Since his so-called 'Transcendence,' Pride hadn't been able to figure out his magic. It had weakened--that much was clear. He wasn't sure how this was meant to be an improvement, a reward, but the two times he'd tried to return to the cave to ask, the giant owl-beast simply hadn't been there. Or it had been in hiding. He suspected it had stolen his magic, somehow, but there was, too, that faint niggling feeling that something new was lurking in him.

Suspicion, then, though healthy, was balanced with cautious testing: and that's why he was here. He wanted to check on Tenzin's stone--he still left flowers, and gemstones, now and then, but he wasn't sure if the Master still slept, or if he'd simply submerged himself again in ice.

In any case, he was also here to toy with his magic--to practice, to test, and to hope that it worked its way back up to its former power.

He tried to cast out his magic, to sense into the lagoon from a distance, but nothing happened.

The white stag grimaced. This was... normal enough, granted; magic was fickle and often failed. But there was a sense of weakness to it, now, that he did not at all like. A brief flicker of worry threaded up along his nerves; what if he were permanently weakened-? I'll have to warn others away from that owl, he thought at once; if it were a trick, stealing away Gembounds' magicka, he'd have to tell them to avoid it. But if he had lost his magic-? It was his defining feature, really, his magical mastery. What would he be without it-? The same, he was sure Mercurius would say. And maybe he would be--but he needed that magic, needed it to defend against attack, to help others. Mere hooves and antlers would not do it.

Pride came to the edge of the lagoon, closer now, and inspected it with careful, pale eyes; then he closed them, took a breath, and forced himself to calm. Magicka flared up this time, strong, and relief burst through him just as powerfully and clearly. And he saw Tenzin's stone--good... good.

Pride let out a sigh of relief. Awake or not, the merciful one was still down there and, Emuh or not, Pride's magic, too, was still in place.

Thank the caves for that.

...What next, then? What could he do next, to test himself?

Pride considered, and then moved a few paces from the water's edge, lowering himself to his knees and then lying flat. He searched the ground, with his gaze, until he found a small rock that looked suitable and to this, he touched his nose. Start small, he thought to himself. Get your practice in.
After a few moments, a diamond--maybe the size of his own nose, a couple inches across, lay before him. It was imperfect; rough, mostly sparkling but dull on a few facets. Ahh, well; it would do. At least he still had his ability.

Pride took a moment to lie there and rest, feeling his magicka swirling in him unsteadily, watching the diamond where it lay.

After a few moments, the white stag took a breath. Now for practice.

His true power was--had always been--in the magic of the mind and with this, he could work his way back (he hoped) to where he'd been in terms of practice, in terms of power. Something about his implementation felt sloppy, unsteady, as if the gloves he used to handle a rough object had grown slick and worn. He had to work on that, to practice.

And so he concentrated on the diamond, and he willed it to rise: to hover in the air, to move with his mind, with his direction, and with his magic.

Slowly, it lifted: shimmering, reflecting and refracting light all around it, wavering slightly as he held it in the air before him. And he held it there: concentrating for long moments, inhaling deeply and holding that breath, focusing. And at last, he lowered it gently down, and flicked back his ears, exhaling.

"Good," he breathed, relieved, and there was happiness in his tone.

The quiet clicking and clacking drew his attention; hooves, stone, whatever it might have been. Fireheart, still studying magic in his own right, and honing his skills, approached with tilted head. His own magicka was already working, eyes flaring with a soft firelight glow, when he spotted it: a white stag, laying upright by the water's edge.

Something about it--its color, perhaps; its diamond, its noble bearing--spoke of refined elegance, and Fireheart, when he spoke, reflected this in his own tone. "Excuse me--I'm not intruding, am I?" He studied Pride, as he spoke, coming to a halt some few yards off. He didn't know him, and he also wasn't all too familiar with Pisces--no more than any of the other caves that he systematically travelled through. He didn't know if the stag lived here; if he might be intruding, himself.

But he was curious about the gemstone glinting, hovering a couple feet in the air, with nothing there at all to support it.

The voice caught him by surprise. So closely had he been concentrating on levitating his gemstone--up, and down, resting in between--that he hadn't heard the soft scratch of pawpads on approach.

He tensed, breath holding in his lungs, and managed to keep the diamond hovering there; and after a moment he turned, looking toward Fireheart. Ahh--a wolf. Not too unlike the one in Orion, he thought; but she was an old, battered, scarred female (Kera, had her name been?) and not a fire-eyed beast.

Pride let the gemstone gently tick down against the rock, and offered a polite incline of his head before speaking. "No, not at all. So long as you don't see me as prey," he added, gentle amusement in his tone. "My name is Pride. I'm here to... well, as much as I hate to admit it I'm practicing with my magic. I used to be a master at it-" Ahh, but it would be impolite to dump the entire story right away. "-and I wish to get back to that." He paused, glancing around. He'd been to Pisces often enough, not least of all to visit Tenzin, alongside Amazon; so he didn't think the wolf lived here. But it didn't hurt to ask. "I trust I am not intruding on you, in turn? That you do not live here?"

Once acknowledged--and accepted--the wolf dipped his own head in response. He padded a little closer, coming to a halt a few feet from Pride, then turned and faced the water. He lowered himself to his haunches, tail curling around them. The stag was well-spoken, yes; dignified, and it was something of a relief to find himself in this company, though he admitted in his own mind, at least, that he was a tad suspicious of it. There was no real reason to be, bar its veiled elegance, but he felt it nonetheless.

