ORIGIN

Giggle was resting at one of her usual haunts: the ledge over her bone pit. Somewhere in the distance she could hear a hyena cub being rowdy, and that was fine; there were two of them, now, and this pleased her.

She wasn't sure why it was being so noisy, but it didn't sound distressed, at least. Best to check on it, anyway. Omen? She sent her mind to her familiar; the bird was circling not far off, and answered her mental prod with a spark of gentle curiosity. If Giggle had had to translate that into thought, it'd have been something like, Yes, mother-sister?

Did you hear that sound? She held the whooping she'd just heard in her mind, and the bird examined it only briefly before returning an affirmative response--something, quite simply, like Yes.

Check on it, would you? It's one of the hyena children--and here, she sent a mental image of what to look for, as best she could--Make sure that nothing's wrong.

The bird turned, eager to be involved, and flapped off.

It took several moments, but she found Zawadi eventually, chewing on a rat she'd caught. The bird circled overhead, crying out hauntingly for a moment.

Giggle could see Zawadi, faintly, through the eyes of her familiar. Well, the cub looked fine--hunting, too, by the looks of it. Good. A cub that could take care of themselves was a good thing; Zawadi, last time they'd spoken, had said she knew how to hunt. It seemed that this had been quite true.

Giggle had no reason to push up and wander all the way to the cub for just a few whooping calls, but she did send a few thoughts to Omen nonetheless. Tell her--can you make these sounds? Imitate this--say 'ARE YOU OKAY.' Can you say that?

Instead, the bird began to call out unhelpfully down at Zawadi with a cacophony of garbled, jumbled words--it didn't understand speech, and only imitated them blindly, cheerfully shouting nonsense.

"OKAY YOU ZADWI OKAY HUNT SAY OKAY YOU!"

So, Zawadi didn't quite get what she'd hoped for--but then, Giggle was no mind reader. Well, not unless she wanted to be. But Zawadi did get a Hallowed Caller shouting at her from high up in the air, which was... something.

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ROLL THE BONES

Giggle got the gist of it through Omen. For a moment she intended to try to get Omen to explain to the kid that if she didn't want to be rude, she should have just come up to the bone pile rather than asking Giggle to wander halfway across the caves.

But--she knew that the hyena cub was young, and it might wear her out. She started to stand, begrudgingly, then rethought it. Still a good lesson, though, isn't it? She's got to learn to consider others.

That being said, Omen was hardly the most reliable creature in terms of communication, so Giggle cast out her mind, seeking Zawadi through the visual that her familiar gave her.

If you want to speak with me, she told the cub--attempting to speak directly into Zawadi's mind--you know where to find me. If not, Omen can lead you here. I would be happy to speak with you. She didn't say it rudely, nor let her irritation bleed through; Zawadi was still a cub, really, and she was determined to be patient with her.

But lessons were lessons, no matter how small.

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ROLL THE BONES

Giggle waited, head on paws, for the cub to arrive. Omen foreshadowed the approach, soaring overhead with haunting calls before at last landing beside the older hyena, settling and beginning to pick at her fur.

When at last Zawadi arrived, Giggle's head raised, and she watched the pup with wise, dark eyes.

"A rank?" she asked--the bluntness of the question not so wise, as if she'd been caught off-guard. And, in a sense, she had. Most gembound wanted nothing to do with ranks and titles--just to exist in the family, so to speak, and even that was vague. They often didn't show themselves for cycles at a time. This was-... a nice change.

"That's admirable," she went on. She pushed up, shaking out her coat (Omen quickly hopping aside), then paced over to try to touch her nose to Zawadi's, in greeting.

"What is it that you want to do? What are you good at? In cycles past we had seers--myself, and my daughter is training, too; Skeena, if you've met her. We had guardians, big strong gembound who learned to fight," she continued. Her mind went to Kerberos, his massive and beloved white bulk guarding the entrance to the cave. "If you just want to be helpful--you can start by helping the others hunt, perhaps. Maybe travel the caves, once you're older, find out if there's anyone else who'd like to join us. But in the meantime, maybe train for something more, later on; it depends on what you enjoy doing. What you're good at. Do you know?" She paused nearby the cub. She didn't know Zawadi well enough to know her likes, her dislikes, her desires.

Perhaps the cub herself didn't know, yet, either.

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ROLL THE BONES

It still baffled her that one so young could be so eloquent. It might normally have annoyed her, given her own brash nature, but something about the cub (perhaps her keen mind, or eagerness to please, or the simple fact that she was a hyena cub) made her just a tad too endearing to get too angry about.

Giggle considered.

Having a hunter wasn't a bad idea. Hell, it was even a good one. It wasn't that they didn't all hunt for themselves--they did--but someone specializing in it, learning to perfect it, and then passing on that knowledge to the new Gembound wasn't at all a bad thing. That, and having someone to bring in extra food, maybe, when someone was injured.

"...A hunter, hrm?" she mused aloud, thoughtfully.

"If you were to learn everything you can about the rats, the mice, the cave deer, maybe teach the new Boenbound as they hatch... Hrm. Not a bad idea at all. I'll tell you what--go train yourself how to hunt, and get back to me in a few days. Tell me everything you know, once you come back, about hunting. Meanwhile I'll have a word with Aure and see about a rank," the hyena smirked, though it was good-naturedly.

With Zawadi's initiative, she might prove a valuable member of the Bonebound. Bones know we could use a few more like her.


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ROLL THE BONES

Giggle rather bemusedly listened, and equally bemusedly watched as the cub scampered off. Such a strange one--but seems good-hearted. She shook herself, moving to pace down toward her den.

Zawadi could hunt, for now; Giggle would indeed have a word with Aure... after she had a nap.

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ROLL THE BONES