Pride leaned down, offering James a brief nudge of his nose, as reassuring as he could manage. His voice came strong, and calm; in his mind he was not afraid, only... a little confused, and certainly wary of the giant beast. But it was speaking, and its words, to Pride, made sense. James was a jumpy creature at the best of times.

"You're safe now," he assured him calmly, and then looked up, nodding to Orthoclase. "Orthoclase-Alpha, was it?" he asked, his tone one of professional address. "Pride, if you've forgotten. We met in Cetus. May I offer the advice that chasing and cornering children will terrify them..? Which is unwise, and cruel," he added. It wasn't even hostility. He'd met too many that were socially... blank. He genuinely thought it likely that Alpha had no idea. "If you want to ask what someone is, assure them you will not hurt them, from a distance. That is my advice. James," he added, glancing down, "is a horse. And he is one of mine," he added, pointedly, silver eyes flashing back up toward the kaiju with emphasis. And his heart jumped a little, here--that, should Alpha choose to take it so, could be construed as a challenge.

As confident as Pride was in his magic, he did not want to actively pick a fight with the--what was it, two ton?--monster.

Which made his next sentence a little... foolish. "Actually, I'm glad to see you--there was something I wanted to discuss. About the dragons in Monoceros-?" Which, if Alpha didn't already know where they were, whoops; now it did. But Pride didn't think of that; the dragons hardly made their presence a secret, there.

@Orthoclase-Alpha

It couldn't emote very well with that rigid face of its, but Alpha looked wholly unoffended at being called out for chasing and cornering children. Good on the horse to corroborate its story - aside from the killing part.

A dip of the head came at its name, and it half-parsed the stag's name, expecting a second part appended to it. There were a number of Gembound in the caves, and the orthoclase did a terrible job of remembering names and faces together until about the second encounter. Besides, Cetus'd been chaotic and it was only looking to fight (not that anything'd changed.)

Pride offered entirely unwarranted advice, and he wasn't terribly off the mark except that it was a very... obvious thing. "He ran first," it grunted matter-of-factly, "I was sleeping." As if that made chasing until either of them were nearly having a respiratory attack better. The orthoclase's eyes narrowed at the apparent claim, but it - thankfully for the stag's rising anxiety - thought little more of it. If Vargas wanted a... horse, it knew where it could find one for him. (What a messed up thing to think.)

The beast stiffened visibly at the mention of dragons - particularly those in Monoceros. Word goes around that fast? Quills pricked up, even as it maintained steady eye contact with Pride. It lifted its head slightly, standing a little straighter, and narrowed its eyes, "what about them?"

It wouldn't be hard for him to dance circles around it, but it could do its damnedest to answer minimally and smash the verbal escape button as many times as possible to avoid a slip-up that'd travel back to those dumb beasts and mess up - Desert Rose, right? - his infiltration.

Alpha wasn't even allowed in Monoceros until the time was right - not that it wanted to go in and ask to be roasted alive again.

@James

James' eyes flicked between the two nervously, watching their exchange. He stayed glued to Pride's side as he caught his breath, his loud panting quieting as his lungs no longer burned from a need of air.

"... What are you talking about?", he asked, "Dragons?"

Dragons... from his limited knowledge, fire-breathing beasts of intimidating stature, and immensely powerful. He was nothing compared to them, magically or in stature.

James shuffled nervously, the tense air around making his fur stand up on its end. He didn't like this at all. Could they go home now?

Of course, he didn't say anything, not wanting to interrupt further and possibly make the goliath ticked off (if he wasn't already, he couldn't tell).

@Pride

Pride's eyes flashed a little (metaphorically speaking) at the "he ran first." "Then do not chase," he responded, evenly and pointedly. "Call out, assure safety, and perhaps you will get a conversation. If you chase, the other will assume you want to kill, and eat them, and will flee. It is counter to your goals," he explained. There was a familiarity to his speech, as if he knew Alpha better than he did, but Pride and his "I know best" mentality really couldn't help it. He was fairly sure that Alpha genuinely didn't know this stuff.

The change in Alpha's body language did not go unnoticed--the stiffening, straightening, the pricking of quills and narrowing of eyes. Pride mirrored it, half-unconsciously, head coming up and legs more firmly together, as if standing at attention as he stared up at the creature.

"We are allies of the dragons--they have many allies throughout the caves. Combat would be unwise," he added, and after a beat to let it process that, added, "I would suggest contacting them, if there is a problem, through a go-between. I can speak to them, if you like, depending on what the problem is." He almost hoped Alpha would say no; as much as he said they were allies, it was certainly an allegiance of questionable merit. He also wanted to know what the issue was, really; Dread had not been entirely clear and Pride wasn't even sure the dragon knew. He'd just bellowed a lot.

Dread could be a threat to the caves, if he went out of control; maybe Alpha had something more useful to say on the topic.

As for James, Pride simply remained standing beside him--glancing down at him only briefly to answer his question. "There is a family of dragons in the caves, and apparently there's some trouble between Alpha and they. It'd be best to sort it out before it comes to violence."

If only he knew.

