Tahi-shei was exhausted. Between the Olympics the previous day, the meeting with the Collector, and his second encounter with Overseer Alpha, he was... just totally ready to collapse and go to sleep. But anxiety and anger were gnawing at him, and he was finding himself turning to the only creature he knew who was sure to have an answer to his predicament -- Pride. Stumbling back to Orion was one thing, but he was bearing the bruises of a misunderstanding and subsequent scuffle with the Orthoclase, which meant that he was sore enough that the journey felt all the more exhausting. Not to mention passing through Tunnel K twice in one day was definitely no walk in the park, thank you very much -- not because it was dangerous or anything (at least to his knowledge), but because just being there made him feel cold all over and Tahi-shei didn't like that one bit.

But now? He really needed Pride's advice. "Um... Pride?" he called, voice sounding raspier and weaker than he'd expected. The fawn cringed. "I, uh... well, I really need some advice here?" and now his voice was climbing shrill as his numbness wore off a little bit and he started to well and truly panic. "I think I made a really big mistake and, uh-- I figured if anyone could fix it, its you, right? Hah..." Wishful thinking, probably, but Tahi figured it was at least worth a shot.


@pride

Pride came out at a swift trot, the tone of the voice immediately worrying him. Tahi-shei--he knew the fawn, had met it on its hatching, escorted it to the ruins to find a home. But he'd not seen much of him since then--and for Tahi-shei to come to him now, sounding absolutely battered, was concerning.

His face expressed this concern as he slowed on approach, hooves clicking to a halt close before him. He inspected him--no longer a fawn, in fact, he noted, but nearly full-grown--but found no immediate injuries on him, at least. He relaxed some, exhaling.

"Of course, Tahi-shei. I am happy to offer whatever advice I can-? But what is it that you've done?" His curiosity was piqued, now, as he studied the other deer. Was it something as terrible as the deer seemed to truly think-?

@Tahi-shei

He cringed again and just sort of... lied down. Tahi needed to, after all he'd been through in the past couple of days. But being famously long-winded as he was, this story wasn't going to be as easy as just getting into the nitty gritty of it. "Um," he began, breaking eye contact, "okay, so, well, a while ago -- I don't even remember when but it can't have been more than like, a cycle and a half or something -- I met this raven who had this shiny bangle thing on her ankle and she couldn't get it off but didn't really seem to care and told me some rumors and I didn't think anything of them because like, who has time for rumors, right? I had better things to do than listen to rumors and I don't like leaving Orion anyway, its safer here with the Seven and anyway so I ended up doing like, really really badly in the Olympics. I totally humiliated myself and I hadn't been like, expecting to do awesome or anything because I'm pretty new to magic but I always sort of considered myself a prodigy or something, y'know? Like, I figured I had to be pretty good since I didn't really have anyone else to compare myself to except like, you and the other adults but I kind of figured that I'd get better as I got older and anyway seeing so many other Gembound, especially younger ones like Mahukar -- that's the cat with all the colors and stripes, she's my friend and has Electricity magic --" He paused to take a breath. The words were calming him down, at least. Tahi continued then, a little less hysterically. "Umm, and I just... I felt really bad, y'know? I knew it was silly but I was just so angry and upset. I... I had always thought that I was really good at magic, but then really easy spells I've been doing basically since I was born failed me over and over again in front of a lot of Gembound and especially you because you're just... so good at magic, and I just felt everyone watching me and I got so... upset. I wanted to be better. A-And then I thought back to that rumor I'd heard from that raven, about a person -- creature -- thing -- agh, whatever -- that gave it to her and all she had to do was a favor, right?"

He paused again shifted anxiously, feeling once again like all those eyes were on him. Maybe Tahi didn't perform well under pressure. "So, I went to Canis and I talked to this... shadow-thing? And he seemed really nice at first, and he said he could help me get better with my magic a-and I just, I agreed, I didn't think about what he wanted or what it would mean because I was just so overwhelmed and tired and I just wanted to be good at magic and so I signed his stupid contract and he wants me to bring him a body! A real one! He-- he said something about before it decays and I don't even know what that means but he said it like it was really important and he-- he said I should kill someone! I can't kill someone! That's-- that's a life, a whole living, breathing person! I can't take that away! That's-- that's not my right, and the Seven, you protect people, and I've been living here with you guys for so long that I guess its all rubbed off on me and I just-- I don't know why I did it, Pride! I don't know why I did it and now I don't know what to do because like, what is he going to do to me if I don't do it? There were all these strange runes on his contract and it was definitely magic too and I just--" Poor Tahi-shei broke off into a sob. He'd been getting increasingly hysterical again throughout the last part of that, and had sort of just... dissolved a little bit.



