[Backdated to some point more than a year ago lol]

Near the lagoon at the end of the waterfall, Aran uses the bird's eyes to scout into the deep waters below him. The water is beautifully clear, appearing endless. He doesn't recall ever being here before, but it's a very nice sight to have. Especially right now - it's sick - Aran's known this since he forged with it. Lessers infected with... That - the fungus - do not live long.

At first he intended to let nature take its course. Through the link though... Aran can feel pulling. He's felt it this entire time - but now it is much stronger. He can feel the cardinal's pain through their link, can feel its life slowly going away over time. It hurts - less than when he gained his sight back. Killing the four-eye'd bird was so so much different than this slow decline.

Aran swallows, it's not got much longer now. He could've healed it some time ago, but now it is too late. Regret fills his senses - he should've healed it. The creature is suffering because he decided to wait and see what happened. All he can do is wait - but surely there's something else that can be done? Aran knows himself that there's higher powers in these caves - he's been on quests before! Not many would be willing to touch an infected lesser.

That fact leaves Aran weary. Is there enough time to find someone, or is it too late? He pulls the bird off of his back and sets it in front of him, far enough from the water so it does not get wet. It looks blearily up at him - he feels that tugging again.

Surely there's something he can do.

tenzin

npc

Usually, he would be slumbering: resting at the bottom of his pool of icy water, silent unless he were called upon.

But the touch of a stone here pulled at him, and he rose up slowly beneath the waterfall to see. Swathed by Order. That was saddening. And its magic was weak. A Lesser-? Here, at the edge of his pool? Or a Gembound, near to death?

Water cascaded over the teals, whites and blues of his feathers as he rose up, drops and streams glittering like diamonds. His wings spread, then gave a single beat to clear them of moisture.

He could see them now: the deer, the bird. One he didn't recognize. Was it a Lesser, even-?

"Hello," he called, coming nearer to the shore of the lagoon. There he paused, trying to discern what exactly was going on. He picked out the link between the two, and things began to slot into place. Compassion struck him, sympathy. "Is your companion... taken by Order?" he asked, blinking.

@Aran

Aran startles with the force of Tenzin coming through the waterfall - different from any other gembound he's seen, though he can't exactly remember every single one. The wingbeats have him shifting on his hooves, trying to keep the courage to stand in front of this being - the bird's eyes are very persuasive.

When Tenzin comes closer Aran does not move, shielding his familiar from the leftover water droplets coming down.

"Hello." Aran says, watching Tenzin seemingly inspect the cardinal in some way, as he clearly points out the issue at hand.

"I- Yes, yes he is." Aran does not mention that he is the cause of the animal not recovering - at this point it doesn't entirely matter. The poor thing would die. "There's nothing left I can do, is there?" He's never seen a lesser recover from Order before.

tenzin

npc

Tenzin shifted a sympathetic gaze to the little bird, studying it for a moment. It wasn't one of the cave's native denizens--not the ones created for food, anyway. That was strange, but the caves were magic, so it wasn't particularly noteworthy.

He turned his attention to Aran's question instead, pondering. After a moment, he sadly shook his head. "I think its infection is very far along. To purge it would destroy it," he explained. His voice was soft with apology. "You could... keep it alive, but it would be linked to the Hive." Tenzin's tone was neutral: he did not have a tone to suggest it that this was either good or bad. "That would... may... lead to suffering. Still, if you choose to try, there's a magic I can teach you. Or... you may remake it," he added, eyeing the bird. "Begin again." In case he wasn't being clear, he hesitated and then clarified. "It would kill the creature that it is, but life is a cycle of iterations, after all. It would give its stone a new chance. I can ensure that it is brought back without its stone being damaged, if you wish?"

Aran is being offered a choice: learning the spell Blessing of Pisces, or a guaranteed Revive Stone should he choose to kill his animal companion and revive it without the Hive's infestation.

@Aran

Aran knew getting rid of Order at this point would be a death sentence - the only beings who've survived it are Greaters - and even they don't have the best prospects in his opinion. Even he's felt the pull of something from his lesser companion, he knows what it is.

Aran knows suffering -- the bird too. The barasingha is selfish, too. He likes magic, wants as much as he can soak in, for better or for worse, having as much as he can has become helpful over the years. Even if he can't remember some of them.

"I think I would like the spell." He hums.

He's revived stones before, knows what it's like. Aran isn't ready for more of that, even though it would be interesting to see what would come out of a child born from him and the bird's stone. Realistically, he could leave his other child to look after it, but somehow that feels off base for this one. Keeping it alive even if suffering is his main priority.