Huckleberry nodded, but it hurt to admit how cruel his mother had been. But why was that so difficult to understand? She'd hurt him many times, in more ways then just physical. All of the family had suffered under her rule, except, of course, for those savages like Jayberry.

"I will," he promised. Mercurius had been kind and helped him so much. To leave him now or to not listen to what he had to say was both just pure stupidity and really really mean. Huckleberry didn't want to be mean anymore. He wanted to be nice and fun and happy. That's all he wanted. It was ignorant and childish thinking, but at least it was better then "I want to make my murder-loving mother proud of me." Baby steps.

As for Cloudberry, Huckleberry paused. He had been given very limited time with his daughter while she was growing up - Blackberry had wanted her to never know her real heritage. As such, he knew precious little about his own kin. "Um...I...I don't know. I don't think so. She was never really like Blackberry. I don't really...I don't know what she's like. She's hard to understand...she doesn't let anyone in. Or, at least, she didn't. I don't know. I'm sorry. But I don't think she'll be a problem like Jayberry."

He looked up towards Pride, feeling a little more confident. "Thank you, Pride. If you ever hear anything about Jayberry...can you please tell me? I want to help stop her. I want it more then anything."

@Pride

At Huckleberry's words, Pride had a glimpse of a memory--Jayberry flung sky-high, away, landing among a distant crowd, out of sight. Too, another--the cave, Sylvanberry taken away, the wolf fought off and fleeing, on fire.

"I know Jayberry has been injured more than once since the attack--but not fully brought to justice. I could not say where she is--that is to say, I do not know," he amended, lest it sound like he was keeping secrets.

Perhaps he ought to search more thoroughly for Cloudberry, put the word out that she was wanted--and Jayberry, too, really. But everyone in the caves had to know anyway, by now--and a search would be rather hampered by the caves' sheer size. He wasn't sure what he'd even do if he found Cloudberry--talk to her to begin with, gauge whether, perhaps, she was a threat, then do his best to return her to Eridanus. But things could go wildly differently depending on circumstance, so he was hesitant to fully plan anything.

As for Huckleberry--"I do not intend to seek out and harm Cloudberry. But if I do find Jayberry, I will let you know." Of course, he couldn't completely trust that Huckleberry didn't want to tag along to then switch sides again. He wasn't sure how much of the hybrid's attitude was true--Ahh, but I can check, can't I?

He dipped his mind toward Huckleberry's, only to be greeted by an echoing cascade of thoughts--some his own, some the hybrid's, all of them repeating madly and seeming to grow louder and louder by the instant. Pride quickly pulled away--mentally, rather than physically--and cut the magicka off, though the echoing senseless words continued to grow louder and louder in his head. He blinked, exhaling sharply.

Well that is unpleasant.

A defense mechanism, from the moose hybrid..? Did Huckleberry possess that kind of ability? He hadn't found any of his target's actual thoughts--and luckily, he was fairly sure that he'd not broadcasted any of his own. It had been almost a reversed link, a feedback into his own mind, with only a touch of the other's coming back with him.

Pride wasn't sure if it had been something deliberate on Huckleberry's part, but he simply stood for a moment to let the backfired spell fade--which, thankfully, it was now beginning to do. "As for your teaching," he went on, after a moment, his voice strained with the effort of remaining normal--"Mercurius will be a good guide. I am glad that you are sticking with him." Words to cover what he was feeling, but they were good words to say, nonetheless.

@Huckleberry

It was when Pride was talking about where Jayberry could be that he remembered. How could he forget?! It had been at the forefront of his mind for quite a while now, especially after seeing Yew come home with such injuries. She hadn't talked about it, though, but Huckleberry knew. Especially after the discovery shortly after. Perhaps it had been the sheer horror of what had happened that had caused him to forget, or maybe he had been almost more concerned about the apology that it had been pushed to the back. Either way, he quivered as he spoke. "I'm...I'm sorry! I forgot to say! I should have started with it or come sooner but Jayberry was here. Not that long ago. She hurt Yew, but she wouldn't tell me about it. She hurt Yew really bad. I went after her, but I couldn't find her anywhere. But a couple weeks later I did find her and....she...." His eyes widened with horror. "She was different."

He remembered it clear as day, the hellish form that was once his sister. With longer, agile limbs, hand-like claws, horns...a nightmare. He'd run from her - she wanted him to go home with her but he'd run. He didn't have the courage to stand up to her then. He did now, however much she scared him. He shook his head. "She's still out there and I think she's more dangerous. I don't know where she went or what she's doing, I ran when I saw her. I wasn't ready. But I'm ready now."

@Pride

Pride's brow furrowed as he listened, and he went from wearily going over aspects of the situation, to sharply, intently categorizing what Huckleberry was telling him. Questions came almost at once.

"Jayberry was here? Different, how? How did she harm Yew?" And--"Where is Yew now? Does Mercurius know?" There was an urgency in his tone, now, and worry laced through him. The wolf had been back, attacked, even, and no one had told him..? What the hell?!

I have to follow up on this at once. Get description of alterations, ascertain status of victim, location, situation--is it being handled? Refer to appropriate caregivers--His thoughts were somewhat rapid, a stream of thought barely touching the concepts that lay beneath. He was already planning, and his displeasure was strong, but that was hardly Huckleberry's fault.

He'd have liked to touch Huckleberry's mind again, to try and see, but he could not, at the moment, bypass the strange echoes that still lurked at the back of his mind.

