ORIGIN

After meeting with Eythan for the first time in many cycles, he was elated to walk into Canis once again. He himself had a rather long nap inside his chrysalis and was eager to see what changes had come to the room, if any. It still looked mostly the same, as if nothing or very little had changed, which worked just fine with him. Remembering a rough layout of the room, he strode in and towards the center of the room where he got another look around. There wasn't anyone here, or at least not in the open. Someone was probably lurking around the outer reaches of the room, but that didn't bother him. What mattered was that he was here.

He wandered around the room a little, leaving his place in the center to pretty much go on a mini adventure. Although he knew Canis like the top of his paw, if something changed, he wanted to know! Besides, maybe he could find this Giggle that Eythan had mentioned. He wondered where they would be hiding, that way he could finally meet the gembound that had pulled Eythan out of his grave, damn near. He didn't bother himself too much with the thought and instead continued to wander around the room, searching for any signs of life from other gembounds. Whether he found this Giggle or not, he still wanted to meet anyone else he didn't know that called this room their home.

@Giggle

The hyena was resting at her bone pit when she felt the tug at her consciousness. One rounded ear pricked forward, and her groggy mind sent out a questioning ...What? along the link to her familiar.

As ever, Omen's return thoughts--after a delay--came not with words, for the Lesser was not capable of them, but vague emotions, imagery and so forth that the hyena's mind translated into meaning. There is a cat, Mother-Sister, came the response, softly tentative in ways that could not be put into words. Giggle grunted at once. Show me? Faint imagery of a black coat, a shaggy mane. She couldn't tell from the link alone but it seemed not to be a small creature--certainly no housecat. She was put in mind, by its color and its movements, of Cancer, who had been in her thoughts more than once in recent cycles.

With an irritated huff she stood. Where is it..?

When Xerxes at last padded her way on silent cat's paws, the hyena was stood waiting, bristling a little at the sight of him. He was bigger than she'd expected, and everything that her instincts screamed at, and everything that her experiences had taught her to hate--a cat, a lion at that, antithesis to her hyena's mind. She grimaced.

She stood atop the ledge that overlooked her broad, deep pit of bones, and she called out to him, reluctantly--fully expecting the stress of a fight, or an argument, or whatever this particular shit-cat would bring her way.

"Lion?" she barked out, and it was a greeting, of sorts, in her hoarsely masculine voice. "I don't know you; are you here for the bones, or are you lost?" It was said without inflection, but one could take its meaning, perhaps, to be--"if you aren't here for me, then you should not be here." Or perhaps she was offering directions; she kept the tone empty enough for it to be difficult to tell.

Her dark eyes remained locked on the lion, her dour cynicism preparing her for an attack.

Overhead, the Hallowed Caller circled into sight, finally making its presence known--though Xerxes could perhaps have noticed it flying overhead prior--with a haunting cry that echoed over Canis.

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ROLL THE BONES

A voice stopped him before he made it too far into the cave, one that addressed him simply as he was - lion. His head turned towards towards the voice to find an older gembound, probably around his age, lingering on a ledge looking over him. She followed with asking him what his purpose was being in the cave and Xerxes laughed. "I live here - I recently woke from my chrysalis again and have returned. Former member of the Bonebound, and you? A single brow raised when he asked the hyena in return their purpose. Xerxes could care less why they were here, but since they were so abrasive, he decided to return the favor and question him as well.

@Giggle sorry its short, work posts!!

Giggle eyed the lion over, and snorted.

"You were not Bonebound! I was Bonebound. I was Aza'zel's second and I do not remember any lions. Unless you were one of the child's..? Carni, was it?" Unless by "former" he meant that he'd had a falling out..?

She shook herself, bits of old, dried gore and fungal dander showering off, and then lay indifferently atop the ledge. The lion hadn't approached, remaining at a distance, and so she wasn't particularly worried that it might suddenly attack as that asinine Peryton, or whatever it'd called itself, had done. Still, some things bore addressing.

