"She was the one Astraea asked us to seek out and kill," Mercurius hummed, faintly uncertain if he'd ever told Pride this before, but the rest was reassuring, "it's good to know that most of them - at least, are safe. I should seek them out..." The last sentence was more idle musing than anything. Further incentive to make sure this place was as spiffy as possible, in clean, well-kept condition.

Moonset eyes fixed on Pride as he hesitated over the anecdote about Dread. Mercy murmured, "he did not harm you, did he?" He did not know what he could do against such an immense beast, but he could... offer support, his presence. It would be good to know, given the presence of not even just Dread in their new home.

The stag was helping clean up anyways, and Mercurius idly thought: this garden would look much livelier with flowers. Magicka rolled through - and up sprouted twirls of petals from the creeping vines he'd left alone. The spell stopped before they could bloom, but... ah, at least there were a hundred some buds and a blossoming headache against his skull. Mercurius closed his eyes slightly, setting his haunches out to the side and laying down fully.

"I will try to find out about her." A gentle nod and quirk of the lips, even through his aching skull.

Easing off on the magic for a moment, Mercurius stayed right where he was, only humming softly, "it's good to know that - despite the circumstances and odds - we have the companionship to fight as one, even when it is not immediately their own battle." Destructive as that battle might have been, no one died. He was grateful to know that, at least; his absence did not leave room for needless death. (Only that of Lessers, but... that was a grim display that may have occurred no matter what.) "I'm grateful."

Aside from making a new home? He huffed dismissively with a laugh, "ah, no more than I was here. Meandering, thinking of more stories to tell and trying to commit them to this memory of mine." Monoceros held quite a community in today's age, but many things held hidden-away stories, too. "I've been thinking of one as an origin story for the gorge. Perhaps, a great dragon's fire cleaved it into the land, or the strike of his tail..."

Mercurius shook his head.

"Certainly, it's not finished yet, and neither is the new garden. It's difficult to break up the stone into soil and have it be... substantial enough for plant life. Huckle, at least, has been quite helpful in that regard. We've had to resort to - strange methods of nourishing the soil for plant matter." (Read: we've been pooping there.) "With time, maybe, there will be enough of a cycle that we don't have to put so much in. We've grown a fair few trees and grasses along the river, hoping to catch some dirt as it flows down."

And now, it was Pride's turn: "and what have you been up to, aside from battle? Enjoying quieter times, I hope."

@Pride

Pride gave a little nod. "Ahh, I know the whole story. Oliver went over it when asking for help. He was the one to find her, and to ask the rest of us to move in--he thought it would protect the Kingdom, thought, I suppose, that it was the right thing to do. I hope it was, for all our sakes. Those freed from the fungus have an odd mix of thankful and furious. Levels of... brainwashing, perhaps. I'm unsure." He paused, then eyed Mercurius rather quizzically. "One of them is a floating ring. Just... a circle, with wings and eyes. I cannot describe it--it's unlike any living being I have ever seen. Not... entirely unlike the rings in that door-? It's come to join the Seven, since then." It hadn't occurred to Pride, but perhaps Temperantia was... a door-ring, gone wrong? The others had been formed of living things. He wondered if she'd just pried herself off a wall somewhere and flown away.

Pride paused to listen, again, coming over to lie relatively near to his friend, curling himself down among the tangled overgrowth. He was careful, of course, to avoid trampling the new flower buds that the lion had pulled from the earth, and he dipped a nose down to touch one or two gently, appreciatively. The lion had a gift for creation that the stag had never seen. I should be black, he thought abruptly, to his white; large and brutish. Destruction to his creation. Violence to nurturing. It wasn't self-deprecating, as Pride's thoughts sometimes were, just musing and poetic.

He turned his attention to Mercurius' words, ensuring he didn't miss anything in his brief lapse.

"If you ever need help moving anything there, you have but to ask, you know? I could easily help you to move dirt, or seeds or what have you, via mind and creativity. And magic, of course, but that goes unsaid with 'mind,' I suppose. How about the stories, then; have you finished any? I wonder; there may even be some old enough--the Masters, maybe, or the Lorekeeper I've heard of--who actually know how the Gorge was formed. I haven't been resting enough, I can say that. Finding and raising new children, guiding them. Trying to learn what I can. Avoiding Nemean's... crap. Guiding Livius--they've woken, but haven't quite resumed duties just yet. Nassir tells me that I ought to rest more, and I intend to follow that advice... I say, often, 'as soon as I find the time' but I suspect I shall have to force the time, or I'll forever keep myself too busy." The stag flashed Mercurius an amused glance.

