ORIGIN

The hyena lay silent at her pit of bones, sprawled out in a relaxed, yet focused, fashion. Her hindquarters were half-stretched out to her left, her upper body mostly upright, but slouched, her left foreleg curled idly in against her chest with the right stretched indifferently forward. Her ears were up, her head forward, as she might stare while hunting.

Her dark eyes stared, intently, at nothing.

She had been watching, off and on, watching through her spores. Watching Senka, her erstwhile tormenter. The cat who dragged others into the darkness of the void. Watching her, watching her silver eyes whenever they appeared--but they seemed not to see Giggle. The feeling of triumph, of savage superiority and of smug hatred, that she felt at these moments left a vicious and snarling grin on her face. She'd spent a great deal of time at her bone pile, observing Senka, glorying in the feeling of being the one with the advantage, for once. Biding her time.

Giggle was watching now, watching through the fungus she'd left behind. She was unsure how much longer they would last, but she had been planning this for a long time, and she was ready. She was well-fed, she had drunk her fill of water, and Omen lurked not far off. The safety of the ramp that led to her ledge, perched atop her pit of bones, would shroud her. It was time to act.

Senka appeared, at least, to be sleeping. Quietly, Giggle lowered her own head, laying it between her two front paws--the one curled, one outstretched--and closed her eyes.

Her hatred knew no bounds--or it did, in the sense that she would stop at a certain point, should she even succeed. But she wanted her vengeance. She wanted to make this shit-cat regret. Quietly, she extended forth her magic, projecting her mind to where her fungus lay, slipping through the tunnels of Origin by thought alone until she felt the bizarre sensation of slipping into another's dreams.

Or another's nightmares.

For now, she intended to merely view: to see what it was that Senka dreamed. She herself remained silent, hoping to go unnoticed for at least a short time--perhaps long enough to get her bearings--before choosing how to act.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

For a moment, as she watched--silent as she could manage--Giggle considered retreating. Breaking the link, seeking out this place of ice and the shattered stone in it. Retrieving a piece. Waiting... waiting for Senka to leave. Would the cat returning to find that which she had dreamed of, laying in her own den--would it break her? Would it shatter her mind?

The hyena wanted to break her.

Yet-... The feeling of loss that now emanated from the cat stilled her, if just for a moment; it made her think. Oh, she still wanted to torment her, yes--at least her pound of flesh. She wanted to ensure that Senka would never be a threat to her again. But past that? What was it that the darkness was doing? Why was there this sense of... cycles, lost?

Giggle spoke, then, her voice the same masculine tone, edged with dark humor, that it was in physical reality.

"Coming, and going, and coming, and going..."

She pushed herself into the dream, into the tunnel, alongside the cat. It was not easy, and she could feel both her magic and her form within the dream flickering unsteadily. It took immense focus--more than she'd been prepared for; and it did not lend her the strong, unwavering image she'd wished to present.

Still, she thought, it would have to do.

Holding that edge of savagery, but tempered now by concentration, the hyena walked right up alongside Senka. As if she'd never feared her, as if her life had not been horrors and nightmares since the furless cat had invaded it.

"Coming and going, and always eyed--trust me, cat, I've never lied. From the den, from this place. From somewhere near that she hates..." Giggle stood alongside Senka for that beat, looked to the wall at which the cat had been staring, and then shifted her dark gaze to stare at the cat herself.

The fortune-teller had used dramatic effect for her work in the past--to add flair to her prophecies. Long ago she had ceased--when her life had turned to a living hell, she'd had no more thoughts of needless drama--but it served her now. She was in the dream as if she'd always been there. Her rhymes were simple, but her tone eerie. She stood alongside Senka as if she had total control.

It could seem impressive, intimidating even... or it could all be knocked down in a catastrophic instant.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

Giggle laughed, quietly, her voice haunting. Or, as haunting as she could make it. Perhaps she was overdoing the theatricality, but she didn't care, anymore. It was how she felt.

"I am saying I watch you, wretched cat, even with your precious Eyes. They don't see me. I see them. I see you. I see your sister..." She trailed off, for a moment, and then continued.

"Are you a poor, tormented, helpless victim of it?" she growled. Mockery laced her tone, sarcasm. "Or a cringing slave? I wanted to take everything from you... but you have almost nothing left. Almost." Again there was cruelty in her voice.

Giggle shifted her gaze to stare at the cat, dream or no dream. "If you decide you wish to come crawling to me with apology, and humility, perhaps I can help you. Until then, I will be watching."

The haunting cry of the Hallowed Caller rang out back in Canis; Giggle heard it in her half-conscious mind, albeit faintly.

"Unless you enjoy pain, and darkness... and being alone. It would explain a lot," she chittered darkly. "But if you reject what I offer and if I find you dragging others into darkness again, there will be no dog to save you. I will bring the caves down around your head, and crush you." There was no trace of madness in her threat. It had no basis; she obviously couldn't collapse caves or anything like it, but at least she meant what she said in feeling. A hot, deep hatred, held back for now, but ready to lurch up and overwhelm in a righteous flood should Senka step out of line again.

She had nothing more to say. She held the link open for now, if barely, and waited to see if the naked wretch would respond.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

Giggle remained silent as Senka talked, listening to the naked cat's words though the ever-weakening dreamlink. The hate in her roiled, controlled, a smoldering volcano barely containing its impotent (but burning) spew of magma. The circling, the eyes staring--she turned to watch Senka circle, but forced herself not to react.

The taunts about Fate and friends rolled off her, but the mention of "Him" and "his will" stirred her, some. It was a cold thread through her angry hate, and she fixed on it, committing it firmly to memory. She had to remember this when she woke.

Who was it that Senka served? Was it true that she, herself, "served" the will of this mysterious someone, in her own way?

As she felt the link slip shut, escaping her, her body began to waken. Dark eyes slipped open, blinking, and spotted, rangy flanks heaved with the release of adrenaline.

"The only one I have served," she muttered hoarsely, "was the King of Bones; and he is dead. He would have never chosen you." The words were spoken to empty air as Giggle pushed herself to her feet. Her head snapped up to the black bird circling overhead, and she called out to her. "Keep watch, Omen." The order was curt, blunt, but not rude, and she could feel the bird's acknowledgement of her own fear-laced alertness.

She then turned, pacing to her fungus, lowering her head and closing her eyes in focus. She sent her mind out, threading it through the spores she'd left long ago, back again through the fungus at Senka--and could see, to her surprise, the cat watching her. It was turning, as if to go; she wondered with disgruntlement if she'd missed anything of importance.

She wasn't sure what she'd expected, from all of this. She supposed that, in some way, she'd simply wanted to make Senka aware of her presence--of her fearlessness (though this was half a lie), of the fact they now knew that Senka was a threat, and in what way. There was no real best reaction--though she admitted to herself she'd have rather have had the cat cringing, weeping in apology, and fleeing with promises to never do it again.

"But not a chance of that. Arrogant cat," she spat softly, dropping her mind away from the link, swaying a little as she came back to herself in Canis. She'd made the cat aware of her--and that in itself brought her some sort of satisfaction. Senka was not omnipotent. She could not stop Giggle from seeing her, or from contacting her. And that was all the message Giggle had needed to convey.

Well, now she knows. Perhaps I'll meet her master soon enough. He will find that he is no master of mine--at least I know, now, that this cat is a slave. And I will never be.

________________

ROLL THE BONES