ORIGIN

She watched, respectful--even reverent--as the memories flashed through her mind.

She could not help but feel that vicarious fear; the strange sensation of feeling another's distant terror was not unknown to her. It was a magic that spanned time, space, and granted her a glimpse of a reality--not a memory, in her mind, but a window into a truth--not her own.

When it was over, Giggle sat back. She kept her eyes closed, running the memory over in her mind, trying to calm her now-racing heart. Outwardly, she looked calm; and when she opened her eyes a moment later and spoke, she seemed only solemn, even sad.

"The bone has spoken to me," she said quietly. "It died hunted, as did so many of these bones." Dark eyes cast a sad, grim glance around. "But... it was not alone, in the end, at least. It had companions. Not all of them did. It wasn't alone, in the end."

Not that this saved it, she thought. But it isn't a kindness that everyone gets. She hoped it hadn't had to watch its allies killed... but if it had, the bone had not shown her this, and she'd respect that decision. What was important to it (to the hyena's belief, at least) was that it had died in fear--but not alone. It had not died alone.

Perhaps... it had even died to save the smaller being alongside it. Giggle touched a paw to the skull, respectfully, and then pulled away again--silent.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

Giggle gave a soft snort of amusement.

In any other world--though of course she didn't know this--this conversation with this poor bird would have begun, "when a mommy beast and a daddy beast love each other very much..." But, thankfully for both of them, this place was rocks and magic and little more.

"Our stones hold our magic. Some of them hold magic even after we die," she explained, slowly--doing the best job she could. Even she didn't know all the ins and outs of it, though she'd gotten a pretty good grasp after her first litter. "I don't know if you've met my kids-? Vinea, Serek, Skeena--I know you've met Aure--and Enoki, Bayo, Chitin..? Aure's was the stone of the last Bone King and my very good friend, Aza'zel. But the rest were stones taken from the bones, here," she added, with a nod around.

"I looked for those I could still sense magic in. It's my way of... saying thank you. Of giving something back to those who guide us: I return them to the world of the living, for a time. As best I can, anyway. I don't think their forms are the same: they all look a little like me. Spots, reddish fur usually, stuff like that--but they vary, otherwise. I think the other half's always what the other parent was. The stone's last owner. Aure's got Aza'zel's wings, his face, things like that--you see? Of course, that makes me wonder who you were. Aza'zel, you--a couple other birds I've seen--you all looked identical. Did you come from the same place..? I've never been sure."

She shook her head, and shrugged, and then offered up a little honesty. "If you wanted to know more about how it all works you could maybe ask one of the Masters. Just don't trust them to tell you the truth. But I don't know it all--none of us do. We're guessing as we go along... but when I have more energy to do it, I'll bring more of these stones to life," she finished, reaching out a paw to gently touch the skull again, almost affectionately.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

'I wasn't aware that stones from the dead could be... given new life.' Giggle waited, and when Nemo finished speaking she dipped into the smallest bit of detail--just in case he didn't know. "Yeah. Like the... donated ones, like you say? You just have to push some of your own magic, your own power, into it. A little bit of your own essence, I think. It weakens you for awhile after, and the kids always seem to get your own magic--fungus, for me. All my kids make mushrooms. Or maybe that's just because it's what I teach them," she added, with a little laugh.

'I hatched in the room on winds, in the basin of the everlasting storm in Monoceros. My chrysalis was polished smooth...' To this, Giggle listened with heightened interest, rounded ears pressed forward to catch every word. Her brow drew down in concentration. Surely such a birth was portentous..? A bird hatched beneath a storm, beneath those sweeping winds; and such was Nemo's magic. Like Aza'zel's had been: the same shape, the same magic. The roaring gale and the gentle breeze; a mercurial creature one moment elated, and the next plummeting to earth--Ahh, Giggs, not exactly the best fucking mental metaphor. Stop, she told herself, and quickly turned her mind away.

