ORIGIN

Mouth open and panting, Bones slumped down onto his side next to his rat. "Good catch," he said, briefly stretching his limbs out. His legs hurt- they ached and they burned but he made the attempt to ignore it, in favour for flashing a grin up towards Giggle, waiting for her to settle down as well.

He watched Omen for a while, before he bent his head down and began to eat his own rat. The taste of blood touching his tongue reminded him that he hadn't eaten in several cycles- his stomach was empty and he was hungry. With a few bites, he had torn skin from bone and was swallowing down the flesh quickly.

When he finished, he lay on his side and began cleaning the scarlet blood from his paws. For a moment, he hesitated, before speaking. "Do you not remember what happened to grandfather?" He asked, dark eyes flicking to Giggle. "Do you remember anything about his children?"

... Did Bones remember anything about his children? Certainly not their names, but he knew he had three- Ash and two others. "They were with Bonebound, I think," he said quietly, solemnly. "One of them took over it for a while."

He paused again, turning and licking the white patches on his chest, nervously. "Are they still around? Bonebound? Do you see many of them?" He asked gently, watching Giggle. "I know you've not seen Kerberos but-- what about the others? Did no one tell you about Azazel?"

He began to sound increasingly worried-- if no one had updated Giggle, had everyone else died? Or was it supposed to be his responsibility and he had no idea, opting to hibernate instead?

Bones shuddered, and then went back to grooming himself, waiting for Giggle to answer.

Giggle swallowed down her rat in a few warm, wet crunches, licking her jaws and closing her eyes as she savored the taste of a fresh kill, the sensation of meat-bound bone sliding down her throat. Good-... It was good.

Dark eyes again opened and looked to Bones as he spoke, her front half sliding down, forelegs extending out as she lay down.

"What happened to him..? To Azazel?" She was not asking Bones--simply parroting his question, thoughtful. Her head tilted some, as she tried to remember his children. She had some vague memory of a brief thing-that-looked-like-him, and far too many lammergeiers completely identical to him turning up. She remembered, even, arriving to speak with him at one point, finding three of them standing around--she'd laughed at it, at his "twinning" into more Azazels (actually relations, or so she assumed). And she remembered-...

She gave a short laugh as she looked to Bones. "His children?" she asked, raucously loud. Omen scooted away, a bit. Giggle's tone was gently amused, rather than mocking, as she continued. "I remember once turning up and he'd found even more who looked like him, and for a moment, little pup, you were afraid he'd split into pieces!" She still remembered his worried murmur of "what happened to Grandfather," or something of the sort.

But at Bones' mention of... "what happened" again, she found herself worried, gripped with sudden misgiving. She already feared what he might say, and felt the world closing around her, narrowing and darkening.

"I have not seen any of the others. Many pass through, but none of the Bonebound, bar a white cat who spoke to me, and then left." She shook her head, a little. "...What happened to him?"

This came a little quieter, almost hesitant, though she did not let that show too much.

She feared what he might answer.

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ROLL THE BONES

With a grimace, Bones spent a short time licking down his fur before setting his head down on the cave floor. He gave a gentle nod to Giggle's echo of his own words, but it was clear that either she had forgotten, or no one had told her. He couldn't quite remember her state at the time either, in fact-- she was either missing or completely mad.

The dog huffed a little stressfully, then paused as his mother spoke. He had forgotten, yes, that Azazel had a habit of recruiting whatever hatched in Canis as his sons and daughters-- including Giggle --and this happened to include an army of identical-looking vultures. He smiled, and he even briefly laughed at the memory. "Anyone would have assumed the same," he replied with quiet amusement. "I'm still fairly certain it's not too far from the truth." He liked this side of Giggle- the side that seemed more like her old self. He was glad that she seemed to be getting better, at the very least.

He sighed a little, again, as they continued speaking. A white cat-- he wondered if it was one of Azazel's sons, or if it was Dovefeather. This sigh was followed by a quiet whine before he began to speak further. "Someone killed him, mom," he said quietly. "I don't know who. I don't think anyone knows, but-- two of his children, the ones that were half of him and half of cats took over Bonebound. One of them--"

He cut himself off. The memory of the white-winged cat emerging out wearing Azazel's pelt made Bones a little sick to his stomach. A part of him knew it would send Giggle into a mad rage to hear about it. Perhaps another day, he considered. Hearing about this would be bad enough.

