The fortresses were where she had been hatched, and from time to time, she returned there. Sometimes it was merely out of boredom; other times, to reminisce. Often, a select bone would catch her eye, to be taken back and added to the pit.
Today, Omen was circling above--easygoing adventure in both their minds. It was an idle sort of wandering, a walk, just to see what they would find. When the clatter of bones reached her ears, she felt the thrill of excited alarm from the black Caller high overhead. Though the bird did not, precisely,
speak--there were no words to her thoughts--the ideas in the form of emotions and imagery were always easy to 'translate' along their mental link.
I see a thing, Mother-Sister! was the general gist of it--and through their shared senses Giggle caught a glimpse of something in the bones, something striped and furred.
Curious, interested, she changed direction at once, her slow ambling gait shifting into a swift lope. Nostrils flared and she caught the scent, ahead, of a stranger.
And then--abruptly--there it was; tumbled down into the bones, young perhaps and rather ungainly. Though in fairness, one tended to spring from the other.
A cub, of some kind? --Oh no... a cat, she realized, and her stomach fell. Cats... Cats were never trustworthy, in her experience. They were backstabbing, and conniving, and all the ones she had known were two-faced snarky brats. But this one was but a child, by looks, and as she came to a stop a few feet away, she determined not to bark at it.
Time would tell if it were like the others... though she held out little hope. Instead she gathered herself, and kept a bit of distance so as not to frighten the thing. A glance told her that Omen was--wisely--sticking to safety, on a perch high above, and so she turned her attention to the stranger, and she spoke.
"Hello there, little one. Are you new? --Do you speak?" she added, realizing at once that it may well be a new hatchling. Perhaps it didn't understand words, yet--or perhaps it simply
looked young.
As a gesture of good will, she turned her magicka toward the strange and magickal fruit that she could create--which tasted good, and seemed nutritious, even to her meat-eating sensibilities. Whatever a Gembound ate, this usually seemed to be taken well. The sparkling fruit--as it popped into existence--was less... yellow, than normal, she noted. And with a little disappointment, she saw just how
small it was.
Ahh, well... food is food, she thought, and after stripping away part of its peel with a flash of thick teeth, she nudged it toward Malik.
"My name is Giggle," she told him carefully.
"You can eat that, if you wish."
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ROLL THE BONES