"A master, or a--master?" he asked, glancing to Pride. "And my name is Fireheart. A pleasure to meet you," he added, eyeing Pride over. Unscarred, by looks, but untroubled by his own presence. "I've been trying to learn, myself; and no, I do not live here. I travel," he added, glancing around, with an air that indicated that no place suited him; no place was good enough to be called his home. "I find Monoceros' warmth soothing, though that may be down to my affinity with fire." A gentle shrug, then, ragged-furred shoulders shifting. "May I ask if you were resting, then-? If it is not prying. I'd heard of Gembound returning to their chrysalis; is this what happened to you?"

After a moment he pushed back up, pacing several yards away. His nose sought out the rock, touching along it, and he focused on his own magic; it was an idle intention to show Pride his own element, to demonstrate it. Not to show off, but to explain.

It was unusual, to find one so well-spoken and so likewise refined. Pride watched him sit, then wander, and touch the ground, unsure what it was that Fireheart was doing; but he answered as he observed, politely.

"Ahh--not a master master, no. I simply mean that I was skilled with my magic. I'd like to think that I still am," he added, and then turned, looking over the water's edge. "I live in Orion, myself. I am part of the Seven--we try to train, and to protect those who need it." He didn't bother making mention of the various battles that they'd fought, instead looking back to Fireheart with polite interest. "As for my magic--there is a creature in Polaris, a black owl-beast called Emuh. It can manipulate the cave it's in--a separate alcove in the wall--and claims these are tests; that to pass a test is to 'transcend.' I succeeded and I certainly felt something happening... but what that something was, I cannot say." He paused, and found that Fireheart had half-turned his lupine head, watching him in silence. Pride found this a sort of invitation to continue, and went on. "It was as though my power were lessened--drained from me... imagine the water here, taken wholly from the lagoon. And yet the lagoon, made larger. As though there is more potential, now, but I must find a way to refill all the water. Does that make sense-?" he asked, peering back to the wolf.

As he spoke, too, he turned and raised a wisp into being: a small flare of cool phosphorence, weak, but... there. And this he nodded to. "This is my only skill with anything resembling fire, I'm afraid--at least the only thing I'm willing to risk as yet. Flame is a tricky element, is it not?"

Rounded ears perked up at the mention of 'protectors,' Fireheart at once finding this of interest.

"Would you be willing to tell me more about the Seven?" he asked. He wandered, and it sounded very much like the sort of thing he was interested in, though he was reluctant to say as much out front. After a moment's consideration, he also asked, "And perhaps more about this--'trial?' I hadn't heard of it; do you trust this Emuh?" Faintly-suspicious flameglow eyes flicked to Pride--it wasn't the white stag that he distrusted, though, but the idea that another creature had some form of power over the magic of others. "So your magical... reservoir is larger, you mean? But drained? I think I understand."

He turned, pacing to peer at the wisp. "It's a fickle element, mm. Playing with fire, as it were. A touch might warm, or might ignite; it takes respect, and, I think, passion for it. I've been practicing slowly--I learned early on the consequence of rushing, though sometimes I can hardly help but try. The element speaking, I suppose. I don't think that's fire," he added, with a nod to the wisp. "It isn't giving off heat, or consuming fuel. Light, perhaps-? I would show you flame, but I find it difficult to make my own--I can manipulate fire that's already present, but that's the extent of it thus far. Here," he added, and turned.

After a moment, as he paced back over the rock, heat flared up; his paws began to glow a bright white, and each step left ashes in his wake. "This is fire--of a sort."

Pride wanted to leave some form of gift here for Tenzin, preferably before he'd magically exhausted himself; but meanwhile, he looked to Fireheart.

"About the Seven? Certainly. It's--a bit of history, if you don't mind a fairly long tale; or perhaps you just want to know about our here-and-now?" he went on, head tilting. White ears swept back, thinking, then back toward the white wolf. He thought, for a moment, about the second question. "Hmm... I wouldn't say my reservoir, as such-? It's as though my grip on my magic has changed. Perhaps the lagoon was a poor metaphor," he added, glancing down into the water. "Suffice it to say that my power is weakened, but it feels as though the potential for stronger, than prior I mean, is present. It's--difficult to describe. But no, in answer to your other question--I do not trust Emuh. The trial was... questionable."

Pride dipped his head down, pushing up with abrupt, sleek power, elegance in his movements as he touched nose to water's surface. His intention was to create a few drifting ice flowers for the phoenix--instead, he found water steaming up, searing his nostrils and eyes, driving him several stumbling (and distinctly undignified) steps back to land heavily on his haunches. "...Hell. That's what I mean about uncontrolled. It's as though my grip has slipped--that wasn't what I intended to do," he added, glancing with dour humor toward the wolf, who (he noted with some discomfort) was simply staring at him with an empty gaze. "...Ahh. The trial." He looked back toward the water, and blinked a few times--his eyes didn't actually seem harmed, but his nose had been a little burnt and he knew that'd be sore for a few days.

Damn.
The white stag sighed, and turned his mind back to the trial. "He manipulated the little cave. There were aggressive Lessers; a chasm, floating stones. My primary magic is that of the mind; moving, manipulating things without touching them. I had to retrieve an item, and place it on a pedestal at the other end of the room, whilst said room seemed to be crumbling beneath me. I destroyed the bridge the Lessers were using to get to me. Moved the key to my position. Carried it with my mind. Destroyed the obstacles in my path. Once it was all said and done, he proclaimed it finished, said that I had passed, and I felt this change come over me. There is... knowledge of new magic, I think, but I have not yet been able to access it," Pride added, with faint reluctance; he didn't want to try it without a steady grip on his powers.

Who knew how it might backfire?