He shifted closer to the hyena, lifting his head to quietly lick her forehead. "One of them claimed themselves king, the white one,"he said quietly. "But they never said what happened to Azazel. I'm sorry no one told you sooner, mother."

Saying it out loud, he began to wonder if Azazel's own children had done it. It seemed suspicious enough for them to appear with their father suddenly dead, trying to take the title of king of bones, one of them wearing his pelt. He grimaced, sickly, and tried to shake the thought away before returning to cleaning Giggle's forehead.

Giggle listened, her hyena's brow faintly furrowed. She muttered comments to herself, thoughtful, as he spoke of Azazel's twinning--trying to remember who the white cat had been.

"Who was it? It wasn't that princess-bitch in the tower. It wasn't Dovefeather, either--I liked her. Purred a lot, Saw as I do. It was--winged--yes, cat-and-bird, I think. He left mid-conversation."

As Bones continued, her round ears swiveled toward him. Her dark eyes widened, and her face went blank.

Her mind locked up and her heart ran cold, and for a moment it was as if the caves were spinning around her, coalescing into Senka's darkness. Giggle felt as though a thousand silver-white eyes were flickering open. Staring at her. As if mocking laughter rung through the bones.

Mother-sister. The gentle, tentative prod at her mind--the sort her familiar used to give her when her hallucinations got too bad. She tightened her jaw, closing her eyes and taking a single deep breath.

Inhale-... hold... exhale. Breathe. Thank you... sister-daughter. I am here. Her mind, however, still raced, though now it began to fall away merely into sadness. Azazel, dead..? Someone killed my Bone King?

Grief tore through her, unexpectedly powerful. He had been there just after her hatching--the first one she had met. The one who had fed her, the one who had offered her guidance--and later, asked for it in turn. They had worked together to try to lead and protect the Bonebound. He had always respected the bones, respected other Gembound. He had been a natural leader. Who would kill him..?

Those-... What were they. Merrymen. They were his only enemies, that I remember. Diamondfang, was it? The name he gave?

Giggle opened her eyes, looking sadly to Bones.

"I didn't know," she answered hoarsely, simply. A tired reach forward with her long and muscled neck, and she offered Bones a brief nuzzle, the knowledge of Azazel's loss making Bones' lingering presence all that much more precious to her.

"Thank you... for telling me. How did you find out?" She thought to herself, with the faintest flicker of anger, that perhaps if she could trace the line back from whoever told Bones, to how they had found out, she might be able to uncover more.

To find out who had murdered her King, and bring them to justice.

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ROLL THE BONES

Bones lowered himself down onto his belly next to Giggle, watching Omen for a moment before he resumed smoothing out the fur on the hyena's forehead. He hadn't met the so-called princess-bitch and Dovefeather was only partially white. "The white one with wings, yes," he confirmed quietly between rasping licks. "He had a brother, too, who looked more like a spotted cat, but I don't know where he is."

He began to worry when Giggle went quiet. The dog didn't speak, half-afraid he might interrupt some deep thought process that she was going through, but he nudged her shoulder with his forehead with a quiet whimper, before he went back to grooming out the hyena's shaggy fur.

One round ear flicked when she spoke again. "I'm sorry," he murmured with a gentle grimace. Sickening guilt pooled in his gut over the thought that it had taken this long for someone to actually tell Giggle of Azazel's fate. A part of him knew that, as her son, it should have been his responsibility. He tried to settle himself down with the thought that she knew now, at least, and that she wouldn't be left in the dark.

This, however, felt like an unfortunate choice of words, given Giggle's history with dark areas. Somehow, that made it worse.

He let out a breath. "Grandfather's son, the white one called a meeting," the painted dog began. "We didn't know who he was, at first. He introduced himself as-- Carni, was it? And said that Azazel was dead. He described it as untimely." He paused, grimacing, and shook his fur out before it stood on end. He recalled the meeting fairly clearly, now-- the expression on the hybrid's face who-- "he was a child," he added, as he recalled. He seemed hesitant and upset, but without actually crying or whimpering.

