ORIGIN

Giggle didn't leave Canis.

It was just a fact; she never left Canis. Canis was home; it had the bones, it had Bones, it had--to some extent--Kerberos, and Aza'zel. The fungus garden and her bone pit were where she belonged.

She'd only left once before, and that had been to come here, with Aza'zel. She'd certainly never left alone, never undertaken visiting a neighboring group on her own, before, but the situation was dire. She had trotted through Orion by slinking hastily along the walls, clinging to the shadows and hoping she wasn't seen. She didn't know the place, didn't have her fungal defenses set up there, and being alone in the place was, frankly, a little frightening to her. She almost felt like a lost and lonely pup again, and had found herself briefly wondering if perhaps she should get out more. Travel more, confront this fear. Was it why she stayed in Canis? Fear of the unknown, or perhaps it'd be better described as complacency?

She shook the thoughts away--now wasn't the time. The thing that had driven her out of Canis was far more important than any minor fear of strangers or strange things.

Giggle loped into Pisces, lifting her head and perking large round ears at the distant rush of the waterfall.

Well, I didn't get lost, anyway. That's something.

She lowered her head a little so she could take scent as she moved, and began to trot through the cave. She hoped she wouldn't be seen as intruding; this was Maji Walezi territory, and though she got the impression that Bonebound and Maji Walezi were allies, she still didn't want to press their hospitality, or their patience. They'd been kind enough at the threat of the Merrymen. No, she was here for something else entirely.

"Bevy?" she called out at last, when no one showed. Her voice was deep and rich, carrying through the cavern with a masculine pitch, and she paused, uncertain, to wait for any response.

Bones is still crippled, she thought, but didn't say. He's still crippled, and I am only a seer. I need your help, Bevy. Where are you...?

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ROLL THE BONES

Giggle froze, staring, lifting and tilting her head to eye Bevy uncertainly. The rush of faint relief she should have felt at seeing the Pitouhi bird was immediately dampened by the bird's words, and her oddly childlike nature. But Giggle was far from judgemental, and if Bevy's other personalities trusted this one enough to let her out, surely she couldn't be that bad...?

She gathered herself, clearing her throat a bit and blinking her dark eyes as she thought of how, exactly, to respond to this.

"Oh. Nice to meet you, then?" Giggle began, uncertain but polite enough. "I'd come to ask... your help," she continued. She paused just before the your, wondering how best to address the bird, but she then thought to herself well, one Bevy or four or five, it's still 'your.'

She dipped her head a bit in respect before going on.

"Formalities first: I hope you are well, and tell me if this is a bad time, or if I should not be here. I wasn't sure if I was intruding. But I've come to ask for help. It's... my son. He was crippled in an attack--and I was wondering if you could look at him. To see if there's something you can do to help?"

She tried to stay polite, professional, but she couldn't keep the slightly-cracking edge of maternal concern from entering her voice--and it was clear as she spoke just how much her worry had frayed at her nerves.

She'd never show Bones, but the idea that he was miserable from being unable to run, well... it was terrible to see, and as much as she reassured him that he was still the same dog, it hadn't stopped her from venturing out of Canis alone for the first time, and coming to Bevy for help.

Expression imploring, she fell silent, waiting to see if there was anything the multi-bird could do.

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ROLL THE BONES

"I... I'm not sure if you were there when I explained to the others how I know of Baratheon," Giggle began, standing so she could follow Bevy to wherever these supplies were.

She'd waited politely for the bird to... swap pilot, so to speak. Now, as she began to turn her mind back to Bones, the relief of knowing that Bevy would help made her stumble. Made her voice break as she replied.

Pull yourself together, hyena. You're the fucking witch doctor of the Bonebound, not some sobbing puppy.

Giggle took a deep breath, and began again, eyeing Bevy, feeling a surge of gratitude at the bird's immediate willingness to aid. "He'd nearly killed him. Burns, punctures. I thought he might not make it, for awhile--Bones, that is. My son," she clarified, looking off to see where they were going. Her voice grew quieter, as she continued.

"I'm... I'd expected, hoped, that he could get better as he healed. But he can barely stand and walk, and he can't run. It was his life, Bevy. He loved to be swift, to run with his friends, and now he can't run at all. He sits all day smearing blood on the walls to paint, miserable, and I can't stand to see it. It's not--... an emergency, not now, but... I was hoping maybe you could do something to help." She swallowed, and then made the admission she'd been loathe to make since her arrival. Since even thinking about coming here. The thing that admitted that Bevy was stronger, more powerful... that Giggle was, in the face of true danger, helpless.

"You're the only healer I know."

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ROLL THE BONES

Giggle peered quizzically at the sticks, unsure what they could possibly be for. She knew that once she picked them up, she'd not be able to speak as long as she carried them, so she replied first.

"I'll carry them--and thank you. Even if it can't be helped, I'd feel terrible if I didn't try. If I didn't ask you to try," she amended. "The wounds themselves are healed. It's... his bones that I'm worried about. His muscles. Everything under the scarring." She worried, briefly, that Bevy might think that she was playing some sort of practical joke. The Bonebound, with her bone pile, coming to her with concern for the bones of Bones? So she quickly added the rest, the comments on his muscle, his scarring, and bent to lift the sticks in her teeth. She glanced once at Bevy, before picking them up, to speak again.

"If you want to just ride on my back, you're welcome to--especially if those things are tedious to carry." She pointed her nose to indicate Bevy's strange plant package, then lifted the two sticks delicately in her teeth, peering at the red-and-black bird and waiting for her to lead the way--or to hop on board, perhaps.

She'd wait, and then she'd go, taking the medic--and her only hope for Bones' full recover--with her.

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ROLL THE BONES