Another day, another round of searching and bellowing a certain someone's name at the top of this buffalo's lungs.

Were one standing in the center of Polaris, one would begin to hear the dim echoes of a deep, powerful voice emanating from a tunnel entrance. The source of the terrible racket would soon come into view: an absolutely massive water buffalo with a ridiculous Spongebob anchor arm of a piece of rhodochrosite sticking out from his shoulder.

"ASTRRRRRRRRAEAAAAAA," Captain bellowed. "AAAAASTRAAAAAAAEA!!!!! YARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!" Then he paused to take a drink from the Crystal River, because it was important to keep your throat hydrated when yelling at the top of your lungs.

It wasn't like... an emergency or anything. He'd only casually searched for the past few days. But despite the abundance of Gembound out here to shout friendly greetings at and make ungodly amounts of noise with, Captain had begun to feel a little... homesick for Hydra. It was his birthplace, after all, and he longed to return to its stinky mud and deathly-hot light. As weird as that sounded.

But there was something he wanted to do before going back. An item on the vacation bucket list, if you will.

"ARRRRRRRR," wailed the buffalo. "ASTRRRAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRREAAAAA!!!!!"

Astraea flinched at the first bellow, distant as it was. And moreso, at the second. He was inclined, for the space of a few heartbeats, to ignore it--but instinctively he could tell that this slowly-approaching lowing was going to go, and had been going, on for a long time.

With a slow exhale he pushed out of the little forest of mushrooms he'd been tending and picked his way across the rock--the volume of Captain's roars growing, it seemed, the closer he got. By the time the stag strode into sight (his hooves snapping on the rock), his ears were pinned back and his nostrils flared.

Still, he kept perfectly polite as he called out in greeting, ruby eyes trailing across Captain's body as he looked him over. "Here;" he greeted. "And who might you be?"

@Captain

Captain's eyes brightened as he caught sight of the great deer at last. "YARRRRRRRRRR, MATEY!" he called back enthusiastically. "GOOD T'SEE YER MUG TODAY! I BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU!" As if that wasn't obvious.

"ME NAME'S CAP'N!" he continued, beginning to lumber closer to Astraea so he wouldn't have to yell all the time (although his voice was still on the loud side, as it always was). "And I been hearin' stories from all these sea dogs around, see? Arrr, Astraea, some kind of great figure in the caves! How cool is that? So I been thinking: you got yer antlers, I got me horns. Why don't we have a nice friendly headbutt between of the two of us, ARRRR? It's been me dream for a long time, matey, and I'll consider ye me HEARTIEST OF HEARTIES forever!"

"Look," Captain added, dropping his voice to what was probably a normal conversational volume for most people but basically a whisper for him. "Tell ya what—if ye be doin' this with me, I'll take ye sightseein' in the dunes of Hydra outta thanks! How's that—pretty great, YARRRRR?"

Astraea stared, for a moment, as he took in what Captain was saying... and deciphered it.

Then, he blinked.

Combat? How... brutish. But that was how they were made, wasn't it-? He took a breath, ears pinning briefly again before he composed himself fully. "I must... decline," and his voice was carefully even, though there was a faint edge to it. How he hated to admit it; how he hated what he'd become, where base animals wanted to spar with him like rutting beasts-! But his voice, at least, was gentle as he continued, his black lips curling up in a faint smile. The bull had to be three times his weight, even more. "Were we to fight, I would undoubtedly lose." The admission was followed by a deep breath. "We all have our strengths. You are built for physical combat; I excel in magic. We can... headbutt, if you like, if you are careful with your power."

Astraea hesitated, looking Captain over again. He'd had plans for Hydra--plans that still needed to be ironed out with the other Masters, Vargas in particular. "Use caution in Hydra. I would hate for us to lose such a... powerful design, so close to its being repurposed."

@Captain

I must... decline.

"Aw..." The angst and emotional nuance in Astraea's words went flying over Captain's head. He just knew how to take words at face value, and at this denial, the buffalo seemed to droop like a crestfallen child. Perhaps one who was denied a candy bar at the checkout counter...

The deer's gentle explanation, too, did little to make Captain feel better about his dashed wishes. The worst part was that it made sense. That made the rejection sting all the more. That was, until Astraea said the magic words:

We can headbutt, if you like...

