ORIGIN

The bird watched; it saw and heard, more than Giggle did, Kerberos howling, summoning water.

Giggle herself saw this through the Caller more than anything: her own vision had darkened to grey, a ringing filling her ears. Cold enveloped her--but she fought, struggling to stay conscious. A spike of terror ran through her, again--panic--she didn't want to back to the Void. She couldn't.

She wouldn't!

She scrabbled at the rock, choking on nothing--and then she realized that her muzzle was wet, that Kerberos was murmuring to her.

The hyena's body suddenly screamed with thirst, with the need for water, and she began to frantically lap at it. She drank until there was nothing left, until no more moisture remained, and then she lay quiet.

Recovering--or trying to.

Without her prompting--perhaps due to the deep gratitude she suddenly felt--the Caller croaked softly.

"Kerrrrrr," it said.

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ROLL THE BONES

Noise and light and fire, warmth, snuffed out just as quickly. Panicked whining - his host. In pain, again. And he couldn't do anything. The hairless cat hidden in plush white fur shivered, ears pinned back, strange front paws cupping them shut, eyes clenched to block out the sights. Again, again, someone was hurting Kerberos again and he couldn't make them stop. The smell of rot and burnt skin lay heavy in the air, like a revolting fog, and Goblin burrowed closer to unhurt skin, purring as quietly as he could - because Kerberos was strong, and noble, and brave, but his Best Friend was not.

All he could do was offer the slightest source of comfort, while whatever had been pulled from the dark set his host off. Too terrified to move, it was only after the loud, Bad noises had calmed that Goblin's strange, lemon-shaped eyes peered out from Kerberos' pelt, bright with worry and fear. Slowly, shakily, he slunk up the pup's back, coming to a stop at the curve of a shoulder, peering over the edge to see... something.

What it was - they were - he couldn't say. But they were hurt, and Giggle, and mother. Not attacking, then - Kerberos had been... helping? But upset. Confusion made his gaze wander, flickering to the other presence: a tiny bird with a singular red eye. Goblin stared at it, and then the Giggle in turn.

Slowly, the soft purr turned to a rumble.

Help. He could do that.

The hyena lay limp in the cerberus's forelimbs, cradled there, thin and bony body draped over his enormous paws. A sense of warmth shrouded her. It was reassuring and pleasant; she calmed, relaxing. Though, she was barely conscious as it was.

"Ker-... ber.. os," she softly choked out. Water, warmth; the dog was caring for her.

I am safe.

This knowledge brought her a rush of relief so powerful that she began to shake, body trembling violently, her freshly-consumed water spilling out from her eyes. Could hyenas cry? She certainly was. The joy of rescue was overwhelming--she was helpless, but she was safe. The danger, for now, pushed back. She was in the arms of her... her son? Was he her son? She couldn't quite remember, but nothing could harm her here. She knew that.

Did he fight the void? He wanted to play a game. I won. Did I still win? Thoughts came broken and disjointed, but vague, barely there. She pushed them away.

They were useless to her, right now.

Instead--warmed, and somewhat hydrated, and filled with that overpowering relief--she rested. For several long minutes she simply lay there, secure in Kerberos's embrace, quiet. And then, when she was certain she was not going to die, to be sucked back into blackness, she sent out her mind.

Tendrils of magic, delicately plucking at the world around her. Finding the fungus, the bones, seeking energy. She needed food, yes; and there was something rumbling, she felt. Purring. Somewhere nearby, reassuring somehow, but strange to her. She had no idea what it was, but it hardly mattered--she needed strength. She needed to stand on her own.

She found a few threads of life clinging to nearby bones, and her mind, her magic, rushed into them. She filled them, encouraged them. She needed to feed.

Then feed.

Death into life, energy consumed, threading back through the fungus and into her. She felt a vague sense of strength returning--no clarity, not yet, but she would not die. Her trembling slowed as visions filled her mind: fangs flashing overhead, a black muzzle seizing her, crushing pain. The terror of life flowing away.

She gasped.

That was the cost of the fungus, the toll that it demanded: that she view the memories of the dead. Sometimes this was what she sought--now, it was an unfortunate side-effect.

When her mind returned to her she was no longer shaking: she lay quiet and warm, breathing more evenly. The memory that Kerberos loomed over her slowly returned along with her awareness, and she murmured the first thought that came to mind. She didn't know quite who he was--bones, she didn't know who she was, exactly.

But she knew that the white thing had--as per her visions--fought off the darkness. She knew she was safe.

"You found me."

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ROLL THE BONES