The thought crossed him, then, how much of it had been an act? He did not know, truthfully-- but the whole situation seemed a little odd. "He said that he would claim the title of Bone King," Bones continued. "I remember-- there weren't a lot of us, but I was the only one asking him questions. I asked him where his brothers and sisters were, his older ones, and why they weren't taking the title instead. I asked who gave him the right to take his place and I asked where grandfather was and who killed him."

"He said he was buried." A lie. He was wearing his pelt. "And that Azazel had raised him and taught him to be king in his place, but nobody even knew him. He couldn't have hatched very long ago, at the time. He didn't know about his older brothers and sister and he said that the brother he was twinned with had left."

He wondered if he knew-- if Eythan knew that Carni had killed him. If he had. Perhaps that was why he left, perhaps he was afraid that Carni would kill him if he stayed, for knowing too much? Bones shuddered briefly. "He didn't answer when I asked him what happened and who killed him," he said quietly. "He didn't say where he was buried. He just-- went on about how he would be king and rule everybody like his father did. I left, after that."

Bones glanced briefly towards the rat bones, then back towards Giggle, frowning. "I don't know where he is," he said. "The white one, or his brother, or Azazel's other children, but-- I'd like to try and find his twin-mate, because he might know something?"

He had no idea where to even start with that. But it was worth a shot, to avenge Azazel.

Giggle listened, and turned, watching her son. Her thoughts were darker, now--more grim, and she noticed with a sort of tired resignation that her mind was again threatening to shy away from it all, to fragment off into other thoughts. It was very difficult to focus.

For a moment she closed her eyes, and the only real thought she could hold onto was that she was proud of her son. He had dealt with this all, alone; he had come to his conclusions, alone. He had seen past potential lies, if she recognized the suspicion in his voice, all alone.

Giggle remained silent for nearly a full minute, struggling against fleeting thoughts that flashed through her head frantically.
Dead, dead, dead--
Azazel dead--
SONS? SONS? THEY ARE NO SONS--
--white cat, fucking cat, cat cat cats, all fucking evil cats--...
Find them, should find them, kill them, false BONE KING, liars and lies and liars--

With an effort of will, she tried to force her mind to calm, to quiet, to focus on one of the many strands. She-... But no, they were falling away, like glittering pieces of gemstone in the Void, the falling void, it takes them all, Azazel is there--lost, the last time I heard him? Calling, calling, as I fell into the Void--calling my name--missing, forever, gone... gone...

The hyena stood, turning abruptly, pacing away a few steps. She was visibly agitated, but in an effort to spare Bones the stress of her own gibbering madness, she did her best to keep her jaws snapped shut, for now. Her teeth clenched, her eyes opening and staring off at nothing, but her hackles stood on end along her back.

She felt the gentle touch of Omen at her mind, and a short, sharp exhale puffed from her nose, the faintest release of some of all this tension. Not alone, Mother-Sister.

The hyena sent the briefest touch of grief-stricken acknowledgement back, of faint and weary gratitude. Not alone.

At length she turned, fighting past the stream of thought
-kill all the cats, all of them, Azazel gone and not coming back?--where's his body, where's his stone, who killed him? I WILL FIND WHO KILLED HIM. Eat it, and see! Eat it, eat them, find out, kill them!
to manage a few strained, but firm words. "I will come with you."

If they were going to find this person, she wanted to be there. She wanted to hear what would be said about the death of her King.

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ROLL THE BONES

The painted dog had a bit of an idea that this news and details of what had happened to Azazel might shock and grieve his mother. He hadn't dealt with it often-- gembounds dying was, of course, incredibly rare --and he wasn't entirely sure how he should handle it.

He decided the best thing to do was to let Giggle digest the information in silence for a little, but as the seconds slowly ticked by, he grew more and more worried. About forty seconds after he finished speaking, he lowered his head to nose at the top of Giggle's head as a slight whimper left his throat.

A moment later and she had moved away. Bones hesitated, instinct telling him to move after her, but logic told him to give her space. Instead, he sat where he was, front paws scratching nervously against the cave floor. For a time he watched Omen and his mother before he turned his gaze away to watch a distant rat.

