Peach Scone breaks into an unsettlingly wide grin at the other Gembound's words. If Cadenza thought they could do it, it must be true.

"Magic is Very Hard," they huffed quietly, cerata twitching. But if it wanted Their Shinies, they must perservere.

"I'm looking for the stones in the birds, and I'm not going to give up till I get one," they announced, glaring at another bird fluttering by the roots.

"Stones, stones..."

Their eyes fly open.

"That one, that one!" She chirps, 'hopping' up and down in a rare display of excitement. "It has the pretties.."

@Cadenza

The creature’s grin might be unsettling to some, but since it was a child doing the grinning, Cadenza merely found the expression endearing. They were happy that it was happy was as well.

They dipped their antlered head solemnly in acknowledgement at the statement regarding magic being very hard. They had seen enough from their dads to know that even the most experienced users found magic hard at times.

Maybe children in particular had an even harder time with magic, they considered. It had come semi-easily to them after they had slept, but they were an adult now. They did not voice the thought, but they mentally stored it away to ponder at a later point.

While the reason a child was looking for stones confused them, they decided it could simply be an appreciation and therefore desire to collect the stones that gave life.

”Do you have another spell to use that can catch it? If not, I can try to catch it for you if you want, but I am rather big. I may spook it into flying away if I move towards it,” Cadenza spoke even quieter in order to not spook the bird.

Peach Scone, with the successful spell cast, has all of their misbegotten confidence immediately restored.

"Why yes, I do," they purred, before fixing their gaze on the oblivious bird, waiting for it to hop within a range where the Violent Spell could smack its fragile form into the tree and drain the life from its limp body.

It seals its doom by flitting just far enough away that a Smack would kill it.

"Spell of smacking, spell of smacking, spell of smacking..." they whispered.

@Cadenza

Nothing. Fucking. Happened.

"It didn't work," they whimpered, turning their puppy-dog eyes to Cadenza. "Can you help, please?"

Magic was unpredictable, and so Cadenza was not too surprised that this young being was having trouble with it.

They dipped their antlered head in answer to the question. But they were unsure how to approach the problem. The birds were certain to know now that Cadenza was a threat to them, so any movements towards it might startle it away.

But they wanted to help the child. An idea occurred to them. They knew that warm air helped dragons fly better. So, perhaps, cold air might limit a bird’s flight. “I am going to try and cool the air around it first- Warm air is easier for flight,” Cadenza explained.

But nothing happened.

”My magic did not work, it seems. But it is still there. So, perhaps if you try to be more detailed in your spoken visualization, it will have more success? I am worried if I approach it will be able to fly off before I can catch it,” Cadenza explained.

Peach Scone was now visibly agitated, silently snarling and gnashing their teeth. They wanted the shiny so bad it was a physical pain in the hollow cavity they called a chest.

"Bird," they whispered, focusing once more. "Slam into that tree, if you please. Perish posthaste."


Mercifully, it complies.


It dashes up, tearing into the soft flesh and chirping with delight as it pulls out a shiny.

"I did it! I did it!" she cries, 'hopping' in a circle as they absorb the gem into their tendril mass. After a moment's deliberation, she snaps up the bird carcass. Waste not, want not.

Visualization truly seemed the key to magic, Cadenza decided. Or perhaps it was belief in one's self- No, if that was the case their deer-dad's spells would not fail. Visualization combined with focus, it must be. As well as age and experience, maybe?

They were uncertain, truth be told. Magic was odd.

Cadenza dips their antlered head in content acknowledgement of the child's success. "You did very well," They praised the little being. It was lovely to see the young one's eager excitement.

It was curious, the way that the tendril mass absorbed the gem. Was it storage or consumption, they wondered. Considering that the other gembound proceeded to eat the rest of the bird with its mouth, Cadenza imagined that the stone was stored instead of eaten.

"I am proud of you," Cadenza warmly told the smaller creature. "You caught that bird and got its gem, all on your own. I may have helped verbally, but you were the one to put the real effort in."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you,," they chirped, floating around in a circle. "I have gotten the first shiny! When I'm all grown up and majestic like you I'm going to have All The Shinies," they announce.

They have the shiny now. But...what now?

"It appears I don't know what to do when I've Got the shiny," they said, suddenly unsure. "Should I explore? Get more? Try...finding something?"

@Cadenza

This child thought that Cadenza was majestic? If the deer-dragon could have blushed, they would have. As it was, their antlered head ducked slightly with an emotion between shyness and embarrassment. They were not majestic, were they? Majestic was a word for beings like their deer-dad, they thought. Dignified beings without occasional-to-often anxious thoughts.

But they did not deny the words aloud. It was one’s right to believe what one wished to. ”I think you will grow up to be very majestic,” Cadenza reassured. They paused, thoughtful. ”I hope my children, when I have them, will be like you.” To them, having children was an appealing prospect that would inevitably happen.

Another idea occurred to Cadenza. “Perhaps when I have children, if I have them anytime soon, you might be able to be friends with my children? If you wish. I would likely nest in Leo- That is the cave where there is sand and water. There is also a very warm section of Leo, but I live in the bay when I live in Leo,” Cadenza started.

”My dragon-dad, Dread, lives in Leo as well. But my deer-dad, Pride, lives in the cave with the pretty lights on the ceiling with various structures inside the cave,” They added.

“When I am not exploring, I can be found in either of those caves, of you wish to find me.”

”I hope you get all the shinies you want. Whatever you do next is up to you, but I can try to give advice on matters if you wish?” Cadenza offered

Peach Scone chirped happily. "I won't let you down!"

"Leo," she hummed consideringly. Water sounded...good. Very, very good. She'd never seen water before, but something in her hungered for the water now, almost as strong as her need for Shiny.

"I think..." she began hesitantly. "I think I want to go to the bay. See the sand. And the water. And your dad. I bet he's just as majestic as you."

She floats away, towards somewhere. It might take awhile to reach Leo, but she'll find it eventually.


...Only when she is several rooms away does it realize they could've just asked Cadenza.

Fondness was clear from the dragon’s body language as the child proclaimed that she would not let Cadenza down. They nodded in warm acknowledgement.

An odd expression crossed Cadenza’s face briefly at the idea of their dragon-dad being majestic. Their dragon-dad was many things, but majestic… Well, neither him nor Cadenza probably qualified for that. Though, their deer-dad probably did.

But they did not want to disappoint the child, so Cadenza neither confirmed or denied such. ”Both my dads are very nice,” Cadenza told the child instead. That was something that Cadenza was certain about.

And then the child was drifting off into the distance without even a goodbye. It felt odd, watching a child be on their own as this one was. But they were not this child’s parent. But, they would see each other again. After all, the child had decided to visit the Bay at some point.

Children, Cadenza decided, were very wonderful creatures.

[Exit Cadenza]