"Children of the Bonebound yet live here. Do not attack them. Do not kill any speaking Gembound in Canis, if you are to live here; then we can be friendly neighbors, yes?" She let out a rough and masculine cackle, as if the idea that a lion could be a 'friendly neighbor' was indeed laughable.

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ROLL THE BONES

Xerxes curled his lip at her laugh and following words, telling him he was not Bonebound when he specifically didn't remember seeing a stupid dog stinking up the place. "I'll have you know that I'm a close friend of Eythan and Carni! Eythan invited me to return, so you best watch your tongue, dog." Xerxes hissed flagged his tail, clearly irritated with this insolent creature. Did they think they were so tough on top of that ledge? Xerxes would sure show them...

Instead, they spoke again, speaking to him as if he'd never been here before and he laughed, audibly and very loudly. "You silly dog." His snarl returned, not that it left really, and he dug his claws into the dirt. Very little was holding him back from sending a blast of hot air straight into the hyena's face, but he figured it best to hold it back. Eythan wouldn't be happy if he started knocking out supposed members of the Bonebound. While he didn't trust this dog, he had to behave... for Eythan's sake. "I think estranged is a better suited term." His eyes narrowed at the hyena, wondering how someone so ignorant became Aza'zel's second.

@Giggle rip xerxes... if they fought, thatd be hilarious and if eythan and aure showed up mid battle a+ xD

The hyena stared down, for a moment--and then loud, mocking laughter, but genuinely amused rather than any sort of deliberate taunt, rang out even louder. It lasted a good while, as if the hyena found whatever Xerxes had said to be actually hilarious.

"Eythan," she rasped at last, and her tone was rich with very dark humor, "is not the Bone King. It matters little who he invites back--and I don't think I care for him inviting someone ready to start fights with the Bonebound at a moment's notice. I think," she added, more seriously, "that I will ask him about his judgement in having you trot here without his accompaniment."

The way the hyena spoke, it sounded as if she held authority over Eythan--not the other way around. "I don't know who you're saying is estranged, and I sure am hell am not a dog. Not that there's nothing wrong with them, shit-cat," she spat.

She eyed Xerxes over appraisingly, but still did not raise from her casual lying-down stance. "A lion who trots in high-and-mighty, and when told not to attack others in Canis does his best to start a fight, hrm? Eythan holds questionable company. The Bonebound was not so hotheaded, or so moronic. Not when they were the real Bonebound." This last held a note of bitterness. If Xerxes was unaware of Eythan's true nature--Giggle was.

Just what the hell had the two idiot brothers turned her beloved friend's group into..?

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"You think you're better than him?!" At that, he laughed even louder before, mocking the silly dog. "He may not be Aza'zel, but he's more him than you!" His laughing ended suddenly with an angry roar, his tail curling up high over his back and teeth bared in a half snarl. "Please do, I'm eager to see what he says." His irritation with her with beyond measurable amounts, but he smiled, tauntingly. He had every right to be here, as did she if she were really who she said she was, and he felt it unfair for her to act the way that she was when the Bonebound weren't even around anymore!

"Estranged means we're not 'friendly neighbors', you ignorant fool!" He ignored the nickname for now, something he'd definitely have to remember when he's thrown under the boulder to Eythan. He wasn't keen on tattling, but he was damn sure going to roast her, figuratively and also probably literally, if she decided to do the same about him.

"Start a fight? This is nothing compared to a real fight. An argument maybe, but this - no. You wouldn't be worth the effort." He scoffed, raising his chin although he was already looking up at her. "Remember when you tattle to Eythan that you started this, I simply returned home, as I was invited to do so." He snorted at her, turning his back and daring her to try anything.

@Giggle

"Estranged," Giggle corrected, her voice filled with sarcastic mirth, "means two who were once close, but have fallen out. I don't remember ever being close to a lion." She shifted in place, watching Xerxes' back with dark amusement.