He knew Giggle had been getting better but now she seemed to be worse. She wasn't speaking or babbling but he could tell that she was obviously troubled and beginning to lose control of her own thoughts, and he knew that he was to blame for it. How long had he been asleep for, and how long had she been healing for? Would she even get better this time?

Bones had to fix it, somehow-- he looked around Canis for something, for anything, that could help Giggle. Maybe food, or something from her bone pile, or something from her garden? Though he didn't want to move away for too long to try (and risk failing) at hunting, and he didn't want to disturb Giggle's bones or garden.

His eyes flicked back to the hyena as she finally spoke, ear flicking. "I don't know where to start looking," he said quietly. He didn't particularly mind if Giggle wanted to come with or not-- he'd even appreciate his mother's company. "If... the white one did kill him, I think he would want to go as far away from here as possible. The other side of the caves, maybe."

Pisces or Cetus, that meant-- but he wasn't sure. He looked away, briefly, following a faraway rat with his eyes, before a thought crossed his mind. "Can we ask the bones?" He said a little too loudly, wide-eyed. He paused, then repeated-- a little more quietly, "We can ask the bones where to look, or if they know anything."

At her son's suggestion, Giggle immediately turned, loping at a brisk pace for her bone pit.

"Yes. Good. The bones will know. Buried--where? Where is he buried?" She snapped a sharp glance back at her son. She knew that she could gain knowledge from bones, especially fresher ones--true knowledge. The fungus would consume them, and whisper their secrets to her mind--their memories. If they could find the Bone King's body, then perhaps she could see what had truly befallen him.

Stress rippled through her as she snatched up a bone, after a brief glance over the pile: an angled thing, a little rough. She clenched it in her teeth and loped quickly to the ledge overlooking the pit, tossing it down with a clatter into the bones.

Her exhausted and fragmented mind took in a dozen shapes and patterns as they flashed and shifted through the pile--falling bones, flying bones, tumbling bones--and she considered.

The shapes she saw, the glimpse of moss on the bones, the light glinting off them--it could mean two things. It could be that the twins were together, somewhere--peacefully together, and content. It could mean, even, that they were alive somewhere with Azazel, though this she quickly discounted as unlikely. Could he, though? Would he? Fake his own death? Retire? He never liked the burden of leadership.

Still, she did not think he would abandon her so easily. No.

The other possibility was quite literal: life, and light. Eridanus, perhaps? She knew the place--and the bones murmured, too, of a split from Divinity. The Eyes? The water, there the mad cold water that lost its reflection?

The hyena shivered at the memory, but for her King, she would return there once more.

Aloud, however, all she said was "Life. Light. The jungle room--Eridanus. Or they are together somewhere but I think not. Come."

Her words were briskly clipped, and without anything further, she turned to trot from Canis.

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ROLL THE BONES

At least Giggle was fond of the idea of asking her bones where to go. Bones picked himself up and hobbled along behind the hyena, though he lagged behind a bit. "I don't know," he replied, trying to erase the memory of the king's feathers being worn by his own, probably-murdering son. He couldn't stand to tell his mother that the cat-bird was likely lying about burying Azazel-- not now, not while she needed to heal.

He slowed down as Giggle came to her bone pit, slowly and painfully setting himself down onto his haunches with a grimace. He watched in silence as the bone sail across the air and hit the others in the pile with a crash. He flicked an ear.

He never had his mother's gift for being able to read the bones, though one bone had spoken to him. Only once. He knew it must have been in his den-- he rarely let it leave his side. His head turned to the West Wall, briefly, then back to Giggle.

She was moving-- and speaking, now. "Eridanus?" He echoed, pushing himself up and splitting briefly to trot to his den, grabbing the femur bone in his jaws before he hobbled back towards his mother. "It could be Polaris. Polaris has more lights." He grumbled through the bone.

A part of him didn't want to return to Eridanus. There was too much grief-- between Booker and his eternal relationship antics, the strange Mother-religion, and not to mention the dragon that destroyed his legs, the place hadn't really held up well in his eyes.

He followed regardless, except for the garbled "slow down," he didn't object further to moving along behind Giggle.