ORIGIN

Aure rushed off, and a quizzical Giggle found, through brief consultation of the fungus, that he was hunting. And quite well, too, sending spirals of rushing wind to drive the rats from their hiding places. She was pleased: this was his father's magic, and it seemed he had a strong grasp of it.

He'd be proud, she thought, for the third time in as many minutes.

She had been asked to stay put, but she fidgeted in place. The hyena wasn't a good "old mother" type. She was still a doer, not a crone of a grandmother but a huntress and a seer in her own right, and waiting and allowing others to do for her had never sat right with her.

She glanced idly about at the rocks, and at last she stood, determining to go and trot off to hunt on her own, briefly. She could be back with her own offering, and--oh.

He was back, already.

She blinked, and eyed the rat he was offering her, and nodded.

"Thank you--you're very kind--but I can do for myself, too, you know. I'm not that old," she added in a joking tone--and then continued, eyeing Aure more thoughtfully. "You've good control over your magic, and over flight. That's good! Been practicing, I take it?" Strong jaws snatched up the rat, crunching it down.

She then turned, casting her mind out along the fungus. Even as she ate, her magic and her dark eyes searched the crevices where Aure had been hunting down below, and she concentrated. After a moment she felt a flicker of life, and sent a surge of horror into it--the idea that the darkness was filled with terrors that would destroy life.

It wasn't at all a far stretch from her previous experience.

After a moment a rat came scampering into the open, looking around with eyes so full of fear that the hyena felt pity for it.

"There's yours, Aure--make quick work of it?" she asked, voice a little softer, still licking blood from her jaws.

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ROLL THE BONES

Giggle wolfed down her rat in a couple of bites as she watched Aure go. When he returned a few wingbeats later, she was already settling back on her haunches, and she watched him eat, instead.

His question gave her pause. It wasn't--not exactly. But it was a horrible thing, a horrible magic, and she knew it. She hesitated for a moment, though gave no outward sign of her thoughts, simply watching him. The pause, though, was there, and perhaps noticeable.

"...It is in the same vein," she began slowly, wondering how to explain this. "There was a time I was trapped within the Void. Its horrors-... If I project my memories onto another being, it is an attack, of sorts. They tend to have trouble adapting," she explained. It was almost apologetic; she knew it was a terrible thing, but it was brief, and it wasn't like the rat would remember it later.

It was, after all, dead.

"I try to show prey some respect. After all, their bones join ours; we're all nothing but bones, in the end. But it's a useful tool--for hunting, and also for fighting. There's mushrooms, too, I use to shock the minds of others. I was attacked, once, at my bone pit--by a big, flying thing with claws and teeth--it nearly took my eyes out," she added, perhaps explaining the old scars that criss-crossed her face. "But mind and mushroom combined, and for a time--for long enough--he didn't know what was real, and what wasn't. If you like, I can show you my garden, and tell you which mushroom does what? --Have I done that already?"

Haunch shifted; hind foot came up to scratch behind one rounded ear as she peered at Aure.
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ROLL THE BONES

Giggle was at a bit of a loss as to what to do next. It seemed she'd already taught him much of what she knew--which was good! She padded over to Aure, thinking, and trying to groom his head with her tongue--like any good hyena-mother.

"Well, you're welcome to borrow spores, or samples, if you want to learn to use any of it." She sat back down on her haunches beside the child, the odors of feathers and rat's blood strong in her nostrils--and the smells, together, brought with them a drifting memory of Aza'zel, and a place long ago in brightly-lit bones. She paused, distant for a beat. "So, what did you learn while you were out--and I don't mean magic. Have you found anything about the caves, or those in it, that you like or dislike? Did you learn anything about how it all works?" The memory of bones lingered, and she acknowledged that she ought to offer Aure a reading. Now that he was back, it was time, perhaps, to look forward.

"Now that you're back, do you have any questions for the bones? We could ask them, together. What are your plans for the future--got any?"

Aside from confronting Eythan, she thought, but did not say aloud.

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ROLL THE BONES

"Vita?" was Giggle's first and quizzical question. If Aza'zel had ever used his chosen surname around her (and that was a big 'if'), it had been rarely, and long-lost to time's tendency to wear away at memories. This, she thought, must be some new thing she'd never heard of.

"I've not heard these names," she said, after consideration, shifting her position to sit a little differently. "At least-... I don't think so. I knew a lot of Gembound, a long time ago, but I don't remember many of them, and I never knew their names."

As for Aure being Bone King, she nodded a little. "Your reasoning sounds wise," she agreed. The cub's choices were his own. All she could do was encourage the thought behind them; in this case it sounded well-considered.

She mulled over all that Black had told him--she'd met the dog a couple of times, and didn't think of him as a threat to her child, at least. She hadn't heard some of these things, but knew of others. "The cats are sisters. Don't trust cats," she added almost absently.

Aure hadn't answered as to questioning the bones, so--content, and without any urge to push him toward it, or to do anything, really--she waited.

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ROLL THE BONES

Giggle peered at Aure--the "Vita" was already forgotten, as was the idea of completely unknown potential relatives (if they're relatives, it's good he invited them; we'll meet them soon enough), in favor of her listening to Aure's question. It was, as were many things in the young hybrid's life, precocious. In fact, she noted, it's just like something Aza'zel would have asked. She pushed up, and felt almost at once the questioning, friendly nudge of Omen at the corner of her mind--sensing her warm thoughts, questioning them. She sent back friendly assurance--all was well, nothing exciting going on--and then padded off toward the bone pit.

As she went, she spoke to her son.

"That's a smart question, if you ask me. It's good to--it's good for you to think of these things." She switched phrasing midsentence--she'd been going to say "it's good to know you..." but that sounded selfish. It wasn't a big deal, and her thoughts swept along, like a river, toward the dry bed of bones.

For a moment she eyed the pile. She looked to Aza'zel's bone--and whose was more important than his, for the Bonebound?--but she felt she'd queried it too much already, and they weren't seeking his guidance in particular, no. They had his. They sought blessings, knowledge, from the collective dead who had watched the goings-on in the caves for generations.

Still-... Didn't Aza'zel speak to them all, now? And if they were to ask of the Bonebound, should it not be through their long-dead King? Her first impulse was to look for a ribcage, or a few connected bones--representative of a group--but that implied a group. Eythan was asking if it was even a good idea to reform.

She took a breath. Guide me--guide us truly, Bone King.

The battered hyena swept down into the pit, breasting through the bones to pick up the small keel in her jaws. Teeth clamped delicately around it and she backed up again, rounded ears flatted back; paws took her at a swift trot up along her path and to the overhanging ledge. She set the bone down. "Up here, if you want," she told Aure. "You can watch, with me, and maybe learn from it. I don't know. Are you ready?"

Dark eyes regarded him steadily--warm, but solemn--and she waited.

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ROLL THE BONES