@pride
woof that's a lot of dialogue but this is tahi so what did we expect

To say that Tahi-shei took awhile to get to the point was an understatement. Pride waited patiently, but he grew more baffled by the moment. He cut in, mildly, at the mention of the Olympics--"Oh, you did not humiliate yourself, Tahi-shei. Magic is entirely fickle and you were not the only one whose skills did not respond to you. The dog-creature insulting everyone had no right to do so. In fact, last year I took part as a performer, and my own magic failed me, too; it is nothing to be ashamed of." Gentle reassurance, but then he waited quietly for the rest.

'So, I went to Canis and I talked to this... shadow-thing? And he seemed really nice at first...' The winding story was reaching its point, and Pride fought to focus on following its thread. He wasn't sure who the shadow-thing might be, or what a contract was, but the basics of it were clear. "Signed a contract?" he began, somewhat baffled--but then shook his head, a little. "If you agreed to something, and then the terms were put on you, then you did not agree to those terms. I do not know what you mean by 'signed' but you're saying you agreed to something, and then were told you'd have to kill someone, after the fact? Obviously that... doesn't count," Pride reasoned, bewildered.

"Who is this 'shadow creature?' Why does he want you to kill someone, and whom?" Obviously it wasn't even an option, but Pride's bafflement was strong, and given Tahi-shei's near hysteria, Pride felt he would need time and patience to get to the bottom of this.

@Tahi-shei

He felt embarrassed at Pride's reassurances. Yeah, the colorful thing had been pretty mean. But knowing that even Pride didn't always have a good time at magic made this whole thing feel even sillier. Still... at the other deer's apparent confusion regarding the word 'contract', Tahi-shei nodded and clarified, "There was this... I guess it was kind of like the cloth that the shadow-thing was wearing? Like... skin, but flat and not attached to anything? And it had all these weird symbols all over it, and he told me to put my hoof on a blank spot and I did and then it turned red and smelled a little bit like smoke and then the contract -- that's what he called it -- disappeared! Or maybe he grabbed it... I don't know, it-- it's all kind of foggy. I-- like I said, I wasn't really thinking, and-- and I can't really remember which order things happened in." He didn't like that feeling, of being unsure what he'd experienced.

He sighed and answered Pride's next question directly. "The raven said his name was 'Collector'. He responded to it, anyway. He said, um... he said he'd give me a crown? I don't know what that is, but he said it belonged to a prince who was good with the Fungal element? He said that, um, he needed a Greater Gembound corpse. Not anyone specific, just... that he needed one and that I had to bring it 'cause of the contract. And he emphasized, um, 'before it decays' and he said that like it was really important? But... I don't know what that means," he admitted. Tahi-shei had never even seen a Lesser die. He'd found small pools of oil, remnants from when bumblebugs or cave deer had died, but he hadn't ever actually watched the process happen and had no clue that the oil had once been real, living things. "Pride, I don't-- I don't want to kill someone. I don't-- nothing is worth that, but what's gonna happen if I don't? He-- he seemed powerful. He carried himself like he was powerful, anyway. He said... that he'd see me soon. He got my name wrong, though," he frowned, suddenly remembering that with clarity. "He called me 'Mister Deimos', but I'd already told him my name was Tahi-shei. I don't know who 'Mister' is, but its not me."


@pride
baby is confused-- and also scared askldhf

It would take some time and yes, patience, to unravel all of this. His first takeaway was that actually, Tahi-shei might have indeed agreed to such terms before signing--he wasn't sure, and this was... worrying. The next thing was the mention of the Collector. Pride had run into him more than once, and his brow furrowed at the mention. The Collector had--with others' aid--created Aether; the Collector had also had a hand in Reseda's... whatever the hell she'd been up to. He wasn't sure just how involved he'd been, but it was all quite odd.

