Giggle let out a throaty laugh at the "mom" thing, and shook her head.
"Well, I wasn't planning to be Mom, but if you like," she told Ozzie, warmly and with good nature. She carefully picked the bone up in her jaws a moment later, then started at a trot up to her ledge. She considered putting it down to warn them to stay behind, in case the kid just followed her automatically, then realized it didn't really matter; she was used to making the readings with the subject of them staying below but it wasn't a rule or anything. With a mental shrug she made the top, looking down at the bones and anyone who remained beside them.
And then, she concentrated, mentally asking them her question.
Okay, bones, she thought at the pit below, and these thoughts, too, were warm--like greeting an old friend;
can you tell me what Ozzie here--what the future holds for Ozzie, this bird? This was a mental question, rephrased halfway through with a friendly glance the bird's way--as if to, via her own mind, show the bones who she was asking about.
Then she looked to the pit below, and spoke.
"We gather here for the first bone reading of Ozzie--newest of the Bonebound!" she crowed, with all the theatricality she could manage;
"Tell us, bones: what does the future hold for him-?"
She picked the bone up again, and then lobbed it lightly down, so that it would land in the pit below with a clatter.
The scattering, and the way they fell, was...
not good. Oh, the reading started out good enough, as she studied it: a bone landing amongst others, signifying togetherness, family. A solid start! -...But then...
...It rolled. And it rolled
down. Away, not
leaving the others, necessarily, but falling poorly, tumbling clumsily. It landed badly, jutting up and upside-down, and Giggle suppressed a grimace. This--the first reading--was meant to be a positive occasion, and while she'd never
lie about the bones, she had to give it a positive twist to avoid ruining the atmosphere. A... constructive aspect. Advice, perhaps. And this moment was about family: about the newest member, about togetherness... she'd focus, she decided, on that.
With a breath, she began to speak.
"The bones speak of a strong start! Family, and home. Ozzie is one of us! ...I see confusion, a dangerous journey ahead. One with misunderstanding, or a path poorly-chosen: we as the Bonebound must watch for this, and guide him close, so he doesn't fall too far. Or else its end, I see: a loss, against another, or others. A bad decision; a sacrifice that leads to nothing! We must protect him, as one of our own," she finished, her voice strong, her tone firm.
This kid would need guarding.
Shit.
Another brief moment of studying the bones, her eyes slightly narrowed. Yes--some of the family-bones, the ones it had initially landed amongst, had gone with it; not
down but alongside, likely preventing a worse tumble. Hmm.
"If we're vigilant, we'll give him that gift: safety, family, forever!" she added, a crow of a sentence, to emphasize that unity-in-numbers thing. She hoped it had been... dramatic enough, positive enough, though the bones' warning was a grim one indeed.
rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr