Now this place was something, wasn't it?

Kaimana strolled through this strange and new terrain around her. Lights from the sky, like those in the previous room she'd lived in, but... different. Much closer, that was for sure. There was no bodies of water in sight (disappointing) but it sure looked nice and sparkly on first impression.

Oh, I should mention, this is Kaimana being lost.

She'd meant to take the tunnel back to where she'd first hatched, but that tunnel was rather confusing and it seemed she'd spent so much time in one place, she'd forgotten the path. She figured she'd be wandering for a little, so she'd left many of her treasures behind. In fact, she'd left all of them. All but one.

It was a very, very sad thing! She had NOT wanted to in the slightest! She considered taking along with her one or two of her favorite bones... but she just didn't have the space, she thought. And it seemed her intuition had been correct because she was now some place entirely new, and she was already forgetting the path back home.

Serandite clenched like a cub's scruff in her jaws, she decided that a higher location would help her survey the area. She began to find her path, and up and up she went!

@Pride

Pride lay silent beside the throne, staring off into nothing. Diamond armor clung to him, as though it could protect him from missing friends.

Mischief lay between folded forelimbs, saddened by his dazed grief.

All in all, hardly an uplifting scene to approach, and made all the more grim by the bones arranged to hang over the back of the Throne, looking down upon it.

The soft sound of paws on stone had his ears flicking, his head coming up; and he stared, for a moment, at the... ...Is it? he thought, blinking, his mind thrown into blankness. The white stag had no idea of the difference between jaguar and leopard and it seemed, to him, as though ghosts of Nassir were haunting him, these past few days.

In any case, her quiet cats' steps had gotten her closer than most creatures would've come without his notice.

Mischief, he became aware, was watching her too.

"Hello," he called out, more to be polite than anything else--rather than simply staring, watching eerily, as a Gembound passed by in silence.

@Kaimana

'Hello,' the soft word echoed through Kaimana's mind, which had been so vacant of other voices for so long. Her eyes drifted, thinly veiling their ravenous hunger for light and life, towards the speaker of that word. The speaker sat beside an odd-shaped looking stone, glittering glamorously in a way Kaimana could not have possibly expected. She nearly dropped the gemstone in her jaws-- lucky she didn't, quickly catching herself and simply offering a friendly grin.

The bones had also caught her eyes' attention. She liked them.

"He-rlo!" Kaimana responded with an eagerness laid bare in her tone, coming through even despite her clenched jaws. She hadn't even noticed the creature there, despite how the luster their pelt-looking thing presented! She was glad they had said something! "I' Kai-ana! H- rr yuh?" Talking like this was harder than expected, but she really didn't want to put her stone down. It was all she had left to carry with her! If she lost it, she didn't know what she'd do!

Maybe steal some of them bones-- No! It would be far more fun to trade and she had nothing to trade with. And besides, she hadn't lost it yet, and if it stayed in her jaws, she wasn't gonna! She'd get her bones, and maybe even some new ones, once she had something to carry them in. Maybe some other cool things too!

Right now was people time though. Kaimana had been missing people time. Some part of her idly wondered if the rock-like paws on this creature's legs were any good for petting. Because petting was always a very welcomed part of people time.

@Pride

He watched, nonplussed, as the child scampered up and tried to speak with a stone clenched between her teeth.

Pride was not feeling the most sociable, but nor would he be rude or turn away young company; he offered an incline of his head, antlers raking the air, and then hesitated as he tried to puzzle out just what she'd said.

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand," he offered, at last, his normal politeness slightly subdued. "Could you possibly put the stone down? I am Pride, by the way," (and he guessed that the "hrr yuh" had been a vague "who are you"-ish sort of question). "And this is Mischief; please do not try to eat her," he added, nodding down to the arctic hare flopped up against his chest.

@Kaimana

That did make sense that the creature didn't understand. But they seemed to get it enough to answer the question properly! That was already rather impressive. Upon hearing the name though, Kaimana nearly spit her chunky rock out of her mouth. Again, that didn't happen, a cat had quick enough reflexes to evade even their worst enemies: themselves.

Instead, Kaimana gently set the thing down.

"Pride! And Mischief, who I won't eat." She'd heard of one name before, not so much the other. She was rather lonely beside the seas, but certain words tended to travel far. "I know that name, Pride! I heard of him! Or, hm, you." Kaimana must've been really distracted if she had completely forgotten about the description she'd gotten of this character. The most detailed kind of rumors are not usually the kind that manage to reach the ears of pseudo-hermits on the fringes of Cave Society, but the ones that do are intended to function at least a little better than a message at the end of a game of Telephone. If she'd realized... literally anything about her situation sooner, this probably would've wound up less awkward.

Oh well.

Pride! She had heard about him and was excited because she knew he had some kind of clue about stones, something Kaimana didn't entirely understand. She'd wanted to know more about her stone, to understand it better. It felt special to her! But she didn't think she'd ever wind up in the right spot to be able to do so.

Maybe this is what the ocean had nearly drowned her for.

