Her ear flicked and Sora dipped her head. "That's a very kind offer. I'll pass it on to them -- no telling if they'll go through with it, but at least I'm willing to take you up on it. I think we'll be passing through here anyway; I just got back from Eridanus, and I think that might be a place we want to settle down. Lots of activity, though." She frowned. "I prefer the quiet."

She nodded at his suggestion. "I'll reach out. Maybe your connections could be helpful, too." A gentle suggestion, but one she figured would be helpful in the long run. Sora, sensing the end of the conversation, started to gather up her truffles.


@pride

Pride sighed, and bowed his head, briefly.

"I will be here, or in Eridanus, myself--I go back and forth between them. I wish you and your friends luck and I hope to meet them," he added; he hoped that Sora did remember to pass his offer on.

It was a bit of a sad thought to think that a group of fresh Gembound might be roaming the caves with no idea of the dangers, or the layout or... the Lessers; anything, really. Not when knowledge was so easy to come by. "I wish you a safe journey back," he added, as she gathered up her things, and then tilted his head a little.

"Oh-... Just a moment, there. Let me help," he said softly. Pride turned, touching his nose to the rock beneath his hooves; from there, diamond began to form and twist. It rose up from the rock, breaking free neatly: a basket-shaped, thin shell of diamond, with a large loop over its top. He lifted this with his nose, stepping forward to set it beside Sora. "Perhaps you can put your--err--your--things? In that, and carry it with your nose?" he offered; surely it would be easier than carrying mouthfuls of the... whatever-they-weres.

@Sora

Sora fell silent as she saw him create a carrying vessel out of nothing. The shining stone reminded her of the crystals around his throat, or Venari's scythe. Furthermore? Very useful little invention. Sora dropped her truffles in the basket gratefully, eyeing him with some level of suspicion. This deer was... painfully kind. Surely, there was something she was missing?

She struggled to trust him.

Still... "Magic. Out of curiosity," Sora asked idly, "are you able to make gray gemstones? I've, ah, been looking for one -- I'm planning to make some pigment."


@pride

Pigment? He considered, with interest; did that mean dye, like Azure had used in the Olympics?

He wondered at this, and then dipped his nose back down to attempt it. Another crack, another glint, and now a pale gray star sapphire tinked down on the ground--about half of the size of a fist, or so, and gleaming spherical. Pride nudged it, then stepped back, letting it topple and then rock gently to and fro between them.

"Will that do?" he asked, tilting his head a bit to one side.

He was feeling drained, now; that sort of magic sapped him fast, and he could already feel the need to rest creeping in as a distant headache. But he'd had no other plans for today, anyway.

@Sora

Sora's eyes lit up. Okay! So maybe magic wasn't totally terrible, because that was a gorgeous sapphire. "It's lovely," she said, the softness of the word feeling foreign on her tongue but too apt to change for another word. "Thank you!" she said, picking it up and placing it in her basket -- oblivious to the change in his state.

"I guess I'll see you around," Sora said, first trying to slip the basket over her nose and then just carrying it by the handle in her mouth. This was an awesome little invention...! Maybe she'd need to learn this spell... With one last flick of her ear in parting, she set off back towards Canis.

It would be a long journey through Tunnel K, but not even Pride's little detour could have dampened her mood.


@pride
/exit sora

He turned to watch her go, trying not to think about the tragedy that walked unseen alongside her. Friends and family lost, just as he had, to that damned place.

...Was there a way to kill the Masked Merchant? Could it even be done? Pride didn't see why not. Perhaps a confrontation..?

He turned, weary, pacing with quiet hoof-clicks back to the Throne. There he curled up alongside it, exhaling as he thought; he turned the problem over in his mind but rest, sleep, had soon claimed him.

exit Pride