Rainstorm had thought about it, and well, perhaps joining the group the wolf had talked about would be good. Finding their way to where the group was located, though, was hard, especially with the bird not being able to see properly. At least Rainstorm found themselves used to it, now. Hearing where the sounds bounced off of other things made it easier to get around, but it didn't tell them the specific location of where they were. That, took a lot of attention and really Rainstorm could only tell Eridanus from the other places there was from all of the bouncing the sounds did because of the plants.

"Hello?" The victoria crowned pigeon called out, sharp claws scraping against the ground as they walked.

@Pride [Here's the joining thread you told me to throw up >.>]

He had been resting--Jampa wasn't far off, and he was vaguely, half-consciously aware of everything going on relatively close by. Protective fatherly instincts had kicked back into high gear. The distant call didn't register any warning bells, at first, but when he came fully awahe he lifted his head and blinked a few times, blearily.

He pushed up from the Throne, and--with a quiet glance back to ensure no one was being disturbed--started out toward whoever had called. It was the eyes that he spotted first. Eerie, phosphorescent--bobbing, almost, in the dim light of 'stars.' "Hello?" he called back, warily; "Are you all right, out there?"

@Rainstorm

Rainstorm didn't notice that the deer they were looking for was nearby. Honestly, Rainstorm didn't know what they were expecting. Just that the group was.... Somewhere around here. Finding Comet to bring them to the group would have been so much easier, since the wolf could direct them where to go, but Rainstorm was independant and didn't need anyone's help. They could get around easy enough on their own - of course getting lost all the time was part of it. But still.

Rainstorm's wisp eyes wavered as the bird turned in the direction a greeting came from. Their ears wiggled a bit, sensitive and hearing a lot of things.

"I'm looking for someone." the bird responded.

@Pride

Pride narrowed his eyes, not in suspicion but in concern. He'd come to a stop, and the sudden fear blooming along his link with Mischief had his nerves sparking on end. Whatever this thing was it was quiet, it was in the dark, its distant eyes were glowing like the wisp-light that the Merchant held. He'd seen such things before--in a pulsing, organic dark; in a throbbing warmth where the stone itself moved and reshaped. A place that should not have been.

He hesitated before calling out, raising a shield quietly around himself as he did so--a preparation, a wary safeguard. Hide, he told Mischief, stay with Jampa. "I am Pride, of the Seven; I live here. Perhaps if you tell me who you are looking for, I might be of aid--assuming you do not wish them harm..?" he added. The fact that whoever this was hadn't given a name was worrying, but perhaps they were just... small. Maybe they, too, were afraid.

Pride didn't now, but his nerves sang on edge, regardless.

@Rainstorm

Oh! The other gembound was from the group they were looking for - that was nice. It was easier to run into someone you were looking for than to hunt down other gembound and ask if they knew where the group was. Granted they already knew the group was in this general area, not being able to see it was the problem. Rainstorm didn't really look like they could do any harm, did they? The wolf had literally tried to eat them because they looked weak.

"I can't really do harm to anyone. It's kind of hard when you can't see." They replied to the larger creature. "I was looking for someone from your group." They added at the end.

Rainstorm didn't mention Comet just yet - they were sure the wolf would have helped them if they really asked. Trying to find someone was obnoxious, though, especially someone specific.

"I figured I would try to join."

@Pride

Pride peered out into the darkness. Whatever or whoever the stranger was, it still had not approached, had still not introduced itself. The hairs along his spine were slowly raising.

"Please come forward where I can see you--what is your name?" he asked. The damn wisp-eyes were giving him flashbacks--reminders of that dark and breathing place, of falling, of the corpses of his friends floating around him in a black and endless river.

Impulsive, instincts still screaming, he called upon his magic again. To anyone close enough to see in the dim light, he'd appear to split in two--one Pride stepping to the right, another to the left.

