ORIGIN

There were many bones in Canis, they had found. Some were big, some were small, but only a few were actually smaller than themselves. Henry had expressed some interest in the bones before to his brother, in their own heads - and Mordecai would be lying if he said he wasn't curious about them himself, but while Henry wanted to collect the smaller bones and keep them somewhere safe, Mordecai was interested in the bigger ones.

He'd convinced Henry to coil up in one - and that's where they were now. Coiled up on a ribcage of a giant, unidentifiable skeleton that was missing it's skull and limbs. One head, Henry, was resting on the rib half-asleep and the other head was alert, head lifted high and watching over Canis.

It was good here. It was a watch post. Mordecai felt safe up here; it was quiet and he was as alone as he would ever be. He was content. It was a feeling he knew that he would not feel often, especially since Henry's thoughts were usually spiraling and invading his own thoughts.

It was exhausting. He felt sorry for his brother, in a way, but for now he remained in his little watch post, watching Canis.

It was only days after the initial celebration in Cetus, proclaiming the Children of Rot to be his new family, before the swamp's resident giant pig had left to scout out new plant life. He'd helped bat-friend with his garden, after all, and it just wouldn't do for Tal'at to be missing anything, not even whatever grew... here. Czernobog trotted through Canis, occasionally snatching up a bone to chew at idly. Indeed, he'd found a tasty femur only a few minutes ago, and was happily stepping along to some invisible beat, almost dancing, gnawing at the bone and slurping down the fragments and marrow that broke free. As was usually the case, the pig was only able to keep one goal in mind, and now it was on "finding plants" mode as he rooted through the cave, overturning bone piles, snuffling along the floor for any hint of green.

So far, no dice, and the Gembound grunted in annoyance, tossing the half-eaten femur away, picking up the pace of his investigation. So absorbed in the task was the pig, nose touching the ground, that he stumbled right into a wall with a loud thump and a pained whine, sitting back on fluffy haunches with a rapid series of angry grunts. "Chuuuurn," he ground out, getting up only to kick the wall out of some sort of inane spite. Turning about on the spot, Czernobog found himself only a foot or so away from what appeared to be a... tiny noodle? It was curled up on one of the bones, and it had not one, but two heads. Could this be a relative of his grand-boat? If so, the boar knew he needed to bring it back to Cetus. If not, it looked quite tasty.

Staring and tilting his head to one side, Czernobog snuffled in the snake's direction, curiosity winning out over hunger. "Heeeeelp?" It was more a question of whether the noodle needed help than asking for assistance, but then again, it was hard to puzzle out anything the boar could manage to say.

Apparently, the ribcage was not as large as Mordecai had thought. When the snake turned his head to address the sound of a bang, he found himself face-to-snout with a giant pig. Henry had also woken up at the bang, lifting his head to blink at the snout and his brother. Neither of them had any idea what Czernobog wanted - or even what his name was supposed to be, but hesitantly the right head spoke. "Churn! Friend! Hello, Churn! I am Henry! This is Morty!"

Mordecai was too stunned to say.. well, anything. He found one half of his own body shoving closer to the pig's tusks. Groaning, he helped him as the impressive fifteen inches of small noodle wrapped around the tusk. Heinrich, you are going to kill us.

Yet Heinrich was blissfully unaware that, perhaps, mounting a strange not-speaking pig was maybe not a good thing. He was practically grinning, hissing happily, "We help Churn!" Henry twisted his neck to peer around Canis. "What does Churn need help with?"

Henry. Morty. Czernobog huffed, puzzled, ears flicking as he listened to the noodle. It was talking, so it couldn't be food - a disappointed grunt escape the beast. Not food. Helper? Doesn't look like a plant... maybe a baby boat? So deep in relatively intelligent thought was the beast that he almost didn't notice the snake moving - at least until the taste of cold scales hit his tongue. Snapped out of his dreamy state, the piglet stared down at his own mouth, rotating his jaw out to peer down at the noodle wrapped around one of his tusks. Taking care not to crush the babe, he spoke slowly and slurring, drool pooling in his mouth to lap at the snake's sides. "Heeeen? Moooor."

A soft nod, as if saving the names for later, before the boar "spoke" once again. "Chuuuuurn. Heeeeeelp!" A hot breath, and he lifted a hoof in example, waving it about and causing the sprout buried within to dance in place, soft green petals twisting with the movement. Indeed, the plant had begun to bloom, a pure white flower bud nestled in its top. "Find... fiiiiiiind... plants!"