Pride noted down the rest, in his mind: a crown, a Prince, a body. "I know the Collector," he began, a little darkly. "Do you see those bones, on the back of the Throne?" Pride turned, nodding upward, to where the skeletal remains of the komodo dragon still perched--sealed in diamond--over the top of the back of the throne. "She betrayed us, tried to kill us. She wore a golden collar around her neck and demanded we obey. When we killed her--in defense, mind you--the Collector came and took the collar back. He cared nothing for what happened," he added; "I would not trust him, Tahi-shei."

A pause, and then--blinking--"And 'mister' is simply a title, nothing more. As for decay, when a creature dies, it soon dissolves into a... a sort of thick, black goop, bar the bones. I don't know much about the Collector or what he wants, but of course you should not kill anyone. I do not know what will happen, but I can go and speak to him, if you wish." He paused, thinking, and then added, "He is powerful. He created a fully adult Gembound with the help of a few others--a large one, too. I watched it happen. But that creature claimed to be a guardian, so I do not know how sinister he actually is. I can't imagine wanting a dead body to be for anything good, though."

@Tahi-shei

Tahi-shei's ears laid flat at Pride's assertion that he knew the Collector. The story brought him little comfort except in the small voice in the back of his head, insisting that if Pride could kill in self-defense, surely he could too? And surely, the Collector would accept that offering? Tahi-shei brushed the thoughts to the side as Pride continued, and he felt a sick sort of feeling roll over him again. Would the crown he'd been promised carry a curse like the collar? What had he really even agreed to?

"B-but, what if he hurts you?" Tahi said, his eyes widening. Pride was legitimately offering to go up against a creature powerful enough to forge an adult Gembound from scratch? "Or-- or hurts me? I-Isn't that too great of a risk to take? I-- I really don't want to kill anyone," he said hoarsely, "but I also don't want to risk him getting angry and killing you." That would be almost the same thing as delivering the blow himself, in Tahi's mind.

And a small part of Tahi-shei could not deny that he was curious. His driving force for a very long time had been curiosity, and now he was faced with the opportunity to learn more. What was this crown? What did it do? Who had it belonged to? More than that -- was he capable of hurting someone? What would happen to him if he did? They were horrible, awful thoughts... but they were curious ones, and Tahi was dangerously close to the precipice of letting the darkness have more leeway in his mind.



@pride

"I very much doubt he would kill me merely for going to speak with him. He seemed reasonable, if strange," Pride pointed out. "He doesn't strike me as the violent sort, at least. I cannot guarantee success but asking is unlikely to cause any harm. But the alternatives--of leaving this... 'contract' until you are in danger? I presume that is what would happen-?" (for Pride hadn't heard of, and didn't know about, any time limit on this thing;) "or actually trying to kill someone, these are not good alternatives, Tahi-shei."

Murder's bad, mkay.

@Tahi-shei

Tahi lowered his head a bit, somewhat ashamed of himself. Pride was right, of course. He was just scared (and a little bit overly curious). Besides, Pride was a powerful magic user -- if the Collector did react aggressively, he could certainly fight back (or at the very least, escape). Finally, he nodded. "He... didn't imply there was a time limit," Tahi admitted. "But I don't know how patient he is. I guess talking to him couldn't hurt. I just... really don't want anyone getting hurt."

He felt silly saying that. He'd made the decision to sign the contract (at least, some part of him had). Now he was running home to someone bigger than him because he was afraid he'd made a mistake. What did this say about him, if he let Pride go around trying to clean up his messes?

But on the other hand (or, hoof), Pride was a member of and the effective leader of the Seven. That was kind of their whole deal, wasn't it? Protecting other Gembound and cleaning up their messes? Maybe he'd be brave enough to formally throw his hat in the ring one day. For now though, he just agreed. Hopefully, Pride would come back in one piece.

@pride

Pride inclined his head.

"Very well. I will go and speak to him. Was he in Canis, still-?" he asked, flicking an ear in thought. "And would you rather remain here, or go with me?" He didn't want to put the child in trouble, but Tahi-shei was no longer a hatchling. Perhaps he'd made a mistake; but he was showing maturity, at least, in trying to clean it up. However that attempt was made. If he wanted to come with, Pride wouldn't stop him; it was his decision, in the end.

@Tahi-shei