A fifty-fifty chance, he figured, for an attack to strike the wrong target--and the two Prides spread apart, too, just in case.

@Rainstorm

Rainstorm did step closer when asked, not entirely knowing that they couldn't properly be seen from where they were standing. At least hearing the voice was easy enough to follow it, with their eerily sensitive ears, whiskers too. The whiskers twitched slightly, attentive. Rainstorm didn't know how close they were to the deer now, but they certainly weren't close enough to touch.

"Someone named Comet told me about it." They finally brought up - realizing that it should have been done before.

Rainstorm was relatively harmless in their state, and didn't entirely notice that there was two of them, just that something was there based on how the sound reflected off of them. They hadn't entirely realized that they didn't introduce themselves, either. Until now anyway. Yikes.

"Oh uh. I'm Rainstorm."

@Pride

Then, suddenly, it was visible.

And it was-... only a bird, or--a bat? Feathered, large-eared, small and seemingly harmless, though still eerie there in the dim light. The hairs on Pride's neck began to settle, his mind mulling over its name. Rainstorm. The fact that it might still prove dangerous didn't escape him, but the mention of Comet, at least, was reassuring.

"Comet-? Ahh. Well, it's good to meet you, Rainstorm. Comet I fear I have only met a couple times, and for the most part she has gone off on her own, exploring, but I imagine her heart to be in the right place. Please, come and join me--have you ever had banana?" he asked, turning away.

His Drift-duplicate faded, and he focused on his magicka. As he led the way back to the foot of the Throne--hung with a skeleton at its tall back, bones encased in diamond--he summoned a small banana. It fell to the ground and he passed it, stepping delicately around before splitting the peel away with a careful movement of his hoof. "Please," he offered, nodding to it. "So tell me--what was it about us that interested you?"

@Rainstorm

Rainstorm didn't have much magic-wise to be considered dangerous in that front. Scary, maybe, but not dangerous. Fighting wise? The bird didn't have a single drop of experience. The deer could step on them, if anything. Bird bones were relatively easy to break. The deer didn't know that, though, and Rainstorm didn't even know the other gembound was a deer.

Rainstorm knew about Comet's exploring streak, kids just did that, really. Rainstorm themselves explored when they were still a child. If anything, its the best time to go out and see every cave. Meet other gembounds. Do all of that socializing a kid needs to grow or whatever. "No." Rainstorm replied to the question of a banana.

Rainstorm didn't know what the deer was saying please about at first, until they could hear the quiet shuffling of his hoof on.... Something. Was it edible? Birds didn't really use their sense of smell, and Rainstorm was one of those birds. Rainstorm also ate bugs rather than anything else, so the banana was weird. They did munch on it though.

"I don't know." Rainstorm replied sheepishly. Maybe it was the fact that the young canine was kind, and had offered to help Rainstorm despite being rude to her. Granted, Comet kind of deserved the rude words for trying to eat them.

"The group seemed nice, I guess."

@Pride

This creature was... baffling, and Pride hesitated, here, to think.

It was quiet--he had been trying to provoke polite conversation, to get some idea of what they were looking for in the Seven, or their background. But their few-word answers yielded nothing, offering only further mystery rather than answers.

Cautious, he attempted to cast out his mind, to surreptitiously listen into Rainstorm's thoughts. And he waited before speaking, to ensure that he had not misfired, that he was not accidentally sending his own thoughts to them in turn. The link flickered out, its attempt to establish a tenuous one, but there. And with it secure, Pride spoke further.

"Do you mind telling me about yourself? Perhaps, what you were looking for, exactly, in a group? I am trying to gauge if you would fit with us, and more than that, how. Not to be overly blunt, but--I am not so used to my conversation flowing poorly. I apologize," he added kindly.

It was Rainstorm offering little conversation--he knew that--but he wasn't about to say as much. He was the overly-polite sort, until angered, and for now he was simply a little baffled by the bird and its reticence.

@Rainstorm