood. But adrenaline flowed through her, enabling her to keep running. She wasn't the fastest Gembound, but she was desperate, and she tore through the Caves as though the Hounds of Hell themselves were on her heels.

Elderberry was dead. Yewberry, her poor, poor daughter, Huckleberry, her dear brother, and and Cloudberry, her sister, had all been struck down, into their Chrysalises. Mother was gone--she and Sylvanberry were the only Berries left. Baneberry, if Pride was to be believed, was held captive by the Sins, and the other Berries had long dispersed.

Sylvanberry, and Huckleberry's beloved Shiny, were back home in their Tunnel, as far as she knew. And she needed to warn them, get them to safety. And so she pushed herself to her limits, wheezing and panting for breath, tears in her eyes as agony raced through her ruined shoulder. 'Gotta go fast! Gotta go very fast!'
Scurrying into the Tunnel, she yelled "Sylvan! Sylvanberry! Shiny!" as loudly as she could, skidding to a stop, dropping her butt to the ground. "SYLVAN! We need to leave!"

@Sylvanberry

How long had it been?

The hybrid had lost track of time, but she had slept in the duration that she'd been left alone. For most of it, she stood right where she was left behind, still wet with the fluids from the chrysalis, bits of stormy-blue gemstone still clinging to her feathers. Where she'd been told to stay, before her family-- (she supposed they were her family?) --left the tunnel, and her, behind.

She thought it would be fine, but the entire cave stank enough that, even though she hadn't eaten anything, Sylvan thought she could vomit right then and there. Whenever she felt hunger churning in her gut she turned her head and saw the bones, and the sinew, and the scent of blood hit the roof of her mouth. Bile rose in her throat. She tried to forget about it.

Although the hybrid was only young she knew something was wrong-- that this wasn't supposed to happen. Bones weren't supposed to be there. The smell wasn't supposed to be this bad. She wondered why she'd been left here, alone, with only the company of a small creature who couldn't speak.

Eventually, the nausea had overpowered the hunger, and Sylvanberry fell into an uncomfortable sleep. She shifted and she turned while she did, but slept she did, and for what she considered to be a considerable amount of time.

When Sylvan woke again, it was to the distant sound of screams, and bones crunching, and fighting. She was afraid, and only then did she get up and leave her own chrysalis shards, cold and dizzy and nauseous.

She found a small alcove and slipped away into it, hidden away. And minutes later, footsteps.

Had they... returned for her?

She was deathly silent as Jayberry came sprinting down the tunnel, using her name-- or what she believed to be her name, it's what the goose had said --but she felt... weak. She didn't want to move. Her legs weren't responding and her mind told her not to say a word.

So, she didn't. Instead, the hybrid remained where she was, staring fearfully down the stinking tunnel of gore and bones, at the black wolf skidding down the length of it. And then, as they caught her eye, the unfamiliar duo quickly approaching.

@Pride

The stag was rather a sight. He came drifting into Tunnel N at a swift and graceful trot, seeming to float over the rock--yet his face was torn, silver eyes blinking through a blanket of blood.

He had no idea that Sylvanberry was there--even that she existed; he only saw Jayberry, after a moment, in the distance.

His lip curled, and he said nothing--she was too far, he thought, to snag with his stronger magics, and so he lurched into a swifter gallop, his armor crashing loudly as he powered toward her. Adrenaline surged higher once more, all else forgotten in his glass-sharp focus on the wolf.

Blackberry isn't here, he thought to himself, but distantly. Surely she would come; better to finish this one off before she got here.

Ahead of him he sent a churning burst of energy, intending to blast the way ahead--if she went for him, he'd throw her aside like the worthless garbage that she was. Pebbles and rocks shattered out of the way, slamming and whirling down the tunnel toward Jayberry, clouds of dust blasting forward at Pride's rapid approach--as if all his righteous rage was focused, in this moment, into this single, simple magic.

@Envy

Envy held onto Pride's back, feeling the stag's muscles ripple and move; a sensation that, whilst usually calming to them, was now terrifying in its single-minded ferocity. just like in the battle beforehand, they were being strung along; they felt purposeless in the grand scheme of things.

They peered ahead into the dark as Pride's waves of energy cleared the tunnel ahead of them, and for a moment, considered adding their own; if anything at all was caught in their path, then it would be swept aside. But Envy considered that perhaps that would not be the best course of action. Perhaps it was time to take a break from magic. After seeing what it could do... what they could do... did they really want to cause more problems?

So instead, the weasel decided they'd be useful in some other sense; they reached for their power over light, the magic they'd used to hide and once sneak right into the belly of the beast. Then they lit the way with solid tendrils of brightness, like a serpent hanging above Pride's head and looming into any cracks, crevasses and alcoves. It banished any shadow that their enemies might be hiding in, and stretched ahead of them, disappearing into the distance.

If there were any other goose-spawn hiding in the tunnel, Envy would expose them. There would be no hiding from the King.

Speech. Thought.

@Jayberry

The wolf panted, tongue lolling as she looked around, trying to find both the Familiar and her Kin. Jayberry's ears twitched, nostrils flaring as she listened for any sign of the bird.

