Pride felt his rage burn hotter at Blackberry's words.

"Ahh, so now you're repentant? How convenient," he spat. But then, his spell--it had been meant to consume her, quickly and utterly. How she was surviving the pull of the black hole he didn't know, but the result was horrific, and that was all he felt--horror.

The drive to end it fast--now to put a stop to the screeching and the bleeding--only intensified to a frantic level.

He gritted his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut at the swell and pulse of magicka, trying to keep the black hole open. And open it stayed, though he could feel himself draining.

It had to pull her in. She was but a bird, already wounded--now wingless--and the event horizon was right there. It had to end this.

@Envy

Envy's eyes were closed, but they still heard the screaming agony, and smelt the heady scent of blood. Cracking open their eyes, they saw it all; how she clung, so desperately, to life. How piece by piece, she was falling apart in agony. They felt their stomach clench. They felt bile rising in their throat. At least Elderberry's death had been quick, instant, his agonized demise short-lived.

Finally, they let their magic go. At this point, they knew that getting her to die was the only way that this could end. It was the most merciful outcome, although, a small part of them knew that she deserved every second of the prolonged agony. But they wanted it to end.

Sucking in their breath, Envy observed the situation-- the black hole, the pinned bird, Pride's spike. And they went for the kindest option. They sucked in their breath and sent a wave of Energy forward, hopefully dislodging the bird from its spike and throwing her forward into the gaping nothingness.

Speech. Thought.

@Blackberry

Wilder was racing through the cave, her breath coming in pants and her steps uneven. She was exhausted but the instant she had heard the screaming start she had sped herself to the limit of her speed. She didn't care what Blackberry had done. She didn't care what evil she had been before or what she deserved. All she knew that it was wrong to make anyone scream like that. Whatever they were doing to her was wrong.

She cried as she went knowing that it was her fault. If she had never gone to Pride and asked, never revealed that she'd talked to Blackberry at all, then it wouldn't have happened. And if she had never warned Blackberry there would have been a trial. Pride had lied to her.

She wasn't going to make it in time. There was nothing she could do. She was too slow and too tired. She had failed.

She didn't hear what Pride said. All she could hear was the desperate beating of her heart, trying to stay alive, trying to keep herself going. But it was failing. She was losing too much blood. The black hole behind her was dragging her life out bit by bit. And then a pulse of energy shot through the cave, pushing against her body. It dragged her off of the spire and she knew that it was the end.

But then there came a rumbling sound, like the roof was falling on their heads. And that was, in fact, what was happening. The black hole had been open for too long. Too many small rocks had fallen into its depths. The mouth of the cave couldn't hold itself up anymore. Blackberry felt a heavy weight smash into her raw back but she had no voice left to scream. The entire cave she was in collapsed on itself, filling the black hole, and Blackberry, from Pride's grasp.

Her bones were broken but she still lived, that fire that had been out for so long burning stronger then ever. She couldn't move, she could barely breath. She tried to do something, anything to help herself but nothing was coming to save her. She felt the gem on her head shiver and with an inaudible groan, she knew what was coming. The darkness was taking over as the deep blue gem spread across her body and completely engulfed her before her wavering consciousness finally fell under.

*exit

@Pride

It was over.

The murderer of the caves was dead.

Or, at least, Pride thought as much; the black hole, the impaling gem, the collapsing cave. He'd felt the shockwave of Envy's magic. There was no way the goose was still alive after that; Let this be her tomb, then, and may she rot in it. For a moment he stared, his flanks still heaving, at the rubble.

"The caves are safer now. For the first time in many cycles, I think children needn't fear." His voice was tired, ragged, but softly genuine. The goose had been a monster, and at last, she was gone for good.

The stag turned.

Ahhh... Wilder. The cat had come. Disgust welled back up in him and he glanced around, but there seemed to be no sign of impending attack. He looked back down at her, but he could find no venom to spit--not after the horror here.

It had been meant to be a quick death.

"I had best not see you in Orion. You are not welcome there," was all he said, his voice a low, threatening spill of promised violence.

Then he stepped around her, moving simply to leave. He'd ensure that Aure and Dragon were warned of the traitor soon enough--for now he wished to leave this place, perhaps to speak to Envy, and rest.

exit Pride; @Envy

It worked.

The goose was dead.

There was no way she could possibly survive that.

For a moment all they heard was the sound of Pride's breaths, conveniently masking the sound of their own panting. They hadn't realised they'd been holding their breath. The blood surged through their ears, loud, and obnoxious.

Envy's ears pricked at the sound of someone approaching, and they swung around, before Pride did the same. With Envy on his head, they both faced the cat. They couldn't find anything more to add, and so they simply stared, cold, before nodding, slow and grave.

As Pride left, they did so as well, taken along with him, silent other than their hammering heartbeat. And they were relieved that he wouldn't be able to see their expression, for it was hollow, struggling to block out, to even comprehend the terrible death they'd born witness to... And the knowledge that they had had a hand in it.

-exit Envy-


Speech. Thought.

@Wilder

Wilder came to a halt not far from the seen and with horrified eyes watched as the cave that Blackberry was in collapsed around her. A shiver went down her spine and she took a step forward. No. This wasn't happening. She couldn't have gotten here too late. There had to be...there had to be something she could do!

"No," she whispered. She watched Pride step up to her and his words sent a fiery hatred through her tiny body. A hatred so powerful that she could barely contain it. Her ears flipped back and her lip curled, but her entire body was rooted in place, shivering and shaking. She wanted to lash back, do something, make him pay for what he'd done, but she couldn't move.

"I hate you," she spat. "You're monsters! I'll never forgive you for this." It was probably the worst thing she'd ever said to anyone, at least the worst thing she had meant completely. Something in her head clicked. She had wanted to be friends with everyone in the caves? Not anymore. She didn't want to be friends with them.

She forced herself forward up to the caveside, the fury in her features melting away. They were right - there was no way Blackberry could have survived that. But still, she refused to accept that nothing could be done. That Blackberry was dead and unreachable. She could at least try and pull her gem out from the wreck.

She glanced down the tunnel to make sure Pride and Envy were gone before using her magic to lift some of the biggest rocks. It was difficult to get so many at once but it was enough to move what she needed. And beneath the rubble she saw a blue gem, a goose-shaped gem and relief poured through her system. She was safe. Perhaps not fully alive, but she would recover. She rearranged the rocks so that they still covered the goose in her chrysalis but didn't smash her down. She made a tiny little cave, just big enough for Blackberry, before letting the magic cut off.

Now the goose would have room when she woke up. Not a lot of room, but she would be able to get out and not be crushed. For a moment she considered sticking around but then she remembered that this had been her fault. If she hadn't told Pride or even gone to him, then Blackberry would still be safe in her cave. Wilder sighed and turned. She should never have gotten involved.

She left the tunnel not as heavy-hearted as she had been when she entered it but carried a boiling rage and hatred she had not felt before. Even though her friend wasn't dead, Pride and Envy had certainly tried and she would never let that go.

*exit