@James

Pride's advice went in one ear and out the other after its statement, more for the fact of Sure, I know this, but I prefer the sledgehammer approach to any and all situations, social or not than up and ignoring what could be sound counsel. It'd never been encouraged, really, to try slow and methodical approaches to things; so, it never bothered to figure out any of those.

Instead, it took the information-seeking bait - kind of - and gave a monstrous grin, "too late for that. I've already fought two of them." Hubris - "one has my teeth-marks on it." In two places, actually. "It was a spar and it was weak." (... and also the wrong dragon and a juvenile, but, it was still something to gloat about beating in front of an old battle-mate and a terrified colt.)

It made an anyways sort of sound and half-turned down the offer of a go-between with a short grunt, "my Overseer would decide that, not me." If it fit into his plans, sure - if not, Alpha's wasted time in sending the stag his way - "we don't need your help."

It's got.

@James

James... was so lost. What was going on? What were they talking about?

He looked up at Pride as he spoke to him, and nodded gently. Peacekeeping... that sounded much better than fighting dragons, like Alpha had described.

"... You fought them?", James asked nervously.

If he won, then that meant he was strong. Possibly stronger than Pride. That scared him quite a bit, making him press further into Pride's side, nearly going underneath him in his effort to disappear into his fur.

"... Can we go?", he whispered softly, "... My legs hurt."

And hurt they did. Furless on his knees and shaking a bit, showing his exhaustion. He really only needed a band-aid and a nap, but still.

@Pride

@Orthclase-Alpha

The white stag tilted his head, a little. This thing's bragging rubbed him the wrong way, but it still wasn't outright hostility and he wasn't about to be the one to start a fight. He'd been working on that.

He looked down to James, taking a breath.

"Go back to the Throne and rest, if you need to." It was kindly but firmly said; he wasn't done, here, himself. Not yet.

He then looked back to Orthoclase-Alpha. "Pardon me; do you speak for yourself, or for the Overseer? You said that it is up to him to decide... yet that you need no help. Which is it-?" he asked, his words sweetly, delicately pointed. It was possible that Alpha had meant two different things, with its remarks--but Pride's point remained the same.

Either the creature spoke for itself; or it did not. "Should I be addressing you, or your... Overseer? Or do you bear messages to him-?"

@Orthoclase-Alpha

It glanced at James as he spoke, offering just a brief nod before he was dismissed to go to the Throne. Alpha shifted in place, gaze turning back to the stag and -

Oh. Oh dear; what a conundrum. Had it stepped out of line with that? Was it - actually speaking for the Overseer? Quills pricked, the reflection of its glowing eyes shifting slightly as its gaze averted, and it stared back down again. "I do not speak for the Overseer." Safe. "He already has plans." Ergo, no reason to introduce new things to the mix, right? Even if it could be helpful at some point.

Alpha straighted, "address... me. I'll include it in a report." Acidic eyes narrowed in a curious squint, then: "what are you?" It thought - well, that the Master Astraea was unique in his appearance. Odd, but a lone member of that species - and yet... Could those hooves be as painful as that horse's hind legs? Its nostrils flared at the thought, a claw rocking up to wipe at its leaky side.

A disdainful grunt accompanied the motion, and the orthoclase leveled another glare at James.

@James

James nodded at what Pride said and withered under Alpha's harsh gaze, a bit of guilt flashing as he turned around, but not before hopping onto his hind legs to gently butt his head against Pride's neck affectionately. He tossed his head and trotted off, limping gently on one of his worse off legs, head low and tail between his legs.

After a moment he stopped and seemed to have an internal conflict before turning and running back to the two.

"I'm sorry for kicking you!!", he said loudly, before taking off at a gallop, clearly upset with himself as he kicked out to the side, something in his head reflecting outwards in his actions.

Exit James.

@Pride

so sorry for the short reply rip me

The stag inclined his head, perfectly politely.

"I have already... addressed you, so to speak but if you wish a summary it would be this: the dragons hold us and others as our allies, with good number; it would be unwise to attack them without due provocation. Likewise if your Overseer wishes a more peaceful resolution, perhaps we might be of aid. I make no guarantees--but mediation is one form of protecton from violence, which is what we strive for."

He paused to give James a nuzzle, as the foal rushed off--noting, as he did so, the foal's surprising manners; that was good--then looked back to Orthoclase-Alpha.

Caves, but his heart was racing even looking at this thing. Memories of Dread looming over him still threaded horror through his mind, and for a momen the wondered why he was risking it. Dread wasn't entirely wrong, though, in his anger--was he? I took advantage of him, took him for granted, used him as a puppet for violence and he was more than aware of that. I assumed that since he was not as intelligent as some, he would be more malleable and that was very wrong. That may be the case with this one, also, he warned himself, in a moment of unintentional arrogance.

"As for what I am--I am a stag." He half-turned, intending to conjure up a shimmering image of Astraea for comparison--clearly the creature had never seen him, before--but nothing came; and he suppressed a sigh. This spell was always so damn temperamental. "I thought you had seen the Master Astraea, in Cetus-? He is similar to me, if you'll take note: a stag, though brown in color and a tad larger."

And not as pretty, apparently, but that was Astraea's problem, not Pride's.

@Orthoclase-Alpha