ORIGIN

Giggle burst into brief laughter at Bayo's solemn questioning. "I'm teasing, Bayo," she told him, with a dismissive shake of her head and a glint of humor in her eye. "But I sure am all those things, and don't let anybody tell you different. -I'm humble, too," she added with a knowing nod, and hoped at least that he didn't take this too seriously.

At the very least, if he did--and if he went telling someone about it--maybe they'd get a good laugh.

She nodded to Relic, then, and turned toward her bone pit. The trail leading up and around it was narrow, with clusters of fungus to the sides; more fungus ringed the pit itself in flashes of dull red and bioluminescent blue-green. They were lighting, and defense, and Giggle kept them carefully tended. "Well, let's get a reading. Oh, Bayo, that bone-! You wanted me to use that one?" she glanced to it, moving to gently take it in her jaws; she didn't know why it was important to him, but he'd said he'd had a feeling and she believed strongly in those things. If he had a feeling, she'd trust it. "Wait here."

Teeth carefully closed around the jaw and she carried it at an easy lope up the trail, thinking over the cub as she did so.

She looked, it had to be said, like one of them. Relic looked almost like Serek, Bones, or maybe even the long-missing Vinea, had spawned a hatchling nobody knew about. Or even Aure, though she had her doubts he'd do such a thing. She had those streaky, uneven markings that sort of looked like mud--though where hers and Bayo's were more spotted, this pup's (cub's?) were striped. She had the upright ears, the higher forequarters, the dark muzzle. She looked, in short, like one of them.

Was she? Giggle didn't know. Was she meant to be? Maybe; maybe the bones would tell her. Or maybe they'd speak of something else entirely.

She reached the peak of her trail, the little winding path leading to the ledge that jutted out above the bone pit, and looked down. She eyed Bayo and then Relic, concentrating as best she could on her magic, on the bones, on her question. What lies in this cub's future, bones? Show me, spirits--what lies ahead for her.
Then Giggle lobbed her head upward, releasing the jawbone at the apex of the motion, sending it spinning down into the pit. It hit with a quiet clatter, and she remained silent for a moment, eyes carefully tracking the way it first fell alone and spun, and then bounced a little farther; the way it repeated its fall a little, this time clustering near to others and sending some spinning in turn.

After a moment, she began to speak, her voice ringing down toward the pair so that they could hear her from atop the ledge. "Okay, cub. For your future," and she glanced to Bayo--it'd be partly up to him to remember; Relic might be too young, she knew. "I see... secrets that perhaps aren't good to know! Mysteries that if they're to be uncovered, need a gamble... one that shouldn't be taken. But later, I see journeys in your future, child." Dark eyes flicked among the bones as Giggle focused on interpreting what she'd seen. "Learning, meetings with others, advice given, and growth. And in the end, for you, I see a cycle completed--you will give what you've gotten; you'll be completed. Maybe you'll have children of your own, and a family, or maybe you'll offer the advice that others have given you. It seems... a good life," she went on, "so long as you are careful, at first!"

It was a good reading, really--the bones hadn't warned of any horrific failures, no death (well, not unless that's what Relic chose to inflict on others). There'd been no warning of betrayal or catastrophe.

She glanced up, clearing her throat, dark muzzle twitching in something like a smile. "Do either of you have any other questions for the bones? -You can get that jaw back, if you want it, Bayo."