"Know anywhere that might make for a good vacation?" he asked, jokingly. They were all trapped here in a series of closed-in caves, after all, and Pride had seen them all.

@Mercurius

"Of course, of course," he hummed. Mercurius shifted so that a forelimb was tucked underneath his mane. "The word brainwashing certainly does not come with positive connotations, does it?" came the assurance, "and either of those feelings can be born from gratitude and freedom." Moonset eyes flickered over, furrowing at the thought of just a circle, sentient and capable of so much. "Many strange beings wander the Caves nowadays - but, if they ever wish to speak of anything, let them know that my... proverbial door is open." The briars may get in the way of a flying, inflexible ring - remove those entirely later, they've outlived their use.

Pride came to sit, and the old lion regarded him gently, nodding along with those offerings. "If we ever look to expanding further, I know who to call first," Mercy replied warmly, almost wryly.

As for the stories: "there's too many ideas going around in my head at the moment to focus on any one. A number of them center around dragons - ah, our neighbors, yes - and blacksmiths with forges fed by them. There's no particular moral to any of them, other than cooperation, maybe. They may just wind up being stories for entertaining children." It was always good to keep those around, hold them away for safekeeping; little worlds that he could form glimmering bubbles of for any little ones to see - like the sunset-laden Eventide their sons both adored so in their youth. "But, yes - perhaps any of the ancients would know. One simply has to seek them out and ask." A task in of itself.

"Nassir tells me that I ought to rest more." Mercy barked a short laugh at this, "ah, that fellow sounds like he's got a good head on his shoulders." He'd never met the black panther, but it seemed that Pride had found himself in good paws in the lion's own absence.

"There's no shame in simply dropping things and taking time off, Pride - I hear that the Gorge is lovely these cycles..." Mercurius flashed an equally as amused glance, "or... there's this fantastic little place in Eridanus, laden in lights and flowers-that-have-yet-to-bloom with a true gentleman of a lion to keep you company..." The storyteller huffed in laughter again, rolling onto his side with a singular thump of his tail and twist of the head to keep his gaze on Pride.

@Pride

"The word brainwashing certainly does not come with positive connotations, does it?" Pride snorted soft laughter, and shook his head. "No; no, it doesn't," he agreed. And he turned, then, with a curious gaze to Mercurius. "That offer-... I wonder. Mercy, I sometimes think that more Gembound than realize it might benefit just... from someone to listen to. I try, but it isn't... my strength, the way it is yours, you know? Should I--and I don't want to offer this without asking you, as it might become too much; but would you like me to offer that to all the Seven-?" Caves knew there were enough of them. "In fact, Nassir in particular may benefit from someone more to speak to."

Head swivelled to listen, ears swept to catch the lion's words. "If you finish any of the stories--share them with me. Childrens' or not. I made one up, you know, for Vivilene-? She wishes to help others but her... inability to speak bothers her greatly. I can't--I can't remember it now," he added, with a brief and self-deprecating laugh, "but I think it was to do with an old, blind Gembound who helped others find joy through speaking. I suppose at least a little inspired by you," he added, with a warm glance Mercurius' way.

"There's this fantastic little place in Eridanus..."

The stag's face grew solemn, and he tilted his head up toward the foliage above. "Hm. I haven't had time to tell you this, but this has been my sanctuary, Mercurius. I come and lie here, and think of you, when I need a moment's rest. When I need peace. Memories of your company, of course, as well as the garden you've made here--and its beauty." In fact, hardly a week went by that Pride did not visit--though often enough it was simply to stick his head in and ensure that no one had come in and damaged it. But he came here to center himself, to rest, though he'd not dared to try and fight the foliage retaking it; he hadn't wanted to kill even the briars by accident. The plants--those were Mercurius' domain.

For a moment, he debated casting his magic again, and decided to try it--as combatative as Light magic often was with him, there was something he wanted to show. After a moment's concentration, a cascade of glittering stars blinked into being overhead: a galaxy, like Orion's ceiling, that turned slowly across the 'roof' of the glade. Rippling lights crossed it, from time to time, and Pride spoke softly, looking up at it. "Not to imply that you aren't company, Mercurius. But do you ever wish--as I do--that there were more to the world-? More to explore, more to visit, to learn? I feel as though this place is... limited, restricted. I feel as though..."