"Thank you, by the way, oh high and mighty one, for letting me know that this is not actually a fight. I couldn't tell." Oh, the sarcasm was thick, now. "And when I choose whether to punish Eythan for what he's done, I'll be certain to tell him that the likes of you will never be allowed within the Bonebound." There was a sharp edge to the hyena's voice, now. "You are not our family. So long as you don't start fights with us, you will be tolerated in Canis." The emphasis on certain words was clear and cold.

She paused, watching him, all mirth gone from her. She'd made a realization--something Xerxes had said--and spoke again, but this time slowly, and seriously, with no mockery or humor whatsoever. "Lion--drop the foolhardy temper for a minute. Did you say you were friends with Carni? Do you know what happened to him?"

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"You think you are better than everyone, and that's a damned lie. Eythan has more power than you'll ever dream of having, you mangy mutt." He hissed, lashing his tail around once more. The warmonger had brave words, threatening to punish the man that welcomed him back within their ranks. At this moment, he'd be more than happy to storm out and never return to Canis, however it was the friendship with Eythan that made it all the more better to stick around and piss her off. He knew that Eythan would welcome him and shoot her to the ground, or at least he hoped on the later part. She had no rank or right to boss him around, and Eythan needed to make that very clear to her. Just because she was the second to Aza'zel doesn't make her any more special than the rest of them now. She needed to learn her place, however Xerxes wasn't going to show it to her despite his desire to do so.

"Again, you started this fight. You. You weren't around when I was a member, so shut you're mouth before I shut it for you. I'm family as much as you." He was so done with this conversation that he was about to get up and walk away, to his spot where he'd rested for the many cycles that he was a part of this group. Then they mentioned something about Carni, but Xerxes could hardly care at the moment.

"I've not seen him - Eythan implied he's disappeared." His eyes narrowed, wondering what would come next from the hyena.

@Giggle

For a time, Giggle simply lay there, upright and still, watching Xerxes. She was expressionless--her dark eyes inscrutable under the mantle of shaggy, unkempt fur. She appeared to be deep in thought, because... she was.

What did she tell him..? She didn't take offense at the chip on his shoulder, the aggression, though she certainly didn't plan on inviting him to the Bonebound, should they reform, after such behavior. But past that she'd seen far too much in her life to care about his venom. What she did care about was twofold, and now it raced through her mind.

First, that this lion's friend was dead, and that he didn't know. Enemy or not, asshole or not, he had the right to know.

Second, that Eythan hadn't told him the truth, despite claiming him to be a friend and, apparently, sending him here. Was it a lie..? Or was Eythan, perhaps, planning to gather allies--stronger allies--and tell them a lie of his own? Maybe he'd claim that Giggle had done the deed, and have her killed. She didn't think it likely, but it was a possibility, given the hybrid's past kinslaying deeds.

For a moment she shifted in place, looking away, a little bit torn. What did she tell him..? To tell him, bluntly, that his friend was dead and that his own brother had done it--and killed Aza'zel--... He might not even believe it. He might grow violent at the news--but that shouldn't deter her from telling him, if he deserved to know. But did he..? More to the point, did Eythan deserve privacy on this topic? Perhaps not. He'd done it, and he had to face the consequences. It wasn't something that should be hidden--especially from family. Or, as it stood, ex-family.

She looked back to the lion, her expression still empty, sternly-controlled. The news might break him. It would hurt anyone. She exhaled, as if wearily, and closed her eyes, trying to open a link directly to the lion's mind. Not to take--but to give. When the magicka reached, though, it lashed back--as it sometimes did--and she felt it crack within her mind, sharply, like lightning and thunder and shattering bones. She hissed, sharply, squeezing her eyes shut in pain, bracing for a long moment before settling for simple speech.

Great-... Now she had a lion and a headache to deal with.

She looked to Xerxes, and took a breath, grim.

"Lion--whatever your name is--Carni did not disappear. He's dead. I'm sorry. If you want to know more--tell me. If not--... say." A bit brusque perhaps, but the sympathy was there, and it left her voice flat and straightforward, at least, rather than hostile.

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ROLL THE BONES