"I heard you can check my rock! I want to know more about it," she explained very plainly. She didn't know exactly what he could possibly tell her, but she had a few ideas. Wandering about gave one a lot of time to imagine. But she realized that she wasn't really being very negotiable by not giving Pride an option. He must've been a pretty busy individual to have his name make it to her neck of the caves. You'd have to do a lot to get your name to spread that far.

It was only now that it dawned on Kaimana that she might be intruding. Oh.

"Ah, but you don't have to. I can leave you alone. I was also just here to figure out where I am." This was kind of embarrassing. She had been very unfriendly! Well, it was hard to be friendly in situations like this when you didn't understand what bones normally implicated. Kaimana surrounded herself with bones and quietness all the time, so this hadn't felt awkward at all to her.

Well, now she was painfully aware-- not of how Pride was feeling, but of how she might just be invading.

@Pride

Her intelligibility, it seemed, was greatly improved by not having a rock in her mouth. Normally, Pride would have been on his feet, bowing, friendly and welcoming and charming and all of that but distant sadness lingered.

He didn't feel like getting up.

He still wasn't... entirely sure what this cub's name was, but her bubblingly happy request had his ears cupping forward with interest. Rock-? Pale eyes shifted to it. "Ahh--to check if there is magic in it? Yes, I can do that," he confirmed. "And no, you don't need to go." A polite nod, though the weariness remained in his eyes.

Pride pushed to his feet to take the few steps toward the stone. "I might be able to tell you a few things about it, if you have the time. To look back through its history, and to look for magic lingering. Perhaps even... whether it can be brought back to life," he added, glancing to her. "Do you know about that--how it works? I think you may be too young for it. But when we die we leave stones behind, and those can sometimes be returned to life... or, rather, given new life." Of all the children Pride had created, one from a dead gemstone had not yet been among them. I ought to find Nassir's, he thought, abruptly.

But now wasn't the time for that.

He exhaled, clearing his mind, gathering his focus, and leaned down to touch velvet-soft nose to the pink stone.

Mischief sprawled out where she'd been left, careless, as he did so.

...Magic, he confirmed, thoughtfully, and then stepped back, glancing up and nodding. "There is magic in it, at least. Maybe a life, maybe something else; would yoiu like me to try to see into its past? And--ahh, what was your name, again, may I ask?" he added.

The Serandite held Pupil-level magic within. It could perhaps be revived.

@Kaimana

Pride's lack of what he would've considered basic manners didn't bother Kaimana whatsoever. It felt like he was being gracious to her simply by allowing her to stay, which, by the way, when he did, she whispered a quick "Thank you,". He offered to check its history and see if there was any... magic in it, and Kaimana puzzled through her brain to figure out was "magic" was. All she came up with was rhymes with tragic. Well, okay then. An expression of confusion and intrigue swept over her face, and she was glad Pride was willing to explain.

Apparently the stones in them were kind of like bones, except not. They were a mark of life and a remnant after death, yes, but these stones were something more. Kaimana's little beard of coral would be left behind after she died, and if someone else came along after her, they could find it and revive it. And she supposed the only way to know her coral apart from any regular old coral (which was still thrilling! But in a different way) then they'd have to go to creatures like Pride, who simply... knew, it seemed.

Or, based on what Pride did next, could figure out somehow. He then gave her the information. So there was magic in it. Perhaps life or perhaps... something else? What else could be in there? Pride offered to see its past. Kaimana's eyes were alight with interest. "Ooo, yes please! And my name is Kaimana," the response came quick and without hesitation. Kaimana was on the edge of her seat!

@Pride

He bent down, at her agreement, and touched his nose back to the stone.

"Ahh, it's good to meet you, then, Kaimana." So that's what her muffled sounds had meant. "May I ask where you found this, then?"

It was polite conversation, mild curiosity--little more. And then he sent out his magicka for a touch of the stone.

For a moment he was very still, and then he lifted his head, looking slightly puzzled. "I saw--water? And some sort of... creature in it; it was difficult to see. Dark. Stones--underwater." He pondered, for a moment, and then glanced to Kaimana.

"It was large--swimming, I think."

@Kaimana

"Oh, the ocean gave it to me," Kaimana explained with the kind of nonchalantness one can only have from either complacency, ignorance, or both. "I gave it a tower made of sand in return. OH, speaking of which, I should give you something for checking this stone out for me, shouldn't I?" All Pride had to do was agree and Kaimana would be happy to oblige, but she wasn't going to make a trade without consent. That didn't seem very friendly, plus her work might not be appreciated if it wasn't wanted or at least tolerated. The jaguar didn't want to waste her time doing something for nothing.

Another dip into an unknown world, and Pride came back with more information. He saw... water. Well. That was new-- wait, no, was it? As Pride went on with this nigh intelligible description, Kaimana's eyes lit up with recognition. "The rambler once talked about something underwater." The memory was still clear in her mind; while the jaguar hadn't been paying every ounce of attention possible to that ranting, she still vaguely remembered what it was about. Underwater, keys, potency.

She began to wonder if this creature was somehow related to all that.

@Pride