ORIGIN - Old Bones

His return to Canis was a long time coming. Though he'd not left long ago, the events in Polaris and there-after had kept him away seemingly far too long.

He found his home dark as he stepped through its stone gates. The white king sighed softly. The lights would have to come back on before he could begin the gardens and medical stores. Without it, Canis was pitch dark. The kind of darkness that had managed to cover him for cycles in the time of quiet and sleep.

His paw steps halted. A new scent reached him; a few actually, but only one stuck. A familiar scent but no longer stale. Giggle? He'd never personally met her, had only seen her from afar or heard of her from others in the old kingdom. Had she returned? The king searched the cave with his ears for signs of life.

Was she here now? Had he missed her return? A mixture of grief and anticipation clouded his otherwise clear thoughts. Would she welcome him as he would her? Would she recognize him? Would she still want to be a part of this? So many questions. Still, the boy's memory was iron-clad. He knew it was one of his father's followers and he was certain it was her.

"Giggle? Is that you? Are you here?" His voice called out, almost worried in tone, because he feared her rejection as much now as he had back when he'd first assumed the fallen throne of bones.

^@Giggle

Giggle had, in fact, never left. But she hadn't kept herself easy to see, either; she had long been cowering in fear of the eyes, and when others came, she watched from a distance, and left if they drew too close, unless they seemed to be seeking her--or the bones.

She watched for Kerberos, for Bones, for Azazel, but none had returned.

Now she lay quiet on the ledge overlooking her bone pit, as she often did; her Hallowed Caller sat beside her, content to bask in her body heat. A ring of bioluminescent mushrooms kept the bones visible to her, and she was watching them absently, her mind lost in thought, trying to ignore the fear that came with the oppressive darkness.

"Giggle? Is that you? Are you here?"

Giggle's head snapped up, at once suspicious, heart hammering in fear. Who was this, calling to her? The voice, she thought, was unfamiliar--and it was calling from the dark. Was it the eyes? Were they coming to reclaim her?

The hyena rapidly stood and scurried back, turning tail and galloping to hide among the boulders of Canis. The Caller, meanwhile--less afraid of the dark--curiously took flight, soaring over where the voice had come from. It rustled around quite high in the darkness, safe from any leaping predators, letting out its haunting call which sounded not unlike a peacock's cry.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Carni

There came a shuffling of claws on stone then the clatter of wings taking flight. Wings? Giggle had not had wings when he'd last seen her from a distance all those cycles ago. A bird flew overhead, crowing its alarm calls. Those calls were familiar too. He'd leave this lesser be. Perhaps it was here because the old Reader was here. He hoped she was here.

The dimness of the cave was unsettling and troublesome. He moved with his whiskers more than not until a rib bone, strayed from its pile, tripped him up. Stumbling, he turned, alarmed, and willed his magic to do, well, something- anything- because when he used his magic, his horn glowed, and that might give enough light to see what he'd stumbled over and now half-stood upon, a front paw planted on it in order to keep the offender in place while he cast...

...and his stone did light up- some slashed parts brighter than the polished rest- but more than that, the rib bone he'd tripped over and now stood upon also took on a brilliant glow. It wasn't shining but colorless,it cast a white light well enough to illuminate the area around him. Well, now he'd be able to see, at least.It wouldn't light the whole of canis, but... maybe this new spell would make the generator's lights unnecessary.

A challenge for another day. Giggle's scent lingered freshly on the stone here and he had every intention on tracking her down. A head turned up towards the bird again, then dipped to grasp the rib between delicate teeth to light the way. He'd follow where the bird had appeared from in the darkness. If nothing else, maybe he'd find someone at least.

^@Giggle

The light that suddenly flared up in the darkness, as she hid and peered back from behind a boulder, told her at least that this creature was not of the void.

Quiet, cautious and with obvious suspicion, she stepped stiffly out from behind her rock, waiting for the stranger to draw closer and no longer trying to hide herself. The hair along the ridge of her back and neck stood up, and her dark eyes stared, wide.

When he drew closer, she spoke, voice rough with long disuse, hoarse and deeply masculine.

"Who are you," she said, and even her tone was tense. "And how do you know my name?"

The Caller circled high, her haunting cry echoing.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Carni

She looked like a walking skeleton compared to all those cycles ago, when he'd seen her roaming the cave and speaking through bones. He'd been so young then. His father's hidden treasure. Of course she wouldn't know him. He felt stupid for calling her out like that.

He stayed perfectly in place, going so far as to sit and relax his muscles.

"I'm Caerwyn Vita, son of Azazel Vita, inherit King of Bones." He'd grown too used to the title now."My father showed you to me during my first cycle but from afar. He was fearful I'd perish as my last life had." He glanced back around to an ancient and crumbled tower of bones. "My stone-mother was Mau." He wasn't sure if the old hyena would've known her or not, though.

^{@Giggle short post, not feeling too hot today, sry}

The mention of the cat brought back some fleeting memory--here then gone; Giggle couldn't remember much of it, bar the fact that it had been white, and atop a bone fortress, and that she'd disliked it.

Whether it was the cat's fault, though--whether some action of the feline had bothered her--or whether it was simply due to its feline nature, she couldn't remember.

"I hate cats," she barked hoarsely down, though she didn't actually seem hostile at all. It was more an escaping thought, a random, rude remark that seemed very out of place, given the context.

But--had he said Azazel..?

Giggle's big round ears swivelled, and she lurched into a trot, knocking a few scattered bones aside as she came to peer at the-... the thing. It almost, itself, looked like a cat, she thought--already forgetting that this was meant to be a child of Mau. It did not, however, look like Azazel. It had feathers, yes--wings--but not his wings. Not his blacks-and-browns-and-reds, and not his beak, or his piercing eyes, or his feathery beard.

Disappointment briefly flitted through her--as if she'd expected Azazel to be right there, in this newcomer. Shortly on its heels came hope--she had not heard the name Azazel spoken in some time.

"Where is he? I have not seen him. He left me. I miss him," she said. She had no tone--just the same deep voice, speaking plainly, matter-of-factly, all the while staring intently over Carni... trying to decide just what he was.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Carni