As though we are trapped.

The stag looked down, unwilling to outright say it. And then he looked to his lion friend, again, who'd just flopped to laze so contentedly in the grass. "I wish there were worlds like those we told the children of, in stories. Magical places, with joy and... purple grass that tastes of peaches; with skies and auroras, like the Kings spoke of. Endless vistas to pass through." He sighed, softly, and then turned to wry humor. "I guess what I'm saying is, it's difficult to seek a vacation when you're still an hour's walk from all your troubles."

@Mercurius

"I'm open to anyone - and certainly your people," Mercurius punctuated with a slow nod, "if they need ears, they may have mine." The storyteller would become a counselor for the caves, if necessary. He smirked in idle amusement at the idea.

Vivilene, again. Moonset eyes dimmed slightly, and he sprawled a little further where he lay, if only to gaze at Pride in earnest. A tale inspired by him, hoping to assuage that inherent worry of speaking, her inability to - how sweet. "Bah, then that means the story was for her and her only. A wonderful gift, from you." A warm smile accompanied this. Mercy sighed, keeping that quirk to his lips on for a while longer, "but, ah, of course. You'll be the first one I tell - my test audience."

"This has been my sanctuary, Mercurius." As I'd hoped. But, Pride continued, scattering darkness and a glimmering sky across the roof of the cavern. The lion rocked up again, eyes trailing the magnificent sight, a near-infinite looking sky above. "But do you ever wish--as I do--that there were more to the world-?"

"Not often, but I do catch myself wishing for more," the storyteller admitted softly, as if speaking any louder would break this spell, this silent beauty, "perhaps, there are more caves than we know - but... something endless, something that would take longer than a day to traverse..." He grew almost breathless at the thought. "It would be beauty."

Despite the thrumming headache, Mercurius reached out to his magic, to paint the canvas that they were laying on and give the illusion of shoulder-tall grasses far as the eye could see, the horizon interrupted only by trees and distant, impossibly-large mountains. There was a brief adjustment period of the scene going bluer, imitating moon- and starlight, before the earth and sky seemed almost seamless.

"We... can only hope to imagine - and hope to find more."

Almost idly, the storyteller tossed bird-silhouettes at the "sky" and the gentle winking of fireflies.

@Pride

Pride remained silent.

Mercurius' answers needed none in return, only a slight nod of acknowledgment: and the sudden, smooth appearance of land sweeping up to meet sky had him quiet, respectful of the magic. Grasses, mountains, trees: ahh, but if they could only truly create such a place-! The stag let out a quiet, wistful sigh through his nose and tipped his head back to view the nonexistent birds that flitted through the scene.

After a long moment he lowered his head, laying it across his forelegs. But his eyes stayed open, that stag's prey vision giving him a full, pleasant view of the imaginary world all around him.

After a few moments it grew too much for him to maintain; the skies slowly faded, the stars blinking out.

The white stag's eyes slipped shut, and he remained quiet, for now.

@Mercurius

The visual was more than enough to make up for the lull in conversation, but magic was bound to run out, place a great strain on one. Stars winked out, auroras fading, the foliage above leaking back in. Pride, himself, seemed to be fading. Mercurius pressed on his own magic, leaving the plains as long as his stone would withstand, but...

Ah, he needed to rest his head, too.

He settled down again, moonset eyes watching the stag carefully before ultimately deciding to leave him be. Those endless fields faded, and the warm glow of the grove remained. Mercurius gazed at Pride for a few moments longer, before letting his head fall onto his paws.

Rest, my dear friend, he willed softly.

exit mercy?
@Pride

Pride's head stayed down. He wished, in that moment, that he had some ability to create song; the only thing the shining grove lacked was some form of music. But the song of the birds was musical, at least; and the scent of foliage underfoot was reassuring. So much different than the dry rock of Orion.

In moments he had done just what Mercurius had urged, offering a murmured: "I believe I will rest for awhile, if that's all right?" and a pause. Then the antlers tilted lightly to one side, indicating that Pride had, in fact, drifted right off to sleep.

It had been a long... few weeks, really.

It had in fact, thus far, been a long life.

He hoped, briefly, that he wasn't disappointing Mercurius by falling asleep on him, like this, but for once, his body outvoted his mind and in moments, he was dreaming.

exit Pride