Kerberos came a little late to the party, and with a snack that somehow made Aure even less hungry. He wagged his tail lightly in greeting, but otherwise stayed where he was, trying to wash off his leg feathers in a (kind of) clear spot of water. Giggle left it up to him to explain, which he obliged with gently - "hey, Kerberos, um - you've missed a lot." (Eythan piped up with a "Uhh, yeah, he did.")

"That was Desert -" Let's nix the rest of it for now. "He and a few other old Gembound like him live in Tunnel P and they hunt here." Apparently, they'd spawned a number of children, too. One of them was rather persistently prowling around rat nests, but seemed smart enough to leave carcasses behind. No damage done. Aure watched the cerberus sniff, sighing, "that's Opal, apparently. He attacked Rezik - we were supposed to protect him, according to Astraea. Eythan and Aries cornered him and we - found that he was full of fungus. I - um..."

Aure inhaled, closing his eyes before admitting again, "I used too strong of magic on him, trying to get it out. It's gone, now, but we don't know if - no, uh, when he'll wake up. It's... a waiting game, for us."

There was a brief interlude before their mother returned, with words from the bones - and they showed promise now, at least. Opal would awaken again, and he would be well. But, something would come later. Something to work against and defend against, but without violence. Aure could live with that part.

The young King nodded gently - it really was a waiting game, to see what came to them next and what was on its way. "I think that... all we can do now is wait and keep an eye on him, help him get back to health and - see what he might want to do when he wakes up." Those were simple enough things, right? His beak cracked open, head tilting in an Oh, and- sort of gesture: "we should try to keep eyes on him, in case he panics when he wakes up."

Eythan was looking particularly anxious, but seemingly waiting for an opening to say something.

Aure nodded briefly at Desert as he returned, and gave an equally respectful - albeit shaky - nod to the vulture tailing after him. A faint note of recognition fluttered through, but only through the association of a similar species. His ears flickered back and he swallowed, offering quietly, "something with - a lot of energy. Heat. His - um..." Well, Doctor could see as clear as day that the flesh was halfway melted off.

The young King left the good doctor to his work, ears flickering back and a knot still sitting heavily in his throat. His talons scuffled lightly, and he laid down next to his mother, flank-to-flank. There was still a stutter to his breathing, but nothing nearly as anxiety-ridden as before.