ORIGIN

Tired... he was just so tired. The caves had fallen silent for some time, magicka slowing for reasons that nobody could possibly know or understand. Every waking moment had just dragged on and on. His tulpas fell silent long ago, leaving him alone. Azazel was sure that they'd finally tired of their own antics. His children were still runnning amok, but he just felt so empty. He felt like he'd barely fathered his own children, yet again. Eythan was now a nervous wreck as he called him Cancer once. The poor child. He regretted reviving that poor man's stone every single day. He should've known that whoever emerged from that chrysalis would not be too stable, just like Carcino.

Carcino. He'd never realized how much he actually loved that stupid cat until he died. He still didn't know how he died or why. Azazel's accidentally entertained so many thoughts of causes of death, and some were absolutely horrific. So many of those he loved or even knew were dead and gone. Krakarak? Dead. Liora? Dead. Mau? Dead. Saudade? Missing. He shook away the thoughts.

Closing his eyes, the Avian forced himself to his feet, stretching his wings and feeling the lightweight bones within them loosen and crack. Exhaling sharply through his beak, Azazel placed his iconic skull atop his crown. With a few wingbeats, he had taken to the air and was just barely grazing the low roof of the cavern. Finding his way to his perch, the lammergeier forced himself to put on a smile. Landing, he bounced around to get some energy going.

Finally, he sucked in a bunch of air and let loose a loud call, hoping to summon all that were nearby... and hopefully, the remnants of his clan... if they were even around, still.

ALRIGHT, SO. I don't really have a deadline for posting. This is just a headcount to see who's still around and maybe have some new members join, idk. LET'S MAKE THE BONEBOUND COOL AGAIN, RIGHT?

@Kerberos @Ashtoreth @Eythan @Carni @Xerxes @Amaria

Xin had been sitting around moodily when he heard a call. Looking around, he managed to see a bird perched somewhere. His eyes narrowed. Why the loud call? He contemplated just staying where he was, continue being upset that he couldn't speak, but decided against it. He mostly just felt numb now. Maybe being with someone would help? Then again, it's not like he could tell anyone anything. He wouldn't be able to speak to anyone. Besides, not everyone was friendly. He could still remember the boar who had practically attacked him. He was probably not ever going to forget that.

He sighed, but decided to just go and see who it was. So he began to make his way closer to the perch, and was now able to see the bird clearly. He sat and stared up at the bird, head tilted. Who was he? Xin had never seen this bird before.

@Azazel

Eythan was now well-enough developed to fly, but he hadn't quite figured out the science of it. To the cub, it was the equivalent of rocket science, especially if you had massive wings that were at least three times as big as you. His father hadn't really been around to teach him, so all of the skill—if he had any, that is—he possessed was from his own teachings. Carni tried to help, but his poor twin hadn't had much luck either. It wasn't like flight-capable birds were common in Canis anymore. ~~Because they were all dead.~~ When his father called him by that name, it had given him so many memories. They were so vague, colored in desaturated hues. They were brief, blurry and indecipherable.

As he thought of them, one flashed before his eyes, a bright flash of pink. A slight burning sensation crept up his limbs and his fur bristled. There was a flurry of orange drifting about, soft and fluffy... like feathers. A soft word was whispered in his ears, garbled. It seemed to begin with a "B". Screwing his eyes shut, the hybrid shook his head free of the mysterious flashbacks. These memories weren't his, and he definitely knew it. But whose were they?

Not wanting to spend too much time and energy thinking about that, Eythan's ears swiveled forth at the call of his father. The cub hesitated, wondering if he could even face him. Beak clicking, he thought. Should he? Without really thinking, he stood and followed his ears to the source of the sound. High up, the Bone King was perched atop a stony precipice. The silence was infinite and suffocating. As Azazel glanced down at him, Eythan flattened his ears and stared at the floor, glancing to the side at Xin. The amalgamation sat down slowly, curling his tail about himself, waiting to see what this was all about.

In the depths of his mind, he could feel something familiar. He'd never known his mother, but he felt like she felt, or at least it felt like it. He'd been drawn away from his father and brother lately, though was it just his fault? Father seemed distant and brother only wanted his help to fly, it seemed. Carni didn't care though, it gave him time to figure himself out.

He'd been painting a lot lately. It just started one day; finding rocks with a good flat surface and smashing different things with varying amounts of water to create a paste he could cover a rock with. His favorite color was red. Good thing there was enough red sediment around to make it with, but the water was a bit difficult to bring back to where he was painting. Mixing the two left a lot of paint on his paws until he started using old bones. He was sure to never touch the bones of one pile, though he wasn't sure why.

He was in the middle of painting then when he head his father's voice call out through their home. Listening to the voice, he finally looked back to his painting and saw what he had made. It was a rough image of a bird, their father actually. It wasn't that good - there was too much water in the paint it seemed, so it had started to bleed down the steep side. The bird in the painting looked sad... and he briefly considered covering it completely with paint... he shook his head. He couldn't trash his work no matter how depressing it was. Carni frowned and rubbed his face with his paw, smearing some of his paint on his face.

It really didn't take long to get to the place his father called from, though others had already arrived. The first he saw was his brother, looking just as sad as their father in his painting. Was it Eythan instead? No.. he hadn't painted horns. The other was Xin, someone he'd never met before. He considered greeting Eythan, but Azazel looked especially sad under that fake smile. The albino boy slinked up to his father and bumped his head into his side, purring to somehow bring the man much needed some comfort.

He almost didn't go to the meeting Azazel called. He thought to himself 'Why?' He didn't have any reason to stay with the Bonebound anymore. Cure was no where to be seen, her father was dead... Was Cure dead too? The thought would've brought tears to his eyes before, but now the man felt no pain. He was hardened, his emotions depleted. His body had lost most of his weight he had, leaving him really nothing more than a bag of bones.

Maybe he did belong here.

He was silent as he walked, the only thing he really could do anymore. He hadn't been able to produce fire since Cure disappeared, he was generally weak, but he could walk quietly. Maybe it was because he lost most of his muscle and mass. Whatever the reason, he actually wasn't surprised to find himself walking up to the meeting the bird had called.

Maybe some part of him still hoped Cure was still alive. But that was just wishful thinking.

He wasn't surprised to see that she wasn't here, either. His frown had been plastered on his face for what seemed like forever now. He hadn't been happy enough to even wipe it off his face. His stare was emotionless as he glanced over the pathetic crowd. Just the bird, his recent children, and what looked like a weasel he'd never seen before. Was this all that was left? Xerxes scoffed as he walked to the back of the crowd and sitting some ways away. He supposed he could stick around to see what the bird had to say.

"Speech!"

TABLE CODE © RASTA 2016

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Kerberos heard the call from Tunnel K, the whispering echo of his leader. Time seemed different, distorted and uncomfortable, but the dog couldn't understand and he did not try. He protected his home, and he found himself racing towards the call, loyal as ever. His duties were unending, no matter how infinite time seemed to stretch before him. Within moments he was before his leader once more, six pinpricks of pale eyes burning up at Aza'zel-- the center head scarred, but all alert and holding a glimmer of pride.

This was his purpose, his place. He sat down, left and right heads dipping to glance among the crowd. The faces were different, but there were still many. He wondered, absently, where his true family had gone... But something else caught his attention before he could give it much thought. Orange nosed face spotted the mute creature who seemed so much like Ashtoreth-- and the star herself, scurrying up to the fellow mustelid. It was enough to make him feel at home; there was familiarity here.

His other head, however, noticed a creature in the distance. His kin, so far away, watching from his place. A slight uneasiness crawled through his skin, but he said nothing, his middle, war-torn face simply staring up at his leader, rooted in place and unbothered by anything. He was home. There was no reason to question things, or to struggle against it. Canis was safe, and Aza'zel was here for him.

The Bonebound had survived, as it was always going to.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

Pinpricks of deep, rich crimson scanned the room of bones, finding focus in the group. The Bonebound was gathering under their king... Technically, his king, as well. He did not know if he felt it right to fall in line under a king as his kin did so eagerly, but he did have the mind to pay attention to such meetings.

Unfortunately, locamoting over to the gathering was not something he could do. With a low huff, the massive, polar bear like beast settled his snout upon his forepaws, ignoring the ache in his back. He could watch from here fairly readily, though hearing was more of an issue. It was difficult to make out more than the creature who had brought him to life once more-- the cerberus. The creature who had revived the stone of whatever had come before him.

He held no memory, but after cycles, he had learned. The Lorekeeper was a great source of information, and surviving four cycles was a mark of pride for the hybrid. She had imparted on him valuable knowledge, and in return, he felt his place cement in Canis. He had never known anything else, and in the same respect, felt as doomed as the Lorekeeper.

Quietly, the great beast wondered if the Bonebound knew much of anything about him, or the grand cavern they called home. He had seen them about, but like everything as of late, it seemed like everyone existed independent of one another. His f-- kin-- had brought him food when Cure and the others and slowly bled out off existence. There were those who would have been good friends to him, given half the chance, but he seemed to find himself as forgotten as the Lorekeeper.

Perhaps that was only fitting.

listen to me + hear my thoughts

Ashtoreth heard her father's call-- her physical recovery had been smooth, a gentle transition into becoming healthy once more. She still refused to fly, but this was more of a mental block than anything else. As it was, she shied from her family, instead keeping to the shadows. Even when Aza'zel called, she thought twice about answering. Was she really apart of the Bonebound anymore? Most days it felt like she didn't exist. Not that no one believed she existed, not that she was being ignored, but quite literally-- sometimes the nightmares grabbed hold of her and refused to let go.

On her bad days, she went for infinite hours believing she was dead at best, more often completely unreal. She had adjusted to the feeling of fuzziness and detachment to her own body, but deciding if it was worth hunting or talking to anyone was a whole 'nother story. What was the point of doing anything if she was just a figment of something's imagination? If that? It was worse than dreaming-- in her dreams, she felt strangely real. The hooves would come, break her into pieces, and she woke with blood covering her paws, teeth marks in her fur.

Today was a better day, if only barely. She shook off the sensation of weightlessness and pushed away the idea that it didn't matter if she came or not. The brothers of fur and feathers were at the meeting-- she had seen them, but she had not met them properly. She did not want to speak to them. They were of something that she couldn't bare. They reminded her of Cure, of Remedy. She felt the tears before she was halfway across the circuit.

Swallowing, her attention caught on a tiny furry brown creature. One she recognized-- though he was bigger than she last remembered. A smile split her features and she pointedly ignored her father, her siblings, everyone who made her heart ache. They weren't worth her time. But the mute creature, the one who she knew not by name but by the things they shared, was there waiting for her.

Promptly, Ashtoreth scampered up to Xin and wriggled into a furry lump beside him, raising a paw and waving it gently at him. It was so good to see a familiar, comfortable face again. Once she didn't have to struggle to talk to. One who, really, she wouldn't have to worry about prodding questions from.

tag;; @Xin

Azazel (Original)

Xin

Eythan

Carni

Xerxes

Kerberos

Scarborough

Ashtoreth

Azazel (Original)

Kerberos