Action. Thought. "Speech."

He sighed. "thats okay. you can try again, if you'd like." he said.

he thought about that description. he'd seen the blacksmith, but at the moment it almost didn't register. he'd have to ask the blacksmith about it, then, before he made any decisions. if he made the belt...

the blacksmith seemed like an okay guy. but so did the collector...
he shouldn't make any assumptions. it was likely he just didn't know! or maybe someone made him do it? he wouldn't be sure unless he asked.

he just got back to work trying to get the rest of the smaller gems off.

@Kitty

Kitty returned her attention to the largest thulite on the belt, although her back legs were starting to kind of hurt. She sat down properly with only one paw on the gem this time, and focused on it. I need you to show me something good, she thought. I don't want to have to lie to him. What if he revives you and figures out I wasn't telling the truth?

Luckily, she'd seen some old creations before, and had a decent idea of how to make one up off the top of her head if need be. She drew in a deep breath, and cast her magic on the exhale. The world faded away, revealing a gray, dusty arena all around her -- dust settling to the ground while the broken, black creature crumpled and curled on the ground. A roaring crowd reached her ears -- she felt as though she was one of them, and watched in horror while they screamed in glee.

Kitty was jerked abruptly back into the green whispers of Pegasus, gasping for breath. Her fur was fluffed out, and she took a moment to collect herself (and think) before she finally was ready to speak. "It was... absolutely massive. Black, and feathered." Kitty huffed out a sigh. "And it was killed, brutally. In front of a crowd, while the gray-skinned thing laughed. This stone was taken as a trophy." Her face twisted.

"It was a fighter, and it was... cut down. Overkill." She looked over at Forgraves. "I might be able to give you more, if you want." It was up to him, at this point. She sort of wanted to go down, and felt... chilled, like she had with the spiders. However, she was holding herself better together now.


@forgraves

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

gore

Pegasus again slipped away.

A pile of dark, colorless feathers--something massive, something unrecognizable in its gore-spattered tangle of blood and exposed bone. It wasn't clear what the thing was, but the dust of the arena was still settling, and the roar of the crowd was audible. A deep, cruel laughter sounded out, drawing closer, and a clawed hand plunged into the pile of still-steaming, shredded meat.

The Thulite was jerked free in a spray of blood, the fat fingers lifting it high. The crowd's roars, whistles, howls--they rose, deafening.

The dust settled.

Pegasus returned.

@Kitty

Action. Thought. "Speech."

He had plucked off a few more gems as kitty was doing her thing, looking up to listen to what she had to say.

lie or not, he looked horrified. killed? and for what sounded like SPORT no less, to be kept as a trophy?! cheering crowds at the brutal massacre that killed what was, supposedly, a MASSIVE gembound. that poor creature... what had it done to deserve such a terrible fate, if anything? he made up his mind. he'd do his best to revive the stone, but.. he would visit the blacksmith first. he needed to know.

he shook his head. "you don't have to if you don't want to, i... i don't have much else to offer you aside from the stones for such labor anyway.. which, i hope you enjoy, nonetheless. if you want, you may, but... i think i know what i need to do now." he said. what used to be exhaustion edging at the back of his voice was now a tone so serious and awake you couldve sworn he just watched someone die, and he wasn't even the one out of the two of them who actually did.

@Kitty

Kitty looked back down at the stone, her ears laying flat. Her magic was... beginning to take a toll on her. She knew that. And it wasn't as though she was even guaranteed to be successful, but... "They deserve one last chance at being remembered as more than a victim," she said, her voice quiet and hollow. "Whoever this was, they were more than what the gray-skinned creature made them into."

She gazed down at the stone, and let her thoughts run. Show me what you used to be, she asked silently. Show me who you were when you won, Thulite. You deserve to be remembered. Magic pushed out. But the Thulite revealed nothing of intrigue.

However, Kitty... felt the need to spare Forgraves. She looked down at the Thulite, eyes softening. "They were kind. They were a fighter, but they were kind. I saw it -- they noticed a child struggling to hunt and gave her some of their prey." She honestly didn't even know if it was carnivorous, much less that 'children' hadn't really existed back then. But she told Forgraves this anyway, because she wanted him to at least feel like the Thulite hadn't lived a life of no impact.

She cleared her throat. "Ah, thank you for the stones, in any case." She nodded to Forgraves. "You ought to rest. You look tired." She tilted her head slightly. "If you're in the area, come find me -- I can tell you your future, or part of it." She nodded to the Thulite before passing it over to him. "Or that of a child you might have."


@forgraves

Sixteen stones lay in a pile. The Thulite was pink, opaque, but hardly the most colorful or flashy among them; several were brilliant in hue, or translucent and sparkling with light as if ignited from within.

A hand reached in, black and clawed. It scattered the stones gently, moving among them, and plucked a marbled Howlite from the pile.

The hand retreated, and the pile was one stone less.

The Thulite lay amongst the other stones, and it did not move.

Because it was a rock.

@Kitty

Action. Thought. "Speech."

Forgraves nodded at her statement. it was more than a helpless trophy-kill. it was a being, with life and needs and desires.

Kitty's intentions seemed to have carry, Forgraves smiling warmly. the depression thought of the possibility it was killed for being kind, in an environment that seemed to cruel, no matter its truth, scared forgraves. but that time isn't now. he nodded to kitty, finally flicking free the last of the smaller stones. "thank you, kitty, i... i can't thank you enough." he chirped.

pushing the last of the stones towards kitty, he stood, wrapping the belt back around his torso to finish the journey home, and to rest for one back to the forge. "if you're ever in need of assistance yourself, find me in pegasus. im a healer, and.. well, i help who i can. tell your mother i said hi, if you can?" he said as he began padding away.

"thank you, Kitty. i'll see you another time"

and with that, he was leaving.

Exit unless stopped

Kitty nodded. "And thank you. I'll keep you in mind, Forgraves. And I'm sure she'll appreciate the sentiment." Kitty gave a genuine smile, and waved at Forgraves as he padded away. In the meantime... she looked back to her assortment of thulite stones. None of them being life stones, but at the very least, they were gorgeous. Twenty five of them... a lucky number, she was sure.

She could have purred. At least until she bedded down that night, these stones would be more than enough to keep her mind good and occupied. Kitty needed a game plan for getting them up. While she didn't exactly want to cover them in slime (or worse, get it in her bedding), she figured that this was probably her only option.

This, she thought, pushing her magic out, is going to take a very, very long time.



/exit kitty (to... collect and transport these off screen)