The buffalo's eyes widened with sudden hope. "YARRR!" he affirmed eagerly. "I'll be careful, matey! You- you'll really headbutt with me, ol' sea dog? YARRRR ARRR, that's my dream! LET'S GO, ME HEARRRRTIEST OF HEARTIES!"

Snorting with enthusiasm, Captain proceeded to lower his head and throw his horns forward, straight at Astraea. At least he remembered to be careful; it probably wouldn't straight up impale the deer if Captain actually hit something.

Which he didn't.

In fact, he was so overenthusiastic that he tripped over his own hooves and scrambled not to lose his balance, ultimately crashing to the floor on his side anyway despite his valiant efforts. "HARRR HAR!" he giggled awkwardly, hurriedly rising back to his hooves and trying to ignore the heat of embarrassment burning his face. "MY BAD, MATEY. LET'S TRY AGAIN! YOU GO FIRST THIS TIME."

The crestfallen look wasn't lost on Astraea, so much so that he nearly wasn't prepared for Captain's shove forward a moment later.

But the young bull stumbled, faceplanting over his own massive hooves, and Astraea struggled not to let a smile curl his lips. "Are you all right-?" he asked gently, taking a single step back.

He waited a beat. Magic plumed in glittering spores from the fungal caps along his antlers, and a little pad of mushroom--a cushion--sprouted up over his skull. He lowered his head, hoping the bull could hit without being impaled by all his antler tines. "Try again, if you like."

@Captain

"ARRR, I be just fine!" Captain insisted cheerily, pawing the ground as he waited for Astraea's move. He tilted his head slightly as nothing happened except for the deer's forehead glittering slightly. Wasn't the deer going to--ah! "Good idea, matey!" he enthused.

At Astraea's encouragement, Captain did indeed try again, lowering his head to present his horns and shoving forward to meet Astraea. Hopefully, this time it'd actually connect.

Astraea went skidding backward on impact, the blow itself cushioned but the sheer bulk of Captain's muscle leaving him no real room to maneuver. He was easily forced back, skittering, muscles tensing beneath red fur as he struggled to keep his balance.

He turned aside, after a moment, lifting his head away as if to concede, and blinked a little at Captain. Physical altercations were... not something he was used to.

"Am I now the-" and he paused, trying to remember the phrasing; "...Heartiest of hearties?" -That was correct, yes? He had no idea what it meant, but his lips curved in a faint smile nonetheless. That had been almost-... fun, if a little disappointing from his side of things.

@Captain

For such a loud, disruptive search leading up to it, the fight itself was rather brief. But that, in Captain's opinion, was the best kind of fight: the struggle and excitement of conflict without the fatigue of a drawn-out battle. Captain's horns connected with Astraea's antlers, he flinched a little and rotated his head upon impact so a stray tine wouldn't impale him in the face, and they heaved at each other. After a moment, Astraea backed down, and Captain mooed his triumph.

"Surrrre ye arrrr, matey!" he exclaimed. "Come find me for another headbutt anytime! And if I be finding any booty in Hydra's high seas--" this referred simply to the Dunes, as they were basically seas of sand in Captain's mind-- "and you happen to like one, come by anytime and I'll give it to ya as a gift!" This was more or less a one-or-two-time offer, but Captain assumed that his heartiest of hearties wouldn't be so rude as to push it anyway.

"Speakin' of Hydra," he added with a sudden note of alarm as he remembered something the deer had said, "What's yer meanin' by 'repurposin'? Arrrr ye plannin' to... change her somehow?" Those honeyed dunes wouldn't be going away, would they? Or his lovely, stinky, toxic mud? Captain had no idea how such a change would even be possible, but...

The high seas-? Did the buffalo truly mean the sands?

'Seas' were not something Astraea had ever heard mentioned in connection with Hydra. Perhaps Captain had the wrong cave in mind-?

"Hmm," was the lead-in to his answer, as he scrutinized Captain with a thoughtful, ruby gaze. "Tell me, we are speaking of the same cave-? Sand, and heat?" he ventured. "If so... What do you think of it?" It was an impulsive question, born of curiosity, and Captain might be forgiven for thinking at first that Astraea was ignoring his question.

Astraea wasn't; in fact, he was wondering if now might be a good time to begin sending out word of what he'd planned, but that depended, really, on Captain.

@Captain