But no, there was no sign of the newest member of their family. So she called out again "Sylvanberry! Come out!" trying to bleed as much authority into her tone as possible. She had never been a leader, content to be her Mother's follower, but at the moment Mother was gone, and she had to step up.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shiny approaching, and there was some relief - if only it were Sylvan - although she knew Huckleberry would be relieved that his Familiar was safe. But then Shiny was balking, retreating to safety at a loud clatter.

The black wolf whirled, facing her opposite as it approached - a white stag. Her eyes widened, and she had no chance to react before she found herself screaming, flung through the air like nothing more than a dead vole. Bones screamed and bent as she hit the ground, tumbling along rock and dirt and the remains of the nest she had crashed into, howling in pain.

She hauled herself to her paws, groaning in pain but praying that the bloodied stag hadn't seen Sylvan, wherever they were hiding, and Shiny. But then the Cave was lit up, and she snarled, slinking forward as she bit out "You've already won, you've scattered us, leave us be." but even as she did so, her eyes gleamed red, attempting to meet Pride, attempting to stop him if only for a moment, to give Sylvanberry valuable seconds to run.

@Sylvanberry

She saw the vague outline of the stag before she actually saw him in full. To her, the sight of-- well, anyone, who didn't willingly linger in this stink-tunnel was something of a relief. She took a staggered step forward, though a wave of nausea and dizziness almost immediately washed over her.

And then, the tunnel was illuminated.

She hadn't realised how bad it was until she saw it in the light-- if she had anything in her gut she would have brought it up then and there. Instead, she saw the bones and Jayberry collapsing onto them, and she saw the death and the blood and oh, caves, the blood.

The last thing the newborn wanted to do was come out of her hiding place, even though the light had long illuminated her, cobalt-blue plumage gleaming in Envy's supplied light. She paused, breathing quickly but shallowly, before she craned her head out the alcove.

"Stop-- no," she managed. She struggled to even come up with these words, through a mix of-- well, not knowing any, really, and being weak with hunger and thirst. "No fighting. Please." She stayed where she was for now, however, slowly turning her head up to look along the edges of the tunnel-- looking for somewhere else to hide, somewhere else to be.

Anywhere, at this point, would be better.

@Pride

Pride felt the screaming, unnatural shock to his mind. By this point, he knew it well enough to know what it was, at least, but it didn't change the flood of icy dread that poured through his adrenaline haze. It stopped him, at least, from focusing on his magicka for a moment--but he still saw the hated black wolf just ahead.

And something else.

Lit by Envy's magic, there was a small, distinctly goose-like head sticking out of an alcove at the side. He nearly went for it--thinking it was Blackberry, ready to trample it into oblivion--but the voice was different, and as he realized this, he saw too the strange curve of white over its head. It wasn't Blackberry, but it was one of her hell-spawn. And it is asking us not to fight. ...That's new.
The stag moved on, still unable to call upon his magicka as Jayberry's spell bled through his mind and trickled away. He tried to reach Sylvanberry's alcove, however--but the spell ground him to a halt. His legs refused to respond, bar to barely keep him standing, and even then they shook; he stood his ground, then, and barked his words angrily. His voice seethed with frustration, authority--and a tremor--toward Jayberry.

"WON? Scattered you?! You are monsters!" he spat. "Tormenting the innocent! Slaying those who simply want to live in peace?! No. We haven't won, not until Blackberry lies dead. This one," he went on, his high-pitched voice no longer a melody but a furious trill, "what is she? Another child-pawn of your sick mother's, to be indoctrinated into your madness? Leave, now. I will kill you next time we meet--but we do not kill children. This one will have a better life with us than anything you twisted sadists could ever provide." The words dripped with venom, and with violent promise. Though he couldn't cast, he began again to move forward, and his silver eyes were ablaze with anger.

With hatred.

It seemed that that, at least, was contagious; Blackberry's rage had, through her actions, spread.

@Envy

Envy listened, and watched, with regal intensity, their expression grim and crown glistening with eerie brightness in the ethereal light they had made. They felt, in honesty, too exhausted to really add much, but they listened to the exchange with gritted teeth. Pride's anger was growing, his bellowing voice left their ears ringing and their heart pounding.

What else could they add? The King felt useless here. They could do little more than to add their magic to the storm; Pride was the one in control, here. They were just a weasel swept along by the tide, wishing so badly to be somewhere else.

But Pride had stopped. Envy felt him shaking beneath them; they also caught sight of the young Gembound that was obviously Blackberry's latest spawn. They shivered vaguely, quills perking up. She was afraid, clearly, obviously. A plan formed in their mind, spurred on by Pride's ferocious words. As the cave fell into silence, they sent their consciousness towards the young creature, a link opening between them, flowing with a momentary thread of emotion- sadness, hollowness, hesitation- before they guarded themselves with haste.

No-one else would hear, or know, that the two beings were conversing.

You are afraid, they observed, softly, simply. ...Because of the goose. You were safe from no-one with her. Everyone was a threat. That's not how it should be. A real family protects one another, rather than forcing each other to die like she did. Would you come with us? In my Kingdom, you would be safe from the Goose's enemies.

Speech. Thought.

@Jayberry