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry nodded, not very surprised at Pride's sudden, hasty reaction. "One day Yew came back to the garden all torn up. She was quiet and distressed and didn't want to talk about it. She didn't tell me who it was and I thought that Blackberry had done it perhaps but a few days later I found a growing stone in the forest. I thought that it might be a new gembound so I hid it and checked on it every so often...but when it hatched... his eyes widened with horror again. "It was her and I knew...Yew must have fought her and beaten her and she mutated. I ran away, I don't think she saw me, but she looked like a nightmare. Worse then Blackberry, just without all the...spikes."

Huckleberry glanced back towards the garden, as if Yew would be walking around for no reason. "She...should be nearby. She stays around the garden a lot. And...no, he doesn't. I was really scared and didn't tell anyone. I know, I should have gone to him, but Yew was so distressed and I was really scared and I didn't want to cause the Kingdom anymore trouble."

@Pride

He hasn't told Mercurius..? "Please tell me that you at least told Rift," Pride said, but the dread in his tone said that he guessed otherwise. Jayberry had been here, had attacked someone IN Eridanus, and none of the Kingdom knew..?

He shook his head, briefly, and again stretched out his magicka.

"Show me what she looks like, Huckleberry--think of Jayberry, and let me see, please. I need to warn the others." There was no urgency in his tone, only focus. He doubted that the wolf was truly here, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be a good idea to take precautions.

This time, the magicka came on strong, and--deeply concentrating--he extended it to Huckleberry's mind, attempting to seek the images of a mutated Jayberry. He knew it would help if the hybrid brought them to the forefront of his mind--but Pride would seek them anyway.

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry nodded silently. He knew he should have told Rift, or Sebastian, or even Mercurius, but he remembered Yew's face when she had come back. It seemed that family still meant more to him then anything, and all the family he had left was Yew and Shiny.

He closed his eyes and tried to think as Pride's magic touched his mind. He thought back to the day he had went running through the trees. He was sprinting as fast as he could, excited, panting happily, no weight of Shiny on his back. What kind of creature would it be? He'd watched after the gemstone since he'd found it some days ago. He wanted to help it out. Maybe convince Rift to let it join the Kingdom. Raise it right. But as he approached the place where it had been, where he'd heard the cracking sound, he skidded to a halt, horrified. Jayberry was standing there, her entire form twisted and so, so different. Curled horns around her head, paws like hands with cruel talons, a whipping tail behind her...she looked so much more dangerous then before. He stood there for a minute, Shiny's voice in his head, asking if she should come. A sharp exclamation of "No!" and then a pause before he turned and ran, too consumed by terror to stick around any longer.

@Pride

Pride watched--and listened--intently, mind-to-mind. Jayberry--if that truly were Jayberry--looked grotesque. But more than that, as he let the link slipped closed, he allowed his suspicion to at last fall away. Relief, even joy, flooded him instead.

Huckleberry, unless he were a phenomenal actor--enough even to control his own thoughts--was telling the truth. His fear at Jayberry's presence had been very real. The stag still held his emotions in check; there was always the possibility of being more deeply-misled. But for now, he allowed himself to believe that the hybrid was truly not on the -berries' side any longer.

He exhaled, half in relief, half in thought at what to do next.

"I'll need to speak with Rift--to warn him," the stag said quietly. "And your sister will need to be better-protected."

It was one thing to have left Jayberry to leave, to wander the caves, to play her little games dabbling in "normal Gembound things" as she pretended to be a wholly normal member of society. Her appearance at the Olympics had been--ridiculous, all things considered, but Pride had wondered if perhaps, without Blackberry's influence, the wolf might reintegrate into society. It was clear now that this would not be the case. The wolf--now mutated--had actively sought out her old siblings, and fought one so badly that she wound up in her chrysalis? This was bad.

"Thank you for speaking with me, Huckleberry," he said, with a dip of his head, his antlers catching the light and reflecting it softly. "If you need to speak with me further, you know where to find me, yes? -You can accompany me to Rift and to Mercurius, if you wish," he added, "but I am just going to tell them what you have told me." With another nod--and urgency driving him, he turned, about to depart.

exit Pride?
@Huckleberry

Huckleberry sighed a bit as Pride pulled out of his mind. He didn't like reliving things like that, especially scary things, but a reassuring lick from Shiny and he felt a little better. Huckleberry nodded fervently. "Y-yes, I meant to tell him but..." One of his talons traced a little guiltily through the dirt. "I'm still a little scared. I'm working on it though! I'm sorry f-for not bringing it to you sooner."

He was very surprised when Pride dipped his head to him and Huckleberry was so caught off guard and so overwhelmed by this small show of respect that tears did actually leap to his eyes before he could stop them. "O-oh, thank you, Pride. I mean, you're welcome and...and if you ever need help with the remains of my f- I mean, the Berries, I'm here. I want to help." It was about time he used the magic he'd worked so hard for - the magic he was so proud of for something good. "I'll go and t-tell Yew about this." He raised a bird-like arm and wiped away the tears as best as he could and watched Pride canter away into the forest. He looked back and Shiny and smiled wide.

"I did it! But I didn't get through without crying..." The little catsquirrel crawled up to his face and stretched forward, licking the tears off his cheeks. That's okay, Huckle-friend. Tears are not always bad. I'm proud of you. He leaned forward to nuzzle his friend again and turned, going in the opposite direction of Pride, back to where Yew was probably hiding.

*exit