But it was true, wasn't it? It seemed to be the magic of those with swiftly-drifting moods. Nemo was steady, so far. A quiet wind, unchanging, undramatic. But would he stay this way? "This is going to sound strange," she started, somewhat slowly, "but a couple of those I've met with your magic have taken things pretty hard when they go bad. And you say you were hatched beneath that storm, which makes me wonder if it's meant to be that way. I don't know if it's true for you but let me just say, if you ever need to talk? I'm here, I'll listen. Okay?" No more repeats of a friend thinking themselves alone.

And make no mistake, Giggle wasn't seeing Aza'zel in this blue mirror of him now. She could see Nemo for what he was; a wholly new personality and creature. But experience with the one had granted her clarity for the other, and her offer was given honestly and without illusion.

Nemo had spoken of the ones who'd come before, and Giggle now turned, casting a solemn glance over the bones. "Is it... Comforting?" she asked, thoughtfully parroting the question as she looked them over. She considered it closely before responding, dark eyes lingering on this femur or that rib. "It's comforting to know we're not without guidance, I think, yeah. That someone out there wants us to succeed. But it's worrying to know that they failed. Someone did wrong by them, Nemo. Someone slaughtered them, and it worries me that they might help us because maybe they want us to avoid the same fate. And are we going to manage..?" Her gaze swept solemnly back to the lammergeier. "That much, I don't know. We can try to gather as much information from them, as much guidance, as we can. If this has all been done before, I sure don't want to end up like this," she added wryly, tossing her head out to indicate the scattered bones.

"Nothing wrong with becoming bones, mind you. Guiding the next generation and all that. But someone left these here without caring for them at all, and that, uh. That's not a good sign," and this last was offered with a perked brow and wry humor. She shook her head a little, and pushed up onto all fours.

"Anyway, you've got an old dog hungry," she said, despite certainly not being a dog; "You can stay here and I'll be back, or you can come with me, but I gotta hunt. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about, though, before I go? I'm not trying to rush you off, either," she said, quite seriously.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

Nemo's offer earned a warm glance. She was unaware of his more visceral thoughts regarding food and bones, but it wouldn't have mattered if she had known. "Thanks. I'll bear it in mind," she assured him.

Giggle headed out, at an easy lope. "Sure, come with me. Talk while we walk, eh? What kind of questions did you have?"

Her question was idle, friendly. She was obviously open to further conversation, to chit-chat, and the sound of her paws scratching over stone was not loud enough to interrupt.

As she made her way down the slope, she tried to push her senses out into the fungus--to let her mind bleed into the mycelial networks of Canis in an attempt to search out prey. This backfired rather spectacularly, at least to her perception: the entire cave went 'dark,' a confusing susurrus of... nothing? How could nothing make sound? Darkness flashed here and there in her vision, and she slowed and then stopped, sitting down uneasily. "My magic's being an asshole, but go on," she said, studying the caves from what felt like a thousand directions at once as they seemed to melt and twist around her. The vision was overwhelming, and entirely unhelpful, and she swayed a little as she struggled to keep her head.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

Giggle glanced at Nemo, and faint humor flickered over her. Her vision was returning, if slowly. And hell, "funny" was always good--even though this'd leave her coat a mess.

"Well," she began, her tone already amused, "one use is this." The hyena maintained eye contact as black, dripping, ichorous fungus suddenly plumed out all over her fur with little squelch sounds. Then she stood there, a moment, before chuckling. "It's disgusting, but that's the point; anything trying to bite me is gonna get a mouthful of that shit. It's sticky, too. Goopy," she explained. "Makes it hard to get a grip. Other than that? Some are edible. Some make things hallucinate. Useful for defense," she went on, and then dropped onto her haunches and nodded out over Canis.

"Some smell really great, like meat, but they taste like crap, so they're a sort of lure and defense of their own if you get creative. Some spores make others like you more--no, that's not right... they're calming, I guess. Good way to stop an attacker. I can try to teach you these, share the spores, but--yeah, go on; do whatever you're doing, first. I'll wait," she added, and with amusement she scratched off a goopy bit of black fungus--which landed on the rock with a wet slap.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr